SamThomas

When I first looked at this my initial thoughts were "what a shoddyly built vehicle". Then thinking about it maybe it was a good thing that the cab broke off instead of being dragged & shredded down the track.

Despite the weight of the locomotive about 6 coaches were about it's limit.

However, thr lights for some reason do not (well not in my experience of well over 100 8-pin decoder installs on european locomotives).

Lets hope it performs better than the Trix BR05 I had.

Need a bit more information such as the actual decoder used. If the locomotive has an 8-pin socket & the plug is the wrong way round it will run but the lights m,ay not work.

A few years ago I saw a Brittania in DB livery - looked quite good & had a more "agressive" look about it.

Reminds me of a story (it may be an urban myth) when BR borrowed from an aircraft manufacture a machine to fire dead chickens at windscreens for testing - BR's windscreens kept failing until someone suggested defrosting the birds first !

Thanks Ron, always a pleasure to watch your posts. The power of these locomotives always amazes me.

It appears to me that many of the smaller retailers are suffering under the "Tier System". Long term, it won't do the trade or the hobby any good. Such a shame that so many people are dissapointed with the condition of their models when delivered. There is no excuse for bad QC** with a locomotive that is priced in the same ball park as some european models. I've never had a model with polystrene packaging arrive damaged. I can understand the reduction of single use polystrene (like you wouild get with a domestic appliance) but I can't see a huge envbironmental issue with the amount used to safely ship & store delicate models. Sometimes, I form the opinion that Hornby are their own biggest enemy. ** Surely, packaging is part of the QC ?

Personally I'd bin the decoder anyway & buy a Lenz or Zimo. It may be that the locomotive (especially if it's a Heljan) requires more current than the decoder can provide.

Personally, I think it's the luck of the draw - they are generally pretty good in my area. At the other end of the scale UPS have been dire recently.

Agreed, It's quite possible in this day & age to find that you can sell an item that has been in stock for ages sells for say £5.00 & when you order a replacement stock item that because of inflation costs you.............£5.00. So, your stock level remains the same but you have not made any profit.

Does not work like that - a friend of mine was threatened with prosecution from Trading Standards for having old stock & old prices & new stock with new prices on show at the same time (talking identical items here). She maintained that it was fairer to the consumer to sell at the old price but to no avail. Another reason the largere retailers stoppesd using pricing guns was the introduction of EPoS systems & barcode scanning.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but is the grey version not a "photographic grey" finish from the factory ? For some reason this locomotive always reminds me of a submarine.

Don't forget the 9k odd km from China to the UK..............

IIRC the Routemaster Bus was built by engineers with no input from the beancounters & look how long they lasted (albeit with modifications) - very, very cost effective in the long run.

On the subject of transit damage would it be beyound the manufactures to design something like the transit bolts you get on washing machines (much smaller of course before someone points that out). Maybe, a section of plastic track so that the driving/tender wheels stay in contact with the rails & some light packing to keep any pony/trailing wheels in place. It can be done with Oxford Diecast cars that are only around a fiver, so surely, now that large OO locomotives are now north of £200 it must be worth looking at ? I stand to be corrected &/or shot down.

Quite important for many people - it leaves the other hand free to hold a mug of tea or maybe a beer. Goodness knows what you are thinking about....................

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/simon-george-model-railway-yorkshire-pete-waterman-195642626.html Apologies if already posted, in the wrong plate or duplicated. I'm sure we all wish Simon & his fiance the best for the future.

The GM Prodigy is a nice controllerwith the ability to operate one handed. The Roco MultiMaus is also a nice one handed controller.

Fleischmann & Roco are now both part of Modeleisebahn. Some Fleischmann HO still exists as part of the Roco range - the ranges have been rationalised with the better models of duplications retained - much the same has happened with N Gauge but the other way round. AFAIK Roco still have some manufacturing in Slovakia - not too sure about MarTrix.

I don't really regard my collection as an "investment" - more a wise buy & certainly a better return than drinking, smoking & wild women (although pehaps not as much fun).

Still fetches good monet for example my original Fleischmann locomotive was bought in the early seventies for around £25 (when a Triange/Hornby Brittania was around the £9 mark). Good boxed example of this model fetch anything north of £75 (weather we consider it actually worth it or not).

Second that - the GM ones are relatively soft compared to the one from ****. If you use any rubber & end up with grooves in it you are using it too hard. I've found that Track Magic takes a little time to "condition" the track & then gets superb results - it's also quite effective on contact wipers.

IMHO that depends on the area to frequent. Aside from purchases made in say, the last five years most of my European HO is now worth (as in whats secondhand prices fetch) anything from double the purchase price upwards.