Waverley47708

Looking forward to being there next Friday, always enjoy seeing Alloa and Law Junction.

After a bit of thought I am going to send the Blue Grey power cars back and swap them for the GWR set which is the same price. I had wanted the Blue Grey power cars primarily for the new motor for my Lima HSTs, the livery was a bonus. Having looked on line the costs for a new motor, chassis, front bogie, lighting etc would come to around £50 (none of which are currently available). For around the same price again I had hoped to get two HST power cars that matched my rake of blue grey Hornby Mk3 coaches. The poor application of the livery and then the realisation that the logo was too low was enough to get my looking again at the Lima body shells I already have. They actually have lettering the new Hornby bodies don't have at the guards compartment. The Lima blue and grey doesn't match the coaches as well as the Hornby power cars did and I think the grey at the rear of the power car is slightly too wide on the Lima bodies. However with a bit of weathering and possibly even new Intercity 125 lettering they come up well. Looking on line and at other photos on RMWEB it looks like the poor livery application was not restricted to my power cars. As a resut there was little point in swapping them and hoping for a better pair. As a result I've decided to go for the GWR set. I'll just swap the bodies with two of my dozen Lima power cars and try to sell the GWR coach and power car bodies if anyone is interested. I am disappointed with the livery application, something has gone wrong with them. If a second batch or future release come out I may look again. In the meantime I'll go with plan B.

Now heard of three others who have the same livery issue as I do. Looking at the photos uploaded by Miles I can see the same thick yellow line round the top of the yellow section as on my own. Have been in touch with Hornby Customer Care and had an initial response asking for the R number but no explanation yet. Top photo the left side is worse on both power cars with the slight dip. Bottom Lima on left Hornby (Lima body) on right.

No my first mistake was buying them! I can confirm they recommend 12v DC. They say you can use a 9v DC battery, and pretty sure it still refers to 14v AC. As I say I even bought a 12v DC smoothed regulated transformer specifically for them and still 2 have failed.

I bought three Dapol signals recently, two home and one distant. The first one stopped working after less than 5 minutes! As a result I put them away for a while. I took the advice on RMWEB and bought a 12v DC smoothed and regulated transformer. I also bought a couple of Heathcote Electronics automatic controllers for them. 3 signals, a new transformer and the Heathcote units and we are well over £100. Sadly within 5 minutes of getting the two remaining signals out and connecting them to the new power supply, the second one went pop aswell despite using the recommended power supply after. Two down one to go. This has to be the worst model railway product I have ever had the misfortune of buying. I know what I'd vote for if the British Railway Modelling awards had a category for worst product of the year. My advice if you are contemplating buying them is simple - don't. Seems the best solution may be to convert them to servo control. Based on the failure rate I've experienced Dapol must have a skip or two full of them from returns. Maybe they could do us a favour and sell them at a knock down price so we can add servos and have a working signal that last more than 5 minutes.

Oh dear, just got one and the yellow paintwork as awful on power and dummy car. Think I'll be returning it. Hope it is a one of and not an issue for the whole batch. Very disappointed. The yellow on the nose is a different shade to the side, there is a thin line of thick yellow along the top edge along the side and the interface between the blue and yellow on the front is neither straight nor clear

Quite a line up. Well done Hornby. It looks like war has been declared with the release of more 66s. I wondered when the list would end as I scrolled down. The 91 will frustrate some, my first thought was it was a bit cynical they've been flogging the "toy"91 for years then Cavelex announce one and Hornby announce an updated one of their own. Is that what it takes to get Hornby to update some older models they were happy to produce for years. Can't help but think of what Simon said to Rails or Hattons on the James May documentary re the Terrier or the 66s, it's just business or words to that effect. However maybe I'm being too cynical as the same arguement couldn't be made for the APT not aware of anyone else developing one at the moment. The retooled 47 may mean I can remotor some old detailed Lima 47s I have if the bodies fit.

I am sure I have the DVD, whether it is the Railfreight Today one or a general Rails Around Scotland I cant recall at the moment. Up to the late 80s all I remember seeing was pairs of 20s on the MGRs through Dunfermline going to and from Longannet. I do remember seeing sub sector 37s (single Class 37 on an MGR) possibly around 1990. I am not sure if I saw 56s myself or have only seen video or photos. I think I did see them but this was after the 37s had a go. I had always considered 56s as an English loco and found it unusual to see them on the line to Longannet. If my memory serves me correctly and if the video info is correct, it was something to do with coal coming up from England.

Remember both classes if DMU at Waverley in the mid 80s. For the last decade I have been hoping Hornby or Bachmann would do them, especially a 3 car blue 104. Maybe this decade they will be announced and maybe they'll arrive somtime next decade. The all blue was like the Strathclyde livery 107s and 101s a wee change from the more common blue grey on 101s which made up the bulk of the DMU services at that time.

Couldn't agree more!. Sorted.

We are delighted to have been shortlisted for fourth time in a row for the British Railway Modelling Awards. If you enjoyed our 2019 exhibition we hope you will join is again for our 2020 exhibition and vote for our 2019 exhibition.

You may well be right, it was the arrival of Sprinters that hastened my departure. I lost interest in going to Waverley once 158s had replaced the 477s.

