robmcg Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Thanks, I was just about to post a finished pic and had forgotten both those items! Hard to judge but getting close.. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted August 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 15, 2014 One last pic of mine, before it went back in the box (for now) Have added the coal spill under the bunker, as seems to be the norm with them in service. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted August 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 15, 2014 I notice 47975 has just appeared on e bay."Unopened"....apparently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted August 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 15, 2014 I notice 47975 has just appeared on e bay."Unopened"....apparently. Using one of Hattons own pics as well... tut, tut Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I notice 47975 has just appeared on e bay."Unopened"....apparently. It will be interesting to see how they sell. I wouldn't touch one unless from a trusted seller who has a reputation to lose. In the meantime I hope Hattons keep up their excellent sales. I presume they have a tiny infinitesimal number of faulty ones to use as spares. (I think that at 7 I may have just enough to be going on with. All seem ok with only very short test-running) They are; pristine: LMS 7983 BR 47992 part weathered LMS 4978 early BR 47995 early BR 47971 'heavily weathered' BR 47981 BR 47996 I THINK I will be able to weather any drought in supply.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSG Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 It will be interesting to see how they sell. I wouldn't touch one unless from a trusted seller who has a reputation to lose. In the meantime I hope Hattons keep up their excellent sales. I presume they have a tiny infinitesimal number of faulty ones to use as spares. Depending on what exactly is wrong with the ones they've had to take back because of running problems, and whether or not it's possible to fix it, they may well have some refurbished units of their own to sell later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted August 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 15, 2014 (edited) It will be interesting to see how they sell. I wouldn't touch one unless from a trusted seller who has a reputation to lose. In the meantime I hope Hattons keep up their excellent sales. I presume they have a tiny infinitesimal number of faulty ones to use as spares. (I think that at 7 I may have just enough to be going on with. All seem ok with only very short test-running) They are; pristine: LMS 7983 BR 47992 part weathered LMS 4978 early BR 47995 early BR 47971 'heavily weathered' BR 47981 BR 47996 I THINK I will be able to weather any drought in supply.... You don't fancy having a stab at owning the entire class Edited August 15, 2014 by toboldlygo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 You don't fancy having a stab at owning the entire class Hell no. That would be excessive. I am balanced in all things. .... oh.. no, wait... Actually the secret plan is to wait until the models are rare and highly sought-after and sell them at a wicked profit, and retire rich. Secret Plan 2 is under covert development. A 30' x 11' finescale model of Hasland shed on Oct 4 1955, but details are vague at this stage, lacking a centrally-heated spare room of this size, I do have a 5' x 2' 6" desk though... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 Depending on what exactly is wrong with the ones they've had to take back because of running problems, and whether or not it's possible to fix it, they may well have some refurbished units of their own to sell later. Yes,indeed,a point I made in an earlier post.....be aware that Olivia's Trains has been selling other Heljan returns recently on e-bay.Watch THAT space.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 Hell no. That would be excessive. I am balanced in all things. .... oh.. no, wait... Actually the secret plan is to wait until the models are rare and highly sought-after and sell them at a wicked profit, and retire rich. Secret Plan 2 is under covert development. A 30' x 11' finescale model of Hasland shed on Oct 4 1955, but details are vague at this stage, lacking a centrally-heated spare room of this size, I do have a 5' x 2' 6" desk though... Next time I'm in Chesterfield,I'll survey the site for you.....no traces exist...and not a great deal of freight traffic either,these days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 I do have a 5' x 2' 6" desk though... ... and a computer... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 ... and a computer... ... and 7 Garratts 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSG Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Well, I finally got round to setting up a test track. I managed to retrieve the old test track boards from the garage, but I've only got space for one of them here in the study so I've had to limit it to just a short radius 3 oval. Anyway, I got the Garratt on the track (no easy feat!), and turned the knob on the controller. Nothing. No movement. Zilch. Tried in the other direction. Still nothing. Sat and fumed for a bit. Then decided it might be a good idea to check that it wasn't the controller before emailing Hattons and asking for a returns number. Went back to the garage, opened the storage box of locos and picked out the one on top. Took it to the study, put it on the track and tried to make it go. That one didn't go either. Which is partly a relief, because it means that the problem is the controller and not the Garratt. But it still left me with the problem of test running it. Fortunately, I have a spare controller. Unfortunately, I had no idea where it was! I suspected it might be with the remainder of my set track collection, since it came with it when I bought it as a job lot off eBay a few years ago. So, back to the garage, and hunt down the track box. Eventually,I found it at the bottom of a pile of boxes. However, the controller wasn't in it. At that point, I was considering heading for eBay to buy another one. But some more rootling around in various boxes eventually turned it up - in with a load of audio equipment! So, I finally got that connected up to the track. Made sure that the other logo worked first, and then tried the Garratt again. So, after all that palaver, the results are.... So far, it's running very smoothly indeed. I've left it circling the track for a while, as it occurred to me that it might need running in a bit. But right from the start, it's been very responsive. I did think it seemed a bit "sticky" in one direction at first. But I then discovered that the other loco was exhibiting the same symptoms, and physically turning the Garratt to point in the opposite direction resulted in the stickiness remaining in the original direction. So it seems to be a feature of the track/controller rather than the loco. It does have one fault: the front lamp doesn't work. I'm not too bothered about that, as none of my other locos have working lamps so the absence of it isn't going to be a huge loss. I may see if I can fix that, anyway, as it may just be a loose wire internally. I haven't yet been able to test it over points or reverse curves, due to the lack of space. I may set up a short end-to-end track to do that later. But it's coped well enough with some rather shonky connectors on the oval.Testing the haulage capacity will need to wait until the garage has been cleared and I've got a proper test oval again, but that's not really an issue - I can't imagine that it will struggle with anything I've got in the stock box! Overall, I'm pleased with it.So long as it doesn't start to manifest faults further down the line, I think it's going to be a deserved addition to my roster. