Dominion

If you happen to be fitting kadee couplings I have found a 17 works at the back, with an 18 at the front.

My GT3 from this third batch arrived with me in Canada today. I did not expect to like it so much. It is still running in but is very good at slow speed already. It also sounds great. I have a North American Union Pacific Turbine model too, by Scaletrains and KRMs Turbine sounds really good compared to my memory of that one. I should do a side by side comparison. In forwards, there are 4 white lights at the front and 2 red at the back. In reverse these are all extinguished and the two lower lights at the front come on in red. There are instructions on how to alter the directional lighting if you want to. The bogie guard irons are at the front. The tender has round buffers and the raised band in the centre of the springs. I wish KR Models good luck with their next endeavours.

Ah, sorry for not being more specific. Yes my layout is flatish.

In Southern Ontario, Nigel at British Model Trains has a good selection and has excellent customer service, as did Steve at Model Railway Imports whom Nigel took over the business from. For North American model trains here, Otter Valley and Credit Valley both have very large selections and very good service. I have also had good experience with Scuderia 46 near the airport who also have many European models. Tom

I was in Sunward Hobbies on Saturday. It was bustling. Not North American Rail either but agree with Brossard very good selection for model making tools and supplies. Was “Central Hobbies” in Vancouver the one that Britannia was linked with or am I mis remembering ? Tom

Agree. Most common I have found are outer two to the rails they are closest to and middle 2 to the motor, but I have found multiple different combinations even with otherwise similar models of the same classes, so you just have to test to be sure. Belt and braces would be to remove the decoder and put a blanking plug in too. Either route to test should work without frying anything as a DC transformer would just show a short with an incompatible wires connector and blanking plug. But easier to test continuity of pins to rails before you solder. Best without decoder in I think.

I model the LNER, but I have ordered one of every LMS number of these announced - I am trying to do my part ! Tom

The Accurascale magnetic couplings with the Siphon G work with the West Hill Wagon Works Hunt Elite's. This coupling combination pulled 9 vehicles behind it so far. (Adding that my layout is flatish based on later comment)

Early Hunt Elites I had from a couple of years ago were tight like you mention. But ones from an order last year and 2 more orders this year have been a comfortable fit in the NEM pockets, making removal and swapping for different lengths much easier.

I just checked mine, it is also an 8 pin, not 21. A bit awkward for me as I had already bought an A3 sound project for a 21 pin decoder.

I got a Black Label A4 when they came out and I liked it so much that I bought another when they were slightly discounted later. They are always on my layout and run regularly. The Hornby A4 is generally thought of as a very good rendition of the A4 so tough to compete with. The Dapol Black Label one has a mass and a finish that really sets it apart. The rear catazzi was well done too, with flanged wheels that run on the track unlike Hornby, and with a good depth of detail in the side frames. Yes it has smoke and lights which I probably would not have chosen, and the rubber sheeting from the cab roof to the tender is overly thick to be convincing, and the cab doors are a bit strange, but it is the shape weight and finish that makes it fun to look at and to see running. It also runs extremely well, with a sure-footedness and lack of waddle that looks more convincing than a lighter loco. It sounds great too, just the wheels on the track. A really heavy well built well painted kit loco may have all those virtues, but few can achieve those results. I think Dapol deserved more credit than they seemed to get at the time. If the new model follows that example it will be worth looking at. Tom

Hi Mick, the front steps are in the bag. You are quite right that the shade is darker than the Bachmann LNER green. To me though the tone is similar as they are both a little more yellow than the previous Hornby LNER green.

