BritishRail60062

Hi folks, I have a new problem on my hands and yes this is new to me in this case and I will explain why. In the past, I have had no problems in running or testing DCC fitted model trains on a traditional DC layout or in my case a traditional loop of track and I have many model trains that have either a Hornby or a ESU chip in them and in the past both of them have worked fine in the past when I have bought brand new DCC fitted model trains. Now I am fully aware that TTS sound cannot and WILL NOT work in DC mode and I am going be getting a NCE DCC Controller in the next month at least. The model train I am having problems with is the new Hornby TTS Class 60 because despite the fact that Hornby state in their manual that although the sounds will not work on DC. The motor control is still available and has been the case in the past. So here is my question on this? Have Hornby cunningly disabled DC mode under CV29 on this model now? Because the model won't move under DC and I do not yet have a DCC controller to enable DC mode under CV29. I have a very strong feeling that Hornby have disabled DC mode which in my opinion is just plain daft because not everyone has or wants DCC but they may like the model train that has a DCC TTS decoder fitted like this 60044 model that I have does. I already sent one back as it arrived factory damaged with a large scratch on one of the cabs and I bought this one from another model railway dealer. But it won't move on DC. I have an 8 pin blanking plug which if the model was second hand wouldn't be a problem to fit upon disconnecting the decoder but I cannot do this because the model is brand new and it is still under warranty. I simply won't run the risk of making the warranty void. With no thanks to Hornby deliberately disabling DC mode on their new TTS Class 60 DB Schenker model there is no way without using a DCC controller (which I do not currently have) it is possible to know if the model train works or not. Has anyone else had this problem? Because this is new to me and I have never had this problem before when I have purchased DCC fitted model trains brand new in the past . I would appreciate any advice and thanks for reading. All the best Ash.

Cheers mate. I will be in touch with them although there is not much on their website. Maybe they have more of the Bachmann range and including the Class 90 in store (fingers crossed) .

That's true guys. Sadly there is no local model shop where I am and I have to rely on mail order to get anything new where I am. I even tried looking for a model train shop in Belfast and there is nothing there either apart from a wee model shop at Smithfield Market and he mainly sells diecast models and a few second hand model trains .

I am considering getting the new Bachmann Class 90 but after hearing about some having broken parts that others have experienced. I am now in two minds if to take the plunge or not because £180 for this model to arrive broken is a lot of money and I really do not want the hassle of sending it back if this is the case. Its not because I'm too lazy to return it but it is expected for that kind of money to arrive in a usable and fit condition as would be expected from a brand new model train .

Thanks mate. To be honest I have thought about this project long and hard because I wanted to make something that would be portable and small enough to pack into a car as I will be taking it to exhibitions around Ireland and Northern Ireland at first and then I will hopefully be able to attend some exhibitions in Scotland, England and Wales. Aye I think I will enjoy this project thoroughly from start to finish because the model railway will certainly exercise my creativity side of things . I will be getting a couple of new model trains that will fit right in on this layout but I will keep self discipline because I will focus on getting the bits for the layout rather than getting a hoard of model trains for them to just sit in their boxes doing nothing like I did in the past .

That's the platforms taken care of and I now have some track for the new layout . That's all for now .

Hello everyone. After spending some time with using AnyRail to design and plan this wee layout that I want to do. I will be building it up in September this year and it will give me something to do whilst the less pleasant winter months are with us. The layout will be a TMD (Traction Maintenance Depot) with a terminus station set in the period of 2000 to present day operations. This will allow me to run light locomotives to the TMD and to run DMU's to and from the station. The location theme is industrial based and there will be some derelict buildings on the model railway with clutter in the yard that will represent of how things used to be whilst most of the yard will be active. I am aiming to build it in modular form as then it will be easier to take to exhibitions in the future which is my plan. This is the first plan that I started off with. Then I did some more work on the plan and developed it further . Now that I am happy with the placement of the track on this 4ft x 2ft baseboard mock up. I have added roads and other building in the last picture below. Now for the technical side of the layout. The trains will be DCC controlled and I will be using life like signals and I am going to illuminate the buildings and the add station and street lighting including a couple of flickering street lights to the north of the layout to represent vandalism as the layout will be representing a run down area and the low relief factories will be made derelict hence being based on a industrial area that was once a thriving trade. I will weather the buildings and add graffiti decals as what is sadly seen in real life in some parts of the UK. I will be adding some "action scenes" onto the model railway as well but more of that in a future post! . As always I welcome feedback on my project and just as a declaration. This model railway is entirely fictional and does NOT represent any real life location. I will post more updates around August/September when I have a major update to come which will be when I get the baseboards as I will need another for the switch yard which will keep the trains out of sight when not in use. Oh by the way, those trains shown in the last image are just for illustration of the plan and won't be the actual trains used on the layout as I will be using modern traction from the likes of Hornby, Bachmann, Dapol and RealTrack Models. That is all I am saying for now folks. All the best Ash.

The wheels on some of the older Lima and Hornby models do make a clunking noise when I used them last. But if you wanted some clunky wheels you could run a file on one of them and file off about 0.25mm from one side and then polish it up with a dremel buffing pad to remove the scratches .

I was going to say, if my carriages have flat wheels. There would be a river of complaints from my passengers haha! . Still I am just happy that its not a pacer! .

