Retro_man

I have used .45mm NS handrail wire for pickups but prefer .35 phosphor bronze straight wire. Both are available from Eileen's Emporium and they will ship to USA and Canada and their service is excellent. Steve Canada

Hello Mike, I am currently building Arthur's D20 kit and was wondering how you have attached the bogie as I can see no mention of this in the instructions? Also how did you do the pickups? I am impressed by how clean and shiny you keep your work! Thanks in advance, Steve Canada

I live in Canada and have successfully ordered items several times by email from Alan Gibson. I email first with a list of my requirements and ask for a total price including airmail postage. I then email my card number split into 2 or 3 emails. I have never had a problem when doing this and the service has always been prompt. Good luck! Steve

Could you provide a photo of the top and bottom of the point please? We did receive a batch of Peco code 100 pints in incorrect packaging a few years ago - i.e. electrofrog in insulfrog packets. Steve ex. Model Railway Imports

Here's one I built from a Millhome kit a few years ago. It took quite a bit of work, especially around the cab/tender interface, but I think it looks quite acceptable. Steve Canada

20 hours ago MV Wilson quoted an announcement from AJM Railways: "An Announcement from www.AJMRailways.com Gentlemen and Customers I will begin with 2 apologies, the first and most important being to my Customers (many of whom are members of this Group) in respect of the way recent events have and will affect my future ability to supply in the manner you have become used to and the second apology is for the time it has taken to convey this to you. As some of you already know, Hornby decided to "Band" retailers back in January. Now 4 months later they have finally given explanation to why and how each account is banded. In this announcement, they describe Band 3 retailers such as AJM as "retailers who dont have a shop or if they do it may be of such a standard no one would want to visit it". Other criteria would include bad credit history, manufacturing competing products and not stocking the full range of Hornby Brands (eg Airfix etc)." (My bold). The first post in this thread regarding pre-order cancellation emails was on February 10, 2021. So very likely that Hattons and other shorted traders placed all their retail customer pre-orders with Hornby in good faith as in previous years, and then these orders have since been cancelled or modified by Hornby per the above announcement. I do not believe there is a shortage of supply, just Hornby changing the destination of the products.

Absolutely ridiculous that Hornby will not give a trade account to anyone without a physical store but will supply Amazon! Where is the Amazon physical store that I can shop in and do Amazon stock the full range of Hornby products? Seems to be a bit of a double standard going on here...

The same situation exists in Canada.

The trade orders that have been cancelled were mostly placed in 2020 or earlier and cancelled following the adoption of the tier system in 2021. Hornby likely produced all that had been ordered and then when they cancelled the retailer orders were left with a surplus of product which they are now trying to unload via their own e-store and Amazon. This is not going to end well for Hornby or for many retailers and ultimately for the consumer.

Years ago when I was starting up Model Railway Imports in Canada, a seasoned veteran in the business gave me some great advice - "If you want to make a small fortune in model trains, start with a large fortune!" Steve Ex Model Railway Imports, Canada (retired).

Exactly!

The green looks very much better on these - well done!

Now at GBP139.64 and 6 remaining. A very curious and sad situation for retailers.

The photo in the article was dated August 1962, however the text stated "Almost exactly 2 years after this photograph was taken No 6858 infamously collected the accolade of becoming the only ex-GWR locomotive to travel Huddersfield uninvited!" I was 15 years old and living in Bradford at the time when I heard through the grapevine that there was a Grange in Huddersfield shed. After riding my bike there I was not allowed in the shed and unfortunately did not see 6858.

The Grange arrived in Huddersfield August 15, 1964, by which time EE Type 3s were widespread in Yorkshire.

Thanks. Yes, the boiler bands were replaced with tape.

I agree there is a lot of satisfaction in making something passably decent from an old kit or rebuilding one someone else had a go at. I built the Cotswold L&Y 0-8-0 from a second hand kit that had not been completed and I even used the milled brass chassis lump which runs extremely well. The main issues were finding photos of the loco I wanted to build, and adding brakes and other detail to the chassis block.

The two below were from Wills kits. They were fairly easy to build and in my opinion look the part. 6117

If they were wrapping 100 a day it would take 10 days to send out 1000.

I also went through the process and at the end it said 'error with validation code', however I did receive a notification from my card company that there had been a charge. There was no confirmation email from KR so I have emailed KR using their contact form to ensure the order has actually been placed. Steve Canada

I saw 60512 at Perth on August 7, 1965. Unfortunately I did not take a photo or record its condition :-( Steve Canada

Shipping should be a lot less from British Model Trains in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. https://britishmodeltrains.ca/products/r7200-Hornby-articulated-coupler-4-per-pack?_pos=1&_sid=006ad9567&_ss=r They also stock many Hornby spare parts and do repairs. Steve Canada

I would definitely check that each motor worked correctly before trying to install it under the baseboard. In this case I may even go so far as to make a test assembly with a point on a piece of board so I could see what is happening top and bottom sides simultaneously. Steve

Hello Ian, Adjusting the Comet chassis so that the body sits at the correct height is probably a reasonable approach however can be tricky when the chassis and body were not designed for each other. As you are lowering the body you need to watch out for the tops of the cylinders and the wheel flanges fouling the underside of the footplate as the Nu-Cast footplates are quite thick. Once you have it partially assembled with the wheels on, check that the buffers are 14mm above the rail top at each end and on each side and if necessary make some final adjustments to the ride height. The brass block chassis are not all bad, I built an 0-8-0 with a milled brass chassis and it was spot on in terms of axle spacing/coupling rod spacing and alignment. The difficulty comes when adding details such as brakes or a more modern motor/gearbox. Good luck with your build! Steve Canada

Hello Mike, What motor/gearbox did you use in the D20s please? Thanks in advance, Steve Canada