Les1952
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Posts posted by Les1952
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9 hours ago, RapidoCorbs said:
Sounds like a threat...
no, just a chat...
Les
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Mine (an sound-fitted NCB one) did a running-in spell at the clubroom - about 45 mins each way. I got used to the ribald comments about explosions in the cab from the over-bright and too frequent random firebox glow, and will speak to Rapido about this at Warley.
It then went out to Hinckley show with NO PLACE.
Unfortunately it occasionally sticks when it stops running forward, not wanting to start again. Cured by lifting it off the track and jer-jer-jiggling the wheels gently. Not good when it sticks at a show with punters watching,
It has now had another two hours running in forward plus an hour in reverse. Next is to run it slowly along the programming track in each direction to see if it is still sticking.....
Les
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5 hours ago, Porfuera said:
It is in the catalogue as being in Phase 3 or 4 but the more recent "future phases" announcement (from 25th July) doesn't mention either the 9F or the Class 60 and instead has the J94 and 57xx:
I don't think we can necessarily read too much into the "what is in which phase" argument. What we DO know is that there was a starting list, and a lot of the items on that list are at various stages of development.
We ALSO know that each different model produces its own difficulties which mean each progresses at a different rate.
And that production slots have been used up meeting unexpected demand for more of the earlier models
AND China is still having Covid closedowns, skill shortages and other problems we know little about
AND there is still a shortage of shipping containers
and so on....
What we DON'T know because Hornby are not about to give out commercial information that might help possible competitors is how many additional production slots are being shifted to TT:120 rather than potentially less profitable OO or other items- we DO know that TT:120 is generating a healthy profit despite the nay-sayers.
We just need to wait for announcements - and learn that virtue which huge numbers of RMWebbers lack - patience.
Les
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One thing that I picked up from my chat at Gaydon, though it didn't come out as a specific mention is a feeling that some of the design work for the 08 was outsourced to the manufacturing factory and that there are aspects of the 08 they aren't entirely happy with. I stress that this isn't a specific mention but an impression from the conversation.
What I did get is that stuff will be much quicker from announcement to realisation, i.e. announced later. This includes the loco that they haven't announced at all yet (my words, not theirs), which appears to have jumped the queue. Of course this could be something they have mentioned but not put into one of the phases- we will find out when it is actually announced.
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One thing that has been ignored by many when discussing the lesser amount of detail-
In the Hornby TV series one of the designers was talking about scaling down a OO model to TT- you can't just use the shrink ray- not just because the scale to gauge ratio is different but because of thickness and strength of plastic. Some parts of the loco in OO scale are about at the limit of plastic being able to hold itself together when handled. Reduce the thickness of that plastic and it is no longer able to support itself.
One reason I got out of US outline N-gauge was that the newer loco models I wanted (types not in my stock that I needed to make the overall railway work) came with thinner and thinner handrails. Why? because modellers demanded them. Not metal- too difficult to fabricate to correct thickness of handrail knobs and bent too easily- plastic. Each new model was arriving with a polystyrene (expanded or foam depending on the origin) packing piece between the handrails and the loco body. Try getting this out without snapping the handrails- not easy but manageable. Now place the model on the track without touching the handrails. Done it? Just about. Now return to its box- move the box without the packing piece in place- broken handrails.
Don't expect finer and finer detail in small scales- there is a physical limit where the model can't survive being handled- and remember these are trains that youngsters will handle.
Les
As an aside someone could make a fortune making replacement bogie chains for Accurascale Deltics and door bangers for OO 20-ton wagons - the parts that come off almost as soon as the model gets used.....
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UK TT
in Gaugemaster
Just to show UK TT:120 and German TT:120 coexisting on the same track. I will add that while Bregstadt is to be a German exhibition layout in its own right (see thread) it is also being used as a test layout for UK stuff ready for me to start the UK layout in late 2024-early 2025.
And an older vid with UK and Continental stock being pulled over the joint between Hornby and Peco track by a Roco BR38 sourced from 3SMR
The layout is a lot further advanced now and makes its debut at South Notts show next April.
Gaugemaster connection? Some of my Continental stuff in TT:120 comes from Gaugemaster.
