HLT 0109

Since my post on 3 August, I have had a successful resolution to my warranty claim. Rapido tested the returned item and fund that it derailed on their test track too so the loco was replaced. Today I have run it for an hour or more without any problems. As Lion is a goods loco I have wondered what wagons to use for a potential 1830's layout. I bought a set of three Accurascale's chaldron wagons that couple with hanging chains attached to each other with tiny magnets. Hardly close coupled but they work very well. What is more, they propel through set track curves without the dumb buffers causing derailments. All I need now is a Victorian crew - I would like something different from the Hornby Rocket crew. Harold.

My 1930's sound version arrived a week or so ago. After about 15 minutes of running it in, in both directions on a continuous run, it slowed to a halt and would not run any more. I filled in the warranty report and Rapido took it back. Rather than repair it they sent me another which arrived today. This has run for about five feet before derailing on a barrow crossing; after rerailing, it ran for about seven feet before derailing on a set track point. None of my other locos has any problem at those places. I checked the back-to-backs which seem rather wide to me at 14.58mm and, on righting the model I discovered that both the chimney and the fall plate had fallen off. I have refitted the chimney but the fall plate will not stay in place. I have completed another warranty form and await Rapido's response. I have found their communications to be excellent. Both models were delivered by Royal Mail and arrived in apparent perfect order - ie no damage to packing or dislodgement of contents so i can only assume that this is evidence of inadequate quality control. If my experience is common, it is no wonder that the warranty department is busy! Harold.

Following much research I discovered that Fleischmann 20024 wheelsets have 13.65mm long, pinpoint axles. Further internet searching established that there are no supplies in the UK of this discontinued item but there are supplies in many European countries and in the US. As one might expect, delivery of this £3 item from the US is prohibitively expennsive (around £40 and no doubt will be subject to VAT or import duties too). What has surprised (and annoyed me!) is that no supplier in any EU member country is willing to ship to the UK (at any price) because of what they see as the bureaucracy of the British regulations following Brexit. I have not been able to find a source from a non-EU company in Europe. So, if anyone has any redundant Fleishmann wagons with 5mm wheels, or has access to an EU suppier of the Fleischmann 20024 item, I should be most grateful if you woould let me know. I need only one pack of two wheelsets but would happily purchase additional packets if it helped. Harold.

I need to replace the wheelsets on a Lima N Gauge Bogie container flat wagon and find that the replacements available from Hornby and Bachman don't fit because the axles are too long. I am keen to use metal wheels and the Peco items are Hardlon plastic. I wonder if someone could direct me to a source of suitable replacements as I can't find the information. I have placed an order with Rails for some Rapido wheelsets that have pinpoint axles 13.6mm long but they are on pre-order without information on availability, and I have asked about Kato item 11-606 but the Japanese supplier was unable to provide the answer. Many thanks, Harold

Well, I made the adjustments and at least now I can see the feature but I would have expected the glow to be brighter when the smokebox door is supposedly open. I appreciate that we don't want it to look as if the cab is on fire but it doesn't look hot enough even to keep the crew warm. However, I am pleased with the model and find the active brake settings suit my loft layout very well. Harold.

Thank you both. Nigel, I am using JMRI 4.26 and Java 11. Kaput - I see it now and will try increasing the values to which you refer. Harold.

I have 35-202SF (Sound fitted St Peter's School version) and, whilst I have had some success in adjusting individual soound volumes using JMRI, there are a couple of features for which I cannot find an adjustment: Firstly, the firebox glow is, frankly, a waste of time but I can't see a way of increasing the brightness of the LEDs - does anyone know the secret? The included instructions give guidance for DCC fitted locos - ie suggested settings for CVs 115 and 116 of between 80 and 95 - but says that sound fitted models are already configured for realistic operation - original settings are 0 and 50 respectively. If I play with these settings am I likely to upset something else? Secondly, F21 can be set to "Latch" which mutes or unmutes the sound, or "Trigger" which scrolls the sound through six levels of volume. However, whilst I can achieve this in JMRI, with the Power Cab i only have the Latch mode available. How do I get the setting in JMRI transferred to the decoder? The only option in the JMRI Throttle Labels is to save to Roster. The decoder is a Loksound V5 DCC. Thanks, Harold.

