Norski

Yeah or waiting for Heljan to launch theirs. Naughty naughty.

Class 37 Rail Freight for me. Ta very much. I was bracing myself for more 47's off that expensive tooling outlay but there's been nothing much after the initial launch. Have they forgotten they've got the tooling. Strange.

I like that 128 idea. Thats got me thinking... and I can smell that 90 from over here. Great stuff.

Ha ha .....i forgot about the Cavalex 60 petroleum sector....Please help, im not a well man.

This is getting ridiculous, I've got classes 50, 37, 56, 43, 52 on order with someone or somebody. At some point im going to have to tell the wife what ive been up to. Leaving her might be a cheaper option the way these announcements are coming.

It had crossed my mind as id fitted a gauge master decoder which i usually don't. Im not familiar with this size decoder so just assumed any brand would support the functions the loco has. I take it that's not the case?

Im happy with mine and it runs fine....but...i can't get the interior lights to come on. Cab and directional lights both working. Im hitting the function keys like Liberace but nothings happening. Am i doing something wrong or does it need to go back to the shop? Thanks.

Plowed field 😆😆 Thanks I'm pleased with that sample. Lots of layers going on with that sample and that stops me from going OTT in one go. Ive got more sample tracks with ballast than im willing to admit. Thing is when its on the layout its to late. I wrecked a 4 track 8 ft curve with canting - worked so hard to get that section laid right and then i ended up giving it sleeper grime alopecia. Knocks your confidence a bit. That was a month ago and only now im willing to go back to the layout and re-lay that section.

Update from my original post. Track and sleepers sprayed before ballasting. Ballasted and then painted rail by hand. Weathering powders added and rust wash. Toned down with a bit more powder. A much more layered process than trying to do it all with the air brush. Gives me more control - not the air brushes fault, just not skilled enough with it yet. Pics below, may not be to everyone's liking but I'm pleased with this sample board and confident I can replicate on my layout.

Thanks all for feedback. Taking into account feedback I've sprayed some spare track (rail and sleepers) with a very light coat of sleeper grime. The sleepers look spot on - the shiny grey plastic has gone. The rails themselves haven't taken much of a coating so i will brush paint them in a darker coating of sleeper grime (i got no problem doing that - its a job i can zone out doing). I will then ballast that rail on a test plank, apply some weathering powders (rusts) around the rail area and (maybe) do some light wash on to the ballast. I will post a picture of the results later in the week. PS - ive sprayed one piece of track with matt varnish post sleeper grime application. Its a little bit harder wearing but not massively so. I will test bed both versions. Thanks to all who replied, much appreciated. Its all trial and error, mostly error.

Hi Im a novice air brusher who has recently ruined a significant section of ballasted concrete sleeper track at my first attempt - despite practicing on sample sections off-line. Im loathed - I'm not going to - ballast more track and then spray again. Now I've come to terms with what ive done (by ripping it out and starting that section again), before i ruin more track is it possible to air brush track (rail and plastic sleeper with rail match acrylic prior to ballasting? Ive just sprayed some spare concrete sleeper track (rail and sleepers) with a rail match / thinners 50:50 mix and its the base coat of grime i was looking for in the first place. (i would weather the rail area further after ballasting with some powders and washes - done on a test plank with some success). Will the acrylic stay on or will the ballast application scratch it off or will the 50:50 PVA/water mix mess with the water based acrylic ? is there something that will seal it prior to ballast application ? would an enamel be better ? Any advice for a deflated modeller would be very much appreciated Cheers Steve

New Covid symptoms reported....immense air brushing and weathering sills 😆 Get well soon Jerry.

Glad im not the only person snapping off loco bits trying to fit decoders. Its heartbreaking on a new model. Come up with a better design guys, its 2022 (insert applicable year they still haven't resolved).

My Hornby class 87 (king arthur) is the only Hornby loco i have that has run well straight out of the box. No problems at all. Doesn't miss a beat. I ordered the two others on the back of its performance. While I'm typing this its probably melting in the fiddle yard. Ive got 3 of the 86s on order with my local shop. Expensive month.

