Martin_R

I rang the shop this morning about the problem and to quote "we have now sold out" so there was no replacement available only a refund! They had, however, had problems reported with poor runners and one other non runner. They had already looked at that one for the customer and found a possible issue with the seating of the circuit board so suggested that I remove the 4 securing screws and gently lift the board a little and then re-seat it keeping it aligned and square. I did that and guess what - I now have a nice quiet smooth runner even through some fairly complex pointwork so it looks like mine may have been just an assembly issue or perhaps a case of the dreaded "design clever" although I cannot see what just lifting the board did but it worked on mine.

Picked up my 40 yesterday but when I got home and placed on track no sign of life from the motor although the cab and directional lights are all working correctly! I swopped the chip for a blanking plate and checked on DC. The same results so looks like Monday is take it back and hope there is another one in stock.

Does this help?

Hi Adrian, Thanks for the info. It was made a few years ago when things I bought in the morning were made in the afternoon and painted in the evening - research was minimal! I guess the paint and weathering have conspired to cover the panel lines. Main thing is it still looks good to me and has no problem being pushed through some of my worst track formations. Thank again, Martin.

A good few years ago I found a plastic bag full of castings plus bits and pieces at a toy fayre. There were also some Gresley bogie parts (plastic) in the bag. I bought it, I think, for about £1:50, I sorted the bits out and it made up into the Brake Tender B 964106 shown in the attached pic (scanned from the original photo). I haven't been able to find my original notes and info regarding the diagramme No or the maker of the kit - any ideas anyone? I wonder how it will compare with the Hornby Mag one. Martin.

144 007 arrived this morning - absolutely fantastic! Smooth, silent and runs like a dream, there is nothing as good as this for the price- sorry meant say any price! Thanks Charlie and Arran you have produced the 'Model of the Year' without doubt, I can't wait to see the 143. Martin.

Just had e-mail from a certain shop in Sheffield - R3126 52XX 5243 BR Black now reduced to £87:50.

Good news - D6327 is out of the workshop, has just been on a successful test run and now awaiting duties! DCC supplies e-mailed me yesterday to say that it was fixed [capacitor problem] so picked it up this morning. Now runs like a dream and I guess based on the other 3 it will get even better once fully run in. Many thanks Dave for your helpful comments and also DCC Suplies for excellent service. Martin.

D6327 is now in the workshop for investigation and repair - sounds just like the 1960's doesn't it!

Hi Dave Thanks for your very prompt response. This was the very last one in stock so not going to be able to exchange it but the good news is that DCC Supplies is only a 10 minute drive for me - bad news is I am unlikely to leave there without opening my wallet yet again! I will update you on how I get on. Thanks again, Martin.

Picked up a brand new D6327 yesterday and having problems already. I normally run my loco's in on a rolling road with a regulated 8v DC supply but D6327 just buzzed and barely manages to turn a wheel. Increasing the supply to 10v and it does run but painfully slow. Increased to 11.5v and no life at all! Back to 10v and it runs again!?! I tried it on a test track with a basic Hornby R 965 controller and got the same results - comes to life very slowly but as you reach maximum on the controller it stops dead - turn it down and it starts to move again. Very strange. I have 3 of the initial release headcode versions - D6313, D6319 and D6320 and they are excellent runners on DC using the basic Hornby R 965 controller. Not a very happy customer so will be calling DCC Supplies in the morning!

Passing through Hereford today and called into Hereford Model Centre and was suprised to see a SR 2-BIL for sale. They are always worth a phone call [01432 352809] if looking for something hard to get. No connection other than a very satisfied long term customer!

