2e0dtoeric

Use mail order! If you hunt through the older threads, this difficulty has been dragged up many times.

I have a GT3 on order. Can't show it off yet!

Many years ago, I resolved to NEVER EVER make any more resolutions. So far I've managed to keep it! 😛

Hornby Select and Elite controllers both default to 03 after start-up. The numbers you need to read are on the display AS the controller starts, not when it has finished.

What is the R number? Try Peter's spares.

Bill wrote - they just plug in to the top of the decoder.. No, Bill. You have to remove the decoder from the socket, then the blanking plug fits into the socket!

A DCC track should be showing about 16v AC. As you only have 5v, I'd suggest the controller is 'testing' for a short-circuit, and not fully starting up because there is one somewhere. Have a really close look around where the engine fell off, in good light. You might find a stray track pin, or a bit of metallic debris there.

I don't use Railmaster OR W10, so maybe I'm being too simplistic - allocate the thing to run on the touch screen instead of the one it is on now! - And you'd stand a better chance of a reply if you asked on the Railmaster threads!

I've got the slightly earlier version, with a loksound (I think) sound chip in it.

Or use a brown acrylic paint pen. Add random black bits, because 'mature' rust goes black.

That has been bodged together from at least two other models. Green bogie and centre driver wheels, the others black, and appear to be larger diameter, skew gear to the centre driver is damaged. And yes, there should be a motor in there!

Found this photo a short while ago - /media/tinymce_upload/3fac0307d216ebdb61aa19a9875f0cff.jpg

Picture - in your mind - two table forks, joined back to back at the handles. There's your rough track plan. Put the power feed in the middle, where the two handles join.

Short question - simple answer - No! Unless you fit a dcc decoder chip into it first!

Phone boxes - you were more likely to find little business cards tucked in wherever they would stick - advertising 'French Lessons', etc! - Latest purchase - one of those cleaning pencils I mentioned a couple of days ago. Looks like it might work. I don't really want/need any more rolling stock or loco's - I have nowhere left to store them! So I'm down to adding little bits and pieces of 'detailing' and decoration, now.

Jimy - if you look at a lot of the early American loco's, they had wood cabs. Initially it was an afterthought 'bolt-on' to help the driver and fireman keep cool under the hot sun! Wood was lighter and more readily available than steel, and probably also cooler. Boiler barrels were also clad with wood, before asbestos was discovered - to keep the heat IN!

In case you are wondering whyRAF said SIX legs - first board has four legs, one in each corner, second board only has two, because it will be bolted to the first board, and IT'S legs will serve for the middle 'end'. - Be aware that it is physically impossible to reach over a four-foot board to the back, so you will need access all round! If you are butted up against a wall, you would be better individually turning the two boards 90', so you have a three foot deep eight foot long surface.

New Man - either you have been EXTREMELY unlucky - or you are doing something wrong, to have so many failures! Are/were you buying brand new from a proper shop, or used/new from E-bay, etc? If from a shop, your first action is to take it back, and point out the fault. It's not Hornby's fault, they cannot inspect and test every item before it is shipped out to the retailers - and if they did, it then cannot be sold as NEW, because it has been used!

Motor brushes worn out? Dirty track? Dirty, slack or corroded rail joiners? How is the controller connected to the track? What controller are you using? Tender drive tells me it is an old model. New train-set type controllers aren't powerful enough for the motor, and thermal overload, then shut off for a while, until it cools off again.

If you follow Jenny Kirk's You-tube channel, she said she had some 'duff' chips - but found out by accident that if you force-reset them to manufacturer's settings, they often spring to life again.

How long iks a piece of string? What do you mean by 'a very long track' - two metres? thirty metres? What controller are you using? How is it connected to the track? - I note that Chrissaf beat me by a second! (and presume he removed the duplicated post that I had literally just reported when it disappeared!)

In that case, Colin, you might find that one of the brush holders is pressed down against a raised spike on the chassis - so is NOT electrically isolated. You need to - either remove the spike, or put some plastic insulation between it and the brush, but if you do that, it might chafe through in time anyway, and kill the decoder.

No matter what you use as a baseboard, it must be flat, or you are giving yourself a major headache. Baseboards HAVE to be mounted on a rigid frame that cannot twist or sag. From your query, I understand you intend to join two boards together, in a way that allows dismantling again. So how did you intend to fix your dowels without a frame? The ply alone isn't thick enough, unless you have some extremely thick stuff, in the region of 4cm, which will be very heavy on it's own!

I don't have the inclination to read all the conversion details,so this might be mentioned - BUT - You MUST ensure that the motor is electrically isolated from the chassis, as Ringfields use the chassis as a wire! You must also ensure that the decoder is totally insulated from contact with any metal bits of bodywork - or they go phut!

Here's a little device that may be better than the glassfibre 'pens' for removing stubborn muck from wheels, etc - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metal-Detector-Metal-Detecting-Composite-Cleaning-Pencil/202795147660?hash=item2f3788618c%3Ag%3Anj0AAOSwuJVddsKO&fbclid=IwAR3ruDJFgbQeKvc4eGxEH0DvGwzYjKaTfiZAdI10GKecvfV3WQlLCMfVHnM