Revolution Ben

Hi all, I picked up a couple of these. I think they are very nicely done with a good combination of robustness and detail. My model is numbered 33 87 4906 046-7, which according to my notes makes it one of a batch built in 2002-3 and coded IFA under TOPS. There are plenty of searchable photos on flickr of wagons in this number series in use in the UK. For example here at Peterborough in 2020: cheers Ben A.

Hi there, For clarity, Revolution assisted with the first Sonic model, which was the air-braked VEA, which represented the converted wagons post (I think) 1978. This release does include some of the long sold-out Railfreight red/grey VEAs but is predominantly of the original vacuum braked vanwides, which have not been available before now. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, There is no right or wrong answer when you are talking about speculative purchases on non-essential luxury goods of any kind. Revolution is still a young company (though it is our tenth birthday next year!) so while we have some experience now we don't pretend to be perfect. But we learned with the N 321 that offering too many options, then cancelling some, will cause disappointment and a little backlash. This was not an enjoyable experience for us personally - we are only human after all. So our approach now is to manage expectations early and only offer options for sale that we fully intend to produce. At the moment, as one person said accurately to us at Warley, the early privatisation sector seems to be somewhat overlooked. I thinik this is probably a generational thing - retailers tell us that BR blue has superceded BR steam/diesel transition as the most popular modelling period, and NSE/sectorisation is coming up fast. Present day is always popular to a significant proportion of the demographic too. But I imagine that early privatisation will become more popular in another five years or so, so if we cannot make it happen this time then we may well revisit it in future. In the meantime, as others have said, repainting is always an option. At least the train is being manufactured! cheers Ben A.

Hi there, We are exploring other options - such as involving retailers. If that works we will obviously confirm that on our website etc but right now FNW isn't in the mix. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, Nice job. I have no empirical evidence for this, and don't even consider myself much of a Deltic afficionado, however the cab windscreens look a fraction too deep to me, and the top of the nose slightly too flat. I suspect increasing the curvature over the front of the nose would at the same time raise the lower edge of the windows just the right amount. Great job though! cheers Ben A.

Hi Nick, It seems a common misapprehension among 4mm modellers that the market scales. We have found with many of our projects that the 2mm version sells at least as well as 4mm. This may be because fewer customers seem to individually buy more of most things, probably relfecting that their layouts tend to feature scale length trains rather than truncated ones. I appreciate that some customers may have missed the expressions of interest but it was widely publicised on our website and on here and is the only hard data we have. cheers Ben A.

Hi nickb4141, We were unsure of demand for FNW so we carried out an expression of interest exercise over the summer. The response was minimal, so at the moment it isn't one we are offering. You will understand of course that different livery versions have to reach an MOQ (minimum order quantity) to be viable. We would rather not take your money than take it and then have to refund it as we are unable to fulfil your expectation. It may be one we revisit later. cheers Ben A.

Hello all, I'd just like to thank the organisers of the Warley show for putting on a great exhibition and for everything they do for the wider hobby. In terms of cost, there is, on offer, a complete day out with a huge variety of layouts, demonstrators, retailers, manufacturers and other traders under one (warm) roof. Considering the costs of comparable leisure activities (e.g playing golf, going to a football match, visiting a theme park) I think for the duration of entertainment on offer the pricing represents good value. It is also worth bearing in mind that Warley, for the last three decades, has turned into *the* national exhibition in England/Wales. For a variety of reasons I think that for any mainstream hobby or pastime it is existentially important to have such significant annual events. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, We did not put out the N gauge versions (which have been displayed at several previous shows) because the pre-order book is now closed for those models. I guess once the production models arrive and are shipped to customers and retailers lots of images will appear. cheers Ben A.

Hello all, In answer to questions about scheduling, @derekdoestrains is right. Once we have decorated samples that we are happy with we confirm a production schedule with the factory and then give everyone a date at which we are closing the order book. The models go into production soon after and, depending what they are, this can take anything from 4-8 months. Note: these production times were much elongated during Covid when factories were being closed with no notice for weeks at a time, or suffering sustained or frequent power outages, or struggling with staffing. We've had decorated samples of the N gauge Cartics and the pre-order book closes at the end of the year. If you miss them retailers will almost certainly have stocks but obviously at a slightly higher price to include their margin. The 00 ones are obviously not that far down the development cycle, so there's no pre-order cut off date yet. On most products we also offer an even more discounted Earlybird pre-order period, but if there was one it has passed for the Cartics. cheers Ben A.

