Knapdale

Just ordered one of these from TMC via their eBay store. I’ve been waiting for Bachmann to release an SPT 101, as the Hornby one has traction tyres and no lights. However, TMC have reduced the price to £102 making it too attractive to resist! I’ll be back on RM Web in the near future to ask how traction tyre wheels are replaced and how to fit lights to Hornby Railroad model…

Thanks to everyone who replied!

Can anyone identify this wagon I saw today in an engineering train? I can’t make out the TOPS code. And does anyone know what it’s used for? It was 6K10 Cowdenbeath to Millerhill empties and ran in a consist of 5x JJA Autoballasters; said van; 5x JJA Autoballasters; 3x JNA and 1x MLA. I’ve tried to find it on Paul Bartlett’s website, but must be looking in the wrong places

There’s more information on the Gaugemaster forum:

Unless if I’ve read the information wrong, this seems to be a very expensive system for DC use. I currently have a GM Model Q to power my four track sections, points and lights, along with a smoothed GM supply to power my signals. To get the equivalent from Infinity, I would need to get: 1x Duo at £395 2x Acolytes at £390 1x Light Accessory at £45 3x Points Accessory at £150 (one accessory controls up to four points) 1x Signal Accessory at £20 So £1,000 at RRP! I don’t think the benefit to me over what I currently have could justify that cost.

https://accurascale.customerdesk.io/#rp-customer-widget-faq-d28519f9-ce7c-4505-afab-c4b89fa858c9 Details can be found on Accurascale’s support page.

Do you know the date of this picture? When I click on it it doesn’t take me to Flickr site.

I’ll try and get a YouTube video sorted when I have a spare moment, which may not be for a while. I have measured the voltage going through the track using a quick random selection of locos. When setting my GM controller to put 6v through the track with no loco on it, then putting a loco on it to see the change, I’ve found the following results: Accurascale 55: 4.8v Bachmann 47: 7v Bachmann 55: 6.8v Dapol 68: 6v Heljan 26: 6.1v Unfortunately, I don’t have a properly working Accurascale model yet to see if its figure will be different to the faulty one. I also don’t know if any of these figures mean anything significant, but it’s interesting that the only one with a voltage drop is the faulty Accurascale.

No. I run DC with GM too and both my Deltics have suffered from the slow down/speed up/stop-start routine. This didn’t start immediately after purchasing them either.

So should we expect an Accurascale transformer soon? An iPhone comes with its own charger, so no need to plug it into another manufacturer’s. The DC powered motor in a model railway locomotive is hardly new technology.

I appreciate what you write, but is it too much to ask for a modern model loco to run consistently on a basic oval of track using 30-40% of a 15v DC analogue supply roughly 5 years old. The only manufacturer I’ve had issues like this with is Accurascale. What doesn’t make sense to me is that after they’ve been “repaired”, they at some point afterwards fail again. I don’t think it’s bad luck, nor do I think it’s an issue with my layout, which is at the basic end of model railway power supply.

This may be the case for DCC fitted models, but I don’t understand how this could apply to analogue operation. Are Accurascale motors really so advanced that they can’t cope with a Gaugemaster transformer producing 30-40% of its available 15v DC current around an oval of track?

They do. I have two Deltics (6 and 15) running on Gaugemaster DC and they do the same slowing/speeding up routine. And on the odd occasion stopping altogether. First time this issue occurred was not long after receiving them in June 2022. Both went back to Accurascale for repair (15 via Rails). Not long after receiving them back, the problem occurred again with 15. Returned it for repair. Came back again. Not long after that went back for repair again for the same problem. A few days ago Rails told me they’ve received it back from Accurascale and will be sending it onto me. 15 has spent longer in the workshop than with me since I first received it. And just a couple of days ago the same problem has now restarted with 6, which I thought had been sorted for good. Unfortunately, it’s too late for me to ask for my money back. If I knew then what I know now, I would have got a Bachmann Deltic. It’s also the reason I decided against getting an Accurascale 37s and got a couple of previous tooling Bachmanns instead. Guaranteed reliability.

I’ve used Brimal Component switches for my layout. Normal toggle and toggle with built in LED for some points out of sight. I’ve had no problems with them and there’s a huge variety. https://www.bclstore.co.uk

“Barring the handful of units still on duty in Scotland..” Interesting definition of “handful”!