LMSFan72

@GSX550ES Can you see the copper contacts on the draw bar and do they look to have any bits missing? If the contacts are in place then it would seem to me unlikely to be the draw bar itself. The contacts may be bent out of position but, if they are, they ought to be able to be bent back into position fairly easily, just carefully. Perhaps the wires or the solder joints to the draw bar are at fault? How did you deduce that it is the draw bar rather than something else in the loco as it's worth being doubly certain if you cannot find any availability of the part anyway.

In addition to the other good advice I would suggest: remove any existing numbers/markings - they will be slightly proud under the new paint if you leave them. If on a flat surface I would use very fine abrasive paper (3000 grit) with something like t-cutwash off residue (and all dust etc from the body) with warm waterapply a light coat of primer - I too would go Halford aerosol. It doesn't need to go on thick, just enough to provide a key surfaceLet it dryapply a very light coat of black. Keep the can moving from a sensible distance so you don't pool the paint on detaillet it dryapply another light coatcontinue until you are happy with an even coveragenote that it's very easy to hide details so several light coats from different angles. make sure you blow out the nozzle between coats as per can isnstructions

Digitrax do the SDXH186MT chip and a good Class 50 sound file is published on another forum for free for it - however, to install the sound file you need to know someone with the correct equipment to load it to the chip. I bought a chip in the US for about 45GBP.

I have one and just cleaned every wheel on an ebay merchant navy that was pretty dirtyt. It worked very well for me - the nib holds it's shape well and is very controllable and doesn't seem to wear. It aso doesn't seem to mind getting soaked in IPA

Having owned a number of these locos I am pretty sure that the differences between all the different numbers are just the colour - as I think you have worked out. As it's not a very complicated livery then you can probably fairly easily repaint one if you can't find the exact colour and lining. X9036 is black with white lining X9032 is black with red lining X9030 is maroon with yellow lining X9040 is black with red lining X9118 is black with red and white/yellow lining (can't quite tell!) - to check other look up the R numbers listed on the various service sheets and see the colour on pictures of the loco. I would suggest if yours is plain black and you don't have a sloping smoke box then it is the model from the set as Going Spare says. This seems to have less detail than the other version which has lining on the cylinder block. I would go for X9036.

Major surgery completed and a coat of primer to see how we are doing..../media/tinymce_upload/2b9eee1433b0050ba41f30fff1d24406.PNG

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Yes, all inside a boxfile. At the moment there is nothing off scene but I am planning on making a 2 road traverser powerd by a stepper motor and controlled by dcc. That way I can run the whole thing with JMRI (or railmaster) and just have it run through a program as a shunting puzzle..... when I get round to it!! I will post a birds-eye view separately..

I am pretty sure it is a new build too. Very different from the original - although I guess the "chassis" may be reused from elsewhere, but, I have no info.

Thanks for that, yes, good perspective. The best site I have found so far is this: http://www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com/090719.html Thanks to all contributors. There's not much chance that I can get to see it, I just don't have the time to go looking for her, so google and Youtube are much more effective.

/media/tinymce_upload/b64b2ab40eb6f29bb4541a9a70a257ba.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/7c9c8ff3082587b665c5efc36db3d4c4.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/134c88593c94f7b65a4b16abc8e64151.jpg I am hoping to be able to blend the paint a bit better next time round....I'll see if varnish helps!! As I mentioned, I need to to raise the rear tender platform 2mm and redress the ladders and top lamp bracket and move the lining and emblem!

I keep making this more diufficult as each time I spot and modify somehting I then find something else!! Having regrafted the tender top (I shortened the extension and trimmed the bunker profile correctly) based on more pictures and also removed the pipe fittings as they looked to prominent I got it all back together and airbrushed it again. Now I've spotted 2 more things to do: The "flat" roof at the rear of the tender should be 2 mm higher to match where the bunker starts to slope rather than the step that can be seen above. The rear of the tender is then actually 2 mm higher on the model so I therefore need to raise the top lamp bracket and the ladders should be four rung! Need to do that now... (and the lining and emblems are going to need to be done too as they are higher than on the model..) Then I looked at the loco... I have added a white metal whistle and cylinder drain cocks and buffer steps. I also had to modify the pipework on the boiler sides - and add the little "fillers" behind the smoke deflectors. I will post some more photos... waiitng for approval.

