DrStroganoff

Just to follow up... I ended up connecting my tender pickups directly to the loco's pickups with a couple of short wires. Works perfectly now, no stalling or sound cutting out.

Thankyou Kaput, this is what I needed to hear. I think I see where I'm going wrong now.

Thanks for the replies. Richard, I have tried the TTS decoder in another loco (streamlined coronation), and works fine. I've connected my tender pickups directly to the tabs on the motor, to which the decoder is already connected. Should I have not done this? The decoder still works fine if the tender/extra pickups are not connected. I must apologise if I have not described the problem clearly. I'm having trouble processing it myself! To reiterate, everything works as it should until extra pickups are introduced to the motor.

Hi guys. Apologies if this is a bit rambling/wrong section etc... Yesterday I did my first DCC sound installation on a Hornby Crosti 9F. I used a Hornby TTS decoder, plus a bass-enhanced speaker from eBay. The sound installation went fine, but this loco is terrible for stalling on my not-quite-flat points, and obviously the sound cuts out/resets. The loco only picks up from the driving wheels, so I figure I need to install pickups in the tender to help it get over the points without interruption. Also, should mention the loco's polarity seems to be reversed. I had a go at adding pickups, and that's when things got interesting... I added bronze pickup strips to the front wheels of the tender, soldered some fine wire to the pickups and soldered the other end to the tabs on the motor. I thought that was going to be 'job done', but no! When the loco was placed on the track, a loud buzzing came from the decoder, but there was no short circuit. Lifting the tender from the rails stopped the buzzing, but the loco was lifeless. Swapped the wires over, and the layout shorted, which suggests I had wired them correctly on my first go. I disassembled the loco, detached the tender/pickups, but left the new pickup wires attached to the locos motor tabs. I then experimented with touching those wires to the rails, and the loco lunged forward at speed all of a sudden. This is all v weird. I had hoped adding pickups would be the easy bit! I'm thinking maybe I should strip the whole loco down and rebuild, removing any capacitors along the way. Any thoughts? Here are some pics of the inside of the loco, tender pickup wires removed... Should I remove the capacitor? Thanks for reading folks. I'd appreciate any suggestions, although I realise my post might be a tad unclear!

In case anyone is interested, here is how my attempt at 5239 'Goliath' (in preserved GW livery) turned out... The lining was challenging! There are a couple of dodgy joins. I used HMRS pressfix transfers and Microsol decal solution. I think the result is passable, certainly at a fair viewing distance! The only serious bodge I've made, is that I have spaced the 'GREAT WESTERN' differently on either side. And, they're not quite straight on one side. That'll teach me to be attempting such a task after a couple of pints... The body has been finished with Humbrol Clear gloss, and the smokebox and cab roof are matt varnish. I also painted the wheels matt black, and the connecting rods with Railmatch Oily Steel. The photos aren't great, the green is a bit darker. Anyway, quite happy with my first crack at lining.

Funny enough, Blu Tack did cross my mind earlier. I might just give it a go! Thanks!

Hi guys. Sounds easy enough, but I am struggling with fitting nameplates to the side of the smokebox/boiler of a Hornby 42xx that I'm working on. I am in the process of repainting/renumbering it to 5239 'Goliath' as preserved. The repaint is going OK, but now I am a bit stuck with how to fit the etched nameplates. As you can see in the following photo of the prototype, the positioning of the plates is a little unusual: As you see, the nameplate isn't flush to the smokebox, any suggestions of how I could recreate this raised look would be much appreciated. Thanks. Also, while fiddling with the nameplates, I've made one of them go slightly wonky at one end. Is there a trick to flattening them?

Thanks for the reply Michael. Yes, a re-paint is in order. I have just given the body a quick spray of primer to see how the tank sides look, and it looks good enough to me. Have just ordered a can of Railmatch GWR green. I have the etched nameplates/numberplates for 5239 Goliath. The location of the nameplate is a little odd. Haven't figured out how I am going to attach the nameplates to the loco yet. I visited the Dartmouth steam railway this past weekend and took plenty of photographs of Goliath for reference. Coincidentally, 10 years ago to the day, my wife and I got married on the Dartmouth Steam Railway. 5239 Goliath hauled our wedding train from Churston to Kingswear. The train featured the Devon Belle observation car. Trying to recreate our 'wedding train!'

