Il Grifone

Someone has bid over 1000€. For that I would expect rather more than this: “Funktion nicht geprüft, es sei denn es ist explizit im Angebot so beschrieben.” It must be exceedingly rare!

If the power car runs directly connected to the controller, you have eliminated both as the cause of the fault. Therefore it would appear to be the power clip, Try touching the wires directly to the rails, without the power clip connected. If the train then runs (as I would expect) the clip is faulty. I suspect this will have a suppression capacitor built in. This could be short circuit or just leaky and causing th e controller to shut down or maybe it is making a poor contact to the track, A multimeter is always useful and a cheap one is quite adequate for model railway use.

Is this any help? https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/ceci-nest-pas-une-pipe-after-the-deluge-reworking-ratio.6787/ Having built a pair of these (back in the day when they were still 'new') i would suggest the axleboxes require replacement with something more like a GWR axlebox.

I'd test the power car with a good 9V battery across the pickups, which should make it operate. If not - return for replacement. On the other hand, if it does function, the fault lies with the track (unlikely) or the power supply (likely). Again the battery across the track terminals will prove the point.

That rather clobbers my suggestion!🙄

I'd just isolate the power feed to the siding with a switch. Normally the points would do this, but it depends on how they're wired.

The real thing uses helices so they obviously get them to work. As always with gradients: As large a radius as possible As little incline as possible The rolling stock should be light and free running (too little weight is not compatible with sharp curvature). I find set track is advisable for sharp curves. My layout had 1 in 40 2nd radius curves at each end. I found this tended to limit train length to about ten boxcars for the punier locomotives so I have reduced the gradient.

It's easier to turn the loco round than reposition the shoes however. it's quie a fiddly job. 3 rail Dublo does indeed prevent two train running. It can be done with 2 rail, however. by making one of the running rails the return rather than the centre rail. The shorting problem still exists, but 2 rail stock has plastic wheels and (usually) plastic couplings (the Dublo ones are gross and fragile) to solve this. Trix were cleverer than Dublo here, as Trix wiring for accessories also returned via the centre rail (there was a special clip*) whereas Dublo preferred two separate wires (sold more wire? though I suspect the clips cost more?). A terminal rail was an alternative of course. *For Bakelite track. I'm not sure if there was a fibre track version.

Seeing the period of the Channel Tunnel model, it is likely that the Liliput model was the only one available. I would make new sideframes for the bogies from metal sheet. They look too far gone to me.

All I can think of offhand are Dublo bogie wheels or the smaller Rivarossi rolling stock wheels. The former are solid backed pseudo-spoked, but this is unlikely to be noticeable behind the thick metal of Tri-ang bogie frames and the latter are metal tyred with plastic centres. Unfortunately both are obsolete and getting hard to obtain. Peco used to do nylon replacement wheels for Tri-ang, but these are now like hen's teeth and, intended for conversion to 'scale', could be too fine for Super 4 in any case.

Later Trix has wheels that are 100% compatible with Dublo track (as does Hornby of course). The only problems are that Trix connected the the pickups to directly to the loco chassis block which causes short circuits with Dublo stock (wheels live to chassis) as here: The other problem is the Trix (and Playcraft) drop pins are set nearer to the centre making the uncoupler rails incompatible. I suspect the Dublo stock uncoupling in the video is a result of the13½" radius of the Trix curved rails. Being steel, Trix track suffers from dirt collection more than Dublo. The smaller Trix scale is quite apparent especially with the Tri-ang stock (even the TC box car/track cleaning vehicle. No prizes for guessing that the bits of plastic make a mailbag collection bin for the Tri-ang TPO coaches. 'Supply/power' and 'return' are better used rather than 'positive' and 'negative'' as the latter alternate with direction on DC and (since we are talking Trix) have no relevance with AC. There is a neat push-contact fibre based Trix terminal rail. Bakelite track relied on small size banana plugs. The latter are quite hard to find today.

The 'tools' are made of cheese as in 'useless'. Everything Chinese can't be useless (they wouldn't be in space otherwise), but it is a good start.... One can't expect perfection in a lathe for £30, but for small jobs it should be OK. i will probably get one - if our useless governments will allow it (both UK and Italy! - Pensions not following inflation, which is their fault anyway).

Dublo wheels were not intended for scale rail. Code 100 is about their mark (Dublo track is code 125 (3 rail) or code 110 (2 rail)

Hmm looks interesting! Presumably the tailstock can be adjusted? I've got a set of similar chisels somewhere - case hardened cheese!

