YT-1300

I never understand the negativity whenever some new or different is tried, its all for the good of the hobby, to keep the hobby going. 

Surely its better to have a combined magazine than no magazine at all?

13 hours ago, 46256 said:

During the period of my moving home and dismantling of my layout Water Orton, I have bought some models to keep my enthusiasm going. 
One such model is Heljan’s HS4000. This was purchased back in October of eBay. I have only recently moved to our new address and had an opportunity to test run it on a rolling road.

The controller I use is a Gaugemaster twin track, some years old. The model ran for a minute or so then caused an overload, and continued to do so.
 

I didn’t realise Kestrel was limited edition from 2009.

I have had problems with Heljan motors in their steam outline motors but not in a diesel up to now. Can I ask if others have problems with this particular or other other Heljan diesels. 
 

Two recent Bachmann steam purchases a Midland 044t and the ex LBSC Beachey head ran beautifully on my rolling road, and with this controller.

 

 

 

 

Check that the lubrication grease hasn't started to solidify in the gear towers, from worm to axle gears, if it has, strip it out (IPA is great for removing it) and re-lube.  HJ motors are power hungry and the slightest stiffness in the drive train can cause an overload.

2 minutes ago, classy52 said:

 

It's pretty much the same thing isn't it?

With Partially you are paying the item off each month at a set amount until it completes it's course and the item is payed off before or just on when it arrives and remember this was due to a system glitch which took all the remaining balance from the customer unexpectedly and well before the model's release and yes you can do it the other way and put money aside each month without an online payment system.

Everyone's circumstances are different and to be honest unfair to judge or assume their financial situation or spending patterns which may not align to yours.

It isn't the same thing, putting money away without using an online system means that money is available instantly if needed for an emergency, it's not tied up in an online system.

After all, that's what we used to do before these services became available.

I'm certainly not judging anyone, my own outlook is that I don't commit to buying anything for my hobbies unless I can afford to pay for it in one lump sum, whether I chose to do that or not.

29 minutes ago, RikkiGTR said:

Correct 😬

 

My images are too big to upload from my phone but hopefully I can describe it well enough - 

Track is N Gauge, all Peco. 

Fiddle yard is a basic 8-track (4 up and 4 down line) configuration. The only part of the layout that uses set track points (the rest is code 55 finescale). 
I have droppers on each track before they enter the fiddle yard from either side and one on each fiddle yard track as well. So 12 droppers covering the fiddle yard (or 24 if you want to count red and black individually). 

Try reducing the resolution of the images, they will help the community help you.

With DCC its best for each piece of track to have it own dropper, for instance if you have 3 lengths of flexi on each road in your fiddle yard, you'll need 6 droppers for that road (both rails).   Each point also needs a power feed to the toe of the point, the reason for this is because fishplates aren't reliable enough to carry the power needed.  I view fishplates as a means to hold the track pieces in alignment only.

DCC is often quoted as 2 wires to the track, however its more 2 wires to every piece of track!

As has been mentioned, a cheap multimeter is an essential tool.

10 hours ago, classy52 said:

 

Agree.

It is also about forecasting your budget when pre-ordering and setting up instalments thus you pretty much know you'll have the remaining balance ready when you get to the end of it and/or when the model is due but not unexpectedly beforehand because of an online payment glitch which takes out whatever you owe which can or will cause you financial issues.

You can put money aside each month rather than relying on online systems, which gives instant access to extra money if you have an unexpected bill for essentials.

If someone is put in difficult financial circumstances by an unexpected payment for a discretionary item then maybe they should be looking closely at their spending patterns.

11 hours ago, BrakeCoach said:

For me, if I preordered something and is expecting to get it, I would honestly treat that money as not existing anymore.

I have two items on pre-order, coming from Bowser and Athearn.  When I placed the orders I made sure that I had the money available there and then, just incase payment is asked for early,  If I didn't have the money, I wouldn't order.

5 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Generically speaking…

 

AI will become the help desk 1st line, and quite possibly 2nd and 3rd.

Help desk is just ripe for AI.

 

For example, That video could well be used by AI to interpret possible issues, and build its knowledge base on prior site and resolution of other issues.

 

Not only that it could input its results to design of future changes/enhancements by recommending what to do / not to do.

The best thing is it will already be categorised into groupings that suit, helpdesk humans often interpret in different ways, and hence falls in the cracks… so those “ omg will they ever fix it” things may start to dissapear.

 

Theres a lot of rubbish out ther about AI, but Help Desk (and any other SKMS) operation is just fodder waiting to be harvested.

