The Doc

If you are thinking of A4 Pacifics, I think there were 4 (if you mean actual locomotives rather than models): Silver Link, Quicksilver, Silver King and Silver Fox.

I own a couple of their ex Great Eastern N7 locos, and they are excellent. Good runners with plenty of weight so they cope easily with the trains I run. They were also excellent value when released a couple of years ago at under £100.

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone. I should add that I also downloaded the newer version of the sound profile before any other tinkering, but it was only after reducing flange squeal to zero that the problem went away!

Well, after much fiddling, I have come up with a solution of sorts. I got the Deltic working on the phone app, and reset CV8 to 8 as Hornby support advised, and on the HM7000 app the sounds all seemed to be working okay. Then I switched back to DCC (Select version 1.6) and immediately the din began all over again. Back to the drawing board. So I switched back to the app, went through all the sounds, and realised that the permanent din I was hearing on DCC was F14, flange squeal. So on the app I adjusted the volume of F14 to zero, switched back to DCC and low and behold, no din. Hopefully it has gone for good. I can happily live without a bit of flange squeal in my life. Still, it is a bit of a mystery why that sound should have been permanently On even when I tried to run on DCC without any sound. While in the app I also took the opportunity to turn down the volume of some of the other sounds (like F3, which is a very distorted horn sound).

@SteveM6, Thanks, I'll give it a go!

Hi and thanks for all your replies. The Select version is 1.6. I posted in the general DCC forum (rather than HM section) because I ordered a TTS sound loco to run with standard DCC equipment, Hornby then changed the spec and my loco doesn't seem to work properly with my Hornby standard DCC controller. I shall now have to go through the rigmarole of uploading the HM7000 app, that I don't particularly want to have to do, and follow guidance about how to change CVs etc. My day job involves lots of science and tech, and in my time off I just want to play trains and enjoy the added bonus of sounds.

Thanks Steve, but I'm not sure it's just a volume thing. On the Gaugemaster controller, nothing is too loud (apart from F3 Horn), and when I switch off F1, the loco is silent. With the Select controller, it makes a din even when F1 is switched off. I've never come across this before. With my Deltic it is impossible to run this loco silently on DCC with my Select.

I have just bought a Deltic with the TXS sound chip fitted. I had it on order for more than 2 years, when it had previously been announced with TTS sound. My query is - are the new TXS sound chips compatible with the Select controller? The moment I put the Deltic on the track it makes a terrible din, which sounds like brake squeal, buffering up, clanking and various other sounds, before I have even switched F1 on. Switching F1 on gets the engine sound started, but all the other noises are still there virtually drowning it out (which says a lot considering the roar from a Deltic). I can only suppress them by turning on F10 (compressor sound). My Select works correctly with my TTS sound chipped locos, and also with a Loksound chipped loco, so I assume it is working correctly. The Deltic sound chip works correctly with a Gaugemaster digital controller I borrowed. So the question I ask is, has anyone else had an issue with the new TXS sound chips and a Select controller? If not, then either my chip or controller has a fault that makes the two incompatible.

@508006 I believe the latest Bachmann Mk1 coach bogies do not come with couplings - these coaches have the kinematic type of coupling that are attached to coach underframe, so it might be more tricky to use them as replacements. The older ones that were previously made by Replica railways did have couplings attached to bogies.

Hi Kyle, Welcome to the forum. You can pick up a few extra LNER carriages to match the ones you've got very cheaply off ebay. If patient, you can easily pick up 3 for around £20. As for the rear pony truck, like you I prefer the older pivoting version, but many other modellers feel differently. The pivoting version is no more realistic than the newer model. I believe that the rear "Cartazzi" truck on the real Flying Scotsman only allows a very small amount of sideways movement within a fixed outer frame (probably about an inch, possibly less, but maybe an expert on full size Gresley Pacifics may be able to give us a proper answer). If the model was an exact replica of the real thing, the minimum radius for curves on your layout would be somewhere between 10 and 15 feet!

For any others having derailing P2s, you might want to watch this youtube clip: Even a talented modeller like Tony Wright, whose track is laid by another experienced modeller and who has made countless puperb running kit locos in his time, had problems with the front pony truck derailing on his layout Little Bytham. It seems that the solution is to remove the pony truck and bend the two copper springing strips slightly further so that they push the pony down onto the track more strongly. As many modellers demand finer, closer to scale appearance these days, wheel standards have become finer, which means there is less margin for error in both manufacturing tolerance and track laying. A slight variation in the springing of a >£200 model can make all the difference between a perfect runner and a derailing dog!

It's been suggested before elsewhere in this section of the forum, but I would suggest the LNER E4 2-4-0 tender loco. The tender is, as far as I know, the same as the J15, and there could be other common parts as well (cab?). Liveries include the beautiful Great Eastern lined blue, LNER black (not sure if they were ever lined) and BR black. A perfect loco for pulling the Hornby Gresley suburban coaches, and maybe the generic 4 and 6 wheel coaches in GER brown. Hornby have done several excellent Great Eastern locos over the past few years and this would be a nice addition to the range.

