Going Spare

Reference to the TXS HST set being a web exclusive was an error and has now been corrected as other retailers are offering it.

Someone with better maths than mine can shoot me down, but by my reckoning, if stock has reduced by 12% which is stated to be £3m, 100% of stock was £25m at the previous report, which now has reduced to £22m - considerably more stock to shift?

Or SD061 for the Hall as both are GWR 2-cylinder locos.

Unable to edit my first post but have found reference in the 2020 catalogue to R4802 dining car, R4803 1st, R4805 brake 3rd (which may mean R4804 was another 3rd), plus R4843 passenger brake and R6799 horse box.

Whether they are an exact match you will have to decide for yourself but other super-detail LMS coaches listed in Pat Hammond's British Model Trains catalogue are: 1st - R4230/A/B and in train packs R2659 & R2985; 3rd - R4231/A/B and in train packs R2659 (2), R2907 & R2985; brake 3rd - R4232/A/B and in train packs R2907 & R2985. Also, there are the Airfix-designed slightly less well detailed 12-wheel dining car R4095/A-E/G, the bogie passenger brake/parcels van R4233/A/B and the 4-wheel CCT van R6640/A. The catalogue has not been published since 2013 so others may have information regarding more recent releases.

Simon Kohler has posted a very interesting background to Hornby's involvement with the 1984 show and the models that were produced for use at the Apollo Theatre as well as the locomotive that was presented to Her Majesty The Queen. It is on his kohlercoms.com website, in the 'Kohler Confidential' section, "Simon Says - reloaded" - well worth a read.

@GMD - I do not know whether it is the case with the J50 but I believe the size of the firebox often determined the spacing between the centre and rear axles.

@bee In the U.K, the word "Autotrain" was often used to describe a train, usually a tank locomotive and one coach working a branch line, where the coach incorporated a driving cab at one end so that when the locomotive was propelling the coach, the fireman stayed on the locomotive but the driver moved to the coach driving cab and was able to control the locomotive from that cab, removing the need for the locomotive to run round the coach at each terminus.

Very unlikely, I would have thought, because the locomotive would need greater and different servicing to the coach(es) on a daily basis.

The website quotes expected (not guaranteed) dates of Summer for the twin-sets and Autumn for the observation coach.

'Tech Specs' state 12cm for the single-arm and 17cm for the junction signal.

In the recent past (c2014), Hornby also briefly offered a few Mk1 coaches with interior lighting and, further back (late 60s/early 70s), Mk2a coaches.

Coach pack R4582 was issued in 2013 to augment R3184. It contained cars Audrey, Vera and No.87.

I, too, took the "one-off" reference to imply that it was a commemorative presentation item rather than being intended for quantity production.

Service Sheet 137 is more appropriate for this early version of the class 58. It was notorious for being very low powered with just one motor bogie because much of the output was absorbed by the gear train, and later versions had an uprated motor and an improved gear train fitted (the motor mounted on its side on the chassis block) as per sheet 137B.

I doubt it. Rather, the consequence of having been stored for some time in a damp environment? There is no mention of this chassis in the master Mazak Rot affected locos list on RMweb and I have not found any other post in this Forum.

At the present rate of progress in issuing long-outstanding Service Sheets, it could well be quite some while before one is published for the SS version of the P2.

JJ - Don't forget that (I think I am right in saying) all of your other loco's are DC so if you go down the DCC route for control of your 'Prince of Wales', that is the only loco you will be able to run while that controller is connected to the track, until your other loco's are fitted with a decoder. [Happy to be corrected by others if there is a work-around.]

Is there no advice on this within the instructions that come with the loco?

Until recently, Lendons of Cardiff offered a repair service. Although they now only handle warranty repairs, they may still have the component you need as a sale item.

According to Pat Hammond's British Model Trains Catalogue, there was also a 1999 Flying Scotsman train pack R2089 containing Silver Link in early logo green, 2002 single loco R2266 Silver Fox in late logo BR green and 2009 Yorkshire Pullman mail order set R1136 which included Railroad-standard Quicksilver in BR green. As these were not included in Simon Kohler's list (which seems to have used the same information source), were they not released?

R2980

The R8249 decoder will be fine. As to how to access the decoder socket in the tender, body/chassis separation may be being prevented by the two metal handrails at the front which, from previous posts, may have been glued in place at the factory. Without this complication, the body can often be removed by squeezing the front and rear panels thus springing the sides out from their retaining clips, or by inserting a thin flat screwdriver blade between the two at front centre. As you suggest, this is probably better done with the loco and tender separated. There probably is a 4-wire electrical connection between them, terminating in a white plastic plug which sits in a socket in the underside of the tender chassis. Hornby offer a tool to extract this plug, X6468, as it is very easy to cause damage to the plug and/or wires trying to prise or pull it out. When reconnecting, make sure the plug is the right way round. The drawbar may be screwed at both ends or may just slip over a pillar at the front of the tender for easy separation.

Amplifying my earlier post in the light of subsequent comments, I seem to remember the contact being on the basis of (or something similar) "your PII data is now available to view" and as the sender appeared to be genuine, I took the offer forward. I do not recall feeling any breach of confidentiality had occurred and I was simply satisfying my curiosity as to what 'PII' information was.

I had certainly not consciously requested the information but received a similar notification a few days back, all seemingly above-board.