Deltic Progress Report

During a recent interview with Andy York of British Railway Modelling and RMWeb fame, we were described as a duck on a pond; looking calm and collected on the surface while we were paddling furiously and working hard beneath it.

It's a fair assessment as we work tirelessly in the background on multiple projects, such as our highly anticipated Deltic locomotives. Tooling is progressing well and we are able to show you the internal make-up of the locomotive. We design all our CAD in house and work closely with our factory to ensure accuracy and standards are maintained, which sets us apart from other manufacturers. 

As you know, we feel it is imperative to keep you, our customer, up to date, so here is a progress and feature report! 

One of these areas that is of most interest is the DCC sound we are installing. As you can see in the above image, we are as good as our word and installing a twin speaker system, depicted by the arrows. The red area is our main speaker, a nice meaty affair, very similar to the EM2 speakers finding favour with many modellers.

The second arrow points to a sugar cube affair, similar to speakers found in high end smart phones, which will deal with the high end frequencies. This is on the recommendation of the sound engineers of ESU, who have been instrumental in perfecting this sound project. You may have to warn your neighbours in advance when you receive your sound fitted Deltic, as it's going to be LOUD!!!

The placement of the chip is highlighted by the arrow in the image above. It is a 21 pin interface which will be fitted with the very latest ESU Loksound 5 chip for the DCC sound variants, offering a vast array of sound and locomotive functions. Of course, if you are on DC only, the DC locomotive will function perfectly. Indeed, the DCC sound locomotive will also work and provide locomotive sounds, but this will be limited to engine sound only. Installing your own chip for DCC fitting without sound, or your own sound file will also be very easy, with simple body removal and plug and play functionality. 

Another area where we are keen to take our model to the highest level is in the interior. With six body side windows on each side of the Deltic we wanted to recreate that classic sight of the Napier engines behind the glass which can be seen by enthusiasts standing on the platform edge. It's a very distinctive feature and one we were keen to recreate. We have also of course included a fully detailed cab interior, which will feature backlit cab gauges and cab lighting, fully functional with DCC or switches underneath of course for DC users.

Can these details be seen when it is at full speed whizzing around your layout? No. So, why do them? Well, it's because it's there on the real thing, and this is a scale model. But, it's also more than that. We want our models to keep surprising you and keep your interest. We want you to pick up your loco and have a close look, and each time find a new piece of detail you had not noticed before. We want them to be the gift that keeps on giving, so that's why we do it!

Of course, performance is a key requirement, and it's one we have paid attention to. Above is the naked chassis frame, without all the costume jewellery we have added. This is a tungsten alloy chassis. It is more dense than mazak (no ticking time-bomb potential mazak rot!), so it weighs more. This allows us to make a very heavy locomotive for greatest tractive effort, while using less space so we can add big speakers, cab and engine room interior and a large, skew wound, five pole motor with twin flywheels. We are also using helical gearing for smoother performance and superior slow speed control. 

Naturally, the Deltic might be an impressive beast, but it might not be of use or interest to you. Well, don't worry, as all our future diesel and electric locomotives will be built this way, including our highly anticipated Class 92. We also have interesting solutions for steam locomotives, which you will find out about in time!

So, if you want a top of the line model locomotive, this is where you will find it. If you can't resist a Deltic, you can place your pre-order here, and if you fancy a Class 92 to this standard, you can pre-order here. The Deltic is still on course for November 2019, so keep an eye out for more updates in the coming weeks and months! Don't forget the special editions of the Deltic too for the Deltic Preservation Society and Locomotion Models, both in association with Rails of Sheffield. Check out their websites for more info!