 

the days of Help Desks in India, talking to you about last nights TV, trying to convince you they are in Milton Keynes are definitely numbered imo… But AI could convince you they are sitting next door easily enough when doing small talk.

 

The last company I worked for (energy industry) brought in an AI webchat service and it quickly proved a success, meaning that peoples issues were dealt with much quicker, and much more accurately, just by getting simple info from the customers.  As it became more popular, it became more accurate and only the real complex problems needed human intervention.  It reduced complaints to our company by a large percentage.

I'm quite against AI in a lot of applications, though in this case it was an eye-opener.

This is sad news, I had a long chat with him a while back, he gave me the push to model US railroads and I've never looked back

R.I.P. Ian

1 hour ago, ianp said:

I currently run a small and simple layout: a circle of track with just one engine running on it. What is the smallest and simplest DCC controller that I could plausibly buy (new or s/h) to operate this set up? I own an NCE powercab which works fine but which is far too sophistcated for the very limited requirements of this layout.

There's no reason to discount your PowerCab, even the most complex DCC system is perfectly suitable for running just one loco.

I would recommend building a small test layout to get used to how different materials work together (glues, track, electrics, wood, ballast, scenics, control and time) and sizes of various items of stock and structures before committing to a full loft affair.  You could do this in 00 and N, or even TT120

Peco Code 75 (or 55 in N) streamline track is probably your best bet, set-track can of course be used, through you will be limited in geometry.  Buying flexi track used is a good idea, though I'd avoid used point work unless you plan to modify them for extra reliability.

Before laying any track, think about DC or DCC control, and how you want to control your points

17 minutes ago, Roy Langridge said:

But what you consider quality and what I consider quality may be two very different things.
 

For me, as an example, the Accurascale Class 37 wins over the Bachmann Class 37 easily (no nose seam, sound etc) yet others argue the other way. 
 

The fact that many default to Accurascale doing things possibly means I am in the majority, but who really knows?

 

Roy

All very true, I prefer the Bachmann 37 over the AS one, but overall they are both extremely fine models.  I think the AS 92 is one of the best models out there (along with their A Class), and the best AS model by far.

Moving back to the subject matter, if someone is building a layout where the CDA is a signature model, is it worth holding off in case a better one comes along?

4 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

It may well be, but the point I was making we just don't know and that makes it hard to make a decision in this case for the OP - It's no good us all going yep Accurascale must surely do a CDA and then the OP waits and waits and Accurascale do nothing or launch a loco, then some coaches, the minerals, HUOs, BYAs etc before getting to the one the OP wants.  It's not a given that the first item out of the N gauge Accurascale box will be a HAA and all it's variants.

 

Worse I don't think N scale can take the type of typical Accurascale launch, i.e. 19k of class 37s whilst also delivering Mk2 coaches and a whole load of other stuff on the horizon.  Even RevolutioN branched into larger scales and they have found the N scale community not able to fulfil enough to make a class 21/29 viable despite all those class 26/27s sold by Dapol.  The class 321 was also on restricted liveries because some did not cut the mustard with potential buyers.

 

The one thing in favour of a CDA though is perhaps a lot of the stuff recently in N has been very much of a privatisation era so that would lend itself to a CDA.  With retooled 56s coming some nice Accurascale HAAs would be nice for it to haul, though Farish has just done a load of them which might delay Accurascale doing them unless Farish were getting in before a big launch.

 

Are N gauge modellers fickle, would we dump lots of Farish HAAs for Accurascale ones - would the difference be enough to do that.  In OO the competition was the aging Hornby HAA with a massive jump in fidelity.  But in N that massive jump is a little more difficult to achieve as there is less detail to show simply because of the size reduction, yes they can be better but can they be that much better.

A thing that amuses me is folk always jump to Accurascale making items for N, OO, TT etc etc (not singling you out @woodenhead) from my experience Cavalex, Bachmann/Farish and Revolution's items feel overall better quality.  Not denigrating Accurascale in anyway, their products are extremely good, I feel the quality and finish of the others is better.

37 minutes ago, nickb4141 said:

I do agree with you. I just wanted to check if the Peco CDA’s were inaccurate or not, as I’ll need 20-30 wagons, so I would probably have to take a big hit to sell them on Ebay, if something better does come along! 
 

I wonder I’d Accurascale are more likely to go down the TT route than N, but that’s just a hunch, so who knows? Only time will tell!
 

 

If it looks right to you, then it is right.   Don't take others viewpoints as gospel, have a look at prototype and model pictures then decide for yourself.  Unfortunately there are a lot of people who throw around untruths on forums just to show off.

You could stock up on Peco models and Accurascale or Calalex drop their version straight away, or you don't buy any Peco and neither Accurascale or Cavalex, or anyone else produce any.

