Grimleygrid

Always nice to see a 60 on the Lakenby to Scunthorpe steel workings. Not my photo but a great shot by Jim Dowsett on Flickr.

New BBA/BLA painted samples have arrived for evaluation, including EWS, Bauxite and Metals examples. Full update coming soon.

Good afternoon Dungrange, thank you for your post and comments. There will be four different weathered versions of our TEA, the example that you mention will have a heavier weathering finish. This is to offer some variety and try to replicate the weathering similar to those in the links below: Please note that each side of the wagon will be different. The other three weathered versions will be different with similar weathering to the KBA wagons. I hope that helps.

Good evening XChris, apologies for not replying sooner. The order book for pre-orders will likely be closing over the next month ahead of production starting. Please regularly visit our website and social media pages as we will post updates regarding this. Hope that helps.

TEA PAINTED SAMPLES Whilst it has taken longer than we would have liked to receive the painted samples of our TEAs and achieve the weathered finish, we are really happy to showcase the Total TEA, weathered TEA and KBA pre production samples. Visit our website for more information and images of the painted samples: https://www.cavalexmodels.com/tea-painted-samples

THE FIRST AND THE LAST OF THE HAA MGR WAGONS We are delighted to announce that we are producing models of the first and last Merry-Go-Round (MGR) coal wagons for Locomotionmodels. Please visit the below link for more information: http://www.locomotionmodels.com/coming-soon/the-first-and-the-last-merry-go-round-set.htm Please note the illustrations are of pre-production samples and not of the final models that will be delivered. Some parts are missing including the four cross braces on the original bodied version. Further images will be issued in due course.

Hi Rob, A lot of time was spent choosing liveries for the first production run, this was a challenge in itself as I am sure you can appreciate. So many great liveries for a Class 56! We have tried to cover the main liveries, but we were also conscious of not releasing too many versions at once. Transrail will be covered at some point in future runs, rest assured that it is very much in our plans.

Hi Andy, As Cav mentioned earlier, we have kindly been provided with the schematics of the real cooling system which will hopefully allow us to replicate the prototype fan operation on our model. Regarding lighting on our Class 56, for DCC the model will have full independently controlled lighting. For DC operation, microswitches will be used. Hope that helps.

Hi Trailrage, thanks for your kind comments. We are pleased to hear that you like the wagons. Thank you Trailrage and to everyone that has supported this project - it is great to see photos of the models on layouts.

Hi TRAILRAGE, sorry to hear that you had some bogie side frames that were tilting inwards. If you have any further issues then please do let us know. The Land Rovers and chocks look good on the PFBs.

Cavalex Colas Class 56 We are pleased to announce Colas 56049 “Robin of Templecombe” as a part of the Cavalex Class 56 range. With 56049 having alternate cabs following damage sustained to the number two end, we are really excited to be producing this present day locomotive. We wanted to provide an option for the modern image modeller to be able to purchase the Cavalex ‘Grid’ - a big thank you to Colas Rail for their help and for working with us to produce this model. Features of Cavalex Colas 56049: - Rubber sealed cab front windows (Number 1 end) - Partial bufferbeam cowling, side plates removed (Number 1 end) - Steel cab side windows - Diamond mesh side grilles, cantrail grilles and roof grille - Revised roof grilles (above electrical compartment) - Distinctive fabricated cab shape (Number 2 end) - Etched “Robin of Templecombe” name plates - Alternate cab designs at each end with distinctive Colas high intensity headlight Please click below for more details on the project, and how to pre-order: https://www.cavalexmodels.com/cavalex-class-56

Weathered TEA/KBA samples: From day 1 we have set out to innovate and push forward the RTR models we are producing. Not only with innovations never seen before on our BBA/PGA wagons, we want to raise the bar on factory weathering. Whilst it has taken longer than we would have liked to achieve the finish, we are really happy to showcase the weathered TEA and KBA pre production samples. Produced by multiple layers of tampo printing, using slightly different colours and tones; we feel we have achieved an authentic weathered finish. We’re looking forward to showing off more photos next week - as well as the Total grey TEAs.

I thought I would share a link to a very nice photo on Flickr showing two different cab styles of the Class 56, 56069 and 56020:

Hi JSpencer, may I suggest looking on eBay or other such sites for old copies of Platform5's Motive Power Pocket Books. These are perfect for loco allocations and also Railfreight Sector pools. This would be very helpful for choosing locos that would be suitable for your area of interest. Hope that helps.

Hi 66738, yes you are correct. I preferred round myself on the Romanian version.

Hi JSpencer, could I please ask what is your preferred modelling period? Depending on when you are modelling could potentially affect where certain locos were allocated.

You beat me to it! Oh look.... Hope that helps.

Thanks for the suggestion, there are a few others with odd cabs: 014, 029 and 030. I have posted some links below to photos on Flickr (not my photos): https://flic.kr/ps/2hV4Eo https://flic.kr/ps/LSQ2L

Hi Neal, watch this space.....

Thank you Atom3624. Dates are pencilled in within our programme but this is very much dependant on many factors, we will provide further updates as the project progresses.

Cavalex Models are pleased to announce that we have achieved our target for pre-orders and delighted to let you know that our PHA/JGA wagon project has now moved forward to the tooling stage. The tooling stage is estimated to take approximately 3 months to complete subject to changes. We would expect to have the first samples from the moulds within a month of the tooling having been finished. We have emailed all our customers that have pre-ordered the PHA/JGA - if you have submitted a pre-order but haven’t received an email from us please get in touch. May we take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support.

Having seen some posts on the DEMU forum - we thought we’d pop a quick post on to preempt any questions about P4/EM wheels in our HAA. As you can see from the below photo from earlier this year, our HAA takes standard 26mm axle wheels very nicely. The conversion took all of 30 seconds. With all of our wagons this is one of the first things we do when samples arrive, to check no alteration to the wagon is required and that they run just as well as OO wheelsets. Being modellers ourselves (and one of us modelling in P4) we understand the importance of ensuring that all of our models meet this requirement in practice ahead of production.

HAA Project update - June 2021 For the latest update on our HAA project, including the CDA, please click here or visit our website, link below: https://www.cavalexmodels.com/haa-update-june-2021

HAA Project update - June 2021 For the latest update on our HAA project please click here or visit our website, link below: https://www.cavalexmodels.com/haa-update-june-2021

We hope everyone has had a great bank holiday weekend. Look out for the full HAA project update later this week!