norfolkchinaclay

It was my comment saying they were being decent. My reasoning being that they were offering a solution albeit not a perfect one. I agree it’s certainly not the ideal solution in the circumstances. Perhaps things may change if enough retailers were to return all their stock (if they can) or lean on Dapol to get new shells produced correctly.

Re 47363 it was a Thornaby special to start with, a non standard variation of Railfreight Grey with the white stripe etc. not full Red Stripe Railfreight. As i recall it carried the white Thornaby Kingfisher logo initially as did most of their locos at the time. I cannot recall whether it ever received the colour Kingfisher logo. Lima produced a model of it back in the day as I had one and repainted it into triple grey Railfreight sector livery as 47600 Dewi Sant/Saint David. Over 30 years ago now… At the time Thornaby locos were often featured in the pages of Rail Enthusiast/Rail magazine so might be a source of images.

This is decent of them (Dapol). My dilemma is the bodyshells have to be returned prior to end of August, but I would rather wait to see what the quality of the work looks like when it is completed (by Dapol) in case it might be better not returning the shell and putting up with the missing handrails. I do not want to return the shell for anything less than a factory finish afterwards. A replacement shell with factory fitted handrails would have been the ideal solution.

Definitely, just with all of the right handrails in all of the right places..!

The Accurascale ones fill a number of specific gaps for me in terms of type (37/6) and livery so am very much looking forward to those arriving. Whilst the new Bachman versions are significantly more expensive, I would not rule out getting one of those too but only if it were one I “need” to fill another gap. So looking forward to their August announcements but based on the pre-production samples yesterday it looks like the BR green, BR blue/Scottish and GSYP are likely to be well catered for. My real disappointment with the previous Bachmann 37s has been the continued deterioration in quality/volume of the speakers in the factory sound fitted versions. The oldest one I have, 37425, is still the best for volume and clarity, newer 37884 is not quite as good and 37800 was even less so. My others have now had upgraded speakers fitted. Hopefully the new twin speaker set up in the new Bachmann versions will be much better, and the type specific sound profiles and improved lighting are nice to have. It will be interesting for us all to be able to compare the Accurascale and all new Bachmann 37s directly against each other.

Have to confess I did not write down the various traders prices this morning as I wasn’t interested in buying either of these 37s but if I remember correctly I saw the cheapest spec version of 430 in the low £200s with at least one trader. Might have been the typical 15% off list. I got a brand new 20314 factory sound fitted from Kernow for £224.99.

Some good show only discounts with retailers on these first two livery releases at DEMU exhibition this weekend (as well as other show discounts on other items) so well worth a visit, as well as for the layouts! Edit: having had chance to watch the Bachmann YouTube video tonight, 422 is a collectors club only model which was available from the Bachmann stand so the discounted prices I saw today could only have been for 430.

Ooh, good point, 815 is green now isn’t it! And owned by WCRC I think.

Thanks for the heads up as I hadn’t seen the post under the RoS thread. It is a stunner but already got too much on preorder elsewhere! 😕

Can you imagine what will happen to this thread if/when they do announce some more, it’s already at 218 pages… If someone else takes on their tooling at least it will be a new thread.

One to add to the list please Fran…

This was my first, and I paid for the DCC sound fitted version too so it is a little disappointing. In comparison to what H. have missed/removed/deleted from their recent Class 60 models it seem pretty minor though. I am not a class 68 expert and I admit I had not noticed that these handrails were missing from the model compared to the previous versions.

I did this afternoon having read about this issue here and they have asked me to confirm my address so they can be sent out when the handrails are available, which I have now done. I will have to ask my fitter/technician whether he can install them for me or whether it is likely to cause too much damage to the finish! I am not very keen on heavy weathering. Be far too fiddly for me to attempt it with my eyesight.

Anything in ROG livery is good for me, 37/5 or 37/9! 😀 Mind you 688 “Great Rocks” as running now would also be very tempting..

Have recently got this book Jim to help me track your adventures and photo locations 😊 Photos of any stabling roads, refuelling points or unloading facilities are always of great interest!

@Accurascale Fran ..and beyond Fran? You’ve been watching too many trailers for Lightyear! 🚀 Mind you, your new product developments are light years beyond some other manufacturers! 😀

Ah so the photo of the single line with the tree across it wasn’t at Landor Street but at the Donnington terminal?

Hi Jim Where does that single line with branch across it lead to? There are no tree lined sidings or headshunts at the terminal are there? Alex

My KBAs arrived this morning. They look fantastic. The packaging is excellent and looks very smart too! Hope to get them on my layout soon once Ive moved the home office around again.. First class job guys, thanks Cav & Alex. Alex K.

I have already received a very nice email from Dapol confirming that these sound fitted class 68 models have definitely not been cancelled, but they are still only available to pre-order direct from Dapol via their website, at least for the time being.

I pre-ordered one of 68016 sound fitted direct from Dapol in April last year. I have not received any emails from Dapol telling me that this model or my order has been cancelled. I have emailed them tonight asking what the situation is.

My six wagons arrived today. Parcel was that heavy I thought it was something completely different..! Not had chance to fully unbox them yet but looking very good so far!

Yes RE R&D centre is at Bruntingthorpe a few miles away.

In its defence, the Triumph Factory Visitor Centre is free and we’ll worth a visit even if you aren’t into motorbikes. If you are, then the factory tours (for a very small charge) are also well worth pre-booking for. Being relatively new to the area, I find the town centre interesting to walk around for its varied architectural styles. There are a few good small independent retailers and some nice places to eat too. The Battlefield Line is just a few miles away, and Statfold Barn is only a few more. I know what you mean though. I spent 40 years living in the same town I grew up in and it’s never been quite the same as I remember when I go back.

Apologies to Andy. Did not see the item below posted 23 hours ago when I checked this morning… How did we all miss it?!