Chameleon

Yup. That’s the one. Thanks for that.

Bit of a long shot but I’m trying to remember the name and or photos of an American layout I saw at Hartlepool a few years ago in one of the corridors. It was about 20 or so feet long but only about 18” wide. There were a bunch of sidings that came off at an angle into various buildings at the rear. There is superb detail all along the front edge of the layout. It’s not much to go on but does it jog anyone’s memory?

I used to be an avid watcher of F1. I I couldn’t see it live, I’d go to great lengths to not find out the result so I could watch the recording “live” as it were. He last couple of races I’ve not even bothered with, which is a shame as I e always enjoyed it but it has become so mind numbingly predictable that there’s no point watching after Q3 on Saturday. If Lewis is on pole, game over. Even if Bottas is on pole, Lewis will win. The other teams really need to up their game to challenge them, Ferrari did for a while but have really dropped the ball since. I thought I’d be upset that Sky have bribed their way to exclusive rights but, until something changes drastically, I’m not that fussed and will stick with the highlights.

Is it just me or is Jodie Whittaker channelling David Tennant? She just reminds me of him for some reason.

Is it ok to use ordinary 12v led lighting strip to light up railcar interiors, using the light output function from a DCC chip? I have a couple of railcars I want to put interior lighting in and the rolls of led lighting are really cheap.

Are any of the HST fleet already scrapped? Accident damage and suchlike? Don’t think I’ve heard of any actually meeting their end.

I've just ordered a SPROG II. And advice or tips on setting it up and using it would be appreciated.

I assume that is just for the handset and you need the WiFi receiver and other gubbins to work with the system?

Just bought one of these at Glasgow show. It's a nice bit of kit and fairly well thought out and intuitive to use. One thing I am hoping to appear is an Xpress net adaptor so I can plug in an existing handset such as a multimaus or lenz handset. It's only attached to my rollers at the mo but it'll let me program and tweak my locos.

I have a couple of Loksound v4 fitted locos. They have a long pause and a very slow start which makes them a bit sticky. What CVs should I tweak to get them to move off a bit quicker?

Every year it's the same old routine. I get the "it's dead easy to automatically renew your cover. You don't have to lift a finger, we will do it all for you" conveniently missing out the "by the way, we are bumping another £100 plus onto your premium just cos we can." Every year they magically manage to drop the price with "loyalty discounts" funny how they never seem to include these on the original quote. It's one of my favourite pastimes "negotiating" with these sort of companies.

Spoke to the Bachmann chap at Glasgow, unfortunately the Hunslets won't arrive til well into next year.

I see DC do a setup with two speakers for a Black 5. What is space like inside the loco. How hard is it to fit the sugar cube into the loco itself? Also how hard is it to fit a smoke generator and to wire it up to a function output on the chip?

I currently have a pair of sugar cubes wired in parallel to my loksound micro 4. This gives a 4 ohm load. Trouble is they are just a little bit to big to fit in the cab of the loco so I’m thinking of using a single, medium sugar cube instead. This will be an 8 ohm load and according to DC kits website is suitable for the micro. How will this affect the volume? Will having a 8 ohm load make it a lot quieter than the parallel pair or will it sound the same? Will running 8 ohms harm the micro as it is setup to run 4 ohm loads?

Has anyone used Bullfrog snot to improve traction? I have a heavy white metal railcar that only drives on 1 bogie. It can hardly pull itself let alone its trailer! I was thinking of trying this stuff on an axle to see if it improves things. Does it work?

As has been said, I do believe the coasting ability is down to the programming of the chip. I believe the coast can be extended somewhat before it starts to chuff again which is about the best you’ll get. Not sure if that is on a 3.5 or a 4 chip. Biffo or Paulybanger would probably be able to advise on how to do this.

I think 20 1/2 of them survive?

I noticed when they turned Silver lady over for servicing and you got a look at her undercracjets, I noticed what looks like a large wheel or gear on the center axle. What’s that for?

I’ve seen the first two episodes and it’s a really pretty good and interesting almost educational programme. Pity they have to mention “Impossible railway” every 30 seconds or so. Obviously it isn’t or they wouldn’t have built it!

I remember we had an LGB sheep van years ago. Think it has a motion switch on it so that they got a bit upset when it set off.

I'm curious about Silver Lady's anatomy (ooer) when the engineer was checking her over after her swimming lesson I noticed what looks like a large geared wheel on the center axle (which, incidentally, looks flangeless). What is this for? It looked like a rack wheel, or is it something to do with an axle mounted water pump?

There are some nice touches on these points. No hinge or pivot point on the switch rails so the rails themselves actually bend. This probably makes the spring on the tie bar necessary so that they don’t spring back or center of their own accord. Also good to see stock and switch rails properly connected by wire. Mind you, £27? That’ll cost a bit on a complicated layout.

You could build the quarry and hillsides from insulation foam boards. It’s solid, lightweight and easily carved into cliffs, galleries etc for the quarry. Then cover it with a thin layer of plaster and coat with scenic material and, yup, slate.

Langleys is propably a good bet.

Umm... slate?