Amand

Any failed components would need to be replaced*, and given the complexity the decoder would be returned to the manufacturer. When you return the decoder to the dealer and pay the repair charge they ought to send you a new decoder with the same sound file installed, so no waiting time for a repair to be carried out. As the 649 doesn't have a plastic housing I'd invest in some Kapton tape, its very thin but will insulate the part of the loco that the decoder sits on. * Alternatively any valuable working components could potentially be removed and reused.

I just won cake decorator of the year award. Its both my winning entry and the prize!

How can they get away with claiming on their website that £29.99 is the RRP when the Hornby website shows otherwise. I don't know if they've had change of owner / management as the lad I used to deal with isn't there anymore, whoever's in charge now is getting very greedy with the pricing.

Will the motor be coreless or a traditional one? Also are the wheels linked by gears or do the coupling rods do all the work?

The loco from the starter set shown in the video is in LNER livery, to my non HD eyesight its 7942 R3529, which also features in the photo on Hornby's website. Ok, they have them in stock at full RRP. Further down the page it lists the starter set loco as R3529, Hornby's description J15, 65477, **ERA 3**, which is being offloaded by Hornby at £77.99. And its correct SKU is R3415. Come on Hornby, make your mind up! Its been bugging me all night hence me posting this at 4am!

Definitely good news, helped by several limited edition models appealing to collectors and railway operators. Benefit of limited editions is Hornby possibly sold more models than usual direct to the public at full price. Those that were sold to the trade (as trade discount with further discount for prompt payment) sold out instantly too, so no stock depreciating in a warehouse. My nearest model shop sold out of all the limited edition locos within days, with only the two centenary trainsets not selling out straight away. So a run of "must have" locos that were sales hits have helped, along with a lot of people having to stay at home and turn to hobbies to occupy themselves. Still plenty more to come from Hornby, there must be a big wave of optimism over Margate in these uncertain times.

You had a garden? How posh! Further up the north east coast it was a back yard with a netty!

This ought to be in the Model Shop Guide forum. However, they are on eBay and have had over 100 positive feedbacks in the last month. https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/nairnshiremodellingsupplies

I have fitted an S15 into a colleagues loco, was a stand-alone decoder. As seen on the Hornby website, R8116: https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/tts-sound-decoder-s15.html

Looks like my dad's Fiat Strada when it failed the first MOT due to the rust round the filler cap!

Wish I could visit this shop, its a bit of a treck for me but had very good telephone advice and service from Jeremy and Nicole. Went with Digikeijs 5000 and a Digitrax DT500 throttle. The ability to have two locos under instant direct control is the best setup for my shunting layout. Alternative would be two bulky throttles or having to dispatch and recall the locos all the time with a single throttle. Despite all the buttons on the DT500 I find it a pain to access functions above F10, but when it comes to sound all I do is press F1 and occasionally F2 / 3 / 4 for the whistle.

Yes, quite a while ago I put sound in J39s, V2s and an A4 All the DCC elements were in the tender, plenty of room inside. Some of the split chassis models have pickups on the bogie wheels, so easy to extract power from the chassis. Motors are easily isolated soldering wires to the motor then covering in heat shrink. A V1/3 tank was converted simply by using the space in the water tanks and placing the speaker in the bunker. Again this model has pickups on the pony wheels. In some cases its possible to separate the chassis just enough to wire up and isolate the motor without totally separation the chassis block. It's fun getting them re-assembled without a jig or whatever they used in the factory. If the loco doesn't have an obvious way of getting power from the chassis block then I drill a hole and use a crankpin or small screw from DCC Concepts. These can be soldered to; the chassis blocks resist all attempts at accepting solder. Unfortunately no photos, and all the locos bar the J39 have been upgraded to the more recent DCC ready versions. Hint - before running do not fully tighten the chassis - I like to run the loco with the screws that separate the chassis halves slightly loose, same goes for the underbody keeper plate. Let the mechanism run in a bit then tighten it up.

Mainline branded class 42s were probably last manufactured around 1983/4, and other than Ultrascale you could get some gears from Genesis Kits, though I understand he retired a couple of years ago without selling the business on to anyone. Cannibalisation of other Warships is probably your only other source of parts. Unlike the class 45, the 42 didn't appear under the "Replica Railways" brand in the 1990s, probably as Lima 42s were so cheap - around £5 each. Bachmann did bring out a model in the mid 2000s, the body shell appears to be based on the Mainline one but the drive mechanism is totally different and I doubt any parts are interchangeable. Care I needed if buying one as some early Bachmann ones suffer from Mazak rot, with the bogies falling out when picking the model up. From the factory the lights were 12 volt filament bulbs, with diodes to provide directional lighting. If the bulbs have been upgraded to LEDs then I usually fit 1K (1000 ohm) resistors to go with LEDs. Due to an error when buying some years ago I bought 500 instead of 50 so I have a lot to use up!

Depending upon the age of the model the ends of the wheels and axles will either be plain round tubes (one with a gear moulded on), or have square centres. Either way when the wheels on one side are at either 12 o'clock (or 6 o'clock) the other side wheels should be at either 3 or 9 o'clock - that's 90 degrees difference. Mechanically it doesn't matter which side leads. The plastic axles with square centres are the easiest to set up, as the 90 degree increments are pre-defined. However, the axles are prone to cracking down the sides, which can result in wheels locking up, or falling off. Just a hairline crack can give issues. If the wheels are not a tight fit on the axles and they are the square centre ones then contact Bachmann in Barwell, asking for "axle isolators". If the axles are round then try Peter Spares, though I could see axles for the Manor loco there was nothing for the Hall.