stewartingram

I have used Seep 'motors' for years, as they are usually the cheapest. Apart from the inbuilt frog swithc, I find them reliable, but worthy of improvement. The points (sorry) that I am on about are as follows. 1) frog switch. As a (retires) electronics engineer, I can only say these are rubbish. If the track is already laid, fitting them from underneath a baseboard is difficult as they have to be aligned correctly, otherwise they are unreliable. 3) In addition, getting the wire pin through the point tiebar is very awkward. I have devised a simple baseplate to overcome all of these. Once the Seep is mounted on the plate, the tiebar wire is much simpler to locate within the tiebar. A crocodile clip on the wire above the baseboard will hold it, whilst I go underneath the board to screw it in place. Prior to fitting, I mark the position of the point, drawing a line across the point (underneath) so thati t is located at the correct angle. I use a small plasticard gauge to centrally locate the armature within its travel, and I also lock the point blades in mid travel. The new plastcard base also has a proper electronics microswitch screwed to it for the frog switching. And finally, the original drive pin no longer moves the tiebar; instead it moves a piece of copperclad sleeper, the end of which drives the tiebar via anew brass wire (trimmed to length when finished). At first glance this soumds complicated, but actually it is quite easy. About 10-15 mins work, with much easier installation and better reliability. I don't have any pics, but can take some if wanted.

Last issue still in WHS March today. And I made a special trip just to get the latest one......

Just fot clarification, about this contract that expires later this year? Can someone actually clarify this. I assume we are talking about the train path in the timetable, that is issued by NR? WCR would have this path allocated to them (and paid for), for their sole use, so that the Jacobite can become a regular train. Just the same really as the freight operators, who have bought paths for their trains, but often only use them as required. So if GBRF have a path, but next Tuesday their freight doesn't run, Freightliner can't run a train instead,

Well at least I got a response by moving to this forum lol! TBH, no I haven't contacted Hornby (yet). Couple of points on this though. I have in the past done that on a number of times and got positive replies. A new chassis block (which was used to build up as a replacement for a mazak rot 30 chassis), and for the same model, s/h bodyside grilles (wrong colour but soon repainted). At that times there were many shouts of woe on here about Hornby not having spares or being at all helpful! I had hoped that suppliers like Peters Spares, or ebay sellers, might help, but it was a desert. However one thing came as a surprise. The Hornby website now lists spares. Not as comprehensive as Bachmann, but it is a start. I shall make an enquiry with Hornby, if you don't ask you don't get. I have lost one complete buffer (head + body), and a 2nd buffer head only.

I could think of a few that should!

I posted this in the Wanted section earlier this week. It perhaps hasn't seen many views there, so I'm ostin instead in the Hornby section. I've lost/damaged a couple of buffers on my class 71, and can't find spares listed anywhere. Does anyone know of a source. I'll use replacments that are not Hornby if necessary.

I must admit, with the inclusion of the Mkls, I always think they are wonderful models and wish we still had them in real life. Haven't things gone downhill with modern trains, in both comfort & looks.

Whatever happened to the old saying: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" /

Don't forget that WCR "own" the train paths for the Jacobite. They would have to hand back their rights to NR before they could be transferred to another operator.

They were on my want list above!

Well, theres a few on there that I would like, I must admit. Not sure that they ever appeared, but I'm reckon something good could be made of them.

That means only 2 more people have to say it - please don't encourage them!

I believe they used the flyash as you have said. The whole area is now an established housing estate, shopping centre, and massive Tesco. (When the Tesco first opened, the staff used roller blades to get round it!). There were some serious issues with subsidence when it was being built I'm told.

I've lost/damaged a couple of buffers on my class 71, and can't find spares listed anywhere. Does anyone know of a source. I'll use replacments that are not Hornby if necessary.

Looks like a normal road in the Fens round here. We seem to manage quite well with them.

In do wonder if this some tidykng up of their systems (possibly automatic by PC?), as I've had a number of emails informing me of added points to my account for recent purchases (what recent purchases?). My J69 was fully paid on the Partially account a little while back as I understand it. The schedule for delivery is shown as Q2 so it isn't far away anyway.

I am NOT speculating here, but it does make one wonder about what other standards they don't keep to, such as maintenance?

There is if you copy & paste the address.

Not very realistic then is it? Vehicles stopping at a red light? Whatever next.

I always use Araldite (loyalty here to the local company that apparently invented it?). I've always thought the 24hour version to be stronger, but properly mixed, the 5 min version (I always leave it longer though) is fine in the modelling world. I remember going to the 1st Duxford Air Museum open day, where they had a BMC 1100 car suspended off the floor, with its rope(?) araldited to the roof. The Ciba-Geigy factory was just down the road....

The headmaster at my eldest daughters primary (who was aver good teacher and ran a quite tight ship & was well respected) hit this decimal lark on the head. He firmly believed that pre-decimal had to learn their tables properly. Think 12 (pence), 20 (shillings, 8 (1/2 crowns), 16 (ounces) 14 (lbs), 22 (ton), 3 (yards), etc. He found that with decimalisation, the kids actually didn't concentrate so much (and aided by the early calculators coming on stream as well). I reckon he was right.

Had this one offered to me on YpuTube:- Tragic Moments! Shocking Train Moments Filmed Seconds Before Disaster That Are Pure Nightmare Fuel ! (youtube.com)

I handled a few in my repair shop days. I loved them (had 4 myself). Every one I handled was stripped right down, then re-assembled with "TLC". They all became quiet runners. I can't say exactly what I did, but the TLC definitely worked!

Running into a mice, or even a rat, is little inconvenience to a train. However a large dog could easily cause a derailment in the tunnel. Even if the dog got killed by the live rails, it could still cause a derailment.

I have pics (not all mine so I can't post) of 78020/21/28 (at least) working Kettering-Cambridge. As Clacton was accessed via the Stour Valley line with similar weight restrictions as the Kettering line, I'm certain they would have passed straight through Cambridge, and turned left at Shelford.