None at all. Ive run it with 9 cars. What i have done - and im not sure if it came like this or its just my filthy track - i have given the power car wheels a clean. I soak some blue paper (the type you get in dispensing machines in toilets) with iso alcohol. I lay it across a piece of track and place one set of bogies on it, the other set on bare track (half on half off). I then increase the power gradually while gently holding the power car with my hand. The wheels should start to spin if you hold it lightly. The wheels on the blue paper are spinning in iso alcohol which strips any crud off the wheels. The blue paper was absolutely stinking on one set of bogies. May be just my track but worth check ing all your contacts are super clean. Same goes for the track - i find tight bends are a haven for muck

Re motor noise. Mine didn't sound great out of the box but ive run it for a few hours in both directions now and it definitely sounds quiet and smoother. That seems to be the norm for new stuff anyway. Im running as low as 2nd radius on hidden curves with no issue or power drop...but im DCC with power drops coming off most pieces of track.

Spent a bit of time looking at it last night. As it goes through the frog you'll see the wheels dip into the centre of the frog. It does it with all my stock to some extent but it seems to be accentuated on the APT by its smaller wheels. Sounds worse when the NDM goes over it because the weight pushes the wheel down harder. It also derailed on one particular point repeatedly. Tried running just the NDM (no other coaches) over it continuously as i thought it may be linked to the power car being mid-train but it still derailed. In the end it just seemed to calm down and i can run over that point at a very un-prototypical max power. No science to it but it does appear to be running 'smoother' everywhere now its had a run in.

Cheers - They look the business. Ive built the scale model scenery gantries but its the scratch built droppers that are out of my skill zone / knowledge at present.

Lovely shot. I like your OHLE as well. Is there a mix of products going on there ?

I should have said that..."its not broken, its prototypical"

Yes i can see that. I run it again and it did the same. I switched front and rear cars around and now it isn't doing it. Maybe the vagaries of my elevation - i cant blame Hornby for my track laying skills. Elevation looks good but it creates little problems.....i left the window open on a class 47 once and the driver fell out and had to go to hospital.

Sorry for the lack of scenery... Just a quick test on banked curves. No lights on front - my decoder was to big.

My 7 car set arrived today, 40 years after i wanted it. Livery wise it looks a stunner to my eyes. I like that they've had a go at the tilt and on my tighter curves i can see it. I would never have missed it but buying Hornby makes me nervous..... The pantograph is not to be touched or even stared at for too long. It will break. The capacitor was a good intention (which i appreciate) followed by poor execution. The motor in the NDM is very coarse and noisy. Mines travelling around now and i hope some miles under its belt will smooth it out. The packaging (and id include Bachmann "inners bigger than the outer" in this) is cheap as chips. Having recently purchased from Revolution, Accurascale and Cavalex id say spend a bit on presentation chaps. It just adds to the whole purchase. My 2p worth. Im glad i bought it and i had no intention of missing out. 100%. BUT.....I would have paid Hornby double what its cost me to have a something at a higher level. I fear Hornby have to tread the line between mass market fancy toys and fussy like me. In that respect i can sympathise with them. However, that's what the rail road range is meant to do. I would have paid more to get more and i suspect so would a lot of others. Anyway despite its foibles ive got it after a long wait and im a happy'ish man.

Thank you for that, it sounds like i would need to change the address to the loco pulling the coach the light strip is installed in. I would then use the function keys to trigger lighting effect. I think i could have touched the rail with the red light contact points as you suggested. All fingers and thumbs. thank you - will give it a go tomorrow if i haven't completely fried it.

While i have managed to finally understand how to programme my loco decoders via the ESU50210 control unit - its surprisingly easy once you a) throw all esu instructions into the bin and b) watch non paid helpful people on Youtube. However, i recently purchased an ESU 50708 coach lighting strip. If i understood it correctly it had (past tense) an onboard decoder like a loco. I assumed then i would read CV1 and reset to a number of my choosing having created an accessory in the accessory tables (like my points). So i joined the two cables on the light strip to my programme track output cables. For a long time i kept on getting an error message and then finally it got very hot at one end and there was some smoke and my £20 went up in a puff. I am a complete novice for accessories on my ESU50210 and i can't find anything on line to help me work out what i got wrong. Would be grateful of some advice. Thanks