Interesting. Not having progressed beyond O level (yes, 1950s) German, I enjoyed the last two minutes most! Harold.

Michael Rather than having permenant hinged fixing, why not have the board removable so it can be leant against the wall (as in B)? When required for working or running, it can then be lifted into the horizontal position. Lifting a 6' x 4' board would be difficult on your own but two people could do it. If it is stored with the top towards the wall, two people could lift the board to rest the lower edge of the board on to a rebated ledge whilst lowering the higher edge onto hinged legs. The raised board can then be secured to the ledge with suitcase catches. A rebated ledge could be achieved by attaching a wider piece of ply underneath the batten fixed to the wall. Only you know whether this will be possible but I hope this helps you figure out an economical solution. Harold.

I can't be sure this is relevant to OP's particular decoder but I have three locos with Lwnz decoders - 2 Junior 00 gauge items and one N gauge - all steamers. The manual for my Lenz Silver states that the first step in setting motor control is to select the type of motor from a list of five in CV 50 - see section 6 on page 16. This may be worth a try if available on the decoder in question. Harold.

Great! - but just check that the replacement axles are the same diameter as the old ones, otherwise you will need the bearings. Well done. Harold.

Paul, You may already know this (in which case I apologise for preaching to the converted) but I think you will find that your first problem will be removing the existing wheels. If the wagon frames are cast metal, the axles will be 2mm diameter and will need to be drifted out; new axles are thinner and have pointed ends so will need brass bearings inserted in the resulting 2mm holes in the frames into which the new, pin point axles will be a perfect fit - provided you space the bearings properly. Its not the easiest job but you have the choice of top hat bearings (they have a "brim") and plain ones - you won't be able to use pairs of top hats because they are fitted from inside the frame and wil not allow the new axles to be inserted. On the other hand, the plain bearings can be inserted from outside the frames and will need glueing in once the new wheelsets have been inserted. I found that a top hat bearing for one end of each axle and a plain one for the other was the best way to do it. Make sure that the wheelsets remain free to rotate but not to fall out. I hope this helps, Harold.

On 15 May, I posted about my SQ13 camera. At that time, i had been unable to assess the sound quality of its recordings because I had only used it outdoors when inside its weatherproof casing; as one might expect, in those circumstances there is no airborne sound. Yesterday, I created this video with the camera sitting on a flat wagon on my loft layout, within a short train pulled by Hornby's L1 2-6-4 tank engine fitted with a Loksound V4 DCC decoder. The subtitles contain my personal comments on the result. See what you think. Harold.

SQ13 is a cube (29mm) - has sound and 1080p - also woeks with an app. Mine cost about £24 including delivery. I havent used it yet on the layout but did use it on my ebike alongside a GoPro. If it is of interest, i will provide a link but it is not railway related (and lasts about 25 minutes!). i looked up the details of your circular camera, ITG, and saw that people were having trouble getting it to record at 1080p - I understand the instructions are not clear. If you do work it out it should give much improved detail - on the other hand, perhaps the claim is false. I think one of the attractions of an onboard video is that it shows up the shortcomings of one's modelling - and shames one into improving it! Harold.

Well done - hope it pleases.

There is a range of SQ cameras which are small and very cheap, but reviews of some of them report overheating or other problems. I bought the SQ13 in the hope that it would suit my 009 layout but, as one of the larger ones at 29mm cube, it was too big - which was why I experimented with the Mobius. The SQ13 has "real time transmission" which is accessible wirelessly via an app - not tried it yet but it coould be interesting.

