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Thanks for all of the kind replies. DCC is in my plans, but will be some way off yet. I’ve got some thinking to do …

Ah, just thought of something. The LED brightness might be influenced by the amount of track power, which would be low for shunting operations, with traffic moving slowly. Perhaps this is a non-starter.

Having got my baseboard painted I shall soon be putting my track layout in place, and I would appreciate a little help/guidance in the use of Hornby R047 on/off switches and R618 isolating track sections. I have five sidings which will incorporate R618 tack sections, along with decoupling ramps, the idea being that a loco pulls into the siding, is decoupled from what it’s pulling, and then is moved past the R618 where it can be isolated, allowing me to shunt stuff around with another loco. I have two issues to solve. One I think is straightforward, the other perhaps a little more tricky. The first issue is that the cables bundled with the R047 switches are too short. I think that that’s an easy fix. By using some Hornby X8011 pins (or the Gaugemaster GM14 equivalent, as it seems that the X8011s have been discontinued) I can make up cables to the length that I need. The second issue is where I want to be clever. I’d like to incorporate an LED somewhere at the switch end of things such that when the siding receives power (I’m using analogue, not DCC) and the switch is in the closed position, the LED lights-up to identify the correct switch to use. I like the idea that the R047 switches can be banked together, but I’m not 100% wedded to them. If there’s something else out there that makes life easy, after all the R047 is just a simple on-off switch, then I’m up for that and I can sell the R047s, which are still sealed in their bags. My current thinking is some sort of box in which I’ll mount the switches, which will allow me to use surface-mounted LEDs. I can’t see why this shouldn’t be possible. The LED current draw should be low, assuming that I select the correct components. Has anyone else tried this please? Am I missing something really obvious here? Is there something out there more suited to the task? Apologies if this topic has been aired before or I’ve posted in the wrong forum. TIA Clem

Gaugemaster offers some pre-ballasted underlay, as I recall. Not cheap though, but then again, is anything to do with model railways cheap nowadays?

I see the same issue on both of my Club locos., using a Gaugemaster controller, especially on second radius curves. I think that these are bargain basement units and have a simple motor. It could be a design flaw maybe, or just duff units in some cases. I also find it annoying that it’s not possible to swap the couplings for NEMs.

Very on topic for me, this thread, as I’ll be looking at this issue myself soon. Setting aside the choice of ballast, what sort of glue is needed for the job? What do you do about points? What about if you need to lift track/general maintenance, etc.?

@RDS: nickname set, I hope! To the others in this thread who kindly posted, thanks very much for the responses. I’ll check out the links. Cheers!

Newbie post! I’ve just purchased a set of R4350/R4351/R4352 RailRoad passenger coaches for my layout, which I’m in the process of building. I’ve noticed that on all three coaches the wheels sound rough as they rotate, either on a section of track or if spun by hand, and there is a degree of resistance. I appreciate that these models are from Hornby’s basic range, but at present they suit my requirements as I’m just getting back into model railways after an absence of 50+ years, when Tri-ang ruled the OO gauge roost, and it’s an expensive hobby! Is it possible to replace the plastic wheels on these coaches with metal ones? If so, how easy/difficult is it? Assuming that it is possible, is there a Hornby spare part that would suit? I took a look at the online catalogue, but there are a lot of wheel packs to choose from. Cheers, Clem PS: I may have inadvertently posted this message twice. If so, my apologies. Perhaps the forum administrator could delete one in that case.