Edge

Nicholas Smith has now sold out of the engines (at $82.99 i'm hardly suprised), and for info I'm being charged about $33 for international shipping. This seems to be about the going rate for all suppliers that I have spoken to in the USA

Managed to locate a few american sources of these engines: http://www.nicholassmithtrains.com/store/product/68292/NARROW-GAUGE-SKARLOEY/ - remarkable price of $82.99 (about £59.00 at todays exchange rates) not including international shipping costs (charged at cost plus $2) http://www.oakridgehobbies.com/Bachmann-trains-58601-hon30-ho-scale-thomas-friends-locomotive-engine-skarloey.html - $95.59 http://www.hobbylinc.com/Bachmann-t-f-narrow-gauge-skarloey-diecast-ho-scale-model-train-diesel-locomotive-58601 - $103.04 Hope this helps some of you out there - although caveat emtor guys, as these models will likely be sold without any sort of guarantee. These deals are certainly better than the £100 upwards prices already being commanded on eBay

Well now, this is interesting, it appears that i'm not the proud owner of 400 Hornby shares. Hmm. Wonder if the price is going back up any time soon :S

California Girls - Beach Boys

Dream on - Aerosmith

Any info on the NCB Janus?

Hi Dave, Techno question for you. Which of the tender-model drive systems do you favour? Loco drive, Cardan shaft or Tender Drive? No real reason for asking other than I'm curious as to the engineering advantages and disadvantages of each system

Also, factor in the fact that there are fewer and fewer 'bricks and mortar' places left for them to ship their stuff to. Personally, i feel that mistakes have been made concerning the stock which has been sent out to those few outlets which still stock it on the high street: the vast majority of the people are not going to be interested ina generic freelance 0-4-0 with gearing which makes it look like its going to break the land speed record. Most people who want to buy Hornby off shelf and have the money to do so will want models, and not toys. Yes, there is a balance to be struck between the two, but in my experience at the moment there isnt much of a balance at all. For instance, I went to a birmingham tourist attraction which has a 'well stocked model shop'. In there I found one Hornby train set with the generic 0-4-0 and a number of railroad wagons. Even in the other shelves, £80 was being charged for three MK1 coaches from the company's previous vintage. Virtually none of the newer items in the range were there. Big missed oppourtunity in my opinion

I really should read my statements a bit more carefully Its on there

With regards to the Kernow pre-ordering, I'd just like to get something crystal clear in my head. I placed an order for the NCB version and £117 was immediately deducted from my credit card. Will this have been refunded to me, ( i can't see it if thats the case) or is this simply 'payment in advance' for the model? I'm fine with either scenario, just want to make sure that I'm going to be able to budget for an extra £117 coming out in ht enext couple of months

About the only thing which jumps to mind is the Bachmann J72 tank or a Dapol/Hornby 'Terrier'. I dont know how well that would scale out though it may be worth taking a look at it

As far as i understand the liscencing situation, Bachmann are prohibited from making any Thomas items in the tabletop scales (N, TT, OO, HO, and even O)for the european market, so Bachmann Europe would be unable to do anything themselves. I wouldnt hold your breath for Hornby 009 at any point either... Just had a nice email correspondence with the gentleman who runs tootally thomas - his current batch have sold out, but he is going to be ordering some more.

Hello, Do you have a link? i cnat seem to find it on their website

Wasn't there one at the Ford factory? Possibility methinks?

Replacement right handed point purchased from Rails of sheffield at the weekend, which now works perfectly with all locos in my collection. I'm going to look at modifying or repairing the original point so that it is a tad more reliable, and I'll make sure to include a post on what I did when I actually get around to doing it...

I have read that myself, however just for any who are reading this the points included in set M2 are the #6 points which generally appear to be a better choice than the #4. From what I have read it is far more likely to be a problem with the Evening Star and DP1 models than with the #6 point

My pleasure, I hope to more stuff like this in the future - i hope it wasnt too boring for you all

