GWR-fan

Thankyou, I will investigate further.

Some years ago I had a Chinese made Hornby A3 5-pole driven tender and a Chinese made super detail 5-pole loco drive A3 and wondered what a powerhouse it would make if combined. I was wrong. I did separate haulage tests with the tender drive and the loco drive separately and found the tender drive hauled more coaches. I mistakenly thought that the combination of tender drive and loco drive would haul more coaches. In fact with the loco drive/tender drive combination the coaches hauled was actually less than with just the powered tender.

I have around eight of these Dean Singles in their various releases and all but one run perfectly. Of the two R2560 locomotives ("Lord of the Isles" trainpack), one runs well but the other sounds like an old tractor. With the body removed the chassis is as quiet as all the others. However, the body seems to amplify the drive noise. Initially it sounded like a dry bearing screech so I lubricated the forward motor bearing to no avail. I thought that the the drive wheels might be rubbing on the body so fitted thin insulating tape inside the body to no avail and also under the cab floor to try to insulate the body from the chassis. I then disassembled the motor and lubricated the aft motor bearing which did alleviate the screeching noise, however, the drive sounds like a bucket of bolts with the body installed. It is very quiet when running without the body. I even tried another body on the chassis to see if there was an interference issue, but the body from a known quiet runner did not quieten the noisy chassis when fitted.

I have no interest in purchasing Dapol from China so, if not for this thread, I would have been none the wiser as to this practice. A quick check on Australian eBay showed many, many Dapol "O" gauge from China (including postage) for around half the cost of the same item from the United Kingdom. Apart from those aware of this practice the average consumer would be none the wiser and not realise that they were potentially purchasing a counterfeit product with no access to warranty should the need arise. The Chinese prices seems close to what the UK retailers were selling off Dapol "O" gauge in a recent "firesale".

Just a little annecdotal information but for years I have found that my best selling day is Sunday afternoon. I never use auction style bidding as I have always preferred "Buy it Now" so that both the buyer and myself know the selling price.

Perhaps a little selfish reaction on my part with the closing of the site, but for sixty days now I have not touched my wallet to purchase any model railway items. I have been tempted by a couple of new releases, particularly GWR related, however, like several recent new release purchases that have not met expectations, I have resisted the urge to spend. It surprised me how easy it was to break a spending habit that was virtually a daily experience for nearly the last ten years. Another benefit of the store's closure is that my eBay sales have boomed, so there was a silver lining (at least for me).

Perhaps through ignorance of the rules of eBay messaging, I get annoyed with buyers who ask me to remove an item and sell off eBay. EBay monitor messages and I do not wish to lose my ability to sell items on the site due someone trying to get an item a bit cheaper. I would rather sell at my listing price and pay the fees than risk any retaliatory action from eBay.

Like you I also find digital sound irritating. On my largescale railway after several minutes of multiple sound fitted locomotives running I would mute the sound. The effect was like taking a large Valium dose. It was like peace and tranquility had descended on me. That said one of my more prototypical sounding models was a frreelance Garratt type arrangement that I kitbuilt from numerous LGB (mainly Stainz) parts and household items onhand. The boiler is a length of PVC piping and the piping taken from wire coathangers. However, what I did was mount a Massoth 3 watt speaker inside the firebox with the back of the speaker porting forward through the length of the boiler barrell. I actually like the sound produced. The decoder is from Massoth. The model is pure fantasy and was lettered to suit other Rugen models that I had.

When the store was operating I was a prolific customer with large boxes arriving weekly. Oddly with the store's closure I have not purchased a single railway item from any other store in the last two months. Also strangely I have no wish to buy anything new that at one time I was attracted to. The QC issues with some recent releases and long term reliability doubts has also diminished any enthusiasm for a new release purchase. Perhaps the store has done me a big favour.

At one time I had more Lima Mk1 coaches than I have fingers and toes but they were relegated to the eBay bin after my stock of Bachmann and Hornby Mk1 stock improved in quantity. Then I found a rake of three Lima mk1 coaches on the now defunct Hattons pre-owned site and purchased them. Someone had spent a lot of time on this set of three Southern Region coaches, with the installation of flush glazing being the most impressive improvement I have seen. From a distance the coaches could be mistaken for more expensive versions.

When a locomotive with this chassis, is running it is a very smooth, relatively quiet drive. I have repaired numerous Hornby locomotives and apart from the West Country/BofB and Rebuilt Merchant Navy drives, this can drive chassis is up there with my most frustrating to work on, not because of complexity but the issues that seem to plague each of the models that I have. I actually have a supply of CD drive motors purchased mainly for Lima conversions but I have done a couple of Hornby conversions. Before converting all the Lima models I got so peeved off with the poor power pickup, mainly due the crusty seemingly non-conductive wheelsets Lima used and actually sold off all my Lima models before I could complete the conversions.

The chassis used in this model and the "Legends" "Nunney Castle" (and possibly more) is an upgrade from the old Dapol/Hornby ringfield loco drive version. I purchased several of these drives believing them to be better than the old ringfield drive, but alas, not so. On paper the drives lok great with black can motor and brass (copper) bushes on each axle plus separate power feeds to the DCC 8-pin plate, dispensing with the old live chassis return as on the ringfield drive. Most of my locomotives suffer with slipping drive gear and stripped coupling rod mount bosses in the centre drive wheels (perhaps due initial assembly as unlike many other Hornby models, there is no brass insert in the wheel hub). Also the power pickups are not secured to the lower inner chassis cover plate. At one time perhaps during assembly heat was used to "stick" the strips to the plastic cover. All but one purchased new. Some I stripped for whatever usable parts could be gained but today my tolerance was sorely tested and I decided to get at east one mobile. While a simple drive it is fiddly and frustrating to reassemble. In the abscence of a serviceable axle drive gear I decided that the gear would need to be reattached using the unreliable superglue method. The gear and axle knurling were thoroughly cleaned of oil deposits. The gear was a relatively tight fit on the axle but did rotate under load so perhaps there is some chance of success, but I am not confident of a successful outcome. Another unreliable part is the retention of the coupling rods and connecting rods to the centre drive wheel given that the threads in the drive wheel plastic hub are stripped. I am hoping that friction will hold them in position, however, like the unreliable gluing of the axle gear, long term reliability is not in the future. Perhaps the loco could just be used "light" engine with minimal load on the drive. I now have doubts as to my Legends "Nunney Castle" purchased new and never used plus several other later release Railroad locomotives that use a similar drive. A pity as the design could have been better executed and a can motor drive chassis has to be a step up on the old ringfield drives used in these models (at least that was my thinking at the time, but now not convinced). Edit: the end result was a very smooth running model (but for how long??????).

For me there are positives and negatives of the store closing. A positive is that local eBay sales have increased. The negative is that I will miss the copious metres of bubble wrap and the numerous boxes which means that now after years of never having to source boxes and bubblewrap I am going to have to find a supplier.

I still cannot bring myself to delete the favourites link to the store, hoping it has all been a bad dream. Optimistically, I click on the link with fingers crossed with expectations of a positive finding, but alas, I need to come to terms with reality. Hattons has been a ritual daily part of my life for many years looking for something that I wanted.

As others have commented, my final order arrived this morning courtesy of Royal Mail and was delivered in multiple relatively large boxes. I paid GBP17.00 postage for tracked mail and the package was less than 2kg. In reality the contents of both packages could have easily fitted into a single box as there was more bubble wrap than contents in each box. I am not complaining, but my final order, given that all the items were heavily discounted, could not have been financially lucrative for the company. I still do check the pre-owned listings occasionally hoping this has all been a bad dream, but alas no items listed.