Hey guys. So, what I'm attempting to do is re-name/re-number a Hornby GWR 42xx, to 5239 'Goliath' as preserved. The first step was to remove the decals, as I want the 'GREAT WESTERN' lettering without the big gap in the middle. After researching methods of removing decals on RMweb, I decided to go with cocktail stick/enamel thinners. The results are... not great. : My first question is, am I now looking at a complete re-paint? (Potentially a good thing, as I find the Hornby finish very dull.) If I am to re-paint, how would I go about preparing the affected area prior to painting/priming (ie - sanding)? Or do I need to completely remove all paint from the model first? Thank you for taking the time to read, I look forward to your responses...

Sam, I was just thinking of ordering one of these, as per your recommendation. Two questions though: 1. How would I connect this to the lighting bus ? 2. On the ebay listing, which version do I get? 72w 9-24v or 60w 3-12v Thanks in advance! :-)

@Dungrange Thanks for that info, I've been able to work out that the Hornby controller can supply approx 800+mA , so it should be able to power about 40 LED's (Much more than I'll need). I *think* I am getting somewhere now! I've had a friend come take a look this morning, and he seems to think that the LED's I have used are self-resisting. So now I have disconnected the lampposts from the bus, and the Hornby controller seems to be fine just powering the LED's inside the buildings. So I'm thinking I might have a lighting bus just for LED's inside buildings, powered by the Hornby controller. Then do a separate bus for the grain of wheat lampposts, and power them at 9v using the power supply that @SamThomas suggested above. Thanks again everyone. Hopefully I'm heading in the right direction with this. I shall report back! :-)

Hi David, Yes, they are connected to the track output of the controller. I did try dialling the knob down as low as possible, but I chickened out of leaving it on too long as I didn't want to risk burning them out. Another question guys... Would using a 6v battery as a power source be an option? Thank you everyone for the responses. To be honest, I'm struggling to process it all. I'm a bit confused, as I'm sure I've read many threads on here where the advice has been "Just use an old trainset controller" for powering lights! Sam, to make sure I understand your advice correctly... You would fit a resistor to the 4 internal LED's, but not to the 3 platform lights? And by running at 9v, would I achieve this by dialling the controllers dial down to say 3/4 power? I must apologise guys, I meant it when I said I'm a novice!

Hi Sam, thanks for the reply. No, there are no resistors. Like I said, I am a novice in this area unfortunately! OK, so the controller is cutting out due to too much load. I don't have a more powerful supply, I'd like to use this Hornby controller if possible. So, will I need a resistor for each LED, or is it possible to just put one at the start of the circuit? Thanks.

Hello guys. I need some help/advice with my layout lighting. I've spent the last day or so reading the myriad of topics on LED lighting, and I feel like I'm struggling to understand the basics. I'm very much a novice in this area. I've just finished building my Metcalfe station, in which I have installed 4x LED's (one in each 'room'), plus 3 platforms lamps. These are wired in parallel to a copper tape bus under the baseboard. This is powered by an old Hornby trainset controller. I must say, when I powered up the lights for the first time, I was most pleased with myself that it actually worked! Fast forward 1 minute and the lights just powered off. If I wait a little while and power them back up, they work for 30 secs to 1 minute and shut down again. Here is the copper tape bus: (Ignore the brown/green wires, they are the power bus/track droppers) And here is the controller: (Note the lighting is connected the 12v DC output, NOT the 16v AC) One thing I have learned from reading this forum today, is that I probably need some kind of resistors in there somewhere. Any advice in this area would be v much appreciated. The 4x LED's in the building are rated 12v / 20mA (info taken from the ebay listing.) And all I know about the lampposts is that they are rated 12v, I'm only just now realising that they aren't LED's. (?) I had figured that if I just bought lights that were rated 12v, that I could just power them easily with a 12v dc controller. As usual, I was wrong... So I'm hoping that you knowledgeable folk can offer some advice. Thanks for taking the time to read.

I realise now that I posted this in the wrong section of the forum, I guess it should've gone in 'Modelling Questions, Help & Tips.' Anyway, pleased to report that she is now running nicely, and this project has certainly boosted my confidence in tackling these sort of jobs!

I decided to just have a go this evening, and I'm rather pleased that I got it running on first attempt. Just need to shorten these wires now!

