D J H

I think most of the locos I have wanted to get , were due to them appearing in the first couple of model railway magazines I bought as a teenager. 1976 MRC had an article on Ken Balls Butley Town, with a Mallard Models GWR steam rail motor on the cover. 48 years later I finally get one from Kernow. Doug

On my SRM several parts of the valve gear only just clear the underside of the body. How they made all those fine parts work amazes me, I can barely see them. Doug

If you don’t fancy cutting the insulation tape to width, try Trimline tape, available in many colours and hopefully has the right width on the roll. I have used for lining my 16mm/foot garden railway locos, it can even form curved lining https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/Model-Technics-Trimline-Black-P5523672.html#SID=844

Buy good timber. Huws Gray do 2 qualities of timber , the premium timber is very good, knot free and stable. Well worth paying a bit more for.

Use the nextdoor app, ask for local recommendations. However, we are mostly fully booked. Doug (gardener in Suffolk)

I worry about the staff at the company who offer to re-wind the H&M resistance mats for you https://handem.uk/products/hammant-and-morgan-spares-components-resistance-mat

Not it too sure about the colour matching on the coach sides ...

The Close coupling mechanism causes the derailments as it stops the bogies turning easily. The fix is to rub graphite on all the surfaces of the Close coupling mechanism that rub together. A 6B pencil is suitable. Hornby recognised this as a problem, as the later Gresley teak coaches came with the mechanism already lubricated. Also use the 6B pencil on all the wheel bearings, it reduces the drag considerably. Doug

My Charles also runs in a jerky fashion, worse on curves than straight track. It is analogue. Not as bad as PaulRhB’s, but it is going back.