Dan Griffin

Evening. i seem to have a strange buzzing noise emanating from one part of my layout. the layout is dcc and quite large, being 16 foot by 17 foot. at one particulate junction, when the power is on, i can here a strange buzzing noise coming from the track. It is similar to the buzz you get when you place a non dcc fitted loco onto thew track, but not as loud. there are no short circuits as the layout runs fine, and the noise can only be heard where two tracks split off at a junction. all points are electrofrog. i don't use juicers or any point motors. anyone have any ideas what could cause this? is it some sort of feedback as the layout is the 'roundy roundy ' type. regards Dan

They did but only because there was no alternative at the time. The Cambrian kit alternative is a very decent wagon. I’ve just finished a rake of five. this wagon is massively flawed, there’s no getting away from this. £50 for a flawed wagon is astonishing. The lead time for a corrected version could be years, as the current tooling will be useless.

Thanks, i knew it looked wrecked and burned in a crash but didn't realise it was rebuilt, let alone still around!

163 met an untimely end if i remember correctly still wearing its bodyside union jacks.

For anyone who missed out of these superb books, there are currently two sets on ebay.

Since when ? HAA’s were seen as singles in speedlink trains and as cripples going around the network. A quick scan of books and YouTube would show that.

It’s pleasing to see a strong positive response to the HAA wagons. And looking at their previous releases these wagons will be good. They had other uses I don’t think have been mentioned. HAA wagons were used on the Foxton cement works coal train. This ran infrequently but when I was a signaller at Helpston it would run down (or up!) the ECML then off towards Ely at Peterborough. sometimes with 25 loaded hoppers, sometimes just 4! Traction varied from 47/56/58 to 60/66’s in the latter years (2005/6). I think it depended on the demand at cement works. dare we (I) hope that you tackle the other end of the MGR cycle and maybe tool up a CSA fly ash wagon to complement these hoppers. Seen together at Ratcliffe and West Burton Power Stations. The CSA was seen through the midlands and the lower part of the ECML and these wagons would prove very local to Trains4u as they operated to Fletton disposal point and Little Barford Power station at St Neots from 1969 to 1993. And there is a surviving example at Railworld. just a thought, not ‘wish listing’. keep up the good work with your wagon projects. it’s refreshing to see these hot the market at an affordable price.

t me it looks like the moel is plonked on top of a Hornby track mat, with a real set track curve behind it.

50033 passes 50026 on the sea wall section of the sea wall

Class 31 deputising for a 56, and struggling on a steel train, whilst a 50 heads to exeter

Hello all, a belated update. the track work and wiring has been completed and am in the process of testing it before painting the track and ballasting, below are some recent pics of the progress, I will also up load a couple of YouTube links to my channel. I will probably upload more to YouTube than here at the moment so if you like what you see, please subscribe and share. 47581 on the first test train to run round the layout. you can see where I have had to cut rails due to the track kinking in the heat. 50045 and 47581 testing the tracks. 60062 has taken on a new lease of life since being fitted with TTS sound. I am looking to upgrade the speaker inside it. any recommendations? Lots of NSE livery. Note how 50033 has a buffer missing. I have to say I am led than impressed with the build quality of the new batch of 50s. loose parts and the door livery doesn't match the body side. Austerity saddle tank 191 in K&ESR inspired cammo livery as painted in 1985? this will perform on the steam railway part of the layout. I took me almost 4 and a half years to finish this loco. I had it stripped down and green painted, but the purchase of a DJ models put paid to the repaint. However the performance of that loco spurred me on to complete this and sell the other contraption! this performs faultlessly and will haul just about anything. it also looks good in this colour too! all the best Dan

is that inside 45015! wow

The regional railways peak and Intercity Western featured in a model rail mag many moons ago. Also featured was a freightliner class 59. now freightliner own the 59's!

oh no............my poor wallet!

