Mark Carne

Here is my Bing "N gauge" set, with another slightly larger Bing loco..... Missing the tender, but one day... Mark

No, they really meant indoors indoors. Just that everyone puts a modern H&S slant on live steam operation and assumes it has to run outdoors. Most pot boiler o gauge live steam locos are hopeless outside on anything but a still day when it's hot outside. Mark

Phoenix Precision black gloss P975 is an excellent match for Bing black, litho or painted, but you will have to varnish over the top to get the finish you want. I can recommend Squadron green putty for filling in the dings too, it's what the best restorers use before applying paint. Here are some before and after pictures of a couple of Bing German Pacifics a friend recently restored, I promise they are the same locos. Mark

A display of JeP Mignon I did at the Beckenham & West Wickham Model Railway Club vintage show a few years ago. I have since sold it as a collection to a friend, so it's all still together. Mark

This is the pillar drill I used to press on the wheels on the Standard gauge motor I rewheeled, might be a bit bigger than most folk have at home. And even with this, they took some pressing. Mark.

Did you read Nearholmers reply about universal motors running perfectly well on AC or DC? Here is the important bit from Nearholmers reply, in case you missed it. "It is more helpful to differentiate between these motors by calling them "permanent magnet" and "wound field" than "DC" and "AC", for two reasons: - the wound field commutator motor is 'universal', it can be supplied with AC or DC; and, - there are other types of motor, lots of them, especially for AC." Yes, the replacement wheels are more robust than the old ones, the old ones have Mazac rot, technically known as intergranular corrosion, which the new ones do not suffer from. Fixing the gear wheels by spreading the spigots on the back of the wheel is 100% the correct way to do it, I also spread the centre boss a bit too, and ream out the hole a little after. And here is a picture of the Lionel Super Motor that I rewheeled. Mark

Lionel used a break in the current to cycle their sequence reverser, but as this loco is manual reverse, that doesn't matter. The only thing to bear in mind, is these locos require more current than your average 00 or 0 gauge loco, particularly when running with an illuminated train. My 408E, which has 2 of these motors, pulling 4 state cars with lights, pushes my 5 amp, 20 volt bench top power supplies to the limit. This loco and train will need something like a 2 amp power supply. Mark

There is no spacer between the rod and the wheel, those wheels need replacing, not doing all 4 will be a false economy, as you are buying a set of 4 I presume? They dish like that when the "grow" due to mazac rot, as the steel tyre, which is entirely original, stops them expanding, so they dish inwards instead. Also found some photos on my computer of some Lionel UK market catalogues I've got. The loco, tender and coaches were an export set, sold in the UK long after the loco had been deleted from the USA range. This catalogue even came with its original envelope, from the UK Lionel agent. Mark

Off the top of my head, there are 9 of us in the UK who do Standard Gauge, and 2 of those are not actively collecting. Plus I have a 384E, in fact I have 2, an original black one and a Lionel Classics 2 tone grey one, so I don't want one, which means 6 people in the UK who might want it. Mark

It's certainly an L1, but it's not a Hornby one. I'd guess at it being a vintage scratch build. Hornby L1 to hand (ish) for photos for comparison purposes if required. Mark

And I brought 2 of them for £281, passing the other on to a friend at cost. So someone else got a good buy too.

A less than thorough peruse of the internet revealed 53 locos available from 20 retailers, ranging from £373.24p to £553.46p. This included 2 CR and 9 GN directly available from Hornby themselves, so much for the hogwash about being sold out on pre order. I suspect if you contacted all the retailers advertising in say the Railway Modeller, or BRM, you could find a few more. Mark

Given your record, leave well alone! Might not be easy in your location, but someome who does clock repairs would be able to mend the spring. Mark

A couple of cracking photos. Christmas already seems to have come early to 75F this year, but to have the D from York and put it into steam would be a lot of Christmases in one go. Mark

That's a correct match. Plenty of Apollo variations, just like Georges. I think I've said before, I've 10 Georges, and all different..... Mark

Yep, that's definitely a Bing carriage truck. Mark

A maroon tender numbered 1000 is indeed the correct tender for a Midland GTF, the funniest bit about them being most of them had the 1000 printed upside down on one side, so have a factory bodge of the 1 painted out and a new 1 painted on, on one side. Mark

Just my personal view, but resist touching it in, and resist renumbering the tender, those tenders are highly desirable in original condition, even the condition yours is in. Mark

Sounds within acceptable parameters amp wise. Maybe a member here with an Ace Schools could send you a photo of the instructions by message, I would myself, but I never brought one. I ordered one when they were first announced, but there was a sudden price jump for specific names, and I decided I didn't need one after all. Mark

I have to admire your dedication to the "Deliberately old fashioned" cause. ;-) Mark

Has it got the instruction sheet? That shows how to remove the body, and the main lubricating points. To be honest, once you've got the to off, it's all big enough to see and simple enough to work on. Mark

At times like this, a power unit with built in amps and volt meters comes in really handy......... https://www.circuitspecialists.eu/power-supplies/bench-power-supplies/ (I am gently pulling your leg Kevin.) Lacathedrale, I've not got an Ace Trains Schools, but plenty of other modern coarse scale locos by Ace, B/L, ETS, Darstaed, etc, my gut feeling, is it probably just needs servicing, body off, clean and relubricate. Most of the later Ace locos, the larger ones made in China, owe a lot in terms of design and construction to the modern B/L locos, because Ace Trains chief engineer Len/Leon Mills used to hold a similar position at Corgi when they owned B/L. Suffice to say, it sounds like a new B/L loco in need of some TLC. Mark

Well, I will point out that a Circuit Specialists unit of the type favoured by many COSTS LESS than a Gaugemaster 2.5A LGB , and also comes with digital amps and volt meters, which the Gaugemaster doesn't. Certainly my experience, and that of many, is that, is the 2.5 amp rating of the Gaugemaster is its maximum output, not its continuous output, which from experience, is about half. No harm in a bit of future proofing either, you never know what you might end up purchasing in the future..... Mark

As I'm sure Nearholmer knows, a very large number of the coarse scale/vintage/tinplate fraternity use switch mode bench power supplies to power their trains. Originally the late Maplins retailed a very good unit, often at an advantageous offer price, but they seemed to stop stocking it before their demise (Maybe that was their big mistake? :-) ). Now the preferred unit of choice is the Circuit Specialists Switch Mode DC Bench Power Supply Adjustable 0-30V 0-5A CSI 3005SM, to give it its full title, giving a 0 to 30 volts and 0 to 5 amps range, which means it will run almost anything vintage you are likely to come across. I've got 3 of the Maplins units on my home layout, and 2 of the Circuit Specialists units for exhibition work, and find them very flexible and capable of high outputs for extended periods at exhibitions. A link to the Circuit Specialists range; https://www.circuitspecialists.eu/power-supplies/bench-power-supplies/ And a link to the Circuit Specialists Switch Mode DC Bench Power Supply Adjustable 0-30V 0-5A CSI 3005SM, favoured by many on the vintage circuit. https://www.circuitspecialists.eu/power-supplies/bench-power-supplies/switch-mode-dc-bench-power-supply-adjustable-0-30v-0-5a-csi-3005sm/ No connection with the above company, other than being a very satisfied customer. Mark

Yes, the 101s were tinprinted, including the running plate and cylinders. The earliest 101s were the most matt finished, and it was gradually dropped, so by the time of the LNER 101 you show, circa 1951-53, they were just the plain tinprinting, without any varnishing. The very first batch used printings identical to the pre war M3 tank locos, so the printed sheets they were stamped from must have been left over stock. Mark