Okay, I love running the Hogwarts Express set and yet I am questioning the way the consist is arranged. Does the combination car, the 20 number run at the end of the consist, or should it be at the front. I cannot seem to locate a definitive reference online or picture. I am wondering becuase it seems to me that the passenger cars on a real railroad were always located as far away from the locomotive as possible becuase of the smokestack emissions.
From the following web site:
http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/harry-potter.htm
The indication is that the brake coach shold be bringing up the rear:
When I was placing my Hogwarts cars on the layout for the first time, I made the mistake of just putting the coaches on the consist in the order that I took them out of their boxes. Apparently how I placed them was a major breach of social etiquette, which my daughter was quick to point out… somehow the numbering on the coaches reflects the seniority of the students who should be in that particular car. In my ignorance, I had (shudder!) somehow put the Freshmen (or whatever the English term is for freshmen) where the Seniors should have been! I don’t recall exact details now, and the Consist Seniority Awareness Coordinator is still in bed so I have no way of getting the info. Just be aware that if you have a big time Harry Potter fan in your house, they will know if the order is wrong!
Have a great Sunday
Tim
That question never came up at my house(grandsons)but I better check the cars and get them right. I too just flopped them on the track.