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Thanks. I'm not sure what IIRC means, and would I be right to assume it's small red rectangle at the front?

The rod connecting my Hornby Ruston shunter to the flatbed wagon broke, so I've been running it without it. I'd like to try and couple wagons to the back and possibly the front of the loco, but can't see where couplers would attach. Can anyone advise how to do this and if the hooks on the front and rear of the loco can be used for couplers, or are they just decoration? Thanks for any assistance.

Thanks @DCMarvel great advice, which worked perfectly! I've now cleaned the contacts with IPA and the track generally with a Peco rubber. @ITG Thanks, also, for your input. Before I tried the suggestion above, I was about to venture into the murky underground world of dropper wires again - despite the protests from my old knees and back! I probably will do as you suggest, though, to be safe.

I have a fairly short, dead section of track between two other live sections, on my DCC layout. The layout is bus wired, but drop wires have only been placed occasionally along the track (not for every piece). There are only two drop wires connecting all 3 sections shown in the photo to the bus wires. So, I am assuming that they are making the live sections work, but not the section in the middle. The dead track becomes live again where the nearest section of track in the photo joins it at the point. Any thoughts on what might be the issue are welcome.

Thanks for that. I wasn't expecting to have a collector's issue, to be honest. But, that said, I am the sort of dreamer that hopes to find a Selmer MK VI tenor saxophone in the corner of a charity shop labelled '£10 ONO'. P.s. your tip about the Pocketmags store was very illuminating...I am now aware that I haven't received the May 2022 issue!

I'm sure I'm a couple of month's too late with this post...I started collecting BRM magazine in October 2021, and decided put them in a magazine rack, in date order this afternoon. I found this.... Two different editions of March 2022! In case I missed the explanation, I would welcome hearing it. Oh, if I've got a collector's edition...I'm open to offers!

Thanks for the kind offer @Nick C. To be honest, the postage would be the least of my worries, and I'd happily cover it both ways. However, An Post (Irish Post Office) have been holding parcels for an inordinately long time, while they try to impose as much import and export duty on the goods - which can be excessive. Packages by post from Hattons, Hornby etc, can take 4 weeks to reach me. Last year, I sent a €3K saxophone to the UK for servicing, and the repairer was asked for €400 import duty, even though it was coming back to me. I decided to just have it returned to me - and it went missing and it's still missing 12 months later! I've taken the decoder out of the Terrier and I'm looking for a budget-price loco to use it in, at the moment.

Thanks for the help @Nick C. I did manage to find where I think it should re-attach (see photo) and even managed to solder it back. Then, two more wires detached themselves, and I decided to give up trying to restore the Terrier. To be honest, even though I only have 7 locos, this one is my most regretted purchase. It's been nothing but trouble since I bought it, and now will make a nice, but fairly expensive ornament on the layout.

My Hornby R3847 Ruston Terrier had a problem due to a missing pickup and Hornby kindly sent me a replacement lower chassis piece. it then ran erratically, with a squeak. After I have oiled it, the loco doesn't run at all - no motor noise, and it seems completely 'dead'. I took the body off and can see a loose black wire from the motor. There's not much bare wire at the end, so I'm not sure if it was previously attached. Can someone please have a look at the photos and suggest where it should be attached to the decoder, if at all? I'll have a go a re-soldering it, if that's the reason for the fault. Thanks for any assistance.

Thank you @The Johnster. Video of how I made it (my first scratch-build) is here:

Episode 16 of Branchline: My Model Railway Journey! How I built a harbour wall and seafront area, from scratch - to stop the trains from nose-diving onto the floor!

Harbour wall and sea added to the full length (8ft) of my first layout (see above). It will help stop locos on the tracks close to the edge falling all the way onto the floor. Now, like my first drone, they will only fall into. the North Atlantic Ocean.

A scene from my first ever layout (full layout below). I live in rural Ireland, and my dad drove an industrial shunter in the UK for 30 years. Both concepts are in the layout.

I'm a grumpy old fart and, as such, someone who finds the Mother's Day email bombardment insensitive, unnecessary and at times offensive. I don't like to be reminded that my mother's last 10 years of life were (at best) unpleasant for her and her protracted and untimely death something I would rather be left to forget about. But, since the advent of e-mailing lists, I'm reminded of it for a week or so every year.

My Hornby R3847, SR, 'Terrier', 'Bembridge' had a problem with the pickups (one fell off) and it stopped running completely. Hornby kindly sent me a replacement chassis- the lower body part that has the pickups attached (forgive the misuse of the correct term for it). It's now running, but only in a stop-start fashion and it's squeaking, which it didn't do previously. It's only a few months old, so I assume it's not in need of oiling. I'm wondering if I've got the brass runners (more lack of technical jargon) on the axles in the right place? You will see from the photo that I've put them in the recesses in the body, but maybe that is causing the running issues and they should be somewhere else. Your advice is welcome.

Thanks very much for this. You actually hit the nail on the head. I have been on to Hornby today, because one of the the copper wires went missing. I'm not sure if this happened when I was trying to fix them, or prior to opening it up. They are sending me a new chassis part with the pickups attached, for free.

My Hornby R3783 'Southern' terrier (DCC fitted) is running in a stop-start fashion, almost everywhere on my layout, and in places where other locos have no such problems. It almost always needs 'the hand of God' to start it from stopped, and only runs smoothly at above 60% speed. I'm fairly sure that it's not the track, and I reset CV 10 to 0, as I heard that might cause stuttering motion, but it's not helped. Is there any basic work I can do to try and fix it, bearing in mind that my technical skills with locos are limited? Thanks for any suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've sent for a back-to-back gauge on eBay. it's a sheet of green plastic with a cut out to the correct width of the back-to-back gap. I got this because it was much less expensive for the postage (which can be £20+ to Ireland, for even small items). In the meantime, I noticed that the axle on the rear set of wheels in the rear bogie of one of the carriages, had slipped out of its retaining hole in the bogie. I re-seated it it and it's running better now. I'll check all the back-to-backs when the plastic cut out arrives!

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've been having trouble buying a back-to-back gauge in Ireland, the postage from the UK can be prohibitive. I'll have another look. I did try and check the swivel on the the bogie. It seems to be ok.

It may be only one coach, but I need to double check. It happens on curves but in different places. I've got a couple of older coaches, but nothing comparable to check them against. I'll check the wheels but I didn't know anything obviously out of place. Thanks for the suggestions.

Carriages I got in the Hornby R3828 'Aberdonian' train pack, are derailing easily, and the bogies will not 'sit' on the track well. I wondered if anyone had heard of this issue, and might offer a solution. Thanks for any suggestions.

My first attempt at building a model railway layout is 95% finished. 6 months and several (dozen) learning curves later. I may even run a few trains when it rains again! I have called it 'Chiarraí Beag', which is Irish for 'Little Kerry'. It roughly reflects where I live now (without the engine shed / yard area. Hopefully the link below will show you a video of the layout. Thanks again for all the help I got with it, here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/2UFbw8jhy1ErvJGB8

Thanks but that's too much to pay for two couplers, which is all I need at the moment. I can't get my Hornby ones to fit, do you have any idea on how to do that.