luke_stevens

Locomotion seem to have an announcement at about the same time. Maybe it's a joint announcement? "NRM Diesel loco" doesn't leave much choice: 40? Prototype HST? Luke

And also the weird "Laowai" with camera's from the wrong side of the railway tracks... Luke

https://www.facebook.com/groups/703117473702681

Well Jobsworths are everywhere and of all nationalities. Enthusiastic are less widly spread but are often thousand of miles away from their "native" land... Luke

I did mine with a sharp scalpel blade, without the need to remove the bogies (which is a pain to do). Pleased with the outcome :) L

Ok, tried that and it does give the contact. I then tried something else. As soon as the Hornby track was issues I'd got a full circle of R2 (310mm) track. I checked it this evening and it is MUCH flatter than the R3 track. I tried the A4 and the coaches (1 with 0.5 washers, 1 with 0.25 washers and 1 with no washers) The two modified coaches are silent (though the A4 doesn't like the resistance for the bogie turning) but the unmodified coach still screeches, both under power and rolling free. You are right that flat track certainly helps, but there is more to sort. Luke

The Hornby curved track isn't even vaguely flat! From what I could hear it was happening from wheels both inside and outside the curve so I don't think it is that. I've spent some time this evening experimenting with washers between the bogie frame and the chassis. 0.5 mm (20 thou) makes the bogie resistant to turn, 0.25mm (10 thou) results in the bogie being stiffer and still getting the screech, if notable quieter. My current plan is to get some 0.4mm (15 thou) sheet and cut some washers, which should just be high enough. I'll also slightly loosen the bogie clips to give a little vertical flexibility. And add weight :) Luke

Very curious. My track is currently just laid out on the kitchen Table Top. The coaches with no weight have a higher pitched screech than the one with lead in its guts. I wonder whether in your case the track being fixed down means the wheels rub but don't make any noise? Is there any perceptible slow down as the coaches go into and come out of the curves? Luke

I think the separate Mk1 are already out. My brother has the Scotsman set and I don't remember the coaches feeling as light, even without the lighting. There is no indication on the Hornby website that they will be prepared for lighting. Luke

Got it! I know why there is a problem. On the top of the bogies there are 4 plastic pins that look as if they go into phosphor bronze strip for lighting pick up... Add that and the coaches would be the right height, they wouldn't squeal and they would need the extra weight to make them roll smoothly! Now where do i get some 0.5mm metal strip (or can I find some in stock?) Luke

Funnily enough I was looking at photo of the same coach! Luke

Ok, out with the Vernier and trying to measure the buffer centres without the coach running away... It comes to about 8.4, but I think the buffers are too low. The centre line of the buffer is at, or even below, the bottom of the solebar. There doesn't feel to be much slack to pack the bogie away from the chassis. Tomorrow, perhaps. Luke

Probably but easier just to reach for the lead sheet :) The perils of being a railway modeller! Luke

Next stage. 1) Lead sheet. Originally got lead sheet (0.050') from the much missed Eileen's Emporium. The space is about 2mm by 13mm by 75mm. Lead sheet cut with Stanley knife. Then lots of hand washing! 2) Gentle thinnning, bottom view. 3) Thinning side view. I had thought I needed to trim the outer sides, but on further inspection it looks like it should be the inside sides. The trimming helped but it didn't remove all the screech (as I've probably trimmed the wrong end) but the weight helps make the sound deeper! And it rolls much better. Enough for tonight :) Luke

Can we get them in other nationalities too? :) :) :) Luke

And further investigation and dismantling! 1) Overview (or should that be underview?) 2) I think it is just the very tops of the wheel faces. The flanges don't seem to have an issue. If the wheels were just a little smaller or the coach rode just a little higher there wouldn't be the problem.. 3) Time to thin things out just a little on the far corners...

I've had the same with the coaches rubbing on the curves, both R2 (310mm) and R3 (£56m as provided in the set). The coach chassis has cut-out on the inside of the chassis where the wheels would rub that make that part of the sol bar a thin as possible. I'm not actually sure it is the wheel flanges; I think it might actually be the wheel face... When I took them to my local model shop for them to have a look at the proprietor commented that the coaches seemed very light. So this evening I dissected one... Do you see the metal weight in the space between the chassis and the interior? No I don't either... Time to dig out the lead sheet or liquid lead or something.

After a bit of a distracted pause (H0 MAV M62 & BDZ 06)... Internals ae now pretty much finished 1) Right hand side. The decoder and Next18 socket are up-side down as it allowed some of the components to hang over the cardan shaft next to the fly wheel 2) 5x tantalum caps 220uf and a Youchoos Lifelink https://www.youchoos.co.uk/Index-Shop.php?FIND=LifeLink ) 3) From the left. Not obvious is that i have gently sanded the inside of the body shell so that the body sits level. The PCB strips fit up-to but not into the roof area. 4) Unfinished! The speaker is built into the fuel area. It's not a s big as it looks and is currently just tacked in place. Once I've made some more bits for the fuel tank I will refit and acoustically isolate. The tank is made from 1.5mm plasticard with the white parts being corner braces

Lincoln Loco's already have several AC electrics listed. https://lincoln-loco.co.uk/ac-electric/ Drop him an message and ask! In terms of chassis the Tillig 112/143 has about the right size bogie wheelbase (Cl 81 3277mm to Br 143 3300mm) . The chassis will need to be adjusted :) Luke

Unfortunately I'm not at home today so have asked to deliver to a collection point 🤞 It's worked before so I'm hopeful 😌 Luke

Interesting. I get the same "bad request" on Android phone, Android tablet and Windows pc... But if DPD are still waiting for the parcel then it might not arrive until Tuesday :) Luke

Do not be too harsh on your locos: they have a hard life. Most models will spend their lives living in boxes or occasionally pootling around a home layout. Yours spend most of their time resting but then have days when they are absolutely thrashed. Whilst they may be carefully unpacked, they will get knocked into, derailed & re-railed and then promptly put away at the end of an exhibitions by operators who have also been absolutely thrashed! From the trimmed pic above I think the left foot board is still missing and that there are a couple of vertical stanchions missing from the corners of the buffer beam. At least the holes are there for replacement to be fitted. But that raises the question of how much "fragile" detail should a working exhibition loco actually have. Most of these thing will not be seen by the punters (or operators) when the loco speed past with its train at a distance of over a meter... Luke

I had my e-mail yesterday too. Then today I got a DPD e-mail with a tracking link that comes up as "oops, bad request.... Fingers crossed that it arrives when I'm home. Luke

Here is the current RM international service up-date. TLDR: slowly getting back to normal https://www.royalmail.com/international-incident-bulletin

It's not that RM won't ship to the US but that they had a major IT hacking and for about 2 weeks they weren't able to ship (or receive) anything internationally. I had a package sitting "in storage" for about 10 days. RM have now restarted international shipping. My on-going concern with Gaugemaster is that they often have items on their website marked as "available to order" whereas the manufacture say they are out of stock. In the past I have ordered things via Gaugemaster that never come into stock or get delivered. My only recommendation is that if you are ordering stuff for delivery outside the UK items which are produced outside the UK, I would order from a supplier in the country where the manufactures is based. For Piko, Tillig and Roco my fist port of call would always be Modellbahnshop Lippe. https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/