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Grassroots football has recently restarted. While this is great news, it does come with one irritation. As my team play on a 3G pitch, I always have to empty hundreds of small pieces of rubber out of my shoes afterwards (if you think sand gets everywhere after a trip to the beach, you haven't got any experience of 3G pitches). After my last training session, I had a brainwave - I must throw out tons of this stuff, but maybe I can find a use for it. I salvaged what I hadn't yet thrown away and have poured it into the the first available wagon. This is the result: Has anybody tried working with this before and did it work? If so what did you do with it? My instinct is to try and hold it together with dilute PVA (as per ballast and other types of coal load) but I have no idea whether it will bond. Thanks in advance for any tips that you may have for this slightly unorthodox technique, especially as it will be the first that I recieve (although I can't find a single search result for it, I can't believe that it hasn't been tried).

I'm asking Hattons now via the online chat. It appears to be common to most/all DCC fitted items on the pre-owned section so I was hoping somebody with more experience of buying from them might have a quick answer. It took about 7 minutes to get an answer (not bad at all). To quote them directly: 'If an item is listed as DCC fitted you will not need the DCC fittings version.'

I am a little confused about the pricing of DCC fitted items on the Hattons pre-owned section. As an example, I have decided to use this Hornby Class 66 with TTS sound. As you can see, it is stated on the overview page that the model is TTS sound fitted and costs £110. However, when you click on the link to the model, you end up here: https://www.hattons.co.uk/567562/hornby_r3748_po02_class_66_7_66789_british_rail_1948_1997_in_br_large_logo_blue_with_gbrf_branding/stockdetail.aspx This page tells a very different story, and appears to suggest that it costs £110 analogue or £138 DCC fitted. I don't understand why this would be the case. This suggests to me that Hattons are removing a chip (with the associated labour costs) and selling the model at a lower price than they would if they were to do nothing. I could understand this if they were to recover the cost by selling second-hand decoders separately, but a quick scan of the pre-owned page reveals no evidence of this. Can anybody shed some light on this situation?

The image shows a different loco.

My guess would be that they didn't have the original box so just found another the same shape to protect the loco in transit.

They should have included a spare motor if that was the plan.

My school has often started on the first Friday in September. I guess that the only response is 'why wait until Monday?'

My mistake - I read 'extension packs' and assumed that they were track ones (which I knew Mehano produced). I wasn't even aware that they did intermediate coach packs, which I guess proves you right.

Mehano are known for their ability to produce trains which, while not great, are generally acceptable at a relatively low price. This lower price has made them quite popular among certain groups of modellers. Some bright spark seems to have decided to cash in on the demand for Mehano products caused by BMR and Sam's Trains videos on them. Unfortunately, they seem to have forgotten that the only reason they are desireable is the low price. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HO-Gauge-Mehano-T688-SNCF-TGV-Duplex-with-T699-and-T700-expansion-packs/264849460178?hash=item3daa420bd2:g:7MoAAOSw1u5fTQ~h

It's not flawless but it isn't any worse that other locos with pickup on two axles.

Interestingly my wheels appear to foul the chairs (or something else is making a very ominous sound whenever the Jinty is running, and even being pushed by hand) yet there are absolutely no problems on points (code 100 Hornby set track made in Austria). I wonder if the enourmous weight contributes to this as it feels heavier than most of my Bo-Bo diesels when held (although I haven't measured).

I've tried that today without success. It looks like I'll be ordering some bushes. Yes it does. Your next challenge is to find one and post it here.

I have recently aquired an R.052 Jinty with a screw in the chimney and couplings which resemble tension locks, but have a different hook design and a bar which is only connected to the body on the left hand side. I believe that this makes it a Trinag model manufactured between 1955 and 1960. Service sheet 2 appears to match the model. I have corrected a few electrical issues and have put it on the track to test it. However, whenever it runs the flangeless centre wheel (which appears to be the driven one) and the coupling rod (which is screwed to the wheel) on the right hand side keep falling off. Does anyone have an idea for a quick and cheap fix? I am considering putting a single layer of electrician's tape around the axle to increase its diameter. Should I just try that? Thanks for the advice.

I don't go too often but there seems to be less every time. I think they used to have a fairly extensive range of track, buildings, grass, etc. (although I was quite young at the time so my memory may be faulty) but the last time I went in I didn't notice anything rail-related.