Hey guys. I'm hoping to get some help/advice on rebuilding this loco. Hope that I'm posting this in the correct place. I recently acquired a Bachmann Atlantic 4-4-2 loco, a non-runner, in which a previous owner has removed some of the essential bits for DCC installation. I (almost) think I know what I'm doing, but I do have a couple of questions for you knowledgeable folks. So, here it is in bits... I should also mention that the loco is to be DCC fitted. Firstly, the 4-pin plug and wires have been removed from the loco. I have sourced a replacement plug/wires, and I think this will be the easy bit, identify which wires go to the motor/pickups, and solder them in. Which leads to my first question... The motor: Should I remove the yellow capacitors? And I'm fairly certain those resistors aren't original, so I assume they can go too? The previous owner has used this as a static display model, and for some reason has decided to paint everything on the underside of the chassis black, including the 4-pin socket. I do have some new sockets, but I'm not confident that I could neatly solder a new socket to the board. The pins in the socket have black paint on them, any ideas of how I could clean the pins up? I've just tried dipping a new 4-pin plug into paint thinners and then inserting it into the socket. Didn't really do much... The pickups have also been cut out of the tender. Not worried about putting new tender pickups in, as there is still a bit of the original pickups left there which I have cleaned up. So I'll be able to solder new pickups there at a later date. And lastly, identifying which wires go where. I think I've just found the answer in a recent post in this forum, but just to check I've understood correctly: R : Pickups R M+ : Motor R M- : Motor L L : Pickups L Thanks for reading. Any advice/tips would be most helpful!

Does anyone here have one of the Cheltenham Model Centre limited edition Westerns in BR maroon sye ? Today I took delivery of Western Enterprise, and immediately noticed many imperfections, such as glue marks, scratches, badly fitted nameplates, black marks on bodywork etc. Just wondering if these imperfections are common, as I don't know whether to go for a refund or risk a replacement. I spoke to a rather rude individual at CMC who told me that the imperfections are Dapol's fault, and that "all models have flaws." Quite disappointed in both model and retailer.

Oh dear, last night I managed to snag my t-shirt on the end of the rake, and pulled the whole set crashing to the floor (apart from the loco thank goodness!). Just wanted to report that they are surprisingly robust ! Only damage was one set of steps, and 2 bent buffers which bent back into place just fine. Phew. Now to rip up that carriage siding at the edge of the baseboard....

Received my order this morning. Very pleased, as I expected a much longer wait (2 weeks). Although, no sight of the mentioned discount code, but never mind. Hope Jim is doing OK.

Yes, the lighting is battery powered. However, something in my setup was triggering the lights to turn on/off by themselves, and I couldn't fathom what the problem was. Changed over to DCC and the problem has gone away. Strange, I know...

Just following up on my earlier lighting issue, which appears to be solved! A few pages back I was having trouble with the coach lights turning themselves on and off randomly. Hornby requested that I send the coaches to them for inspection. So they've been at Hornby HQ for the last month or so, during which time I have changed my layout over to DCC control. This weekend I received the coaches back, and they couldn't find any problems (Apart from one coach with a faulty reed switch, but that's another story). Anyway, I've had them running on the layout all afternoon with no lighting problems today. I wonder if the cause was a dodgy DC controller? Happy that it's sorted, now to sort out the light bleed !

The saga of my lighting issues continues... A couple of days ago I took delivery of a BR crimson 1st class 6 wheeler to go with the 2 that I'd previously purchased (which had lighting issues). But while the lighting in my 2x previously purchased coaches worked to an extent, (turning themselves on and off), the lighting in this new first class coach just doesn't work. I've sat there waving the magnet above it, and it takes maybe 20/30 attempts to turn the lights on, and then another 20 attempts to turn it off. (I have no problem operating the lighting in my other 6 wheelers.) I have tried replacing the battery to no avail. While I had the roof off, I tried the magnet again, and I could see that the LED's very faintly blinked on/off when the magnet is near. Does this sound faulty to you guys? I've mentioned this to the retailer from whom I purchased the coach, and he has put me in touch with Hornby, who want me to send the coach to them 'for inspection'. Does this sound like normal practise? (I haven't had much experience in having to return faulty items!) Thanks.

Since recently returning to the hobby, I have bought a few Dapol wagons. I've experienced similar issues with derailing, droopy couplers etc. I purchased a back-to-back gauge from Ebay, which arrived today, and it's certainly cured the derailment issues with 4 out of 5 Dapol wagons. The other wagon has a wheelset that seems off-centre, and the wagon wobbles and rocks along the track. Replaced the wheelset and it's fine. But the back-to-back gauge was £6 well spent.

Oh, not just me then. Have you tried yours with other locos besides your Terrier, to see if the problem persists? As I've said, my coaches only do it behind a particular loco (Bachmann Dukedog). Have tried the previously mentioned suggestions regarding my old TV, but there was no interference present on the screen when the Dukedog was running. There's only one thing left for me to do... Buy another loco ! (Purely for the purpose of testing these coaches, of course.)