Hi John, We've extensively tested the new generation ESU Nano decoders and I feel that the running, especially at very slow speeds, is significantly better than earlier generation ESU decoders. It is also worth remembering that the original Pendolinos had 6-pin decoders, though as you observed the latest ones have been upgraded to Next 18. The reason for going with the ESU E24 Nano is that it enables us to offer DCC users a full array of correct, prototypical lighting functions. This comprises Day and Night running, shunt mode, red tail lighting and cab interior lighting. So each end of the loco requires 5 different control feeds (left headlight, right headlight, tail lights, marker lights, cab interior light) and this is too many for Next 18 to support. For E24 (which we are told is set to be adopted as Next 28 soon) all can be supported, so all functions can be offered. We could've forfeited, say, Day and Night running options and shunt mode, or cab interior lights, but we be setting ourselves up for obsolescence since, as with Next 18 a decade ago, we believe Next 28 will tend to become the default albeit there will still be a demand for Next 18 as there still is for 6-pin. Having played with tested our samples I found that being able to select correct lighting modes, for example when shunting, or parking up, did have a significant impact on enhancing the 'driver experience' of the models. It is also worth mentioning that the ESU E24 Nano decoders are a bit smaller than Next 18, so we could more easily fit them beneath the engine cover, avoiding the need for customers to remove the whole body to fit the decoder and still retaining the maximum chassis block size for weight. cheers Ben A.

I was very tempted to blab on your thread! cheers Ben A.

Hello all, The first retailer exclusive of our upcoming Class 66 has broken cover: We are producing a limited run of 66788 Locomotion 15 in association with Locomotion Models and Rails of Sheffield. This is an interesting locomotive because, aside from its role in promoting Locomotion and the work they do with the National Collection in recording the important history of freight on rail in Britain, it is a former EWS loco acquired by GBRf and retaining its swinghead buckeye coupler. For more information see our website here: https://revolutiontrains.com/news/ cheers Ben A.

Hi there, Neither the Class 59 nor Class 66 will have traction tyres. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, This is true. Revolution will be ten years old in 2024; we have a stand at no fewer than five major shows every year and advertise every month in nearly all the model railway press, yet I am constantly surprised at how many people come up to us at shows, compliment our models and then say they had no idea we existed! In answer to other remarks about lengths of trains and size of market, I can say that with wagons we tend to produce roughly the same quantities in N and 00. This balances out because while we consistently see a smaller number of separate customers in N, each tends to order more wagons, presumably to make up 'scale length' trains. Having seen the TT:120 Class 50 and HST at a show recently, and having already pre-ordered a 66, I am looking forward to what emerges and as we have said to customers asking at shows we have already identified several models in our range that would be suitable for TT:120. cheers Ben A.

Hi David, I would argue that it isn't duplication since existing models are more than two decades old and lack many of the features, details and finesse we expect now. N gauge has supported three models (Farish, CJM, Dapol) for many years and in all likelihood they will remain an important part of the scene for years to come. You will understand of course that we have had these EP samples for some time so halting development was never an option. As to when your order; that of course is a matter for you. You can order before the end of January (well after the 59s are here) and save £15 on each loco, or wait and purchase from one of the retailers who'll be taking stocks, so I see no reason for you to miss out. I am sorry if you have had issues with other Revolution models - please contact our customer service manager on the email address in your instructions and he'll do all he can to help. We are contstantly looking to improve performance and functionality and where we identify known issues with existing models we will always try to assist existing customers. I hope you'll also have noticed the almost uniformly positive feedback to our more recent Class 128 unit. cheers Ben A.

Hello all, For anyone interested the first of the commissions is being unveiled later today. cheers Ben A.

Hello all, Revolution Trains will be at Warley again. Our stand this year has moved as we have increased the size - we are on the far wall directly in front of the entrance. For more details of what we will have in display, and a floorplan showing our location, please see the new page on our website. See you at the weekend! cheers Ben A.

Hello all, No update at the moment - we will let customers know when the models are being shipped. Apologies for the delay. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, Rail Express has come out slightly sooner than expected. There’ll be more on this next week. cheers Ben A.

HI David, Lovely to see those sweeping curves take shape. You have a very nice layout room there! I am envious! cheers Ben A.

Hi Graham, Yes, that train is lovely. I saw similar consists near me in Cambridgeshire for a long time and have a similar plan... except I will be using an NGS curved sided hopper too... cheers Ben A.

Hi all, Yes, I would tend to agree that forensically interpreting every missive will uncover some unintentional contradictions and that the actual plans are largely as they were, except with some production slippage and, inevitably, some models will overtake others for all sorts of reasons. As to the future EMUs - I hope a Pendolino is among their plans as this, with the 66 and 60 and possible a TPE 80X series, opens up numerous opportunities on the northern WCML. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, Yes, some colours are going to be amended and as has been said previously these models were sent on 'accommodation' wheels, rather than those that will be used on the production models. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, Yes, some colours are going to be amended and as has been said previously these models were sent on 'accommodation' wheels, rather than those that will be used on the production models. cheers Ben A.