Sir TophamHatt

Perhaps the shell of the TV is similar to others and it would cost more to redesign a blanking plug than leave the network socket in it. Fact is, you will struggle to get such a small TV these days. When you have accepted what you want simply isn't available any more, you'll then start thinking what's more important - a TV or the space you can fit it in. I have Freesat. I had two plugs (I think) in my living room, plug these into the TV, set it to look for / scan Free Sat (it wanted Freeview by default) and I have the channels. If your TV can't do that, it's not likely to be a normal TV. Do you have a Source button on the remote? (That's the one that has an arrow heading into a box) Turn on the TV and push it. What happens?

Clearly in the minority here but I'd be more enclined to buy a DCC fitted loco than not. So long as it's clear what chip it is - if it runs fine, it runs fine. So long as you're not overcharging for the chip. I listed some DCC fitted items once. I thought about what I wanted for the loco and added £30 as that's around what I paid for the chips. They sold fine. You could sell chipped but offer to remove before sending if the buyer requests. Some may want a discount but the time it may take to revert hardwired locos... sure you get my drift.

Sorry to bump this but is anyone aware of Bachmann doing further liveries? I guess they will churn these out for years but depending on its release may depend if I buy. The one I am after:

How does the coupling area work with this? Sorry, I don't have a 3-car to check.

One is the same seller twice. They relisted two or three times due to non-payment, progressivly getting less value through each one. Just got to check those numbers - if they're stickers, they're a dud buy IMO.

Wonder if they'll be introducing mid-coaches again after this sells out.

Wonder how this will affect prices of the original version. I'd be tempted to buy this and sell my OG one instead. If the former sells for the same price, win-win all round from me.

I read in another thread that the Bachmann Class 170 has the same chassis for all 3 coaches. Does this mean I could buy a 3-car unit and swap the bodies to make it a 2-car unit? The picture I looked at shows a different arrangement of under body boxes and such for the centre motor car on a 3-car unit. Thanks for any advice.

For those that want a shortcut: https://www.revolutiontrains.com/product-category/pre-order/ngauge/ N scale isn't for me, but when OO opens, my money is here waiting. Glad you added FGW "Dynamic Lines" to the options as this (if I remember correctly, completes the set of liveries this unit has had). Can I ask who will provide the sounds for these units?

Yeah, the problem is that last time I bought some... the ones Peter pointed out as suitable, they were not suitable and then was blamed for buying the wrong thing. Luckily, PayPal refunded the return postage so I was not left out of pocket there. So quite put off by that experience.

I would but I have at least 3 older Lima locos that have traction tyres. Absolutely no clue where to start as some have gearing attached to the wheels so not as easy to swap.

After failiing to get the ABC to work reliably, I came across a post that suggested the old Hornby Sapphire chips have an inbuilt feature that allowes a timed series of events - easy to create a shuttle. Just so happens on my holiday, I visited a model shop that had some in stock. The unit I planned to put them in was a 170, which has been updated with Express Models lights. The issue with this is that if I want a proper shuttle, the lights won't work as Express Models lights use F numbers for the lighting features rather than F0. The Sapphire also doesn't have enough functions to cover all the lighting options. While I don't use the night feature of them very often, I feel a bit bad un-doing all the wiring to put them back to stock (although using the new LEDs), especially as in the future (although this will be 5-10 years) I will have another way to shuttle locos. The problem is this: I generally don't buy more than one of the same loco / unit. In fact, apart from two HSTs, all mine are unique. If I use the Turbostar, I will lose half the lighting functionality and when the unit reverses, it won't show white at the back properly unless I rewire the lights. I don't really want to do this as I'll want to re-connect them again at a later date. I have another unit that is perfect for this but it's very old and struggles to move. A clean of the traction tyres and it was better but still a little unreliable in movement. I could add a stay alive but then the Sapphire doesn't accept Stay Alive connections. Can't use another chip because then I'll lose the shuttle feature. I could get another Turbostar unit although the cheapest is in the same livery as what I have now. However, I could upgrade the lights myself nicely (probably) and use the Sapphire chip. Expensive though. But then I don't want to be stranded with a extra Turbostar unit when Bachmann are redoing them (although I don't expect that before 2028 so quite a bit of time yet). Although trying to see past possible uses means I could always use that as a test unit for this and that. I'm looking at modern passenger rather than shunting loco (but the 158 and 156, which were on my list of "to buy" aren't in the liveries I am interested in). I can't really think of another passenger unit that I'd be interested in. All very complicated but wonder if I've missed something else?

