34theletterbetweenB&D

The only such mechanisms I have from Hornby are salvaged mazak rot affected mechanisms from their Brush 2. The gear train from pinion to axles was so slack laterally - especially between the axles - that washers had to be added to keep the gears as well engaged as possible to eliminate 'graunchiness'; which I suspect may be the 'gone dry' effect you describe. The brass pick up bars on the axle ends had to be straightened too.

I only ever used one for a friend's ultra compact project, and it was excellent. I believe the owner of this business was also the decoder designer and had previously been with Zimo. Definitely no longer available, I would suspect the person concerned has moved on to something yet more profitable, there's always going to be demand for such skills. If you go ahead with this, I am sure many would welcome the information you are prepared to share.

Clearly, the OP has acknowledged that the item not working is out of warranty, which suggests that a very different scheme applies to DCC kit, as compared to the lifetime cover offered on their own brand DC controllers. Notice the line that ends 'subject to the usual caveats' in the Gaugemaster advertising? This is the reason for my earlier posting: The reply from Gaugemaster quoted above suggests to me that what was previously possible to support a customer has now unfortunately become uneconomic.

Definitely a lifetime warranty on their own brand DC controllers. Careful reading of the applicable warranty for DCC kit seems to be in order.

The message from Gaugemaster up thread makes it plain enough - no longer economic due to change in circumstances. Add this to another major retailer ceasing operation because future profitability looked unlikely, and it is clear that there is a cold wind blowing in some aspects of trade support for this hobby. Such things happen.

Alternative opinion, it was a poor model by simply not capturing the appearance, thanks to the insufficiently narrow top half of the cab. Looked like a hybrid BRCW/Brush type 2 end on. Despite much liking the centre motor drive, this model - in common with the misshapen 2001 release Heljan 47 - not purchased. (The mazak rot was the good news, plenty of cheap lightly rotted mechanisms became available which could be inserted into old Airfix GMR Brush 2 bodies; and they are still running as well as ever.) So there's definitely superior competition coming, and based on photos seen so far, my feeling is the Bachmann has it: but I definitely want eyes on before getting my wallet out. All the sophistication now on offer goes for nothing if the characteristic appearance is not captured.

Inevitable question, now that maroon is in frame, will there be a subsequent batch of 'E' ideally suited to your BR green Brush 2, or do I pick and choose among your 'M' and 'Sc' unlined and scrape off these letters and replace with an 'E'? Thanks.

And one more thing, the landscaping. In the space proposed, realistic terrain rising and falling relative to rail level is possible. Open frame construction is more flexible than a 'baseboard' approach, and more easily supports a broad notch arrangement in the corners of the operating area, so it isn't an impossible 4 foot reach to the back of the corner.

Hopefully someone can advise if anything of potential interest is present. They certainly did, and some maybe still do*. The range ultimately developed for the collectorati, with new liveries released every month, to potentially enable the completists to have every class XX in every livery it ever carried, had Lima remained in business. *A new UK distributor engaged the revived Vi-Trains operation in an attempt to restart this programme with a couple of diesel models, but on the evidence available the collectorati had 'moved on' we know not where. I am still waiting for a report of a house collapsed under the weight of a RTR OO model railway collection...

1. Yes. 2. Yes. (Hopefully the model has overall been wired to conform to the DC convention of right rail positive, it moves forward. This is with respect to a 'driver sitting in a cab', easy enough for steam locos with a single cab and the forward direction clearly defined by the boiler ahead of the cab. With twin cabbed D&E the same should apply to whichever cab is the no.1 end in UK railway terms.)

All is forgiven for some of us, by their production of the N2 and Brush 2 which looked and performed like the real thuggish machines; and the N2 only lightly modified to take the sweet running 'Black Can' is still in production with Hornby. (The original motors in both were sound designs with running performance unimpeded by low precision manufacture, resulting all too often in the coffee grinder racket as they did the job. 'Tidied up' with a balanced armature and replacement bearings they ran as quietly as the best contemporary open frame motors, although the bogie mounted version quickly degraded due all the other high wear out 'features' .) That, and the wagons, some of which happily made it into the Hornby range and were among the best they offered for over a decade until the decision to go for some new tooling from China.

I am waiting with interest to see which brand will march out a model on the constructional basis Bachmann have demonstrated on their two recentish 0-4-4T. Basically make everything over the coupled wheelbase in metal, put a light coreless motor behind a gearbox on the trailing coupled axle, make almost everything behind the rear coupled axle in plastic, and accomodate lightweight gear such as DCC tackle there as most convenient. With the centre of balance within the coupled wheelbase, stable traction is achieved, no need for traction tyres. Locomotion should only commission a 'Gladstone'.