If the vacuum has a canister rather than a sealed dust bag, you can always recover any bits of scenery accidentally removed! I bought a hand-held vaccuum for my extensive loft layout which has 4' deep boards and found the vacuum too heavy to hold steady at arms length. In the end I bought this Draper https://www.drapertools.com/product/06489/10L-Wet-and-Dry-Vacuum-Cleaner-(1000W) - it was £46 in 2014! It has a kit of small tools that are excellent for a 00 gauge layout. i hang the unit on my shoulder by the included strap and use the small tools attached to the hose without the extension tubes. I don't know whether any of Drapers hand-held vacuums are supplied with the mini-tools but they might be a better option if they are. Harold.

It depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to be able remotely to watch what the camera sees in real time, you need a tiny CCTV camera. If you want to be able to save the footage and view it afterwards, there are options but I have not tried anything small enough to fit into a cab of a 00 gauge loco.. Some years ago, i tried the CCTV route and gave up because, as soon as the camera moved, the picture broke up as shown in the video posted by Great Central; I have since tried a number of rechargeable "spy" cameras and found the best footage was from the Mobius, which I sat on a bogie well wagon. This link shows a video of my loft layout - the on-board bits are as recorded on Mobius whilst the other bits are on other cameras. The mobius can be seen at the very end of the video (total time about 10 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnb953slGAw&list=PLlmbzWdIMyBmvWSPklGOGnvlRDeAGbmvE&index=7 The mobius is now available as Mobius 2. More recently, I wanted to do some on-board footage of my 009 layout and struggled to find a camera small enough to cope with the limited clearances with scenic structures - but found that the mobius would cope if stood on its side! I scratch built a very low well wagon to suit and then rotated the video during editing. Harold.

That's all very well if the model turntable is positioned where there is good line of sight for allignment of the tracks but, if not, then indexing becomes essential. Harold.

Since you're looking for a short-term solution, why not just remove the DCC Concepts circuit breaker and keep it for the new projext? Harold.

I have been developing a 009 gauge layout over the last 2-3 years, which is about 2m x 1m; it has four boards (all different dimensions!) and the bracings are all 2" x 1" softood whilst the outside frames are 3" deep ply sandwiches. Admittedly, whilst at home, the layout sits level on a table but there has been no warping of any of the boards. The carpentry is not particularly pretty with inaccurate butt joints and everything is PVA glued and screwed. The top is 6mm birch ply but the ply-sandwich frames are of cheap ply. I have had it set up on legs several times at the club without stability or alignment problems. Harold.

I am neither a carpenter nor an engineer but I think this is being over-thought. The board will be only 4' x 2'6"; if good quality, birch ply is used for the top, and there is a a 4" deep frame frame on all four sides, I believe that a simple cross bracing from top left to bottom right, and top right to bottom left, will be more than adequate. As far as i can tell, it would also avoid all locations for possible point motors. Harold.

When I faced the same problem for my 009 layout, I decided to make my own (see picture). The posts are matchsticks and the chain link is Isopon aluminium mesh intended for fibreglass repairs to car bodies. The mesh is easily cut with a craft knife and I folded over the top 2mm with pliers so that it was less dangerous to the fingers. I sprayed it with a rattle can of grey primer before brushing on acrylic paints. The mesh is a little over-scale but I think it does the job. For adhesive I used Rocket Card Glue Harold. PS - don't know why the picture is on its side - If I rotate it before uploading, it appears on its other side!

If you are looking for working lights, Kytes Lights do quite a range. https://www.kyteslights.com/index.php?view=all&cPath=24 I have used the garain of rice versions but mostly are now LEDs I think. Harold.

You will need a very wide helix to do better than a 1:50 incline. £rd radius curves need a 4'wide helix (approx) and in one circuit the track would be less than 13'long; in that distance (for 00 gauge) you would need to rise (say) 3"; ie 3:156. If installing a double track, the inner circle would be steeper. You could of course add operational interest by double heading the trains up the helix but then you woould probably need a place to stop to uncouple at the top. I have a steep incline (insanely steep) on my loft layout and need three steam locos to haul 20 loaded wagine to the top round two, 90 degree curves using Hornby 3rd radius . The track rises some 15" in about 25'. Harold.