Solo

Well at least I wasn't imagining it, the advertising poster above was the one I remember too. I hadn't realised Heljan had stated the project wasn't happening but then as a relatively recent convert to 'O' I wasn't keeping such a close eye on the 'O' gauge scene until recently. I thought the '120' would have been a really useful model due to how wide-ranging they were - but then saying that a '101' would be even more so. I'm probably not alone in dipping a toe into 7mm waters due to the quality of RTR stuff now available - I'm not really up for a kit-built DMU, though I have seen some very impressive efforts. In reality I'd just love a DMU in 'O'. I think Dapol's Bubblecars are truly lovely models with sublime detailing but I've been holding off due to all the reliability issues with the mechanism (something which Dapol are apparently going to rectify in the next run).

Whilst speaking to one of the (very friendly) Heljan guys yesterday at Guildex about the Bubblecars (now apparently due Q2 next year) I mentioned the Class 120 Swindon DMUs that I could have sworn Heljan said they were going to make. He was adamant that no such thing had ever been announced yet I could have sworn that at the same time the 117s/121s were made 'public' the press release also referred to the 120s. Or is this just a fantasy of mine seeping through to the real world....either way it would seem such a model is no longer (never was?) in the pipeline.

I personally think Perspex screens look naff, they can give a well-modelled and presented railway the look of one of those toyshop train-sets from the '80s. On the other hand I have often been quite shocked by just how intimate some people seem to want to get to the layouts, particularly those with (very) large cameras whose juggernaut-type lenses come precariously close to the landscape - and without the permission of the operators. I'm only a couple of months into a small layout build and I know I'd be gutted and angry if dozens of hours of work - let alone hundreds - were destroyed by such. I think that a free-standing barrier is obviously the best solution and some of those corded affairs as described above can actually be quite elegant. But in the absence of that, might another solution be to look to the floor and put something in front of the layout that dissuades people from stepping too close? Along the lines of those Toblerone thingies that you see on platform ends on the Big Railway, but in miniature. These I think are called anti-cat spikes and you can get them on Amazon for a few quid, only a few inches high but you certainly can't stand on them. Whether or not there'd be a Health & Safety issue regarding smaller humans becoming impaled I'm not sure..... Oh and unless on 'official' business I also think massive cameras should be banned from exhibition halls. Mobile Phones are so good nowadays that there's really no excuse and they often block the view for the rest of us - keep the battleships for the outdoors.

All sorted thanks, took it back to Ellis Clark who as usual were brilliant and swapped it for another, this one works perfectly without decoder on DCC. Just needs populating and a bit of weathering to finish off what is a stunning model. I actually want to get into this coach, it looks a lot more comfortable than my Azuma commute!

This may be a really daft question but I've just bought my first one of these (a BSK), beautiful coach but the interior lighting doesn't work. Now my layout is DCC and I haven't fitted a decoder to the carriage but the instructions seem to suggest that so long as the underbody switches are 'On' then the lights should illuminate whether on DC or DCC and that the decoder would only be to have control of the lighting from your handset. I've checked the interior connections and all seems OK with the little plugs, no loose wires etc - is there something that I'm perhaps missing? Or do these indeed need a decoder fitted to operate on a DCC layout.....Pretty eager to have the lighting since the interiors are so sublime.

Ah, OK, just Googled that - hadn't realised that one was known as the 'Light'.

I have one of the original SmartControl Basic sets which I think is very similar. It is very glitchy and often completely unresponsive, I find that on these occasions turning off the system completely and then 're-booting' sometimes restores functionality. Shame since the controller is very nice to use but ultimately (and having 'test-driven' a few other systems recently) I'm hoping to soon replace it with one of Digitrax's latest offerings as I've simply spent too many hours of my life struggling with the Piko! ESU seem now to be offering a service on their website whereby if you own one of the 'SmartControl' units you can send it to them in Germany to update the software to the latest 'Mobile Control' software as shipped with those handsets. I was tempted but as this costs around £100 plus presumably any postage and re-import charges incurred (and how reliable would the new one be?) I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and re-equip.

Was there any word or samples regarding Heljan’s 7mm DMUs? I’m thinking decorated Bubblecars & 117s can’t be far off if the latest delivery dates are anything to go by.

See this is partly why I've recently taken the plunge into 'O', they do look fantastic and capture the character and presence of the real thing so well. Incidentally I really like your 'end of platform' video there, looks like a great layout - do you have any more photos/vids of it?

