Theakerr

Also forgot to mention that when I first started doing work on my Friend's DCC locos (bear in mind I have DC) I had exactly the same experience you describe and like you I tried different blanks. Turned out I was not pushing the blank all the way home. Now I make a pint of visually examining if the blank is all the way home. Several times even though i know what to do I have seen there is about a 0.5mm gap and a fairly forceful push is required to get them all the way home.

I had something similar happen when I was doing some work on a friends DCC loco and i wanted to test it on my DC layout. Turned out to be the internal pin connection. Found it by doing the jiggle test. As i remember I sort of flattened the pin on the blank so that it was a tighter fit in two planes.

The mystery of the electronic media. On Tuesday I made two posts, one is on the thread the other seems to have disappeared. So, to the other. Does anyone have a way of removing the overhead electric warning flashes from a Hornby loco without damaging the finish? Thanks Thank Gentlemen for the replies. I have tried using a toothpick and aircraft perspex polish with essentially no impact. I have some t-cut and will give it a try. I think at this point the aim will be not to remove it but to dull it down so that it doesn't jump out. I don't mind a little weathering and will be OK with it on the front end but not so keen on the body.

The mystery of the electronic media. On Tuesday I made two posts, one is on the thread the other seems to have disappeared. So, to the other. Does anyone have a way of removing the overhead electric warning flashes from a Hornby loco without damaging the finish? Thanks

Another of Belfast Jacks videos. It is in HD and whilst it does jump about a bit there is some fascinating stuff, especially the make-up of some of the trains and some very strange (to me) coaches. One clip that i found of particular interest is at 2.23 where a fitted freight has the Guard's Van between 5 and 7 wagons from the train end. Something I remember on the Grimsby to London fast fish trains but strongly rebutted when I mentioned it in a post. Especially since my father told me it was done to give the Guard a better ride.

Help! Has anyone removed the overhead electric warning labels on a Hornby loco without damaging the finish?

I replaced all 4 with wires

Tony, I suggest that you have essentially re-enforced the quote which was 'so writing something that looks like a well informed caption is a quick and easy answer!' The quote, which BTW was actually posted by someone else on the thread, actually says that looks like. You do put in the effort and research and your captions are respected and believed by people who know you, your knowledge base and your ethics. However, and as I said I have seen it in many areas, there is a growing segment of society that is prepared to believe anything if it even slightly appears authentic. You have only to look at Social Media where Pseudo Science or even make believe Science is automatically considered the truth.

'so writing something that looks like a well informed caption is a quick and easy answer!' I think this is a big part of the problem together with reliable sources departing this earth. I started to see this phenomena in Science before I left and now see it many walks of life. Basically it seems that Society, including publishers want a quick and easy answer and if an individual who is 'dynamic, authoritative, positive, charismatic, go go go etc' gives them one, they and the Great Unwashed Public (My Wife just hates when I use that expression) will be believed. Just so much easier for everyone.

As i understand it they ran pretty well anywhere on the old LNER. One way to find out is to check out the various engine shed allocations taking a selection of sheds spread out of the region.

When you removed the motor from the chassis and tested it, was the decoder still wired in? I would love to get my hands on this because it sounds like a fascinating challenge. Unfortunately I live in Canada. However if I had my hands on it my diagnostic route would be as follows 1) with motor in the loco, remove all wires, connect DC to motor directly and try running the entire assembly on DC only. If that doesn't work has to be a drive train issue, I did have to 'rework with some fibre washer' a friends chassis in a L1 because the motor was not lining up with the gear train 2) if above works well, then find the leads from the wheel pick-ups as they come out of the chassis block and wire them directly to the motor. If that works it is a DCC problem. If it does not then it is a pick-up/wire problem. Again on a friends A4 I found that one of the pick-up wires had broken at the bend as it went inside the frame. The plastic covering appeared intact but on close observation you could see a tear. I am not sure if the O8 is a direct wire from the pickups or if it is plunger/contact type. Without taking one of my locos apart it is difficult to describe this system but it consists of wheel wipers on a sort of bent strip with the bent strip making contact with rivets in the chassis block or some variant of this, i.e. a two part pick-up system. It is effective but can be a right pain to get correct after assembly and again. On more than one loco the wire to the motor from the contact strip is riveted in but with only a few, like 2/4 thin wires actually making the contact. 3) Continue from there. Do you have Facetime, if you do pm me? I enjoy challenges like this.

I have sort of followed the rule of thirds in that no train is longer than a 1/3 of the visible layout. I have also used compression in that New Waltham station is about 2 coaches short. This means that a 9/10 coach train of Mk1s sticks out of the platform just as it should for Grimsby (and Lincoln) where many trains would result in the level crossing being closed for an extended time much to the frustration of motorists. Also, because I don't model exact consists (I rather remember the Cleethorpes to London/Peterborough trains being made up of what was available and anticipated passenger load), I can use a smaller full brake to make up a 10 coach set whereas the real thing would normally be an 11/13 coach set. I can also run a coal train with about 40 wagons. I do find it interesting and this is where I tend to hold to the rule of thirds is that a 10 coach train or 38 wagons looks OK (to me) but go to an 11 coach train or 45 wagons and it looks wrong.

