Dodgydruid

Isn't there that controller called a MiniMouse or something, its a handheld device with an easily used central power knob and nicely laid out keys and a fairly easily read LCD display? Only limitation is it cannot go past 20 on the operation list but I have heard these are super mobile controller modules. Of course with everything like points etc wired into motors you can control it all from one source, you can probably use one of them robotic grab arms like the litter pickers use to recover derailed trains and maybe devise a means to raise yourself up a bit to give you a elevated viewpoint and a better reach. Be a shame if you can't enjoy your train layout, I would think that most problems anticipated can be overcome with a bit of thought. Isn't there that disabled charity who have people who do nothing else but create stuff to help people with limited ability to achieve stuff? I remember about 20 years ago in our local paper this national organisation had helped a young lad with very limited arm ability to enjoy his Scalextric and his Pokemon cards so he could play with other kids and they built these things for him free of charge.

I'm a watch collector and in some of my joblots I managed to acquire a "spy watch" which had on it a very efficient 720p camera using the tiniest of fish eye lenses too and it sat atop the watch timekeeping works so I have finagled that for fitting to my GWR Toad brakevan and have found another for a few quid which I intend to mount into my class 73 as the lens only needs a 2mm aperture and the 73 is very easy to open or failing that I have a spare 73 body to work with, I could just switch it on by a small hole and a toothpick to activate the camera.

I have several of the LMS maroon types which is useful as they have the offset gangway's, only one I have of the blue and grey streamlined TPO's as yet. Am actually working on building little nets for my TPO's, I have some nice chromed wire from my home brew ecig building days and going to use a thicker titanium wire to build a frame and then using some modellers net create the actual net itself, with a piece of card plastic to represent the hatch that used to be opened prior to deploying the net because you didn't want to be heading up to Scotland with a pair of great big holes in the coaches hehe These older TPO's were always seen with quite bright lighting, my friend who worked on TPO's til their end said before they put fluorescent bulbs in, they used a special bright incandescent bulb that burned very brightly for the sorting posties hence why films of them in action showed the upper sidelights glaring with light from within. My BR blue and grey one will be kept as standard and will be setting up the hook and net apparatus, there is a lot of pressure to bring back the TPO's as the intricate and efficient network that it worked with, had a noticeable difference on postal times in the UK.

I got a very cheap and good condition Lima 9400 Pannier and I took it down to its undies, cleaning and trimming everything as per the video's out there and it refused to run. I put on new pickups and nope... very poor but if I connected voltage to the terminals directly it ran like a loony. So after new brushes, scrubbing all the motors, reflowing the solder joints and making a good solder joint on the pickups I by this time was at the point of stamping into history, if I had any hair it would have been plucked out completely argh I got my panel wipe out and set at my routine of cleaning wheels and realised I had used a bit of 4000 grit on the Pannier but I hadn't actually cleaned the wheels, something I missed so I made a little running bath with some naptha which is what panel wipe is and putting some power to the motor directly, I cleaned the tyres and the insides of the flanges with a bit of rag atop a q tip and let the girl have her reins... The little bath of naptha turned from clean to black very quickly, I mean absolutely manky the liquid became and the running problem? Runs perfectly, indeed a leetle too energetic needing only two or three notches on my 4.5 Triang controller to send it wheel spinning down the track. Thing is, the wheels looked clean but looking at what came off the wheels says they may look clean but are in fact very dirty. So have made using a bit of scrap track a more dedicated bath, I have the body off, onto the track in the ex takeaway rice tub, drop in a bit of panel wipe, connect to the motor directly and using a bit of fine scotchbrite and then some cotton buds I thoroughly cleanse the muck off then out onto a microfibre cloth and allow to dry, relube with "Slime" oil on the axles, my live steam compound oil on the cogs (thick and sticky) and some on any lube pads and so far I have all but silenced noisy running loco's, no sparks or nasty burny smells When finished bathing the wheels I just put on the lid to keep the stuff and it may look black but still can get many uses out of a few ml's of naptha. For the old 03/04 type of engines I use Holts circuit board cleaner, it rips through packed, caked and burnt on carbon like nothing else, def recommend it.

I have been mightily shocked at the prices of Blue Pullmans £40 plus for just the power bogie yet I snagged an original all blue power car for £16, it is crazy O.o I will have the doings for two pairs of power cars, dummy sets so the bits that go in the middle is my next mission. Am looking with interest at MK2d's with an eye to converting to Pullman-ish at least, I put a MK2b behind my dummy car and the curvy shell profile isn't that far off the power car profile at all, painting will hide a lot of sins no doubt if the job is done well it would be hard at first glance to spot the MK2d isn't just an open saloon Pullman, it won't fool for a moment an expert but I want to put these to work rather than waiting around for the right priced original car and maybe down the line I could retain these for use with a HST set aka the Smurfs. I have also thought that those slab sided Brighton Belle type coaches would serve as an excellent prototype for making up a Hasting's diesel 201/202 or mix and matching with MK1 EPB's for some tadpole fun. I am guessing Phoenix BR signal yellow and Nanking Blue are suitable for the Blue Pullmans?

