What did you do/receive on Christmas Day ?

Bachmann Royal Scot
Bachmann 9F
Die cast Metal Model car kit (Seems to have brought the inner 6 year old out).
A razor
A neat screwdriver set
Lots of sweeties
A Nice 8-in-1 multi tool
and a game (Splinter Cell: Double Agent)

I Bought my Dad

A Dapol 14xx (N Gauge) Lovely runner, So quiet too.
and a Dapol Autocoach (N gauge)

I was given (self chosen!) single chimney early crest _very_ black, in fact so black I think it makes Darth Vader look rather grey!, Bachmann 9F. This has now had the recommended one hour forwards and one hour reverse running in and a Kadee fitted to the tender - it just needed some 10 thou plasticard to remove the "slop" in the coupler pocket. The coupler mechanism bears remarkable resemblance to the one on the tender of my Hornby A4.

I also received 3 Bachmann Mk1 coaches in crimson & cream, all with Eastern region running numbers. I hitched those up to my V2 so they ran one circuit whilst the 9F pounded around the other pulling the 10 Parkside kits I have made over the last couple of months.

One surprise was a book - "The Train, a history in photographs". I've only dipped into this so far; there is a wide range of photos, such as a broad gauge train passing under the bridge at Teignmouth. I'm not entirely sure about the text yet. One caption I've read has a typo and another is just plain wrong - unless my geography is completely up the creek, the bridge at Conwy does not connect Anglesey to the mainland. The photos cover the globe, there is a picture of "The Ghan" train that Neil has mentioned in a previous thread.

All my offspring were home for a Christmas break from their studies. I came close to winning Cluedo once or twice but didn't get the roll of the die.

Thankfully there were no domestic emergencies, just some gentle "steam management" in persuading a slightly aged pressure cooker to do its business on a traditional home made Christmas pudding.

David

>The 9F is lovely isnt it?
Absolutely!

>has anyone noticed the 9F is very sensitive to bad joints on curves?
Can't help on this one. I've only run it on two foot radius+ curves, half of which are Peco code 75, so no problems. Part of the "running in" circuit has a code 75 Electrofrog double slip except that I haven't wired up the centre angle yet, so there's a dead section about 1.5 inches long on one side. The 9F didn't miss a beat even at a reasonably low speed.

>re pulling power.
I will be trying the "ultimate" test later when I hook up my CMX clean machine. My other locos all struggle; the A4 copes the best but there can still be a lot of wheel slip.

If you are modeling BR steam, you could do a lot worse than get one these Bachmann 9Fs.

David