Assuming that the model you illustrate is in original ex-factory condition, there will have been a Bill of Materials and Assembly Instruction (or equivalent term) for whoever got that task in China. If you are that curious, ask Dapol if they can supply it.

Common term is a Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) suppression circuit. The polarities you are reading are irrelevant to the RFI suppression. And frankly you don't want to read too much into these descriptions on model PCB's in my experience; so long as the assembly operation performing the wiring gets the correct rail polarities to the motor terminals so that a DC loco goes in the expected direction, that's job done.

Gaugemaster are the UK distributor and hold what Heljan spares stock is available.

Mine have been fine with DCC control, and I am an enthusiastic operator so my four are forever on the move on inner sub and branch services, and this has been the case for over four years on my first two purchases, one of which has been rebodied with an old whitemetal N7body, so even heavier than as supplied. Not found any problems yet...

Slightly different in detail to the motor in the Airfix GMR N2, but functionally appears to be the same unit. It's performance was outstanding, despite the coffee grinder racket. I salvaged one from a very busted Airfix N2 got cheaply and put it in a heavily modified s/h Triang Hornby 9F weighted to 800g for operation outdoors pulling 60 wagon freights. It did this very successfully until it shifted two wheels on the axles and mangled the rods. Thirty years on it is still waiting reassignment, the GBL Pepp A2 body would be a good fit if the mechanism was altered to 2-8-2.

Twenty-two Krugerrands will do both, adjustable in troy ounce increments. And if you are ever in need of negotiable specie in a desperate situation, you have it covered.

Copydex has been the sole alternative in the 20 odd years since I have been interested in 'better than PVA' for the purpose. Scarier to apply as it looks like an industrial waste spill, but otherwise all to like. For completeness, PVA was the 'better than Cascamite' option.

That's all good news, I suspect it has had design revisions since the earlier batches: the only one on exterior view on your example is the absence of the speedo drive. And go to the current diagram and it is also evident that the large plastic box forward on the chassis in the original version is now also absent. The handwritten jotting of 'Terry' in 2008 may indicate when this was looked at. https://Bachmann-spares.co.uk/file/5mt.PDF Mine were purchased 2001 - 2004 and all alike poor for traction and maximum speed as supplied. Of members on ur- RMweb whom I recollect worked on the originals, Tim Easter is still around. Once adjusted they performed well, nothing wrong with the drive train, just the lack of weight on the coupled wheels to make use of it on those early versions.

40:1 reduction, and not enough weight on the coupled wheels for traction due to poor weight distribution and excess springing on the bogie, so it slips even without a load, means that it isn't able to achieve express speed. All fixable and much discussed on this and other sites in time past, a google search will turn up the 'how to'. My own beef relates to this; as first released - and it may still be so - a third hand is helpful when replacing the mechanism in the body; one each to hold body and mechanism, and the third to hold flexible detail on the body underside 'open' to allow the body in... But all the above resulted in some very large discounts, and I hacked several mechanisms to power ancient V2 bodies which had worn out their split chassis mechanisms. (With a load of weight balanced above the centre of the coupled wheelbase these performed, nothing wrong with the motor.)

The yellow compound is almostcertainly a nickel salt. One or more of the liquids in the ballasting process must be fairly acidic, and it won't be the hard water, top suspect the PVA. I'd experiment to find a PVA that doesn't cause this effect. Nickel salts are water soluble and can sensitise the skin long term leading to 'nickel itch'. Individual sensitivity is very variable, some will be completely unaffected despite regular exposure, others very readily. Once sensitised the last opinion I heard (40 years ago) was that it lasts indefinitely and will flare up when in contact with nickel in alloys and as plating. Could be quite an inconvenience considering the general use of nickel in model railway product. (The common complaint back in the day was inability to wear jeans in skin contact due to the nickel plated studs.)

It will be fine.

[tangent] Do Vi deliberately mould the gears in the Italian flag colours? [/tangent]

Butanone doesn't 'go off' chemically, the only thing that will happen if the cap is left off is that it evaporates, and atmospheric water may condense in it, that will inhibit its solvent action. Specifically, the paint is going to make the ply sleepers largely impervious to the butanone and the chair material dissolved in it, which is what is required to bond plastic to a porous material using a solvent. Replacing the sleepers with fresh ply would be best.