Bexhill Donkey

My latest acquisition is R30106, which is reviewed here: Super cool minty Southern Livery!

The last thing I pre-ordered from Hatton's was the class 800 Azuma 5-car set. The pre-order price was cheaper than anywhere else and it sold out almost immediately, and I consider myself lucky! I found Hatton's useful for other things like tins of Humbrol and point motors. I shall miss Hatton's! I think the mistake Hatton's made was the move to Widnes, since had they stayed in Liverpool, they could have fallen back on their passing trade. With the focus on mail order, they were vulnerable to international shipping costs. The observation made by the contributor above about the ageing population of modellers must surely be valid! With the focus on high-definition models for well-to-do collectors, it is too difficult for youngsters to build a collection. Model trains have never been cheap. There was always a huge markup in the model shop. But that's true of retailing generally, and that's why so many high street shops have been forced to close. It is difficult for modellers contributing to this forum to offer any business plan that the manufacturers and retailers could follow. However, I think the idea of reproducing Triang sets is a good one. Although Triang got into financial trouble, the basic idea was sound. Triang was a plastic toy manufacturer, whereas Hornby Dublo was a die-cast and tinplate specialist with high production costs. Probably what Hornby should do is produce a range of cheap plastic stations, buildings, and bridges, that can easily be put together to make a layout. Together with a range of train sets, of course. What do you think?

I am sceptical that he is doing his best. I have had a nameplate on order from him since 22nd March 2020. I have given up trying to get back the £10.44 I paid. My order still says, "Processing" on his website, so I am wondering if it might eventually be supplied. Who knows?

If the wiring is correct, the likely explanation for the points not working is that the issue is with the power supply. The HM6010 needs its own PSU. The one that comes with the eLink can be used. Although there is a connection for connecting the HM6010 to a DCC Power track, PL-11's require more power.

This is incorrect. While the difference in gauge between the London Underground and the national rail network is often cited as 1/4 inch, this is an old wives' tale. The gauge of both the London Underground and the national rail network is the same - 4 feet 8 1/2 inches (1435mm). The statement that most railways widen gauges on curves is also incorrect. In fact, the opposite is true - rails are banked on curves to reduce the forces on the trains and maintain the standard gauge. You can however widen the gauge on a model railway track to allow a train to take a tighter curve. The new Hornby TT:120 has the advantage of having a more accurate track to gauge scale. It will be great for modelling the London Underground, as longer trains can be represented.

If you don't mind being a few years behind the times, there is plenty of stuff for sale on eBay. It is quite a good idea to put in a bid for a train set, as that will give you a lot of extra track and rolling stock for a knockdown price!

Sam's Trains has reported an apparent error with the track geometry, first noticed by Charlie at Chadwick Model Railway. But don't worry folks! The track geometry is correct. It looks as though a circle requires either 23 TT8016 half curve 3rd radius, or 11 TT8005 Curve 3rd radius and 1 TT8016. It is just that a piece of TT8016 has not been supplied with the set. You get 12 3rd radius track pieces in the set, but you need 11, plus one half-length 3rd radius curve to make a circle, as the picture below shows.

This is an error due to my internet connection dropping out. I hope I have corrected it now!

It is a fault. I copied and pasted the entry from Hornby's website. I selected paste as plain text, but it copied the bold from the entry. Now corrected.

Sam's Trains has reported an apparent error with the track geometry, first noticed by Charlie at Chadwick Model Railway. The track geometry is correct. It is that a circle requires either 19 TT8016 half curve 3rd radius, or 9 TT8005 Curve 3rd radius and 1 TT8016. It is just that a piece of TT80016 has not been supplied with the set. You get 10 3rd radius track pieces in the set, but you need 9, plus one half-length 3rd radius curve to make a circle, as the picture below shows.

I have used N gauge track screws. You can order them from eBay together with a suitable screwdriver for £7.50.

I have established the scraping sound on curves is due to the wheels coming into contact with the sole bar. If you use a larger radius of track, then it doesn't happen. The only remedy would be to add a washer to the bogie, but I don't know if that can be done. This video demonstrates the scraping sound on curves.

I have a NSE 4-VEP. It has a standard Hornby R8249 DCC chip, and that's fine. I would swap the chips and put the Bachmann chip in the other loco.

The HM7000 is a 21-pin Sound DCC decoder with Bluetooth. As with any DCC decoder, it has an analogue mode and you can run a loco chipped with it using a DC controller, such as HM2000 or an old H&M Clipper! However, no sound functions would be available under DC, as would be the case with any TTS loco. So there's no point buying it if you have not got a DCC command station.

The HM7000 is a 21-pin Sound DCC decoder with Bluetooth. As with any DCC decoder, it has an analogue mode and you can run a loco chipped with it using a DC controller, such as HM2000 or an old H&M Clipper! However, no sound functions would be available under DC, as would be the case with any TTS loco. So there's no point buying it if you have not got a DCC command station.