Help! Even Rails thought it was only worth 99p (and that is pushing it IMHO). Maybe for the bits, but £4 economy (sic) delivery makes that dubious. Edit: I wish I hadn't looked at the other nightmares!

I have had the problem of Tri-ang 10mm wheels warping - they probably had a large stock of acetate ones to use up! This is not a problem, as they go straight to bin along with the bogies! Anything with early coarse/square Tri-ang wheels gets new wheels at least. Only 'collectible' items are exceptions, but these are shelf/display fodder!

I should have said I was referring to the early Trix wheels. Later on of course they dropped these in favour of something rather finer/less coarse.

Thirty five quid can't be bad though (or didn't I look hard enough?). I would have brushed the dust off the 2251 before taking the pics though.

I still remember the way TT3 changed from "Taking over as primary scale!" to "What the heck is TT3?" seemingly almost overnight....

Ebay seemed to think I'd be interested in this load of old tat: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304737811120?_ No prizes for identifying the Items The best least bad appears to be the K's kit. followed up by the Ratio kits and the Airfix/Dapol mineral. The van in the middle would be rated higher if it were not broken. Angle strapping is very hard to repair.... £1 each maximum IMHO! The seller has a load of Trix locos at £14.99 if anyone is interested - probably not! The first Cadet 0-4-0T is even more warped than usual (acetate strikes again!) Sorry - it's 3 rail and missing the centre rail pickup. The wheels are insulated, of course, so 2 rail is a possible (though pointless - pun intended unless you use Trix track) conversion. Am I being cynical in assuming "Untested" to mean "Tested, but didn't work"?

Clocks can be made from CDs too! We have a remake of 'Lassie' that is ideal!

For any fixed rake I would use a wirelink coupling. Do the couplings extend on curves? It might be a worthwhile fitting if not. (It depeds how sharp the curves are.) A magnet fitted to the gangway connector could be an alternative. It is an idea I have to experiment with. the magnet would obviously have to pivot and it would be an advantage if the connectors were flexible. For fixed rakes a magnet and piece of tinplate would do, otherwise one has to watch the magnetic polarity.

Trix wheels are so coarse that they will not go through Dublo pointwork at all, whereas Tri-ang will albeit with a bit of bump due to the deep flanges. The B2B seems to be about 12.5mm? Increasing the B2B will allow a rough passage for rolling stock, but this is not possible with the locomotives due to gear mesh problems. Changing the wheels is the best option but finding 10mm diameter wheels to Dublo standards is not easy. The Peco conversion sets for Tri-ang will do, but are plastic and like hen's teeth these days. I have used the small 9mm size Rivarossi wheels with a Peco washer between the axle halves. These are a tad undersize and look it or one can fit Dublo wheels, which are 2mm too big in diameter, but this is an advantage with the passenger stock as it helps to disguise the smaller scale. The 'scale' coaches in particular seem narrow. The 'shortie' parcels van makes a useful LMS 42' van especially if fitted with Dublo LMS bogies*. This also solves the problem of the Trix coupling drop pin being set for steamroller wheels. (Playcraft couplingss are similar without the excuse of coarse wheels - an attempt to avoid patent claims?) Wrenn magnetic uncouplers require the trip pins set to the Trix setting to operate as well. *Scrap D3 LMS (or even early D12 BR) coaches are quite easy to find. Why Meccano Ltd saw fit to change the bogies on their coaches to an incorrect type I don't know. Petty economy or did they run off too many of the suburban type?

Caveat emptor!

As it should have done! IIRC the costs were quoted as 7 million dollars as against 5.... Not the fault of the accountants. They only supplied the figures. The buck stops at the top! The same applies to Boorish Johnson and Breksh Brexit of course! IMHO the Mini was an awful piece of cr*p. I can remember having to crawl out of the back of one! Also a comment in the motoring press to the effect that you could throw it around corners (actually a plus point!), but it gave the nut behind the wheel the impression of being a skilled driver, when the skill really belonged to the car's designer! It seemed to mark the invention of the boy racer! I was going to make the mistake of buying a Mini-Cooper, but was saved by my company refusing insurance of grounds of age (under 25 - a long time ago -1969 IIRC). I bought a Ford Corsair instead. An early one, before the bu**ered it up with the V4 engine*. This took me to Italy to get married 🥰 . it was a bit gutless and needed excessive gearbox stirring on hills. * By all reports. I can't speak from experience. My other lucky escape was a Ford Thunderbird convertible (with power hood). I couldn't raise the cash! Insurance would probably have been a problem too!