GWR-fan

This is the guy's You-Tube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@ratp78/videos

Reassured by some mint seemingly unrun arrivals yesterday, Dapol DCC fitted blood and custard Railcar (GBP56.00), Hornby "The Tysley Connection" trainpack (GBP51.00) and the super detailed "The Northumbrian" train pack with A4 and three super detailed Gresley coaches (GBP82.00), I opted for a few more bargains. It seems that new items keep getting regularly added to the list of sale items.

Stumbled upon these videos. Just for interest rather than actual information for the OP.

I purchased two "boxed" Hornby Pullman coaches. The person listing the items has I believe, cross referenced the coach names against an apparent database and has sourced the items to the Hornby "White Pullman" train pack and the "Southern Belle" trainset. Perhaps unknown to that person, the items actually being listed were super detailed illuminated Pullman coaches and not the basic unlit coaches originally supplied with the train pack and set. The coaches were priced accordingly.

The unit does not look like a capacitor. It has a blue DCC Concepts branding and is a cubic shape perhaps15mm X 6mm X 6mm and it seems a clear acrylic backface.

My love/hate relationship with the Hornby Rebuilt Merchant Navy, West Country and Battle of Britain class locomotives has once again bitten me on the posterior. Purchased for a good price as part of the current sale in seemingly as new condition in the "Atlantic Coast" train pack, the loco was described as DCC fitted, fine when last run and missing the whistle (very common problem with the Rebuilt Merchant Navy models). Arrived this afternoon and found the unit to be inoperative both on analogue and digital. A check of the fragile Walschaerts lingage showed part of the follow up linkage attached to the fireman side slidebar crosshead had been bent in hard against the slidebar causing the drive to seize. Even with exercising extreme caution in freeing up the linkage I managed to shear off a delicate pivot pin. I raided the wife's sewing box for a dressmaker's pin and fortunately was able to salvage the part and reattach the linkage. Further investigation showed the drive fitted with a small DCC Concepts decoder (plus another very small mystery DCC Concepts unit mounted to the rear of the motor. See DCC forum), so a bonus. After reassembly the loco actually ran perfectly on digital, however, the loco runs backwards to convention and analogue has been deactivated, or perhaps DCC Concepts does not support analogue running. A bit of a heart starter purchase but it seems to have worked out well after some very nervous repairs carried out. ,

Today, I received an as new, seemingly unused but very old Hornby Rebuilt Merchant Navy class loco in the "Atlantic Coast Line" train pack. Decribed as fine when last run and DCC fitted. Well, the former was untrue but the latter correct. After disassembly I found a small DCC Concepts decoder installed and also a very small DCC Concepts electrical unit attached to the rear of the motor above the commutator. At first I thought that the aft mounted unit may have been a firebox glow, however, after fixing the loco there did not seem to be anything happening there (perhaps a function of the decoder). At present all my DCC gear is packed away other than a Bachmann EZE-Command control station so I am unable to determine if the unit functions or not on a higher function number than the EZE-Command is able to operate. No attempt had been made to open up an access hole in the firebox if the unit is a firebox glow for it to shine through. I have reassembled the drive and am hoping that someone may be able to identify the DCC Concepts unit from my description without me having to remove the body again. Once the drive Walschaerts linkage had been repaired the loco ran superbly. I need to read up on changing CV29 as the unit runs backwards to the norm. Is the EZE-Command able to change cv's, particularly CV29, please? Edit: I read the EZE-Command directions and a direction change is simple enough using the command station.

I had an issue with a coupling of two Blue Pullman motor bogies retrofitted to a freelance set of ten Hornby Pullman coaches to represent a "Brighton Belle". I found the ten-car unit ran better with the two driving bogies in the centre, however, as the bogies were live then with one turned a short circuit developed. Simple fix was to fit a large plastic hook/loop tension coupler to one bogie to replace the stock metal version.

It does appear from the video showing the drive axle deflect sideways that the rod is contacting the endcap on the drive wheel centre causing it to deflect the axle sideways. I have a similar issue with a Bachmann Manor class chassis.

