What's your latest acquisition?

[xotGD]

I promised myself I wouldn't buy anything till I had a layout to run it.... But this has been on my want list for a long time (a large logo 37 not this specific model), so unfortunately for my bank account I had to get it.... View attachment 185966
View attachment 185965

I suspect that Bachmann model is slightly outside of my price range.

Meanwhile, I have got hold of an example in "Dutch"...



The real thing banked my train up the Lickey one evening back in 1986, paired with 37224.

That may be the last 37 model, but then again...

 

[Sun Chariot]

Good work @xotGD I always liked the Civil Engineer's "Dutch" livery on 37s - I thought it suited their shape.
None of my Lickey ascents in HSTs and 47s yielded any rear assistance - I'm rather jealous of your double-Tractor shove!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

I suspect that Bachmann model is slightly outside of my price range.

Meanwhile, I have got hold of an example in "Dutch"...

View attachment 186114

The real thing banked my train up the Lickey one evening back in 1986, paired with 37224.

That may be the last 37 model, but then again...

I thought you didn't like 37's...

 

[Sun Chariot]

I must be a glutton for punishment as now have three Ratio Bogie B (28T ex-SR) kits in the to-do pile... Date on the instructions on this is Dec 1980, and they are still sellotaped up with the brass etchings inside...

I look forward to your insight on how well this Ratio vintage kit "stacks up" in 2025.
Chivers' all-brass Bogie B is currently on a well known site's Buy It Now option. But it's £56 (incl shipping).

 

[4COR]

I look forward to your insight on how well this Ratio vintage kit "stacks up" in 2025.
Chivers' all-brass Bogie B is currently on a well known site's Buy It Now option. But it's £56 (incl shipping).

Oh no - "The Pile" doesn't need to grow it needs to go down! I still have the Stanier 50' BG metal kit to try my hand at - it hasn't left the box yet as general life gets in the way.

 

[trainmania100]

Thinking about buying the grand central railroad 43 bundle with 5 coaches for £200 from the Hornby website, sounds like a good deal but the fact it doesn't have buffers on the power car is kind of a deal breaker for me. Has anyone had success sourcing and fitting buffers to the railroad 43s?

Come to think of it, the front doesn't even look good either, I prefer the buffer ones where the lights are black.

May just buy the railroad set for £200 and then sell the power cars to exchange for the buffered ones.....

 

[4COR]

So I had some recent findings - a diagram 2110 Maunsell Brake in CLC (wrong box, but I now have enough for a proper Maunsell 3-Set after renumbering - they may masquerade as dia 2102 but they were apparently identical aside from the internal sliding vs hinged door...). Just need livery dates on Blood and Custard now...

Two unfitted Parkside PC15 Grampus (with a third on the way) to start off an engineering train.

An ex-LNER horsebox (Parkside PC83) - race traffic going to Lingfield races! Shame there's no kit for BR MK1 horseboxes - Bachmann do one in BR(S) green, but not easy to come across...

I need to crack on and build a lot of these, or need a very dull winter to occupy time - I still have two part built ex-SR vans loitering for a good 3 months!





Oh, and the accessory detailing kit for the Hornby West Country arrived - will need to get the renumbering/crest/name etc for it in due course.

 

[DJ_K666]

A DCC fitted Bachmann Pannier Tank in BR black.

£35 from Rhuddlan Models near Rhyl. Bargain!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2025 ==

I suspect that Bachmann model is slightly outside of my price range.

Meanwhile, I have got hold of an example in "Dutch"...

View attachment 186114

The real thing banked my train up the Lickey one evening back in 1986, paired with 37224.

That may be the last 37 model, but then again...

Looks nice. The Lima model was fantastic and still is, I have one in large logo grey as well as sn Accurascale example. I'm in the market for more too.

 

[yoyothehobo]

Well, in I have jumped picking up this little cutie on my recent trip abroad. Got it brand new in a second hand shop, so cheap but with all the additional parts new in the box.

Plan to make a static N-gauge diorama for the time being (due to space and time).

