andyman7

I must admit being surprised at this popping up relatively soon - it does seem like the supply woes are being address (a veritable torrent of Mk3s in various liveries have been emerging in the past weeks). Now, if we can only get the blue/grey VEP..... 

Sorry not to check in earlier - but thanks, I think you're bang on, that looks exactly what I've got!

I am curious, but why 2 railroad models from 2 different shops?

I would guess it's called hedging your bets 

Doing further investigations whilst removing the buffers the first and second class coaches appear to be the same tooling

i.e. open up in the same fashion, push fit buffers and have the same layout inside.

The TGS is indeed from a different set of toolings with moulded buffers and I have at present been unable to remove the body to look inside.

Has anybody yet managed to open one of the TGS MK3's ? If so I would love to know how as I don't seem to see away without damage.

The Lima Mk3s were always a challenge to get apart - the roof and glazing are all one piece and it's difficult to get all the windows pressed in enough to get the roof off without something shattering. I'm assuming the TGS is still assembled this way now that Hornby are making them. The 1st and 2nd class coaches are fundamentally different models as that tooling was originated directly by Hornby. As in real life they share the same bodyshell. 

It's pretty much sold out everywhere (until a couple of months ago Hamleys still had one in central London); otherwise put a search on ebay and wait until one comes up at a fair price...

Gordon Bennett, this thread sounds like a chat room discussing the X Files or Area 51 rather than a delayed toy train. Anyhow, I will magnanimously stand back from purchasing any of the initial delivery should the opportunity arise and am quite happy to wait for later batches as with Duke of Gloucester....

Bump!

Quote Simon Kohler's blog :-

 

'Of course it is not the first time that an APT has been produced. Back in 1980 Hornby produced a 5 car APT-P, which was produced both as a train set and a train pack. The launch of the model was approximately one year before the 1:1 version actually carried any passengers other than BR personnel as the train had been dogged by numerous operating problems. However, in 1984 after a great deal of development work the three APT-P trains that had been initially built entered revenue earning service. Unfortunately by then the damage to the trains reputation had been done and each of the three units over a period of time were gradually and quietly withdrawn from service.'

 

With the greatest of respect, COBBLERS!

 

A) The two APTs are very different trains and that first sentence sounds very much like sour grapes to me. And note that Rapido don't get a name check, unlike Bachmann later on.

 

 B)The launch of Hornby's APT-P was the SAME year in which the 1:1 scale version carried it first passengers, as that was on Dec 7th 1981 and I was one of them! I still have the ticket too. There may have been only 13 real fare paying passengers on that first run, but we weren't BR staff. OK, so some of us were EX-BR staff but I paid for my full price ticket with MY money. The P-Trains were taken out of service after a few days, but they were returned to service after a relatively short period during 1982, long before 1984!

 

As for Sun reporters, it was a good thing the prat didn't phone me and ask what the difference between the two tilt systems were. I'd have volunteered to show him, with the aid of a 3000 psi hydraulic hose and a shut-off valve.....

Sorry, I don't quite get this - you quote 7 Dec 1981 as the date on which the APT-P first carried passengers. The Hornby model came out in 1980 (as per SK's column) - that is indeed a year ahead of 1981. Agreed that he is in error about 1984 being the year it went into service.

I was at school alongside the WCML (southern end) from 1973-1980 and remember the APT-P test runs starting in 1980, it was incredibly exciting...!

I think this must be one of the Scalecraft mouldings from the early fifties. I don't know much about them, apart from ordering two from ERG second hand lists but too late.....

Thanks for the tip-off, I don't have anything to compare it with but it's something to go on. It seemed silly to leave it behind for the sake of £2!

I wonder if anyone can help identify the coach pictured below, which I picked up at the Bluebell Railway collectors fair. Body has the warping typical of cellulose acetate mouldings; the underframe trussing/battery box is pressed tin, whilst the bogies are diecast. It is fitted with hook and single chain link couplings, and is really rather nice for the vintage. All suggestions/answers welcome!

At the time of the change to three digit 'R' numbers, Hornby had quite a few models with suffix letters (so, for example, the aforementiooned R59 was, in fact, R59S in it's later incarnations). In the case of the Jinty, BR non-smoke was R52, the version with smoke was R52S and the later LMS red one was R52RS (which as a deluxe version always came with smoke). For the last couple of years of production this became R052 (BR) and R452 (LMS).  

 

R,59 BR Late Crest Lined Green 3MT 2-6-2T 82004 1959-1972

 

 

Of course, with such a long production run, it does mean a large number of variations - double lining, single lining, large crest, smaller crest, Smoke, Synchrosmoke, Magnadhesion added, the very last version with plated wheels........

