Dr Al

Thanks, PM sent. Regards, Alan

Crumbs....I think I might have got the Friday afternoon production - after having had the problem with the coach wheel rectified very speedily by C&M, I merrily fitted all the brake disks and only when placing the coaches into the box after this did I notice something odd with coach 12004 - the glazing rim is only painted on one half of the coach . Same on both sides. Can anyone confirm if this is prototypically correct (I'm guessing it's not and is a mistake) before I contact CM again? Photo (middle coach): If this is a mistake it's again worth checking on yours! Thanks in advance, Alan

Thanks to Mike at C&M for rapidly forwarding me a replacement bogie to solve the thin wheel issue - good customer service! Now I can fit the disks and modify the CO interior... Cheers, Alan

I received mine at the weekend and it's a very nice set. One minor issue I have with mine that's worth pointing out so others can check theirs - one of the wheels on one coach is very odd and appears to have been manufactured incorrectly - it's thin! 2mmFS folks would be very happy, but not quite N gauge standards! Worth a check on your set - I've dropped C&M an email, so hopefully they can just send me a single wheelset or a bogie to save me the hassle of sending the whole lot back. Cheers, Alan

Is it not simply that the coaches weren't actually in this livery for a great period of time before the scotrail livery was applied? Cheers, Alan

Thanks Mike, for simplicity I've just ordered through the website. Look forward to receiving! Just have to wait now for Farish to finish off the set with DBSO and 47! Cheers, Alan

What's the procedure with pre-order/pre-interest - I registered via email desire for a pre-order set, but haven't paid or supplied payment details yet - will you contact those in this position or should I just order a set via the website? Don't want to miss out! Cheers, Alan

Have you tried removing the chassis (it just unclips) and pulling out the seating from below....? Cheers, Alan

Is this new? Their class 20 has something similar, and I haven't heard of any issues with them? Cheers, Alan

I think the bogies can elevate the chassis block slightly on the pickup strips depending how these are bent downwards - if they are bent downwards more on some then those are likely to sit higher. Cheers, Alan

I think the Farish class 14 is a good loco to look at for comparison here - it has the motor mounted centrally, with a plastic cab interior covering it, and motor below the window line. Not sure I've heard any complaints about that arrangement asthetically? Cheers, Alan

Have you thought of using a compact DCC system that could employ either Bachmann's upcoming decoder with right angled pins (I think there was a pic of this on their Jinty thread) or a Lenz one? Would this gain you a little space? (I know it would significantly limit the decoders). Or can the motor be offset to the side (laterally) slightly, to allow the decoder to slide down a cab side and then keep more space in the fuel tanks, or cab free for speakers (ok, trying to think more out of th box here )...? Cheers, Alan

Does this include suitable guiding for the close coupling box for tight curves to keep the box central? (Sorry, I'm still going on about this Dave, but I think it's quite important!). Thanks, Alan

I would urge Dave to aim primarily (thinking N gauge here) at prototypes that have never existed in RTR form, rather than new tools of models that do already exist - there are so many gaps still (particularly steam)! Les' suggestion of an LNER tank loco, e.g. J72 seems a good one, given your experience of small tank locos. Cheers, Alan

This is easily mitigated by shaving a little off the top of the rapido coupler. I've never heard of derailments caused by the couplers though... But alas we are getting slightly off topic here - if Dave does any research/experimentation on this I'd be interested to see the results. Cheers, Alan

I've never had those issues of decoupling with rakes of new Farish Mk1s ***. It's just coupling up to them on curves with something else that doesn't work well. Same with Dapol Gresleys or any such long stock with this type of close coupler. Cheers, Alan *** I should add that I run mine with one short shank rapido at one end for full close coupling.

Thanks Dave - worth playing with some Farish Mk1s perhaps to see the problem - they are guided by the bogies, but only at curve extremes, so the couplers don't align well. Not a great problem in fixed rakes, but can be for coupling a loco up. Cheers, Alan

HSTs have buckeye couplers and no buffers, so the configuration of these coaches is not suitable for that scenario either (assuming you were overlooking the numbering of them). Were there HST versions of this coach coming too? If so, I wonder if they've been printed with only the IC branding rather than the full IC125? Cheers, Alan

Dave, will the couplings be guided by the pivoting bogies? Reason I ask is that on a lot of modern coaches they aren't and hence they don't couple as easily (or not at all) on curves without intervention from the hand from the sky. This is never an issue with bogie mounted couplers as the coupling always remains central relative to the rails and the coupler on the other vehicle (assuming it's also central). I think it's an important thing to consider. Cheers, Alan

They look to have buffers fitted from the pictures. Cheers, Alan

There are no aftermarket spares from Peter's (original Poole replacements only), more likely from BR Lines. The gears are the standard Farish 16 toothers, so I just replace them on the original axles so there is no issue with wheel sizes. Cheers, Alan

Sounds like something in the top gear of the bogie tower - either it's worn or has something lodged between two teeth. Worth giving it a good looking over. Cheers, Alan

Take the bogie frame off (should just unclip) and remove one wheelset at a time. You should be able to identify the offending wheelset from there. You can then check if the gear on it has split, or if there's a little bit of muck or ballast that's stuck between teeth of the gear (can cause the same effect as a split). Cheers, Alan

Bogies should just pull out, without the need to remove the body. cheers, Alan

I disagree - it provides some insight. Plenty other models are selling *above* their retail price secondhand on ebay - e.g. the Dapol panniers, showing the demand for them. The 86s generally are not, even the limited edition blue one, which I've picked up for 30% below retail. That combined with many retailers discounting heavily (CMC recently, Model rail direct recently) - I think that says a lot... Cheers, Alan