D9502

Many thanks Team Accurascale, lovely wagons and announced just as I was considering cutting up and converting my Bachmann HTA wagons... The detail and finish is excellent, really pleased 👍 Now how about those GBRf Tanoos big white ones too? Perhaps another one for next years 'powering Britain' theme?

Morning Gents, Many thanks for all your considered and thoughtful responses, there's many comments above that resonate and i agree with. I think that if the right opportunity arises in Q1/2022 then I'll go for it. Nothing ventured nothing gained eh? As someone once told me, "this ain't a dress rehearsal..." I'm fortunate that I'm 2/3 way through my working career and so top dollars and the accompanying stress/job headaches/working away from home etc., are no longer important to me, but..... There is an engineering contractor that I've been in touch with and they are looking for people to work on a project starting next year. The downside is that its a much longer commute so i'll pose that question for another wheeltapers thread. >>And get yourself a hobby that requires some thought. Dave, I am in the middle of laying track and then wiring my new layout, so that should keep the grey matter occupied over the festive period!

Like many of you I currently work from home with the occasional trip to the office. During the start of the pandemic I was busy throughout most of 2020, however work dropped off and now meaningful work has been virtually non-existant this year, most of time sheet gets booked to 'non-productive' hours. I have found this a totally soul-destroying experience as I have always had a busy job in other companies. At the moment the forecast for 2022 does not look any better so I find myself looking for new opportunities. However my employer offers very good renumeration, so my question to rmwebbers is, would you trade a good salary for brain dead boredom or look for a new job and take a pay cut? A friend of mine suggested the new job and pay cut, money can't buy you happiness and as he said, as long as you have enough to live off then you'll be OK.

Many thanks gents, appreciated!

Can anyone help identify this OO layout please? I would like to see other photos of it if possible.. I'm sure I've seen it on youtube but can't remember where.

@AY Mod Interesting topic dear leader!* my last holiday (adventure) was to DPRK via Beijing in 2019 and a flight in a very dodgy air koryo aircraft that had no air con. Obviously it’s a guided tour and if you watch the Palin series it gives you a flavour of what it’s like in the worlds most secretive (and repressive) state. The guides were friendly, the food interesting and the weather hot. We we returned to Beijing via train from Pyongyang. After our visit we read up on the true nature of the place, it’s government and regime, the things they get up too... A few few years before we did Chernobyl, a trip to Kiev, beautiful city, friendly people, with an overnight excursion to Pripyat and the plant. Pripyat is a fascinating ghost city but really falling apart now. The new containment over the old sarcophagus is huge. Outside Kiev is a museum dedicated to the soviet airforce, I test my wife’s patience spending hours photoing the hundreds of aircraft parking up there, plane enthusiasts heaven! Kiev station also has a mini railway museum at the far side too. i work for an American firm and they have a list of countries they don’t trade with, Cuba, Syria, Iran, North Korea so we were ticking them off in pre-Covid times.. *the north Koreans refer to their leaders as either founding father, dear general or dear leader for messers Kim Il-Song, Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un. think i’ve remembered that right.

Hi Shoey, The old Lima TEA body is a good fit for the Murco TEA 853xx series, I'm afraid the only route to a TDA is to have a good at scratchbuilding one. The schelerien bogies can be sourced from either S-Kits/Stenson Models/Olivias. Non are quite right for the TEA as they're missing the outside shock absorbers.

An exciting announcement from Bachmann, having just caught up with the thread and the video this is a model brimming with detail. At the end of the video David Parsons says he doesn't think they could have fitted anything more to it, (but without sounding churlish) I didn't see a driver figure! It's a bit of a pet hate of mine to see a loco moving but no crew.

Nice photos Mevaman1. Has anybody noticed the cylinders on the top of the wagon platforms? I wonder what they are for? One seems covered and the other isn't. I wonder if they are carried when empty and used a fixture when the sub-core is in place?

Hi Phil, centre over latches are quicker I think with set up and there’s no danger of forgetting them at home unlike bolts (if they’re loose). no doubt you’ll be pairing the boards together for transport? You could consider making the end transport boards that bit wider to accommodate the depth of latches on the outside of your baseboards. I added castors to the end of my paired baseboards and rolled them into the exhibition venue. Likewise with the end transport boards, I made mine that bit deeper than the baseboards so as and when I took it out of the estate car at shows the baseboards weren't sitting on wet tarmac when it rained. Did you pick up the Tim Horn boards flat pack or were they already made?