Thanks for the information on this. I have the idea which came to me when I was coming home on the bus which was perhaps a fibreglass pen could be used on the nameplates if not a cocktail stick to "scratch" off most of it mask the area with tamiya masking tape and then T-cut the remaining black where the nameplate was. From my understanding, the Hornby name plates are tampo-printed onto the models and are sealed in with a lacquer to make them robust to handling etc. In truth I am not so keen on the IPA route because if I get it wrong. The IPA can eat into the red livery which is what I wish to avoid. Still I will give it a go with the Fibreglass pen and the T-cut as then I should be able to remove the unwanted names and numbers and then apply the Railtec replacements that I am intending to use. I will seal in the nameplates with a light coat of satin varnish (most Hornby painted model trains tend to have a satin look to my eyes. I will be adding drivers into the cabs as well, so I will probably do this first and then block off the windows with tamiya masking tape before sealing in the decals with varnish. I have a lot of patience and good results are not something that can be done in a day. I will be buying some Tamiya cotton buds for the nameplate removal and some narrow paint brushes to "push" the numbers around and get them into place .

Hi folks, I am about to be brave and buy myself a couple of Hornby Class 60's in the DB red to renumber two of the three into others that don't yet exist. The first one which will be 60100 shouldn't be too much of an issue as replacement decal for the "The Midland Railway - Butterley" is in roughly the same position as where the "Dowlow" plate is height wise on 60044. The second one I am planning to do is either 60063 or 60054 with no nameplates. So this got me wondering on how easy is it to remove the "Dowlow" from the model without trashing the red paint? I like the idea of T-cut but I have never done it before, so I would appreciate any advice on using T-cut please? Thanks in advance and all the best Ash.

Great stuff Fran, I do plan to add Kato Figures into the cabs of mine as I think it makes the model more life like .

I too like the idea of this new pantograph and it will be great to see that there will be no crude looking springs like there is on my Lima and Hornby examples which I will keep but I will pass them onto my children when I raise a family and they are old enough/interested enough to use them. Incase I've missed it. I would like to ask if the cab interior will be detailed like the Hornby Class 60 is and will the cab interior be easy to access in terms of adding a driver? Because I am doing to put a driver into the cab of my examples to bring them some life! .

I will give them a wee call tomorrow or drop by their site to see if they have any EWS ones left .

I won't disagree mate as tonight I was running my 6 of them in a dedicated model train running session . Here is a pic of two of them for the video thumbnail and the video will be live tonight at 8pm UK time. All the best Ash.

Great stuff and I do like the extra realism :).

I do hope that Revolution Trains would consider doing another production run in the future as I wasn't able to preorder mine and it seems that I have missed out on those at Colletts Models as well as the VTG Blue ones have all done. I can wait .

I wonder if there is any plans to make another production run of these TEA Tankers in the future? I begrudge paying £245 for a triple pack of VTG Grey wagons.

To be honest. The Class 150/0's so far have only ever worn 4 liveries from the time they entered service which was BR Provincial, Regional Railways Centro, Central Trains Centro and GWR as it presently with. I didn't include the debranded Central Trains livery that they had under London Midland as it is quite easy to replicate once the user removes the Central Trains logos from them. If the Blue Pullman is anything to go by, I wouldn't rule out a Class 150/0 as the Blue Pullman only had 3 liveries in total if I remember correctly .

I am flexible with any of them but I would prefer one with the "ribs" on it . Hi Fran. I realise that you and the team at Accurascale have a lot on your plate right now with the Class 92, CAF Mk5's and other wagons. But if you would consider adding this wagon to a list of future rolling stock suggestions, perhaps it might become viable in the future if modeller demands require a model. Personally if your team was to make this wagon model. I would prefer one with the bands/ribs around the barrel of the tank wagon as that would make a perfect model in the Murco and the Rusted Brown liveries in my opinion. But thanks for the response to my suggestion . All the best.

This is the best Hornby model that I have in my fleet .

Thanks for the feedback folks and I think its safe to say that the TEA wagon type is well catered for and that is the reason why I vouched for the less known TDA including the TDA-D wagons because the original Murco Red/White/Blue wagons were the TDA type although the newer red Murcos are the TEA. If the TDA gets produced, then it will allow for modellers and the purists to make quite a decent prototypical oil train of a combination of the TEA's from Cavalex Models/Revolution Trains combined with this TDA wagon proposal. That would fill another gap and add some serious realism to those that want prototypical oil trains to show off at exhibitions etc. I would be happy with a string of 15 of these TDA's behind a Hornby 60 in Murco livery and a string of 15 rusty ones to replicate the Aviation Fuel train on the Lindsey-Colnbrook/Heathrow diagram that is now worked by Class 70's with Colas.

Correct. But anyway. In the world of the model railways. I follow the rules of "what you fancy does your good" and I quite like the idea of shoving a Class 60 at the other end of a TPE Mk5's as a break from the norm and just for a bit of fun really mate.

Correct me if I am wrong but that looks like the Class 56 is hauling a Class 397 EMU judging from the position of the passenger door is located on the driving unit that the Class 56 is attached to. Still that won't stop me from using a Hornby Class 60 on my TPE Mk5's though haha! .

Hello everyone. I am proposing a new product suggestion to Accurascale for future consideration that is the TDA 100 tonne tank wagon. The TDA-D wagons were built from 1991 to 1993 and are still in use today as debranded, rusted metal and in Murco liveries alike. I have included some links to photos for reference that may be helpful. I believe the TDA wagons also wore Total and Fina liveries as well but sadly I cannot find any photos of them to reference to but as suggesting a TEA tanker would be considered unfair to Revolution Trains hence that they only released their model recently. I went with the TDA wagon for two reasons. The first one is that they are different to the TEA hence being an older design with the "ribs" on the sides and the second reason I am proposing this is because it will add a new and a popular wagon to the range of freight wagons for present day traction and I think a rake of TDA's would look great behind a Class 92 from Accurascale or a Class 60 from Hornby. Apart from the dated LIma model which doesn't have the "ribs" replicated on the sides. There is no other TDA model wagon available. Any feedback on this idea would be welcomed . All the best.