I was at a meeting yesterday discussing the effects of lockdown on young people's mental health and it struck me that what you have said about the value of friendship is very similar in tone to what I was saying there. Your point about the importance of treating members of a minority group (in this case young rail modellers) as individuals reminds me of my frustrations with portrayals of gay people as one homogeneous group. Of course young modellers have a huge range of interests. I have an interest in 1980s/90s diesels and electrics but I still think a steam loco running on the mainline is one of the most awe-inspiring things you can see in Britain and I love the sight of the IETs. If one person can have such a diverse range of interests, how much diversity would you get from a group of five? I think I may be guilty here of jumping onto the price bandwagon which has some valid points but barely scratches the surface of the full spectrum of reasons that young people do not get involved in modelling. I would still support a range of beginner kits designed to work on an RTR chassis supplied by the same manufacturer as I feel that this is something that we are missing anyway, and I believe that this would make it easier for young people to find their preferred activity within the hobby. By the way, the last time I heard an argument with that much flow and energy I was sat in the House of Commons listening to other Members of Youth Parliament (and particularly one member from Kent). They had the advantage of body language and intonation, which shows just how good at writing you are.

I'd always assumed that the general public would refer to wagons as 'trucks' due to the influence of Thomas The Tank Engine. It may not be the usual term, but it would be much better that 'carriages' as it at least makes a distinction between passenger and freight vehicles.

I was just thinking about the rather interesting transcription of 'another beautiful Hattons tank engine'.

The RA3 boundary seems to match up reasonably well to the Wikipedia article (quoted there as 16.5 tons).

I've seen much worse... Watch the first 15 seconds with subtitles on. On the subject of Sam's Trains, I think that he deserves a lot of credit for building a successful channel that does something a little different to most of the media in the hobby. His layout is clearly a 'trainset' rather than a model of a particular location and while others may focus on modelling techniques and other useful skills (for me Everard Junction would be an example of somebody who does this excellently) Sam's Trains captures the joy of running trains incredibly well. That joy of watching the trains was what drew me into modelling in the first place (although I was never a big internet user when I was younger and have only started watching youtube videos over the past couple of years), and I am now preparing to explore beyond bare track on a bit of wood. I can't help but think that Sam's Trains is able to spread this feeling to people who (unlike me) did not discover it after being given their parent or grandparent's old trains to play with and that some of them will be drawn into the hobby following a similar path to me.

Even if it were impossible to replace coal (and eventually all fossil fuels) in electricity generation I think that rationing electricity consumption would be a price worth paying for not wrecking the planet (even more). I do agree that at least one coal power station should be preserved as a museum - they are very impressive structures. To get back to the thread's subject, Combe Down Tunnel would be great if it weren't for the music and coloured lights through the central section. For that reason, I would have to choose the disused parts of Chippenham station (a former loading bay in the goods yard and the weighbridge) and Black Dog Halt (the most prominent structure remaining from the Calne branch). I often try to imagine a train travelling down the line as when cycling along it.

I wouldn't have thought that's important as, so far as I can remember, they are all MUs.

Does anybody know the maximum axle loading for these? The wikipedia article is incomplete. Thanks in advance.

I agree with you to an extent. I try to keep an eye on both ebay and Hattons if possible. The trouble is that for the first few locomotives you want to know that it will work straight away and for a long time. An absolute beginner may struggle to navigate the various models that have been produced of locomotive X and which ones have a cripping flaw which stops them from running. Of course, modern locomotives aren't immune to such flaws either (but they really should be).

I would suggest that there should be at least two sets of passenger trains at a time covering different areas of the country. Even then, they should be periodically rotated so that you cover for instance: GWR HST and Sprinter; TfW Sprinter; Northern Pacer or Sprinter; Scotrail HST and Sprinter; East Midlands Railway HST and Sprinter over the course of a few years. I have tried to stick to current and former Railroad models for this list, but as we discussed a few pages back it might be a good idea for Hornby to produce a low-spec AT300 model to replace the HST as they are getting everywhere (at that point some of the TOCs mentioned would have to change of course - TPE and LNER AT300s could replace EMR HSTs and supplement the Northern Trains model).

As well as liking the idea of the heritage railway sets, I think this is a good idea. It would give people a number of options for a starter loco using a chassis which has stood the test of time (no traction tyres spinning in mid air while the loco slides around) but is larger than the 0-4-0 (which also means more reliable pickup due to the longer wheelbase). I have an 08 and a pannier and while their not the most accurate models I really don't care. They both compensate for their lack of detail by running smoothly and reliably on trackwork which, if I'm being honest, is mediocre at best and uses track which in some cases could date back to the 1980s. In the interest of balance, Thomas (who likely took much more abuse from a seven year old version of me than the class 08) has had his gears worn down completely. The motor turns freely but has no way of connecting to the rails. Any 9F is impressive for its sheer size of course.