Revolution Ben

Hello Mark (and others) I received the test shots of our new 8' wheelbase Southern bogies yesterday. I have passed a couple on for evaluation but they look pretty fair to me so hopefully they will be available from the NGS shop early in the New Year and your coaching stock can be shod! cheers Ben A.

Hi there, I think the original idea was to use the Microtrains standard; and this would mean incorporating a "swan neck" element to the design to raise the coupler head up from the lower NEM socket height. However, this presents an engineering challenge, especially on longer trains, with a tendency for the coupler heads to "bow" under tension, and in turn possibly cause the trip pins to strike the track, with obviously unfortunate consequences. Other difficulties - such as the issue of bufferbeam contact which you identify - would also have required the vehicles to have a greater spacing than would be considered acceptable. Given that the only advantage of setting the coupler at Microtrains' height is that it can run with US fitted stock, I now understand (as does Dapol Dave) that Farish have decided the problems outweight the advantages, and have sensibly decided to set the coupler at the lower NEM height. cheers Ben A.

Hi Mick, The autoballaster kit is No.35 in the N Gauge Society range, and comes in four variants: 35a - Original KPA with two styles of Tiphook branding. 35b - JJA with Railtrack branding 35c - HQA with Railtrack branding 35d - HQA with Network Rail branding. The decals are produced for the N Gauge Society by Microscale to artwork I drew up, and are included in the kit. The decal sheets include all markings required and numerous complete TOPS panels. Liveries, such as GTRM or Carillion, are not featured on the decal sheets. cheers Ben A.

Hi David Very nice work, and speedy too. How did you fabricate the pipes on the roof of the newest building? They're very effective! cheers Ben A.

The NGS acquired the moulds for the Parkwood Warflats and Warwells about a year ago, along with some stock of mouldings. The detail on them is excellent, and they build up into fine models. However, they were designed to use US style bogies (the best available back then) with mounting pivots that are awkward to fit UK bogies too. Also, diamond frame bogies that are appropriate are no longer available from Farish. So we are having the toolings slightly modified to give them "standard" British bogie pivots, we are also producing our own diamond frame bogies and decal sheets. This process will probably take a few months, but I am hoping to have them ready for relaunch as complete full-on NGS kits with all bogies, wheels, instructions, additional etched details and decals. We are planning to sell them in three variants - original Warflat with diamond frame bogies, original Warwell with diamond frame bogies, rebuilt Warwell with Gloucester GP22.5 bogies. The decal sheets will cover the vehicles from their construction to present day. I have also been in discussion with PG Models about incorporating some appropriate markings on the decal sheet for the military vehicles they offer. cheers Ben A.

Hi Simon, As promised - Farish standard 100t tanker unmodified but fitted with ESC1 bogies. Close up of the bogie. On this model, the wheels from the original wagon have been used, and the bogies will be supplied with or without wheels, so the customer can do as they please. Farish Freightliner flat fitted with new Ridecontrol bogie and smaller 5.1mm diameter wheels. The flat has not had any detailing added to it other than the bogies. A shot of both types of bogie, showing the NEM coupler socket. With the freightliner wagons, because the wheels are smaller, the coupler does sit a little low. The bogies can also be used with standard Farish wheels which raises the coupler. For me, the 100t tanks and Freightliner flats are pretty decent models, let down by "generic" bogies. They can also be improved with the appropriate TPM detailing packs. As I say, we are still finalising testing and fine tuning the tools, but I think they will make a big difference to these models! I think Bernard Taylor is planning to launch some new detailing sets which will include the bogies and detailing parts all together in one pack. This should make ordering easier and will probably be slightly cheaper than buying all the parts separately. Once the ESC1 and Ridecontrol bogies are in circulation, and assuming they sell OK, we are planning more types to improve existing models, and to provide a basis for new kits. cheers Ben A.

Hi Simon, The bogies will be supplied with or without wheels, and with either conventional coupler pockets or NEM couplers using new NEM adaptors developed to fit TPM/ATM/NGS bogies. A full announcement will be made in due course, once final testing is completed. The idea of developing the NEM adaptor is to enable all NGS and TPM bogie wagons to take the new couplers under development by the major manufacturers. I will post a photo of the new items in this thread as soon as possible. They aren't quite ready for market yet, but I anticipate that they will be soon. The price hasn't yet been finalised, but it is likely to be comparable with similar products and kept as low as possible. cheers Ben A.

Hi Simon, Glad to see you've got your mojo back! Some ESC-1 bogies are being released fairly soon - they should make a big difference to the appearance of those Farish tankers! cheers Ben A.

Hi David, Excellent progress. I think the backscene looks very fine, and the cranes are particularly effective as a way of creating "depth" because they don't tend to look "flat" in the way that a printed photograph of a building would. cheers Ben A.

Hi David Great progress - thanks for the update. I am a big fan of the appearance of printed backscenes, but we had trouble with ours. How are you planning to glue it down? cheers Ben A.

