Amand

I've noticed slightly better initial movement when I've put a Zimo 600 in a Chinese made 3 pole Hornby ringfield motor. It ran well at 20 KHz, but better still at 40. At its slowest it took twice as long to travel its own length. Not that you'd run a loco that slowly fitted long periods.

The DCC23 was the only Digitrax sourced decoder. The others were supplied by DCC Concepts, similar single and multipack packaging. Main difference was a lack of extra wires for Stay Alives and black rather than blue covers. I haven't looked into the extra benefits of features that Digitrax sourced decoders will bring other than having lighting mouse suited to USA locos. Although I've had a few Digitrax command systems (Big Boy in 1998, Zephyr in 2004 and currently a DT500 handset connected to Digikjies 5000) my decoders of choice are Lais (work great with CD drive ringfields) or Zimo where I feel the Lais can be improved upon.

The DCC92 (and possibly all of them) are repackaged Digitrax decoders. The red insulation covering, mentioning FX3 functionality and leaving the word Digitrax in the online instructions is a clue! From my experience better than DCC Concepts but not quite as good as Lenz / ESU / Zimo.

I’m sure I’ve read that Bachmann, Peco and possibly other suppliers require a retailer to have a physical retail shop with reasonable opening hours. So presumably the'd see how close another retailer was to a new outlet before supplying stock. The reps do visit shops, I was in my local one recently when one of the reps was looking in the display cabinets to keep an eye on things.

ESU 53900 decoder tester covers all decoder interfaces for British outline models. Motor, lights and speaker on one circuit board. It’s a pity though that the latest version has a motor that needs very little power to spin very fast. I have the older version with a chunkier motor which I prefer. Other testers are available, e.g. Zimo MXTAP.

Have those locos both been lightly re-worked in China like the R150 B12 was back in the mid 1990s? I'm thinking locos that have been "retired and not replaced."

Hornby have already given us the web address for the new announcements: https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-2020.html I can't recall the exact time of the announcement though, probably 10am? If they're going to do a nostalgic release (hopefully a full retool rather than bringing something back as a Railroad version) what is there to do that hasn't been done by another manufacturer of Hornby themselves? Can only think of the Southern L1, a multitude of 0-4-0 like Polly, or the steeple cab electric. Probably more I'm forgetting.

Would Hornby X6206 do? Sprung & ready painted hopefully in the same shade as the buffer beam. If you remove the intact one then you'd have a matching pair. I've bought a few to rescue damaged locos. https://www.petersspares.com/Hornby-x6206-class-2800-3800-sprung-loco-buffers-pk2.ir No connection etc....

Some manufacturers fit a heat shrink type cover to their decoders - DCC Concepts, Gaugemster (though not the tiny 6 pin ones which I think are re-packaged Digitrax?) Bachmann decoders with wire leads have heat shrink. The 21 pin equivalents don't. Newer decoders sourced via Zimo (6 pin, Next 18) don't have heat shrink. Zimo have heat shrink, though the 6 pin and next 18 ones don't - as above. I've seen a few Hornby TTS decoders, including 08 shunters, and none have had any heat shrink applied, or included in the packaging. Same goes for the r8249 non sound decoder. I've never had a Hornby Sapphire decoder, or if I have I wasn't paying attention. So if there's heat shrink applied by the manufacturer then leave it be. If Its been retro fitted then carefully remove it. The only good thing about heat shrink it its very easy to determine if a component has failed and overheated - a nice hole will have burnt through!

There's a variant of the on-off-on toggle switch that's biased towards the centre off position - it flicks momentarily to either of the "on" positions then returns to "off". However, it offers no indication as to which way the point is facing. Your second question would need a double pole version of the switch. One pole carries the power for the points, the other can carry a different voltage / current for indicator lamps. The easiest solution is something like this https://www.brimal.co.uk/points-motor-direction-switch-with-indicator-memory.html expensive, but no soldering needed, instructions seem comprehensive. No direct connection with Brimal, but I have purchased from him before.

Also try X8849, a generic part that seems to fit most large boilered locos, though there will be exceptions!

Saw one this morning, looks really impressive. There’s one driven wheel that has traction tyres, though there is a spare wheel with no tyre. DCC is a 21 pin job inside the loco body. There’s 2 wires going from the loco to the tender, presumably for additional pickups. If I were installing sound then I’d connect the two wires in the loco to the speaker output on the decoder, and disconnect the wires in the tender from the pickups and connect a speaker. From the Instructions there’s plenty of room in the tender. That way there’s no extra wiring needed, and the loco can easily be put back to how it left the factory.

I think that Hatton's action of cancelling the orders brings the relationship with Bachmann to a final conclusion, nothing more can be done to "sort it". Until the emails were sent out customer orders were in abeyance, with a hope from Hatton's that a solution could be found that was in their favour. Ultimately, there are probably only two people who know the full story, with all the negotiation that's gone in the last 12 or so months - the director of Hattons and the director of Bachmann Europe. No doubt they have taken advice to ensure that any decision, and the reason for that decision, are legally watertight. Ultimately, Bachmann will probably still sell the same number of locos, though they may not sell them as quickly with Hattons not placing an initial order in bulk. Some other retailers, may initially buy a smaller amount, then wait until that supply has sold before re-stocking. It depends how many of us decide to buy a brand new model of a loco in a particular livery / running number. I respect both companies not airing their washing in public; yes it will upset customers of Hattons, who are free to look elsewhere for product supplied via Bachmann, but life goes on.

