daftbovine

A bit of eBay madness, a Huntley & Palmers Peckett went for 274 pounds last week! I know they are quite sought after but someone must have really wanted this particular loco.

They have introduced stronger ties to Hornby with the latest issue but that doesn't really bother me as long as the content remains more or less the same.

A question about Huntley & Palmers, I put a picture of my Peckett on FaceBook and someone remarked that he'd seen them (the real ones) shunting box vans, could that be right? He might have been thinking of the boilerless loco? After reading through the whole of this thread I gathered that the Pecketts were used for shunting coal. How did H&P get the basic ingredients for their biscuits on site? Would it have been by road or rail? I know virtually nothing about industrial railways so I'm finding the whole subject intriguing.

Our local shop had three (one of each livery) which all went, with me buying the last which was the Huntley and Palmers version. I doubt there are any more Pecketts in South Africa as the model railway market is very small, and the shop I went to is the only one in the country that has reasonable stocks of British outline models.

A friend of mine is in the process of building an Emett loco and two coaches, he is very impressed by the way the kits have been designed, packaged and how well they fit together. He has had to do minimal fettling of the parts.

I'm in South Africa and the shop got one of each livery but it seems the locals don't know what a fuss this loco has caused. They tend to favour large tender locos.

The devil made me do it. I went into our local hobby shop with a gift voucher intending to buy some Metcalfe kits and spotted a Huntley & Palmers loco, of course I had to look at it and then I had to buy it! One of my most impulsive buys ever but I have no regrets : )

I own 3 of the models on the OP's list and they still run very well which must count for something. I think the Jubilee is still a very nice loco. I think the Farish prototype Deltic and Dapol Terrier and Q1 are contenders too. The Deltic is one of those locos I just had to have. The Terrier is one I didn't think would ever get made in N and likewise the Q1.

I think it's looking very good. It is similar in size to my 00 layout which also breaks into two halves. Mine rests on top of a pool table much to the disgust of my son who is the owner of the table.

My locos with split gears are: A Poole Farish 0-6-0 Jinty and a class 33, both bought second hand. The class 33 was bought when they came out and only ever ran in one direction and not very well. The Jinty was bought recently for spares and (is at a guess) 2000 vintage. I also bought a second hand Bachmann Farish Midland Mainline HST set a few years ago and had the loco serviced by BR lines, among other problems it had split gears. The first two have yet to be repaired. The HST has been run occasionally on a club layout and is fine. My newer locos without split gears are: Bachmann Farish (DCC fitted): a Warship, a class 37 and a prototype Deltic, they mainly get run on the club layout every three months or so and are fine too. Most of the time they are kept in their boxes and have been oiled sparingly. I live in Africa and the temperature is usually in the lower twenties centigrade although it can get below zero in the winter. I have always made a point of running my locos smoothly and avoiding sudden changes in direction. I hope this post will be of help and will not muddy the waters. By the way, do Dapol locos ever get split gears?

I gave my diesels a run and I'm relieved to say they are all fine. Some have not been run for at least six months. Not everyone will be able to run their locos every two weeks, I'm not sure how the man at Bachmann came up with his two week rule. Not everyone will be able to run their locos every two weeks, I'm thinking specifically of people with exhibition layouts that might be displayed a few times a year. I think I have just been very lucky, I just wish the luck would extend to steam locos, my Farish SR class N has mangled valve gear and that's not going to be an easy fix.

I use Labelle 107 which I bought well over ten years ago. The bottle states that it is compatible with plastics. I oil the locos very sparingly. Most of my locos are Farish steam with plastic gears, the Farish diesels are a class 33, two class 37s, a Warship and a Deltic. We live in an area with a relatively mild climate and the railway room is on the cool side of the house. When not in use my locos are stored in their boxes. I will give all my diesels a run tomorrow - fingers crossed.

If locos are supposed to be run every two weeks then I'm in real trouble. I have a quite large collection of N gauge locos, mainly Farish and a rather a small layout. I don't run all my locos on a regular basis. I can't believe I'm the only one. Touch wood, I only have one loco with split gears, a class 33 diesel bought second hand. It sounds as though I have been remarkably lucky so far. I have always thought that sudden stops and changes in direction might cause split gears, what do others think? Could temperature have an effect on gears? If for instance a layout and locos were housed in a garden shed, loft or garage with extremes of temperature.

It's worth having one just to remind yourself how much N gauge has improved. I was given one, it had two speeds - stop and flat out and it screeched and lurched around the track. Most of Lima's efforts in N leave a lot to be desired due to their dreadful running qualities and Lima's relaxed attitude to scale.

I've only got one and it made it to Africa intact. Part of the journey was in my daughter's hand luggage. Mine came from Rails of Sheffield and I asked them to check it before sending it out. I must have been lucky. Mind you, even if bits had fallen off I would have stuck them back on rather than send it back from here. I hope you get yours sorted out in time.

I agree with Jeff that "It is important to add depth by subduing the colours in the far distance and to keep the detail to a minimum." This isn't done very often and makes a big difference to any backdrop or painting.

Golden Fleece of this parish, see the post above, is an expert at re painting Dublo locos. He has easy to follow YouTube clips. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing them.

If I were you, I would try and lengthen and curve some of the inner sidings, they don't have to be perfectly straight and can follow the shape of the outer oval.

I took my loco to show a friend. When I opened the box it looked as though it had been covered in frost. It turns out that the opaque soft plastic sheet at the bottom of the clear plastic packaging is coated with talc. Luckily it all came off with a soft brush. I've a few locos that have similar packaging, it is the first time I've ever seen this.

I am very pleased to report that my BR late crest Terrier has made it intact to South Africa. Who knows? It could be the only one in the country as O gauge is not popular here. I now have Terriers in N, OO and O. This one has travelled from China to Wales, from Wales to Sheffield, from Sheffield to London and from London to Johannesburg. The last leg was in my daughter's back pack. I am very impressed with the quality of the model and the level of detail in O gauge. A friend who has a shop here leant me some old Lima sectional track which I set up on the floor of our entrance hall because it was the only place that the track would fit into. My loco runs quietly and smoothly but is destined for a diorama as O gauge is out of the question for me due to space and monetary constraints. I have bought two ModelU loco crew to add to the footplate. The dreaded chimney gap does worry me so I will tackle it soon but it is a minor fault in the scheme of things. All in all I'm very happy.

There is also Wheels of Steel in Gray's Antique Market near Bond Street. It is a small shop with mainly second hand 00. It pays to call ahead to check on their opening hours which can be a bit erratic. I was there in October last year, I didn't buy anything as I model mainly in N but I always visit the shop if I'm in London just on the off chance.

I have just downloaded the December edition of Hornby Magazine, it contains a two page step by step article on how to fit sound to the Terrier using a Zimo decoder and speaker. If you are planning to add sound to your loco it might be worth looking at the magazine next time you are in WH Smiths.

Now that the BR black versions have arrived who's going to be the first to model Langstone Bridge in 0 gauge? I'll get my coat.

Regarding the box/courier question, mine has arrived at my daughter's flat in London (I'm not sure in what state) it might need another journey to Africa. The courier costs will probably be prohibitive so that's why I was thinking that the box might be left in London (for delivery at another time) and the loco sent to Africa in less bulky and heavy packaging to save on costs. It could be quite risky though.

A question for those of you who already have their locos: I'm thinking of ways to save weight should I need to get mine sent by courier. As the cardboard box seems to be rather big and heavy and doesn't guarantee an intact loco, do you think the loco would survive in transit in just the see through plastic packaging and bubble wrap?