Also because the eagle eyed will have noticed that this actually an unpowered car (there were no powered ones in stock at this shop) but there was a whole host of other N-gauge goodies in the bargain bin i had to refrain from grabbing!

I have managed to order the powered car to go with this now i am back in the UK for a not unreasonable price.

 

[Cowley]

I suspect that Bachmann model is slightly outside of my price range.

Meanwhile, I have got hold of an example in "Dutch"...

View attachment 186114

The real thing banked my train up the Lickey one evening back in 1986, paired with 37224.

That may be the last 37 model, but then again...

Nice. I had 37232 from Kyle to Inverness in that livery on the cream and green set back in about 1994.

 

[trainmania100]

Bought the railroad GC 43 rake for just under £200.

First glance it doesn't look like the dummy power car has lights (didn't see any pickups, I could be wrong) but I'll accept that.

The coaches are fantastic value for money given the power cars value at £149.99 a pair. Beautiful livery and comes with an oval type replacement coupler (the power cars however, didn't, so will need to stay as D link). Hopefully runs as good as it looks.

If I can get my hands on a buffered power car pair, I'll flog the railroad ones for £100 and recoup.

 

[4COR]

Lovely! Olivias has the buffered pair of 43s pre-owned - they are not cheap! https://oliviastrains.com/product/hornby-r2705-hst-grand-central-buffers-fitted/

 

[trainmania100]

Lovely! Olivias has the buffered pair of 43s pre-owned - they are not cheap! https://oliviastrains.com/product/hornby-r2705-hst-grand-central-buffers-fitted/

Don't mind spending that but I'm DC only , not sure if the sound would work albeit basic functions. I'm using a HM2000.

Seems bizarre they haven't reproduced new ones. Although if they did I recon it would be at least £50 more than the above

 

[4COR]

Don't mind spending that but I'm DC only , not sure if the sound would work albeit basic functions. I'm using a HM2000.

Seems bizarre they haven't reproduced new ones. Although if they did I recon it would be at least £50 more than the above

I read it that those are analogue - the sound options are just if you decided to fork out the extra for the DCC sound fitting.

 

[Class15]

Apart from not being exactly 100% correct in terms of not having buffers, what is the great issue with the Hornby Railroad power cars?

 

[Sun Chariot]

Apart from not being exactly 100% correct in terms of not having buffers, what is the great issue with the Hornby Railroad power cars?

Other than the age of their (originally Lima's) tooling, those Grand Central Railroad power cars scrub up rather well.
Their motors are, AFAIK, newer Hornby units and not Lima's "pancake" style power plant.
I am definitely out of touch with Hornby's pricing - my Lima blue-yelllow-grey power cars cost me about £12 each (new) back in the mid 1980s.

 

[trainmania100]

Apart from not being exactly 100% correct in terms of not having buffers, what is the great issue with the Hornby Railroad power cars?

It's just the livery and buffers. All the times I saw the GC Hst They had the plain black livery no orange stripe, and the black headlights. They'll be fine for a while but the buffers really are an integral part of the GC fleet IMO. sorry

 

[Sun Chariot]

It's just the livery and buffers. All the times I saw the GC Hst They had the plain black livery no orange stripe, and the black headlights. They'll be fine for a while but the buffers really are an integral part of the GC fleet IMO. sorry

The orange stripes on the real Grand Central HSTs.- power cars and coaches alike - in my view, made the sets look far classier than when the power cars were plain black.

I thought similar, when First Great Western HST power cars were painted plain blue - too much of a single colour; bland.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Bought the railroad GC 43 rake for just under £200.

First glance it doesn't look like the dummy power car has lights (didn't see any pickups, I could be wrong) but I'll accept that.

The coaches are fantastic value for money given the power cars value at £149.99 a pair. Beautiful livery and comes with an oval type replacement coupler (the power cars however, didn't, so will need to stay as D link). Hopefully runs as good as it looks.

If I can get my hands on a buffered power car pair, I'll flog the railroad ones for £100 and recoup.

