NickC

​Mike, In 2016 there were over 31 million cars on the road in 2016 so someone is feeding you false data. I suspect there were 2.7 million new cars sold in 2016 and 2.5 million in 2017. The total number of on the road in 2017 is unlikely to have dropped unless more than 2.5 million were scrapped. There was also a boost in car sales in 2016 with people trying to beat the changes in Vehicle Excise duty (Car Tax) which would not have been repeated in 2017 which is likely to count for some of the difference.

​The tax office consider 45p/mile to be the approved mileage rate for a 2L car (not including congestion charges or car parking), so if your train journey cost less than that it's cheaper and thus a ticket costing 26p/mile makes the railway a lot cheaper than a car.

Another thing to consider with the set track curved points is that they have a very long dead section over the frog. It is so long that it is longer that the wheelbase of a Peckett meaning it is impossible to run a Peckett or other short wheelbase 0-4-0s across them without them stalling!

​Martin when I received the second SmartBox I powered it up with no connector and, using the SmartBox app on the SmartController, I checked that it was configured to 2000ma to match the power supply. I then programmed in a single loco and all during that time the SmartBox behaved itself. I then ran my layout using my original Hornby eLink for about 90 minutes to check that all was OK with the layout. My layout is 18" wide and runs around the 4 walls of a 2.8m square room, so its not huge. I have a maximum of 7 locos on the track and up to 3 can be running at once which is what I was successfully doing with the eLink. I then powered down the eLink and completely disconnected it and in its place connected the SmartBox thus guaranteeing that the only power to the layout was from the SmartBox. I then started to run the single loco that I had programmed, with the 6 other locos stationary in their sidings, and after 15 minutes it stopped and the Track Power LED started to fast blink again. After that it was game-over with the SmartBox even after disconnecting it from the track, waiting 30 mins and re-powering whilst still disconnected from the track. I then re-installed the Hornby eLink and everything works without issue. I must admit, If it wasn't for the fact the layout still runs without issue with the eLink, and indeed I have running it for 2 hours continuously today, I would have wondered about the layout. My locos are all Hornby or Bachmann and the oldest is 4 years old and they use a mixture of Lenz, TCS and DCC Concepts decoders. The points are controlled using DCC concepts IP digital motors or ADS-2fx solenoid units driving Peco PL-11 point motors., so nothing strange there. It all a bit of a shame because I liked the SmartController and want to move away from the eLink to something with a physical knob for throttle control instead of a screen based slider. I simply can't see what layout-wise could cause the SmartBox to permanently fail (unless I suppose one was pushing power back into the SmartBox output, which I definitely wasn't). There shouldn't be anything else that could destroy the output stage would there? Nick

Martin, the SmartBox was replaced under warranty, however it had exactly the same problem. That was sent back too and today I have just received a refund. There appears to be something fundamentally wrong with the output stage of the SmartBox (or I was just very unlucky) because even with a short circuit the output stage shouldn't fail completely and indeed I am confident that it isn't a short circuit problem with my layout because it works fine using a Hornby eLink and is happy to run for hours on end. Nick

I had used both Hornby and Peco set track curved points. They caused endless de-railments of modern locos. I no longer use them and would avoid them like the plague.

​Martin, Thank you for your input. I have tried working through your suggestion this morning. The SmartBox indicates a short-circuit as soon as the Stop/II button is pressed even when started with both Main and Prog unplugged, thus I can only conclude that the problem is within the smartBox. Thank you to both you and Ron for your help Nick

My smartbox appears to be on v1.1.2, whilst the smartcontroller is on v4.1.3 so latest software, just an out of date manual

Ron, Thanks that is helpful. You must have a different version of the manual because mine (v1.0.14) does not contain that information. So it appears that the smartbox has decided that there is a short circuit because the green LED for track status is blinking rapidly and there is no track power. Looks like the smartbox must be faulty then because I know there is no short circuit and Indeed if I re-connect my old eLink the layout works fine from RailMaster. Looks I'm going to have to see about returning it for repair or replacement.

Can anybody tell me if the fan in the smart box should be running when the unit is powered on? I have just got one and the fan starts when the smartbox is switched on and then immediately stops. On startup the track power led blinks slowly (which indicates that there is no power to the track) and then occasionally goes solid green when the stop button is pressed on the smart controller and the track powers up, however most frequently when the power button is pressed on the smart controller it blinks green and returns to red. The track power led on the smart box changes from a green slow blink to a rapid green blink and there is no track power. Anybody any idea what's going on? There is no short-circuit on the layout and happens even with no locos on the track (The layout runs fine if I return to using my old Hornby eLink controller). I can't find any information in the handbook or on the Piko website, I'm wondering if the smart box is faulty and I'll have to return it.

The new Hattons 14xx are so tail heavy the front drivers barely touch the track and the Hornby one, it's the rear drivers that barely touch. Not a good advert for either really.

Burevalleymodels still have 3 of the 5 in stock

I finally had some time to open up my 143 and discovered that the decoder's 8 pin plug was not fully seated. The plug must have been raised enough that it was shorting against the metal seat base and providing continuous power to the motor. I re-seated it fully and now everything works as it should. So decoder wasn't faulty I'm pleased to say.

Having looked I don't see any more FGW stuff on eBay than usual. And most of it is at silly prices, more than I would pay anyway.

As far as I am aware, the answer to your question is no

I have successfully used a DCC80 on a layout controlled by a Hornby eLink, so yes they will work on a layout controlled by an Elite.

Dale, just curious but how long did your handsets used to last on a set of batteries? Also how directional is the infa-red connection? i.e. How easy is it to point it in the 'wrong' direction and loose connection?

Thanks Charlie, I'll try and open it up over the weekend

I wonder if anybody can help with any suggestions? Starting today, if I put my 143 on my DCC layout it shoots off at full speed even though my controller has its speed set to zero. All other locos, points etc are behaving correctly. If i place it on my programming track I can read all the CV without problem. I have tried a decoder reset by re-programming CV8 = 008 and when I read back the CVs I can see it has been reset, but the 143 still shots off at full speed the moment I place it on my layout. I'm wondering if the decoder has failed? But I don't know how to open up the 143 to try a different one. (nick)

comparatively speaking that looks like a light shower. Have they tried dumping 1,000 gallons of salt water on it in one go? That would be more of a Dawlish test

@Gwiwer Can you supply a part number for the Roco style coupling you suggest? The only one I've seen has a NEM fixing and the Mk3s don't have NEM pockets

Surely not? They are all being replaced by 800/802s. Some sets are being being retained and reduced to 5 car sets, the remainder are going elsewhere so will never be painted green.

I have just received a set of all five coaches from Model Railways Direct in Portishead. They are all located correctly in the Ice blocks in the boxes and having removed each coach from the packaging, they all look good, no missing gloss on mine. My only complaint is that they still come fitted with large tension lock couplings. If Hornby can't fit NEM pockets I wish they would at least fit them with the small tension lock couplings as they do on most Locos.

As the Test Livery version is a limited edition which is likely bought by collectors there would be limited requirements for coaches. The GWR version is prototypical at 5 coaches so why would you want 'extra' coaches to make it non-prototypical ?

No it's not. The intricacies were discussed and explained in detail in earlier posts. Simply put Phoenix bought New Pistoia's shares taking it to over 50% ownership of Hornby thus under the stock market rules it must make an offer for all remaining shares, but the remaining shareholders are not mandated to sell. As Roger Canham is also chairman of Phoenix, then by the rules, he has to resign as chairman of Hornby whist the process takes place.