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Thanks for the explanation I should have spotted that steve

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean with regard to the Peco track why you say you have split it and turned it round? Regards Steve

My Heljan Deltic did the expected and split its gear. No problem there I thought I have a Heljan spare (from Howes back in the day) plus the excellent replacement from Jim. On taking the bogie apart I found the split gear but also found that the next gear on the shorter drive train (those that have taken a Heljan bogie apart will understand) had also split. Now I had the need to find a replacement for that. Optimistically but without much hope I tried Gaugemaster who stated they may have some gears coming in in January but they don't know which ones!. So with even less hope I tried Heljan UK, guess what the reply came from Gaugemaster with the same message. What to do now I thought. I read, I think on RM Webb, about Ultrascale entering the field so I went to their website. Sure enough they now do some gears for Heljan replacements but of course not the one I needed. Never mind I'll will email them and see if they can help. Very quickly I received an answer from David Rogers and after some brief correspondence an un-spilt gear(from the other bogie) was sent off. The first thing to arrive almost by return was a shaft. This was the nearest equivalent to the Chinese shaft which I understand doesn't quite match common stock sizes. Test fitting appeared to be fine. The next step was David sending me a gear mounted on the shaft. Re-assembling the bogie with the new gear I was unable to close the bogie sides up. Taking things into my own hands I shortened the shaft slightly and used some emery paper on the ends of the shaft. Success the bogie closed up fine. I then confessed to David what I had done and he was concerned that it was not the right way forward. Within a few days a replacement gear arrived having been tweaked by David and this proved to be an easy drop in fit, so a big shout out to ULTRASCALE. If any of you have similar problems you know where to go. I wouldn't bother with Heljan they don't give a monkeys, their standard response being 'the problem is solved on newer models'. Hey Heljan, what about those of us who in good faith bought the earlier models? They weren't exactly cheap so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect Heljan to deal with the problem. They had a simple solution when they finally admitted there was a problem, get China to produce enough spares of all the gears to replace faulty ones FOC. I doubt I will buy anymore of their products. Picture 1 Completed bogie, Picture 2 The first replacement gear showing position of split gear in chain Steve

I think it was on Brian Daniels three on here where he assembled the body a different way to the Easybuild instructions. Basically the sides and ends are fitted to the roof rather than the under frame . This allows the use of filler to close the small remaining gap. It’s a bit fiddly then to marry up the bolt through the floor into the roof fixing but careful measuring makes it easier. I did it with mine and I was happy with the result

When should we expect the 7mm version???

There is a posting on the Guild website that the company have gone into voluntary liquidation. If true then it's sad news Steve

Brian, congratulations on your retirement but as for ' more time for modelling' you'll be the first to achieve that. I've been retired five years and I've never been so busy! The old adage ' I don't know how I found time to go to work' seems to apply in most cases, so good luck! Steve

KS laser designs do a kit with aluminium mesh which may be of interest Steve

Giles I think these wipers will be very popular and if there's any space in your production run could I have two sets please

Worked for me just now, most enjoyable

A really good show with lots of good layouts but somehow we came back to Emsworth several times and enjoyed each visit. Thanks for chatting and I'm sure you will get the hang of the Kadees soon!

Understand the Southern version is already 'sold out' at Dapol so lots of people must be waiting patient

Rod Thanks for the info, will now spend some time perusing the Internet Steve

Rod Just a quick question re your German wagons. I'm looking to buy one for a friend who's helped me out a lot but I'm struggling to find a UK dealer. Would you be so kind as to tell me who supplied yours? Steve

Thanks for the PDF. It really is a useful guide and I've enjoyed constructing a diagram this afternoon. Highly recommended