View attachment 186653

Funnily enough I've got these on order too! Happy to have the non-buffered version so if you can't get buffers for yours and the power cars are going; I'll happily have them at a good price...

 

[trainmania100]

Funnily enough I've got these on order too! Happy to have the non-buffered version so if you can't get buffers for yours and the power cars are going; I'll happily have them at a good price...

Just been running mine, runs very well, even at speed. Shame only the power car has lights. The white headlights stay on all the time, reverse or forward, and the dummy has no lights whatsoever.

But beautiful detail it's a great addition. Spent most of this morning building a new siding to store it out of sun in shade the last thing I want is the windows fogging up from the sun like my EMT power cars...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Just been running mine, runs very well, even at speed. Shame only the power car has lights. The white headlights stay on all the time, reverse or forward, and the dummy has no lights whatsoever.

But beautiful detail it's a great addition. Spent most of this morning building a new siding to store it out of sun in shade the last thing I want is the windows fogging up from the sun like my EMT power cars...

That is a bit disappointing, as the HSTs I remember from my youth had directional lighting on both the motored power car and the dummy.
Disclaimer though, I only ever had a Hornby dummy car. At one point I traded my Hornby power car for a Lima one as the Hornby was a bit underpowered. It worked much better in reverse, and running dummy-first meant more derailments.

 

[trainmania100]

That is a bit disappointing, as the HSTs I remember from my youth had directional lighting on both the motored power car and the dummy.
Disclaimer though, I only ever had a Hornby dummy car. At one point I traded my Hornby power car for a Lima one as the Hornby was a bit underpowered. It worked much better in reverse, and running dummy-first meant more derailments.

These are even more prone to derailments in reverse due to the reduction in flange diameter seen in recent models. I still use my original track from the 2000s and can't run any dapol stock reliably because out of the box they come with wheels with flanges only as deep as a pin head - very bizarre design choice. And I can't replace the wheels because the bogie frame obstructs the increased flange size !
I have a bachmann coal hopper and a modal flat, take a left or right hand turnout and it jumps straight out of the rails.

One of the reasons I prefer running older / cheaper stuff - no derailments / bogie obstruction from high level of detailing. Lost count how many times my dapol falcon JNA bogies get caught / trapped on the underframe pipework and derail.

 

[Ted633]

Finally joined the Class 37 club. 37401 ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ arrived from KMRC this week. Bachmann‘s latest tooling for only £130 is pretty decent. Pictured here on my blue/grey Mk.1 rake. Hopefully the rolling stock I’ve ordered for it to run with will arrive next month from AccuraScale.

 

[Tony2]

Looks superb.

I have the Lima model of the same loco, only problem with that is the gap between bogies and body to stop the wheels fouling the body on tight curves. Lima (and Hornby afterwards with the same moulds) could have opted for smaller diameter wheels to fit under the body but that would obviously cost them more to produce.

I take it the Bachmann model would have the same problem on tight curves?

 

[Ted633]

Looks superb.

I have the Lima model of the same loco, only problem with that is the gap between bogies and body to stop the wheels fouling the body on tight curves. Lima (and Hornby afterwards with the same moulds) could have opted for smaller diameter wheels to fit under the body but that would obviously cost them more to produce.

I take it the Bachmann model would have the same problem on tight curves?

It handles 2nd radius fine, but 1st radius (like the vast majority of modern stock) is a no-no

 

[Tony2]

It handles 2nd radius fine, but 1st radius (like the vast majority of modern stock) is a no-no

That’s good to know, thanks. My son has bought a couple of Bachmann 37s recently, so they will need to be routed on to the outer circuit!

 

[4COR]

You always need more vans... (Ratio SR and LMS):



I do not need any more Standard 4 tanks now!

 

[yoyothehobo]

As promised the arrival of the motorised version of the Kiha 40.

Just need some track to run it on now!

 

[Ted633]

The stock for my 37 arrived today

 

[lrbvoyager]

Just bought a TPE 802 from Hornby.