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What locomotives and rolling stock should be produced first?


eldomtom2
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The arrival of a completely new (to the UK) scale with no prior trade support poses an interesting question that can only rarely be asked: what should be produced first?

 

Hopefully this thread can serve as a container for all the frothing that has been going on in the Peco and Heljan threads.

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Well the 31, 08, Austerity 0-6-0, and 66 have been announced already...

 

My 2d?

 

First, make rolling stock suitable for use with these... and then, other locomotives used in the same areas.

 

Next, consider that Peco has set itself on a GWR theme for their structure kits: so the rolling stock/locomotives should, in the beginning, take that into consideration too.

 

Sure, this wouldn't attract someone wanting to model, say, Scotland... but I think putting the emphasis in the early days on a particular region will draw more people in than if nothing of what's available in model form was ever actually together in one place in the real world.

 

Focus on a particular area (or two) at the outset... once that's taken some root, can always expand into others later!

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15 minutes ago, britishcolumbian said:

Well the 31, 08, Austerity 0-6-0, and 66 have been announced already...

 

 

The 08 and Austerity have been stated as possibilities, unlike the 31 which has been officially announced, so I wouldn't bracket them together at this point.

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2 minutes ago, britishcolumbian said:

As if your comment is better? 😉

It's not I agree, but I should be able to hide a topic I don't want to see and I cannot.

 

But in the spirit of the thread before I leave

Mk1 Suburbans to go with the class 31

14xx, Pannier and 45xx plus Autocoach and B set

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Just now, Michael Hodgson said:

The first locomotive to be produced for a new railway should be a contractor's locomotive so they can build the line.

Working steam shovel?  Full DCC?

 

Sorry, it's very hard to not loon around in this thread.  We all know where it's going: the Accurascale wishlist, but x100 💰😜

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Good question.  The Class 31 was a nice surprise, but I can see the logic.  There's longevity - including heritage lines, plus a wide choice of liveries including Derby RTC (and perhaps Network Rail yellow in the future), as well as a reasonable geographic spread.  Depending on batch size, tooling for the versions without a headcode box may be possible later on too.

 

While not firm announcements in the same way, the possible 08 would also score highly for similar reasons, and is all you need for a micro-layout, while an Austerity could perhaps reflect the popularity of Industrial locomotives in OO-Gauge.  The possible Gaugemaster Class 66 has also got commercial benefits, including European variants.

 

Unless Hornby come in with a starter train set and Setrack, I'm guessing the initial target market will be those who expect matching rolling stock (to today's standards), as @britishcolumbian and others have indicated above: so quality over quantity / variety to start with for r-t-r.

 

Personally, I would welcome a Pannier, B-Set (2 coaches from one set of tooling), and a Toad Brake Van to go with the Peco Buildings, but I do like GW Branch Lines.  My other thought would be something to run under the Catenary announced by Gaugemaster (not just a 66). 

 

I don't usually try speculating, and I'm trying to avoid re-listing the N-Gauge products I remember from the 1970s, but one thing I do know I'd like to see from Peco would be the equivalent of their 009 GR range of couplings, coupler pockets and wagon / coach bogies.  For Narrow Gauge modelling, I find them incredibly easy to use and very helpful.  Keith.

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1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

This is a rubbish wishlist - I cannot hide it!! 😆

 

You lot can think up jobs faster than I can do them! It was because it's a new forum area and the settings are a faff. I've done it now but I'm so tempted to make that a Premium permission across the site.

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14 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

The first locomotive to be produced for a new railway should be a contractor's locomotive so they can build the line.

 

Ooh, a little MW I Class would hook me.

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It's got to be Mark 1's, suburban then mainline. They go with just about anything in the last 60-odd years. 

 

Then some vans, CCT, VEA to VDA.

 

Then some opens and hoppers.

 

That takes us to about 2029.......

 

Personally, I would love to see some 33's, 73's and some 50's/60's EMUs (and DMUs) so I could start the new layout with much more room, but I think I am stuck with 00 for a long while yet.

 

Edited by Mike Storey
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I would like to see 1 item per year, in 12 colours. 

 

Gives me time to save up and plan ahead. 

But also it would be nice if they were surprises, and weren't announced before I can buy them.

And they should be in lots of liveries.  But only the ones I want specific to my era and preferred location.

And whatever it is, I should be able to say it should have been something else.

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Personally I would like something LMS. I'm very tempted to start drawing up LMS wagons and make them available as 3D prints but I doubt the demand would be there. Despite recently turning 60, i don't remember steam so I have to recognise that diesels and electrics are going to be a better investment for manufacturers. 

 

As an aside, has anyone heard of a manufacturer contemplating producing wagon and coach wheels? 

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25 minutes ago, smt009 said:

As an aside, has anyone heard of a manufacturer contemplating producing wagon and coach wheels? 

 

There is also Modmueller in Germany who do wheelsets of various sorts, different diameters, spoked wheels, etc both to NEM and RP25 dimensions... their website, however, is down at the moment with a "wir sind bald wieder da" message (we'll be back soon)... and a US source for a vast array of wheels is North West Short Line (nwsl.com)

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3 minutes ago, Flying Pig said:

and a big hammer to distress the track.

 

I'll just hand lay it, a head start at being rubbish.

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3 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Ooh, a little MW I Class would hook me.

 

An N gauge Pannier has the right wheelbase and wheel size for such a loco in 3mm scale, but you have to reverse it as the middle axle is closer to the rear axle on the MW. Even then it is very tight to get the body on. A TT:120 model of such a MW would be even smaller. It would be pushing the limits of what was possible.

 

Shame, cos I'd go for one too.

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A BR standard brake van, a 16 ton mineral wagon and a 9ft wheelbase chassis kit with wheels and couplings. A chassis kit would require no new tooling (because of the 7 plank wagon) and would kickstart 3D and card models. With modern computer printers it should be easy to produce a wide range of wagons and vans in card or heavy paper stock. Have any details been released about the length (over headstocks) of the proposed PECO 7 plank wagon?

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