King William

The instructions state that feedback controllers should not be used. I assumed this was because it had a coreless motor. As it has now been confirmed that it has an iron core motor what is the reason for not using feedback controllers? Is it because of the electronic components? Would this still be a problem if the loco is only run at realistic slow speeds which are way below the excessive top speed? Thanks for any answers to this query.

The model shop in Harrow was originally in what appeared to be an old railway coal office by the bridge over the Met line at the north end of Harrow on the Hill station before moving to St. Ann's road. it was very small. This was probably the late fifties/early sixties, after I moved to Harrow. Before that I lived within walking distance of Taylor & McKenna in Harlesden who were one of the major model railway retailers at the time.. Everything from Kits and bits to rtr, Quite a shop!

I have had this kind of problem, but much more random times between switching. I disconnected and reconnected all the wires allowing the wires from the signal to hang as freely as possible without being tangled. . There was some strain on them before. This appeared to cure the problem and it has not happened for a long time. I have no idea why. This signal also had the problem of the arm not moving when the motor acts ,which was cured by flicking the arm as recommended by Dapol Dave. I have bought 3 signals since, which are much smoother and quieter than the problem one and have worked without trouble. Maybe it was a rogue example or later batches are a better build. They are all 00 GW type. .

Thanks for the comments. No offence taken. You comment on DCC/analogue made me suddenly think that I might have a DCC loco sold as DCC ready(it was a very good price) and the chip was making it go the the wrong way on analogue! It really does run very smoothly on analogue and the Relco I use should fry any chips from what I hear. Changing round the wires to the motor is easy as the loco body is simple to remove. Removal of the Collett tender body with the loco is quite different to the Hawksworth tender which is included in the instructions. I wonder if there are two sets of instructions and I have a loco with the wrong one? I will not do anything to the loco until is out of guarantee in case something else more serious goes wrong. I bought a new loco last year that was ok to start with and after 3 months developed a very serious problem and had to be returned.

It is an analogue loco. Well that is what it says on the box!

I have just bought Beverston Castle at Ally Pally . Looks great and runs beautifully. Just one problem - it runs in the wrong direction! I have never encountered this in a ready to run model before. It is simple enough to fix as the wires to the motor are very easy to get at with the body removed. When bulding a loco chassis there is always a 50 % chance of getting the right direction of running first time with most motors . I wonder how easy it is for Hornby to get it right when all 4 wires to the loco - tender plug are black and a can motor can be mounted either way up. They obviously must have a method to make sure it is always correct. I just got one that got away! I also found that the instructions show the tender body/chassis fixing for a Hawksworth tender and the Collett tender is totally different. I presume there is only one instruction sheet for all Castles.