I discovered the engine that came in the joblot of bits with my Blue Pullman coach, was not the expected Triang but an actual bona fide Kitmaster that actually works if not a little wobbly as it has very light flanges, this Pullman set has driven me crazy trying to find a non "pull me pants down" priced motor bogie for it as the huge lozenge atop the Kitmaster and its whole relation to the Triang frame is a bit of a no no well unless I want to develop an extra long coupling and wondering why one coach is doing a semi power wheelie down the line lol. So do I punt it on ebay for someone else to have a word with it, it does run but desperately seeking a service and that lozenge atop it is a bloody big weight. I've come back into model rail hitting the ground running after a break of 40 something years and its all very consuming, I wanted to rebuild a full six car Pullman to repair the aching hole in my soul after the great Pullman disaster of Xmas 1974 where my kid brother on Xmas day evening, decided to do a Zebedee on the brand new coaches of my full and holy set turning them into a pile of shardy plastics and to rub salt in the wound I got rollocked for letting him do it so Boxing day was spent admiring my oval of track and transformer, the pretty box and a carrier bag full of broken dreams... I did get my own back giving him a pair of wicked shiners amongst things and destroyed virtually every toy he loved and managed with a stick to plant in his brand new Action Man armoured car something next doors Lurcher had left on the lawn but it wasn't the same I reflected on this today via my youtube channel detailing the horror of the Pullman disaster 1974 and I missed completely Xmas 1975 as I was coming to the end of a year long coma in hospital to a rare meningitis I succumbed to NYE '74 which was prob preferable to thinking about that sad bag of broken trains... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOe5p9SjfmI)

I am torn whether to go with electric blue, garter blue or refresh the previous owner painted lighter green on my 86, the previous owner done a superb job of detailing the roof, high voltage lines, the undercarriage and bogies but seemed to have painted over what was a blue with a clearish green which I also suspect was exposed to the sun giving it a bit of a bleach too. Its got the old BR lion moulded decal and loco numbers on it so guessing this was like that Bob Ross or whatever his name was loco from factory and someone tried to BR green it, looks abs gorgeous despite the bluey bits peeping through the green and this 86 has become the queen of my collection. Its weird too it arrived in a later Hornby Pheonix box with cover slip showing a BR corporate blue standard 86, I paid very little for the old girl so am not complaining and half an hour with a light key and a bit of painting will make her shine. But what colour...?

Taking notes here as I got a Triang 101 R157, paint in surprisingly good order but the transfers are pretty knackered, trying to date it as it has the through axles but also has some basic interior like a cab desk and basic seats in a pale plastic. Has the half open couplers on it too, like a D with the top chopped off but connects to my later D Hook types. Would adding the correct exhausts be a thing as the real thing had quite extant exhausts and I dislike the drive a lorry through coach end gaps so that will be the first thing to get sorted lol Was running quite slowly til I gave the motor a good dousing with circuitboard cleaner, a lot of black crud came out and with a dab o' oil its running quite smoothly, I have some black grease I might do the axle ends with as the bright metal going on there is quite noticeable Already made the original newb mistake... bought a HO Lima class 33, wondered why it was so cheap... different coupling and different scale but I do have three HO coaches so as long as people don't turn up with a tape measure, it will do service as an Oxted line rake, well a short Oxted line rake which used MK1s and a 33 before going over to 206 DEMU's (Was why until recently a tiny headshunt at end of platform 7 and 7a at London Bridge so the 33's could top and tail, spent all that money in putting it in and six months later just used thumpers so never used again hehe

Hi all, My first post so be kind, I have come back into model railways after a small break of 40 something years and its all kinda evolved a bit and playing catch up big time lol Have patiently acquired track, rolling stock, some engines but two stick out for a query as both are first gen editions so very old and wondering what surprises etc or quirks these units require to keep them nice. First up is the first iteration of Hornby or is it Triang's class 86, listed as in factory fresh paint and very solid built compared to later 86's, I had read somewhere that one of the brands 86's were able to operate under overhead cables and wanted to know a bit more about that plus any pitfalls to watch out for with said loco. The second is the Triang class 101, looks to have the twin geared power bogie, apparently runs but not lively so wondered what's required to service these motors if poss? The other thought is I back in the day and still do, dislike the excessive gaps between model coaches and the 101 had that concertina like corridor covering and would like some advice on closing up the couplings and to introduce a proper connecting cover that is able to flex with the train. Back in the 70s and 80s I made up from bits of plastic link bars which could articulate a bit between bogies but kept the coach ends more or less connected with the coach ends almost jammed together but not quite so they could slip and slide a bit but without that massive air gap out of the box. Looking forward to lively debates, I grew up with British Rail as my late father was a quite well known Southern Region signalman and he infused me with the love for all things BR and SR and I am a major admirer of the BR blue era with my grails to get the humble EPB, the 4 CEP, the MLV, 73 and 71, class 205, got a 33 and a 37, 08 and pannier and a little CR pug plus the 86 and 101 incoming. Would love a Hastings but saw the wallet melting price of the kits for that one and thinking maybe do one scratch or convert Pullman slab sided coaches perhaps. I started off with the Hornby power brick but now have a Rovex 4.5 controller which is far far superior to the simple power brick. Cheers Ian