Revolution Ben

Hello all, Revolution made it through almost unscathed (though one team member appears to have fractured his wrist!) and we are looking forward to seeing friends old and new at The International N Gauge Show at Leamington this weekend. The tournament was enormous fun and we'd like to thank hosts Beacon and GBRf and all the sportingly good natured teams who took part. In Sparta Revolution's first match we were roundly thrashed by eventual winners Yellow Rail, and had a similar experience at the hands of Avanti, Freightliner and GBRf, but it was all in a good cause. See you all next time! cheers Ben A.

Hi there, All models will have the cab height as shown in the EP, however we have cab roof options with and without the ventilator hatch. cheers Ben A.

Hi James We have revised the artworks to reflect the wagon identies we intend producing in this run. There may be other versions in the future. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, The model is just under 90mm over the footplate, and 102mm over the coupler faces, which I imagine is the more useful dimension in this context. cheers Ben A.

Hello all, I have received a couple of extra images taken by Jacques, Model Rail's in-house photographer, and I thought those who haven't had the chance to see the latest issue of the magazine might find them interesting. The model is now undergoing running tests on DC, and will then be assessed for DCC and sound performance. As ever, these are EP1 samples designed to check fit and enable any obvious issues to be identified. They are assembled using the first mouldings to be shot from the new tooling, and for prouction the tools will be checked, polished and any flashing or fit issues addressed. The next step is for feedback on any running problems to be addressed, and then decorated samples to be prepared to check colours/fonts etc. Because it is not cost effective to set up the mould machine for two sets of sampling, the decorated samples are usually assembled using spare mouldings from the first shots, so often shape corrections aren't seen until final production samples are ready. This is why, when corrections are suggested, they can seem to have been 'missed' when the decorated samples are shown later. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, A gentle heads up that the pre-order deadline for these wagons is midnight tonight. Once the deadline has passed our order book will close so that we can start production and the price will rise from £149.95 for a pack of 4 to the full retail price of £169.95 (whilst stocks last). cheers Ben A.

Hi James, The versions we are offering were all built 1991-1993. The Ermewa branding has only started to be applied in the last few years. Of the others, I do not know when the yellow HT lettering and dots were applied, however I do know they are not now significant, so I would imagine it was a while ago. cheers Ben A.

Hi Bruce Great job! I use Scalescenes a lot and I am a big fan. I have found it easier to print onto A4 sized sticky labels, then for lots of the parts the messy gluing stage can be circumvented. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, The model is progressing in development but the Class 18s have been delayed entering service due to some modifications required so they can 'touch' Network Rail track. At locations such as Eastleigh or other larger industrial areas (refineries, quarries etc) it may be that while the locomotives spend 90% of their time on private tracks, they may need to draw trains out onto exchange sidings that come under the purview of Network Rail. It's our understanding that the first few will be entering service in the next month or so, once these modifications are complete. We have a provisional arrangement to go and film the first two locos when they are deployed and of course once we have some images, footage and more information we will share. cheers Ben A.

Hi Jack, I am very sorry this was detached on your model. As has been said, it's the handbrake ON-OFF indicator and is fitted on both sides of both bogies. In your images it's present on the left bogie but missing on the right. If you want to refit it yourself (which will be quicker!) the tab on the left edge is mounted in a small hole in the bogie frame - you can use the 'correct' bogie to guide you - and secured with a dab of PVA. If you're not confident about refitting it yourself please contact our support agent via the email in the instructions. cheers Ben A. PS love your arched stone bridge!

Hi there, Was going to wait until Tuesday to answer but then realised the order deadline is close so an answer sooner might be appreciated! The wagons are 125mm over (sprung) buffers, and 135mm over the outer edge of the tension lock bar. cheers Ben A.

