LittleRedTrain

For those looking to DCC fit their Quarry Hunslets: Bure Valley Models appear to have a quantity of the Bachmann-recommended 36-571 Decoder at a fairly reasonable price of £35 https://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/21596/36-571-6-Pin-Micro-DCC-Loco-Decoder-(with-Brake-Button-function) Not as cheap as the (very hard to find) Zimo equivalents have been, but still less steep than some retailers wanted for the Bachmann decoder.

I have to say, I didn't actually notice any difference in the ends on mine, maybe I just got lucky and managed to get them in the right way round. The bogie end needs to make a definite 'click' to lock it in place. Presumably if one end doesn't work, try the other.

What he said! Having stewarded some of the 'Steam on the Underground' trips, this one is very much at the top of my wishlist! Chesham set or carriage 353 next maybe? :-)

The 4 screws at the corners of the motor will need removing too I'm afraid. They're also a pain to get back in as they have a habit of sticking to the magnetic motor! Regarding the damaged bogie, gluing it will probably be OK but you could also see if DCC Supplies stock the frame as a spare.

I did this repair to one of mine just this afternoon. If you unscrew the PCB (one screw each end) you can lift it up and then lift the motor. That should then give you enough play to disconnect the drive shafts between motor and bogie to carry out the repairs. (i just replaced mine with new spares). If that doesn't give enough access, you may want to try disconnecting the wires from one bogie at the PCB end and/or removing the bogie retaining screw. Note that the drive shafts do click into the bogies so need a bit of force to remove. If the plastic end has come off either end, you may need to remove the remains with tweezers or a small screwdriver. Just take care to avoid putting too much tension on the motor or bogie wires as the connections are not very strong. Hope this helps.

These are now showing as 'In Stock' at a number of retailers. Just purchased a big batch from Bure Valley Models.

Has anyone heard any updates as to when the order book will open for these? All seems to have gone a bit quiet since the painted samples went on display. (I presume it hasn't already, will be annoyed if I've missed it, my Lima model is long overdue a replacement!).

Sadly all three of mine are a bit 'lumpy' with tight spots at very slow speeds, however all three do start fine and run smoothly once at speed. They're currently all chasing each other around my test track in the hope that a bit of running-in might free them up.. Alice is the fastest of the three, followed by Britomart and then Dorothea.

Steam: Aveling and porter loco - Fits in nicely with their recent focus on small shunting locos Retooled Caledonian Single Parallel Boiler Royal Scot Modern Image: Retooled class 465/466 Networker Class 11/12 (to steal a march on Heljan's), Coaches Chiltern sliding door Mk3s - to be released just in time for them to be withdrawn. 'Generic' pre-grouping bogie coaches. The Surprising Thing GWR Broad Gauge locos and stock in TT scale to run on OO gauge track

Got all 10 of my LMS ones out to test, they really look the part behind matching locos!

Also just had my LMS pre-orders added to my trunk. Fortuitous as I'd just ordered some other bits and was preparing to get them shipped!

The Hornby RRP is still showing as £362.99, was there any indication at Warley that this might change? In the current climate, this seems almost reasonable, especially with the usual retailer discounts... assuming they get any stock of course!

Only a quick phone snap, I'm sure someone else will have better ones.

Parts from DCC Supplies arrived at the weekend and I had some time tonight to look at the Regional Railways unit: Discovered that the motor ends of both driveshafts were completely knackered, and the bogie ends weren't much better (plastic bit came off t as I pulled them out). Not great given how little time the model had on the clock! Replacing them was a bit of a fiddly affair. In the end, I ended up unsoldering the pickups from both ends of the PCB to give me more flexibility to work. I also unscrewed the motor which gave me more play to get the new shafts back in. In hindsight, I might have been able to get away with just doing that in the first place without having to disconnect the bogies. Finally got it all back together and seems to be running nicely with both bogies powered. Fingers crossed it stays that way! The Chiltern one (with the seized bogie) will have to wait for another day, but at least I've got a good idea of what I'm facing now.

That bottom right diagram also looks like it includes a tender connection ;-)

Looking at some of those photos of Linda and current photos of Charles, I do hope that the ubiquitous bucket is included in the accessory pack. :-)

Very pleased about this! My wallet probably less so. My layout is post-preservation era so may wait to see if Linda and Blanche appear in later condition, but Charles will definitely fit as a 'what if', especially as it has visited the FR.

Just hit similar problems. Received a pre-owned Chiltern 121 and after running about 6ft on the test track, one of the bogies locked up. I'd normally just have sent it straight back to the retailer, but it turns out that it had DCC sound fitted (not advertised by the seller as such), so was even better value for the bargain price I'd paid for it believing it to be analogue! Thought I'd get my Regional Railways one out to compare (bought new, has had very little running and was fine when I put it away), only to find that the motor spins but none of the wheels turn. Have just ordered enough replacement driveshafts to cover both (plus a third one which is still working for now), so looks like I'll be doing some surgery this weekend. Wish me luck!

Class 101 and/or 117 in Regional Railways livery would be nice, to run alongside the new 158 and all those lovely sectorisation-era DMUs from RealTrack. Would allow me to finally ditch my old Lima versions!

Wow, that's quite a price jump, £595 when the original 4 pack was sold for £280! No mention of tooling changes, just painted seats. Given some of the crazy prices they go for on eBay, it wouldn't surprise me if they still sell out, but I don't think many tourists will be buying them on a whim from the Covent Garden shop. Just glad I got my original 8 car set when I did!

Looks like Bachmann may need to add another livery variation! https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2022/09/talyllyn-railway-steam-locomotive-talyllyn-to-return-in-new-livery-after-overhaul.html

Question for the Ffestiniog history experts: A quick look for photos of Princess in green seem to show her having the sides of her frames painted in red. See https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Princess Did she ever carry the livery with the black painted frames as pictured in the drawing above, either pre or post-preservation?

Hattons now taking pre-orders for the green versions as well as a new batch of maroon ones. https://www.hattons.co.uk/directory/versiondetails/article?id=1172 The description states "this new batch features an improved crank pin design and packaging", which is welcome after the problems some people reported with the previous batch. (Mine was thankfully fine).

Just had an e-mail from Derails, they're now taking pre-orders with a confirmed price of £115.38 https://derails.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=talyllyn Have put an order in for the red and green versions.

Yet another 15% off on Rails of Sheffield eBay. This time the code is FANCY15. EDIT: Now expired EDIT: Now back again, at 20% off with code SHOP20 until 15th Sept.