New Railway Modellers Forums

I assume you have a loco with a 4-pin socket in the tender and a 4-pin plug from the loco. In this case it matters not whether it's DCC-fitted (ie has a decoder in the socket in the tender) or DCC-ready (has a blanking plug in the socket). The pickups from the engine go via two wires to the tender, ...

The 2-BIL and 2-HAL are fixed 2-car units and adding any extra coaches would simply not look right. You should have no problem adding a second unit even on DC. The motors are identical and therefore well matched, plus the current consumption for just 2 cars is quite low. The last additional 2-BIL I ...

This is usually referring to the prototype not the model. For example, the Bulleid pacifics on the SR were rebuilt with new valve gear, air-smoothed casing removed etc. So this is why you will see Hornby models of these engines described as rebuilt to distinguish from models in their original state....

Bigglesof266 wrote:Just need to watch that fragile body connection on the lubricator mech when handling is all.

In real life not all the Q1s had this lubricator and that's reflected in Hornby's models. My 33005 doesn't have one, but the one on 33017 failed and has been removed as it was far too fiddly to get back on.

I have 2 of them, the first bought about 11 years ago. I use them extensively on my automated layout and they run extremely well. Just had a couple of minor problems with the earliest. Firstly, it became a bit wobbly after about 5 years, but I found it any easy job to fit a replacement wheelset. Sec...

Mountain wrote:It's a shame they don't do 10.5mm wheels as I could do with some of those.

Alan Gibson do them, eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alan-Gibson-4008-10-5mm-Lowmac-10-Spoke-Wheels-x-2-New-00/382442299249?hash=item590b565f71:g:XtEAAOSwPcVVlnkt

Hatton's pre-order price was £40, but as with Rails their pre-orders old out. These are their prices for the second batch.

Also both Hatton's and Rails are incorrectly describing the BR version as S7946S when it's S7861S.

Being as you've already bought the PM10s then perhaps your best option is to use the Gaugemaster GM500s to switch the polarity. They are simply wired together with the motors. As they're DPDT it means you have a spare switch for signals, or alternatively one GM500 can be used for both points where t...

Can I still link the stock and switch rail with wire for improved contact without having to do the polarity stuff too? Quite simply, no. If you do not use a polarity switch, then the frog's polarity is switched by blade contact to the stock rail, hence linking these together will cause an instant s...

No it doesn't I'm afraid, and nor does the 2-BIL.

I too only use Lenz and Zimo decoders. But I've found some Hornby locos can cause poor running on other locos if they do not have their capacitors removed. Bought a couple of 2-BILs when they first came out and fitted them with Lenz Standard+ decoders. Unit #1 was fine all the time, but unit #2 beca...

Do you mean the Bachmann E2? Hornby produce the E2 which is quite an old model, whereas Bachmann's model is of the E4.

I have both the E4 and the N, which is an older version the current model. The N does run quite smoothly and it's DCC-fitted with a Lenz Silver mini decoder.

Hornby R8249 decoders only have 500ma of power and emit blue smoke if you overload them. US locos are often power-hungry and the Hornby decoder therefore might not be suitable. It also comes only in 8-pin version.

If you're looking for a new DCC system don't waste your money on the Select. It is not fully NMRA-compliant for a start. Just do a search on this and other forums to see what people say. You can't change CVs, for example, which means you lose a lot of basic DCC functionality. If you're after a good,...

Although I use DCC and automation, I've found the easiest way to represent these on a control panel is as 2 separate turnouts. Same with double slips. Makes it very easy to see the routes through them, especially in places such as on my layout where one of these is connected directly to a double slip.