The son of Triangman

Loof Lirpa day joking aside it's actually a good idea, if you could bottle the smell of steam locos you would make a fortune!

The R.089 signal extension set fits the R.169/R.170 junction signals. These very over scale signals were introduced in 1978, and remain in the range to this day. 1977 was the last great flowering of the ex-Tri-ang range including the close to scale old plastic ex-Tri-ang signals, R.140 being one of the old ex-Tri-ang plastic signal range,

What state is the field magnet in?

It could indeed 81F.

It has been tried in N gauge in the past by UK Graham Farish company, it wasn't a great success.

Another factor to consider is a duff suppression capacitor. This fault can manifest itself if the suppression capacitor is faulty. I had a ringfield class 37 in for repair with the same fault, a strip down and full clean didn't cure the issue, the windings checked out fine, brushes and springs were new and properly installed. Removal of the suppression capacitor saw the motor running very sweetly, so a replacement was fitted and the issue was cured.

It's a grey area. Uniform fading can occur but the blue plastic tends to go a muddy shade of blue. The factory did however did run out of plastic from time to time, a batch before the yellow ended version came out were produced in rail blue. Without the records from the old shop in front of me I cannot give an exact year, but around 1965 amalgamation year would be my guess until I can confirm as money was tight due to buying Hornby-Dublo and Margate did use up stocks of surplus plastics around this time. The rail blue version turns up now and then, they aren't rare but not far off that category.

ff2nd I wasn't suggesting qc in the 1 to 1 area, just storage after qc. Qc could be done in part of the old factory which is practically empty (I've been there), with a bit of the 1 to 1 warehouse area used to store products after UK QC. The Herston site could even be disposed of then. In the old days at Margate every single model went through a 3 stage QC process.

With overseas product QC being distant it's not always easy. There needs to be a QC department set up at Margate and every model checked before putting it out to customers or to warehouse. Maybe even a bit of the old warehouse could be used once a model has been through UK QC, I know it's where the 1 to 1 collection is, but a bit could be used.

I have fitted a decoder to the old ex-Tri-ang moulding Stephenson's Rocket you have. It is possible using a micro decoder, however there are a few things to watch out for, the wires on the decoder need to be flexible and it needs to be able to handle a 1Amp stall current as the X.500 motor is quite current hungry. It is just possible to fit a decoder in the loco body behind the motor, with the decoder mounted vertically, I have done it. However if you aren't used to such fine work it is better to fit a decoder in the tender or underneath the tender.

Thank you, Bee, all useful info for when the time comes, I intend to make a video of the product working and use social media to the full . Working on the limit switch mounts at present. Once complete the unit will tested to destruction including the 3ft drop test.

Was a lovely model shop, very famous in model railway circles, an aladdins cave, loads of old parts in drawers too. Could usually find what you wanted. One of the good guys in the trade, will be missed.

I'm waiting to see how TT does in the marketplace, the past history of TT hasn't been great. The lack of small Hornby tank locomotives is off putting, no level crossings, no turntable, no signals. TT120 is growing but it will take time, I will look at it once matures more.

The biggest problem for small suppliers is that if the model isn't in a red or blue box, and is made by a small supplier it tends to get over looked by the hobby. I used to make a fairly scale range of TT signals, but take up was minimal. It wouldn't take a lot to reintroduce these semaphores and colour lights but whether they would be a dead duck again is another matter and justify the investment. Plus Peco are doing some so no point in a small supplier making them.

Comments are always welcome Bee, you are never too old to learn. I have done a fair bit of research and there's enough people who want the product to make it worth manufacturing at least in small volumes. The design is "design clever" too and can be scaled up or down to be able to be used in more scales than OO. Costs are being kept to the minimum with standardisation of screws and electronics as well and are cost viable. Marketing is a big challenge for me.