kylegordon

On 03/02/2020 at 14:08, brushman47544 said:

 

If it's still open, I would recommend Orient-Express in Brussels. The address is 195 Avenue Louise magasin 13, although from memory the entrance to the shopping centre is on Rue de Bailly. Easiest way to get there is by Tram from Louise metro station. They have a facebook page, although not recently updated by the look of it.

I was just in there on Saturday. Lovely guy with plenty of stock. Jump off at Baillie, and the shopping center is on Av Louise, 195. The center is a bit empty looking, but his shop is still there and open.

Do your digging about Marklin and Roco stock first, as he doesn't speak much English :-) Stacks and stacks of boxes of models behind the counter and in the store room, so if you know what to ask for then it might be easier. Picked myself up a nice SNCB Class 52, and a "Type 9572B 1" wagon. The wagon is apparently only available from his shop, and made in Belgium, so it all fitted with my "souvenir Belgique" mumblings :-)

Found part of it at https://archive.org/details/BBCHorizonCollection512Episodes/BBC+Horizon+-+s1981e26+-+The+Race+Against+Time.mp4

Sadly it doesn't seem to be the full episode, and is missing the content about hunting

23 hours ago, Ian J. said:

ISTR that the BBC did a Horizon programme on the APT in the early 80s, and it covered the issue of the hunting.

This one?

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1ef1e666a7ed4b4587af551b9b252eb5

14 hours ago, WolfofBadenoch said:

Took the plunge yesterday at Modelrail Scotland - £425 for the 7 car set and £75 per pair of carriages seemed to good to miss. The retailer had already sold out of TUs but hey ho! I've only had a quick look at the models so far but hopefully i'll manage to get it tested, run in and some trial running tomorrow!

What did you think of it this year? 

I went on Friday afternoon, and the aisles were much wider and with distinctly fewer people and stalls.

A few years back the £15pp ticket would have covered a days outing, but my wife and I finished the tour of the show in 4 hours. Nonetheless still with a full set of shopping bags at the end.

Here's hoping it improves for next year - especially since the hobby has had such a resurgence over lockdown.

1 minute ago, newbryford said:

 

Or a tiny blob of blutac (or similar) on the end of the screwdriver to hold the screw on.......

If you have a magnet already, stroke it down the side of the screwdriver near the tip several times and it will magnetise the screwdriver itself.

Old hard drives are a great source of powerful magnets.

Big thanks to @letterspiderfor the hint and @PaulRhBfor the opening guide. I took it a step further and had to take part of the chassis apart to put the propshaft back in.

Take the top off as per @PaulRhBguide at

Squeeze the pins and detach the bogie from the frame.

Then split the frame. Take the two screws out that hold the frame to the bottom half on the affected end, and loosen the two screws on the other side so that you get a bit of play. Carefully shoogle it until the frame splits in half in a rotating fashion so that it comes off *both* the locating pins. Lay it to the side so that the wiring can stay on.

Now put the propshaft back in. Make sure the wires stay on the correct sides of the propshaft otherwise they'll be too tight when it comes to reassembly. It's a loose fit in the motor end, and the universal joint yokes clip into place on the bogie end. This is where mine had come loose, or was never fully attached. Push the bogie until the UJ yoke clicks into place.

Line up the frame, clip the bogie in, screw the frame back together and tighten the opposing end back up, and it's time to put the body and the pantograph back on.

Bonus points for finding a random machine thread screw magnetised to the top of the motor when you take the lid off.

9 minutes ago, letterspider said:

 

That sounds similar to the problem I had - see post 955.

Are the wheels only moving on one bogie?

One of the drive shafts may be disconnected 

 

Might well be that then, it is only one bogie driven and it does sound like a spinning shaft on the floor or sides of the vehicle.

I'll open it up once I finish fitting this decoder to the APT-P 1980 version :-)

Well, on the half hour running in period the internals of the NDM have seemingly exploded.

Best viewed with sound. 

Disclaimer: the carpet is a work surface

On 23/02/2021 at 19:24, johnd said:

Taming the speed of these wee monsters is easy if you use DCC, all that needed is to fit a decoder where you can alter the top speed CV. I have an 06 that runs at barely a crawl on DCC. 

Now DC control? There must be a way of bringing speed down, from what I've seen it's standstill and then lurch off at near supersonic speed! 

My pre-DCC conversion DC test track is powered by a Hammant and Morgan Clipper. Using the half wave and high resistance switches gets you a really good crawling speed out of them. 

Will the 'singing' and squealing from the spring loaded wheel/power contacts eventually calm down? What's the best solution to quietening this pickup method?

16 minutes ago, Wolf27 said:

If Hornby can milk more from it then they will. They did two fictitious Hush Hush models to maximise sales. 

As a 40 something DINK model rail fan, I can absolutely guarantee I would be stupid enough to buy into this endeavour 

With the existence of the APT-U Ex-TS Development Vehicle, R4970, has Hornby ever shown any interest in developing and releasing more of the APT-U formation? As per https://www.apt-p.com/APTConfigurations.htm 

1 hour ago, TFR said:

Hornby have just taken payment on my 7 car set - email to say they'll be dispatching shortly

Same here. Had to update my payment details

I emailed them the other day, but as it turned out I hadn't been reading or receiving the Rapido UK newsletters - archives here https://rapidotrains.co.uk/rapido-news-uk/

As per the newsletters, they're shipping out from the factory soon. They'd been waiting on ESU decoders by the looks of it.

Here's a portion from the email I got back

"However, just so you know, the APTs should leave the factory in the next few days. They’ll probably land in the UK mid-February but it’s here that it gets tricky because we’re then completely in the hands of the shipping companies and we won’t know when they’ll arrive until about 24 hours before they do."

I'd certainly take everything regarding supply chain predictions and delivery with a tub of salt. I work for a manufacturing company, and can honestly say it's a nightmare out there. Unplanned decommits, random delays, random shutdowns, random deprioritizations, lost consignments, split (and part lost) consignments... the list goes on. 

21 minutes ago, gazwire said:

Received mine and I'm really impressed, aside from the capacitor position. They look fantastic - excellent finish, colours and shape and the glazing/windows really excellent. The only other thing is the pantograph which I'm scared to raise. The body work though is truly excellent.

How long did yours take within Hermes? 

Well, Hermes appear to have lost both my DCC chip and APT carriages, last 'updated' by Hermes on their tracker on 16th and 19th respectively.

And Hornby aren't replying to emails. 

This isn't terribly encouraging....

Had my APT-E running for a few days now, and it's fantastic.

Just want to say thanks to all those involved. It's a stunning piece of work, and I'm immensely happy to have one.

Looking forward to putting in my deposit for the Class 41 and rake :-)