At some point there was a significant aftermarket industry for up-grade and kits for non-available locomotives in North America. I recently helped breakup a large layout started in the 60's and there were all kinds of stuff from re-motorizing kits, etched detailing and cast bits, re-wheeling, decals for re-numbering, etc. When I first got back into Model Railways in about 1980, we started with NA outline, then I saw some Hornby stuff at a show in Winnipeg and it was quiet superior to the NA stuff, so we went UK. I would say that within 5 to 7 years the NA was street ahead of the Hornby stuff and it is only now that Hornby (and Bachmann) are getting close. Some of the US stuff is un-believable but for the most part the prices are not too bad.

Interesting because I got rid of mine. I just couldn't make it run properly let alone start at a remote location where the hand of god could not reach. I put new pick-up,s extra pick-ups, serviced the motor and in the end concluded the motor itself had to be defective. Replaced with a Bachmann unit.

Hate to say it but this is news to me. I have put 5 old bodies onto new chassis and they line up perfectly. I have encountered only two issues, 1) the piston slides on some new models is way off horizontal, can be corrected but a bit of a faff and 2) a fair amount of additional weight is required to get the pulling power of the old ones and there isn't a lot of space for the additional weight. If I was doing a DCC conversion I would put the decoder in the tender. On the old ones drill and 'tap' into each chassis half (I have done this to put tender pickups and I have seen pictures of others doing the same for a tender location, on the new ones just run new wires into the tender this will give you more room to add weight to the loco.

I came across this video a while back because I had watched some good stuff from Belfast Jack on Vimeo. Now on U-tube in 'HD' it has some superb shots of Kings Cross and surrounds. Note, if someone else has posted this video and i missed it I apologize for 'double posting'

Back in the day a lot of people, including me, installed a RELCO unit to keep the tracks clean. I'm not really sure how effective they were at keeping the tracks clean but in my opinion it sure improved the starting of some of those old locos. I'm not sure if they are still made, but Hornby did do something similar and they do come up second hand. Ironically over the last year I have sold as part of estate sales 5 of them for Can$5.00 and they have gone almost as soon as they were listed.

If there is anything just waiting to be 3D printed it is Bay Windows

Woodcock29, My mistake, that J3 looks to me just like a J11.

Woodcock29, Love the pictures of Firsby, fairly familiar with the area as my first wife (deceased) came from Louth and we did a lot of our courting in that general area finding the one (front) room pubs. In your pictures I see a LNER J11, I also see that it has a vacuum brake but it does not have a vacuum ejector pipe. I posted a comment a couple of pages back about discovering that both my Little Engines J11s did not have a vacuum ejector pipe and that I would probably have to fit one. I am sort of hoping that you can tell me something i have missed and I do not have to fit them. Thanks

There has been frequent mention about the power of observation recently. However, observation is defiantly not my favorite word or activity right now. Last night I was in the process of servicing one of my Little Engine's J11s and for what ever reason I noticed it did not have a Vacuum Ejector Pipe (Should this have capitals?). With mounting dread I looked at my other Little Engine's J11. Also, no vacuum ejector pipe (no capitals so at least one will be correct). I only built them 33+ years ago and they have run more or less constantly since then with one being my pride and Joy. For 33+ years I did not observe the omission and the world was great. Now every time I look at them I will see the omission. I suppose I will have to order a couple and try to fix them but I am more than a bit nervous because I don't want to damage the paint. I did also check my Little Engine's 04 and it has no vacuum ejector pipe but that is OK because it did not have vacuum braking.

I have found that shipping costs from the UK are not standard at all. As a result I now try to contact a seller and ask the shipping costs. In many cases they come back with a reasonable cost. In the case of the DJH gearbox I did not do that because I wanted their gearbox and motor for the current project knowing that it is an excellent unit and knowing that they had a suitable motor for it. I have used a High Level gearbox for one build and was very happy with it so it is good to know that they now have an alternate motor. Might even have a look and save the DJH for a planned project later this year.

A while back I reported that I had installed a set of Accurascale couplings, an instanter and a screw link. I am pleased to say that both have passed the 25 cycle test in my most severe train formation. Very happy with them and if we can work something out on the post will be using them on pretty well all this winters planned construction. Will update at about 100 cycles.

In a recent post the DJH motor gearbox is referenced. It is an excellent combination and I have used more than a few in my locos. However, and this is information for the ex-pats on the thread, I have probably purchased my last unit from them. 60 pounds UK after GST taken off, 35 pounds shipping. Shipping UK products can be very expensive and it is worth asking what the shipping cost is before committing. Some companies seen to be able to get reasonable rates others ?

I would suggest hardwiring the chip and the motor is the way to go. I run DC, but on two occasions I had poor running and eliminating the PCB board was the answer. I have done the same on a friends DCC fitted loco. Based on the forum some PCB boards do appear to degenrate and it seems to apply to both Hornby and Bachmann. Why is a bit of a mystery because there isn't much there to go wrong, but! One of the more interesting situations I came across was on two Bachmann DMUs. They ran sort of then one day one stopped running in the storage siding that is in a different room. Got there and there was all kinds of smoke coming from it and I though for sure it was FUBAR. Anyway took it to my work bench set it up and off it went, no problem at all. So now I take apart the second one and you would not believe the amount of oil on the commuter shaft. Depsite cleaning it when ran on the bench at full voltage, lots of smoke and then nothing and excellent running. That was at least six years ago and both are still running. Posted my experience on the web after others had experienced problems and turns out i was not the only one to go through the smoke phase.