kintbury jon

Thanks. Will have a play around with the settings and see what happens!

Thanks for the suggestion. I think that's what it's set as but will check. I have come to the conclusion that the issue is with the loco and the pick ups. The wires are connected to the pcb with plastic plugs so I have removed them and soldered the wores directly to the pcb. That has made a huge difference. It's not perfect but is much better.

Thanks for the tip. Sadly it hasn't made a difference. I have tried the chip in a different 66 and it's the same. Have tried it in a Hornby 50 and it runs perfectly. Is there a known pick up issue with the Bachmann 66?

Looking for a bit of advice here. Installed a TTS decoder in a Bachmann 66 (66200 with 8 pin) thinking it would be a straight forward plug in and go. Sounds work fine as do lights. Problem i'm finding is that the loco stutters and stops (cuts out) when moving at slow speed. Seems like a dirty track / dirty wheels however I have cleaned both the wheels and the track. I have forced the brass pick ups so that they are connected. As the bogies were of the older type with only 8 of the 12 wheels having pick ups, I swapped for a pair of bogies with all wheel pick up. Is there something I am missing as I just can't work out what's wrong here. Suggestions greatly appreciated!

Has the Belle had it's shoe gear removed? Maybe already out of service but brought in for display?

I'd also file the edge of the plates so that they are completely smooth. I can see a lump on the lower right side of the depot plate.

Zooming in I reckon the last two coaches are a USI (penultimate) and UIC (last carriage) in the standard green/grey livery. Both coaches are different with the USI coach having a lower body than the back one. the loco looks to be BB7322 so a dc only one. Either heading to Paris or, if heading towards Strasbourg/Metz would require a loco change at Dijon.

Thanks for that. You can see how livery applications have improved over the years!

Yes 33033 didn't look right at all. Would be interested to see 050/051 next to 207.

The railfreight ones look lovely. How does the livery match to previous examples? I have the original 33207 produced many years ago. I then got 33033 and the liveries are very different.

I can tell you that 9016 made it to Reading. I remember seeing it come in with 31101 on the front. Think it was in a rake of about 5 coaches. I was so surprised to see it, it's something I have never forgotten! It came in from the Didcot direction so I imagine it will have worked its way through Birmingham. Around 1990 I think.

From the pictures the NSE version looks like the roof is too light. Shouldn't it be a far darker grey? The SWT and Southern versions look fantastic to me but I wonder how well they will sell. They don't have the flexibility that others have in terms of use.

Thanks for that. The Trains Sud Ouest site shows that 67420 and 67585 were withdrawn - both after separate incidents in 2013. http://trainsso.pagesperso-orange.fr/BB67400.pdf

Nice photos. Do you know what the numbers of the 67400 were?

Thanks all. Will keep tinkering!

One loco is address 3, one is 67 and the consist is address 50. Both locos have CV19 set to 50. When selecting 3, all functions work but the loco won't move. Ditto when selecting 67 for the other loco. When selecting 50, none of the functions work but the locos will move simultaneously.

No they don't move when using their unique addresses, however the sounds and lights all work.

Evening all, I have 2 Hornby SNCF 67400 diesels, both with sound that I would quite like to double head. When running them on the same address, whilst they run nicely together, the sounds are identical (not surprisingly) at the same time. Setting them to different addresses I can independently switch them on. As I have 2 controllers I can attempt to run them separately though (not surprisingly) it is difficult to get them accelerating or decelerating together without them fighting each other. So, modifying the locos so that CV19 is set to the same value means I can operate the sounds separately, but can double head them as a consist. Starting up the locos at a different time, they seem to be more out of sync noise wise( which sounds better). However... I am not able to then operate the locos separately (eg uncouple them and move them away separately). So, question is, is there a mod that I can do so that I can control them separately as well as together? Having searched a few posts I am thinking the answer is no but thought i'd ask just in case it is!

Sorry for late reply. In the end I did 7. 5 TSO and 3 BFK. Typically Bachmann then brought out the lighter shade of blue on their mark 2 coaches but I have stuck with my rake which are currently sat in a yard behind 47715!

I had the pleasure of riding behind 67523 between La Rochelle and Bordeaux last year. I had read that it had been transferred to the Boulogne services after the Nantes - Bordeaux line was taken over by units. Here are a couple of videos I took of 523 at La Rochelle before boarding and also at Bordeaux as it returned towards Nantes. I have a few other French videos that I uploaded last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0wYIXK7KrE

Is it 67523?

Many thanks Dave. I have found an email address for what looks like his grandson so I have sent a photo of it to see whether he knows anything about it. The intention is to offer it to the family.

Thanks all. Makes sense! I should really have worked out it was a wheel. I was thinking that it was representing a light unit!

Hello all, A colleague of mine is clearing out her late husbands' garage. He was a hoarder and she is working her way through clearing what there is. She came across the following item. Can anyone shed some light on it? It reads "Cast by Mr J E Binks, Member, Southern Area Board, Eastleigh Locomotive Works, 13th May 1955." It weighs around 800 grams and is around 5 inches diameter with a chunky piece of glass inside.

Looks like you had a great trip. I have done the line a few times over the past couple of years. 67626 in banger blue is a good one to get. I saw it at Amiens in the depot last year and I assumed from the sight of it that it was withdrawn. There are a large pool of locos for just 4 diagrams so doing the trip a few times can result in a variety of locos. Not sure how long they have left but might consider another journey myself. I have found a cheap option is to get an overnight Eurotunnel ticket. Drive to Boulogne and then do a few short journeys to Etaples or Rang.