Les
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One thing worth mentioning with these couplers.
They work brilliantly on TT:120 stock- the stronger centring springs on the kinematic couplings in the larger scale mean that when the trip pin is pulled off to one side by the magnet the jaws open rather than the whole coupler being pulled sideways.
In addition the greater weight of TT stock means that when pulling the couplers stay coupled, and when propelling the wagons don't tend to shuffle relative to one another, meaning that if the jaws are actually apart (still difficult to achieve) they stay apart until the shunt has finished...
Les
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6 hours ago, MattR said:
Hopefully this will lead to better wheels. I still haven't figured out what it is about the derailling properties of Dapol wheels, if the height/center of gravity or the wheelbase of the wagon has anything to do with it in addition to the shallow flanges. In my experience, the 4-wheel vans and 6-wheel milk tanks constantly derail. However, open wagons seem to work just fine, as do the 21-ton hoppers (although as previously mentioned, rather loud and scrapey).
I have derailment problems at times with empty 21-tonners of all makes. Dapol's are no worse than Hornby's (though there are fewer detail parts to fall off/get damaged..) This is because they are too light to propel through prototypical NCB trackwork - ie rough.
The solution is extra weight wherever it can be added out of sight. In this instance the Dapols are better than the Hornbys as there is less moulded on detail to prevent weights being stuck in place. The couplings I glue in place in vertical and horizontal planes as any movement places the minute neodymium magnet on the dropper in the wrong place to repel the neodymium magnet on the trackbed. I also remove the dropper from one end of each wagon and both ends of each loco.
Les
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10 hours ago, lippy said:
Not a waste if anyone wants to buy them. feel free to drop me a message, However given they're crap runners I don't want the hassle of Ebay disputes.
You only get hassle if you don't put enough detail into the description.
Les
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46477 with sound? I could have sold them mine..
Seriously, nice to see a Darlington engine there.
46477 was built at Darlington, used at 51A Darlington shed, and scrapped at Darlington. I think it qualifies as a Darlington engine..........
Les
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2 hours ago, admiles said:
Maybe but for me its a bit simpler. I look at a model, regardless of scale, and think "does it look like a class XX?" This one doesn't!
I don't know how you know it doesn't as you've already admitted you haven't seen it.
I've seen the model close up and I've seen far too many of the real thing for a North Easterner. To me it looks just like a class 50 should, and that makes it a class 50.
Still out of my region and time frame so I'll not be having one, though I am sorely tempted....
Les
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7 hours ago, Hobby said:
Perhaps for pulling or pushing stuff round R1 curves you'll need some movement with that type of coupling which is different to the hook and bar coupling seen on 00 stock? I can't check to see as all my curves are minimum R2!
My front kinematic coupler mechanism disintegrated so I glued the coupler back solid. The loco performs exactly the same pushing with the solid front end as with the kinematic rear. It is very short which helps.
Les
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Not a loco for my collection, I'm afraid, but it looked fantastic and bodes well for the future ones that ARE on my shopping list.....
Deserves to be a really good seller.
Les
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1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:
Why is a front end coupling redundant on an 08? The front end was the end that spent far more time than the cab end coupled to something. I wouldn't mind betting that coupling at the front end probably occurred for well over 80%, and probably even as much as 90%, of the total hours these locos spent working. Hint - they were best used for shunting with the nose end towards what was being shunted hence you'd find Up & Down yard etc pilots the opposite way round from each other in a yard.
It is not the coupling that is redundant but the kinematic mechanism - the two air tanks mean it hardly moves at all.
Les
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I had a chat with one of the guys on the Hornby stand, giving some feedback on the 08 and what could be improved in future 0-6-0 chassis in terms of running-
I did learn the following.
The J94 is ON for 2025, probably an open secret.
There is another loco coming earlier than this that has not been announced or (he thought) included in any of the "phase" lists.
21-ton hopper wagons are in the pipeline though he didn't say how far along....
He took on board that the axle bearing pickup used by Bachmann and others was more reliable than the wipers on the 08. He also agreed that the kinematic coupling at the nose end of the 08 was a little redundant. I added feedback that the channel at the top of the 08 chassis was best omitted from future models as it restricted the chip that could be got into there.
