highpeakman

That's an interesting possibility. However I know nothing about guitars or their strings except that there seem to be a lot of different ones (thickness and material). Do you have any recommendations for what type of string please? Thanks for your help.

I purchase some of those clips as I can see that they could be very useful for such repairs. Got them today, clipped one to each side of the cable ready to align them and another part of the speedo cable broke away! Yes, I was gentle. Probably have to replace the whole cable with wire of some sort now! Trying to figure out if it is worth it although I was looking to sell the model.

While changing the decoder on my Bachmann Standard 4MT Tank (32-351) I found that the speedo cable had snapped even though I had been careful with it when removing the body. I would imagine that this is a fairly common problem? Looking at the Bachmann drawing I can't see this part shown as a spare nor can I find it on the Bachmann site. It looks as if the cable might join end to end but I am not sure what type of glue would be best or most effective. Also trying to line up the two ends is proving remarkably difficult. Has anyone any suggestions for the best way to repair please?

This is an impressive looking model. A friend of mine, who doesn't use computers, has just purchased one and is very happy indeed with it. He was, however, querying why the BR version is fitted with Class A (Express) lamps? Seems a curious choice that is puzzling us, but perhaps we are missing something? I have looked through this thread and saw several references to removing the lamps but, seemingly, no one questioning why.

I would suggest Wirksworth as a possibility. A terminating branch line off the main Midland line it has bridges at each end. Station, Goods shed and engine shed. The lines continue through the station to exchange sidings with several quarries, some had private small locos. A couple of quarry feeder lines connected directly at the station yard including one through a tunnel. One quarry feeder later used an overhead conveyor to a loading dock. A theoretical link (never finally implemented) to the Cromford and High Peak Railway further up the hill. It could be operated with LMS stock, BR steam and BR diesels. As a test track for Derby Works it saw a whole range of stock including the Blue Pullmans and continues to do so as a heritage railway of course. Endless interpretations if you are liberal and want flexibility of operation.

Yes, you are right. I looked at Google again. It looks like something is in the siding which i thought was the same vehicle but it isn't and is not the same track. The track that vehicle is on does have a connection.

Resurrecting this thread, I also do have a question about this branch. I noticed on the YouTube video that there is a rail vehicle parked on an isolated siding at Liskeard between the station and the curve up to the main line. It can also be seen on Google. What is it and why is it there on an unconnected siding please? An old track maintenance vehicle? Just curious. 🤔

This is for the Railroad version of the 9F which, although loco motored, it uses the chassis, etc of the original tender drive Hornby 9F and not the later, more detailed version of the 9F. As stated above it does match the one that was fitted to this particular model and is shown on the data sheet. I do suspect that different drawbars were fitted over time though but I am not sure if model numbers always changed to reflect that.

Done.

Hi I have found your telephone number on The Model Shop Directory. Is it OK if i phone you to get details of the drawbar tomorrow?

Oh heck! Really? I was hoping that the problem was limited to the tender as it was the (really) old design ad that the loco chassis was a later version avoiding it. I will check carefully. Thanks. If you are sure that you can spare the drawbar then I would appreciate having it. I am happy to pay for it and postage. Is there an email address (or facebook, whatever)I can use to advise my address and make payment somehow?

Meant to say that your diagram of the drawbar are exactly the same as it shows on my parts leaflet but I am no longer sure how accurate that is. This model seems to be a strange combination of old and new parts. R2880.

That's very helpful of you and your offer is much appreciated. However, hopefully though, to save you the time and effort of sending it, I am still wondering if I can fashion a new one out of sheet plastic. Unfortunately the old drawbar was not returned to me so I don't have it to check. I don't think the wires are needed as the loco runs on my rolling road without the tender. I just need to check if it has a step between the loco and tender and the distance between the two fixings. The pictures show the chassis support which has the coupling pin on it. Also the new centre replacement carrying the wheels.The old Mazak motor support is the bit that rotted and, of course, there was not a motor in the Railroad 9F! The new replacement part fits into the chassis support and yes, I agree, some extra weight will be attached. Provision also has to be made to add a fixing plate over the centre wheels.

I now have the model back and the tender chassis has definitely rotted! I have removed the old chassis and I am about to fit a plastic printed replacement that I bought from Ebay. That looks straightforward enough. However a secondary problem is that, somehow, it seems the loco drawbar (Hornby X8846) has got broken. This is currently out of stock at Peter's Spares but I am also a bit confused by this part. That website suggests it is on a number of Hornby locos (Black 5, Merchant Navy, 8F, Q1, A4). It is wired to use the tender wheels as pick ups in addition to the loco. However the loco appears to run perfectly well on it's own without the tender being connected at all and, as the loco is a 2-10-0 I would have thought that picking up from the loco should not be a problem. Peter's Spares also shows another drawbar part X8864 for the 9F that has no wires although that is different to a picture on Ebay which does show wires. Very confusing! Which 9F is that for and will it fit the Railroad 9F? I would appreciate any clarification please or any other suggestions to replace the drawbar as £9 + postage seems a high price to pay for a simple piece of plastic. Is it simple enough to fashion out of plastic sheet or is there any hidden potential problem?

