Free At Last

Another loco I bought new in 1978 and had only been test run. Having a load of used decoders from my sound conversions I have been using them up on some split chassis Mainline locos and thought I would try a tender drive model. A simple conversion, as all it needs is the wires removed from the motor and connected to the decoder, and the decoder wires to the motor. This decoder is an old Bachmann one that only had short addressing. The tender gears were regreased and motor shaft bearing oiled. I was quite pleased with the result for a 45 year old loco costing £16.95. And here it is running...

What did you do to make you think that?

The posh hearea.

Check that the bogies aren't catching on the solebar trusses.

Just looked through the rest, 4, and they are ok. The botched ones were Royal Scot and Scots Guardsman which I think may have been the first releases and were the top of my pile. It shouldn't be hard to put mounting points in, though I don't know what it is inside that is keeping the other one unopenable.

I have a few boxed Mainline Jubilee and Royal Scot locos bought new when first released. I had no proper layout at the time so they have only had occasional test runs and are suffering non of the known problems associated with split chassis locos (yet). A while back I converted a Jubilee with Fowler tender for dcc by wiring a 4 pin jst lead into the tender which was successful. Having a load of spare decoders after fitting sound to a lot of my locos I thought I would convert some more Mainline locos and chose one with a Stanier tender. On removing the two fixing screws in the tender chassis I found I could not remove the body. It appeared to be glued in, so running a scalpel blade around it released it and I was surprised to find there had never been mounting points for the screws in the body, and a piece of polystyrene most probably used as a spacer until the glue dried. I examined another Stanier tender and found that to be similar, although after breaking the glue bond the body will still not come off. It also felt heavier than the previous one. Looking through the fireman's tool tunnel I could see some hard resin like material which must be bonding it all together. Were these tenders a botch up job?

Is this on both the program track and the main?

My Prodigy Advance power supply is labelled 15vDC 3.5A. Track voltage measured on same MM is 14.6V

I recognised the profile picture.

I am only on nodding terms with my neighbours, I have only lived here 39 years.

A neighbour recently opened a facebook account and sent me a friend request... why??? he only lives opposite me.

I did the same with mine. I think the wire I use came from a picture frame hanging kit from a bargain shop.

The DG couplings suit my method of working my passenger terminus without any loco shuffling or hand of god. I have fitted the couplings with the loop on each end of a rake of coaches and the latch on the locos. Two magnets are sited in each platform, the first one at the entrance and a second one just over a locos length back from the stops. A loco brings in a train and passes over the first and second magnets with nothing happening as the coupling is in tension. At the stops the loco sets back where the second magnet unlatches the coupling and then draws forward again, uncoupling. A pilot loco attaches to the rear end and draws the ecs out passing over the first magnet where again nothing happens as the coupling is in tension. It then propels the ecs into the departure platform or carriage siding and as it passes over the first magnet the coupling unlatches leaving the pilot loco to uncouple from the stock wherever in the platform and retire back to it's siding. A new loco couples to the train to depart on its outward journey. It also works with a loco release, having the magnet just beyond the fouling point of the turnout/crossing.

I hope this doesn't mean they are turning it into a working toy like Bachmann did, which significantly increased the price.

They are not blinkered, they will be looking for something more to their interest. Not everyone is the same as you.

I was unaware of that, I thought they had commissioned them from other manufacturers

They will have to be careful about becoming a 'manufacturer' and putting Bachmann's and Hornby's nose out of joint.

Which is why they made it easier to make the wiring modifications for those who want to do it.

The couplings are huge, I wonder why Hattons specified that size. Having a stash of shorter couplings in pockets I tried fitting one but found it would not fit into the fishtail housing due to an extra bit of moulding I had not seen before, I had to use the supplied NEM pockets.

Whilst it is true that 'special wiring' is not 'needed' it can make them more reliable.

Mine is due today between 15:10 and 16:10.

Easy, just carry on walking. I don't need blinkers, my first glance tells me if it is what I came to see.

Not seen any watermarks or incompatibility notifications yet. I assume the updates I won't be getting may be any 24HX when they arrive as I notice some updating going on when turning off/on.

I imagine this being posted in a Bachmann topic caused the confusion.