wasdavetheroad

I have the earlier Fowler 2-6-4T and that does not have a spring or washer either.

I found the modern narrow tension locks were less reliable than the older wider types. Apart from the width of the bar the latest types have flexibility in the bar and hook. Older types have a rigid bar and the flexibility is in the hook. So I am converting all my wagons for shunting , almost all 4 wheels, to Hornby medium tension locks, and leaving the long freights which are pulled on the main line with the narrow tension locks. I might convert the whole lot eventually. Some will be horrified at this but I don't care as I quite like the 'train set' look. Just having the hook on one wagon might help as well, especially if you can get that hook near the centre of the bar. Apparently in Europe the most common freight coupler is the 'english type' so kadees are just as wrong as tension locks!

I converted my external brick garage by having a 'warm roof' professionally installed which gave more headroom. Then I secured the up and over door internally and built an insulated stud wall immediately behind it. The other walls were battened and insulation/plaster panels added. The floor was already damp proofed so I added insulation and thick tongue and grove floorboards. Ventilation is via vents in the single width side door. Apart from the roof I did all the work myself. General storage was moved into a garden shed. I don't have a car but if I did like everybody else around here it would be parked on the kerb or in front of the garage. Electricity was professionally installed with circuit breakers at each end daylight fluorescent tubes and self installed daylight spot lamps. Heating via a fan heater. Have a fire extinguisher in there as well. Advantages - nice and snug railway room with good security - A 4.9m x 2.3m space for the railway - easily converted back to a garage if needed Disadvantages - the side door entrance compromises the fiddle yard length, I want a 12 coach Express but have to compromise on a 9 coach. An additional 1m or more of length would be great but there is no room to extend the garage. - Only 2.3m width split into 0.9m scenic and 0.7m each for the operating well and fiddle yard. The operating well is a bit too cosy for more than one person. - Going out there in blizzards and rain.

I am happy with my Lima model. I painted the connecting rods red and fitted a replacement CD motor. It has a top scale speed of about 20mph powered by single Lipo battery and radio control. I have a spare chassis and one day I want to install radio controlled tension lock uncoupling at both ends. The Hornby Dublo 2 rail might be an option as well, even more room inside? Just looked at a review of the Dublo version, don't think I will be buying one.

My earlier Hornby Fowler 2-6-4 Tank loco has a securing screw hidden behind the rear bogie and the front of the body 2 small locating lugs on the chassis. Maybe the Stanier version is the same.

If you want to install two power bogies you need them speed matched within 10%. According to DCCwiki that or better is what you need for successful consisting so may be true for twin bogies. For servicing a lima motor this video is useful https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lima+motor+servicing&&view=detail&mid=745FC1D654CFE1FCBFDA745FC1D654CFE1FCBFDA&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dlima%2Bmotor%2Bservicing%26FORM%3DHDRSC3

I found this technique good when I was scratch building my station canopies. I needed lots of identical parts so used Inkscape to produce the template drawings and set the line width as narrow as it would print on my Epson Stylus inkjet. The prints on plain paper were stuck to the card ( I used card for the project) using repositionable spray mount and the lines scored through enough to allow the template to be removed and the card then cut through. I used a new sharp scalpel blade.

I have just found this link about fitting a Hornby motor bogie to a Lima chassis. It is about EM gauge and a twin bogie fit but the method seems simple and can apply to 00 gauge as well. This method is attractive to me as the Lima locos usually have cavernous bodies with lots of space inside for batteries if you have a garden railway BPRC (battery power radio control) solves your power collection problems or for those who prefer BPRC even indoors. I bought my Lima locos second hand when they were only about £30. http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/project_lima31mods.html

Not sure, I saw an online demo somewhere pitting a twin power bogie against the best central motor model. The twin power bogie loco happily won the tug of war, pulling the other loco backwards. It might have been on here?

