tetsudofan

Mike, What you say is the way that things should be done but in this case we are dealing with Dapol....... and they live in a different universe. Dan mentioned above that he was on the phone for at least 45 minutes and once he got through to somebody he got nowhere which, having had dealings with Dapol in the distant past, is no big surprise to me. My local shop, The Hobby Shop at Faversham, is a one man operation. What would have happened to his business if he had to spend 45 minutes waiting to speak to someone at Dapol? Customers could have walked into the shop and probably left when he was on the phone, he could have lost customers who were trying to phone him when he was on the phone etc., etc. He would not remain in business for very long. The only time you get an immediate response from Dapol is when its in their interest. I expressed an interest in one of the forthcoming Black Label models and got an almost immediate email response from Mr. Bright. With regard to the Cl.73s I've already got 4 versions which have not lost any parts, have been run-in on analogue and perform well but, having read many of the comments above, I'm worried about how the locos will run on dcc so much so that I have not yet plucked up the courage to order some sound decoders. Keith

Yipee!!!! Can get some operating bracket signals on my layout at last - been waiting for these for ages. Keith

Bill, The tubes are made by a company in Germany and marketed under the brand name "Train Safe" (www.train-safe.de). The first set of tubes I imported direct from Germany (having met Train Safe at a large model show at Dortmund in Germany) but subsequently my local hobby shop (The Hobby Shop at Faversham in Kent) started importing them to the UK. The tubes are expensive but they do exactly what it says on the tin. They are particularly useful for models like the APT-E which has conductive couplings. Keith

.....o-er, just checked my messages and my number is 11 for sound version. Assuming that the first batch will include both some sound and some analogue versions mine should not be far away. Space already been reserved for the APT-E. Once it's been coupled-up it will stay coupled-up and dust free. Whip it off the wall and it will be on the running line within seconds. Keith

Maybe we got too many ostriches about...... Keith

7 13 16 8 12 9 I'm tired, off to bed...... My Brighton Argus due tomorrow courtesy of UPS Keith

Thanks for that information Mal, it explains a lot. I got the invitation to purchase email from the Museum at 10.30am on January 4th and got an acknowledgement at 11:48am that my order had been processed. At the time that I placed my order I was sure that the message "Due for release Summer 2016 - Available to pre-order" did not appear on the item description - otherwise I would not have paid in advance to order it. That message must have appeared after the initial batch has been sold. Although the wording of the messages that come out from the trading arm of the museum are somewhat confusing at times there is some logic behind it!! Keith

Hi Clive, I am not moaning, I'm just stating a fact. Keith

Just looked at the website and still no sign of the "Instruction Manual" which was supposed to be available in the "Downloads" drop-down menu on the website as from December 19th 2015. Keith

Just got e:mail from Gaugemaster with an invoice relating to my order for the Brighton Argus Cl.73 so presume the model will be arriving here later this week. Fingers crossed that the model will arrive in one piece. Keith

.....surely the only people who can answer your questions are Dapol......... and we know how keen Dapol are to answer questions which they don't want to answer... Keith

Maybe the London Chatham and Dover Railway should have built the Alkham Valley Line between Kearnsey and Folkestone proposed back in 1844 something I had not heard about until I purchased the recently published book on the Elham Valley Railway by Brian Hart (Wild Swan Books ISBN 978 0 953877 12 6). From what I can understand the line would have entered Folkestone from the Hawkinge direction burrow under the SER line somewhere near where Folkestone Central is and the hang a sharp right (towards Sandgate) to end up with a station parallel to the SER a couple of blocks away. Keith

Just fitted my LNER version with a TCS DP2X-UK decoder - runs very smoothly. Coupled the loco up to a short rake of LNER surburban teaks and sent it off for a spin round the track before arriving at the station to handover the train to the waiting Metropolitan No.9 John Milton ........ Not prototypical but what the heck, it looks good Keith

....or you can do what I did, just build it..... at the beginning: then start expanding and add a mountain: and another mountain to get back to ground level: make a land grab on the other side of the garden: .....and many years later you can sit down, relax and watch the trains go round: Looking forward to seeing you layout develop. Enjoy!! Keith

Dave, Return of the European pictures is a great end-of-year present. Looking forward to many more pictures. With many thanks and seasons greetings, Keith

J50s arrived at the Hobby Shop t Faversham whilst I was indulging in my monthly bout of retail therapy. Left with a late crest J50... as well as a Bude. Keith