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 It does have one fault: the front lamp doesn't work. I'm not too bothered about that, as none of my other locos have working lamps so the absence of it isn't going to be a huge loss. I may see if I can fix that, anyway, as it may just be a loose wire internally. If you take the front tank off I suspect you will find the wiring is fine and the lamp is lit, the light just does not get out, at any rate that's the case with mine, and since practically everyone is reporting the same symptom it seems to be a problem with the light pipe. Once I get round to taking it apart for conversion I'll investigate further, with any luck someone else will get round to it first. Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold toboldlygo Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 If you take the front tank off I suspect you will find the wiring is fine and the lamp is lit, the light just does not get out, at any rate that's the case with mine, and since practically everyone is reporting the same symptom it seems to be a problem with the light pipe. Once I get round to taking it apart for conversion I'll investigate further, with any luck someone else will get round to it first. Keith Did Garratts actually go out after dark? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 (edited) Did Garratts actually go out after dark? Now there's an idea for a photo... I don't know if you've seen my panned-photo style... it would be challenging but phenomenal to get something of a coal-train passing , flashing rods, all the drama. I have done Jubleees and A3s this way. Who cares about brass EM Merchant Navy models? Edited August 16, 2014 by robmcg 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSG Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 (edited) Just as a change from the photos you might expect in this thread... Having set up the test track, my daughter decided it looked a little dull and needed some scenery. This is what it looked like after her efforts: I should point out that this is not entirely freelance, either. The "clock tower" is intended to represent a real tower in town! Edited August 1, 2023 by MarkSG 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted August 17, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2014 With a bit of digital manipulation by Rob, this could be a very realistic scenic layout. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 (edited) Did Garratts actually go out after dark? Photographic proof below. I love tabletop railway and buildings too, but mine was a Hornby Dublo R1 tank. Kids have it too easy these days. Clock tower cunning disguised by pea soup fog... Rob (remembering freezing winter nights and trains which passed by although not this particular one) Edited August 17, 2014 by robmcg 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) Early Spring here, angled sunlight on my desk for about 2 minutes allowed these un-retouched pics of heavily weathered BR 47981... the natural light shows what an attractive model this is , straight from the box, runs very smoothly on 12v DC too. Rob edit; and then what could I do but mess around with a pic of 47992, Starting after a signal check perhaps... smoke haze in distance from train departing in other direction. Edited August 20, 2014 by robmcg 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Jackson Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I must comment on Hattons customer service as its absolutely fantastic, top marks overall, when we found out the that the first garratt wasn't working, we phoned them up and asked for a replacement, they were very helpful and offered a "collect plus" service which they post a label for us to attach onto the returning parcel and take it to the nearest station, meaning that we didn't have to pay for the return postage. Wait a few days and the new garratt arrived, tested it on the layout and it runs perfectly, hats off to Hattons, 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) I agree Hattons are excellent. When I found that one of my Garratts, as delivered by air parcel and courier, had a missing buffer head they immediately offered to replace any parts I required. As I mentioned here I was embarrassed to find the buffer head in the corner of the hinged end of the plastic insert, very hard to see in average light, and apologised, and they said, " no need what so ever to apologize, as long as the model is fine that's all that matters".. so hats off to Hattons twice. I would still love to know what proportion of Garratts have actually got major faults. I presume Heljan use factories or a factory similar to Bachmann. It would be a shame if unfortunate buyers of faulty and/or damaged engines were in a distinct minority and a general view took hold that these models were unreliable. Rob typo edit Edited August 20, 2014 by robmcg 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Hawkins Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Well, I visited Hattons on Tuesday and replaced 266209 47975 after I found several issues with the original model, excellent service once again from the staff although I really do wonder about the amount of returns Hattons have suffered with the BG, the chap who dealt with me never even checked the faults after I explained them to him, I presume he must have been getting use to dishing out replacements. After checking over 266209 and seeing a test run I now have the entire fleet of the Heljan BG's all in working order and parts attached, the next thing on the agenda is a visit to Olivia's to have sound fitted to one of them, although I'm not sure which one yet. On the subject of sound for the BG, has anyone yet had Howes sound fitted to one of theirs ? I'd be very interested to hear how good or bad it is, knowing Howes I would expect it to be rather good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) On the subject of sound for the BG...... How would they simulate the sound of a BG? With a couple of 2-6-0s ? But there would only be one blastpipe - and what about the automatic stoker? I'm contemplating my 'heavily weathered' 47796 and wondering about: 1 How to tackle the shiny handrails and motion and reduce it to the look of the only one I ever saw in real life (while camping at Shireoaks near the western portal of Cowburn tunnel with my 'Peewit' Scout patrol). 2 Fitting a sound chip dh (edit of typo) Edited August 21, 2014 by runs as required Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 How would they simulate the sound of a BG? With a couple of 2-6-0s ? But there would only be one blastpipe - and what about the automatic stoker? Er, what automatic stoker? All of the Garratts were manual fired, apart from the U1 when it was converted to oil firing. It would be interesting to know if the sound chip has the two engines running in and out of sinc. OzzyO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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