Paul80

I know, its lust a little annoying that you have them on preorder with one of the biggest suppliers in the country and they show up on EvilBay first. whats the point of preordering Just spoke to Hattons and they have not had theirs yet and have no ETA, only saying soon they hope!

Hi all Not sure whats going on between Hornby and Hattons and some other big box shifters (insert nsme here) I had on pre order the new Arnold Hornby Brighton Belle set in N-Gauge at Hattons Both power car and coach packed are in stock at Hornby but only the power car pack is in stock at Hattons and the other box shifters. I first thought it was an error at Hornby showing the coaches in stock, but have now found a number of smaller dealers showing stock, they are even now being listed on eBay. What's going on with Hattons have they had a falling out with Hornby now? In the past the box shifters are normally first with new models, what's going on now? Thanks for any insight into this Starting to think I should cancel my pre order and just buy them direct from Hornby !!!! Paul

Over the many years I have been on EvilBay I have have had quite a few sellers refuse to send items that ended at a lower price than they expected, it amaising how many items are found to be broken within seconds of an auction ending only to be fully repaired and relisted only a few minutes later. Yes it's against the rules and do it letting Chinese sellers claim their goods are shipped from a UK warehouse and then let them list a 6 week delivery time because they are shipping from China. Just walk away and avoid that seller. NGM

Or trace the track from the pad back and find the next solder point long and connect your wire there.

Yes thinking about it why would it be any different, I was thinking the OP was talking about each end and was wondering why that would be a deal breaker for him

I will let you know when mine arrives in a day or 2

I tend to hit all the traders first, then move onto the layouts avoiding those I have no interest in, spending more time on some than others.

What nobody seen this product out and about, can't believe it's designed as a model Rail product, I am sure it must come from the building or insulation business and would be much more economic if I could identify a brand name. Anyone ?

A nice new 9F next please

Looking at the photos there is not a chance that the Zimo MX648 would fit, the space available once the bunker weight is replaced by the speaker is about the same as is available for the standard R/A decoder so about 13.25x11.5x5mm. As it stands I seriously doubt that a sound decoder can easily be put in this loco and any claims that it can should be treated with extreme caution. Unless the makers know of any soon to be released small sound decoder that is smaller than the MX648 that no one else knows about?

Any chance you could share what the modification was ?

Have a look at the Epson Ink Tank models, they offer a good quality print and don't take cartridges, they have big refillable tanks and cost a fraction to run compared to the expensive cartridges, and run fine on third party inks so can be even better value. Paul

Hi I have not got much to compare it to as I only use Railmatch and Humbrol enamels but between those the Railmatch paints I have which are all less than a year old are all thinner than the Humbrol paints I own, so thin that they need only a few drops of thinner for airbrushing, where as the Humbrol paints need a good 50% thinners for my airbrush. Like I said mine are all quite new so don't know if they used to be thicker or not. Paul

I wonder why it is that given the Crimson and Cream colour is incorrect for branch line usage and given that it's documented that the WR got it wrong when they painted them in Crimson and Cream and had to change them to all over crimson, that the big 4 RTR makers Hornby, Bachmann, Dapol, Graham Farish all also produced their Autocoaches in the incorrect colours. I know they were in it for a good 4 years but it's still incorrect for branch line use, I don't even think they even produced them in all over crimson, skipping to Maroon. Just wondering

You could also go down the DCC++ route, that gives you the same functionality as the Sprog3 for about £15

RTFM read the fluffing manual or something similar

The speaker needs to be an 8ohm type, which the rail exclusive big boomer is, so no problems using that speaker. Do TTS decoders get warm, yes they do, Hornby recommend not using a heat shrink or covering them with tape, just use some tape underneath to insulate from the chassis and a thin strap of tape to hold it in place. I use Kapon tape Remember there is a difference between warm and hot, warm can be ok, hot is not, I have seen them get hot enough to shrink un shrunk heat shrink Its also a good idea to fit a current limiting resister in the middle of the blue wire if you are not using it on a Hornby Loco, using it with a Bachmann diesel may overload the lighting side without the small resistor, 500ohm should be fine. Paul

And the ghastly thing is only £150 What is it they say about fools and their money

Apparently the 10% error allowed is no longer applied as it was introduce to cover older cars who's Speedos were cable operated and could be inaccurate in either direction, now all Speedos are electronic and are not allowed to under report your speed so if it's says 70 you are doing 70 or just under. Some of you seem to have got the wrong end of my post, I was not complaining I got a ticket for going 1mph over the limit, I was just giving a heads up some areas are clamping down. Obviously some snowflakes don't need advice.

Hi all Just a heads up especially for all you southerners attending the Warly show at the NEC this year. I have just attended a naughty boy course after picking up a ticket on my way to TINGS this year for doing 71 in a 70 section on the M1 It turned out that of the 25 people on the course that day about 25% had tickets issued By Northampton police for doing 1 mph over the limit on the M1. The instructors also confirmed that they have seen a huge rise in the number of participants ticketed for being just 1mph over the limit in many areas So if going up the M1 for the NEC watch out along the Notinghamshire section and if others are following the trend watchout, especially on any of the Smart motorways which can catch you out with their constant speed changes. Like I said just a heads up. Paul

Hi all I am interested in using a product sold by both Woodland Scenics and WWScenics and that is their Shaper Sheets which is basically a thick alluminium foil covered on one side with a flock type material designed to hold plaster. Now given that both these companies sell this identical product and its unlikely one is making it for the other it got me thinking there must be another supplier who is not making it just for model rail use and it's probably much cheaper elsewhere. So any recognised it from another use, building trade maybe, and what name is it better known as. Thanks for any help with this Paul

You also have to watch out for the sneaky ones who bid high to see what the current high bidder has bid, then immediately withdraws their bid, kind of makes a mockery of your high bid being hidden from others. I know when I get them doing it on things I am selling I just add them to my blocked bidders list, so they don't get a second chance to play games.

Next18 is gaining in popularity in the UK with quite a few new locos being supplied with next18 decoder sockets in both N and 00, getting sounds to load onto your new decoders will be an issue and I suspect you will need to contact the UK sound suppliers to see if they can make their sounds compatible with your sound decoders requirements. Good luck with your development, just try to keep the price competitive to entice new customers as Hornby have done with their sound decoders.

This is what a sniping service is made for, just set your maximum bid and the sniping service places it a second or so before the auction ends automatically, that way you find out when you wake up if you one that auction that finished at 3 in the morning.

That's why I use the Sprog3 with decoder pro, it can read and write in low power programming mode but you can then open a throttle and the run that loco without changing anything, so good for testing settings on the fly without lead swapping or switches etc.