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Waggon und Maschinenbau railbus


JZ
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Photos of decorated models are now on the Howes website.

 

Wow, they look great! I'm not too concerned about the glitches with the paint finish, as these are probably hand-painted, pre-production models.

 

Time to place a little order, I think...

 

Thanks for sharing the links.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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Nope, Saffron Walden/Bartlow or bust!

 

On the subject of destinations, the above ones will only be featured on the version with larger yellow panels, so I asked Howes if they would be interchangeable, as I intend to buy the two plain green versions which are Sheringham and Witham respectively, although still East Anglia of course. This is the response I got:

 

This will not be possible. the models are supplied with destination boards fitted, and there are no plans for further destination boards.

regards, Heljan UK

 

Not the end of the world but I thought it worth mentioning. Looks like a lovely model though.

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Looks like it bud!

 

I must confess this has never really featured on my radar, but it's less far fetched than certain other pre-orders I've messed about with and I can really see the delightful GSYP version, suitably fettled into an Sc specimen, skulking in the gloaming of Teviotbank's platform canopies like a Borders Crieff or Callander.

 

I wonder what the performance will be like...?

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Have we inadvertently started a new Railbus destination blind game...? :D

 

Keighley - Oxenhope

 

(And before anyone says that's not 'authentic', I believe the W&M railbuses have been operating on the Worth Valley for longer than any other route!)

 

I wonder what the performance will be like...?

 

That's an interesting point - I've just ordered one so I hope it's okay! The real things only have one powered axle but I'd expect the model to have two. Some form of basic compensation would help, too. From what the photos show, the mechanism is certainly unobtrusive, which is a big improvement on some other current DMU models.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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Brian, that sounds very encouraging, and I feel myself getting very drawn to having one. Very drawn indeed. I'm sure they'll invite shouts of 'cliche' when they start popping up everywhere, but hell, if you're modelling Scotland in the 'rescue the branches' era you've got a head start for a W&M I reckon.

 

 

EDIT: please ignore this post (unless you're part of a clique) because I filled it with ill-advised rubbish, see compadre's comments immediately below this tripe.

Edited by 'CHARD
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...but hell, if you're modelling Scotland in the 'rescue the branches' era you've got a head start for a W&M I reckon.

 

Far be it from me to make you look neither funny nor clever (big ;) there), but the Waggonbasher was the one type that never saw service in Scotland; Alston was the nearest they got, and then only briefly.

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Nope, Saffron Walden/Bartlow or bust!

 

On the subject of destinations, the above ones will only be featured on the version with larger yellow panels, so I asked Howes if they would be interchangeable, as I intend to buy the two plain green versions which are Sheringham and Witham respectively, although still East Anglia of course. This is the response I got:

 

This will not be possible. the models are supplied with destination boards fitted, and there are no plans for further destination boards.

regards, Heljan UK

 

Not the end of the world but I thought it worth mentioning. Looks like a lovely model though.

 

You're bust. Cambridge - Audley End

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Mines for a try out out on the Westerham branch. But the talk of destination blind has now got me thinking what they have actually done, Left the blind blank (is their a blank one on the roll) stuck a card in the Windows, nothing and hoped everybody new which way it was going to go.

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I do like Audley End, especially Audley End house and grounds.

 

Yes, a very pleasant place and walking distance from my humble abode! Looking forward to taking my nephew on Santa's train ride on the miniature railway there soon as well.

 

As for 'bigherbs' comment about the actual fitting/construction of the destination blind, closer examination will possibly tell us if it may be a case of carefully scraping around the frame, pulling it out and transplanting with a homemade printed version. From the photo it looks possible but we'll no doubt have to wait and see.

Edited by 00ERmissus
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Yes, a very pleasant place and walking distance from my humble abode! Looking forward to taking my nephew on Santa's train ride on the miniature railway there soon as well.

 

 

Yes, I took my daughters there last year and the year before. Last year was "interesting" as we went on the Monday after the heavy snow fell the previous Saturday - there was still a lot of snow about, which probably kept visitor numbers down. I think it was around minus ten (we were prepared), which made the ride in the open carriages quite entertaining.

 

It is good for children at Christmas, but be warned that the gifts from Santa (custom teddy bears, if that isn't spoiling the treat) are the same every year.

 

 

 

You're bust. Cambridge - Audley End

 

Cambridge because it's returning there after yet another failure in service?

 

Actually it should be Audley End/Saffron Walden, Audley End/Bartlow or Audley End/Haverhill (I'll need to check whether the blinds were swopped round when the railbus reversed at Bartlow).

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Yes, I took my daughters there last year and the year before. Last year was "interesting" as we went on the Monday after the heavy snow fell the previous Saturday - there was still a lot of snow about, which probably kept visitor numbers down. I think it was around minus ten (we were prepared), which made the ride in the open carriages quite entertaining.

 

It is good for children at Christmas, but be warned that the gifts from Santa (custom teddy bears, if that isn't spoiling the treat) are the same every year.

 

Oh dear! Taken an hour ago, can't say I wasn't warned! Is this a replica of the uniform staff wore on Railbus duty?

post-7836-0-09146400-1324210425_thumb.jpg

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Actually it should be Audley End/Saffron Walden, Audley End/Bartlow or Audley End/Haverhill (I'll need to check whether the blinds were swopped round when the railbus reversed at Bartlow).

 

Oddly enough, I've found a couple of photos of W&M railbuses in recently published books with "Colchester" on the destination blind (one at Haverhill, the other at Glemsford), but neither dated (grrr). It seems that the blinds showed destination at both ends.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just for information, there is a photograph of a painted railbus on Heljan's advertisement in the latest edition of 'Model Rail' magazine, but a (better) photo of an unpainted sample in their 'News' section. These are no better than the photos we have already seen on the Howes Models website (see earlier post) but it's nice to know the model is still ticking along and expected in "early 2012".

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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