I received my Hornby 2573 Harvester today, R30216. Harvester was one of the 5 LNER A1s converted to A3s early and so a right hand drive A3 which is nice to have represented. The model has no assembly defects that I can see so far. It runs nicely, and the wheel back to back measurements are good on this example. The metal stamped reversing lever is on the right as it should be, and has the North British built kink, both of which are correct. The ashpan lever is on the left. The body molding is like Doncaster, Lemberg and Knight of the Thistle from last year, so without the often visible top seam from the pre-metal running plate models. This new arrangement looks much better in my opinion. The running plate is nice and straight. The LNER green finish is a little different to previous Hornby examples. It is just like the paint finish on the recent Hornby Dublo releases, and also seems similar to me to Bachmann's LNER green version on their V2s. The tender connection is the new pivoting plate version with 4 connectors that snaps together and apart. It works fine and is closer coupled than the plug and wire version out of the box. However that plug version was easy to close up the gap just by making a new draw bar. I have not figured out how to close couple this up yet without some irreversible modification. The description says it is 21 pin, but I have not opened the tender up yet to see. The printed instructions show both 8 and 21 pin socket versions. The detail pack includes driver and fireman. The tender wheels are spoked, but green. I will probably re- paint those black. The only issue I have found so far is that the bogie wheels are mysteriously too small. They are easy to swap with the previous version; swapping the wheels or the whole bogie assembly, both of which fit fine. I am surprised about this specification change as the previous releases were all correct. I have been in touch with Hornby about this in the hope they may change the specification back to the correct size for future models. Overall though it seems like a correctly detailed and well assembled model. I am very happy with it. Tom

I took delivery of 4 new packs today in Canada, ordered 9 days ago so very swift to here. I have been experimenting with different couplings for my Bachmann Thompson set. I posted this on the Thompson coach thread but thought it may be helpful here too. I have found that a new length of Hunt Elite "extra close" work very nicely. These are recently introduced I think. They are shorter than "close" but longer than "ultra close". I had previously found that 2 of the Hornby buckeye magnetic couplings looked very nicely close coupled but were slightly too close for reliable running through my fiddle yard curves. (30 inch minimum but often not with transition curves in the fiddle yard). Also this latest batch of couplings from West Hill Wagon works seem to fit more easily in the NEM pockets and pop out more easily if you want to change them. Some of earlier ones I have were a bit tight in the pockets. This recent delivery seem more refined in the printing. The surface is smoother, and there is a better defined gap between the tails making compression of the tails for insertion or removal easier. Back to the Thompsons, I was previously using close on one end and ultra close at the other end. Although all these elites work magnetically either way around, my use of different lengths meant I had to keep the coaches in the same orientation to match the coupling gaps one close one ultra close. (Same issue as using one Roco and one Hornby-Roco in fixed rakes). However these extra close ones are half way between close and ultra close in length so they achieve the same result but make it easier to change orientation of the vehicles, or allow a particular brake to go on either end etc. I am very pleased with them. Tom

I have been experimenting with different couplings for my Bachmann Thompson set. I have found that a new length of Hunt Elite "extra close" work very nicely. These are recently introduced I think. They are shorter than "close" but longer than "ultra close". I had previously found that 2 of the Hornby buckeye magnetic couplings looked very nicely close coupled but were slightly too close for reliable running through my fiddle yard curves. (30 inch minimum but often not with transition curves in the fiddle yard). Also this latest batch of couplings from West Hill Wagon works seem to fit more easily in the NEM pockets and pop out more easily if you want to change them. Some of earlier ones I have were a bit tight in the pockets. This recent delivery seem more refined in the printing. The surface is smoother, and there is a better defined gap between the tails making compression of the tails for insertion or removal easier. Back to the Thompsons, I was previously using close on one end and ultra close at the other end. Although all these elites work magnetically either way around, my use of different lengths meant I had to keep the coaches in the same orientation to match the coupling gaps one close one ultra close. (Same issue as using one Roco and one Hornby-Roco in fixed rakes). However these extra close ones are half way between close and ultra close in length so they achieve the same result but make it easier to change orientation of the vehicles, or allow a particular brake to go on either end etc. I am very pleased with them. Tom

Apart from the shade of green on my LNER one I really like them. They run smoothly and pull straight without waddling. They are powerful, and they are have good detail with correct variations between versions. There was a cosmetic assembly fault on my first one but that was resolved. I have bought 2 more to renumber now that they are cheap at Hattons.