I suppose right time, right place. There are (were) some bargains in the store's latest Christmas sale. I could not resist the following, all apparently "fine when last run" - Dapol streamlined banana railcar, DCC fitted in blood and custard (GBP56.00 after VAT) Hornby "Northumbrian" train pack with loco drive A4 and superdetailed Gresley coaches (GBP91.00 after VAT) Hornby "The Tysley" train pack with missing buffer (GBP55.00 after VAT) The "Tysley" train pack was GBP112.00 (around GBP95.00 after VAT) only yesterday afternoon, prior the sale. I had been "following" it for a couple of weeks. I placed my order late yesterday afternoon (UK time) and was surprised to have a picking list email early this morning (my local time). Perhaps the store has enlisted additional shipping staff to clear the books prior the stocktake.

Another purchase that has me believe that the loco may not have been inspected when listing as pre-owned, possibly relying on information from the person selling the item. The loco in question was a rebuilt Merchant Navy which actually does run reasonably well. Listing description stated front bogie suffering mazak rot and rear bogie broken. The images showed the R2300M "Bournemouth Belle" loco and carriages and also showed a broken half of the rear bogie. As I had a spare leading and trailing bogie from a previously failed arrival I decided to purchase the train pack as the asking price was more than reasonable given the stated defects. The set arrived this afternoon and indeed the leading bogie was impacted and it split in half when removed from the tray packaging. Also included was a small zip bag containing the broken half of the rear bogie. However, the rear bogie on the loco was intact and still wired for the tender pickup. Obviously, the bogie must have been replaced previously or possibly the broken piece included had no relation to the loco in question. A simple look at the loco would have shown that the trailing bogie was actually intact and thus making the listing more attractive to a prospective purchaser. Another failure to properly describe a loco is that lately I have received several Manor locomotives described as "Mainline" brandname. Obvious by the single listing image shown with each loco in its "Mainline" packaging was that the loco chassis was actually a replacement split chassis Bachmann product. In all cases the tender still had the shiny "Mainline" original wheelsets. I consider the Bachmann chassis to be superior to the original "Mainline" chassis. Perhaps listing the item as having a replacement Bachmann chassis may have increased the price somewhat. Also possible that the person inspecting the model had no idea a swap had been made.

Information provided for future troubleshooting. Another "recently tested and running fine when last run" was a Bachmann 31-128 weathered early crest 30XX. It arrived yesterday but only able to test run today. Dead on arrival when tested on analogue! I thought maybe one of those elusive decoder fitted items so removed the tender body. Bachmann must use the smallest screws of any of the manufacturers. A 21 pin blanking plate was found to be fitted. I exchanged the blanking plate in case there was a fault on the factory plate. No luck. Next I removed the body (one screw under the pilot bogie and one under the wires under the cab). I manually rotated the armature to ensure the motor was not seized. I then tested the bare chassis and tender underframe. Success. Reassembled the loco (not fun with those miniature screws) and it tested fine for about 2 metres then a dead stop. Not wishing to once again dismantle the drive, I decided to check the chassis pickups in case one was fouling the drive. Sure enough, the fireman side forward driver pickup had twisted itself into the wheel spokes. I manhandled the pickup out of the spokes and positioned it basically back where it should have been originally (most likely now useless for picking up power). Subsequent operation was fine in both directions. Now I do not know if the repositioning of the pickup has fixed the loco or if possibly there is an electrical gremlin. I have only once previously had a pickup fouling a driving wheel and that was a Hornby B2 Peckett. Oddly, an old Bachmann split chassis Manor class also received yesterday ran perfectly.

While I have reported quite a few failures, in general, the items received are usually better than described. In particular are coach descriptions when marked as "paintwork worn", one generally has to look quite hard to find a defect unless obvious from the store's images. I do purchase a lot of pre-owned items so I am bound to receive more "failures" than most, but I am more than happy to keep buying from the store and yes, while failures do occur, the majority of items received are excellent, with many items seemingly as new or unused. I am definitely not a fan of the current process of displaying images of items still in their packaging as I like to see what I am buying. In particular, I like to see if a previous owner has fitted metal wheelsets or changed the standard couplings. A single image of an item still cocooned in its packaging reveals little more than the actual condition of the box. Several times glaring defects have been received on items that simply removing from the packaging would have revealed, however, it seems that retaining the box condition is seemingly more important than the actual contents of the packaging. That said, I have no qualms about continuing to buy from the store.

