37lover

DRC, One piece I am surprised Hornby don’t make is the diamond cross over piece, but I see that Peco make it. Do you mean the whole assembly including points? I think that would be a bit too large to package as a single piece! Otherwise why cannot you use Hornby's R615 and/or R614?

GS, I have a set that looks identical to 96Raf's and the jaws are 2.2mm thick, the slot between the end of the "teeth" is 6.1mm, and the inside width of the arms is 24mm. I also have another slightly cheaper set which I purchased first for removing flywheels from a Heljan Class 17 which, because the width between the arms was only 11.3mm, proved unsuitable - the flywheels are 13.1mm OD!

DRC, I am concerned about the cluster of points in the centre bottom and invite other members to comment. I understand why you have proposed that arrangement but I would be worried about trains derailing if 'snaking' through four sets alternating left/right i.e. if your train is transitioning from the inner to outer circuit, or visa versa. You could probably remove 4 points and still get across the loops but by simply running around the middle loop as an intermediate stage. Just something to think about, and it would save a little bit of money!

RT, The electric shock you sometimes get when touching a car insulated by rubber tyres after a long journey is due to the car passing through the magnetic filed Sorry Rana that is not correct; it is a build up of static electricity generated by materials [clothing, etc] rubbing against others.

Duddley 75, May I suggest you have a look on Ebay; there are several current listings for these models and you could always look at the sold prices. As many will tell you, condition is "everything" but even so it is very unlikely they will thicken your wallet very much.

Fishmanoz, Unlike some of this forum I do read previous posts and you obviously had read the HMRS reply to Idle but it makes no mention of "year end" which is why I asked 96RAF if he had received other news. Given that it is 7 (?) years since Loco Detection was first mentioned I personally take the HMRS "update" as worthless, albeit I will be delighted if further news regarding a release date comes to light. The absence of any updates has been appalling.

96RAF, Is "before the year end" your wishful thinking or have you had an indication from the Developers?

Atom3624, The responsibility is really that of the manufacturer I think - were they all Hornby? The OP did say in his second sentence "each from a different manufacturer" so he was generalising and not targeting Hornby.

I am adding some flashing tail lights to a few Guards Vans and need to replace the plastic wheels with metal [ + pin point axles] for the power pick ups. The existing wheels are 12.9mm across the treads [not flanges!] but I am struggling to identify diameters of the various sets offered for sale. Can anyone help please?

Been a while since you posted progress but I think that's a good move given the length of your sidings, at least they look long in the photos. How's the rest of the layout coming along?

And if he wasn't then, he is now!grinning

Brew Man, There are lots of "older" members who know only too well who Flashbang really is.

I think I would aim to fit sensors along the whole length of the tail, with closer spacings at each end and have a mimic display to show which sensors are "blocked". Although the length is important I think you will find getting the two feeds more of a problem because of minimum curve radii. If you go with a Wye please keep us informed on how you arrange it.

I have an used turntable for my previous layout that I now wish I had incorporated into my current layout. Part of the challenge in running "train" is to turn the loco! But I do have a "Wye", as yet not operational, on my layout and make no mistake you need a fair bit of room. Mine is actually in an adjacent room, tracks spur off my outer loop and into the room next door, where the dead leg of the Wye extends along the length of a side wall. I've got a small camera linked to my computer so I can check the position of the train. I've got several infra red sensors and I am thinking of rigging up something to either back up or replace the camera.

A brand "new", never run, Evening Star [R2785] taken out of my cupboard today, it's been stored for well over a year, probably two or more. The plastic stud under the cab that receives the bolt from under the chassis to hold everything together sheared off when dismantling to fit the decoder. I have just drilled very fine holes into the remaining stud and attempted to epoxy some copper wires which I hope to match to holes in the broken piece when I glue that back on. The bolt, which is probably only 1.5mm dia, is quite tight in the threaded brass(?) sleeve that is in the broken piece of the stud. I am worried that it needs too much torque and will shear my repair. Had enough for tonight and will try to finish tomorrow evening. Glued up this morning, fettled as necessary, and looks like it worked.

Would anyone like to guess the value of Hornby goods that could be packed in one container; that will give a truer picture of what price increase can be "blamed" on the increased shipping cost. I believe that the article mentioned by morairmike may have stated the number of containers on the ship and the total worth.

Chrissaf, Many thanks for the "short" answer, I understand that bit grinning. I do have a Select but if I am not using RM (that is, it is not powered up) I use my Elite but only for running locos round for a few circuits on track cleaning duties.

Is there any way I can simply and quickly check to see what ID's are allocated to the Accessory decoders installed on my layout? I do not have Railmaster Pro. I do have a Sir Tom Moore Class 66 and was hoping to allocate the number 66 to this loco but at the back of my mind think the range of numbers around the 60's may have been used for the three AD's on my layout. I don't want to use long addresses. I am of course assuming that I can't use the same number for a loco if already allocated to an AD.

I've just tried to edit my earlier post but nothing doing. I've watched one of Sam's videos where he pulls himself using 32 locos; I think he said 10N with 32 so on average that is 0.31N per loco in which case the 1N scale should be okay. A word of warning though; if the loco is pulling against restraint and not able to move then that is the "stall current" situation and you don't want to be doing that for very long!

Jimbo, A search on Ebay of "newton meter" will show several of different "capacities" at quite low prices. I will have to watch Sam's video to establish typical forces in order that a meter offering a suitable capacity can be selected.

There have been many threads on this Forum discussing oils for lubrication but do any members actually use grease, and if so what type/make? I am thinking of gear boxes rather than pin-point, or other axles. Are oils & grease compatible, or does the oil degrade the grease?

ColinB If it is a 4 pin plug & socket why is it connected permanently? Can you not unplug? That's how I fitted sound to one of my loco/tenders.

@Stephen. I hope you will continue. I personally am not too bothered to stay as the forum has changed so much over the years. Chrissaf was very selective in trying to justify his comments. You actually said, or typed, "My worry is that my eyesight may be failing so badly, that it will be impossible to build it. I say that because I've gone over the Trakmat very carefully, and even though the gradient markers, and fence clips are very clear, I can't see the power-clips, or where the power is connected at all." My bold. To me that is quite clearly a joke. I doubt very much that any member who is hard of sight would take offence, and if they did I would have little sympathy having no hearing for over half of my life.

@ Ray, I have just set up an account on RMWeb and it looks very comprehensive. I will take a look around because there are certainly several posts on loco detection which I think will help with my background knowledge and where I might want to go. I'll get in touch soon. Thanks

Ray, One only has to take a look at the thread with members predicted LD release dates to appreciate the frustration many feel, me included. I am currently working full time but early next year will be retiring. And with that "extra" time would love to develop the "Auto-running" of my layout. As it stands I was considering replacing RM with Digikeijs Dr5000 with detection via iTrain as mentioned in anther thread, this would also mean disposing of my Elite controller. Not without substantial cost However, you seem to have another option but I can appreciate that having "created my own RM replacement software" you may not be willing to give away your hard work. So my question is are you willing to share more details? Even if that means me contacting you privately outside of the Forum using the Admin facility to exchange contact details. Kind regards Martin