SRman

As shown above, it appears to be the higher spec model. I have a previous release of this model, and unlike the 'train set' version (marketed as 'Blue Rapier') these models have see-through windows and seating units. The photo shows 395 001, and compares favourably with the photos in Invicta Informant's post. Traction is from one power bogie with traction tyres. P_20190609_113357_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

The Howes one has a pre-programmed flash function on one of the auxiliary outputs. I rigged a couple of LEDs over the unpowered bogie on my Hornby 73 with their sounds, which flash and play a sound, either once on one function or repeatedly and randomly on another function key. Of course this can also be done with any other sound projects , but it is a nice touch considering it is already there for the user.

Two new additions to the goods stock on Newton Broadway are these Parkside kits I have been building as a quick and easy project. Both are BR 24.5 ton mineral wagons. I could not find many pics of the real ones so used some generic weathering ideas from the similar looking 21 ton wagons. I chose to do the white end door indicator stripes in different fashions as well, also based on photos, although not of the specific wagons I have chosen. The underframes could do with a small amount of extra detailing, such as the rod linkage for the brake gear, and also need a little further weathering, but overall I am quite pleased with the effects I have achieved. P_20190606_160548_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

I lost those many years ago!

Isn't it a teensy bit draughty for the passengers in the last few coaches? When I first saw the topic title, I thought "That sounds a bit mad!", but it really does make sense seeing as the driving coaches are almost identical above the solebars, and the EPB/CEP/MLV motor bogies are quite powerful (I have had a Bachmann 4 CEP hauling a dummy 4 BEP from Southern Pride kits). The fact that your unit manages two 4 TCs is even better. Madness aside, I think your REP unit is brilliant.

I have a LokSound 3.5 with Howes' sounds and a LokSound 4 with legomanbiffo sounds. The engine sounds a re a little muted in the legomanbiffo one and a bit too prominent in the Howes one, in my opinion, but both are good in their own ways. The later one has the advantage in being able to start or stop the diesel engine on the move, a previous limitation of the v3.5 decoder, which has to be stopped to switch over.

The OP asks for 'bomb proof' stock and you suggest the exploding wagon? There is a certain irony in that. All jokes aside, things like the exploding wagon and the giraffe car, plus some of the other action toys Triang put out (rocket/satellite/helicopter launching cars, etc.) all have great play value, with the down side that parts can get lost. Enduring themes such as Thomas, and more transient ones like Harry Potter and Underground Ernie can also provide imaginative play value, with the ability to add scenic items in keeping with the themes (castles, bridges and tunnels plus other 'iconic' buildings). At risk of duplicating what others have already mentioned, Bachmann had a 'junior' range and older Triang/Hornby locos were very robust, with few separate added parts to knock off and lose. Things like separate handrails that we modellers like to have can become sharp, even dangerous things for smaller children, so the moulded on details on these simpler models make them a lot safer for the youngsters. It also makes them more robust for the times they sail off the tracks at supersonic speeds and hit the floors and/or walls! Many older Triang models are available at swap meets for very reasonable prices but may need fettling to get them running properly. The Hornby 0-4-0 saddle tanks like 'Smokey Joe' and other livery variants mentioned earlier can provide a good starting point too, with reasonably convincing looks yet some of the robustness of earlier models.

I do the same, sometimes. I buy a cheap loco with some problems reported, usually knowing how I can go about fixing the problems, or knowing I have the right spare parts to do so. Occasionally an "unknown" problem comes in, and that becomes a real challenge to fix, but there is a lot of satisfaction to be gained from doing the troubleshooting and problem-solving. Also, the wife learns lots of new swear words at the same time!

You just reminded me of a trip I had on a train from Nairn to Aberdeen back in 1984. There were a couple of German tourists sitting on the other side of the coach from me, with the gentleman reading the map and announcing each station as we pulled in. When we got to Elgin, he announced loudly "el- JINN. el-JINN!", with emphasis on the second syllable as well as the soft 'G' (='J").

An IR4 would be nice, though, if they ever want to get more use out of the IC3 moulds (modified, of course) and mechanism.

That's good news for me as I want one in DSB's current livery if they do one. I have one in Swedish livery and that took a bit of re-engineering to get it to run reliably and consistently. This was one with the proper central motor and cardan shafts driving the bogies at both ends of the centre car, but for some inexplicable reason, Heljan left the bogies free-floating, meaning the shafts could pull out. Hopefully they will improve this a bit.

