Baz48

Thanks Chris, I asked for a refund and the seller agreed, I then removed the loco body and tried the loco on the programming track connected to an analogue controller , I could then see the jerky action close up, I stripped the motor assembly and removed the gear set , I could not see any damage , I reassembled and tried it again , this time I applied a bit of pressure expecting the wheels to continue to rotate , they did not .I could then see that the motor was rotating , the large gear was rotating but the small gear ( on the same shaft), was not rotating , when I released the loco it ran as before. I stripped the motor etc down again and inspected closley the first gear set, , I found that the small gear was slipping on the shaft when only very slight pressure was applied.. I identified the correct gear set from the hornby website (X8849/21) - 21 indicates the number of teeth on the small gear., I then ordered a new gear set from Peters Spares for £3.79, fitted this and the loco ran smoothly in both directions in analogue mode, I then purchased a R8249 decoder from an e bay auction site, for £10.50, I fitted this and refitted the body, I programmed the loco on the test track to ID 009 and it now runs Ok, It pulls 4 illumninated Pullmans with ease from a crawl to full speed.- May I point out to others not to be aftaid of trying to do your own repairs, just be careful, do a drawing will help, and save all (tiny ) screws safely and note which screw goes where! - The most tricky operation in this case was refitting the body having fitted the decoder, this took a lot of patience and care. Many Thanks Chris, Best Regards to All , Barry.

Thanks Chris, May i again ask for your advice, this loco was sold to me on e bay as "DCC fitted"" and "Brand New" and never run and had been stored in its box all the time.. I have contacted the seller and he tells me that it was one of his fathers locos , never run etc.and he himself knows nothing about model railways. I think that Ihave 2 options to consider: 1/ ask for a full refund.- Which I am entitled to as the item was not "as described" . 2/ I feel that the seller is genuine and has made a honest mistake. - I do like the loco as it is very detailed and does appear to be brand new due to the packaging etc all being as if it has never been disturbed. - I could therefore ask for a partial discount to cover the cost of a Hornby decoder , say £16 for the decoder and £14 for fitting ( and I could fit this myself) , say a £30 discount on the auction price I paid of £102, resulting in me paying £72 , however then there is this motor transmission problem which may be simple to repair, (I feel that I could carry out this repair and would probably enjoy it!). I might have to pay say £10 for parts and I could ask for this ammount to be retunded, This would result in a £40 refund, meaning that I have paid £62 - do you think this would be fair to the seller? I would welcome your comments / suggestions as I want to be fair to the seller.- Many thanks , Barry.

Thanks Chris, I have just done this the resistence flucuates between 20-50 ohms , therefore, there is no decoder fitted?. Thanks for this! However could I ask for your advice please, this afternoon I rigged up an analogue controller to my test track and tried the loco on this. It ran forward and reverse , but with a jerky motion, and there was a regular clunk every revolution of the wheels.I checked the obvious , con rods etc. but there was nothing fouling the motion. I then gently pressed down on the loco and the wheels stopped rotating but I could still hear the motor running and the regular clunk clunk continued as though the drive beween the motor and wheels was slipping? Any ideas please? . This is supposed to be a brand new motor. Many thanks, Barry.

Many Thanks, OssieB , I find your solution very interesting and well worth some thought! - Thanks for the link to the circuit diagram details, it is much appreciated but I think I will need to sit in a dark room after entering all this lot, are you sure that this list is not your Swiss bank account details by mistake!! Thanks also to BagEnd Jct, I am also considering using 2 aspect colour signals, life is a compromise so I might compromise by using these as they are cheaper and easier to install,--------- having said that on reflection, I still favour semaphores! Many thanks to you both, and a Very Merry Christmas !!!! Best Regards , BarryT

Hi Every body, Many Thanks to all for your advice, I will shop around as advised, I got these prices from e bay, regarding light signals, I realise these would cheaper and easier to fit but I would prefer semaphores as my layout is in a narrow room and I have built it from wall to wall to maximise the width ,this means that my controls are all at the "door end " and therefore I would not be able to see the condition of all the light signals , which would detract from the effect, whereas with semaphores I can easily see them all from one end!- (and also I am concentrating on pre -nationalisation stock.) Merry Christmas to All, Best regards, Barry.

Hi Everybody, I have been looking into adding Semaphore signals to my layout, I am interested in the Dapol signal with the Train Tech one touch DCC semaphore controller, the problem is the high cost of purchasing one Train Tech contoller and 2 Dapol signals comes to about £116 and that is for just 2 signals, I will need a few more than this! !!! Hornby don't make these but perhaps they should be looking at doing so! As anyone got any suggestions as how to reduce the costs on this prioject