Another pro for the store is the ability to add items to the trunk. I normally add items until the trunk weighs around 6 kg. If I had to use Royal Mail then the store would receive very little custom from me. A 6kg package broken down into 2kg lots and sent by Royal Mail would cost me more than double sending the same items with DHL Express. The trunk alone has saved me many hundreds of pounds in shipping costs, plus the rare bargain, which while a threatened species, does still find its way into the pre-owned listings. As an example, for some reason I have become attached to the Corgi 1:50 scale steam traction engines and Foden and Sentinel lorries. A week ago the store had a steam traction engine crane "Wolverhampton Wanderers" listed for GBP9.00 and another for GBP14.00 in the sale bargain listings. Oddly, there were also three more listed (same condition description and model number) for GBP28.00 each. I purchased the two cheaper items (minus VAT) expecting that perhaps the quality may have been less than the more expensive models. The GBP9.00 (GBP7.50 after VAT) traction engine arrived this morning and it was as new/unused condition in an excellent box. I expect the GBP14.00 item to arrive in a few days and anticipate it also will be similar condition. Why the discrepancy in the pricing for the same items?????????

Well it looks like I have a winner. The issue that I believed to be a split final drive gear due the motor heard rotating and being able to manually rotate the drive wheels looks as if it was just the rear motor mount loose. I found this only after fully disassembling the centre drive wheelset to find the gear securely attached to the axle. I thought then maybe the worm driven idler gearset might be loose but this was OK. Then I noticed the rear motor mount bracket not secure. Reassembly and digital test worked out fine. Edit: With the rear mount bracket loose then I must assume that the motor was able to pivot downwards at the rear (brush end) and thus disengage the worm from the top idler gear. I do not usually have a use for decoder fitted models (I always remove the decoder and fit blanking plates) and with this being hardwired and not actually noted in the item description that the model was DCC fitted (did the store actually know that?) I will need to read the Bachmann EZE-command manual to see if I can reactivate analogue running (all my digital control gear is still packed away after a house move last year), Downside of this is that I have found that Hornby and NCE decoders may not be fully co-operative with analogue running enabled. I rarely use digital operation so have very limited knowledge of CV changes, although I am aware that CV29 would need changing.

I do buy a lot of the store's pre-owned items and mostly the items are as described or in better condition than described. Of late though I do seem to have been very unlucky with split final drive gears. Purchasing from the store does give me a 20% VAT discount, whereas any eBay purchase from oversea would have no VAT reduction, plus I would need to pay an additional 10% of both the purchase price plus shipping costs to cover our local goods and services tax. I feel the current issue with items not as described is if the item appears as like new or unused then the store relies on the previous owner's description of the item and so the store may not actually verify the actual running condition of a model. I continue to be amazed that a non-runner Mainline "Manor" class worth around GBP25.00 will get around ten images and yet a GBP200.00 train pack that looks like new, or maybe unused condition will have but one image listed of the contents still in the packaging. Of cause any item received that does not match the store's description could be returned for a refund, however, given that I live half way around the world from the store then any return could take around four weeks plus be very aggravating. I rely on the honesty of the store's item description and in most cases it is accurate, however, the odd one seems to slip through.

Once again bitten in the posterior. Pre-owned Hornby "Pines Express" described as recently tested and fine. The packaging cover even had a label attached stating the same. No mention of a hardwired decoder install. First attempt to run with no movement on analogue, so I tried on digital. Only response was the sound of the motor turning. Of the last five West Country, Merchant Navy and Battle of Britain class pre-owned models, this is now three with split final drive gears. This is becoming monotonous. If I resided in the UK this would be going straight back, however, I will retain for spares, or if possible source a set of replacement wheels.

As a daily devotee of the pre-owned listings, the current 50% off sale is roughly double the price of what the same items were selling for barely three years ago. Current "discounted" prices on many very old Lima, Tri-ang, Hornby and Mainline items has me shaking my head in disbelief. Alas, memories of previous firesales does make current discounted prices seem more like gouging than actual bargains. Edit: I did find four Hornby trainpacks reduced considerably from what they were listed for barely two days ago. I stumbled on the reductions before the new reduced bargain price link was shown on the website.

I still use the imperial measurement, 0.575", which no doubt equates to around 14.4mm. My dial Vernier is in imperial. A quick calculation it comes to 14.375mm.

Had a similar issue with several Lima railcars converted with those wheels, but it was the powered wheels that required regaugung. The models ran well after adjustment.

