Mark Laidlay

The nameplate is there but hidden as it's printed, did I read that there is a proper plate in the box? None of the loose stuff in the box has been added yet, I'll get Ross onto that job. Mark in Melbourne

Ross's 2003 Lord President now in Australia. Good model and sound works very nicely, especially the drifting. Weathered by TMC, a bit heavy to me, wouldn't they have been kept fairly clean?

What about a 9 volt battery?

I agree that there will be an over-supply of models as we baby-boomers fall by the wayside. The current plethora of new RTR models is adding to the volume thus further depreciating the values. Yet there are still "modellers" who won't weather a model as it might decrease it's future value. My models are for my enjoyment and not for the next owner, if there is one. Mark in Melbourne

So Tony, I know you take the use of the English language seriously so if "hoover" is being used as a verb should it be capitalised? Mark in Melbourne (where we vacuum with our Samsung)

I spent a very pleasant hour or so on the Saturday at York watching the parade of trains and the working of banker engines at the top. Thanks for exhibiting something different. Mark in Melbourne

When did the LNER go to Left Hand drive?

Tony, Do you know if the retaining wall is still there behind the new house next to the M&GN embankment? You could sneak in and have a look if the owners don't mind..... Mark in Melbourne

Yep, Ross and I were running a bit early for a meeting nearby so parked the hired car up there for a few minutes, then a tractor arrived with the driver wondering what we were up to! I've learnt to tell what's private or not within Australia but got caught a couple of times in England.

I've been on that bridge, apparently I wasn't supposed to drive a car over it. Very confusing where we are allow to drive or not in the UK for us colonials. Mark in Melbourne

Anything by Gordon Gravett, and I even had a cup of tea (coffee for me) with him at the Spring Expo EM this year. Another great memory from my trip to the UK. Mark in Melbourne.

We would all be on Broad Gauge if the colonial government of NSW hadn't broken the inter-colonial agreement and built Stephenson's Gauge....

I wouldn't count Queenscliff as it mainly uses "foreign" power but Daylesford and Healesville should be on the list. But the context of question applied to heritage railways in NSW, not Vic. Victoria has 5 heritage railways using VR power on the correct gauge, NSW has one using NSWGR power.

Plenty of rides but still only one behind ex-NSWGR locos. And is that the only one on SG?

Then how many different heritage railways can I ride this coming weekend? Mark in Melbourne

Dorrigo primarily has ex NSWGR locos and Australians are somewhat parochial, the only people possibly wanting these are NSW based heritage lines. Currently there is only one operational NSWGR line and that is based on the NSW rail transport museum so they hardly need more locos. Remember NSW was the only colony that built using Stephenson's Gauge from the start, no other state had SG until 1917 and that was the Nullabor line, coast to coast was 1970. NSWGR preservation is not in a strong position.

Well let's try tomato sauce then, I thought "ketchup" was US primarily. It seems to have worked even though I left the brass in for much longer than suggested. Hopefully there is no damage. Thanks for the suggestion.

What's the lazy way to clean an old etched brass kit? A chemical based process or stick with the fibreglass brush or steel wool etc.?

Any chance you still have the instructions? I'm missing the first one (FB1) re the overall construction. Mark in Melbourne

Sort of, Kemilway say on the attached that they bought the rights to the kit in 1974, then they introduced an improved version in 1982. This is one of the improved kits. It's missing the FB1 instructions, I suspect that this covers the final assembly of the sub-assemblies. I'll check the WWW to see if Kemilway still exist... DOC180823-18082023130824.pdf

There was some talk of very old kits, I've got this iconic kit to assemble. It's the 1982 version that possibly came from a deceased estate. Not my scale or prototype, Ross bought it for his 4mm scale layout during our recent trip to the UK. I've not assembled an etched brass kit for some time so this might be considered practice for a couple of local Victorian Railways prototype horse boxes. Mark in Melbourne

I watched a "Marklin TV" about new products, they mentioned some models being 1:93.5! Certainly hoping this doesn't apply to 60103.

I am surprised that no Lenz user has heard of this before, I got this response from Tony's Train Exchange • Current spikes are created by the Lenz's RailCom signal • PSX units made from 2015 with software Rev J and later have the ability to ignore nuisance current spikes. • Program the PSX: 1. CV55=1 [enable delay, default 0 no delay] 2. CV65=128 [default 36 when enabled by cv55]  CV65 can have a value from 0-255, higher value greater delay

No particular spot on Peco code 75, 4mm scale locos. Other locos are no problem and the locos run very well on my NCE system with PCB based track.

Ross has a large Lenz system using an LZV200 and a booster. Short protection is via PSX4s and PSXARs which have been installed without any configuration changes but they have had buzzers fitted to give an audible alert to a shutdown. All this works ok except a small number of recent locos cause the PSX to shut down power and sound an alert. After a moment the PSX powers up the track and the offending loco moves off again for another few seconds. The locos run ok on a LZV100 direct (no PSX) and also ok on an NCE system with PSXARs. It's the combination of Lenz, PSX and these specific locos that raise the problem. The locos are the recent Rapido NCB locos and the current Hornby A4 with smoke. Any hints as to what to do? Anyone else have this combination of LENZ with TTE PSX? Mark in Melbourne