R3606 Brighton Belle

[ColinB]

Yes, it was a good job I read this site before buying extra coaches for my early Brighton Belle, I really cursed those drawbars, as it is so difficult to connect all the carriages, but I was really grateful once I went to DCC, I only needed one decoder. The only downside is that people know that the early Belle coaches are rare and charge stupid prices for them on EBay.

[Bexhill Donkey]

I have got both Belles - the 1960 version, and the 1967 version. If you have the R3184 1960 version with drawbars then the decoder will control the lights. If you have the R3606 1967 version then the lights have to be on all the time. A disadvantage with this arrangement is that each axle has a phosphor bronze pickup which introduces considerable drag which is too much for the single power car. Since both the power and the dummy are identical, you could have a power car each end as is done with the Bachmann Blue Pullman. However on the 1960 Belle with drawbars, you cannot do this. So there are pros and cons of each version. The 1960 version does have curtains. The 1967 version has curtains but these are the same as on other Hornby Pullman cars. The Brighton Belle had orange curtains.