AJ'S

I asked Peco at Statfold and was told the Bowsiders are the correct length and width unlike the Bug boxes that were made to fit a chassis. I think it was the GVT chassis they were made to fit. A great shame.

Does anybody know if Peco have made the Bowsiders to the correct length and width unlike the bug boxes which are oversize.

I have just received the 8 pin version of the above and noticed that one end has no components fitted and appears to have no circuitry in it. Does anybody know if this can be safely cut off to considerably shorten the decoder. Just noticed in the instructions that that area is where the antenna is. That sort of mucks up that idea. Alec

The smallest Deltang RX I think is 11mm wide this is 2mm to wide to fit in without cutting metal away. The Zimo MS500 sound decoder is 10mm wide and needs metal removing from the lower boiler to get it in. The Zimo MS490 sound decoder is 9mm wide and will just fit with no surgery required. Hope this is of interest now we just wait to be proved wrong and someone manages the conversion.

As I see it the problem is not getting replacement numbering it’s removing the wrong number or numbers without marking the paint finish on £199 loco. There’s no way you can touch up the paint finish without it showing and the replacement number is not going to fully cover it. That’s why I cancelled my order.

Well I hope they sort the pony truck pivot out as it was in the wrong place, far to short and caused all sorts of running problems. None of the manufactures seem to have heard of Baldrys rule. Alec

I’m afraid this is a common problem with lots of models now and it does not seem to matter who makes them. The pickups are very thin and easily bent and don’t seem to be very springy. If you move the wheels over to one side I expect you will see they are not touching the backs of the wheels. You can sometimes adjust them with a thin knife blade or screw driver. The best way is to remove the keeper plate if you can. On the Dapol Terrier I don’t think that’s very easy without damaging the brake rigging. It is a shame so many models are spoiled but such a simple fault and this applies to Dapol, Hornby, Bachmann and probably everyone else. Obviously this fault is more noticeable on on the smaller locos compared to steam engines with tender pickups and the bogie diesels.

Try a Cricut Maker. More pressure and a positionable blade for heavier cuts.

They both will probably be ok. I would go for the 659 as it’s slightly narrower and there is not a lot of clearance above the wheels. The decoder fixing is very loose and it might be a good idea to also fix it with some black tack. You should definitely insulate the speaker terminals as it’s very inclined to fall out and attach itself to the motor.

I have an email from Rails stating Zimo. As I didn’t want to order a sound version unless they were Zimo. I am still waiting for my sound equipped K&ESR Terrier. I am not impressed with Dapol or Rails with this. I could of purchased a sound decoder and fitted it myself. Alec

I think the cab roof join is a terrible piece of design. I would love to know why the roof could not be in one piece and the back of the cab a separate piece. I assume it’s glued to the cab sides so why does it have to continue into the roof? I have 2 sound fitted on order and hope there are no problems with them.

The Cricut Maker has a gear driven deep cut blade so it aligns itself in the correct direction before it makes the next cut. There are no spurious cuts. This also means it can cut curves without lifting off the material. As Ray says the problem with plastic is it’s hard and does not easily move out of the way to let the blade cut all the way through the thicker sheets. But it does give you a very accurate score line to just snap the parts out. Keep practicing Alec

How did you remove the keeper plate? I undid the screws but could not get it off.

You have to remove the coach roof first then the roof over the cab. The coach roof is held in by the windows. You need to press them in to release the roof. The cab roof is the same with the windows at the front plus a clip at the rear. From memory the chassis drops out with the screw underneath and the cab section is held to the coach with the pivot pin which pushes out.

Yes I have one. I have used for cutting there 2 mm chipboard also 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mm plastic card. The latter two at the moment not all the way through, score and snap. Also used the chipboard setting on Wills walling sheets. Not quite enough to snap but good cutting guides. It all needs more experimentation.