REM77: Stunning layout features, top news!
Inside RAIL EXPRESS magazine No. 172.
In the September 2010 issue:
• Comment: The Scalefour Society’s annual exhibition is under new management and this year sees a radical re-evaluation of the format with a good proportion of the layouts attending now representing scenes from the last 50 years. Exhibition manager Terry Bendall describes the line-up, which moves the show up into must visit territory.
• News: Bachmann reveals that it is to produce the six-car Midland ‘Blue Pullman’ in 4mm scale, while the Class 40 will also receive a retool. The same company’s Scenecraft range expands with modern scenic accessories. Graham Farish drops Class 222 DEMU project. A second retailer/manufacturer partnership in the form of Hattons and Dapol steps up to offer the pioneer diesel pairing of 10000 & 10001 in ready-to-run plastic.
• Reviews: Another pair of important new products aimed at the modern modeller are released in the form of Bachmann’s two-car Cravens Class 105 DMU and Dapol’s IFA/IKA two-unit low-platform ‘Megafret’ container flat. We take a closer look at both items and see how they stack up.
• Layout feature: Due to appear at Scaleforum in September, we visit Birmingham Moor Street, the project of the West Midlands area group of the Scalefour Society. This model of the terminus platforms of the West Midlands station has some superb working features so be sure to check it out!
• Exhibition diary: Our usual listings of the shows coming up over the next month which feature diesel & electric era layouts.
• Serial: The secret of successful exhibition appearances is to have the confidence that your layout will run consistently for hour after hour in front of the public. The Barrowmore boys tackle one of the key elements behind Mostyn’s superb reliability in their column this month.
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RAIL EXPRESS Modeller 
I do agree that dapol have simplified their Megafret wagon but for the RRP of £24.95 it is not bad. Last time I looked at a Brawa version it was £90 and of course under scale for OO. Plus there does have to be some compramise in design when you have some people modelling with streamline points and some with settrack. I have settrack points and some wagons struggle to stay on track including Dapols FEAs which even at slow speeds and with weighted containers on them still wanted to fly off the rails. Fair enough maybe if Bachmann had made them we wouldn’t have had these problems as their intermodal wagon is still one of the best but we would only have 1 or 2 a year and not 4 running numbers clean and 4 weathered .
Now all we realy need are some weathered containers
because weathered wagons with clean containers just doesn’t look right!