swiftbeam

Hi Guys, Does anybody know of large sheets of 00 moulded brick sheets, something like A4? I'm needing the injection moulded of the type Wills have, NOT the nasty embossed or vac form! The Wills sheets are perfect, but the sheet size is very small and a total pain to match up. Been looking for months now :-( Thanks,

Quick run down on what I did. Turn off the blank shoulder on the gear until it centres, Drill out gear to 4mm, Turn up a 4mm blank shaft with extra shoulder, Insert blank, solder into gear, Turn down to size, Drill out the gear to fit shaft perfectly, Cut 2mm thread and replace grub screw. Drill out the worm to 2mm, fit on motor, Turn up flywheel, Mill out chassis, Trim up front mount, Mill up brass motor keep mount. In a nut shell, it all works very well, the chassis runs very smoothly and has a very nice slow speed, there is no more stuttering. The Hornby wheels are not particularly central, so I think my next job will be to get some better quality wheels with the holes in the correct place!

Thank you for that, some things to think about, I will check the quartering. I will also make some better bearings to take out the con rod slop and make sure the wheels all turn smoothly once in the chassis before the motor goes in. If she still runs badly, it can only be the sloppy axles as you say. If it is, I'm sure I can make a set of good fitting bearings and fit them to the chassis. I have tools and the willingness to do it. Lets hope I'm not wasting my time!

I've just discovered Scale Link! Hunting through the gear sets has found me a 60:1 worm and wheel that will fit in my 61xx (the 50:1 would as well) Original Hornby is about 25:1. 1.5mm motor shaft, I'll need to ream out to 1.95mm Wheel is 1/8", so will need to turn an expanding tube as the axle is 3mm The centres are 9.5mm, just about a perfect match to the Hornby. So I should get a much faster turning motor at much lower speeds. Together with the better motor and flywheel, running 'should' be awesome ! http://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Sundry_Items__Lead_Foil__Chain_Etc_.html Fingers crossed. I guess I could also have just fitted a new full gearbox, oh well, this is a bit of a journey of discovery for me!

Thank you for the links, I had no idea. May well be an option if the remotoring does not work out.

Hi Guys, I love big GWR Prairie Tanks, but unfortunately only Hornby seem to make the 61xx, this model, as I understand it, is old tooling. I have asked on this forum if Bachmann intend to make an up to date version of the 61xx to the quality of their 45xx, 55xx and 56xx, it seems not. It would also seem unlikely that Hornby will update this model as well. I've hunted high and low for a really nice brass kit, nothing, or white metal, still nothing. Note *Now informed there are at least two kits* So it seems I'm stuck with my Hornby R2143. My model is actually in perfect condition with not a hair out of place, but it could do with a little more fine detail and maybe a repaint to bring some 'pop' back to the finish. However, my biggest gripe is it's running quality, even fitted with a Zimo DCC decoder (suppression removed) it's not the smoothest. I have scrutinised the all the moving parts and can not find anything that could cause 'iffy' running, everything is free and silky smooth. However, the motor is a little lumpy at low speed when run uncoupled from the chassis and I suspect, this gets no better in the model at higher speeds. So, after a little looking and poking about, I have decided to remotor my 61xx and fit a large flywheel to her at the same time. I have decided a Mashima 1626 will fit, being almost the same size as the original 3 pole (YES, 3 POLE!!!) can motor. The Mashima is 26 x 16 x 13.6mm 2mm Double Ended Shaft 12v. I also have a milling machine and lathe, and a will to to use them !! ​I have liberated the die cast chassis from the model and now just waiting to take delivery of the motor any day now. I will keep you all posted as to how I get on fitting this motor and how the model performs after it's transplant :-) mashima-mh1626

All seems rather gloomy. I'd have thought a fresh up to date 61xx would have been a 'home run'. I've had a good poke inside my 61xx and decided to buy a Mashima motor. I'll turn up a big flywheel and attack the chassis with my mill until the motor fits. I'm hoping a better motor will help with running, can't be worse than the cheap 3 pole can motor I've got! I'll post pics and report back.

