My first experience with Union Mills models was disappointing; a pre-owned 3F that hated pointwork. Soon put right by the maker and has since run beautifully at all speeds down to a crawl, with a smoothness that is most realistic. I have since acquired another 3F, a "Cauliflower" and a 2P 4-4-0, all of which run perfectly and have legendary pulling power.
Some have said "Well they aren't exact scale models you know!" or "They don't have much fine detail!" But I don't care; the smooth and slow running, their weight and offset pickup system wins it for me and with the fact that they are flat black and not a bit shiny or plasticky, they fit well into my "Grim North" setting.

Colin Heard of UM models, is a very amenable guy, very good to deal with who really does seem to have a most sensible business model for his limited one-man production, focusing on small runs of locomotives unlikely ever to be covered by major manufacturers, perfecting a very effective tender drive and staying away from complicated valve gear. UM models are "solid" and weighty; I'd describe the flawless way they run as "stately" which, to me, is as much a part of realism as fine detail. Also, as he only sells direct, you avoid a retailer's markup so his prices are very competitive indeed..I'll be buying another soon.

I wish I could be converted. Since I run diesels in corporate blue, there's not much chance of Colin selling me a locomotive. That is unless we could convince him to do one or two........

I have 2 and agree with all said about UM and Colin himself. My only (small) beef is I'd like to see blackened coupling rods, wheel rims etc as they look too much like the old Poole Farish stuff did. A permanent marker pen may have done the trick, though.

I've got 5 of his locos and a few of his tender drives powering scratch and kit built locos. It doesn't take much to enhance them a bit, things like vac pipes , filing down the coupling rods and toning down the brightness of them, some may be prepared to replace the cast hand rail detail with wire. My only real hack of one was my T9, replacing the 6 wheel tender with a Fleischmann 8 wheel drive and Langley S15 tender body, I also milled down the cab sides and splashers to make it into one of the "narrow cab" versions (see my sig below) For this one Colin supplied me with a loco in primer at a slightly reduced cost; the UM tender from the T9 was used for a scratch built Drummond K10

I have just the one, a B12 because the old Triang model was my favourite as a young lad.  This one was a very cheap ebay bargain sold as a non-runner (and 10 seconds to re-secure the connecting wire cured that    )



I think the only thing I'd really like to see improved ex-factory is better buffers, eg. turned brass rather than cast lumps?

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I think the only thing I'd really like to see improved ex-factory is better buffers, eg. turned brass rather than cast lumps?

Easy enough to do, cut of the cast ones, file buffer beam if necessary, then drill hole for the brass ones, touch up paint.

Quote from: Dorsetmike on July 13, 2019, 12:31:56 PM

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I think the only thing I'd really like to see improved ex-factory is better buffers, eg. turned brass rather than cast lumps?

Easy enough to do, cut of the cast ones, file buffer beam if necessary, then drill hole for the brass ones, touch up paint.

Yeah but to my mind it's something that lets the models down and makes them look like an old whitemetal kit. Fitting them as standard would just lift the models that little bit.

Solid and reliable models. Certainly they aren't to the standard of detail of the latest Farish or Dapol models but the price differential reflects that, and those that desire closer accuracy are likely the modellers with the skills and knowledge to make the necessary refinements.

I have a few - I look on them as the quickest and easiest starting point to decent models of less common locos. There's no kit equivalent of most, and I couldn't scratch build to the same standard in the same timeframe.
Essential mods for me are blacken the rods, close the loco/tender gap & shorten/reroute the wire, add headlamps, vac pipes and crew to suit.
Buffers and hand rails are considered on a case by case basis. In some cases you can get away with just painting them...

As for the flimsy add on bits that come in a little bag in Farish and Dapol steamers, I don't recall ever bothering to fit them, they seem to be too fragile for repeated handling, and at normal viewing distance running round a layout they are barely visible; to me the only place for them is in a display case, so debatedly a collectors item, mot a modellers. Maybe they should be an optional extra and knock a few quid off the model without them.

I think there would be a market for something a bit less detailed, no provision for DCC and a bit less fragile detail, sort of Union Mills with outside valve gear, and costing not much if at all over £100.

I agree, Mike.

And possibly similar for carriages as well.

Ideal for layouts focussed on operation.

Best wishes.

John

@PLD

QuoteEssential mods for me are blacken the rods, close the loco/tender gap & shorten/reroute the wire, add headlamps, vac pipes and crew to suit.

How did you go about redoing the wiring and reducing the distance between tender and loco, and did you have any issues with turn radius?

I just got my first two UM locos - a Dean Goods and a Dukedog - and it is my intention to detail them a lot. Hence, if any of you have tried this, please share your experiences and some photos! 

Quote from: Doc Pye on July 13, 2019, 06:17:34 PM
@PLD

QuoteEssential mods for me are blacken the rods, close the loco/tender gap & shorten/reroute the wire, add headlamps, vac pipes and crew to suit.

How did you go about redoing the wiring and reducing the distance between tender and loco, and did you have any issues with turn radius?

Generally a new drawbar is made from 60 Thou black plasticard.
Mine have the gap between the loco and tender reduced to approx 1.5-2mm, but they done have to tackle anything under 18" radius. - if you have any tighter curves, you may need to experiment how tight you can go.

The wire is held at the loco end by the retaining screw so is easily disconnected to shorten. I usually re-shape the wire so it curves downwards rather than upwards.

Quote from: Dorsetmike on July 13, 2019, 02:21:06 PMI think there would be a market for something a bit less detailed, no provision for DCC and a bit less fragile detail, sort of Union Mills with outside valve gear, and costing not much if at all over £100.

We've done this discussions several times before. In short, the size of the market is not sufficient for 2 models of a class XYZ to two different standards. In having two different models you double the development and tooling costs, then half the production run size for each which also adds to costs. The unit cost for both versions will probably be HIGHER than the current single spec version. There is no way you could get the RRP for your 'reduced detail' version sub £100, in fact you will probably have to pay more for your lesser specified model...
It only works for Union Mills because they choose prototypes that no one else is likely to touch and not competing with detailed equivalents...

QuoteGenerally a new drawbar is made from 60 Thou black plasticard.

I find one cut from an old expired credit/debit card ideal, a a good deal tougher than plasticard.

Yes! I could add more detail but the "realism" for me is the way that they operate - smoothly and with no jerking. I've found my Farish stuff, with a few exceptions, becomes somewhat jerky when running very slowly and also tends to start with a jolt that would have passengers complaining. Colin's locos will crawl and start slowly and the weight and offset pickups mean they don't have problems with points and crossings. Goods trains, particularly can be run at "scale" speeds; I'm a fan.