mikeharvey22

The bogie is an ELH Optitrack I believe.

Unfortunately the Top Gear models are not to 1/76 scale. I do not know exactly what they are probably 1/50 to 1/60-ish. http://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/shop/showcat.asp?cat=223&Topgear Mike

1V88 was a Saturdays only Manchester - Penzance in 1961 according to this page which shows Bristol Temple Meads workings. Might still have applied in later years but probably not to 1969 given the location of the photo. http://www.alextrack.co.uk/railways/bristol_operations/summer_1961.shtml You will have an interesting search on to identify all the supplied headcodes to trains. Good luck. Mike

The 3D printed PXA has an update in message 290 on this topic:- http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/50852-3d-printed-warwell-now-includes-other-wagons-military-industrial/page-12 Mike

Oxford April releases include some new castings:- Bentley à la Ivo Peters, Dennis RS fire appliance, Morris Marina, Austin Atlantic, Reliant van, Scammell Pioneer Recovery Tractor all in 1/76 scale, plus some interesting reliveries, and plain white trucks. http://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/shop/showcat.asp?cat=58&Latest+Releases Mike

http://media.solnet.co.uk/oxford/globe158/files/globe%20158%20ebook.pdf The March new releases are shown here. Another source indicates that the Bedford OWB with BR markings will also arrive in March. Mike

http://www.altaya.fr/coleccionable/camions-d-autrefois.htmlTry some of the continental partworks which tend to be 1/43. I have a Ford (Ebro) ET7 and a Bedford FOYD,and there is a Bedford TJ coal lorry. Maybe a bit old for you but coal merchants used their vehicles well. Info about the Bedford coal lorry here. http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=353576 It is in the French series. See picture 35 here:- http://www.altaya.fr/coleccionable/camions-d-autrefois.html Altaya have done this series of lorries in Spain and France. They often appear on Ebay and the prices are not unreasonable. Mike

Couple more Toy Show pictures here showing unreleased castings in 1/148. VW Minibus, Citroen 2CV, Ferguson Tractor, Fordson Tractor, Bedford removals lorry, and the raw casting for the Bristol Lodekka before amendment and polishing. http://www.modellbus.info/swm_2013_oxford_05%20Kopie.jpg http://www.modellbus.info/swm_2013_oxford_04%20Kopie.jpg These come from Rudy Schreiber's model bus site. http://www.modellbus.info/modellbus-neuheiten-2013-nuernberg.htm Mike

The new catalogue is now available online. http://media.solnet.co.uk/oxford/feb-may-2013/files/od%20feb-may%2013%20ebook.pdf Mike

A lot of photos of forthcoming 1/43 and 1/76 castings under the Oxford Diecast section here:- http://www.auto-und-modell.de/ The fire appliances are attractive. Good to see the Bedford OY advancing. Leyland Princess , Triumph 2000, Clearly many of these are early pulls from unpolished moulds but give a feel for the shapes achieved. Mike

February releases shown in the new edition of the Globe available to view here:- http://media.solnet.co.uk/oxford/globe157/files/globe%20157%20ebook.pdf Also a section on page 12 describing new tooling some with photos of well advanced vehicles. Mike

Following the announcements at the 2013 London Toyfair more new castings in all scales are now shown on the "Recent additions" section of Hattons website. Mike

Links to the tables are on this page. They cover 10 year bands listing the suitable models rather than being directly listed by individual models with the year of introduction inidicated. http://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/eras/EraHeaders1_76.htm Mike.

According to page 2 of the catalogue lines 10 and 11 the answer is "yes" to the TGS. Not shown in the Mk3 detail pages though. Mike

Thank you for the clarification Dave. Looking forward to completing my W&SR and Pretendolino sets. Now will the new Chiltern Mainline livery be a possible for the future............? Mike

Is that a plug for the lights which means it can be run on DC with the trailing end lights off in a train?

The John Ayrey website shows some new castings for later in the year. Leyland Royal Tiger coach (1950s), Brown-Bofors gun, CMP army truck, Dennis F8 fire pump escape, Ford Fiesta Mk1, BSA motorcycle and sidecar in 1/76 and Lotus Elan +2 in 1/43. http://www.ayrey.co....tems.asp?id=612

Good news about a shorter coupler (and a longer one for those who need it). Is there any advice on keeping the springs in place better, please? One of mine went walkabout so the pair I bought are sidelined for now. Mike

I think that the pin is the same length as the Microtrains one. But the Dapol coupler sits 1.5mm lower so to clear the track it needs to be pushed further upwards. Maybe my old Xurons will cut through the pin flush with the top of the coupler. All a bit academic for me at the moment as one of the springs in my pair has gone walkabout. I may have an old Microtrains axle end spring that might make a suitable replacement. When I get my bulk packs i will be securing the ends of the springs with some varnish to reduce the risk of losing them. Otherwise this could turn out to be an expensive venture. Mike

I would be surprised if a longer version is needed for most stock fitted with NEM pockets. With mine in use on 228mm curve the buffers of the grain wagons were still way apart. OK they do have close coupler mounts. I also tried them on the two driving cars of a 4CEP and the separation was still fine. In some cases the ideal combination may be one of the current length and one of a shorter length as with Rapidos and Dapol non-working buckeyes. Obviously there will be some instances when even a super super long one would be needed (Farish VGA?) but I would then start getting concerned about the horizontal rigidity of the coupler head anyway. This would definitely affect uncoupling performance and possibly the hold of the couplers on tight curves and/or in long trains. Mike

Whilst waiting for the bulk packs to be delivered I bought a single pair of Easi-shunt couplers. I tried them out on a pair of Minitrix SNCF bogie grain wagons using a length of Atlas track with a pre-installed magnet intended for Microtrains couplers. The whole uncoupling sequence seems to work very well, and after pre-uncoupling a wagon I managed to propel it at low speed round a figure of 8 without it re-coupling. The loco was a Minitrix SNCF 67400 diesel and control was using a venerable H&M Safety Minor! Recoupling was possible on a 263mm radius curve some of the time, and 100% of the time on a 430mm curve. In the middle of a train of 11 vehicles the couplers held tight on a 228mm curve on a rising 1 in 50 gradient. The train did not overturn either! Before trying them I was a bit concerned about two issues. By its nature the magnetic knuckle coupler requires some horizontal stability but it worked fine with the sprung close couplers on the Minitrix wagons. Secondly some of the photos I had seen made it look like the Dapol couplers were overlong so I have compared them with the standard Minitrix Rapido and they are more or less the same length. Closer coupling is possible with the Fleischmann Profi or Dapol's own non working buckeyes (one short, one long). So my concerns were dispelled completely. I think that Dapol are on to a winner here, but I still would not mind a slightly shorter version. Mike