D400

First time customer, ordered items on Monday at 11:30, arrived Tuesday 10:42 ! Less than 24hrs later! Very impressed will shop with you again! Bruce

What happened to Steve Brammer? Tried to PM him but nothing. Cheers, Bruce

A nice touch and a believe a "first" for a RTR model is the white tyre slip marks - very nice. Bruce

Afternoon all, After various experiments I thought I'd share my EM2 fit for a class 37. The chassis is milled out at the non fan (B) end of the locomotive and the PCB totally replaced with a custom PCB that I have developed myself. This PCB fits in the original Bachmann speaker location under the fan and adds additional functions AUX3 and AUX4 which are used to control the tail lights. In addition both cab lights are now on separate functions to enable directional cab lighting. A MTC 21 Loksound v4 simply plugs straight into the new PCB. Advantages over the ESU board are there are additional connection points for pickups from both bogies, plus 4 common feed connections to serve both ends of the loco as well as the cab lighting PCBs. Two surface mount resistors are also provided on AUX1 and AUX2 for the cab lighting, on the Bachmann 37 the other resistors are located on the nose PCBs The board is 35mm x 21.5mm to provide a snug fit in it's new location. If anyone is interested I can provide these at cost, though I must stress I cannot provide any cover for any damage to chips caused by using them - use at own risk! If anyone is interested drop me a PM. Cheers, Bruce

Yes they are on the outside of the windows. Bruce

As requested, a few quick iPhone snaps I'm afraid is all I can do. Cheers, Bruce

Well box of dreams arrived this morning. First impressions? Very impressed the level of detail is not something we've seen on a "modern image" carriage before and is welcome - also for the price they represent great value for money. Finish is excellent, particularly nice is the different satin/gloss finish to the two sides of the corridor connections which represents these well. Word of warning: I don't know if these have been "forgotten" but for some reason the footsteps on both my models were only held in place with luck... and promptly fell off! Fortunately all were recovered and simple enough to refit with a dash of superglue - you have been warned!! I have managed to take my TSO apart - something I don't recommend! Body simply clips on, but you need to detach the ETH gear first - the "socket" on the chassis does actually come apart for this purpose, though I don't discover that until afterwards! Also I would recommend removing the couplings from the sockets first, as the chassis bends the close coupling mechanism self destructs and then jams between the chassis and the interior! To solve this I had to remove the interior (3 screws) and then carefully reassemble the mechanism. I can confirm that when apart there does not appear to be any provision for lights, not that fitting lights would be particularly difficult. Colour - I think we were balloted on this if I remember right? It is always a subjective question, only the buff colour really comes into question, and it doesn't match other companies attempts, however looking at photographs and video I would say it is probably closer than other attempts - it is very subtle and doesn't show well in the photos on Hatton's website. On the whole though and excellent model and for the price well worth investing in - as others have said I hope Oxford expand their range sooner rather than later! HST trailers would be particularly useful! Bruce

Hatton's have posted some photos of EPs of Maude on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hattonsmodelrailways/posts/1647481295272296 Bruce

Hatton's have posted some photos of EPs of Maude and the Lord Nelson on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hattonsmodelrailways/posts/1647481295272296 Bruce

Just a another note to say excellent customer service from Locomotion Models - first Duchess of Hamilton had some quality control issues (smoke deflector not straight, glue marks near the cab). Rang yesterday and replacement was dispatched immediately and exchanged for returning item with Parcelforce this lunchtime. So I was never without a model. Excellent service thank you. Bruce

Having fitted an EM2 to a Class 50, your best option is the other end of the loco as where the fan grill is the chassis is narrower than the EM2. Compared to other installations Hornby Class is relativity straight forward, although still a fair amount of material to come out! Bruce

Spoke to Locomotion Models on the phone today. They haven't arrived as yet, but could arrive any day now... Bruce

Did you vote? The model is being offered to those who did (even if you didn't actually vote for 97201) first until the 24th. Un-allocated models will then be available to order from that date. Bruce

*Credit card goes into hiding!* In all seriousness excellent news - I have honoured my expression of interest and turned it into a pre-order. 24s are outside my time frame really but who could resist?! Updated voting results for everyone else as well: Cheers, Bruce

Further to my post above and after main hours of hacksaw work I have fitted my Earth mover to the Hornby Class 50 with Jamie's sounds. A little video of a static test hopefully gives you the flavour of what can be achieved. Bruce

Just a quick note to say I recently purchased Jamie's Class 50 project and I am very impressed - highly recommended - when combined with an Earth Mover 2 speaker it produces the distinctive "Dub Dub" I remember so well. Importantly the driving experience is responsive and variable. Excellent work so if like me you usually stick to one provider of DCC chips, give Jamie a try - you won't be disappointed. Bruce

Now I've noticed a pattern here... Rails seem to be commissioning models of National Collection locos in alternate liveries... while at the same time Locomotion commission the same locos in other liveries... Does this mean we are about to get 46229 from Locomotion as well I wonder.... Bruce

Mine arrived yesterday and I have to say I disagree - a lovely wagon bristling with detail but also has robust feel to it. Very pleased ... shall probably order more... Bruce

Hello all, Can anyone shed any light on the differences between the 3 different version of the 4mm Class 37/4 Detail Parts etches? Not sure which one to buy. Cheers, Bruce

Sorry chaps, I may be going to mad - but is the EM1 speaker available to order online? Can't seem to find it anywhere! Bruce

Just a quick message of support and to say very interested in these. Renumbering with individual water-slides is a pain, and rub-down are defiantly the best option for this task. Bruce

32-391DS 37796 is defiantly also a Select - which doesn't bode well for for future releases - however at the end of the day it reduces costs for Bachmann and I suspect a large proportion of customers won't even be aware they can "reblow" the sound of their locos so I can certainly see this being the way Bachmann go. The Class 37 select decoder isn't terrible but obviously isn't as good as some of the offerings from 3rd party providers. Bruce

Interesting. Because my 32-785DS defiantly has a V4.0 chip has I have been able to read it using my Lokprogrammer. Bruce

Interesting. Yet another new PCB design unless I've missed something. Does anyone know if this is NEM standard now with a common positive for us DCC folks? Bruce