So, I found some more pictures and first thing I noticed is the tender top does not fold over, so now trimming it back! @Bulleidboy - I have no idea what the pipe is but it's on the current preserved one! I model only what's on the mainline today so want it to be accurate. This started life as a Hornby 6000 gallon (I actually have both short and long and neither looked remotely close!)

Hi I have been slowly putting together bits to make a modified tender to suit my renumbered/renamed rebuilt Merchant Navy. I have been doing it by "eye" from what I can find on google and youtube of the various recent mainline runs she has done. I am wondering if anyonw has any other pictures of the current tender to help me. For those that are interested I used a LWB tender and grafted on a new tender top extension from a second tender top. I have, as best I can, blended the two together. I have then been fitting various detail bits using 0.5mm brass (I think) rod and various fittings. Making the ladders was fun (!). The black tender top and the green tender end still need to be painted, but, I thought I'd ask those in the know if there is anything I might have missed. I know some of my dimensions are out since I simply couldn't find photos without perspective ! /media/tinymce_upload/61bdb498074ff1c8253c2ea539174512.png/media/tinymce_upload/5398026107049975f655a150234df39c.png

This is reall a 3-in-1! I have just about finished the main Scalescenes Industrial Boxfile Layout. To complement that I have also been modifying my 48DS and Sentinel to suit. Both of these are now fully fitted with sound and lights. The Ruston and Hornsby has a zimo sound chip in and a supercap for stay alive. It has working front, rear and cab lights. In shunting mode both end spot lights are on. They are also able to be run as directional or independently on all the time. The cab light is perhaps a bit dull - really down to the tiny LED I used (same as the spotlights). The Sentinel was more of a challenge. Also using the same zimo sound chip (both are hardwired) I couldn't get a supercap in for stay alive os have 5 tantalums under the chassis. I think I can fit another 10 if I need to.....This has working beacon, fully independent marker lights, cab light and headlights at both ends. It needed all 8 functions on the decoder including amplifying the 2 logic level outputs. /media/tinymce_upload/e96d6c95d0a51a61915442f4c061f2fb.jpg

I followed the guide in the December Hornby magazine. It's a squeeze! MX648

Well, I just fitted a Zimo chip and stay alive to my little Ruston 48DS and ran it on my boxfile layout. Reversed in slowly and then accelerates up a gear as it moves off forward! Very impressed by this - the loco is only about 5cm long! Not as slow as those big locos but with such little momentum and tiny motor not bad!

I would dremel the track a couple of inches either side of the point (assuming only the row of the point joins another point, remove the point and those sections and replace the point and the small bits of track with flexi track. have the flexi track joined to the point and then have the fishplates on the open ends of the flexi track slid all the way onto the track. You can then slide the fishplates "off" the flexi track half way onto the existing track so you can rejoin the existing track very easily. I know a diagram would help but can't do that on my phone!

Interestingly the article in the just released Hornby Magazine says the 7-car has an additional non driving motor car (dummy rather than motorised I'd guess). I am struggling with that though as an APT was, I thought, made up of 2 sets back to back. If there is an additional motor car then that would need an even number of cars in a set, wouldn't it - to give it the symmetry??

Well, I am pretty impressed. Hornby have really looked at what could be of interest to the modern image modeller (and therefore maybe also to some of the younger modellers coming through!) as well as some great "unusual" and classic models. The irony, of course, is I spent the last year converting locos to ones that Hornby have now announced!! GBRf 50007, 50049, 47739, 47749, Network Rail 97304.... Liking the Hush hush and the APTs too - great to see so many options for that....I only wonder if any of the additional coach packs will be compatibale with the old 1980s model! Pricing seems good too - although waiting to see what are Railroad versions....

I ordered some off the deluxe materials webstore directly. DHL delivered it next day - that was the Thursday before Xmas

I don't have express models lighting but I am about to add lights to my 08 TTS. I have decided that it basically has 2 jobs: shunting and may be a little mainline work. If mainline then I would always be pulling even if cab end was forwards so I will connect only white lights to yellow and white. For shunting mode I will use all lights - red and white on at both ends irrespective of direction, so I will use green for that connecting to all of the lights. I will use diodes in line on the negative function wires (white, yellow, green) to protect them. Cab light I will not use, but, it could be wired to either of the other scenarios - most likely the green. It is important to lower the current draw with so many LEDs on one function with resistor - as Rob'a earlier post suggested.

I have also used them previously as per Chris. I have also used SMD components, so very small size

maybe diodes to do the voltage drop that way. Something else to try

...might mock that up on my test rig