Regards reselling, I personally never view anything I buy for my layouts in future value, an item might be worth £10 one day, £25 the next day and £5 the day after.  It depends on who's buying, and when.

7 minutes ago, wombatofludham said:

Have you seen the Accurascale lighting?  It is not overly bright and just about the right colour and intensity for the Mk2b and c stock which was internally lit by fluorescent tubes, increasing the light levels over the old tungsten bulbs by a significant amount.  Plus, you can switch them off easily with a wafty magnetic lollipop which moves the on-board magnetic reed switch if the lighting offends you.  Nor do they include any on board sounds so that's one less thing to worry about.

All for the price of an unlit coach from other manufacturers.

When I've run coaches with on-board lighting at the public days of the old "Dolgellau" layout the visitors have been transfixed despite the fact they were Mk2f coaches which never went through Dolgellau and was being hauled by a Class 47 which would have planted itself in one of the many rivers along the route being very much not a blue disc weight restriction loco.  They loved the noise and the internally lit coaches and a couple went away having been amazed at the fidelity of modern OO scale and were inspired to think about their own layouts.  For me noise and light were the things missing when I was a younger modeller which I would have dearly loved, so 50 years later, let those of us who want the features to have them.  You don't have to buy locos with sound, and you don't have to have any interior lights on if you don't want to.

No understanding needed, just accept some like these features whilst others don't, but ultimately it's your choice.

I fully accept it, personally, I feel it can detract from the great job made of the model, and indeed the layout it is on.

The thread on the recent Cavalax 56 seems to have more posts regarding lights and sound than the actual fidelity of the model itself.

I built my layout for me, and when I am lucky enough for it to be asked to an exhibition, I'd like people to be inspired by the subject modelled or the actual modelling, not by noise and lights.   But I understand there are plenty who do like all that side of things.

I find sound and lights work best when both are very muted.  Just my opinion.

I understand the desire for more detailed models, prototypical variations etc, and the manufacturers are producing some extremely good models.

What I don't understand is the want to dress these very fine models up like fairground rides with overly bright (and sometimes unnecessary) lighting, and sounds that would be barely audible even if you were inside the actual vehicle.  

56 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

So received wisdom - almost never at first-hand - would have us believe!

 

I cannot speak for their loco kits, but the DMUs are eminently buildable and, for their time, quite acceptable 'layout' models.

 

Perhaps your friend was only accustomed to Airfix kits?

 

CJI.

He's a Caledonian Railway modeller, kit or scratch-builds all his stock but has said he'll never touch an MTK kit again!

5 minutes ago, Darius43 said:

Coach bodies painted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Darius

Great work!!!

My friend describes attempting to build MTK kits the model railway equivalent of self-harm!

2 hours ago, Chris M said:

Interesting discussion and something I have recently been musing over. The weekend before last I took my layout to an exhibition with no barriers and had absolutely no problem at all. Everyone stood at a reasonable distance and just one or two youngsters touched the static grass. This set me thinking. Over the past 12 years or so I have taken various layouts to around 40 exhibitions, some with barriers and some without. At just one show without barriers I had to ask someone to not lean on the layout. The only slight damage to just one layout from a visitor was when a youngster made a grab for some fencing and there were barriers at that exhibition. In my experience barriers do move towards the layout because people lean on them. I recall moving them back a number of times at most exhibitions with barriers. Last weekend, where there were no barriers, I noticed that everyone was automatically keeping a reasonable distance from the layout despite being two or three deep at times. This set me thinking that maybe barriers are the problem. Without them people exercise self restraint and there are no problems. With barriers visitors lean over the layout as the barrier slowly moves closer and closer to the layout. I reckon people will usually be further away from the layout when there aren't barriers than when there are.

 

I know I will be a lone voice on this one but I am very happy to not have barriers at an exhibition; in my experience it just isn't a problem. 

 

 

I operate from the front so prefer no barriers, I find, like you, that people seem to keep a distance

2 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Besides which, who are these people defining as ‘the current generation’ (as used earlier in this thread)? If it means ‘the current generation of young adults’ then I haven’t noticed that anyone in this group is any more likely to poke at or damage a layout than older people are. So perhaps they mean ‘the current generation of young children’ which for reasons covered earlier is a rather spurious group to blame for this sort of thing and a bit petty anyway. So they must presumably mean ‘everyone who is currently alive who has ever visited a model railway exhibition’, which is certainly an interesting take…

Current generation of a@@eholes?

On 21/04/2024 at 09:21, Nigelcliffe said:

 

If you've got a lot of locos,  you either had deep pockets, or the person you inherited them from had deep pockets.....   