Two pre-owned arrivals this morning, one a mint, like new Dapol streamlined railcar "W10" in BR lined chocolate and cream. Came complete with drivers and passengers for the princely sum of GBP61.00 (after VAT removal). Even the box was like new. This was more a gamble as another railcar listed at the same time, identical specs, was GBP30.00 more expensive and without passengers. The model ran perfecly. The second arrival was a slightly cosmetically damaged Hornby Grange class in BR black, described as a non-runner for GBP27.00 after VAT removal. Loco arrived as described with carelessly applied superglue in some areas but readily fixable with some black paint. The fall plate was even installed upside down. As described, the loco did not run, but after applying power to the track and encouragement from the "hand of God", some wheel rotation was evident. I persisted and was able to coerce the model to run, but poorly. It would start off slowly and then build up a little speed in both directions over two metres of track. This did seem odd for an analogue loco so I removed the body and found that there was a decoder fitted. I had no interest in the decoder so removed it and installed a blanking plate. Loco performance was now normal. No mention of the model being DCC fitted, so a bonus in a way. Another gamble purchase but it seemed to have worked out in my favour.

I just received three Hornby trainpacks as part of their current sale. All three packs were as described and in as new/unused condition with all accessory packs included. All three locomotives, "Duke of Gloucester", Merchant Navy ("New Zealand Line") and T9 (#338) ran perfectly. I might have to spring for a couple more.

Yes, I understand that loophole was closed many, many years ago with the main offenders being the huge power seller sites with feedback in the millions. My point though is if I want to know just the amount received in actual sales, do I need to first calculate the total postage cost for each item sold in the period and then subtract from the "total sales" for that period. Surely, one should be able to see at a glance exactly what sales they have received in a period without needless calculations. For those with perhaps just a few sales, the arithmetic is simple enough, however, it becomes time consuming and wasting to go through all one's sales for the period just to see how much actual sales were. I do not care how much the postage cost is as unless I make a mistake and undercharge, then I am not paying for postage, the buyer is.

After returning to selling on eBay after several years abscence, I must say that eBay have really done their best to complicate the process when one wants to look at one's selling platform. Previously it was simply a matter of opening up one's account and all was there on view. One simple click. Now one has to open their account, select "Selling", then select active listings (three clicks). If one wants to respond to feedback given then athe account has to be opened, then select "Selling", then "All Orders" , which opens up the page showing items still to be posted, then select "All Orders" link from the left side of the page to reveal all sales in the selected time period. Then not only scroll down the page but also scroll across the page once the selected item is found to find the feedback link as it seems the page is too wide to fit my screen. Also to further complicate matters, why is the cost of postage included in total sales? I am not selling postage and find that including the postage cost artificially inflates the total amount of sales in the period. The fee for postage is the same as the fee for the final value price, so including the cost of postage in the total sales for the period does not affect the total amount of fees paid, but I see no reason to include the cost of postage in one's actual sales.

I had an incident several years ago when one was able to look at other bidder's bid history. I bid on some Hornby wagons in as new, unused condition. For days absolutely no interest at all from any other bidders, until the last few minutes. Until the hammer fall the wagons were a good price (about 1/5 of the final price), basically start listing price and with little to no interest I placed a final bid which was around 3/4 MSRP. With barely two minutes left the only other bidder on these wagons entered the fray and placed multiple bids pushing up my final bid. With just seconds remaining and having increased my bid up to my maximum, he opted out of the listing and switched to another item the seller had on his site which was not "OO" scale but "N" scale, a listing that he also did not win. I checked the bidder's bid history and saw what seemed to be a pattern of shill bidding for the seller. The seller was well known on Australian eBay as a buyer of collections and estate sales. I always wondered how he seemed to get a higher final bid price for all his listings. I messaged the seller asking him to explain the multiple coincidences in the bidder's previous bidding pattern and how it was that the bidder placed dozens of bids a month and yet surprisingly never won anything and why all his bids were with this one seller, over multiple scales. The seller reported me to eBay accusing me of falsely stating that he was a shill seller. Supposedly eBay "cleared" him of any wrong doing but then I only had his word for that. I have not bid on any items for years, preferring "Buy it Now" listings as at least I have some assurance that the seller has no accomplices to boost his earnings. EBay's privacy policy simply masks fraudulent bidding practices.