alexandali

Thanks for the reply John - yes I did notice that the 3 link coupling was fouling the tension lock - I have removed the tension lock which improved things - but it is still a poor runner on my layout. From a bit more experimenting, the problem seems to be less to do with the pony truck, but possibly due to a lack of sideways movement in the 8-coupled driving wheels. All 8 wheels are flanged, and on my peco curved and medium radius points, the driving wheels sometimes derail.

Purchased a LNER stepped tender O2 from a supplier at the Alexandra Palace show yesterday - there were varying prices and I bought the cheapest one (supplier based somewhere near GCHQ). Tried it out today to run it in, on my rather imperfect Peco code 100 layout. Its a nice looking model, very quiet and smooth, lots of pulling power, but not happy on my worst bits of track, problems with the front pony wheels derailing. Also, all the wheels quickly became very dirty - as mentioned elsewhere in this forum, looks like the blacking applied to the wheel treads picks up additional dirt rather too quickly. Testing the continuity from the pick-ups, all 4 driven axles and 3 tender ones have pickups, but several pickups are not making contact with the wheels - which caused stalling when the wheels became dirty. The pony truck has spacing washers between the wheels and the bogie, which were all fitted on one side - this was easy to fix by popping out the axle and refitting correctly. However this didn't fix the derailing, as the pony truck is very light and I think it needs extra weight. I have Hornby O1 and P2, Bachmann O4 and a Wrenn 2-8-0 all of which stay on my dodgy track. I'm sure it'd work fine on a perfect code 80 layout. Although a very nice model, and very well packed, the manufacturer quality control does not appear all that good. I'm sure I'll sort it out (I've no intention of returning it as it's too much bother)

Uninhabited Man - Richard Thompson OBE (Mock Tudor)

Summer 67 - Family - from Family Entertainment

House Of The Rising Sun - Animals (there is a house in New Orleans)

Red Dirt Girl - Emmylou Harris