Here is some info on the magnetic couplings - hope it helps. With regard to topping and tailing It was done on a friends large layout with very generous curves but I suspect that I will come to grief on tighter curves. A 5 wagon rake through pointwork was no problem with Class 66's at both ends but when I get another chance will try a full 10 wagon rake on some more complex track. Right - on to the couplings. The couplings are made from lengths of 3mm brass tube 7.5mm long with the end flared out and then drilled/reamed to accept a 3mm magnet. I had planned to use 2mm magnets but felt that there was more risk of the wagons parting under load. The magnets are glued in and the other end crimped slightly to fit in the coupling slot in the wagon. A small hole was drilled in the wagon and in the brass tube at the crimped end. Ensure that there is adequate clearance in the hole in the brass tube to allow side to side and some up and down movement when fitted. When everything is assembled and tested OK give the couplings a clean up and a coat of paint, I used Humbrol RC416. This method of coupling is now my preferred method for fixed wagon and coach rakes – one word of warning wagons are now ‘handed’ and will only couple one way round due to the magnets so make sure you assemble both the couplings and wagons correctly for your needs. Small hole drilled in wagon Brass tube and magnet Flare tube and drill/ream to 3mm Magnet fitted Crimp end and drill clearance hole Fixing screw Test fitting to wagon Check alignment and movement is OK Clean and paint Magnets used Screws used

Brilliant wagons - just finished modding my Network Rail Blue/Grey set, correcting the position of the the brake handwheels on the bogies and fitting magnetic couplings in place of the supplied coupling bars. These are slightly larger in diameter than the supplied bars but being fixed means you place them on the track and just push together till they latch - simples! A 10 wagon rake topped and tailed looked great and no problems with couplings parting either. Wiil post some pics if anyone is interested.

Setchfields in Poole still had a BR 2-8-0T for sale last week, not sure if it was R3124 or R3126.

Looks like another batch of the original 2-BIL's have started to arrive at some retailers - Kernow showing both BR and Southern versions in stock.

Having recently acquired a Bratchell class 321 EMU I had to find a way to power it. Checking with Bratchell the recommended method is to use a Black Beetle with 12mm disc wheels on a 35.5mm wheelbase for the P7-4 power bogie on the PMSO car. Now I’m not a great fan of Black Beetles on the basis of high cost and level of performance so I set out to find a cost effective alternative method of making it run reliably. A Black Beetle power bogie plus dummy would set me back the best part of £80 and 2 power bogies around £110 so I had a budget to work to. In the past I have motorised a Bratchell Class 150 using much modified Bachmann Class 25 chassis parts – a lot of work and it intrudes too much into the body. I have also used Heljan Class 17 chassis parts to power other DMU’s, much better but my stock of chassis parts has now dried up. Using this type of chassis can also give you a DCC option should you want it I had one of the Replica Railways powered chassis with 12mm wheels with the original intention to power a DC kits class 128 (now overtaken by the Heljan offering) so out came the callipers and yes it will fit! The bogie centres are near enough spot on but the bogie wheelbase at 34mm was 1.5mm too short. The overall chassis length was fine as was the width if the moulded step boards were removed from the Replica chassis surround. Fitting the chassis to the body. The Replica chassis is a totally self contained twin motored drive unit with DCC connections onboard. The chassis has a removable chassis surround which is used to mount under frame detail. At each end of the Replica chassis there is a cab back plate that I used as the basis for fixing the chassis unit securely to the EMU body. The chassis surround was removed and the moulded step boards are carefully cut from the Replica chassis surround to give the correct chassis width to fit inside the Bratchell body. The back plates are reversed but reversing the end plates will then make the chassis too long to fit between the coach ends. The non-pantograph end of the body needs a notch cut in it to allow a modified and narrowed back plate to fit through. The back plates are modified to match the roof profile, flat top at the pantograph end and a curved top made from plasticard is added to the narrowed back plate at the other end. 01 Chassis End Plate 02 Reversed Chassis End Plate 03 Class 321 Pantograph End 04 Class 321 non Pantograph End 05 Modified Chassis End Plate The moulded body fixings on the chassis surround need to locate against the underside of the window mouldings to give the correct ride height and the 4 end fixings need notching to clear the Bratchell moulding pips at each end – this gives a longitudinal location. The chassis should sit inside the body by 2mm to give the correct ride height. Once happy with the fit of the chassis the end plates can be fixed to the body. Remove the chassis surround and fit into the body with end plates ensuring it is square and has an equal 2mm inset along both sides. I used a 5 minute epoxy to fix the end plates to the inner roof of the body. Once set remove the chassis surround and re-assemble chassis and re-fit to body. 06 Step Board Removed 07 Notched Body Locator 08 Frame Location Pantograph End 09 Frame Located Non Pantograph End 10 End Plate Fixed Pantograph End 11 End Plate Fixed Non Pantograph End The original Bratchell chassis details are used by cutting off the ends leaving just the centre section with the under frame equipment on. The raised ribs along the inside edge need to be carefully removed making sure to retain the original raised location rib which will hold the chassis detail in place inside the body. 12 Bratchell Chassis 13 Chassis Centre Section Detail 14 Chassis Inner Ribs 15 Chassis Ribs Removed 16 Location Rib Retained 17 Chassis Detail Fitted Into Body Modifying the Replica bogie side frames and P7-4 Bogie detail. Here I had a choice, leave the Bratchell frames as they are and ignoring the length mismatch or shorten them. I decided to modify the Bratchell frames as the axle box to wheel centre misalignment was visibly obvious. The Replica bogie side frames are prised off the bogies and profiled to match the Bratchell P7-4 frame shape. The Bratchell bogie frames are cut into 3 sections, trimmed to size and fixed to the Replica bogie side frames ensuring the axle boxes and wheel centres line up. I refitted the NEM coupling boxes to the bogies and also fitted NEM coupling boxes to the bogies on the other vehicles. My choice of couplings has changed recently following the article on magnetic couplings in Traction Magazine back last year. Magnetic couplings in various configurations are now my coupling of choice for DMU/EMU units (coaches and wagons rakes too) where electrical through connections are not required. 18 Replica Bogie Frames Original & Modified 19 P7-4 Bogie Frame 20 P7-4 Frame as Supplied 21 Modifying P7-4 Frame 22 Assembled P7-4 Modified Frame 23 P7-4 Modified Frame

