Gremlin

I have a 9F where the pick-up wire between the tender and the loco body has "come away" from the loco body on the left side. Unlike some (?) Britannia locomotives (see photo Brit8.jpg at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/20828-Dapol-britannia/ for what I *don't* have), the wires are not screwed into the base of the loco shell, they appear to be soldered at a very inconvenient location. On the left side of the loco body there is all sorts of piping attached by glue (?) and if I don't remove them, they will probably be damaged by the soldering iron. So...any suggestions of how to reattach the pick-up wire without soldering, has anyone retrofitted screw attachments like in the Britannia? Or, how can I solder the wire back without destroying the fine pipework?

Thanks - much more than I had guessed!!! Only been there once and looking at photos of people on the platform and trying to extrapolate widths etc, I had guessed (wrongly) about 20-25mm - oops!

Looking to model Goathland in N scale; I have some reasonable dimensions for the lengths of both platforms, but I would like to know the depth from platform edge to structures. For example, on the main (?) platform, what is the depth from the platform edge to the front of the main building? Cheers

Thanks for that...any thoughts about replacing all the NEM couplers with more prototypical Dapol/Microytains (if they fit?)

Hi All I have some Farish Mk1 coaches, new ones, where the couplers are pointing upwards rather than being level, and this is causing random uncoupling around parts of the track. Is there a good way to bend/something the coupler back to level...or should I just replace them with Dapol couplers?

Hi All I am looking for advice on success or otherwise with track curves. Due to space limitation, I can only use 600mm wide baseboards and I want to run double track; therefore the outer radius would be 300mm and the inner radius would be around 270mm. The curves will be on flat sections at the ends of the baseboards. Based on your running experience, will this allow Mk1 coaches and 4-6-0 and 4-6-2 to run without causing buffer lock? Cheers

Hi All During a recent excursion into realigning the spring for the front pony truck, I managed to lose one screw for the keeper plate. Can someone please tell me the type/dimensions of a replacement screw? Cheers

Hi Dr Al I tried a version of your suggestion - I ran an extra power dropper to a point 60cm further away from where the problem happens and - voila! - the two locos run without fault. Removing the extra dropper results in reversion to the same poor performance. I have almost 20 Farish locos, tested them all, and none fail the same way. Tested my other Dapol locos and another five *do* fail the same way. I wonder if the Dapol locos are more "sensitive" for some reason. And, just to eliminate a possibility, I took the decoder from a working Farish and put it into the non-working Dapol, but it made no difference. Cheers to all who provided suggestions

Thanks for the confirmation, I have now ordered one

I would do that except...both locos run fine for about 2m, then anywhere further on the loop until the starting point, they stall. I suspect that it is something electrical, but only those two are the problem Thanks for all the suggestions

Is it a curve? No, straight section Gradient? None Beginning or end of a curve? Middle of the straight section Sounds a bit strange if you have replaced the track and it still happens. How far away from the power source is the offending section? About 2.5m, almost half way...and they don't start again until within around 60cm of the power connection. Do you use a Power Bus? No What is confusing is that four other Dapol locos work fine, as do all the Farish locos...just these two Dapol locos. I have checked plugs, pickups, lubrication etc. but it makes no different. It is almost as if they get "tired" at the same spot The only unusual thing I notice is that on the NCE controller, both locos power draw varies from .14A to .21A and up and down...whereas all the others run around .9A, perhaps the motors are stuffed...but then why would they run OK on the rolling road?

I have been looking through the list of Farish carriages by number...how can I tell if it is Blue Riband or not? 374-815 is described as "BR MK1 FO 1st Class Open Coach, Running Number M3028 in BR Crimson & Cream Livery" and I had assumed that the BR part was British Rail...

Both locomotives are exhibiting unusual running characteristics...both have DCC fitted and were run in for about an hour on DC only. When placed on certain sections of test track (a large oval, 300cm * 90cm), both suddenly slow to a crawl and then stop. Placing them on a different section of the track makes them run again until they get to the same place. No other locos have the same problem and no other locos stop at the same location. I have cleaned the track, replaced the track and even placed a rolling road above that section of track and the locos on the rolling road - and the locos run perfectly well on the rolling road. Looking for suggestions of how to find the ghost...?

Hi...I just realised I missed out the most important thing I was thinking...but didn't type...oops! Looking for 1st class carriages, I found 374-160 which seems to be the only one in Blue Riband?

Did they ever make one...or are there plans to make any sort of Mk1 in Crimson & Cream in Blue Riband?

They seem to turn without any problem...can't feel any friction or catching and it is always the leading axle, no matter which loco is running...

It happens on all four curves at different points...

40cm radius too sharp?? Very disappointing as a friend has his HO A4s going around the same radius without problems, would have thought/hoped that N could cope with that...

Hi All I have a collection of new model (as in DCC era) A1, A3, A4 and B1 locomotives that I am running on a test oval (double track) on a marble bench top. I am using Fleischmann N scale track and it is flat on the table top. The curve radii are 43cm for the outer and for the inner, 39.6cm. On the inner track, when going around the curves, all locomotives that are 4-6-2 or 4-x-x, either lift the bogie slightly or, if the bogie stays flat, the leading wheel doesn't rotate. I would have thought that an almost 40cm radius curve would have been enough for accurate running...so any suggestions? Thoughts (but not yet tried) include placing some weight on the bogie or super elevating the curves...any other/better suggestions?

I have both sets, DCC fitted. And problem resolved using old-fashioned techniques... Two-car set wouldn't run but did light, five car-set the same. For simplicity, went back to two-car set, removed the body from the powered car (again), reseated the decoder (again), reconnected two-car set...nothing. Gently applied intermittent vertical kinetic pressure (in other words, tapped it rather hard whilst connected and on the track) to power car...after a few solid taps...it ran and has continued to do so, as does the five-car set. Once again, knowing where to tap and how hard has solved...something

My apologies, it is in the incorrect area...but in my defence, I was giving lots of Dapol locos a test run at the same time and had a brain freeze when posting

Although I purchased this two (?) years ago new, I have never run it. Today, I carefully connected the two-car set and placed it on some track and...lights were on in both cars, but no movement. Detached and reattached several times, but no change in result. Detached the non-powered car and placed the powered car on the track and it works perfectly. So there is some problem when the two cars are electrically coupled, but the lights come on in both cars and reversing the power polarity causes the correct ends to light. Only the motor is affected! Any thoughts?

Also received a "broken" one, right-hand side valve conrod not attached to the pin.

Any recommendations for a decoder? Something from TCS that will fit?

I will be using "modellers license" regarding the period, theoretically spanning from the 40s to about the early 60s...Heartbeat era. So I think 4-wheelers are probably correct as I am modelling a sort of branch line that could have had anything running through it. For example, the "main" station is sort of Goathland-like, yet at the back of the layout will be a viaduct that is similar to the Ingleton viaduct, there will be goods traffic and, because I have them, also a Flying Scotsman and a Golden Arrow and other assorted eight carriage passenger trains. The problem is, I have lots of rolling stock from all the different groupings, because I like them , but they stop at early Mk1 carriages. My wife is in charge of the scenery and she want the things she likes to be modelled. So...40s through to early 60s it is...and as she likes fuel trains (no idea why), I appreciate the advice from this thread. Now I just need to find suitable Farish/Dapol/Peco 4-wheel rolling stock