New Class 59

[centenary]

Had a bit of luck on the wagon front yesterday, as I've posted in the 'anyone buying' thread. My most oft used German supplier Modellbahn Union is having a clearout of a lot of wagons, a great deal of them OO. So I got the Yeoman hopper 5 set, 2 Freightliner JHA's and a couple of Ferrywagon telescopic hood wagons for 200 euros which is a fair saving.
The offer came just at the right time I have to say.

Nice one. As I keep saying, shop when they offer a discount!

[SRman]

Had a bit of luck on the wagon front yesterday, as I've posted in the 'anyone buying' thread. My most oft used German supplier Modellbahn Union is having a clearout of a lot of wagons, a great deal of them OO. So I got the Yeoman hopper 5 set, 2 Freightliner JHA's and a couple of Ferrywagon telescopic hood wagons for 200 euros which is a fair saving.
The offer came just at the right time I have to say.

Thanks for the heads-up. I just went and had a look, and put six of the Dapol Yeoman hoppers in at 20 Euros each, less VAT for me: two end wagons and two each of the remaining centre wagons (I'm not too concerned about having the same numbers twice, that can be hidden with a little weathering). Even with 45 Euros postal costs to Australia, that's still a huge saving on the usual prices for these wagons (UK retailer prices in the order of £55 for end wagons and £45 for middle ones).

[centenary]

My preowned 'as new' 59 rocked up via RM from Rails a couple of hours ago. Very pleased at the discounted price compared to new, DCC ready which seem a little hard to get hold of.

It really is as new, still on the blocks, all accessories in the bag. The hook has come off the tension lock but 2 points, there's another in the bag plus, I intend changing tension locks as I cant stand them.

Will give it a test later!

[inoffapost]

Thanks for the heads-up. I just went and had a look, and put six of the Dapol Yeoman hoppers in at 20 Euros each, less VAT for me: two end wagons and two each of the remaining centre wagons (I'm not too concerned about having the same numbers twice, that can be hidden with a little weathering). Even with 45 Euros postal costs to Australia, that's still a huge saving on the usual prices for these wagons (UK retailer prices in the order of £55 for end wagons and £45 for middle ones).

Hey that's great news. Glad you could take advantage of it! I got mine on Saturday,as Modellbahn Union are normally really good on despatch. Yours have to travel a fair bit further but I hope you are satisfied. Service from MU is always good and they have these offers regularly. As OO probably isn't the their biggest customer segment, there are always offers on the UK OO kit. I'll post on here again if there is something of interest.

The Yeoman hoppers seem fairly weighty and substantial and the detail looks great. Haven't had them out of the boxes yet but I have yet to be disappointed with Dapol wagons.

[SRman]

Hey that's great news. Glad you could take advantage of it! I got mine on Saturday, as Modellbahn Union are normally really good on despatch. Yours have to travel a fair bit further but I hope you are satisfied. Service from MU is always good and they have these offers regularly. As OO probably isn't the their biggest customer segment, there are always offers on the UK OO kit. I'll post on here again if there is something of interest.

The Yeoman hoppers seem fairly weighty and substantial and the detail looks great. Haven't had them out of the boxes yet but I have yet to be disappointed with Dapol wagons.

Actually, I stuffed up slightly by not reading the descriptions properly, so ordered four end wagons and two centre ones. I can't complain at that price though, and will look at whether I can convert two of the end wagons to centre versions (remove buffers and fill holes, maybe), or otherwise I'll have them as two short sets of three acting as one rake. I couldn't have got four centre wagons after all as they only had three remaining in stock when I place the order.

I haven't received them yet, but as you said, they do have further to go, and mails do seem to be slow getting out of Germany, often sitting at Frankfurt for some time, according to the tracking info.

My other usual go-to in Germany is the Lippe Modellbahnshop, and I have always had excellent service from them too. Modellbahn Union is now also on my saved seller list.

[centenary]

Hey that's great news. Glad you could take advantage of it! I got mine on Saturday, as Modellbahn Union are normally really good on despatch. Yours have to travel a fair bit further but I hope you are satisfied. Service from MU is always good and they have these offers regularly. As OO probably isn't the their biggest customer segment, there are always offers on the UK OO kit. I'll post on here again if there is something of interest.

The Yeoman hoppers seem fairly weighty and substantial and the detail looks great. Haven't had them out of the boxes yet but I have yet to be disappointed with Dapol wagons.

Actually, I stuffed up slightly by not reading the descriptions properly, so ordered four end wagons and two centre ones. I can't complain at that price though, and will look at whether I can convert two of the end wagons to centre versions (remove buffers and fill holes, maybe), or otherwise I'll have them as two short sets of three acting as one rake. I couldn't have got four centre wagons after all as they only had three remaining in stock when I place the order.

I haven't received them yet, but as you said, they do have further to go, and mails do seem to be slow getting out of Germany, often sitting at Frankfurt for some time, according to the tracking info.

My other usual go-to in Germany is the Lippe Modellbahnshop, and I have always had excellent service from them too. Modellbahn Union is now also on my saved seller list.

The buffers come off very easily! I knocked one off one of mine when removing the tension lock coupling. The tension locks are set lower on the bogie on the end hoppers than the kaydee like couplers on the middle ones.

I cant remember whether the buffers have a small hole on the chassis or are just glued onto a flat surface.

The end hoppers also have the ETL which can be activated without a DCC chip by simply squeezing either the bogie or side of the hopper (says which in the instructions leaflet).

[inoffapost]

Actually, I stuffed up slightly by not reading the descriptions properly, so ordered four end wagons and two centre ones. I can't complain at that price though, and will look at whether I can convert two of the end wagons to centre versions (remove buffers and fill holes, maybe), or otherwise I'll have them as two short sets of three acting as one rake. I couldn't have got four centre wagons after all as they only had three remaining in stock when I place the order.