Hello all, Recently, I seem to have developed something of a love for the new N gauge models from Farish, Dapol and Hornby-Arnold. A new range of prototypes and sensational realism mean that there has nevere been a better time to start in this scale. However, there is rather a big caveat for me - the track. My first purchase (initially supposed to be my only one) was the Merseyside Express. I just had to have at least one model of DP1. A set was duely purchased and supplemented with a couple of cheap Blood and Custard MK1 coaches. Initially the track held up well and was supplemented with a set of PECO straight tracks purchased during the Modelzone firesales. However recently, the track has begun to disapoint. I think due to the very nature of N gauge stuff, the construction is not robust enough to handle repeated assembly and dissasembly. Fishplates have bent and become loose, rails have begun seperating form sleepers, power clips have become unreliable and being a Train set the curves were always too sharp for some models. The PECO stuff has held up better than the Farish, but is still starting to show some signs of wear and tear. This piece is not meant to imply that their products are shoddy or badly made ( they arent) but simply that there are better products now available for the non-permanent train set market. The most obvious option is Kato Unitrack. A legacy of the Japanese market's requirement for small, non permanent railways which were robust enough to stand dissassemmbly and reassembly and also filled the requirement for the sets to be assembled rapidly and without fuss - including any wiring. the track is marketed in the UK mostly through Hattons, Gaugemaster and other specialist stockists. The track was also made available in the Dapol N Gauge Train sets released a few years back. Instead of modelling the track in isolation, kato's solution to the problem has been to raise the track up on a moulded ballast bed, which is also used to house clips between track sections to ensure a firm hold, route any wires underneath and rmove the possibility of carpet fluf for dirt coming up between the sleepers and getting caught in mechanisms. This raised trackbed also allows all Kato points to be equipped with point motors as standard. The first thing that you notice about Unitrack is that it is rather pricey. If you want the oval with passing loop then expect to pay in excess of £100 for it, as opposed to a much more reasonable £50 or so for the PECO starter set which contains roughly comparable components. This high initial investment is somewhat off-putting and tricky to justify to those with limited budgets. I nonetheless took the plunge and the Unitrack M2 Set (Oval with Passing Loop) duely arrived yesterday. Upon opening the box, the quality of the components is immediately apparent - there are no shoddy components and even the cardboard box has a solid feel to it that gives a feeling of money well spent. The polystyrene tray also has a pull out draw for the instruction manual, any additional pieces of track or even any trains which have no other home (although I am uncertain how much protection they would enjoy if you did, as its protected by little more than thin card). The contents of the box are as follows: - 10 x Long Straights - 2 x Medium Length Straights (one of which has primitive level crossing detail - 2 x Short Straight lengths - 2 x Very Short Staights, one of which is used as the power track - 2 x Points (one left, one right) 718mm radius. Fitted with motors to allow remote switching - 2 x Curves 718mm radius - 8 x Curves 315mm radius - Transformer and Controller - 2 x Point Control Switches - Re-Railing Tool - Stickers for labelling Point Switches When the contents of this box are noted, the price suddenly becomes considerably more reasonable, as the purchase of a controller, transformer, point motore, wires switches etc begin to make the two sets of prices comparable to one another. There are a large number of expansion parts and sets available which can incorporate prototype banking on fast lines, model viaducts and station approaches, include automatic singalling and level crossings, model catenary and have up to five lines operating side by side with each other. A thoroughly impressive range which is now also available in HO as well as N. The track itself is a dream to assemble - the parts have been beautifully manufactured to create prefect alignment of the rails and electrical continuity every time. They also have that solid 'feel' which speaks volumes about how well this product will last. The tracks are easy and fast to assemble and I had a complete loop build and wired within twenty minutes of opening the bos (including reading time). One point of issue is that it is tricky to improvise with unitrack - by the nature of the construction, Unitrack is very inflexible and therefore there is no give in the components where there would be in conventional track. I had to go back to the diagram a number of times because a part did not fit exactly. I had originally tried to shorten the loop, but ultimately had to build the entire thing because this was the only configuration that worked. now, i'm certain that there are other arrangements which will work, but its flexibility was undoubtedly an issue with this system. The electrics were extremely easy to set up, requiring only four wires to be plugged in operate the track and points. The Point switches have a very neat solution for providing their power - the main controller has connectors on the side (not dissimilar to a 9v battery connector) adn each switch also has a further connector, these are plugged in to each other and only require a single wire to be run to the point. An extremely impressive solution in my opinion. During the running session, I chose my three best and three worst performers on the Farish Track. The best were DP1, Western Enterprise and an LMR 'WD'. The worst were represented by Evening Star, a Q1 and an unnamed 9F. All locos performed almost without fault on the track ( a bit of a relief, if I'm honest) with the only sticking point being the tendancy of DP1 and Evening Star to follow the curve of the point even when it was set straight. However, this issue was intermittent and restricted to only one of the points in the set so i cannot imagine that it is anything which cannot be corrected at all. Performance was smooth and even cardan shaft drive models (which have a tendancy to derail frequently through sharp radius curves) ran without an indication of binding through both points and curves. The set was just as quick going down as it was being put up, and everything was back in its box within ten minutes. The only significant drawback of the track is its appearance. There can be no mistaking that this track is for a train set and not for a scale model. The very nature of its construction makes it extremely hard to disguise in a scenic setting and honestly throughout my research I have yet to see it done well. it is here that the PECO range has its massive advantage over the Unitrack. However, unitrack is compatible with all other N Gauge track with the use of a special adapter straight, so it could do extremely good service in fiddle yards and off scene tracks where its reliability and quality will work wonders. Overall, the Kato Unitrack range appears to be both of exceptional quality and exceptional value for money. I will most definitely be purchasing more of the range and expanding that I already have.

