Anyone currently buying?

[centenary]

I have been spending more than I expected and am waiting for my next delivery!
Is two lovely locos and a rake of little waggons which will need finishing off. All useful!

Me too! Just spent £265 on 10 Unifrog Code 75 points!

[Mountain]

I have been spending more than I expected and am waiting for my next delivery!
Is two lovely locos and a rake of little waggons which will need finishing off. All useful!

Me too! Just spent £265 on 10 Unifrog Code 75 points!

Woow! Last Peco point I remember buying was somewhere around £8.50 or maybe £12.50? (Think I recall them going up to £12.50, but don't think I bought them at that price). Since then I have either been re-sleepering older Peco points or making my own. My efforts are no where near Pecos lovely things BUT at least they are cheap to make. At a guess around £1.50 to £2.50 a point in parts if that at the most? Take a few hours to make though! Probably build them quicker if I got a production going. Can't see me doing that though as I'd get points on my brain! But my points are not suitable for 00. Crude narrow gauge things in 0-16.5 that work well for me but not sure about others.
There was an N gauge modeller called Atso who saw my track and started to give it a go himself, and his work amazed me! Got a thing going where a few of us began making our own track! Haha!

[peterws]

Jus' wondering. Got meself a Bach. Midland Compound from RoS which as might be expected, ran grrat. But I've noticed a tendancy for the cab to lift at every turn of the wheels with the engine running forwards. Being a new loco, is this likely to subside? I would consider it unacceptable as is.

[Bigmet]

...a tendency for the cab to lift at every turn of the wheels with the engine running forwards. Being a new loco, is this likely to subside?...

That's a curious problem, unlikely to simply 'go away' of its own accord. Your choice whether you investigate with a view to a correction by your own efforts; or to simply return the item as faulty.
For the problem you are seeing, the body as a whole, or the cab, must be loose with respect to the mechanism, and something in the mechanism is contacting the body to lift it; of things that you can see, a crankpin or connecting rod would be top suspects.
If returning, give a clear description of the fault condition you observe.

[Bigmet]

I indulged last week (as mentioned in 'Other mfrs') in the Kerr Stuart 'Victory' 0-6-0T, while waiting for the many other items 'announced but yet to appear on sale': partly due to having read many good reports of this item since it went on sale, and then prompted recently by the chance to operate a friend's purchase.

First product for RTR OO from 'Planet industrials' and such a good item, well worth the money, and ideal for anyone wanting a 'larger industrial' that isn't the Austerity/J94 on 'everyone else's layout'. If your DC controller can produce a small enough output it will perform an 'under 1mph smooth creep', thanks to a very well executed drive line with 40:1 reduction and the 16mm diameter wheels. On DCC it's all too easy to carelessly think you have stopped it, only to find it has moved almost imperceptibly to somewhere you didn't expect.

[Dad-1]

Bigmet,

I was tempted to get one before the year end, but just didn't get around to it.
You're making me regret that oversight !!
Although it is an 0-6-0 and I was into 0-4-0's at the time.

Geoff T.

[Bigmet]

Rails of Sheffield were offering a good price last week, possibly still are. All RTR OO should be made to this standard...

Ooh, they still are:
https://railsofsheffield.com/collection ... locomotive

[Bigmet]

Wincing - very slightly - at the 50% ish price hike on Zimo MN decoders compared to the previous MX range. It's only a slight wince, because on their past track record you really do get what you pay from this manufacturer.

[4472]

Got my eyes on the new Hornby Black 5 with lights and a flickering firebox. Have got the funds allocated by the in house accountant to make it my Christmas present

[Ken Shabby]

Probably the most incorrect 37 ever made..
I actually bought the body shell last year , and last week decided to buy a chassis for it.
Normally I lower these old Ringfield Hornby diesels , which really improves their appearance.
I'll be making no modifications to this one as it seems to be rare, and there's no sign of it in any of the old catalogues.

Ken

[Mountain]

I have seen them. They may have been in trainsets? I can't remember.

It is an unusual colour!

[peterws]

Looks like Hornby's nod to the Green Movement. They never even gave it a black roof. That is discrimination and needs to be addressed! So nice to see poliical (in)correctness creeping into our hobby . . .
Never mind. I've just ordered on ebay a returnable LMS 4F which took my breath away. The thing is totally black, with the most subtle dark red lining, and looks a million dollars. New for £79.50, free delivery and a 5-pole motor. I've tried 2 of these previously, a Bachmann and Hornby, both loco drive, and both failed to run smoothly at low speeds. I had to send them back, (maybe they were DCC fitted, but there was no indication of this) but hoping for better results with this.

[centenary]

All OO scale, Peco bullhead medium left and right points, same double slip, well turntable, 173 quid!

[Bigmet]

... I've just ordered on ebay a returnable LMS 4F which took my breath away. The thing is totally black, with the most subtle dark red lining, and looks a million dollars. New for £79.50, free delivery and a 5-pole motor...

What's the origin? From current RTR OO the possibilities are the Bach and Hornby you already know about, the latter in loco and tender drive versions, and two earlier models from Lima. (actually HO) and Airfix GMR which the Hornby item was derived from; and of course plenty of old kit built models of varying degrees of sophistication in appearance, and whatever the builder decided on by way of a mechanism.

... I've tried 2 of these previously, a Bachmann and Hornby, both loco drive, and both failed to run smoothly at low speeds... (maybe they were DCC fitted, but there was no indication of this)...

It is very easy to check if a DCC decoder is present, just take the bodies off and look.

Both these loco drive mechanism designs are inherently smooth running, but if left standing unused for years - and especially if never run since originally purchased - will often be gummed up with dried grease and very rough at low speed in particular. A little cleaning and a tiny application of light oil and up to a couple of hours of running will have them performing sweetly down to dead slow. (I buy s/h regularly, and gummed up loco drives on models 10 or more years old are a very common finding, when the model looks pristine but is described as a poor runner / non-runner. A real giveaway for 'not been run very much if at all' is no sign of any wear on the loco driven wheel tyres.)

[peterws]

It's a Hornby. I didn't feel inclined to test-run my previous discarded models any longer, or start fiddling with them. One slip from my fingers and it suddenly becomes non returnable.
I also bought a Bach. Midland Compound, another beauty which nodded along the track as it progressed. It was a laugh, but not what I expected.
Bought from RoSheffield, who decided my claims were valid, it's now been sent back to the manufacturer who'll decide, in the fulness of time (marvellous expression) on its fate.
I feel it for the train shops now. Like piano outlets, they're finding it hard to keep afloat. But online purcasing, 'specially with Ebay or The Zon, do carry greater assurances for the buyer. Dealers too are using these organisations.