Shouldn't be much wear on any of the wheels as it hasn't really run much. I will investigate as soon as it is back in my hands from the buyer. It appears there may be a case of mazak rot in the chassis. Thanks for suggestion anyway.

OK. Thanks for that information. I will investigate as soon as the model arrives back.

OK. Thank you. I have heard of Mazak rot in other models but was totally unaware that it could affect this model as well. I haven't got it back from the purchaser yet but will look at the tender as soon as it arrives back. Thanks for the help.

I have just sold a Horny railroad 9F (R2880) on Ebay but have just had to agree a return owing to "damage" to the tender drawbar (broken into two pieces) and tender wheels that don't turn. The loco is a few years old but was purchased by me when new. I have never subjected it to any stress and it has only ever run a few times on my own layout which is an end to end - 10 foot absolute max run. I have always been very careful in handling locos and had test run it before sale - mainly because I had removed the DCC chip that was previously in it. I did not notice any problems at all. I have never taken the tender apart. It was packaged very carefully when it was shipped and the buyer said the package was not damaged. I haven't received it back yet but it has been suggested that the problem is down to plastic decay. Has anyone ever seen anything like this or know what the problem might be please? Is it a weak point on this loco? I don't think I have heard of it before if it is. Can anyone supply a photo of the underside of their railroad 9f tender for comparison please?

You are right, my error. Thanks. Anyway 0.1uF will do the job I want them to do so I am fitting those as being better than having no suppression at all.

I looked a bit further and agree with the value you suggest. The ones i had weren't marked but I found a later one marked as 104 which is 1000pF (or 0.1uF). Available on Ebay at less than £3 (inc postage) for 100 pcs. Will probably buy these and fit where convenient. Thanks for the assistance.

Thanks for that suggestion. Sounds about right.

Nigel. Thank you for responding. Yes, I appreciate what the capacitors do, or at least, are supposed to do even if in practice, for this application at least, they achieve very little. Originally I was not intending to fit them but, as I am selling the locos, I wasn't sure if some people would expect them to be fitted to a DC loco they purchase. I spent my career in high frequency electronics (Radar, Mobile phone, Satellite transmissions and Broadcast transmissions) and have seen some strange interference problems (but rarely) and would totally agree that it is unlikely that locos would cause much of a problem these days. I suppose I imagined that the Law of Sod taking effect to the point of a customer coming back with "Your loco interferes with my tele"! 🤔 (Yes, I remember 405 line stuff! 😁) Really I suppose I thought it is just a case of better safe than sorry. If a simple 0.1uF ceramic will do the job then perhaps I may as well fit it. I'll think on that. One last thought: Theoretically speaking, is it a legal requirement? (Even if unlikely ever to be traced 🙂) Anyway, Thanks for your comments. Helpful.

I am just involved in selling some of my locos which are DCC fitted. Many of them have the decoder hard wired in and had the original installed suppression circuits removed at the time. It seems that most people feel they would be easier to sell if they are returned to straight DC operation before sale and so I am just about to start removing the decoders. I feel it would then be a good idea to replace the suppression capacitors but the refitting the original suppression boards is not always possible and, anyway, it is often difficult to know which ones of those I still have came with which loco. I know that I can buy the Hornby parts such as X8236 which include the cap and a choke but I feel that those are "expensive" (relatively speaking) when I should be able to buy just the caps more cheaply from an electronics part distributor and in more volume than those available from suppliers of Hornby parts (when postage sometimes costs more than a small number of parts available from any particular model supplier). Does anyone know the specification - values (in pF) of such ceramic caps please? (And the chokes (inductances) if known?) I have searched this forum and the web for this info but couldn't find the information so apologies if this has already been discussed. Thanks for any responses.

I am just involved in selling some of my locos which are DCC fitted many of which are hard are wired and had the installed suppression circuits removed. It seems that most people feel they would be easier to sell if they are returned to straight DC operation and so I am just about to start removing the decoders. I feel it would be a good idea to fit some new suppression capacitors as the refitting the original suppression boards is not always possible and, anyway, it is often difficult to know which ones came with which loco anyway. I know that I can buy the Hornby parts such as X8236 which include the cap and a filter but I feel that those are "expensive" (relatively) when I should be able to buy just the caps more cheaply and in more volume than those available from suppliers of Hornby parts (when postage sometimes costs more than the parts). Does anyone know the specification - values (in pF) of such caps please? The answer (if anyone is interested) from another forum is that they are 0.1uF (1000pF) - available on Ebay for under £3 per hundred. Thanks for any responses.

Thank you for the link. Most interesting.