I haven't received them yet, but as you said, they do have further to go, and mails do seem to be slow getting out of Germany, often sitting at Frankfurt for some time, according to the tracking info.

My other usual go-to in Germany is the Lippe Modellbahnshop, and I have always had excellent service from them too. Modellbahn Union is now also on my saved seller list.

[/quote]

...and already the prices are back upto where they were! I suspect though they won't sell the rest of them in the meantime.There should be another summer sale in a couple of months. I can see me picking up another 5 of them (Yeoman hoppers) when that happens, if they are still there. They look really good.

[SRman]

The buffers come off very easily! I knocked one off one of mine when removing the tension lock coupling. The tension locks are set lower on the bogie on the end hoppers than the kaydee like couplers on the middle ones.

I cant remember whether the buffers have a small hole on the chassis or are just glued onto a flat surface.

The end hoppers also have the ETL which can be activated without a DCC chip by simply squeezing either the bogie or side of the hopper (says which in the instructions leaflet).

Thanks for this information. It all helps. I could fit Kadees to what would become the inner ex-end wagons. It wouldn't really matter if the couplings are lower than the centre ones as they would still mate up properly.

[SRman]

...and already the prices are back upto where they were! I suspect though they won't sell the rest of them in the meantime.There should be another summer sale in a couple of months. I can see me picking up another 5 of them (Yeoman hoppers) when that happens, if they are still there. They look really good.

Yes, I had another look and noted that too. Still, it's worth watching them. I'm in no hurry!

[Bigmet]

... I could fit Kadees to what would become the inner ex-end wagons. It wouldn't really matter if the couplings are lower than the centre ones as they would still mate up properly.

Is the provision to mount knuckle couplers through the buffer beam present on the end wagons? I would suggest this is the better way, a coupler that at least bears a resemblance to the real thing, and in the correct location.

Which takes us to the traction. Now on a different model, the Bachmann 66, it was the work of minutes with a craft knife, file and a small drill to mount a knuckle coupler through the loco bufferbeam: killer benefit, all the pipes and the solid 'air dam' can be fitted for very good appearance. Might well be possible on this model too.

Pleasant surprise time, despite the couplers being above gauge height the automatic uncoupling on Kadee track magnets still worked. I had anticipated having to bend the droppers to standard height above rail top, but this was not necessary.

[centenary]

... I could fit Kadees to what would become the inner ex-end wagons. It wouldn't really matter if the couplings are lower than the centre ones as they would still mate up properly.

Is the provision to mount knuckle couplers through the buffer beam present on the end wagons? I would suggest this is the better way, a coupler that at least bears a resemblance to the real thing, and in the correct location.

At the end of train light end, the buffer beam has no cut out for a coupler. The beam has a few holes instead to mount the brake pipes etc. The coupler at this end of the hopper is on the bogie and mounted lower than those for the inner wagons.

[SRman]

OK, the Dapol wagons arrived from Germany today, so that was quite a fast delivery.

I almost immediately removed the lamps from three of the end wagons, then the buffers and couplings from two more of the end wagons and fitted Kadee #17 couplings. The last end wagon has retained its working lamp while the other three had the lamp irons fitted instead. The last wagon also had its coupling removed and not replaced, with the air pipes and screw coupling added, so this one will now be the permanent end of train wagon.

I took a couple of photos, with the second one showing the effect of having the Kadee couplings within the rake. I can cover the headstocks with some thin plastic sheet later to hide the buffer and screw coupling holes later. I would have liked to fit all the air pipes through the rake, but I think they interfere with the coupling swing, so what might happen later is I'll fit them but cut them off short.

I couldn't pose them with the intended motive power, 59 206 (which is what this topic is really supposed to be about!) because I don't have that at present due to a medical episode I had on Saturday at our monthly BRMA meeting (caused mostly by a change in medication acting in concert with another tablet). I got carted off in an ambulance, so my friends whom I had travelled with to the meeting took my display models home with them - they aren't far away but I haven't collected the models yet. I am alright again, the hospital let me back out that same evening.

I do have transfers available to update the older style markings eventually as well.

[Bigmet]

...I couldn't pose them with the intended motive power, 59 206 (which is what this topic is really supposed to be about!) because I don't have that at present due to a medical episode I had on Saturday at our monthly BRMA meeting (caused mostly by a change in medication acting in concert with another tablet). I got carted off in an ambulance, so my friends whom I had travelled with to the meeting took my display models home with them - they aren't far away but I haven't collected the models yet. I am alright again, the hospital let me back out that same evening.

Good to read that you have recovered unscathed; I think we can happily wait to see the full ensemble whenever you can get around to it.

[Phred]

A most impressive rake, and the Kadee couplings look very realistic.

[SRman]

A most impressive rake, and the Kadee couplings look very realistic.

Thanks. The internal couplings are Kadee lookalikes already fitted from the factory, but with the two converted end wagons, they are genuine Kadee #17s, which seem to give just the right spacing to match the Dapol ones. As the rake passes, you really wouldn't notice it unless you were specifically looking for it.

I will try to get a short video of the 59 hauling them, notwithstanding I am really mixing the periods just a little, with the Yeoman wagons hauled by a DB Schenker loco. Even so, old liveries can hang around for quite a long time after they are superseded.

Also, I forgot I had an old Lima class 59 I updated a bit a long time ago - it tends to get relegated to the stand-by drawer, even though I have fitted the Lima body to a Hornby chassis with 5-pole motor bogie and lights at one end only, but it is very light, and also light-footed. Again, this doesn't quite fit a topic on the Dapol 59, but I'll leave a couple of photos here for effect!