Happy New Year and thanks for posting your photos they are really appreciated. I spent many happy Saturdays at Waverley in the mid 80s, 85 to 87 or even 88. Never saw anything as exotic as a green Peak though. The Red Stripe 37 is sitting in the loco holding siding between Plt 16 and 17. When I was there that was used by locos about to take the next Dundee service North from Waverley. Glad to see this topic has been resurrected again.

If anyone coming to Model Rail in Glasgow this February fancies a quiet pint in a local pub, probably best not to start a discussion about when Rangers were formed! Back to trains. Mk2b or c that is the question. Surely that's not too much to ask.

Seems the answers to all my questions can be found on this Boxing Day special video! From around 5 min 20 sec mark.

How do these Railroad 125s get on with a full rake of 8 mk3s and a dummy power car? Hornby and Lima mk3s as the latter appear to be a bit heavier and my Lima 125s struggle at times to pull a full rake at times. Thanks

Quick update, the original Lima chassis does have the wee plastic lugs along the side, despite what I assumed in an earlier post. As such and going by the internal photos of the Railroad 125 I am pretty sure the Lima body will fit directly onto a Hornby Railroad chassis. Good news as a result of a bit of trawling the internet I have tracked down the part numbers. Chassis X9968, Motor bogie X9870, and front bogie X9881. Bad news i haven't found anyone who has them in stock.

Thanks Miles for the photos, much appreciated. The You Tube video was good and has inspired me to go for a Blue Grey set, this was not my plan initially when it was announced last year especially with the black cab roof in the publicity photos. From the outset I did think it would be a chance to get a better motor though for at least one of my Lima sets. I have a 6 x Lima Blue Grey power cars already (3 powered three dummies) and I think the same number of Intercity livery power cars. I really liked Intercity Swallow but it is (just) out with my time period. I use to love being at Waverly standing next to a departing HST. The sight and sound of the front power car opening up next to you, the screaming Valenta, then as it picked up speed you would start to hear the rear power car as it approached you – happy happy days. I always preferred the shape of the Lima over the old Hornby. There was something about the shape of the nose in particular which I think was better. The Lima HSTs run on my layout with a full rake of 8 x Hornby Mk3s. The blue and the light grey are a little different but is barely noticeable but it is not as crisp as the Railroad livery application. It is the motor that lets them down a bit. The wheels have to be kept spotless for it to run with a full rake at a convincing speed. Having seen the video and the photos I think I will go for a Railroad Blue Grey set, on the assumption the motor and wheels are an improvement and the fact the livery shades between the Hornby Mk3s and the power cars will be a closer match. The Intercity ones are a bit more problematic, Hornby are not doing an Railroad InterCity livery at this time and secondly the shade Hornby used previously is noticeably different to my rake of (flushglazed) Lima Mks3s in Intercity livery. I did try a replacement CD motor before but it did not end well. It was a 3v version and it is maybe not a surprise. I will try one of the 12v versions from Strathpeffer Jn for the Intercity liveried power cars and see how I get on. Once I get my hands on a Railroad Blue Grey one, one of the first things I’ll do is see if the old Lima bodies fit on it. The body and connections looks the same but the chassis is definitely not. If I do decide to marry a Lima Intercity body with the Railroad motor it looks like I’d need a chassis, motor bogie and a front bogie as I suspect the old Lima front bogie with the pin will not fit. Any chance of a photo of the front bogie with the speaker moved out the way?? In the meantime would still appreciate it if someone can let me know if their old Lima body fits directly onto the new Hornby Railroad chassis.

Thanks, it is all a bit confusing, original Hornby, full fat Hornby, Ex Lima Hornby and Lima! I've only looked at bits of the video so far. I had realised at times he was comparing his new Limby to an old Hornby whilst he was also comparing it to the full fat Hornby as well. I was comparing his Limby with my Lima at home and am pretty sure its chassis does not have the same lugs along the side. That said the brief view I got if the inside looked to have the same tubes into which the chassis screw attach on my many Lima HSTs.

I've only seen them run as 4 x TSO with a 47/7 and DBSO all in ScotRail. This was for a particular diagram Mon to Fri, or 3 x TSO with a blue grey Brake Second and a non 47/7 in charge. These were on Edinburgh Dundee services. I have only seen both described formations on video circa 1986. There is one such formation near the start of this video. And am pretty sure there is one in this video too.

There has been progress and some ballasting is not far away. I rebuilt the frames of the main scenic boards after noting a slight rise and fall over the cross beams. Now I know where the points, colour lights etc go I rebuilt it with full length supports. This has improved the view at track level. I have installed modified Eckon signals, (IMHO) they are the most realistic and fitted them to the brilliant Heathcote Electronics. They are inter locked to points etc. Any, some photos a trackside crew installing point motors with a 37 ballast train in the engineers siding. A class 20 waits to be called upon at one end of the 40ft layout.

Thanks, that is interesting. Will have a look at my Lima chassis as I don't think it has all the lugs on this one. The body may not have the recesses for them.

Farewell To Thy Greatness. That was the age of the train.

Does seem a little odd, but as you say there does not appear to be any service sheet available for the previous Railroad 125. They do exist for other Railroad locos. If anyone gets a Railroad 125 , can you post the a photo of he service sheet if there is one. Thanks.