AndyThomas

Yes that figures. I actually have 2 rockets but one is a very early one and this one which came in a mint box must be towards the end of the first run and looks like new. There is no smoke unit just some sheathed wiring up the chimney with a ceramic "resister" or something. As I say the motor is running fine on test and likewise when back in the chassis the wheels etc work nicely on test as well but as soon as its on the track it struggles. Must be a short or something somewhere. I will have another look tomorrow but my fingers are bigger that the train so it is a finicky one

I have a Hornby rocket that looks fairly new that I bought from an auction in Berlin of all places. I would say about year 2000 make. I have had it on the back burner for some time as it trys to run but doesnt but I have just had another look at it. The motor itself is running fine on test and the wheels turn properly but when on the track it hardly goes at all. I cant work out the wiring on it and neither can I work out how the pick ups work. Can anyone enlighten me please? Do the back wheels act as pick up as well or is it just the front? Is the sheath on the brush contact on the live side supposed to be like other trains and insulate from the brush and wire?

Bought the X6636 pack and have to report that they are not the correct screws for the hogwarts. May be correct thread but much too short to be of any use

Peters spares said they dont know the thread size and the pack with the drawbar is rather expensive to say the least which is why I only wanted the screw

Hi everyone. I aquired a fairly new Hogwarts express but unfortunately with no tender nor drawbar screw. I can concoct somthing quite easily that will work and look the part but I am missing the screw for the drawbar. Does anyone know the actual size of the thread for this screw?

Thanks for all the advice. This has "sort of sorted" itself but not sure what the actual problem was or still may be. I have removed the secondary wires from the controller and just left one pair of wires connected to the rails. I know that everything was working fine for several months so all the wires were originally in the right place. I think there is a strong possibility that one of my two grandsons has pulled a wire from somewhere when I wasnt around and their mom has randomly put it back where she thought it came from. There was definately a short as I could see a spark coming off a connector a couple of times when running in the problem direction. I will put the wires back in place one at a time and see what happens. Thanks guys and gals

Hi there. No I have 2 feeds to the track and it was new fishplates and track all round when it was laid. Its the fact it runs fine one way and not the other that is bugging me and its the same on all trains. I have tried a third H & M controller now and its the same so must be a track problem. Wondering if a track pin is lying somewhere on a point. I will examine the layout again. What is the RL tutorial??

Hi there. No I have 2 feeds to the track and it was new fishplates and track all round when it was laid. Its the fact it runs fine one way and not the other that is bugging me and its the same on all trains. I have tried a third H & M controller now and its the same so must be a track problem. Wondering if a track pin is lying somewhere on a point. I will examine the layout again.

Very sad indeed. He answered evry single one of my threads offering help and guidance and I am very grateful for his help over the last few years. RIP

Hi everyone. Dont know if anyone can offer any suggestions about a problem I have. I have quite a large layout (10 metres or so) and I have been running trains for several months with no real problems but then trains started going slower one way. Now they run fine one way but barely go the other way and now keep stopping. I did leave the transformer on for several days by mistake which is one of the older H & M twin controllers and thought I may have done some damage to it as it was quite hot . However I have swapped it for a spare one I have and its still the same so assume I may have a dodgy connection somewhere but cant see why its running fine one way and not the other. Any ideas about this ladies and gents. Andy

Thanks for all the input with this. I dont want to go pushing and pulling without knowing what I am doing hence my questions. I have done some more tests on this and I am 99% certain now its a bad contact through the LARGE wheels. I have tested on all contact points and the motor runs fine on all apart from the large wheels. If the problem is as I am thinking dirty axles and shafts it mirrors the same problems I have had in the past on some hornby models where a dirty / oily axle means a bad contact / short. However I need to access these to clean them. Are the LARGE wheels just a prize on prize off fit from the axle or is it best to "split" the train and access from the inside? Andy

Are the axles actually fixed onto the wheels? It looks that way from the service sheet. If it is there may be some muck in between the axle and chassis causing a bad connection. It runs fine on test but not so well on the track hence my line of thought. The carbon bush is also obviously flat at present so not as good a contact as it could be if slightly worn to the same shape as the armature but its fine on test