It's understandable but that's the price to pay. Certain when I was a lad, I accidently threw away someone's half eaten breakfast. It was all you can eat buffet so no charge to get more but the person was very very cross that their breakfast had been thrown. The issue of getting back someone else's details is a big red flag but really it's the other person that should be worrying. There haven't been any other reports so would point to it being an isolated case. Plus, yours could be just as scratched, damaged, whatever in the post. If it is, send it back for another, which would be a new unit anyway.

But then perhaps we are past the old fashionedness of modelling locos? I mean, the thought of buying a brass kit and soldering it together, painting it and whatnot, all seems completly out of sorts in todays world, especially with manufacturers producing everything ready to run. Would you buy a new car and expect to have to stick the door handle on yourself? Expectations have moved on - people will model track and layout but when it comes to locos... I don't think that's an accepted practice any more.

Yep, although that doesn't quite answer the question :P I already have two other sets but they print at quite different sizes. I'll grab a photo tomorrow.

There's one on ebay at the moment: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265784272893?hash=item3de1fa27fd:g:TyAAAOSww3RiyyL7 Granted, it may not be the exact one but a couple of years back you'd struggle to find a Swallow HST. Hell, even GNER is difficult to find now, although there's at least one.

Bah, I always miss the important things! Sort of modern day but anything 1995 onwards is fine.

A quick question... How tall (roughly) should relay cabinets be? I have 3D printed two but they're wildly different sizes. I can't quite decide which looks the sight size compared to a loco and I'm no good with working it out :(

But only with the BM1 wired up. It would appear the Sapphire chip can do this within the chip by altering a few CVs to tell it how long to wait. The BM1s I have are unreliable as sometimes the train just ignores them. Admittedly only fitted one but wanted to get one side working first.

I have a small branchline that I want a unit to travel up and down by itself. A few years back, I bought some control boards (I can't remember the model number) that work by cuttong one side of the rail and connecting the board to each side... the ring of diodes basically. However this has been a little unreliable and is what mostly caused me to move on to other hobbies for a while. I have read the Hornby Sapphire chip can perform a simple out / wait / return (and repeat) function within the chip, which may be the answer to my problem of unreliability of the diodes. Are there any other chips that can perform this action? Sapphires seem to be a little hard to get hold of these days. Strangely enough, I am sure I have one fitted to a loco somewhere but I don't know which one or whether I sold the loco with it (as the Sapphire wasn't as good as the Lenz chips I'd adopted). To throw this into the mix, the unit is currently fitted with Express Models lights and a Lenz Silver+ v2 decoder. Can I still have the full functionality of the lights with a Sapphire? (IE, day/night, possibly a couple of others?) A note to self: I won't need to change the decoder in the rear car as that is only powering the lights, not the motor.

As a development idea, wonder if the website could allow those who have 3D printers to offer to print. Website creator takes a small cut for helping match the buyer and seller.

A fan that will blow out the window could help as that may draw air up through the house instead of the window perhaps pushing air down through the house.

It's a really interesting subject because you're right with people's expectations. I see many comments about the price of new locos or units, but people don't really consider the cost of materials, speakers... and yes, I appreciate not everyone wants DCC or Sound but not everyone wanted a flat screen / HD TV and look where we are now. These things add to base costs as well as the basic "if XXX (manufacturer) are going to give their staff a pay rise, the money will have to come from adding the cost to the model" - hence where we are with inflation and all that. The real problem comes with some companies making too much profit. Yes, every company can make as much profit as they see fit but it'll do much more damage in the long term. In the short term, higher prices will stop people buying the models (then you'll have the problem of models hanging around or manufacturers not making as many = higher cost). But if too many models are too higher price, people will start coming away from the hobby all together, which will only make things worse for everyone. I wonder how much more expensive the product would be if production was in the UK.

Who said the OP wouldn't pay market rates for a better product? I find your post does bring something but the delivery and tone is quite belittling 🤔 Perhaps it would be better to think about ways to stop / slow down this happening? A couple of coats of matte varnish?

Sorry I am a little late to this but for prosperity... I also recommend JB Model World foam inserts. Had my stock in a cool/dark room for a few years now in them and nothing seems to be affected. Shop around for the right Really Useful boxes (although JB may sell them too!). Prior to having something a little more professional, I used some foam underlay cut into strips and nestled the locos in some cheap cotton pillowcases (supermarket basics range). Seemed to keep things secure. I tried some big sections of blue foam but cutting manually was the biggest pain ever. I wonder whether the environment can also be at play here? If you keep it too dry, the grease around the loco may simply evaporate / harden. If you keep it too damp, the sponge foam may go bad too. Furthermore the quality of the foam may also play a part here. Remember, there is a difference between dense foam and sponge.