If you want an LNER green one, Hornby have done Woodcock and Osprey in the high spec loco drive versions. Dapol Black Label did Golden Eagle, as did Bachmann. Golden Age also did some though I have not seen their LNER green one in the flesh. Woodcock was the original model I was thinking of to add the roller bearings to, but then realized its change from green to blue predated the addition of the roller bearings. Silver Link was the other A4 to pull one of the 3 Roller bearing fitted tenders prewar and my model of that is in the Silver and Grey livery, so by elimination 4492 Dominion of New Zealand was the only A4 I had in blue to try the modification on. It is a bit crude but it gives a reasonable impression. I can’t undo it as I filed the original axle box covers mostly flat, but I can turn the tender around if I decide I don’t like it :-)

Someone else did a very nice job of renumbering this to become Dominion of New Zealand before I got my mitts on it. Today I got around to representing the roller bearings that 4492 received in 1938. What you see are the heads of picture hanging hook nails as the real roller bearing covers seemed to have a domed shape to them. Initially I could only find 3 nails the same, but after rehanging a picture frame, I now have 4. Whether I have 4 more the same as each other in the house somewhere for the other side remains to be seen :-)

Yes I understand. Going from memory the J39s that got the high fronted tender did not have the high mounted tool box that was common on the B1s. I think many of the Bachmann high fronted tenders out there released with B1s or even other locos have the tool box included. It is a sufficiently old tooling version that the tool box is integral with the tender molding. The latest V2 releases, except models of Green Arrow, do include a high fronted tender without the tool box. However they have not been issued in LNER black yet. If your planned number 1940 had no high mounted tool box you can judge from the photo of mine whether it is worth the effort to remove it. It wasn’t too difficult but a bit awkward as I wanted to leave the diagonal plates in place. I think I drilled out what I could and then used a knife to pare parts away until the rest was possible with a file. In the end it is not very visible. I think we are so used to seeing the high fronted tender with the tool box from multiple Bachmann versions that it doesn’t jump out as an issue if still present. Good luck with your project, Tom

I was quite happy with my Kirk ones below until these were announced. I never got around to building the other half set though. So I am now pondering if they will be able to live with an Ellis half set that I am certain will be much more refined ...

This was a Bachmann B1 High fronted tender where I performed some butchery to remove the tool box. I filled the remaining hole with some strips of plasticard to try to represent the louvers to the coal gate.

My mum was 13 at the start of the war. She said one of the girls that lived near them had a medical condition that meant bananas were very good for her. Apparently “the authorities” somehow managed to keep the child in supply. My Mum said she and her friends were envious.

I have some Tam Valley juicers. They appear to be instantaneous to a human rail side observer, and to the loco driver !

The isolation breaks either side of the frog are very close to the frog to allow people to use the points without powering the frog if they don’t want to. Unfortunately several people have experienced either of 2 different kinds of shorts relating to this, depending on loco, wheel profile, wheel back to back settings, direction of travel, and angle of approach. The one I have sometimes had is the back of a wheel touching the opposite closure rail before the frog as things approach from the point blade end of the turn out. I have mostly eliminated that by applying a little clear nail varnish to the inside of the rail (not the top) for a couple of mm next to the insulation break. I have only had to do this on 3 of my Peco Bullhead turnouts. The problem has not occurred on the rest. The other type people have reported is the outside of the wheel tread touching the opposite rail head in the branching track. I have not experienced that one and don’t have a work around for it. Suggest you first try to figure out which if either of these 2 problems you may have, and proceed from there. Good luck, Tom

I just had a pleasant surprise looking at Knight of the Thistle and Doncaster (R3989 and R3990). They both represent A1s in LNER livery, and they have the die-cast foot plate. I had noticed that Doncaster has bucket seats and the raised cab cut outs while Knight of Thistle has the earlier lower seats and deeper cab cut outs. However today I noticed something else I had missed before. The steam pipes on Knight of the Thistle transition to being more vertical at their foot. That is correct for a North British Built A1 and I haven't noticed Hornby modelling it before. I am pretty sure they continue in a straight line on Doncaster as they should for a Doncaster built A1. It is hard to be completely certain as Doncaster has the lengthened valve covers but I think on Knight of the Thistle the turn under starts above where the valve cover plate would be. The reversing rod on both models is straight, without the correct North British kink in it for Knight of the Thistle, but I recently changed one of those for a different loco and can do for this one, especially now that I have realised Hornby have made the more difficult variation on the external steam pipes.