Sir TophamHatt

Right. But I still don't understand why Hornby would wire it up wrongly, and why there's not loads of reports of this if they did? Perhaps mine is one of a kind that is just wrong?

Sorry to be behind the times. Is this a Realtrack variant or Rapido? I thought it was only Realtrack that had retooled the 156? Is there a list of other liveries that are likely to be produced?

But as it's a DCC ready loco, I would assume this shouldn't be the case? Or could I have wired my track wires the wrong way?

Sorry, I could have explained better. It's the DCC Ready HST so I don't really want to go swapping wires around inside. It's strange though as I would have thought it would work with the motor car leading as standard. The lights work in the correct way, IE, white when the motor car is leading/pulling, red on the rear dummy and vice versa if I select the other way. However on the controller I have to select 'Reverse' to have the motor car pulling. I don't mind swapping the dirction in CV29 but do I do this with the power car and the dummy seperately, or both together?

Quick question. My MML HST motor car reverses when the controller is FWD selected. Obviously runs in conjunction with the rear power car and the lights. It's a socket. Normally I'd just change CV29 but I don't want to break the lights at the other end. I need to do a spot more testing but I guess it isn't just the chip that's the wrong way is it?

Just to report the issue with editing (perhaps on older browsers) has been fixed. A few of my posts tend to have additional blank lines between text - this issue has been resolved with the update.

Are Kadees quite reliable? I've fitted one (admittedly without the height gauge) to Dapol's 68 to pull a CMX rail cleaner (also fitted). It pulls fine, although the height on the 68 is slightly higher. But when pulling round a corner, the height difference seems to become greater and the CMX comes off. Is it purely because there's a mm or so difference? Or is the 68 encouraging the problem?

I'm sort of surprised they didn't go with a special livery for the Stansted Express units. I know it means greater flexability but from an outsider, if I was on the Stansted Express train, I'd be looking for something that's a little more obvious than some simple wording.

I'd be interested to see any quantifiable evidence that suggests this before saying that though. Sometimes it is, but how often? I'm also more than likely to be in a gear that putting my foot on the accelerator isn't going to make much of a difference. Compare that with the amount of incidents that involve excessive speed and no doubt the latter will be larger and thus worth limiting car speeds.

A little disappointed at the drive of mine :/ The leading motor is a little noisy, especially when going round a particular curve (I'm sure it Hornby's 2nd largest, if not, the largest they do). I took the conductor pieces off the middle coaches but even after 10 or so minutes of running, it seems to be a little sluggish to get going. I almost thought the rear motor unit was trying to run backwards but dismissed that. Might run each motor car by itself and see if one catches up with the other to see if they're properly matched. Maybe it just needs running in a little more. Perhaps some extra weight. I'll test and see.

I didn't keep as much as I thought when I sorted through the boxes of stuff. I did keep the seep PM1 points boxes and decoder boxes though as they sat nicely in the top of the box; would have just been empty space otherwise. Strangely though, I thought I kept a lot more of the Lenz decoder boxes. Turns out no!

Nearly anything :/ Putting up a shelf? Always seems to be wonky - especially rawl plug time! I never seem to drill the hole big enough, then end up bending the rawl plug when hammering it in. But I did manage to change a mixer tap in the bathroom, and a set of seperate taps in another bathroom, which was pretty good! And I did put up some 2m/3m shelves with 5/6 brackets each - all lined up nicely which was good!

As far as I'm aware yes. If you say each speed step has an acceleration rate of 4 units when using speed step 14, that means: 1 on the dial has 4 units of power applied to the motor. 2 on the dial will be 8. 3 on the dial will be 12. ... and so on. If you increase the amount of steps (to 28), then the numbers change because there's more steps between 1 and 28: 1 on the dial will be 2 units of power applied to the motor. 2 on the dial will be 4. 3 on the dial will be 6. ... and so on. So it gives a greater number of units applied to the motor. You could think of "units of power" as MPH, and every time you increase the speed step another x MPH gets added to the current speed. 128 is massive. I can't see how anyone could see the difference between 1 and 2 speed steps using such a large range. Also means you have to turn the knob/wheel/whatever more to get to the top speed. If you don't need a fast top speed, then CV numbers can be adjusted, which would give you the range of 128 in just 28 speed steps - although that's probably confusing things now :p But I understand everyone is different.

The Traveller Club is for those people who spend thousands (over £10k?) a year on tickets - not searon tickets. You get perks, such as closer parking at certain stations (not that this is monitored!) and free First Class travel at weekends... some free tickets too. They stopped taking applications a while ago, then opened it again, then closed it again, so it's sort of pot luck.

What is the "birdcage"

Do the resistors have to be on the positive side of the circuit? I have a black/white wire set up in a building but I can't see whether it's an LED or not, or if it has a resistor so gonna put one in anyway. White wire = positive.

Hmm. Inspired me to look at mine. I have an open fire so already got real coal. Just have to wrap some up and smash it... or wait until the bucket is empty!

This is me too. DCC layout but simple (off-on-off) switches for points. I don't have a layout board, LEDs this or that, just put the switches in order of where they are; the left most points are the left switch, the middle ones are the middle switch etc etc...

Thought about the whole range of packaging you get and what people may or may not keep. I am a stickler for keeping everything but reckon I'll slim down a quarter of it. Model boxes, be it locos, units, buildings or things like tunnels - keep all. Although I have no current plans to sell certain models, I will always keep the box. But I also keep decoder boxes (and manuals) and point motor boxes too! It's these sorts of things I am thinking of dumping, especially the decoders that are hard wired into locos. For me, it's about re-sale at a later date, as well as storage (like buildings sotred in their original boxes). What do you keep? Is there anything you think you shouldn't? And what's the reasoning behind why you keep things others would probably just throw?

Is it? I can't afford to pay £200 a month for 5 years (£12,000) for a car. I could afford to spend £4000 now and have it for the same amount of time though. I wonder if the draw with most people is the much lower cost (£200 a month seems better than an outright £4000), as well as getting a brand new car for that cost. This is why I outright buy mobile phones. Cheaper over the life of the phone and I'll get a little back by reselling it (I'm anal about not using the headphones, keeping everything neat in the box).

Bought some ales from Asda over Christmas. Didn't like any of them. Fosters/Carling/similar occasionally. I am, however a big soft drinks fan. Not idea but Fever Tree Cola has a great flavour.

As you've said, forget about the controller for now. Where are you located? If near a member here, I'm sure they'd be able to help you read and write new values if possible. Ask the model shop/anyone to read the CV values from 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to be on the safe side. Also post the results here. Also, don't get confused with the speed steps and mph. I have no idea what speed step 28 is in mph on my layout. I don't know what the maximum setting would be if you wanted 28 to be the top speed. FYI: I only have 28 speed steps on my layout. My controller/decoders do all three settings, but I choose 28 as 128 is a little too long for me (I don't need that fine motor control!) and 14 is a bit too short.

Just to be clear, it's just a wondering question rather than a practical one I am looking to impliment.

It's a shame the government doesn't encourage car makers to do some sort of 0% finance deal on electric vehicles. Or at least something to give them a massive push into the consumer light. Maybe I'll take another look at for me, it would be worth it having an electric vehicle.

Amazing the amount of 66s being offered for sale in the past few days. All in preperation for this, or people downgrading to the Hornby one no doubt!