Hello all,
At the N Gauge International Show recently a few supporters were asking about the Pendolino front lights and couplers.
We have always intended to make the front coupler accessible, so that our model can be prototypically “dragged” either away from the wires or in the event of a failure. For a while Pendolinos were routinely towed by Virgin Class 57 locomotives along the Cambrian coast to Holyhead, while failed Pendolinos are now usually seen in the company of DRS Class 57s.
This view shows how the front cover simply pops out. On the real thing it automatically folds up inside the nose; this proved impossible in this small scale. Our top tip is make sure you don’t lose it!
This clip taken during our trip to Longsight depot in Manchester shows it in action. The coupler deploying in the dark reminded me, for some reason, of the Alien films!
In this exploded diagram I have pulled the lighting components down from their position behind the nose. The red tail lights are illluminated in direction of travel, as are the main headlight (far side) and on the nearside the smaller marker light – coloured green on the CAD. As the image below shows, this is prototypical. The top headlight above the windscreen is also illuminated.
Thanks to Martyn Read for this image showing the lights on:
Finally, this exploded drawing shows the arrangement of the power car. Items such as the PCB board, motor and soundspeaker that are common components are shown simply as indicative shapes; it is not necessary to draw them out in detail.
This image also shows the separate windscreen wipers, roof detail parts and underfloor skirts.