smokebox

Yes, the pin lengths do vary slightly.

The Select is not listed as having been given a warrant of conformance. https://www.nmra.org/nmra-conformance-warrants

Guessing that the class 42 picks up power from one rail on the front bogie and from the other rail on the rear bogie, therefore stalling when the loco is straddling the two different power suplies.

Powdered graphite is what I use but only very occasionally.

Sounds like they are surface mount LEDs. These can be extremely small.

It was just a reminder. Some folk don't realise.

Be aware that resetting the decoder returns it to address 3.

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Pin 1 (orange wire) should be indicated by a mark of some sort, such as the number 1 or a small triangle on the socket pcb. If not, it doesn't matter which way round you fit the decoder - no damage will be done if it's the wrong way round but any lights that are fitted won't work.

You may have the wheel set reversed, left to right. One wheel on each axle is often insulated from the axle and one is not. Not specifically this model.

That link can be shortened to https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383056930491 Everything from the question mark onwards isn't needed

Fair enough. I didn't know that.

Sounds like the motor isn't quite centred properly on the point. PS You shouldn't need 6 irjs, just 2 on the frog rails.

It can be found on Pinterest.

I have no knowledge of these coaches but are you perhaps confusing the coupling pocket, which fits with a dovetail, and the coupling itself, which has a "swallow tail" which plugs into the coupling pocket?

My guess is that this is a remote controller that is designed to plug into a base unit, unless you know otherwise?

Headstocks in this area. Near to the site of the old Babbington colliery in Nottingham is a pub called The Headstocks. Many headstocks are quite tall but there are some very "dumpy" ones, as modelled by Hornby

You could try contacting Hornby as they are pretty generous when it comes to faulty items, especially when they know they are known to fail.

I don't think you can use a CDU at all. Check with Gaugemaster.

DCC isn't an ordinary square wave. It is very irregular. content://com.android.chrome.FileProvider/images/screenshot/1641316679031-1733783317.gif This DCC logo symbolises the DCC waveform.

To read DCC voltage accurately you need a true RMS (Root Mean Square) voltage multimeter, a Rramp Meter ( https://dcccentral.com.au/shop/rramp-meter-v1/ ) or an oscilloscope. Many ordinary digital multimeters will give a reasonably close reading if they are used on the AC voltage scale but some meters will be very inaccurate. DCC voltage is usually about 15 volts, not 12volt. Some systems have DCC voltages of 18 volts or so. If you want to rectify DCC to obtain a dc supply it would be best to construct a bridge rectifier from 4 high speed diodes, ordinary diodes may not work properly due to the high frequency of DCC (very roughly about 8 KHz)

I would imagine that you would want it hard for best wear resistance. It would still be soft enough to be hammered (with a small hammer) to form a rivet.

I've read of people using small pieces of copper wire from mains house wiring for rivets.

Some controllers consider 0003 to be a long address and 3 or 03 as a short address.

I think this should work The diodes provide a current path bypassing whichever is the open switch at the start of travel. The open switch closes as movement begins. When the other end of travel switch opens at the end of travel, it stops the motor. The circuit is then ready to run in the opposite direction.