Five Westerns were built without headboard clips. The other 69 were built with them. So why choose D1026 as the identity of the weathered model when it is one of the five which never had the clips?

 

Geoff Endacott

I think it's called sod's law....

3588 wasn't refurbished until the latter half of 1995 according to my platform 5 books. that was after the abolition of network southeast. also the review in Rail Express Modeller, September 2011, it states the unit carried NSE livery but not the branding or kent coast route stickers. apparently there is pictorial evidence.  so I stand corrected. its a minor livery issue.

i was working for the South Central TOU at the time, after NSE was abolished I can confirm that NSE livery continued to be applied in the absence of instructions to do anything different. Eventually, a 'works grey' finish which some CIGs ended up with, but as I stated above, I was not aware of any VEP ever getting those colours. 3588 must have been one of the last ones done as by 1994 it was very rare to find an unfacelifted unit.

Didn't Hornby propose a intermediate coach for the apt they made? Pity that never went ahead, would have made life easier for those of us with a tilting habit.

The APT Intermediate Coach would have been a likely introduction had the real thing made it into regular service and the model therefore had more success. It didn't progress beyond the idea stage.

Hmm,

I preordered 4, for me I guess I can handle a rise to the £25 mark. Much more and I don't think my wallet could bear it.

 

At this rate I'll have to return to my old hobbies of prostitutes and alcohol....

Just buy two and drink the alcohol in quantity. When you look, you'll see 4....

I haven't checked any lists, but as (accident damage to individual vehicles notwithstanding) no VEPs were withdrawn until the early 2000s, and none remained in blue-grey by the time of privatisation, a process of elimination strongly indicates that 3588 received NSE livery. It's also a refurbished unit, and NSE livery was applied at refurbishment if the unit wasn't already carrying it. I should add that between 1990-2005 I was a Kent Coast commuter and worked for NSE South Central division, so saw an awful lot of the SR slam door fleet!

To be honest, if you're going to have a weakness, it seems much better that it is in an easily-replaceable component such as the bogies, rather than a fundamental error of shape or similar...! Larry's years of experience with the top end of kit built coaches make his comments well worth paying attention to.  

I know quite a few people will grumble at their pre order price not being 'honoured', but the price increase on these models is substantial and the original discount prices would in most cases probably be at or below the actual trade price. As much as I like a bargain, I don't expect any trader trying to earn a living to have to sell to me at a loss when the circumstances are beyond their control.

Quite. Which is, presumably, why people will happily bid more for some items than they could buy them for new or from the manufacturer.

 

I knew of someone who made a killing at Christmas by offering items from Argos - he even nicked Argos' pictures - and adding 10%. When people bid for them he went and bought them from Argos, added his percentage and charged for postage.

 

Or so I was told. Like so much to do with ebay it may not be all it seems.

 

>edit<

Crossed in the post with Darren, but I completely agree. Their idea of a 'rare' Dapol wagon is elastic and liberal...

Given that ebay charge 10% commission that seems a pretty daft business model.....

Wow £5.50 without the coach !!!!!!!!

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hachette-Your-Model-Railway-Village-issue-1-/161337143110?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item2590716f46

Maybe so many RMWebbers bought the issue and threw away the magazine that it's now rare heirloom

I recently bought a Sony action cam and wanted a bogie well wagon to carry it round my railway. Looking on the Hattons website I found that Bachmann does a wagon 33-879A. It has a boiler in it, so clicking on the chat at the bottom right of screen I asked a Hattons staff member how easy it would be to detatch the boiler from the wagon. The girl on the other end said she new little about this but would go and find someone who knew a lot more about models.

Back came the answer, I would have  a great deal of trouble removing it as it seems to be molded as part of the wagon. I thought that sounds odd as Bachmann sells individual boilers.

So still at a loss I headed to my local model shop (40 miles away) and found they had exactly the same wagon. It would require a fillips head screw driver to remove one small silver screw and the boiler and it's supporting cradle comes free of the wagon.

Obviously the Hattons staff didn't take the wagon out of the box and have a good look. So for us overseas perhaps "box shifters" isn't a bad description.

I bought the wagon and the camera fits perfectly I tested the camera in the wagon at the shop which has a small demonstration layout with a tunnel with no problems whatsoever. I notified Bachmann. 

For a query such as that, to be honest you're better off posting the question on RMWeb!

Mine's here too, fortunately I already had R3162 so I've pair of units now  . 

Did you get a delivery tracking email?

Not until this morning, it's saying it's arriving Monday...

Well its turned up quicker than mine then...I was in meetings until just after 1, phoned them and found that the helpline shuts at 1pm Friday so will have to wait until Monday to find out what's happening