RodneyS

Hi Cypherman You may well be correct but Mazak rot is a bit of a lottery. I don't know if that is influenced by use or storage. A friend has three T9s which never get used and only one has Mazak rot. As for Mainline, they are a bit old. Although it seems only yesterday when I bought mine it is in fact 30 - 40 years ago - or even longer. Nothing lasts forever as my dentist will testify. It would be a shame if Bandicoot is worried about something that may never happen, or if it does, can usually be sorted out easily. However it is great fun playing trains, even on a short length of track. Rodney

I'm not quite sure what you mean by locos deteriorating if not run. Sometimes the factory applied grease can congeal and the chassis will need dismantling, cleaning and oiling. Also plastic gears have been known to split but that seems to happen whether the model is used or not. I have a couple of friends with vast collections of locos so most rarely get run. When they do they may cough and splutter a bit but after a while they seem fine. The most important thing is to test a new model when it arrives to make sure it does work. If it doesn't then it can be returned. If it does it will probably survive storage. As suggested above, using a 9v battery, a rolling road or a temporary circle of track on a clean floor are all good ideas. The floor is a long way down for those of us of a certain age ! A 3' length of straight track on you desk would enable you to test a loco. Just make sure to put something solid at each end to avoid possible accidents ! Seeing them run might inspire you to build a small shunting layout. Have a look at the Sheep Chronicles in the layout section on here. Rob builds complete layouts the size of your desk on Ikea shelves. Rodney

I'm sure I remember reading that this is a common problem. The advice then was to contact Peco and they would send out replacements that are a tighter fit. As far as I'm aware the pins just push in. Rodney

Who cut that rail too short ?

How interesting and priced in proper money as well ! As Sagaguy says you really need insulation board and I'm not sure it is available now. For anything harder you would probably have to drill pilot holes for the spikes. The fibre sleepers don't like damp so ballasting with a water based glue might cause them to curl up. I think I remember reading that Peco no longer make the spikes so there might be some modellers looking for them. If you have a soft enough base then the track might make a fascinating 'heritage' fiddle yard. Rodney

I agree with Andy. I wouldn't have noticed the sloping sea if you hadn't mentioned it. As you have subdued the colours it is really not noticeable. My friend, looking over my shoulder as I type this, thought it was a misty valley so everybody sees things differently. Very nice. Rodney

It is actually that simple. Connect the two left hand terminals to the track, insert the power supply, plug it in and off you go. The two right hand terminals are not needed unless you have some accessories to power. Rodney

What is this new loco ? May we please have a photo of the top of it ? Rodney

I have a Stephen Poole Neilson loco and that was white metal including the chassis. As the break is clean you have nothing to lose by trying to glue it. If it doesn't work you are no worse off. Super glue might work but it is rather a brittle joint. Araldite would probably be better but you will have to support it in the correct position while it dries. If you are not used to low melting point solder it might be difficult to get it to penetrate quite a large lump of metal. Just a suggestion, but I've had very good results on household items recently with Evostik Serious Glue. I used to be able to buy it locally but now I have to buy it online. It is thicker than super glue so somewhat similar to Araldite. It is repositionable for 3 minutes and sets in two hours. The joint is more resilient than other glues I have used. I used it some years ago to glue some 2mm clear PVC sheet to make a small showcase. The joints are still holding together despite a lot of handling. Rodney

I do still have the Pug. Thanks for the offer of a new home but it is rather nostalgic for many reasons so lives in retirement in my showcase. Rodney

I tried to motorise the Kitmaster Pug with the Perfecta kit when they came out. The Romford Terrier motor was horribly expensive for a school boy ! Needless to say, it didn't work very well. The motor was probably the smallest available at the time but to get it into the saddle tank the bottom part of the boiler had to be removed. The Perfecta kit included plastic 'skirts' in the best Triang tradition to fill the gap. The motor and gears were removed and used in an Airfix railbus. That was when I discovered that the motor was not very good. Many years later, in a fit of nostalgia, the Pug was reassembled. Rather strangely I found that one of the Kitmaster wheels was eccentric. I had a spare kit and that was the same. I made up a good set from the two kits and the loco did actually run - but not very well. If I wanted another Pug I would probably use the High Level chassis kit. Rodney

A friend has the Imperial Airways pack and the T9 in that had Mazak rot. It was repaired with the Peter's Spares castings. Rodney

A friend of mine had one of those so you have my sympathy. Rodney

As Nick says, there are just two screws. Ignore the centre three which hold the keeper plate on and the two that hold the couplings in place. When you have removed the two screws the body will lift off but it does take a bit of persuasion. At the front of the body there is a circular pillar projecting down and this is a snug fit in a circular recess in the chassis. So it does need a bit of wiggling to get the body off. Be careful when you do get the body off as some models have two thin clear plastic washers between the body and the chassis. I'm not sure what they are for as they don't seem to be thick enough to affect the body height. They are easy to lose but some models don't have them anyway. When reassembling the long screw goes at the front. Good luck Rodney

