Jump to content

Iain's occasional drivel, moans & groans


ba14eagle
 Share

Recommended Posts

17 hours ago, mick said:

Very impressive looking locomotive! It's a slippery slope....😉

Are you still planning on getting some of the Darstaed MK1s?

Hi Mick.

Not anymore. I saw the pre-production Dapol Mk1 coaches at the recent (4 or 5 weeks ago now!) Kettering show and they looked impressive, so I will be waiting for the second batch of these to come out - but it maybe a long wait! The reason I'm waiting for the second batch is that they will be slightly different in having beading around the windows, which is correct for 1970's vehicles. The first batch from Dapol don't have this beading, making them correct for the 1950's / 1960's - or is it the other way round? 😂.

I have pre-ordered a Heljan GUV from the next batch, which should arrive later this year and am keeping an eye on auction sites for other parcels stock - particularly a Southern B luggage van and a GW Siphon G. These will all be in rail blue - I think either would be a good subject for a new r-t-r release from Heljan or Dapol.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh dear. It's a slippery slope. But all the rules go out the window with On30. Do whatever you fancy.

Warning, the scale takes some getting used to, the rolling stock does have a tendency to bump into line side structures!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

Help! Lockdown has finally struck a blow - Ive bought a job lot of On30 from Hattons...

I think you need some urgent therapy! 

Take a few deep breaths, close your eyes and picture yourself calm. See your body relaxed, and imagine yourself working through a stressful situation by remaining calm and focused.......

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, mick said:

I think you need some urgent therapy! 

Take a few deep breaths, close your eyes and picture yourself calm. See your body relaxed, and imagine yourself working through a stressful situation by remaining calm and focused.......

It seemed a lot of rolling stock for very little money - I only hope Hattons haven't mislead me in their description!

On another subject, I recently ordered 2 packs of the all new :-?, singing and dancing Hunt couplings. Superfast delivery, but, unfortunately, the pack of straight close couplers weren't fit for purpose :cry: When pushed into the NEM pockets of both Hornby and Bachmann coaches, they pulled straight out - this happened to 7 out of 10 pairs. They are going back for replacement - lets hope the replacements are better produced.

The other pack was for non NEM fitted stock - these work brilliantly and were a doddle to fit, although they are a little on the long side, not giving close coupling. I am using these couplings on my 1S19 set, so there will only be 2 big gaps, between each of the 2 pairs of sleeping cars - either side of these, the shorter couplings reduce the gaps.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

It seemed a lot of rolling stock for very little money - I only hope Hattons haven't mislead me in their description!

Hattons often sell On30 stuff cheaper than you would expect. Not sure why because it does't come up much. Could be that it doesn't sell unless its priced low.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wickes have delivered the materials for finishing off the last part of the new trackbed, so tomorrow will be concrete mixing day. Hopefully, Monday or Tuesday will be rubbercrete day and Friday, slurry painting day at Summer Hampton. Ive actually got to go to work for a couple of nights then, so tracklaying may have to wait until about Monday 20th. 🤞 Testing part then is sorting out the power supply - im hoping to use a different controller system, so will need to lay out more cable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great to see you've got the materials and everything planned out for the coming week or so. Shame that work has to get in the way!

What are you looking at regarding controllers? I'm curious as to why you need to lay out more cable. Are you delving in to live steam too?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Previously Mick, I just had 2 wires coming out of a multiple terminal block, which fed the circuit in about 3 places. This was at the edge of the decking. I would just take the Hornby Elite outside and stick the wires in the back when I wanted to operate.

I've been thinking of getting a bit more grown up controller for a while (sorry Hornby Elite - you've done me very well and I may have to come back to you old friend!), especially as I'm now going to be driving some pretty thirsty O gauge locos. A friend was selling a Powercab system so I thought I'd give it a go. This would appear to need something of a more permanent set up, in my shed - well the plug in sockets anyway. I suppose I could still just have 2 wires again, but it would be a faff, setting up each time. So the idea is to have a 2 core cable run from the track, into the shed, where the normally layout mounted sockets will be set up. I will still have to take the other bits and bobs in and out each time, but that's no different to setting up the Elite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

Well, my parcel arrived from Hattons and I'm disappointed - several of the items of rolling stock listed as being included in the On30 bundle, arent! Email gone to Widnes...

I'd be disappointed too. It seems you were right to be a bit sceptical about the listing but hopefully it will be resoled to your satisfaction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wondering how you got on with this Iain and whether you received a satisfactory response? My class 66 return was refunded about 5 days after they received the parcel back but that did take into account the Easter Bank Holiday so considering everything going on at the moment it wasn't too bad at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, mick said:

Just wondering how you got on with this Iain and whether you received a satisfactory response? My class 66 return was refunded about 5 days after they received the parcel back but that did take into account the Easter Bank Holiday so considering everything going on at the moment it wasn't too bad at all.

Hattons responded by saying they were very sorry about the error, but the description had been lifted from the new item description and should've been amended. They pointed out that the listing title had said the track parts and controller were missing (shown as present in the description, but of no use to me so wasn't worried). However, the rolling stock items in the bundle were in the photographs and the bundle was priced accordingly, so as a gesture of goodwill, they offered a small refund. I wasn't particularly happy with the amount offered, as I was short of 3 box cars and a caboose. I made a counter offer, but they weren't going to budge. I was also given the option of returning the whole lot for a full refund, but I pointed out to them that a number of detail parts had to be stuck back on after damage in transit, so I didn't want to do that. In the end I took the small refund and put it down to experience - as the saying goes, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!

Trouble is, I am a bit hooked now and have already bought 2 more items of rolling stock off Ebay!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

...Trouble is, I am a bit hooked now and have already bought 2 more items of rolling stock off Ebay!

Sounds like you've found your way onto that slippery slope people have been mentioning!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
23 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

RAILS of Sheffield have a lot of bargains on their website - lots of coaches that might interest you @mick

Are you referring to the twin Scottish packs Iain? I did manage to get the Scotrail Blue/Grey ones some time ago for a similar price and already have the Highlanders. Are there others that I've not seen?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...