Mike at C&M

My thanks to Dave Jones for his work on this project. The fact that no-one has mentioned anything on the forum suggests that we have got it right. The best guide we have for the colour scheme is what Bachmann are already using, the 'OO' scale Class 47/7 in ScotRail colours has been out a while. Bachmann would not confirm they would use exactly the same shades on their 'N' gauge version [we received a polite refusal], so we are working on the assumption that they will. The picture below has one of the coaches sitting on top of the 'OO' 47/7. What would appear to be a slightly lighter shade of dark grey on the 47/7 looks to be down to the fact that the photo was taken in bright sunshine. Under normal indoor lighting, the colours match, but the 47/7 does have a more satin sheen to its' finish.

The livery samples of the 1st/2nd Composite coach and the 2nd Class coach arrived with us today. Photographs follow, and you are more than welcome to comment on anything that may be wrong with them. This is the time to correct any errors, before we authorise production.

Trade website now showing Tarmac and Esso versions due into Margate week commencing November 18th and the NCB version due November 25th. However, be warned. There is a huge amount of items shown for release in November and December, so this may change.

The joys of 'Spam' e-mail.... Today I received an e-mail for "Mr. <Firstname> <Lastname>" But we couldn't find anyone so called on the premises.

Now with the Deutsche Bahn "Zugradar", click on the link below the picture. This shows the position of passenger trains across the whole DB Network. This has just shown an IC arriving at Plattling, although interestingly, there was absolutely no train visible on the webcam. A couple of minutes later, it had apparently reversed several miles back up the line, but with an extended delay showing in the description!

With regard to the Mark 3s, we hope that they will too, although we are more concerned with Farish also getting the 47/7s and DBSOs out around the same time! Our BR Blue Class 86s have now been available for some 3 years, and we still have around 50 left out of a production run of 240. Considering we did 2 different numbers, and many customers then purchased 1 of each number, we too are very disappointed at the length of time it is taking to sell these locos through. After early plans to do further examples, we now have no intention of producing more BR Blue 86s in the future. You must remember that we are in business to make money, not spend money to fill up our shelves with unsaleable stock. Mike, C&M

The NCB and Esso versions are showing on the Hornby trade website as due into Margate week commencing 7th October, the Tarmac one as being due 11th November. Needless to say, this is subject to change.

Quite by accident, I have discovered what seems to be the perfect solution to lighting the platform underneath the canopy. Many of you will have seen the strips of LEDs that can be bought. Lots of pence if you buy a 5cm strip, and dirt cheap if you invest in several metres on a spool. We are currently fitting long lengths to display shelving in the shop, so what will it look like if I try this offcut on my station? Things could not work any better, if I had wanted them to. The strip rests between the roof supports and roof structure, due to the backing strip being so thin, the individual LEDs all fit neatly between the individual struts - there isn't one which fouls the structure. The wiring is simply 2 wires at one end of the strip, rather than the mass (or mess) of wiring I envisaged I might need, and best off all, the LEDs do dim if you run a lesser voltage through them. In this case, about 5V d.c. seems about right, whereas the strip is rated at 12V d.c. And so to the results. Firstly, in daylight, secondly in darkness and finally a close-up of the expected end result.

Roco have come up trumps on supplying the missing parts from the kit, even though it was a limited edition model from some 2 years ago. Chapeau to them for this. The right hand section has therefore been added, as viewed in the photographs here. During construction to this point, I have made a couple of silly mistakes. One of which was not to fit glazing to the first floor windows to one block of the main building. I have therefore made a series of window blinds which look to be fully drawn down over the windows - clearly visible in the above picture. The supports for the platform canopy are now in place. But construction will now pause as I look into how I can fit lighting on to the platform, before the roof is fitted.

The archive pictures which take a snapshot every 15 minutes are all there. Currently 45 degrees Centigrade!

Some of the other webcams on the webcam.deg.net website are also experiencing a few problems. It could be the excessive heat! The one in the centre of Deggendorf is currently showing 44 degrees Centigrade! Quite a difference to the cold weather and floods of just a couple of weeks ago. Shame about Railcam.nl For those not in the know, there was a fire at the property which caused serious damage. In time, they hope to resume service, but it will take quite a while

If you mean telling the Re6/6s from the Ae6/6s, the Re6/6s have 4 bodyside windows between the cab doors, the Ae6/6s have a series of small grills and windows.

Don't forget the ScotRail liveried Mark 3 boxed set and the 'SC' prefix blue/grey boxed set from C&M Models. These are also due out in early 2014

It is surprising what can be achieved when you do a little, and often. The central structure now has all its' external walls fitted, whilst the left hand side in these pictures is also structurally near completion. However...... The (still) green section to the right has not been started as many of the parts are missing from the kit. Roco have been contacted to try and obtain the necessary parts, which I hope they will be able to do. But is they are unable to do so, then this is still at a stage where it can be adapted to exclude this section from the final model. Work on the other sections will also now pause as a number of details such as furniture, people and lighting need to be looked at before the platform roof is fitted.