Try fitting two power bogies for enough hauling power to pull your house wall down

I have some rising damp in my brick built garage, about 6 feet worth. THE DPC in that area is defunct. A friend had a similar problem with his old single brick porch wall. He fixed it by installing dryrod so no damp now. I am going to try it on my garage. There is also horizontal moving damp from an adjacent butting wall that seems to have been back filled years ago so I will try the dryrod vertically as well.

Or upgrade the Lima ringfield motor with a CD type. Or buy the correct Hornby motor bogie spare and modify the Lima chassis so it fits

Dapol couplers are even worse for escaping coupling hooks. I used tiny dots of superglue to fix a small piece of thin black card over the hook hinge. It worked. I have also met the occasional Hornby hook that won't return to the down position, carefully remove the hook and check the hinge end has no burrs, also the socket might be slightly obstructed. I still have some awkward hooks though and intend to add weight to the drop bar to persuade them to drop.

I have used PVA, Klear and Copydex for ballasting. I found Copydex goes brown after a year or so which is OK if you want scruffy ballast

Since last September my dehumidifier has been running for 189 days at an average cost of just under £2.50 per week. The RH averages 50%, never above 56% and the lowest temperature is about 8.5 degrees. There may be some damp problems so some simple remedial work may be justified.

I use a dehumidifier and suggest that the dessicating version is better for lower temperatures

I wish - that Dapol or someone would produce a clear plastic body shell for their Stanier 57! stock that was slightly narrower so you could apply a pre printed Clear vinyl side. Electra do 00 versions of various Mk1 stock although I have never tried one. A few years ago I produced a vinyl home printed kitchen card sides for use on a modified Bachmann 50' brake, The windows were not transparent and I could not get the colours quite right. The model in the photo is now awaiting later BR maroon sides. I used Inkscape to do the drawings.

IIRc - switch off the transmitter, switch on the receiver. The LED will flash. Eventually it starts flashing rapidly. Then switch on the transmitter while holding down the bind button, don't release the button until the receiver LED flashes slowly. Then I switch the receiver off and on again to check the bind has worked. Unbinding sounds a tricky problem, You could try a factory reset of the receiver and try rebinding. Remind me - what is your transmitter?

I have made extensive use of both Flexitrack and Setrack on my layout with No4 radius in the fiddle yard. I even used long lengths of Setrack to form long smooth curves, at least it stays curved. I have a hankering for a manufacturer to provide larger than No4 radius curves, with a reduced track spacing of course.

I had a good think about the equivalent to two points back to back and my aged brain has severe mental block so for now I will stick with the 4 little diagrams showing the switch bar positions for each route. My points are manually controlled so I don't have the complication of electrical lever switches where 'UP' is the default safe setting.

I am about to install a double slip as well and have decided to draw a simple diagram with the 4 possible directions as little diagrams. Then after a few hundred point operations it will be fixed in my mind, most of the time!

David T at Deltang has posted that additional supplies of the critical component which is the radio chip have been found, sufficient to maintain production until the end of this year. The component problem is with the Rx 6x series of receivers, the ones used for 12V motors plus the Rx47. The rest of the Rx 4x series, up to 6V and 800mA motors does not use the critical radio component. I understand that other manufacturers may be developing replacement receivers, made easier by Deltang using standard model radio control transmission protocols.

I would guess that you have a garden railway or similar and by remote you mean a considerable number of feet away. One solution would be to use a servo as the point motor with radio receiver and detachable battery, preferably in a water proof box. Then use a simple radio transmitter to switch the point. Micron Radio Control have a range of suitable equipment and I find they are always helpful with advice http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/index.html

I looked at the banking issue online some time ago and apparently the banked train has to be longer than a series of switched sections so as the lead loco moves out of a section the section is switched to the controller running the banker, better for American layouts I suppose. Another more recent idea is if you have a banking loco convert it to radio control and battery power, it can then run independently with its own throttle, even on a DC layout. You have to drive it though just like a real driver. Can be used for a double header as well, for this i imagine the front loco would be easiest to control.

Search for 'servicing a lima motor' video. There are several available. I like the one that is 26.16 minutes long