I came away from Malc's Models' posh new stand with a couple of Peco wagons so I can now compare them with my Hornby vans, though I can't run them until after Warley as I'm preparing Bregenbach im Schwarzwald for Nottingham and Warley and NO PLACE for Retford until then...
Les
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9 hours ago, J-Lewis said:
In person and on a layout these TT couplers are pretty unobtrusive, it’s subjective of course, but they seem like a pretty good design and work well at this scale.
They are not that intrusive but I'm finding that they don't always stay coupled when I need them to and don't uncouple all that easily when I want them to...
For stuff that I want to stay coupled lap after lap I've switched most things over to Hunt magnetic couplings.
For stuff I want to uncouple out front (reliably) I've switched to Dapol Easi-shunt couplings, which work better in TT than in N due to the heavier wagons.
My point was that small details on wagons are normally harder to see on a layout than the somewhat larger couplings, yet on RMWeb folks go to great lengths to point out these missing or incorrect details ignoring the much larger incorrect prototypical detail of the coupling, whatever type it is....
Les
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As far as incorrect or missing details are concerned-
I'm going to wait until I can see them standing on the layout, and moving on the layout.
Then I'm going to see just how much I'm able to spot wrong with them in the circumstances I want them to perform under.
Out of the showcase and away from the magnifying glass I suspect the biggest thing I notice will be the unprototypical buckeye couplings (Easi-shunts)
Les
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14 hours ago, PeterStiles said:
I think you're missing the point that 3mm is a _modellers_ scale, and the "community" around 3mm seems very strong; RTR doesn't matter to people making their own Everythings the way Everyone did it in the 1950s.
Everybody does NOT do that today- a lot because they don't want to and many (including me with RSI and mild dyspraxia) because they can't.
The number of people on the various Farcebook forums for TT:120 has now gone well over 10, 000. I wonder how that compares with the 3mm scale association.
Les
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12 hours ago, andrewshimmin said:
Anyone used the magnetic Hunt type coupling from West Hill Wagon works?
I think the couplings on the Hornby stuff are nice and discreet, and I like the close coupling, but they aren't great at coupling up unless they're presented to one another dead straight. And uncoupling is rather cumbersome.
Would the magnetic type be better?
I'm using the Hunt couplings extensively on my TT gauge stuff - basically the vast majority of the stuff I don't want to shunt. They fit the NEM pockets very well- I've only broken one coupler head by shoving too hard, which given my dyspraxia is better than I would expect...
For stuff I have to shunt I'm using the Dapol N-gauge Easi-shunts, which work better on TT than they do on N. This is because the centring springs are stronger on TT stock, meaning that when the coupler pin gets moved to one side, rather than the whole coupler going with the pin, the jaws actually open almost every time. In addition the heavier stick means that the couplers stay coupled when being pulled and stock stays closer rather better when being pushed.
Les
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8 hours ago, Miss Prism said:
Back to the future, 1957-style:
(I've still got a few of these somewhere)
Hang onto them and leave your descendants a goodly chunk of cash when they sell them on......
Les
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Neither of the Farcebook links in the previous half-dozen posts work- access restricted by FB to the poster and a small group who have particular access to them.
Les
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3 hours ago, Barry O said:
This should be my 43rd Warley Show all being well. I enjoy the demo area ...
Baz
Opposite end from me, but you'll have to come over to B7 and see N-gauge Barry and his German fellow trainspotter.....
Les
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Bregenbach im Schwarzwald will be there. The layout is being erected for testing on Saturday afternoon when NO PLACE gets back from Hinckley with the shared trestles..
Les
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Bregenbach im Schwarzwald will be stand B7, tucked away in the corner where Squires used to be.....
Come over and chat. That far out of the middle it might be quiet...
Les
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TT:120 Class 50
in Hornby
Posted
Photoshoot won't be the issue so much as the loco being a livery sample.
These get handled by all sorts of folk, and from what experience I have of them, not always handled too carefully. Based on one that came my way it is lucky to still have both bogies attached to it.....
Les