Sir TophamHatt

This is what we're changing to. Means I'd get about a 3rd extra space in the loft. The downside means I have to spend a day moving things around to board it... after spending a little more to get the hatch widened!

Too young And earn too much (despite earning under £30k a year!) to get any sort of grants for anything. It wasn't too bad a chat actually. More fun - someone who we had quote us for a new fence turned up for next door to quote them! He is a bit more expensive for the cheapest fence than someone else, but less expensive than what we want from the fence. It's whether Mrs STH will accept a more rubbish fence at 50/50 cost or whether she'll want something more expensive and we foot 100% of the cost. Interesting times ahead!

Morning (just!). Todays discussion is about money I hate arguing about money! She wants a new fence, I want a new boiler. Old boiler is over 15 years old (at least!), with tanks in the loft and bathroom. Shower upstairs doesn't work as the gravity isn't enough to push the water out, so for the past 2 years or so we've been using the electric shower downstairs. New boiler means better efficiency all round (although can't afford radiator TRVs at the moment). Paying for this soley out of my account. The fence is actually on next doors land. They rent out the property. Previous owners of our house came to some sort of agreement and went half/half on a fence. Mrs STH is willing to pay £2000 to put a new fence in - out of the joint account. We emailled the landlord who said they could get a new one put in for £1200, but didn't mention anything further. We find out today from Tenant that someone will be coming to "take the old fence away" - they didn't say if a new one was going in. I suspect the LL will want to replace it before re-letting, but the current tenants don't look like they'll be moving out any time soon. For me, a new boiler is a must. We don't have hot water at the moment because it seems a waste to heat up a large tank for washing hands only (we have a dishwasher). While 5 out of 13 fence panels have fallen down, I agree it's not a great look but it looks like we're just paying the money rather than trying to sort out some sort of agreement with the LL. Mrs STH would be a bit sad if the fence was a basic one (we went mid range for quotes, but not exactly what I wanted) but I'd be thinking of the money saving aspect. Especially as she wants to put in a load of decking at the back and this and that. It's almost like she feels having too much money in the bank is a crime and we should spend it. She grew up in a poor family so never had much money. Even after 4+ years of working, her bank hasn't seen £2000 as she just spends it before it gets anywhere near that. What a rubbish conversation waiting for me this evening

This is it. I'd even go as far as saying the majority of the models offered for sale on ebay are listed with words such as "only taken out to test model". I can't believe so many people are changing their plans just after buying stock.

Stagecoach out. Abellio in. Does this mean Virgin will also disappear as their West Coast partnership was led by Stagecoach. Stormy times ahead!

Here we go: It looks similar to this (this was pre-DCC conversion). The left hand box is loose in the pic but it isn't now. I think I may have solved the initial problem as it could have been some of the wires inside getting caught in the little slit of the brass round bit stopping it turning. However... It's a bit growly round the track and doesn't like low speed at all, with frequent stalls. Not sure if the pickups are good, but it seems to be the movement that it doesn't like. Does anyone know where I could get replacement wheelsets like this from? Have noticed it has traction tyres on one side too

Quick question - how does the "ignore posts" feature work? I have chosen to ignore a members posts but when I scroll through threads, I still see them. Above, there is a little banner that tells me I am ignoring the posts but I would have expected not to see them at all in the thread (unless someone quotes them of course). Cheers!

FYI: I used "tower LEDs" for mine. I can't remember if they slotted right in, but for the 156, I had to use a bit of sandpaper to slim down the pointy end of the LED so it would fit in the slot. So long as you don't do too much and don't scrape the top edge point, it's a pretty good way of getting them to fit in the tight holes. Also means you don't destroy the original light filters (I took mine out all together!). Having the different lighting options with Express Models is nice, but I only use forward and back. Not bothered about the depot option or night running. If I'd have been confident and competent before converting my 170, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the kit. I guess I could always convert it again and sell the kit as is. Means I'd swap the non-motor car decoder for a cheapy Lais one to run the lights, getting a Lenz decoder back. But then I have about 5 or 6 decoders in the box ready to use anyway, so I'm not desperate

Can't remember now if I changed my 08 speaker or not. I wonder if a megabass would fit though.

For the plugs, search on ebay for something like "20pcs Micro JST PH 1.25 2 pin male female plug connector" - in fact, just the first bit up to JST should show results. £1.53 is what I paid, shipped from Hong Kong but there's currently a seller in China with them at £1.24 with best offer. I used these when changing a 156 to LEDs and they worked pretty well. Because it was directional, I had to use two sets of the plugs to wire through. By comeplete accident, I wired one set one way (male plug from the driving car plugged into the female of the dummy car), and the second set the other way. This meant you would always connect them the correct way when splitting the unit. I sold the unit in the end, which is a shame as I put a fair amount of work into updating it and should have continued to use it as a learning unit. But something to think about if using plugs and needing to wire more than one set.

