Damo666

Thanks for checking Roy. BTW, Google has their telephone number, I've tried but no reply. I'm probably too early so will try again in a while. Here's what I got: Edit: Spoke to Olivia's at 9:10 and advised them of the above.

I went to visit Olivia's Trains website last night at 23:15 hrs and my browser wouldn't give me access. Thought no more of it but my daily Panda security software has reported and blocked 10 Malware detected events at www:https://www.oliviastrains.com Just a head's up, make sure you have a good anti-virus/malware scanner software on your device and be careful until this is resolved. I'd give them a call to let them know but I don't have their telephone number (and obviously cannot access any on-line).

The Model Rail Database tell me that: 32-755 came out in 2009 and was in the 2009 & 2010 catalogues 32-755A came out in 2018 and is in the 2018 - 2021 catalogues. It is also 'Sound Decoder Ready' (This feature is not noted in the 2009 version).

The Bachmann website just tells me it 'Revised' but no clarity as to what is revised. I'm wondering if the prototype Class 57 has been revised and this release represents the updated prototype, or as you say, it's just a new loco number.

I see that Bachmann have released a new version of their Class 57 in Arriva Wales livery. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the new release and their existing model in the same livery please? I *think* the model numbers are: 32-755 (57315) for the old version and 32-755A (57314) for their latest erelease.

Hi Justin, If you are new to crimping, I'm happy to tell you what I learned as I was new to this 2 weeks ago. Crimps are colour coded. Red covers 16-22 AWG Blue covers 14-16 AWG Yellow is for 10-12 AWG Remember, the lower the AWG number the thicker the cable = larger the capacity (Amps). (There was also an M4(#8), M5(#10), M6(¼) and M7 or M8(5/16) designation on some crimps. I never got to the bottom of this.) Here's a note I made in OneNote, cannot remember the source, but it might help someone to see what common cables are in AWG: Please note, like RMWeb, I've found different answers to the same question. In writing this post I decided to check and, of course, found more authoritative data, here: but for my layout I'm happy to use the above as a rough guide, it suits my layout wiring purposes to make sure I'm in the right ball-park. For me, here is what I'm using: This chart will show some variations of cable available for a particular cross-section: For the crimps, I just needed the Red and Blue crimps and also got them from Amazon. It took me a long time to find just blue and red fork crimps without buying a lot of additional ring, spade, bullet crimps multipack in blue, red and yellow. Many of these multiple boxes would be about 70% useless for me. A company called 'All Trade Direct' on Amazon sold packs of 100 for £3.29 of single style crimps. (Amazon prices fluctuate so there may be cheaper options when you look).

Hi Mike, thank you. I used the open-end (fork) crimps as I then only have to loosen the screw on the terminal to slide the fork in/out. I felt that the ring crimps would be slower as I'd have to completely unscrew (and potentially drop / lose it) as I was making adjustments / refinements to my wiring.

This is where I got mine last week, although the link you gave is for the 25A version, which is way more that we should need. I got the 15A version, although if they had a 6A or 10A that would have been OK too. I bought a set of 6 position and 12 position terminal blocks as I thought that this would be ideal. It was only after installing that I realised that I could snip the connecting bar to make 2 smaller buses on the strip which was more versatile (see top right). 5 pieces of 6 position is currently £8.99, 5 pieces of 12 position is £10.99, but if you snip the connecting bar you can have 10 x 6 position for the same price of 5 x 12pos. Or 7-5 or 8-4. Two 12 position terminal strips, as they come. Snipping the connecting bar gives me a 4 bus and a 8 bus on the same terminal strip. I snipped the connecting bar in two places so that I removed a small section of the bar, otherwise a single cut might still bridge the gap.

The answer to my own question, based on advice above and my own experience is: Method 1: Using a 'normal' sized flat screwdriver (size similar to a neon mains phase tester), push the spring down with gentle force. I did this with my first point, the spring suddenly released and hit the desk before then went flying somewhere. I'm not confident that this is the best method. Method 2: With a jewellers flat blade screwdriver, pull the spring sideways and slightly downward. I'd have to move the tie-bar a little to get the best exposure on the spring before doing this, as the gap exposing the spring wire is very small. The spring would then pop out of one of the holes and could be lifted out.

You are right, I haven't heard the prototype, neither carefully or otherwise. I hadn't realised that the action of the point would have been era dependent, but I can see now from Pete's reply that it would have been useful to mention in my OP that my layout is modern era, although to be fair my question was about removing the spring and not the sound of the prototype.

Thanks David, I haven't tried this, but I'd prefer not to hear the click of the point switching nor the sudden movement as it's not very prototypical.

Hi Nile, Pull the spring up, or push the spring down into the baseboard?

