bacon butty

I sent an email to Hatton's regarding them fitting the DCC and it is their intention to solder and fit this. They foresee no issues. They say they are going to fit one of their decoders. Also as far as crew is concerned for the maroon version the Preiser seated industrial workers look quite good. Preiser part number 10351 - there are a number of places in the UK that they can be sourced from. Hope this info helps.

I sent Bachmann an email earlier this week asking the question and they replied saying it was not possible for them to make provision for DCC due to it's diminutive size. Hope this helps to clarify things. Stuart

Thanks Neil/Phil - I think I'll have a go at making some then. I appreciate the info! Stuart

I know this is off topic but if I decided to convert my class 42 D809 Champion to be D870 Zulu can I purchase a roof air horn casting? If so where can I get two from? What other changes would need to be made as well. Would the MSYP be correct? Thanks for any help with this it really is appreciated. Stuart

It's a long way to go until the money comes out of the account, I've been keeping an eye out on the Hattons pre-order price for quite some time wondering when it would change. £76.46 seems unbelievably cheap in todays cost (check the basic new wagon costs out)... Bachmann website gives a cost of £134.95 so on that basis £115 is a real steal - not sure what Bachmann sell them to Hattons for but I could probably guess it would be more than £76.46. I wonder how many loco's they had sold on pre-orders based on the low cost. Still can't wait for it as it will be a real improvement on the ageing class 42. I just wish there was a full size class 43 around to see and listen to today! Stuart

Unfortunately this seems to be the case with most of the manufacturers right now and not just Heljan. You will see models that in essence look ready to go in full production with just livery samples needing approval, then all of a sudden the release date is at least 6 months on or so. I have seen this on the Bachmann 10000, 10001 and class 43. I guess it's where we are with getting these hi spec models - I'm sure it will be worth the wait... One thing I would say is that over the last year or so Heljan have really raised their game. The 128 for instance is a real quality model. Stuart

Hi Could it be down to quality? Quality departments typically work on parts per million. That seems a huge number compared to a run of say 502/504 as has been quoted, I've also seen runs of 512 else ware (maybe not model railways, it could have been die cast cars)... but what the manufacturer never says is how many is initially actually sold and how many they may keep for if something goes wrong. My guess from reading this forum everything that comes in from model railway manufacturers in this country will have at the very least one item sent back with a problem. The manufacturer then has a little fall back - not much but some. The items that are then sent back to them can have other parts reused as we know has happened before. The company would probably write the cost off rather than the long and costly experience of getting a credit note for something that may have cost £30 or £40 to make. If you take into account it could be a motor that was bought in from a subcontractor it gets more complicated. ie if Oxford get 504 locos and 2 get returned to them with say dodgy motors they could probably ask for a credit note for faulty parts from their unit in China, who then in turn ask for a credit note from their supplier that may even be somewhere like Taiwan. Regards Stuart

Hi Dave When following what has been happening regarding the D6XX project it looks like an injection mould tool was produced to 00 gauge. The photos of the mouldings that are on Kernows website of the nose sections look pretty good, there's a photo of a complete body as well which looks like a moulding. Is the work that has been done on this front now being rejected as the large scale model that was made is now being scanned or has been scanned to work off. In other words are you starting the tooling from scratch or are you adding to the tooling that has been started. This project really interests me - thanks Regards and best wishes Stuart

there's been so much on mud holes that not sure if anyone has fully explained why the shape etc. Mud hole are eliptical so you can remove the plug from the outside, you have either 1 or 2 clamp arms that when tight pull the cover plate from the inside of the boiler out so as to provide a water tight seal. To remove them you undo the clamp arms on the outside, push the plate in and turn 90 degrees and then pull out. As mentioned previous the clamp arms are not always straight it depends how concientious the fitter is who put them back after the boiler inspector has put his head in to have a look around. When the boiler is fired up after these have been removed they will come slightly loose as the pressure of the water/steam pushes out and crushes the gasket, you then give them a final nip up. The cover plate can be a little bit heavy as well... it can be a 2 man job putting the awkward things back!!