I own a few of these teaks, all bought secondhand, and the livery is very complex, thus justifying a higher price relative to some other models. I'm not saying I would pay £67 for them, however, since I don't think I have bought any coaches brand new (apart from the recent generic 4 wheelers) since a rake of Hornby teak Thompson coaches (probably around 1977!). Manufacturing these coaches cannot be cheap, with all the additional footboards, roof details, handrails and door handles that need attaching. Hornby probably now regret not opting for the Gresley open coaches, or end vestibule types, that only had two doors on each side. While they are expensive, I reckon they are actually better valus than the current Railroad teaks at their listed price of £29.49. These date from the 1970s and must be cheap as chips to manufacture. You can pick up rakes of three in good condition off ebay for less than £20.

@Injury20 Looks like a very neat grass job to me. Nice work!

My brother and I managed to break many a Triang super 4 track point in our time, and even with those huge flanges we had plenty of derailments. We were just children playing with toy trains which weren't as robust as some like to think. I much prefer modern track (especially as it is nickel silver). I still get some derailments but that is mostly due to baseboards that are not 100% flat. Yes, it can be frustrating that certain locos and rolling stock are poorly designed/manufactured and more prone to derailing (e.g. the front bogies and pony trucks on some steam locos, the "kinematic" couplings on some coaches) but, perhaps surprisingly for someone in their 50s, I get more pleasure now as an adult playing trains than when I did as a child.

Rana, Might these be what you are looking for? https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/4-cabs

I think 85th commemorates the steam speed record set 85 years ago, not the 85th version of Mallard produced by Hornby!

Another difference between Peco and Hornby that hasn't been mentioned is that Hornby points and diamond crossings have a larger plastic frog than Peco - the V shaped piece where two rails meet. This is not an issue with most modern locomotives that pick up from many wheels, or if you are running your locos at moderately high speeds, but if you want a shunting layout and are using small locomotives such as the Railroad 0-4-0s, or any other 0-4-0s for that matter, then the Peco points may give you better performance (assuming they are laid perfectly flat). Better still are the electrofrog points described previously, where there is almost continuous electrical conductivity. I prefer these because I do run some locos quite slowly (in comparison to the train set of my youth) but they require the use of flexi track cut into correct lengths to incorporate them into a layout that uses set track pieces, such as the starter oval in any Hornby train set.

I've never had problems previously, but like you I made an order recently (early February) and have heard nothing. I have been so busy that the project that required their nameplates has not yet been started, but if they don't deliver soon I will start to pester them for a refund and use another supplier (which isn't always possible for some of their more specialised items). There have been lots of complaints about them recently on rmweb.

In answer to one of your questions, in case it hasn't been answered anywhere else, yes this plan contains first radius curves. This is always likely to be the case if the width of the board is only 3ft, as second radius curves are almost 18", so a full 180 degree curve takes up almost 36" - and that's the centreline of the track - the outer edge of the sleepers are going to be slightly wider still.

Thanks for the replies. I have a Railroad A1 Scotsman which I might renumber as 103 just for something different. I also have an A3 tender drive version which I have just resprayed in wartime black (because the LNER green colour had faded on one side) - then realised that FS was still an A1 during WWII, so I am going to have to rename and renumber it. Always a good idea to do research first!

Thank you all, I was also puzzled by the number on the cab side - looks like 102 or 103 (sorry, my eyesight is not what it used to be). Is this also fictitious?

Did Flying Scotsman ever have a domeless boiler? I believe that early A1s had round domes, and A3s had either round, banjo or streamlined domes, but this recent email from Hornby seems to show an A3 boiler with no dome at all. Is it a howler on Hornby's part or an accurate model?

A couple of suggestions for those on a tight budget: Lima diesels tend to be very robust, serviceable and repairable, and unless you go for a rarer limited edition, there are plenty on the secondhand market as "serious" enthusiasts replace theirs with much more modern spec diesels with the latest must have details (chains between the body and the bogies, anyone?). From 3 feet away you would be hard pushed to tell my Lima Deltic from the Bachmann one. When buying rolling stock, secondhand is a safer bet than buying locos, since there is less to go wrong. I have bought very few coaches and even fewer wagons brand new. I would avoid certain brands (Triang, Trix, Hornby Dublo, Playcraft/Jouef) as they may have different couplings and, in the case of Triang, thicker wheel flanges that don't like modern track. Most older Hornby, Airfix, Mainline and Lima wagons can be picked up secondhand for a fraction of the price of brand new models. Bachmann tend to be a little more expensive - sometimes slightly newer and more accurate designs, but they don't necessarily look or run any nicer.

With steam locos a cast metal body has the advantage of giving better traction. The weight of modern diesel models with the centre mounted motors and all wheel traction means that the extra weight of a metal body probably won't make much difference.