 

Most people have far too many locos.  One regularly hears of people with 50 or 100 locos.  How many of them actually get run ?  How often ?    There's nothing wrong with a hobby of "collecting", but don't use the shelf-collection to put down someone else' interest in running.   

I have a lot of loco's and don't have deep pockets!  

9 hours ago, TyBryn said:

I have some RTR locos in "Big Four" livery that I want to repaint in first era BR outfits.  The locos are from various manufacturers.

Because of ventilation concerns in my small modelling room, I would prefer to use acrylic paint in my airbrush. 

I am new to all of this so I would like to ask that, after thorough cleaning and de-greasing:-

1. what further preparations need to be done to the original paintwork?

2. do I need to apply some sort of primer on top of the original paint?  If so can this be an acrylic primer?

3. can I apply an acrylic colour directly onto the original paint?

4. I want to paint the locos in BR green; is this described as Brunswick Green?

Many thanks in anticipation of your helpful advice.

 

Taking your points in turn...

1.  For a good finish its always better to at the very least remove the existing printing and flatten down the existing paintwork, most sensible thing to do is to strip the bodyshells back to raw plastic.

2. A primer is always recommended to allow the base coats to stick.  Halfords/Hycote primers are acrylic and very very good.

3. There is nothing to stop you painting over the existing finish, however any printing will show through the new paint

4. British Railways green opens up a can of worms!

IPA/Original Dettol/LA's Totally Awesome are all great paint strippers, and reusable.  Its important that the shells are dust and grease free, and kept that way through the painting and finishing process.  A good primer for BR Green is black, it gives a nice rich finish.

The main thing you will need is patience!

On 16/04/2024 at 21:17, locoholic said:

I can't think of a single Bachmann product that I'm planning to buy, except perhaps a handful of Palvans, if they're not ludicrously expensive. I don't suppose I'm unique, and would therefore have doubts about Kader's return to profitability.

 

Kader made a profit last year on its earnings...

On 15/04/2024 at 13:45, woodenhead said:

Here is a link to the financials.

https://www.kader.com.hk/investor_relations/pdf/press_240327_2e.pdf

 

It interesting to note that the model division made an operating profit last year, it in fact the company as a whole made an operating profit, it is the interest on loans, depreciation and reevaluations of properties that is dragging it down.

22 hours ago, 33C said:

Try a restricted nerve. I would happily swap. After my NHS dentist retired, I went looking for a new one. No dice. All full up. Nearest vacant, 159 miles away! And then they closed/merged. Looked at private prices nearby and was surprised that for most work, it was a third more expensive than I was paying for NHS treatment. (Yes, no free for me!) I can book and be seen within the week, the service is excellent, the building is beautiful. (Not relevant but true and there is an interesting library!) and I can walk along the beach to get there in 20 minutes. 3 monthly check ups keep the big bills at bay and a tin on the side pays for them if they do. I had 2 check ups, 4 x-rays, full tooth enamel clean/whitening. £250. £39 cheaper than my last NHS  appointment. May be expensive to some, but shop around. Just happens they were the best for me after a lot of searching, and don't leave it 10 years!

My NHS Dentist Surgery shut down and re-opened as a private surgery, reasons given was down to the amount of abuse they were getting from some patients.  I decided to stay with them as I've had nothing but great service from them. 

My last appointment was a check up, replace a filling and a clean.  Cost me £150, generally a check up and a clean is £60 every 6 months.

Its funny that some people would happily shell out £200+ on a model loco but baulk at the same cost for treatment to end pain.

9 minutes ago, Max Legroom said:

So here is the finished layout (though there is always room for more detail).

 

 

 

Next step is to recheck all the wiring and get some trains running.

Cracking looking layout, really nice scenics and detailing.  Will be good to see it with some stock on it

1 hour ago, G-BOAF said:

Further interesting quote is

"The Group will strive to explore new sales opportunities and manufacture high quality products with competitive prices to sustain its business"

 

I sense the group will struggle in this strategy if Accurascale are selling a 37 for £170 and Bachmann's almost identical version is £245!

Not wishing to stir up a hornets nest, I find Bachmann's newer tooled products to be a higher quality than Accurascale, so to me they are worth their asking price.  

10 hours ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

The other factor with Mainline of advanced years is 'gently does it'. I have seen a number of Mainline split chassis mechanisms from locos of smart exterior appearance 'internally deranged' by attempts to get it moving by applying force.

 

Internally gummed up and with poor conduction due to dried lubricant is a commonplace, and if present is typically best tackled by dismantling, cleaning up with IPA and light relubrication when reassembled.

I know a few people like that...