I've also had numerous problems with Bachmann conductive couplings going right back to the earliest Class 150's so I resorted to home made PCB strip couplings and I never have problems now. My Thumper now has this type of coupling and gives no problems running in either direction through quite complex pointwork.

If anyone is still looking for the SR 2-BIL R3161 or NRM BR version R3177 Hereford Model Centre are still showing stock. Both versions priced at £98.95. No connection other than a very satisfied customer!

This version does look superb (SYP plus grey roof) but as D8405 is listed as 'weathered' I plan to hold fire on a pre-order until I see the quality of the weathering on the production version.

I've had this a number of times with the original Hornby decoders - loco runs OK in one direction on analog DC but either sits there or gives a little jump in the other direction. I changed the decoders to either a Bachmann or Lenz and no problems with the added advantage of much better running on DCC. I thought that the latest Hornby decoders were now free of this problem!?!

And there was me thinking it was a Class 508 on the horizon!

Its a wee bit longer than a couple of years, I became aware during 2008 that there were problems with split bodies and chassis extensions breaking away on early issue Class 31's. My first 31 [31 270] started to show slight signs of chassis droop in May 2009 but it took till August 2011 for all 3 of them to actually fail and Hornby to finally accept I had a genuine problem with my class 31's. All 3 failed chassis were sent back to Hornby on 9 September 2011 and 2 new chassis and bodies were supplied in October 2011 for 31 270 and D 5512 but I eventually accepted in June 2012 a complete replacement loco [31 439 in Regional Railways] for 31 110. My second 31 110 [renumbered as 31 134] started to show signs of chassis failure in October 2011 but couldn't be bothered to waste my time with trying to get Hornby Service to fix it so I am rebuilding the chassis in brass! A search of the RM archive will probably give some of the earlier information.

To my knowledge Hornby have never admitted officially to a problem with the chassis of Class 31's as all the 'problem' chassis replaced by Hornby have been on an individual customer by customer basis. Initially 3 rotting Class 31's were reported by numerous modellers - D5512 R2420 in green from manufacturing year 2004 31 110 R2421 in yellow / grey [Dutch] from manufacturing year 2004 31 270 R2413 in weathered blue from manufacturing year 2005 But recently another has now appeared on the list in the shape of 31 111 R2571 manufacturing year 2006 so it could be that some more early versions will fail. These include 31 452 in Fragonset from manufacturing year 2006 and the Model Rail limited edition 31 130 "Calder Hall Power Station" from manufacturing year 2005 may fail as the years go by - a really expensive ticking time bomb!