that really is an awesome looking power car

Good Morning. I though it best to put this in the questions section as I don't want to resurrected anything in the DJ Models parts of the forum. has anyone added any additional weight to their J94? There appears to be enough space inside the tanks under the dcc interface to add some. does adding weight make any difference to its running and haulage capacity? I am considering adding weight to help haulage as my example will only manage 3 Bachmann mk1's on level track work, add a fourth and it slips to a stand. my example has the running number of 68061. if it proves fruitless I fear I may have to trade it in and obtain a different tank loco. regards Dan

After the problems faced with certain Class 31's that been well documented, I fear I may have stumbled upon another problem that may have potential to damage more locos. I have two 31's in my fleet which seem to be effected at the moment. the Rail express 31130 coal sector loco and the 31/4 FM rail version.(both the same body shell version with headlight) these were not effected by the chassis issues. I also have a 31111 but have yet to check this. the problem I have found is that the plastic used inside the body shell has become very brittle. I removed the body's to service these locos and fit sound chips and have discovered the plastic that holds the screw thread in place has literally crumbled away. its virtually turned to dust leaving the brass nut to fall loose. the body securing screws have not been over tightened and the locos have been stored indoors in ambient normal household temperatures. I now have to try and work out how to secure the body's to the chassis now. check your 31's if you have these versions.

admin it maybe prudent to lock topic to prevent assumptions and speculation.

With any luck they’ll offer it as a spare item so we can upgrade the ones we have with dodgy motors.

we can only hope. I have all of CTG's work so far, they are all outstanding books. pride of place next to my copy of 'never again'. personally id like to see a volume of CTG's colour work.

That’s good news. I have a terrier gear in stock as a ‘spare’ just in case.

now starting to look the part, after washing the white metal parts it was ready for priming. primed and ready for the paint shop. I chose a different livery to what the Scots were known to carry. I chose early British Railways late 1940's LNWR inspired black. I have seen pictures of a couple of early rebuild in this livery but none carried deflectors. I kept the original 6P power classification as this was not changed to 7P until 1951. I am pleased with how this has turned out. it just need couplings and real coal adding. I will dcc fit once my layout is up and running. any comments welcome. regards Dan.

Hello all, I obtained a comet models Royal Scot a few years ago. it was battered and some parts were missing. notably the deflectors and top feed. I contacted the gent at Comet models and he kindly supplied the missing etches and white metal parts. below is a small description of the work carried out. you can see the missing parts and damaged paintwork. the connecting rods also suffered from being bent slightly. The tender was missing both buffers and has a dent in the tank side. I kept this dent as its part of the loco's character and history. Disaster struck when I stripped the paint. using caustic soda I had assumed it was soldered together but it was glued. most parts came adrift and were salvaged. the tender faired better. I faced a lengthily rebuild. The tender required new spring and axel box casting, but other than that looked in pretty good shape. It took a while but I managed to rebuild the locomotive part, obtaining new deflectors and cylinder castings. the connecting rods were straightened out too.

Hello. I am currently building my layout and for my outdoor section I am planning on having it as a return loop, it will be about 60-70 foot in length and run to the garden shed (roughly half way along) and back. inside the shed will be a couple of storage sidings and possible a mock coal mine. the line will be a preserved steam line. this shed will act as an intermediate signal box. splitting the loop into two separate signalling blocks. the question I have is about running multiple trains with in the loop as it will be so long. will I be able to run two trains into the loop. both in the same direction, one behind the other, separated by the block post which will be the signals inside the shed. does a return loop module allow this to happen? will having two trains inside the loop at the same time effect the return loop switching polarity of the rails? I understand that all rails will need to be isolated with insulated fish plates and I understand how to wire the loop up. this scenario is what is bothering me:- train A runs into the loop, heads around and makes it ways back. once my son (signalman in the shed) has advised that train A is clear train B then enters the loop. After train B has enetered and is clear of the insulated joint, the points are switch and the reverse loop module should change polarity of the rails. All well and good. Train A then makes it back to the station from where is started. loco runs round and is ready to go back. Am I right in thinking that because the module has activated I will be unable to send train A back into the loop whilst Train B is still making it way back to the station? I hope that makes sense. any help would be great.