Revolution Ben

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.

Hi John, There's nothing wrong with your calculations, but when 975025 was converted from a Hastings Buffet trailer to Caroline the bogies were changed to B4 types. I wonder if this accounts, at least in part, for the difference in height between our measurements from the prototype at Loram in Derby and the drawings you have. In addition, as others have noted, a small amount of additional clearance had to be added to allow the model to cope with trainset curves. If you have generous curves you can remove this if you wish; it comes down to the age old compromise between producing an accurate replica of a real vehicle and a model that will operate on the sort of curves and gradients modellers use. cheers Ben A.

Hi Chris The models are supplied with a tension lock coupler pre-fitted into the NEM socket at one end and a drop-head buckeye at the other. The buck-eye can be removed for customers who want tension lock at both ends. All the electrical 'orange' conduits that won't interfere with coupler throw are pre-fitted too. The air pipes that could potentially cause coupler interference issues, and a drop-head buck-eye for the other end, are left for the customer to add to choice, and there are clear instructions on how to do this in the owner's booklet supplied with the model. Retailers will begin getting their models from next week and we will continue to process any oustanding pre-order models as balance payments are completed, but the priority for us is always those who pre-ordered and paid in full up front. This seems only fair. cheers Ben A.

Hi Paul, The MAT versions were closer to Ford blue than BR blue. On the diagrams the colour is referred to as 'Onedin blue' but this reference is not one I have been able to find. We will be showing the deco samples of the N gauge decorated samples at The International N Gauge Show in Warwickshire in just over a month, so that should give people a good chance to assess the variations for themselves. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, Our research suggests the blanks in your list are: IHA-F diag E857 built 1991 nos. 4767 000-047 IHA-F diag E796 built 1993 nos. 4667 000-113 IHA-F diag E796 built 1998 nos. 4915 001-20 IHA-F diag E894 built 2001 nos. 4904 000-060. The E984 wagons have a slightly different arrangement of the side placards. It wouldn't surprise me if the 1991 built wagons are being or have been scrapped as they're the oldest. cheers Ben A.

Hi Chris, According to Ermewa the 'H' and 'HT' markings were used to signify particular loads for a while, but are no longer used. However plenty of wagons still carry them. The 'Ermewa' branded wagons with the new canvas covers don't carry them. cheers Ben A.

Hello all, Revolution Trains is offering the French built IHA Sfhimms covered steel carriers in 00 and N. These wagons have been in use since the early 90s and are still seen widely here and on the continent. Photo courtesy Roger Cutts. The wagons are used for steel coil and operate between rolling mills and terminals or ports for import/export. A route map and suitable consist guide is on our website. CAD is complete and the models are in tooling. More information here: https://revolutiontrains.com/news/ cheers Ben A.

No. If there is any news we will put it on our website and update our project page. We don't hold back, if there is something to say we will say it! cheers Ben A.

Hi there, The models are 179mm over buffers. cheers Ben A.

Hi there, Anyone wanting to ride in a Mk1 with open windows to 'smell' the steam engine can still do so on heritage lines at 20mph. I'd have thought that to a certain demographic that is one of their primary attractions. In contrast, anything travelling on the mainline is sharing tracks with other services operating at 100+ mph. Given the vastly better crashworthiness of a Mk3 it does not surprise me that there is nervousness in the industry at Mk1s still being allowed on the mainline. Though I can see certain derogations could be allowed over some routes (for example the Jacobite) where the majority of the running is over single track lines at limited speeds. cheers Ben A.

Oddly enough precisely the opposite! It was fun to be back and see some old cronies though! cheers Ben A.

Hi all, For anyone interested there is a little more information about the show on our news pages here: https://revolutiontrains.com/news/ Plus it was great to speak to Dan Evason from Tunnel Lane model railways who called in was put through! I am still optimistic that we will soon be able to add Jeremy Vine to the noble list of celebrity railway modellers... cheers Ben A.

There are a handful of others you might see, though only on wagons before (I think) the early 2000s: O = unfitted, parking hand brake only. P = unfitted with through vacuum pipe. V = vacuum braked only. W = vacuum brake plus through air pipe cheers Ben A.

Hi there, It was there a couple of weeks ago when Revolution attended the NGS celebratory event there. I guess you could call ahead and ask? cheers Ben A.

Hi there, We tend to prefer colours painted and small markings tampo printed. Printing larger areas, especially over curves, can be problematic. I don't know if paint masks can be switched between colours; it may be that colour contamination could be an issue. I would not want to spoil the ship for a hap'orth of tar. cheers Ben A.

Hi all, My understanding is that a single Class 93 would be unsuitable for the Caledonian Sleepers because of their hotel power needs. cheers Ben A.