I seem to recall reading at the time that the Italian tank was 4mm scale. I had one and it was certainly rather large. The box illustrated in the link above just says it can run on 00/H0 track. Rodney

That sounds interesting. I was hoping to avoid a full repaint. I don't suppose I could get new lining to match the existing. Mind you, I've spent so long adding all he bits that I think I should have done what you are doing. Thinking about it, if Nearholmer wants an A1 with a Stroudley chimney and no coal rails then there is not much to choose between Dapol and Hornby. Rodney

I have three Dapol Terriers and quite a few Hornby ones. The Dapol ones were bought when they first came out so the quality may have improved by now. The K&ESR one arrived with bits missing so was returned. The replacement has a bent footplate and one coupling rod bent vertically. It runs very badly. I then bought two 32650 with the long bunker and am turning one into 32662. One runs well but has a very badly bent footplate. The other one has a straight footplate and the running is adequate. The middle axle is sprung but on one of mine the wheel rubs on the DCC board. The coal rails are ridiculous. A friend replaced his with the coal rails from an old Dapol model and they look better. The Marsh chimney is fractionally too high and the cap is smaller than the barrel. My Hornby models all run well but perhaps a bit faster than the Dapol ones. As Nick says the first ones didn't have the recessed tank tops and the guard irons were a bit odd. The later ones have the recess but perhaps it's not as deep as it should be. The Marsh chimney and coal rails are better than the Dapol one. It's difficult to say which is best. They both have plus and minus points. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Hornby one but I will not be adding to my Dapol three. In fact, if Hornby produced a suitable model to convert into 32662 I would replace my conversion with one. Rodney

That's interesting Mr Wolf. When Hornby brought out their LSWR coaches a few years back they did the BR versions in a rather matt dark red/maroon colour. They should have been bright red and a friend did repaint his. Fairly soon after, there was an article in MRJ in which the author had polished the coach sides with a soft mop in a mini drill. This had an amazing effect. Not only did the coach look better with a smoother finish but the colour was much brighter. This all rings a bell from 'paint technology' at college many years ago. Rather dulled by the mists of time. Rodney

Back in the 1960s there was a similar model of Dolgoch in a glass case that was exhibited at exhibitions. Nicknamed the 'aquarium' it probably inspired Roy Link's design. I saw it at one MRC Easter exhibition at Central Hall and was fascinated by it. The loco was 'Sir Haydn' and the motor was in the guards van. Motors were rather large then ! I believe a model of 'Edward Thomas' was later used. I think the model did survive as I saw subsequent reference to it - but I can't remember where. Perhaps that was the one that was at Tywyn. Rodney

As well as the Y8, K's did the Taff Vale 0-4-0ST and the MR 0-4-0ST. Stephen Poole did the Neilson 0-4-0ST. The Y8 has been re-released by Nucast Partners along with a Y7. Rodney

Hi Mark That's no problem. I have a subscription to RM so I can look at the digital copies and do a search. I remember the article but didn't realise it was so long ago. Good luck if you decide to copy it. Rodney (feeling old)

February 1980. A two page article. Rodney

Hello Ian Mike has beaten me to it ! The wheels do look like the ones made by P C Models. As you say, rather a long time ago. I did buy some and I think I actually used a pair under a wagon. I would have to check as my small amount of P4 sock has been put away for many years. They also made the wheels for 00 gauge and I bought quite a few of those. Unfortunately they were all too wobbly to use which was a great surprise and a disappointment as the P4 ones seemed fine. The problem seemed to be with the plastic bush. The axle reduces in diameter part way through the wheel so the bush is a rather complicated shape and replacing it with a better one would be difficult. Some of my 00 ones were split spoke wagon wheels and they had conventional pin point axles. They are still wobbly though ! I can't help with the buffers I'm afraid. Rodney

I don't have an RTR 'Victory' but there are photos on the Planet Industrials website. Rodney https://planetindustrials.co.uk/victory

I found your comments about 00-SF interesting. I had no idea of the standards so did an internet search and came up with the link below. I now know that SF stands for Special Fine but there are references to 00-BF, 00-MF and 00-IF with no explanation (that I could find) as to what they stand for. Confusing. The history of 00-SF (at the top of the link) is fascinating, I was involved with a large club layout many years ago built to the original EM (18mm ) gauge and we had many problems with the loco wheels available at the time. I agree with your comments about P4 but it's all a matter of choice. Having been inspired by Bethesda Sidings and the Sheep Man's layouts I am planning a small layout in 00 with hand made points. I like making points ! I would hope to run my collection of 00 locos without the bother of re-wheeling them. Hence my interest in your comments and the standards, Rodney https://www.85a.uk/00-sf/