Hello Bernard, Lovely work. Please keep the photos coming! When was it that you built/modified these models? cheers Ben A.

Hi Lewis Nice concept. What scale are you modelling? Also, what will the stabling siding be used to stable? cheers Ben A.

Hi Jo, Interesting project - I look forward to following your progress. Perhaps this could be something to show at Leamington? Incidentally, in the inspirational train you link to, I notice that there is a single Tiphook KPA in the consist in blue livery - the NGS kit includes these decals. Actually, I think I saw a very similar train on the North London line at Gospel Oak a few weeks ago with a Class 67 at the head! Cheers Ben A.

Hi Jo, Only just discovered this thread! Great work - looking forward to seeing more progress. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, I don't think there's much Dapol could do in this situation. What I would say is that silver is about the easiest colour to spray, and a rectangular door is about the easiest shape to mask off (and with window too) so converting a gold-doored Mk3 to one with a silver door would be one of the simplest "respray" jobs possible, and would give you the accurate model you want! cheers Ben A.

Hi all, I think Dapol Dave's fair, measured and timely response has done him and his company great credit. The explanations around the cooler group and livery concerns are reasonable and make clear business sense IMO. As has been said elsewhere, it's great when the internet can foster understanding and respect between those who build and those who buy! cheers Ben A.

Hi Derek, I'm sorry, I don't have a link to the actual website for the Smartphone app for Oldham. If it isn't obvious from their website then it may be that it's not yet gone live. cheers Ben A.

Hi Nick They pioneered it in Lewisham, but it's also being used in Leicester, Northumberland and Oldham. I think it's very likely to spread. And I'm glad you liked the report! cheers Ben A.

Hi Dave The box section aluminium is a neat solution for the additional scenic width. Will you fit ply "baseboard" strips to the top? Also, how did you achieve the chamfered edge on the end section? cheers Ben A.

Hi Scott, It's an interesting plan, though there are some aspects of US practice that are quite different to UK operations. I wonder if it's worth adding a crossover at the end of the two sidings immediately adjacent to the ship as a loco release. Otherwise, you will always have a loco stuck at the end of the sidings there. The other option is for trains to "reverse" into those sidings, in which case they need to arrive from the other direction, or reverse direct from the traverser, on the basis that there is some kind of run around loop "out of scene." Also, the way things are at the moment, the siding to the red warehouse can only be accessed from the container ship unloading siding. To my eye it would make more sense for that siding to be accessed from the other loop. I can't seem to attach images to this note, otherwise I would have drawn a modified version of your plan showing what I mean. Of course, if you've already got all the track down you may not wish to change, or you might think my ideas look wrong, in which case no probs! cheers Ben A.

Hi Stephen, This is turning into a very nice layout with great potential. I think you have done a great job with the hardstanding in the intermodal yard. I think the single siding creates a really authentic sense of space. The scenic development around the mainline is coming on well too. One thought...where the two sidings branch off the freight loop... I would be tempted to consider relaying one of them so they ae parallel with each other - sidings in the UK usually seem that way to me. But of course, it's your trainset etc!!! Thanks for posting your updates, I'm enjoying the thread. cheers Ben A.

Hi David, It's really good. Reminds me of the "Malmaison" type boutique hotels you see in a lot of city centres these days. I agree about the signage around the door - when modelling buildings I have found with signs/awnings/other details that the more you look the more you see, and the hardest decision is when to stop adding detail. I could also imagine a scenario in which the hotel is actually known by a new name (especially if acquired by one of the chains) but has to retain the "Palace" signage on the tower as it's a listed building... cheers Ben A.

Hi David, Lovely work. Please keep the updates coming! cheers Ben A.

Hi all, I'm very happy with the Dapol Virgin HST I have. For me, the real difference is the way it just "sits" on the tracks, and looks right. The contours around the headlights and the lower part of the nose especially seem to capture the shape of the prototype. The Farish model was good in its day, but I find the Dapol one has a lot more "presence" and when snaking around a layout, with lights on, it looks superb. Certainly the TPM detailing set can improve the Farish model but the Dapol one also features vehicle-specific details - buffers one on of the power cars in the Virgin set for example - that make it the one to beat IMO. cheers Ben A.

Hi Gerry, A quick google suggests several retailers still have various Dapol Mk3s in stock including blue/grey versions; for the HST ideally you want them without buffers. Dapol have also said in their catalogue that they'll be producing more Mk3s during this year, though they don't mention specific codes and I suspect any further production will be driven by dealer demand - if dealers still have them, it seems pointless making more! As for buying the HST set or not, it's obviously your call, but I tend to grab things while I can these days because with limited production runs some items seem to sell out quite quickly, and the days of stockists carrying a full, permanent range of products seem to be gone. I wish I'd acquired more megafrets and GBRf FEA-Bs when they came out - but I think there will be another production run! cheers Ben A.