View Advert Bachmann 3-Car Class 108 DMU BR blue (factory weathered) Blue 3-car class 108 with factory weathering. Destinations Middlesbrough/Newcastle. Bought last year but never used due to change of modelling scale, so boxed with all accessories etc. Price to include UK postage. Advertiser Solo Date 18/07/22 Price £120 Category Other scales  

View Advert 4 x Bachmann Mk1 coaches 2 x Scotrail Mk1 (TSO & BSK) - weathered with passengers (from 39-004 twin pack) 1 x BCK blue/grey (weathered by The Model Centre) 1 x MK1 BG Provincial/Trans Pennine (non-weathered) Unboxed but packed securely in foam tray. Fitted with tension lock couplers but Bachmann rigid coupling bars included. Looking for around £75 to include P&P Advertiser Solo Date 11/07/22 Price £75 Category OO / 4mm scale  

Yes, I've been playing around with it and seems if you 'tip' it upwards and wedge a piece of tape under the end without the pins to hold it there then it's much happier - though I'm not gonna put the roof back on until I've tested it thoroughly! Seems odd to have designed it that way.

Yes, indeed

I recently purchased an 08 as my first 'O' gauge model. It runs beautifully but upon fitting it with a sound chip I find that the movement is erratic and this seems to be the way the PCB is designed - because of all the gubbins that sit directly beneath the chip it is not possible to get it to 'bed in' snugly to the pins. If you press down on the 21-pin part of the chip then all is well and sounds and movement return. Has anyone else found this and what workarounds might there be to get the chip to sit level and firmly engaged? I did notice that even the blanking plug sat this way when on DC.

View Advert 3 x Bachmann Mk2 coaches NSE/RR Switching to 'O' and have some 'OO' coaches to pass on....there are 2 x TSOs (one Regional Rail and one Network Southeast) and 1x BFK (NSE), all with added passengers and some interior detailing. Have been fitted with Train-Tech lighting strips (motion activated with batteries), some of the interior partitions have been cut down slightly to accommodate these. Have never actually been used on a layout so in excellent condition, unboxed but will be packed securely in foam storage tray. Tension lock couplers fitted at present. Looking for something in the region of £70 for the three to include P&P. Advertiser Solo Date 06/07/22 Price £70 Category OO / 4mm scale  

Fantastic work and many thanks for posting the Flickr link. This was one of the layouts that inspired me to take the Leap Of Faith recently and sell up all of my 'OO' and 'N' stuff in favour 'O'. I've just bought my first 08 and some track and looking at all those lovely photos just confirms to me that I made the right choice. Do you have any exhibitions lined up for Bakewell Street?

View Advert SLW Class 24 sound kit This is the Zimo sound decoder with sound file and twin speakers as factory-fitted to SLW class 24 locos. They've been removed from 24009 which has gone to a DC-existence elsewhere. Only used in the loco a couple of times, tested today and in perfect working order. The speakers are in the enclosures so you can just swap these out for the ones attached to a DC model or pop the speakers out and insert into empty enclosures. The speakers are wired and plug directly into the PCB so no soldering required. Note that the decoder is a Plux22e with pins fitted to the decoder which plug into the PCB so this is only compatible with SLW 24s. There are lots of videos online of this sound file/speaker set-up - it's basically really, really good. Address has been re-set to '3' and has instruction sheet/function list included. Advertiser Solo Date 01/07/22 Price £70 Category OO / 4mm scale  

View Advert Keen Systems drawbars/couplers for Bachmann coaches I bought these a little while back with the intention of converting some Bachmann coaches but never used due to me switching now to 'O' gauge modelling. There are enough here to convert 10 x Bachmann Mk2a and 4 x Mk1 or Pullman coaches to close couple with standard-height drawbar and buckeye couplers. Let me know if interested. Andy Advertiser Solo Date 30/06/22 Price £25 Category OO / 4mm scale  

Having spent the last couple of weeks tinkering with (OO) shunters it occurs to me that we are long overdue a chassis upgrade/re-tool for the venerable 08. With technology as it is now a ground-up re-think would surely get sound, a decent speaker and built-in stay-alive straight out of the factory and you don't get much more universal appeal or timescale than these little locos....one for the Accura-treatment, perhaps?

Yeah, I always post direct from my own files too, don't use any online photo hosting services which is why I find it strange. I think it must be something I'm doing - if the max upload file size is 10MB I just assumed anything less than that would stay at its original size and not be compressed.

I've just noticed that all of the photos I've uploaded to RMweb over the last few months are being compressed to quite an extreme extent when they appear on the page e.g. a 4MB file saved on my laptop becomes a 400KB one when uploaded which makes them all look really rather grubby. This doesn't seem to be the case with photos posted by others that I click onto, I wonder what I'm missing here and what do others tend to do when uploading photos to preserve the quality?

Northern Class 150 crossing the Whalley Viaduct (near Clitheroe) on a Hellifield - Bolton run in March.

Ah brilliant, seem to have the Gold Seal now....many thanks Andy

Sorry if I'm being a bit dense but I went to the World of Railways site, created an account, paid the £12 etc but when I clicked on the 'integration' link from the top post here and it asked me to login to World of Railways it just keeps coming up with 'You do not have a live World of Railways Plus or RMweb premium membership'. Does it take a while to register?

I second this - I've used it for almost everything on various scenic test pieces and now starting a layout build. It certainly seems to do the job with all kinds of foam and will also do wood and plastic rather nicely. WS products whilst not the cheapest seem to all be first rate.