I have an old OBB 2043 loco by Lima. I've converted it to DCC and it runs okay at a high speed but low speed isn't that great. It also has a problem that it doesn't like going in reverse at the moment. All this isn't helped by traction tyres either! Both sets of bogies are driven by a motor in the middle turning a long pole, which runs the length of the loco (sorry don't know if this motor has a special name). Could the motor be converted to a CD motor? I understand it won't cure many of the problems but just looking at various options.

They've recently got a new website so I wouldn't expect them to not be trading anymore. Can't comment on ther Class 66 kit. The 170 version requires a little hacking of the model but it fits nicely and works a treat. The only complaint I have is the yellow side light. While the real lights have a yellow tint, they aren't yellow. But when I enquired about the Voyager version, they said I could potentially have different colour LEDs to be all white. I didn't order in the end as I just fitted my own LEDs.

It's a shame they didn't make a more expensive "CMX'd" version that really cleans the tracks!

Did a bit of expermienting last night. To be fair, the 68 that pulls it is also a little low so they both suit each other! Put a little washer in and tightened it a bit more and it's improved a little. Had to replace the one on the 68 though as the spring popped out. Then I noticed the CMX coupler didn't even have a spring! Not sure it makes any difference but have replaced that and will test later. Although this is perhaps the 3rd time I've had to mess about getting a spring back on. Think I'm gonna use glue on one side of it next time I start messing with the couplers.

Hmm. And is it supposed to do anything? Mine does a lot of buzzing, almost like it vibrating a little but the stuff inside isn't particularly moving or looking like anything is happening to it.

I bought a jewllery cleaner to clean motor parts and wheels. However, the handful of times I've used it with isopropanol, it appears to have done very little. I'm not expecting the liquid to be black, but I'd expect to see a few bits perhaps? Am I okay to leave the isopropanol in the bowl for weeks/months on end? I seem to have got more grime off with a cotton bud after two rounds of two minutes soaking.

Hmm. I'll see if I can add a washer or something similar to bring up the droop.

Just seen this on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/groups/300842016662071/permalink/2262858317127088/ Record from monitoring cameras from yesterday's accident at a railway crossing in Puszczykowo (Poland) The ambulance (thankfully without a patient) entered the railway crossing during the closing of the barriers. Next, the ambulance driver started to perform strange maneuvers instead of breaking off the barriers. After a while, the EP07-450 locomotive running the PKP Intercity train hits it. In the accident, a doctor and a paramedic died, the ambulance driver managed to survive miraculously.

Does anyone have a CMX cleaner? The coupling that came with mine is a fair bit out.

Can anyone tell me what Kadee they have used? Mine is quite a way off!

I was just reading how many features are in the Realtrack 156. What struck me wasn't the many detailled parts but more the tech, like lighting options, the destination board light along with other things. This led me to think about Dapol's Class 68 with the Halo lights. Like cars having electric windows as standard these days, I wonder how far can we get without some units being stupid money? Things like passenger doors that actually open, or tiny screens that would fit on a new Turbostar model that we can program ourselves. Obviously you aren't going to get this with older locos but newer units, perhaps. Are manufacturers missing a trick with not including a lot more of these things to set their model far away from competitors? Or are we as model consumers (?) happy with the physical details, pipes and cables we can see?

Just to bring this to a conclusion... After looking inside the loco, I found the orange wire was broken. So I soldered an extension, popped it back on the track and it worked fine. Put it on the SPROG track and now it reads fine too! Don't understand how it could have worked before if the orange wire was broken, unless it broke somewhere between the layout to the SPROG track, although I'm sure I tested it after the SPROG track anyway! But all working fine is what I'm trying to say.

What a few days! Figured the HST didn't read on the SPROG track because I'd severed the orange wire inside when replacing it last time. All fixed, all read. Fixed some 19 kadees to my Turbostar only to find out they're a tad too short, meaning more money on number 20s! Snow and frost expected tomorrow so I have to re-prepare the garden and bring my seeds inside. And the next appointment for starting IVF looms ever closer on the 10th However, steak for tea so I'm a happy boy!

Can anyone suggest a long coupler for the Bachmann 170? I put a number 19 on mine but as the unit turned, some corners forced the coupling to catch on the door sticking out bit. I only need another mm, which is a shame.

And the problem with loopholes appears to be that it takes too long to close them. I find it strange that people accept famous people/corporations not paying tax (okay, avoiding paying tax normally), yet when I said I didn't pay for a TV licence, got my head bit off completely! This is an instance where I don't understand peoples reasoning and am slowly giving up trying.