Hi Guys, Will it ever happen??? I'm not sure how long I'll be happy to watch my old Hornby 61xx drag it's self around! Thanks.

Awesome guys, thank you. I'll get a good running 8 pin loco and get good sounds sorted at latter point :-)

Hi, If I were to buy a good 8 pin loco, can I at some point fit sound, i.e, can it be converted to 21 pin, or would it involve a whole 'hard to get' PCB etc making it a non-starter? What sound unit is generally considered the best, Olivia's, The Sound Guy etc. I'm ready to buy, just need to know what direction to take. Thanks.

Hi, Can anybody tell me if I'm wasting my time looking for a new ( in a shop ) 00 Heljan Class 35 in two tone green with small yellow ends? I'm thinking They are long gone? Did they ever come in 21 Pin, or just 8? Thanks.

Oh well, I just asked the shop that sold me the model, and that list was what they gave me. The model is now smooth (cv56 at 199).

I bought 8 Zimo decoders all at the same time and did a mass conversion in one day. Non of the decoders came with anything more than the paper insert above. I have changed CV56 to 199 and it is just as smooth.

This is what my controller says when asked to read CV56, and this is the pack the decoder came in from Digitrains. I assume it is a new Zimo as that's what I paid for and it came in a Zimo box.

Hi, Short story super short, I have a DJ Models 14xx that ran very poorly on Zimo DCC. I rang Hattons and asked why, coreless motor was the reason. They gave me some CV settings to program in to stop it, they WORKED !!! HERE THEY ARE :-) CV5 TO 255 CV6 TO 128 CV49 TO 17 CV51 TO 0 CV52 TO 0 CV53 TO 140 CV54 TO 40 CV55 TO 28 CV56 TO 255 CV124 TO 4 Now she is smoooooooooth :-) Hopefully helps somebody :-) Rob.

That's all OK, I'm only needing large left and right turn outs :-) And flexy lengths of course.

OK, thank you. I'm only days away from buying wood and making base boards, so I'll wait on buying track until this new stuff is in the shops. It'll only take me a week to make the boards and lay the track.

So the points are not ready yet? Is there an add on the Peco site? If yes, I can't find it.

Hi, I've just got back from my local MS having bought some fine scale Peco long turnouts, only to see in this months RM Peco are now making a new version of these points. These new turnouts don't have the nasty fish plate type rail joiners in the middle and have rivets on the actual fishplates. I can't find them on the net anywhere. Can anybody help me find them or know anything about them, I'm right on the edge of starting my first 00 layout in years and really want to use the best looking RTR track. Thanks.

Thank you Phil :-)

Thank you Phil :-)

That Sir is an OUTRAGEOUS reply !!! If you only knew who I was and what business I'm in, you'd NEVER say that !!!! Yet another 'standard issue' forum arrogant assumption, and reply.

I've just tried to ring Shawplan on the number on their website, and they are not taking phone calls according to the message. So why put the number on the site?

OK, so now I'm getting the impression this will not be a simple remove small detail, fill a groove, repaint and number. I have no knowledge of these small business that support after market parts in 4mm. I have looked on Shawplan's website, and as a 'layman', all I see is listings with no pictorial help what so ever. ​In order to ged my Bachmann loco remodelled correctly to D6948, I am going to need parts. Can anybody give me a list of all the best parts I can buy from the micro business that sell them, you must assume I know nothing, which I don't! The skill to do the work is not in question, just the knowledge of the sourcing of the best parts. I had no idea you could buy whole noses for the 37/0. I assume they are cast in resin as a whole cut off and add on. That may have been easier than finding the model I did, could have saved some time and money? Maybe a picture of the new parts before fitting as it 'seems' Shawplan's website assumes you don't need them? Thanks for your help :-)