Just to add my two pennies worht into this, I had previously looked into a crowd-fuding project for two models with the kind assistance of Dave. The money involved is far too high to make any true crowdfunding project a success, and could ultimately prevent the very models you seek being taken up by manufaturers. Minimum run you can talk about for any serious project is 1000 pieces, and frankly, good luck getting 1000 people to pay the full cost of a model up front before even seeing it. At the current average engine cost of about £110, you are looking at quite a considerable amount of money

Hi Guys, I'm starting this topic as a sort of offshoot to the F1 2016 thread, where I was about to post a big reply saying about how many other forms of motor sport were better value than F1, but decided it was not the proper place. So, new thread. What motorsport do you guys watch / attend instead of Formula 1 races? For my part, last year my ambitions to go to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone were 'downgraded' somewhat to supposedly inferior events. However, I found that this was most definitely not the case in practice. I attended the BTCC round at Donington,a dn although the weather was not co-operating very well I had an extremely enjoyable day. Matt Neal forced Andrew Jordan off right inf ront of me, and I had a chance to have a quick chat with Rob Austin after he spun out of Race 3. Three races combined with some truly wonderful support races and a trip around the museum equalled a quite brilliant day out. My other choice would be Formula E. Once again at the Donington Venue, I have always turned up for at least one of the test days for both seasons and was amzed that they let you get so close to such important cars for free. Whilst I don't approve of the idea of drivers getting a boost in the race via social media, I do like the fact that the drivers have to get involved with the fans because of it. very pleasant little chats with Nick Heidfeld, Simona de Silvestro, Katherine Legge, Stephane Sarrizan and Jaques Villeneuve means a lot to a new series and a new fan. I was so enamoured by it that I attended the first race of the London Round in 2015, which I found to be a wonderful spectacle and exceptionally well priced at less than £25 for admittance - Formula E holds all practice sessions, qualifying and the race on the same day so I got to see a lot of on track action for my entrance fee - and a nice touch was a complementary radio which allowed you to hear the TV commentary whilst watching the action out on track. Suffice to say I will be going back. So, where do you guys go for your motorsport kicks?

As a rule of thumb (and because I've personally tried it ) N gauge Locos with Peco 009 coaches and O scale figures when combined provide a reasonable facsimilie of the RHDR, just as long as nobody gets a slide rule out . Bears very little actual resemblance to the real thing but conveys the 'feel' of a 15 inch line quite nicely, and with a little ingenuity should actually serve very nicely for you.

The market for American HO is vastly bigger than anything in British modelling. The no numbers and plain livery thing has been tried before I believe. Heljan tried it with their 47 (and you don't get much more ubiquitous than that) and the sales were terrible. Most people picking up a RTR model want just that, a RTR model. People are gor the most part put off by things like applying your own decals for fear of ruining a model which is worth a hefty chunk of money. The models are also no cheaper because the decal stage represents a minuscule portion of the manufacturing cost. Those people who want to repaint will repaint regardless of what the model actually is, and those who don't want to repaint are generally happy with what manufacturers give them. Those who are left don't have enough buying power to make it worthwhile for the manufacturers to make 'blank' engines

I'd actually buy a model of the 'Fowler' Diesel Mechanical 0-4-0 that Ixion produced the other year if it were made in OO. If not, my vote is for anything with outside cylinders and which ran in industry. I personally think that that is the only bit of the market which has yet to be tapped to any great degree.

EDIT: Answered my own question - Ignore me

Not sure I would class it as a mallet either - they are traditionally compounded and have a single set of rigid wheels while the other one pivots. She's definitely not a Garatt and doesn't really fit into the Kitson mould well enough for comfort. I think that she can only be referred to as a 'Leader' pattern loco. With perhaps a tentative nod towards being a cab-forward?