Converting to MX638C should fix the lighting. If it doesn't, you can restore the decoder to MX638D by assigning a value of 4 to CV8. For anyone doing this to MX634 or MX638 decoders, note that putting these values into CV8 doesn't actually change the value of CV8 itself, which is the manufacturer's code. there is some magical trickery involved where it recognises what the values are doing.

OK, decoder now fitted! I opted for the Zimo MX638D, which is a fully functioned budget decoder. I discovered that it did, indeed, need to be converted to an MX638C, by the simple expedient of programming CV8 to a value of 3. All lights now work under independent control. F0 has the reversible marker lights - single white for forward end and single red for the trailing end - pictures 1 and 2 below (the red barely shows in the photo, but it is quite bright ... that's another job to do: dim all of the lights). P_20190527_214353_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20190527_214423_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr F1 operates the forward cab and F2 operates the rear cab (forward and rear simply refer to the closer and further ends in the photos, of course). P_20190527_214408_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20190527_214501_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr F3 and F4 operate the headcodes at each end (only the forward end shown here, together with the marker light on F0). P_20190527_214436_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

My D602 arrived today. It is just on the rolling road at present, running in. After that, I have a Dapol Imperium decoder I could fit, or a Zimo MX 638D, which can easily be switched to MX638C if required (I'm not sure which version suits the Warship yet). The Dapol class 22 I did a few days ago required the MX638C to operate all of its lights correctly. I do rather like the blue small yellow panel version too, but unfortunately, that one is also D602, and I really don;t want to rename and renumber the green one. Lovely as these models are, I think I'll stop at just the one for now. Yes, Kernow have done a great job with these models. I'll post a picture later, as long as no one objects (there are plenty on this thread already! ).

Thanks for that pic, John. Lots of detail in there, as well as the very smart loco. As for the 31 cowlings, I should have pointed out that they were never fitted to this model in the first place, being based on the modern Railfreight example from Hornby. I will have to do the same as I did for my Lima body on Hornby RailRoad chassis, and fabricate some cowlings out of plastic card. the most difficult part of that will be matching the blue paint colour.

My recently purchased experimental blue class 30 D5578 has found its way onto the workbench again. I bought it knowing that one of the side windows was missing (it was accurately portrayed in the photos on eBay), and that the buffer beam cowlings were missing as well. I got it at a bargain price, considering it was sound-fitted, being a code 3 repaint of a factory-fitted Railfreight model. This is the super-detailed model with central can motor and flywheels driving all six axles (which is actually two more driven axles than the real locomotives have!). The side window was reglazed with a suitable piece of clear plastic, but I will have to restore the handrail bars at some stage. Initially it refused to run - something was sticking in the motor or transmission, but I got that cleared. Then there was a slight clicking as it ran, but it ran smoothly enough. Subsequently, it would stop occasionally with the driven wheels slipping but two of the axles not being driven. On investigation, I found that the two inner axles (one on each bogie) had so much side-play they were going out of engagement with the rest of the drive train gears. Removing the base plates of each bogie (each has six clips retaining it) showed that for some reason, Hornby have the axle gears near on the centreline, while all of the drive train gears are off-set to one side. When the axles were moving sideways, the gears were moving just enough out of line to lose engagement. The side frames of the bogies help to locate the axles and limit the side-play, but have a tendency to bow outwards slightly towards the ends. The sideframes have spigots that go into hollow posts projecting horizontally out from the inner bogie frame. After some head scratching, I came up with the idea of trimming the ends off the hollow posts on one side only (the side opposite the sde the gears are on) of the main bogie frame, clipping off approximately 1mm or less from the outer ends to just close up the amount of side-play and forcing the axles over towards the gear train. I used a sprue cutter to do this. Pushing the sideframes back into the spigots then clipping the base plates back on also locks the sideframes into place. The slight reduction in the width between sideframes has also limited the amount of side-play in the axles and means the loco now behaves properly with no loss of drive to any of the axles. P_20190522_200045_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Poor pickup arrangements spoilt many of the Lima models. Not just in having pickups on one side only of each bogie, but also in using brass wheels that tarnished while you looked at them. In my experience, some Lima pancake motors ran very well, others ran like dogs. This seemed to be down to varying factory tolerances; if you got a good one it was very good indeed, notwithstanding the aforementioned pickup problems. If you got a bad one, it was better to replace the motor completely. Either way, doing what what you did, Josh-will, was a good idea. If you can rig extra pickups on the driven side of the power bogie (I mean the side with the gears on the wheel backs), that helps too, even with traction tyres interfering a bit. The other major improvement is to replace the brass wheels completely. Ultrascale have done excellent but expensive replacement sets in the past, but I believe Peter's Spares are looking at doing a range of suitable, and more affordable, replacements in the near future.