Count me in for the Kockum Industrie BVA steel cassette wagons... As well as carrying bloom and billet they also carried the 'Titan' containers too. A 4mm model would need to be die cast, ideally with a removable cassette. Mine are too light and don't track well around corners.

Hi Phil Sad to see AJ mkI go but this will give you the fun of building mkII - whens it due at Cheltenham? Has Mike Walker been in touch? I don't know where you're up to with track decisions? SMP or Peco, but the EM gauge society are selling the Exactoscale OO code 75 sleepers (concrete and wooden) which have a good sleeper spacing. Good luck with the new build Rich.

Hi Fran Thanks for the update and info. I'd been in touch with Stephen about this as i didn't wish to put it in a public domain, he's been very good about this, my query was really whether it was just me or as you've said it affected a whole tranche of parcels. >>Apologies again for the inconvenience caused but unfortunately this situation is outside of our control. No worries, I'm sure most folk will appreciate its not your fault! There's no real rush as I've only just started to build a new layout for these to run on. Kind regards.

Has anyone else had their JSA’s held up in transit due to customs paperwork?

Cav, Alex Great news on the announcement of the steel hoods, BIA, BWA and BXA family. I know its early days but will you be marking them up with the different TOPS codes? Nice to see the BBA proposed in EWS ivery too. I can retire my Cambrian kit-bashed efforts now I am not one for wish-listing but have you considered the DB Schenker MVA too? I don't know how many were converted from BBA chassis, but I think they were used on Peak Forest aggregate flows. MVA 910164 is a box body on a Cambrian chassis. Perhaps something to consider in the future? Or a retailer commision?

Hornby HAA 1. weird floating suspension on both axles, modellers often glued one in situ, mine ran fine but would occasionally wobble as if drunk.. 2. the hopper body was misaligned with the top of the cradle/frame (and that's what really jarred with me - it didn't look right at all) 3. crude brake gear under the solebar, certainly by today's tooling and design standards 4. top of hopper looked wrong, too thick? 5. malnourished buffers 6. i think the rivets or reinforcement was missing for the early builds along the mid hopper body - its been discussed before on this forum somewhere... i.e. the body wasn't right for a particular era, can't remember which 7. no hopper door detail underneath, I know you can't see it when running on a layout but look at the underneath of the Accurascale MMA or Cavalex PGA or Cavalex BLA...or Revolution TEA etc... you get my point. So really although it's (Hornby model) been around for ages its long overdue for a 21st Century upgrade, especially if you haven't got any.

Hello Fran, Accurascale I know its early days but do you guys have some idea of how the models will be finished? The graphic illustrates a new build finish in a more aluminium colour with the body welds being discernable as a series of brown lines whereas the prototype photo shows a more darker grey hue. I think the Farish N scale model was released as per the graphic below.

>>The blue cradled wagons travelled widely. This is Newport in December 2007 I seem to remember reading when one of the Scottish power stations closed some of the Scottish MGR sets migrated south. >>Tempted to order them, but at £30 a wagon they do seem a little expensive, especially when you can get a larger bogie wagon for the same price (i.e. accurascale PTA). When looking at the early bird pricing from Revolution, and early pre-order prices from Cavalex these are competitively costed based the level of individual parts and high standard of finish, something we could only have dreamt of a few years ago. Just remember production costs are rising all the time in China... >>For me though (and many others no doubt), modelling the 70's means I'll be holding out for the the early variants with the internal cross >>braces. I don't know when the HAA cross bracing was abolished or removed but I never saw them. I grew up with Silverdale colliery literally at the bottom of my street and watched in the very late seventies and eighties the trains being loaded and can't recall ever seeing the cross bracing. The wagons took a bit of a beating from the flood loader! I doubt the bracing would have remained in situ or useful for long. I don't know if it was the same at other midland collieries but at Silverdale the train would reverse under the bunker (loader) and the wagons get half-filled then the loco's (two class twenties) would draw forward and the wagons get completely filled. Standing in the doorway of the control room at the base of the bunker and and watching the operator loading the train, with dexterity on the levers he would use the silo doors to create a smooth flat load as the wagons then travelled on the WCML to Ironbridge, Rugeley etc. This would prevent dust as I never saw canopy fitted wagons here. As a kid I was fascinated..

