corax67

I'm late to this particular party but last Friday my fellow layout operator produced his birthday present - one of the Beyer Garratt models (not sure which one) that had been on order 2 years - with a flourish and huge smile of joy & expectation. Having assembled our exhibition layout, a 4 track 12'x8' tail chaser, we tested as usual with a variety of Hornby & Bachmann stock from 08's to A4's and everything in-between on the DC lines for around an hour without issue. My friend was itching to run his Beyer so we thought we'd give it a go, straight out of the box it looked stunning & we popped it on the outermost loop - 42" radius - and began a gentle running in. Controller is a Gaugemaster Model Q. The loco ran for just 10 minutes before the entire front end locked solid ! We were gutted & it was scheduled for a call to Hattons last Monday with a prompt return. Neither of us were aware of this issue prior to our running it as it's a model I would never choose to have as it's way to big for my layout & my friend isn't on RMWeb but we were thoroughly shocked when a show visitor told us his had gone the same way and he was now on his third. Heljan isn't covering itself in glory with quality and reliability - the last one I bought was a Class 17 and we all know what happened with those. Very disappointing from a modern manufacturer.

I use a few of these Ikea fittings on my layout (does shows and home) - http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60262659/ With LED GU10 bulbs as replacements for the halogens - gives a super spread of direct able light with no heat The bases are screwed to a ply nameplate/proscenium sitting in front of the baseboards. It's cheap, energy efficient & simple.

OK - Lenz Silver Mini added to list too, thanks chaps

Still yet to get my hands on mine but I am assured it will be waiting for me at Ally Pally tomorrow morning From everything I have seen in this thread I cannot wait but do now have a little trepidation about getting into it to fit a decoder - ah well if it's too easy then it's no fun I suppose.

Nasty feeling the post office will moan if I ask you to pop one over for me in a parcel - shame though, nice environmentally friendly pest control

Could have done with one of those to despatch the mice lurking in the walls of my last railway shed

If you want something you can simply drop onto a layout then you might like to consider the MRT Accutrack speedometer: http://store.sbs4dcc.com/modelrailroadtechnologiesaccutrackspeedometer.aspx Its a battery powered speed trap with a neat LED display - might be a quick fix for you.

Probably have some in a box some where at home - will see what I can find

Anything more than 4'x2' as that's all I can get away with at home I have operated club layouts of 40'x20' single handed which I guess some may call a large layout but because it had been so well constructed it didn't feel particularly large or difficult to use. When I lived in the USA however I operated on basement layouts of 60'x40' with multiple layers and thousands of feet of track and they felt really big.

That is an absolutely lovely looking layout, a simple track plan providing ample scope to show off your rolling stock - exactly what a small show layout should do.

I favour a large hammer for when precision fails me ;D

Looking really nice so far - are you building within a particular completion date in mind or will it only be exhibited when it is fully finished?

The lights are not great on these loco's - I remember the one based at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway had lights which didn't give vast amounts of illumination http://bestieboy.smugmug.com/Trains/Pontypool-Blaenavon-Railway/19379214_4Zc5qT/1515461504_m5PQgrj#!i=1515461504&k=m5PQgrj The pic here shows "Panteg" in a siding in 2011 and the single light is visible somewhat forlornly perched on the grille.

Nice work Neal - sadly mine pre-order has yet to appear at my chosen model shop so I am relying on this thread to buoy up my spirits.

Will do Bob - two heads are always better than one

Woo Hoo - Santa came through with a Lenz 23151 ! ! ! ! ! ! TouchCab duly downloaded to my iPhone but I won't get home to the layout until Sunday at the earliest - looking forward to reporting great and positive things on this combo.

I am becoming addicted to this thread - the layout is amazing and I am envious in the extreme, keep up the great work and bring on more pics.

Good to hear they are finally out - a call to my supplier tomorrow I think

Made a call today to the shop I have mine on order with and it appears that "early November" is starting to look like "late January" with risk of a dreaded Easter as worst case scenario. Really frustrating as I had a plan to take it on a show layout in mid Jan but I will have to rely on my ever faithful Bachmann 03, 08 and 0-6-0 pannier tank.

If you are drilling/tapping Kadee's then you have 2 options A ) the Kadee set #246 which contains the pilot drill, clearance drill and tap in one package B ) separately purchasing a 2-56 tap and a #43 drill The #246 is probably the cheaper and simpler option unless you have a really good tool store nearby as postage costs are so high these days.

I was tempted to do that too as I have a Lenz mini sitting in my tool box ready and waiting but in the interests of fairness I will give the Hornby chip a go first.

My initial interest of one blue has now increased to one blue + one green as they look so good

The decoder definitely IS NOT 8 pin - I spoke to Simon Kohler a while back who advised me that Hornby have made a dedicated decoder (due to size limitations) with a custom plug/socket which will apparently be available for retailers from Hornby service department once the loco is on sale. Patience seems t be a necessity rather than a virtue at the moment with model releases but I am sure the sentinel will be well worth the wait.

It's better to give than to receive ?

I have had a quick squint at the documentation and would say it looks fine for N - it's usually more of an issue if you are looking at running a controller for a scale larger than that which it is stated for as it may not supply sufficient power but scaling down works great I have found. MERG units are solid and reliable and I have had really good experiences with their DCC units over the years.