Hi Gareth, I am so sorry read this. It was always a pleasure to see your Dad when walking into the shop and he had the kind of laid back, easy going charm that made him very easy to talk to and I am sure helped contribute to the success of Trains4U with its customers, aside from his business and financial expertise. Sending deepest condolences to you and your family, and the wider T4U gang. Ben

Hi there, Your masking tape solution looks excellent, but for those who wish to depict a wagon running empty (perhaps to works) or just as a runner our version 03 (wagon number 9006) has the 'blank' placards. The others have a variety of authentic loading codes - I will try to put images on our website in due course so customers can choose the model appropriate to their needs. And thanks for your kind words about the printing and painting - the factory really went the extra mile to depict the whtie blocks on top of the buffer shanks, the locking bar pivot baseplates and stainless links and even the brass padlocks on the information panels! cheers Ben A.

Hi there, Thanks. For present day versions it'll be sensible to avoid numbers from batch 1 and stick to examples from batches 2 and 3. cheers Ben A.

I had wondered if any of these wagons had come a cropper over the years. There are some gaps in the number sets - maybe that explains it! Anyone know how many wagons were scrapped? cheers Ben A.

Hi Grahame, I haven't been on here much recently so only just come across this thread. Remarkable work - I hope you are enjoying building it because I have really enjoyed your posts so far. I was interested in your illustration showing the area you intended the layout to cover - am I right in thinking Guy's Tower will not be depicted? I had to stay there for a few days in 1996 (unfortunate skiing accident - had to learn how to walk again!) and I was on, I think, the 20th floor or thereabouts. It did give me the chance to watch the approaches to London Bridge, and there was weekend engineering work while I was there, and I saw 73101 in Pullman livery (silver/grey roof) shunting engineers' wagons about. Thanks for posting. cheers Ben A.

Hi Nick, That looks like a fascinating concept packed with operating potential. I look forward to seeing what others can add in the thread. cheers Ben A.

Hello all, While the point about the markings in relation to the rotating coupler are correct, I should just note that the wagons in this photograph are not the type Revolution is offering. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, If you mean Fragonset then yes, it was green at that time but SR green (a very slightly more 'olive' colour) and it had the headcodes and jumpers, not the marker light clusters, as they weren't fitted until Network Rail carried out a full rebuild in 2007. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, If you're rigid with 2000 then according to our research 975025 (at that time unnamed) spent the year languishing in a shed at Stewart's Lane. The saloon had been sold to VSOE Belmond following privatisation in the mid-1990s and they had a plan to turn it into an observation car for the British Pullman. But this never happened, and the saloon was unused and deteriorating when, in 2003, Serco realised its potential and acquired it. The saloon was refurbished and named Caroline, retaining the headcode boxes and jumpercables and in this era was most often seen with Fragonset locos. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, Just an update to say we’ve been working our way through the dispatching but there are still lots of orders to be sent out. We’ll let people know once we think all have been sent - if you’ve not received your model after that please contact us directly. Also, our customer service agent has been on leave but he’s back on Tuesday to begin answering support emails and helping anyone with issues. Cheers Ben A.

Hi there, We should be getting decorated samples of these soon for checking. We will want to display these so potential customers can see them and we are attending GETS and Warley, so depending on production slots available we will either close the order book at the end of October or the end of November. But we will let everyone know in good time! cheers Ben A.

Ah, now I understand! Obviously for another production run we would need to be sure of adequate demand but there is no reason the 'earlier' green version (SR MU green, according to my notes) could not be offered in the future. The tooling covers this version, however at this time we have no immediate plans to offer this. cheers Ben A.

Hello Rory, I think it was more rebuilt than refurbished. The changes included removing the gangways, putting in windscreens at each end, fitting driver controls and appropriate electrical connectors and buses, significant modifications to the interior, and adding air brakes and different bogies. Before that it was 'just' the buffet car from a standard 6H set, and we have no plans to produce these. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, Yes, you're absolutely correct. I will blame late night brain fog and having just returned from a (delayed so we could post models out last week) birthday trip away. In any event, the bogies are different to those originally fitted to the Hastings cars. cheers Ben A.