I've spent a lot of time this afternoon searching both RMWeb and the Internet on how to remove the point spring in a Peco Unifrog point when has been fixed to the baseboard. Of the limited advice I've so far seen (about 2 posts), the recommended method of removing the spring from the tie bar is from the underside before you lay the point. I'm replacing my Seep motors with Cobalt motors and so cannot access the underside of the point. One post I've seen said to remove the spring with a paper clip, but I'd either like to see some pictures or other people advocating the same before I do this. And others done this?

Hi Sam, PM Sent too regarding The Model Railway Journal. Thank you D

Strangely, I seem to derive as much pleasure out of solving design problems as I do in making the solution or 'playing' with the trains. I wonder if you were able to move the hinge point out from the wall by, say 75mm, and have the lift angle of 75 degrees, would you be able to retain the scenery (buildings, trees and 3D landscaping) and still access the underside of the boards easily? Don't intend to put a spanner in the/your works, I know what it's like ready to move forward and then an alternative comes along, but just thinking about the ease of future access if it means less work in clearing the scenery.

Hi John, I've just found your thread, fascinating and I really like your detailed drawings. I'm in the process of slowly assembling my layout boards so that they can be easily (and quickly) stored in a purpose-made storage rack. The original storage system was precarious and I was fearful of damaging the boards and scenery. Question about the room section drawings you've shown. Looking at the board in it's upright position I was assuming that there will be no scenery, this will be just a track layout, but your next post shows a signal-box. I know your 1st post says that you only intend to rotate the boards 45 degrees, and I know what designs get refined and improved, so maybe 90 degrees is the latest, but what about the scenery? Apologies in advance if you've already answered this, I've only read the first few posts so far, and will come back to this thread later to digest the detail.

Have you? You've confused me. Are you suggesting that what really happened was the train was passing through the level road-crossing, and then an 18 wheeler drove up the road and crashed into the side of the train?

There is another scenario though. Hinted above (in various guises) is the presumed cost of adjusting the tooling (some have suggested that this might be minimal, I wouldn't know if this is true or not) and than producing some new liveries/batches. Answer to the question we don't know is how many to produce to: (a) cover the tooling adjustment costs and (b) then make a profit. The other scenario is if the sale of the last Hatton's 66 is conditional on them being back in Bachmann's good books. Then the equation is Profit from a new batch of 66s -v- Profit from selling Bachmann stock again. Nobody but Hattons know the answers, but I thought it'd just throw this on the table out of interest.

I had this problem a few months ago, with 2 separate power adaptors with different plugs. One would work with a set of external hard-drives and the other wouldn't. The tip I was given in order to find out that size plug you've got, is to see if you can fit a 2mm drill bit into the plug hole. If only a 2.5mm drill bit fits but not the 2.1mm, then you know what you've got the larger plug. I managed to find some adaptor plugs on Amazon.

Hi Fran, and thanks for the explanation. Sounds like you've explored a lot of options and have come to the perfect solution, all things considered. Out of curiosity, have you kept the bogie at the same relative height off the rails / to the loco body as the prototype and lowered the axel centreline down to take account of the slightly smaller diameter wheel?

Oh, OK. Understood. I was reading the top images as true elevations of the surfaces, ie: as if the roof was flattened to a 2D plane like a piece of paper before being folded. My mistake.

Hi David, Good drawing, should be very helpful to lots of people. Can you check dimensions C and J between the plan views and the isometric. One appears to show the dimension along the slope and the corresponding letter shows it on the true elevation. Otherwise, wonderfully clear and explanatory (at least to me, someone who's been making / reading such drawings for, well, lets say a long time). Thanks

I can totally relate to that. No matter how long you stare at the screen and examine everything in close-up / zoomed-in detail, you'll never see the error. It's only after the plot starts coming off the printer that it immediately stands-out.

Just got an email from Toolstation that the C.K. Wire Stripper is reduced to £14.99, saving about £4 (~22% off). As I said in my earlier post, I've found this tool to be superior to the Lidl/Aldi clone.

To add another voice to the chorus of applause for Hattons customer service. I bought a Dapol Bubblecar in Aug last year and left it in the 'Trunk', waiting until I had a few other items so they could all be sent at the same time. For Christmas my daughter gave me a present of the exact same model, so now I had two. I pondered what to do, and today eventually decided to ring Hattons today and explain the situation. As the item was still in their 'Trunk' Michael said he'd be able to refund the full amount and put the item back for sale: No admin fee, re-stocking fee or depreciation deduction, even after 5 months! I'm not only very pleased but also very impressed. . . . So much so that I immediately spent the money on something else in their shop. Thank you Hattons for excellent customer service.