Can't do that, have not got any buttons to push or a throttle knob to turn....... use my mobile phone wifi'd to my Z21 Keith

That appears just to be the Function Allocation ...... hope the "Instruction Manual" contains more than this... Keith

Collected my D5000 from the local delivery office at 6:40am this morning. Why so early you might say? Well. Royal Mail tried to deliver the model at 8:00am on Saturday but they say I was not at home at that time despite me being propped up in bed enjoying my early morning cup of tea whilst reading the latest copy of "Hornby" magazine......... Another reason for collecting the model so early was that I had a pre-arranged visit this morning from my professional financial advisor (no SWMBO around here ) who controls my pension fund and what I withdraw from the fund to support my model railway habit. I thought that showing him the SWL D5000 and comparing it with the Bachmann D5000 would support my intention to increase my pension fund withdrawals to cover the cost of this and some of the other goodies to be released in the future. My financial advisor knows nothing about Cl.24s but he had no problem pointing out many differences between the two models. He was impressed!! Think he was happy that my money was not being wasted . Now that I've got D5000 sitting in front of me I can't really see why there has been so much talk about the big grill mainly by forum members who have not got the actual model in front of them. The problem, I think, has been caused by the blown-up pictures posted on this thread. Looking at the model I've got in front of me and comparing it with the blown-up pictures on here is like comparing chalk and cheese. In my opinion the blown-up pictures on here make the model look ghastly which it certainly is not. The cab windows don't even look as bad as they do here Looking at the grill in question there are a number of horizontal whatnots, three verticals and one diagonal. Getting out a magnifying glass I can see that the vertical whatnots are moulded in front of the diagonal instead of behind it on the prototype ..... but you really need a magnifying glass to see this. Also, depending on which way the light lands on the model decides how visible the vertical whatnots appear. The chat about pricing is interesting. Last week I got a pre-ordered Rapido FL-9 Electro-Diesel locomotive and, with the pre-order discount from Model Junction, the price came in at £265.50 similar to what I paid for my SLW D5000. This, I think, gives an indication of what you have to pay for models produced to real-world standards and not the dumb-downed standards that mainstream models in the UK are produced to - which the manufacturers perceive is what the UK market is willing to pay for. The interest shown in the SLW model shows that there is a market niche in the UK for this type of model. I don't think the model is being produced as a replacement for the Bachmann model. SLW is introducing a choice in the Cl.24 market. It might encourage Bachmann to "improve" their model but then the price of their model would have to be increased .... and would that go down well with the market. To end I must say that I have no connection with SLW/Rail Exclusive apart from being a purchaser of some of their limited editions. I like what they produce but what does cheese me off is the waffle, waffle sales blurb that emanates from them........and I think their main supporter is overdoing it here. You've got to see the model yourself!! Keith

Jim, The earlier you pre-order the less you pay as Kernow, unlike some other manufacturers/shops, maintains, as far as possible, the price quoted at the time you placed the pre-order. This means that, as you've just ordered the model, you are paying the current price which is more than I will be paying for the model I pre-ordered. As much as I would like to get my pre-order as soon as possible I'm not upset that I have to wait a week or so as I will paying less than you have paid. Keith

Just spoken to Key Direct and the guy advises that all the brake tenders ordered have just been sent out by Royal Mail following the arrival the replacement packaging and should be with us within the next few says. If nothing arrives by next Wednesday was told to call Key Direct and advise them of non-arrival of the package. Keith

Looking at the above postings seems as though 24081 is the favoured loco at the moment....... so decided to be different and ordered D5000 - but then I would do having spent my teens living in south east London within striking distance of Hither Green shed . At the time that D5000 and sisters were shedded at Hither Green wrote off and managed to get a permit to visit the shed ....... but never made it as it was bucketing down cats and dogs all that day and my parents would not allow me to get on my push bike and cycle from Mottingham down to . Wonder how many D5000s I'd have copped if I had made that day . Keith

Have a look at post #1301

Lets hope they offer an option of both power cars fitted with sound decoders with one unit starting up slightly after the other. I've had all my Cl.43 power cars fitted (by Coastal DCC) with sound decoders in each power car - sounds just fantastic as the unit powers by. Keeping my fingers crossed that Locomotion will offer this option. Keith

Bill, Don't forget the EG&SNNR....... Keith