As I have a few Piko German models in among all my British stuff, that is the one manufacturer I deliberately mispronounce, not to be insulting, but merely to distinguish them from Peco, whose track, point motors and scenic items I use. Thus, I call Piko "Pie-co" ("i" to rhyme with eye). I have to say Piko produce some nice models at bargain prices, so definitely no insult intended to them. Incidentally, Ikea in Denmark is pronounced "Ee-kee-ah".

Headcodes now fitted to D6327: I used some Precision Labels translucent headcodes, cut to fit outside the headcode glazing, then overlaid them with cut-down and divided Hymek panels from the Precision sheets. I also tweaked CV60 on the Zimo decoder to dim the lights somewhat. P_20190524_192457_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

I have relatives in Denmark, and while I don't speak Danish, I do have some idea of their pronunciations, and the 'j' is definitely a 'y' sound (agreeing with others here) - Hell-yahn or something like that. Just for amusement: the Danish letter 'y' is pronounced more like 'oo'. I was told to form my mouth to say 'ee' but try to say 'oo' at the same time. Try this in front of a mirror!

It's a shame that they don't seem to be selling as well as expected. They are beautiful models, but I have to say I am guilty of ignoring them: I simply do not need any more LNs than I already have. My two Bachmann models both still run very well (well enough that I converted them to DCC), and, while they aren't up to the super-detailed status of the Hornby models, they still look like Lord Nelsons at any sort of normal viewing distance. I'll probably regret not snapping up the Rails bargains at some time in the future, but right now, I can use the money elsewhere.

I succumbed to temptation and bought D6327 in blue with small yellow panels from Hatton's. I fitted a 6-function Zimo MX638D decoder after testing on DC. So far so good. She ran well with the Zimo decoder. I like the way Dapol have arranged the lights: F0 works the headcode plus marker or tail light directionally at the A end, F1 works the headcode and marker light at the B end, and F3 works the tail light at that end. However, the cab lights refused to work at all. Then I realised the MX638D uses two logic outputs for the 5th and 6th functions. However, a useful trick with the MX634 and MX638 families is that the user can change the logic outputs to full powered outputs with a simple CV change, changing the decoders to MX634C or MX638C. The trick is to program CV8 to 3 for powered outputs (as the 'C' variant), or CV8 = 4 for logic outputs (as the 'D' variants). Anyway, the cab lights at each end now work on functions 4 and 5, respectively. I 'fixed' the lower body valance panels to the chassis with some black-tack to prevent them from randomly dropping off, although that would be prototypical behaviour! The next job, before putting D6327 into service properly, is to put some headcodes in. On my previous Dapol class 22 I fitted some Heljan paper headcodes from one of their Western models inside the headcode boxes. I am working on a couple of alternative ideas for this one. I'll report back once I have done something about this.

And the wagon looks good as well!

More gardening, and a little farming to report! Further to completing more lupins, I have also been assembling some roses from the same manufacturer. I have experimentally placed them along the access roadway to the cemetery. P_20190520_221544_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20190520_221534_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr At the other end of that side of the layout, I have been trying out a few ideas for the farm corner at the very back of the layout. I decided it would be easier to work on it off the layout, so cut a slab of expanded polystyrene to suit. This will be landscaped further later. I also want to terrace the farm a little. The lane passing the farm, and providing access to it, occupies a small part of this scenic 'board' as well, and will gain a few slight undulations in due course. I have sculpted the side of the embankment and the ends into varying slopes since taking the photos. The lane will be just over one car, or tractor, wide. The buildings are mostly from Hornby's Skaledale Holly Farm range, with roofs painted grey rather than their original black. P_20190519_143909_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20190519_143919_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Looks like a bumpy ride in those coaches! I love the charm of the old coaches and the figures and posters on the station. Lovely stuff.