Dapol / Miller project HST model due 2016

[ohlavache]

I'd like to precise that I was not saying that £350 were exaggerated for 2 locomotives and 8 coaches. It's not.

What is exaggerated is to have only one set proposed with 8 coaches (most of them useless when you have a small layout) instead of a set with 2 or 3 coaches and another one with additional coaches.
This would lead to a lower "entry ticket" (is that idiomatic in English?) and then be affordable to many more people. The chance to be successful would be much higher, including for the Miller Project.

[davidinyork]

I'd like to precise that I was not saying that £350 were exaggerated for 2 locomotives and 8 coaches. It's not.

What is exaggerated is to have only one set proposed with 8 coaches (most of them useless when you have a small layout) instead of a set with 2 or 3 coaches and another one with additional coaches.
This would lead to a lower "entry ticket" (is that idiomatic in English?) and then be affordable to many more people. The chance to be successful would be much higher, including for the Miller Project.

What would have been a good idea would have been 41001 as preserved with its three matching coaches - one of which is a Mk3b, so Dapol's normal tooling would be correct for this. The RFM is a 4-window buffet so the tooling is pretty much OK for that too, and the third coach is a Mk3a - for which Dapol's tooling is correct apart from the roof detail.

I might well buy the set, but I'd have preferred a 'preserved' set as I never saw the actual prototype set (I'm not old enough!), whereas I have seen the power car in the NRM on many occasions, and have seen it working several times too at the GCRN.

[railsquid]

I'd like to precise that I was not saying that £350 were exaggerated for 2 locomotives and 8 coaches. It's not.

What is exaggerated is to have only one set proposed with 8 coaches (most of them useless when you have a small layout) instead of a set with 2 or 3 coaches and another one with additional coaches.
This would lead to a lower "entry ticket" (is that idiomatic in English?) and then be affordable to many more people. The chance to be successful would be much higher, including for the Miller Project.

Yes... much as I like collecting iconic/protoype high speed trains, GBP350 is more than I could possibly justify for a single train which is too long for me, so no expression of interest.

[red_death]

For those of you who would like a shorter set for space reasons I don't think you will have problems selling off spare accurate Mk3 prototype coaches! Think of all the uses from Royal Train conversions to being used (repainted) in production sets to give a nice bit of variety!

Cheers, Mike

[Karhedron]

Also what's the difference between half yellow and full yellow ends? Only thought it had one livery.

Easier to show than explain.

Original livery with half-yellow ends.


Later livery with full yellow ends.

[Karhedron]

Dapol just posted the following on their FB page regarding shorter formations or individual power cars.

We spent a long time considering this, unfortunately it only works economically this way; unsold carriages would impact the profitability (i.e. the miller groups funding) and too few would leave collectors unhappy. Likewise developing the catering vehicles would increase the cost substantially. As this project is intended for charitable purposes we have to ensure that it works financially in one production run since there will be no others to offset costs with.

Seems a shame but I can understand their reasoning.

[davidinyork]

Did the full set ever actually run with full yellow cabs? I thought they only got these in test use (with APT power cars, etc), after the prototype set had been disbanded.

[Karhedron]

Did the full set ever actually run with full yellow cabs? I thought they only got these in test use (with APT power cars, etc), after the prototype set had been disbanded.

The custard-dips ends seem to have been acquired circa-1978. With the production fleet in mainline operation, I cannot find any pictures of the prototype set in service, just the power cars.

[davidinyork]

Did the full set ever actually run with full yellow cabs? I thought they only got these in test use (with APT power cars, etc), after the prototype set had been disbanded.

The custard-dips ends seem to have been acquired circa-1978. With the production fleet in mainline operation, I cannot find any pictures of the prototype set in service, just the power cars.

I've posed the question on the HST forum. There are several people on there who will be sure to know for definite.

[Snowwolflair]

From Dapol re catering cars for HST

Hi David,

Thank you for your email and support.

I am not sure about crowd funded projects, it is not really our thing. However, I would say if enough people asked for one and we felt the demand justified it, we would look at this project seriously ourselves. Our initial feeling was demand probably would not be there in the numbers required, which may be a mistake on our part. Let us see if we get enough requests in, to change our position.

Kind Regards

     

      Joel Bright
      Director

so start sending in your requests

[Adam1701D]

There were two ex-prototype HST Trailers that became Open Firsts in a production set on the ECML. they gained the normal HST interior but never the raised chrome window surrounds. I certainly saw them often in Kings Cross in Executive and later Swallow livery.

[davidinyork]

There were two ex-prototype HST Trailers that became Open Firsts in a production set on the ECML. they gained the normal HST interior but never the raised chrome window surrounds. I certainly saw them often in Kings Cross in Executive and later Swallow livery.

Only the TRUK was scrapped - all the others still survive. One open and the TRSB are in Network Rail's NMT, two TSs are with FGW and two TSs and a TF with Virgin East Coast (there have been some conversions between first and standard over the years). They are easily identifiable as they don't have window frames, and they still retain the original type of roof vents (HST trailers converted from Mk3a carriages also have these roof vents, but VTEC don't have any of these).

Of the VTEC three, the TF is the front carriage in set EC56, and the two TSs are in set EC60 - normally the second and 4th carriages from the back if the set is in its usual formation. Apart from the lack of window frames and the roof detail, they look like any other HST trailers and have identical interiors.

[Bob G]

o start sending in your requests

Have emailed my request for buffet cars already
I don't think I need them frameless, just reversed blue grey.

And I really want to be one of the first 150. Perhaps they need to extend that special list that gets a signed model to 252?

Bob

[ohlavache]

On Dapol's page on Facebook, Karhedron posted an interesting picture coming from an even more interesting web site. Here it is.
With the page on the HST Prototype: http://www.traintesting.com/HST_prototype.htm
And the home page: http://www.traintesting.com/

I didn't know this web site. So I share it with you.

[davidinyork]

o start sending in your requests

Have emailed my request for buffet cars already
I don't think I need them frameless, just reversed blue grey.

And I really want to be one of the first 150. Perhaps they need to extend that special list that gets a signed model to 252?

Bob

I'd need to check, but I'm not sure that the buffet cars had frameless windows - they were built a bit later than the open carriages and I think they might have had window frames.