SouthernMafia

Just need them to make a wagon with each livery on one side only save me having to buy two rakes....

Thanks for that. Makes sense in the same loco but with a pair of locos I am wondering...

Excellent announcement, missed the Hattons warwells waiting for the Oxford ones so these will be a nice replacement.

Thanks Richard, I've added weight which made a vast improvement but still some work to do. Might need some sort of rubber/dense foam material between the body and the speaker sides. The 70 is done like yours as that's where I got the idea! It's actually a relatively simply install, just need to move and tidy the lighting control switches. Will be doing the same to a 47 shortly. Out of interest, what speaker would be suitable to run in series with an EM2? Might put a small one in the other 73 to give a bit more high frequencies as it is very bassy!

Just a standard 20x40 4ohm 1.5W speaker that I think comes with some of the sound fitted models. I always used to replace them with Alan Butcher speakers which seemed to provide a better quality, but this was all I had available that I knew I could safely match. Sounds pretty good, what are the other matching options?

I've almost completed my EM2 installation into my dummy 73: My first experience of an EM2 and it does sound excellent, but have got to sort a slight rattle. Have also installed an EM1 in a Class 70 in preparation for a reblown chip arriving soon. Couldn't resist putting the MNR 47 in there though and boy does it sound good!

Thanks Nick, I'm going to test on the club layout soon, the TCs are very free runners so I would be surprised and disappointed if it can't manage at least one other.

All seems to be working well:

Thanks, have done a test and seems to be ok. Now to squeeze the original circuit board in somewhere!

Might seem a strange thing to do, but the TC is actually mid conversion to a REP. I've got to the stage of adding a motor (which has been installed - 2EPB) but trying to fathom the electrics. The easy option is to run the motor off a separate decoder, but I reckon there's a way to incorporate into the pre installed PCB and 21 pin decoder interface, but need some help. Google reports that motor control runs off pins 18 and 19, which by my reckoning are the two I have highlighted in the photograph. Before I simply solder to the pins on the PCB, can anyone provide any info on this incase my decoder goes up in a puff of smoke. It looks like the pins are connected to something on the PCB but I have no idea what, and sadly unlike the Speaker pins which lead to two labelled solder pads for installing your own speaker, if there is a motor one it is not labelled. Thanks for any light shed.

Has anyone done a 73 with an EM1/2? Im thinking of gutting one of my Dapol 73s to run "dead" with another 73 as a pair, so there will be plenty of room for an EM2. Got 2 73 chips already but yet to go down the EM route... although I can feel an order being placed any day now...

What about the Bachmann model? Would seem an odd choice to duplicate when there are so many other prototypes left to be modelled. High on my list are the Powell Duffryn PXA steel wagons operated out of South Wales. Interesting prototype and you don't have to have a huge rake, often ran with 1 or 2 to Hamworthy. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/pdufcoilpxa Hopefully someone will do them one day...

Are Oxford at Ally Pally this weekend? If they are, I'd also like to know if there's any progress on the triple pack as I've done the same thing as guys posting above and missed the Hattons boat.

Nice, any chance of those Gypsum containers being made available as a separate product?

Hopefully they've seen sense and changed the pick up situation to Temeraire's mod!

Are the bulk pack pre-orders finished now? I can't see them on the website anymore.

Yes also noticed when I was looking at the lack of fine orange lines on the windscreens, and the lack of cant rail stripe on the sides of the top marker light housing. I'm hopeful these have been picked up as they are missing on all the examples above. Re top of warning yellow/bottom of windscreens, is the yellow too low or are the windscreens too small/high up? Not a huge issue but the easier fix is to extend the yellow up a bit. And yes GB orange looks way too dark, blue looks ok to me.

Looks excellent. It would be nice if the early Wipacs had the colour of the lens already painted on so to mimic the prototype lenses as seen in these pictures when the light is off. Easy enough to paint on but as this is the ultimate 66 it would be nice if it was correct out the box! Similarly the second style as per 66621 would look better with white lenses. Other than that it all looks rather good and I'm wondering how I will choose which one to get first !

Heard the sound for this project over the weekend,and boy are we in for a treat! If you're DCC I wouldn't even consider getting a Non-sound fitted variant.

Day 1 at Southampton has been and gone, not without its problems! But the layout seemed to settle down in the afternoon and we look forward to Sunday. Couple of pics:

Fettled with my 3 Dutch Turbots this afternoon to have a look at shortening the standard NEM couplings (and replace with Bachmann NEMs in line with most of my other stock, find they are much better than Hornby/Dapol versions) Much improved but still a bigger gap than the bar coupling provided by Dapol, but think it's the closest they will get. I will probably run it as a block train anyway so the bar couplings suit me on the inners for whenever I get anymore...! NEM mod on the left, bar coupling on the right. You probably could get the NEM shorter but might compromise on strength.

They appear to have announced Sound fitted versions of the Non-sound fitted models and vice versa. Where the Regional Railways 158 was only available with sound before, now you can get it without. Likewise the NSE 159 can now be had with sound as standard.

Thanks, my preorder was cancelled as I was given dud information, so looks like a very limited run of these releases. Luckily I was able to panic buy from another retailer, saving myself a huge 45p in the process! Also tempted by the Model Rail edition of D6510 with a view to doing 33008 in its late 80s condition, but looks a fair bit of work required to the roof. Hopefully Heljan will re-release on the new tooling.

33056 now seems out of stock everywhere, a certain box shifter tells me they will be getting a limited supply shortly but after that that's it. 33114 is now confirmed as sold out.

Burma Star looks great, certainly tempting! 33114 arrived for me just after Christmas and is superb. These models are certainly a mark up on the original releases and for me all the buffer beam detail being already fitted is a plus, saves a tedious job. Pleasing also that Heljan corrected the bogie tooling to give more depth on the bit in the middle (don't know what it's called) I'm up to 7 now, probably 8 when I give in to 33056! Help!