Beat me to it, Robert. If anyone would like further information, including an order form, then please contact me at sales@candmmodels.co.uk , or phone on 01228 514689 during our opening hours. All those who have already expressed an interest should have received an e-mail from us in the past few days. Mike C&M Models

After several months with nothing being done, I have started to assemble the station building. I have been hunting for ages for a large structure that reflects the character of the Austrian/southern German area, and Roco obliged me with a laser cut card kit of the large station at Mariazell, the narrow gauge terminus of the famous Mariazellerbahn. The picture here shows the box with its' picture of the finished structure. Construction is rather laborious, and requires great care and patience. Mistakes are easy to make, but fortunately those made to date can/will be covered up as construction progresses. This weekend, having finished the three individual structures that make up the main body of the station, They were glued together on the base provided with the kit. Very satisifying to achieve this. A sense of the large size of the building can be gauged from this shot with the kit placed on one of the platforms. The final building will have further extensions on the length. The next stage involves the construction of the individual external walls. The green colour is simply the shell of the building which have the details of the doors and windows upon it, the external walls will be of the off-white colour with lintels and window sill details upon them.

A final question, before I assemble the specification for the coach sets. What were the numbers of the Mark 3 coaches that received 'SC' prefixes when the coaches still wore blue/grey livery? Many thanks to all for their continuing help with this project. Mike

When the project was first suggested, we were unsure as to whether we would be doing the 'FO' or 'CO' in the ScotRail colours, but from the information received, we subsequently decided the 'CO' was the better option. This may explain why confusion has arisen. As for the modelling the 'CO' the correct way round, if someone can tell me what I need to look for on the underframe of the Mark 3 chassis as currently modelled by Dapol, and how this relates to the set up of 1st and 2nd class setup on the 'CO', then I can mention this as I compile the exact specification of the coaches over the coming weeks. Many thanks to all for their continuing help. Mike

The ScotRail stripe set will be issued with the following spec. for the coach with 1st Class. On the outside, it will be marked up as a 'CO', so the yellow stripe will run half way down the coach, and the '1' on the coach doors will be at one end only. the number will be in the 119XX series. However, we then fall back on to the cost constraints of setting up a coach seat moulding for just 200 coaches. So, the 'CO' will come supplied with all 1st Class seating fitted, but we will be able to offer a 2nd class seating moulding for those who wish to 'cut and shut' the two mouldings to give a more accurate interior. Nice find with the shot of 55.005 at York. I knew of specials that ran up to Oban with Mark 3s and 55.021 (I think), but never was aware of there even having been loco-hauled Mark 3s on the ECML.

..... or buy a single loco-hauled blue/grey Mark 3 and change the prefix from 'M' to 'SC'

The Blue/Grey 4-coach set is governed by the standard packaging size. Like anyone else, I would love to get everything 110% accurate, but for relatively short runs (and I won't say how many of each there are, but it is substantially less than the number of 47/7s and DBSOs being produced), we have to stick with the parameters that the manufacturer have available. Otherwise, cost and price soon spiral to a level way beyond what people can afford.

Bomag, Release of the models is not envisaged until early 2014, so there is planty of time to save up for a set. By doing the coaches within a 4-coach boxed set, it allows us to keep the price slightly lower for the 4 coaches.

Thank to everyone who has supplied me with information. We have made quick progress with collating it all, and following a meeting with DapolDave several days ago, the specification is coming together nicely. The major development is that we are now embracing the blue/grey liveried coaches which ran between Glasgow and Edinburgh from the introduction of the 47/7s up until their repainting into ScotRail colours. The coaches will have 'SC' prefixes to their numbers, and this also allows the coaches to be used within WCML rakes as they continued to be used here until they were called into use for the push-pull services. The coaches modelled will be an 'FO' plus 3 x 'SO', in a 4-coach set. If anyone is able to supply me with details of the coach numbers within the Blue/Grey liveried coach formations, I would be very grateful. This can be done by sending me a 'PM' The decision has been made to stick with the original roof moulding that Dapol have used on their Mark 3 coaches. This has been discussed on the thread concerning Mark 3 coaches, and the additional costs involved in setting up for this project would push the cost up too far. See http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/58651-mk3-coach-production/page-6 post#136. For the ScotRail liveried set, we will be modelling the declassfied 'CO' coach. The seating moulding will be that of a 1st Class coach, but we should be able to supply the seating moulding of the 2nd Class coach as a separate item for those who wish to assemble the differing seat patterns in either half of the coach. We are still accepting names and e-mail addresses from anyone who is interested in being added to our e-mailing list. Again, a 'PM' will suffice, or an e-mail to sales@candmmodels.co.uk

Cheers, Jim. And thank you for the link.

Ben A., Thank you for the suggestion about liasing with Bachmann on the colours. Luckily, I am blessed with having an excellent Bachmann rep., and indeed there has been some input from their side too for this project. After all, if people are aware that the full train is available, rather than just the Farish items, they may therefore be more willing to buy the 47/7s and DBSOs, thus increasing the sales of the relevant Farish items as well.