No worries, although I've carried to all the things you've mentioned i've not tried glueing the gears together. And your ideas might be useful to others reading this topic.

Thanks for the info. I've also had a reply from the seller confirming the comom parts. It's definitely the mazak disintegration that's preventing the top housing sit in the right place, the gears are fine, I have a few spares as a contingency! In the past I've bought a few I non runner locos that I've rescued, had lots of practice reassembling and soldering.

I have a Patriot loco drive (not the 1970s Ringfield / reworked loco drive Railroad model) that’s no longer working due to the top gear retainer sheering off (it sits on a cone that rises out of the main chassis block.) Looking through EBay I’ve found X7219 which is the upper and lower chassis castings, but is advertised as being for the Royal Scot only, no mention of the Patriot. Anyone know if the same chassis was used under the Patriot? I’ve emailed the seller but hoping to get confirmation here.

The NCE throttle will guide you through the process, you don't need to know the value of CV29, *from memory* it will ask as part of the decoder programming. Of course you could also set the value separately. I suggest that you refer to the 2mm DCC calculator web page http://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/cv29 calculator.htm it explains the CV29 values and what affect they have on the way a decoder responds. There could potentially be another issue with locos not responding to a DC power supply. Say a model shop had a test track that only had DC power available, and a customer asked to see the loco running before they commit to a purchase, then the loco could be deemed to be faulty? Maybe Hornby have issued a statement to their stockists alerting them to this? At the very least there should be a sticker on the decoder packaging saying that DC running needs to be enable, similar to the health warning on packets of cancer sticks (sorry, cigarettes.)

I've seen this on R7146 08 TTS decoder. Think it's a recently released product. Didn't run on DC as CV29 had a value of 02 (normal direction of travel, 128 speed steps, DCC running only, short address.) Changing the value to 06 worked. However, one improvement is that my DCC setup was able to read back CV values from the TTS decoder, this hasn't been the case with earlier TTS decoders. Unless the loco is supplied DCC (dumb or sound) then my preferred method of DCC install is to put the decoder in an ESU decoder tester, and run it with a low voltage / amperage DC power supply. If the motor and lights on the decoder tester work then I swap to DCC power from a programming track output, testing the motor, lights and sound functions. If it passes then it gets installed into the loco.

As long as the tooling legally changed hands, and the importer was selling items that they were entitled to sell, then I'd have no issue buying an ex DJM product, though with a bit more development work. Given that in the grand scheme of things models of locos aren't a necessity theres's been many changes of branding / ownership over the years. I've had a 14xx by Airfix, then after Airfix GMR ceased to be they were Palitoy Mainline branded (though maybe there was such a large surplus of locos that none were manufactured during the Mainline era.) Then models appeared in Dapol boxes with Dapol on the underside of the chassis, and a chassis update. Tooling then sold to Hornby with further chassis updates including the unfortunate issue with the traction tyre wheel not properly touching the track. If a ex DJM product was relaunched then maybe there could be modifications to the chassis? I'd like a J94 but with a chassis with a skew wound motor, and jointed coupling rods that were the only mechanism for rotating the wheels. Spares ought to be a matter of asking the factory to produce say enough parts to assemble 4000 items, but only assemble 3000, sending spare parts over with the first consignment. Probably costly to catalogue, store and despatch parts, but it builds up goodwill if you know that you can keep a loco running for a good few years. Parts availability wasn't unique to DJM though, a friend has a Duke of Gloucester and a Q6 that need new motors, nothing available.

Which manufacturer / supplier did you get them from? Maybe someone else on here has the same lights so could advise whether a resistor is needed, and the value. Swapping the power supply feed wires around will tell you instantly is it's an LED or filament. LEDs are polarity sensitive, so you have a 50% chance of getting the power feeds the right way round. If they remain lit when the power feeds are reversed then it's a filament bulb. I've found that some lights from Trainsave are 12 volts, others 6 volts, though a basic wiring diagram is usually given.

And they all (APT crowdfunders) lived happily ever after. The End. Said no one ever.

Yes, but I simplified matters as 3 and 5 on your list so not lose out financially. Visa and MasterCard licence their card numbers, the first 6 digits being the BIN (bank identifier number). They used to issue BIN books (now online) which were like a global telephone directory. So say the first 4 or 6 digits of a card number identify the financial institution. Visa / MasterCard get their money from a tiny percentage of each transaction, and they make a charge when chargebacks are made. No financial risk to them if anyone ceases trading. Payment processors are just that, they are a gateway. Say as a retailer you get a POS terminal from Barclays Merchant Services. But you bank with HSBC. A customer pays with a card issued by First National Bank of Wyoming. You don't have an account with them, yet your payment procesor is able in a matter of seconds to go through a payment interchange that requests authorisation from the correct source, gets the payment debited and credited to your bank account. Plus it leaves an audit trail should there be any comeback. No financial risk to the payment processor, like Visa / MasterCard they get a cut of the transaction. If a chargeback happens they don't lose out.

Stewed figs and prunes with custard. A one off treat for me when I were a young lad!

Will be full of froth?

Sorry for the delay guv, was stuck behind a lorry so full of model trains in red and blue boxes it could only do 5mph up that hill