There was a really useful article in Rail Express Modeller covering coal traffic, co-authored by Simon Bendall and Gareth Bayer, RE Nov 2015 #234 covered pre-privatisation era with HAA history and RE March 2016 #238 covered the privatisation era, the demise of the HAA and its variants, what's useful in this issue is the example train formations with HAA mixed with HBA, HCA, HDA, HMA and HNA. I summarised from the articles.. HAA rated for 45 mph, upgraded to 60 mph recoded HDA nos. 368000-368459 with air brake distributor above floor. 1991 HAA conversion for Scotland with added canopy recoded to HCA (142 wagons) HDA conversion with added canopy recoded to HBA for Anglo-Scottish flows (454 wagons) passed for 60mph 1992/1993 HAA conversion with added aerodynamic canopy recoded to HFA for import coal flows (Liverpool, Avonmouth), passed for 60mph 1996 HAA upgrade to brakes recoded to HMA Likewise HCA and HFA upgrades were recoded HNA 2007 Scottish Caledonian blue livery repaints, some with AYR or Millerhill lettering This is not authoritative, only from my own notes when repainting and renumbering Hornby wagons, as it allowed a rake of canopy fitting wagons and a rake of non-canopy. There's faded railfreight red, faded subsector yellow, EWS maroon, Mainline blue, Loadhaul orange, and Caledonian blue that can been seen in the twilight years of MGR flows, so a lot of potential with this exciting release. Here's a photo of a large collection of Hornby models taken back in 2006 when brought along my HAA's to Andi Dell's embryonic Ravensclyffe layout, i think there was over 300 HAA's there, I lost count....

Hold the loco upside down and grip the fuel tank firmly, with the other hand grip the centre of the body and firmly pull the body away as if you're peeling an orange (i.e. lever it away). there should be a slight gap now between body and chassis which will allow you get a fingernail in to prise apart or use a piece of card/plasticard It is a very tight fit so be positive about pulling it apart. There are four clips holding the body to the chassis, two each side directly above the centre of the bogies. sorry i couldn't get a better photo, hand to hold the camera with t'other hand.

Hi Miles I asked this very same question on this forum years ago. The body is a (very) tight fit to the plastic chassis. You will need some stiff card or plasticard and look for where the body overlaps the black chassis. Pull the body back slightly and insert a slither of card/plasticard one side. Do the same the other side and repeat further along the body. Don't go for the cabs, start mid body. If I get chance tonight I'll post some photos to explain better. To be honest although its a tight fit i prefer this than stupidly tight factory fitted screws.

i emailed the 'customer services' and received an automated response. That was a week ago. Rails on the other hand sent an email to let me know my recent order had just been dispatched, other retailers do the same. Poor standard of service really from such a high profile manufacturer, Covid or no Covid.

Hi James, I agree, the WIA articulated car carrier has been sorely overlooked. A few years ago I spoke with both Dapol and Bachmann sales reps at big shows and asked them if they’d consider something like the Arbel-Fauvet car carriers, IIRC I suggested to the Dapol guy that having already dipped their toe in offering multi-wagon sets like the MRA ballast wagon would they consider the WIA? I received a non commital response. So I asked the Bachmann rep, although he wasn’t familiar with the prototype I said that since they’d done the IPA STVA car carrier why not the WIA? He responded that the IPA had taken longer to clear than anticipated from retailer shelves and I don’t think they were ready to do another ‘modern’ car carrier. I think at the time they didn’t really think there was a market for automotive traffic. Now of course RevolutioN have stepped in... i suppose you you have a vested interest with Didcot....? i have considered scratchbuilding it as it as there are drawings in the Ian Allan wagon book, but the articulation and requirement for small bogies has put me off, and I’ll have a go at building all manner of things.

Hi Richscylla i don’t do Facebook so a friend tipped me off regarding Waterside Wagons but there’s been no developments regarding the kits(?) and they’ve announced recently they propose another two wagons too. Jools1959 if I were Cavalex i’d take the bogie and chassis tooling from the BBA and do the BIA/BWA/BXA EWS steel hoods.

I’m not one for wish listing as I prefer to have a bash at kitbashing or scratchbuilding, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Accurascale reused the tooling from the bogie and chassis of their forthcoming tipplers/steel hood and did the green hood CAIB variant (30xx) of the JSA at some point. Would look nice nice mixed with the blue VTG version and Bachman’s BYA hoods.