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@RB51 hmmm I've just checked my 08 and a Hornby point (only items I had to hand). I wouldn't go tighter than 10.2mm b2b as that seems to be the measurement of the frog and checkrail clearance. My 08 seems to vary from 10.25mm to 10.4mm. I've not played with the 08 much as yet. I suggest you look more closely at exactly what happens when it "clatters" through points and when it derails on the curve. Could be the bogie pivot is still stiff or something is catching? Is it possible the track isn't properly level on the curve, eg. if missed with the hammer and caught the rail when pinning down, or a joint has missed the fishplate?

@Rallymatt yup 🙂 LokPilot are ESU's non-sound decoders.

@RB51 that 10.2mm you're measuring, that's between the inside backs of the flanges? Is the derailment happening through point frog/checkrails, or on curves? If the b2b is too narrow the wheels will jam up through point frogs and check rails. If the b2b is too wide the flange will catch the tip of the frog V and may ride up on curves. Those are the only two tests I've ever used. I've never bothered measuring b2b against a stated standard nor against a b2b gauge, as long as the wheelset passes freely through the points on my layout it is correct 🙂

@RDS might be simply a typo of "Loco" or could be a translation. I model European railways so I'm used to seeing "Lok" as the German abbreviation 🙂

Of course. I don't know of any loco model which is only capable of running in one direction other than really cheap battery or clockwork toys for kids 🙂 Some real life locos were designed to run mostly in one direction but could reverse if necessary. By "turning loop" do you mean a semi-circle of track at each end? If you've only got space for a ledge you could still have a passing loop or other track arrangement to make things more interesting. Will you be running DC or DCC? With DC you can buy an electronic shuttle unit which will handle the back-and-forth running automatically, with various degrees of sophistication such as adjustable timing, smooth acceleration/deceleration, terminals to power signals or change points etc. There are similar modules for DCC but it's trickier as the module needs to control the loco by DCC address rather than just controlling the track voltage. Whatever method you choose, make sure your ledge has sufficient width and safety fencing to guard against accidental derailment (which WILL happen one day regardless of how perfectly it runs the rest of the time 🙂 )

Gauge is measured between the inside edges of the rails. I'm reading between 11.98 and 12.04 for a sample of Hornby track, and between 12.11 and 12.15 for a sample of Peco track. I agree, 3D printed stuff tends to vary slightly from the designed dimensions depending on the printer, and the resin (or PLA) used. Usually I create a first print from a design drawn to accurate measurements which then get adjusted a little so the print comes out accurately. Two or three iterations is enough to get the print how I want it for the resin I'm using.

You missed Arnold off the list 🙂 They're the main brand I buy from the group, with a smattering of Hornby TT:120 stuff. Humbrol paints of course.

When servicing locos for friends I've come across things like solder blobs on factory decoder socket installs which caused similar symptoms (works on DC, fails on DCC) which is why I suggested a wiring/component fault as a possibility.

Paint the inside of the bodyshell black. If there are actual gaps I fill those from the inside with black sealant. Consider adding another resistor (or exchanging the supplied resistor with a higher value) to reduce the brightness of LED lighting if it's unrealistically bright. I know many decoders support CV value adjustment to control lighting brightness, but something I learned long ago is not to rely on that in case you ever have to replace the decoder and forget to make the same (or equivalent) adjustments 🙂

I know you've tested continuity etc., but to me it sounds like a possible fault/short/solder-bridge between pickup and motor wiring on one side perhaps? That wouldn't show on DC, but on DCC when the motor has to be totally isolated from the pickups...?

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I agree with @ellocoloco make a coupling converter coach or freight car with a UK coupling fitted to one end (in an NEM pocket?)

Alternatively curve the track after it exits the goods shed and use a left hand point? It might actually work better, depends what you have planned for the empty space.

Yup, have a read through the HM DCC section 🙂 One thing I would say is I think the power connector tracks are huge ugly things, why not simply solder a pair of wires to the underside of a plain section of track and create a hidden connection?

Is the BT antenna affected by metal shielding? Did I read somewhere that the Duchess will have a metal body, or was that just the loco not the tender?

Not knowing the ins-and-outs of the decoder electroinics, but can't help wondering if the bluetooth-y bits actually need to be on the main decoder pcb - could they not be on a separate board with a wiring harness which would allow positioning elsewhere in the model? A bit like the use of a SUSI connector and a daughter board for sound on some older decoders. After all non-bluetooth sound decoders in 6 pin and Next18 are readily available from other brands without being that much larger than basic non-sound decoders. It's the speaker location which tends to be more of a problem in N gauge.

Personally I'd rather keep the tyres and the degree of traction they provide. I've run model trains in several scales from Z to G since the 60s and never ever observed any "contamination" caused by having traction tyres. Mind you I've never let any of the track cleaning fluids anywhere near my trackwork as I know some of those can destroy tyres.

Trying to limit the TT:120 collection to British steam as I already have European steam and modern image in N and American garden stuff, so want to do something different and closer to home 🙂 That said, I do have a TT:120 Arnold Köf shunter 🙂 No rush though, I don't see me embarking on a TT layout until next year.

If the genuine spares aren't available, maybe look at 3rd party gears (eg. for radio control models, robotics etc.). Are they axle gears on wheelsets where a wheel can be removed with a worm/gear puller tool to get to and change the gear? I do this quite often with older N gauge locos where spares are no longer available. It's a case of counting teeth and measuring the diameter to calculate a MOD value, then use that plus gear thickness and shaft diameter to see if you can find a match for sale (ebay, AliExpress etc.) or order from firms such as kkpmo - KK Produkcja Mikroantriebe Producer of small pinion, spur gears, gearboxes, car system parts and other The latter option may not be cheap but it if gets a model working I consider it worth it.

Got to have one of those in TT to go with my N and OO versions 🙂 Good old original 1971 shiny green version in OO, but it's what I had and loved as a kid in the 70s so had to get hold of another 🙂

I have Arnold N ET 420 EMU models going back to the mid 70s, they're one of the main reasons I switched over to European from British N in the 80s as we had nothing like them 🙂 To be honest the Kato Eurostar in N is a long established and successful model so not sure if the market needs another one for N gauge.

I take it you are powering and throwing your points through a separate electrical supply, not using DCC accessory decoders which maybe draw power from the track bus anyway? How many of those 11 points do you expect to throw simultaneously? That's an indicator of how powerful a CDU you need. There are some quite powerful heavy duty units out there should you be intending to make use of route selection to throw an entire fiddleyard run of points or a route through a complex station with a single button press. If you're just firing individual points (or pairs of points on a crossover) a standard CDU will do the job. Having said that, for the last 30 years I've gone against the norm and actually have individual small CDUs I build myself for each point! The reason is because I have an exhibition layout with two or three people all throwing points for the route they are running, they don't want to have to wait for one central CDU to recharge. My fiddleyard uses route selection with maybe a dozen points fired simultaneously from a single button. I agree with @Brew Man regarding the supply voltage. I power my CDU(s) from 24V to ensure plenty of "thump" for solenoid point motors 🙂

Diameter is measured across the treads not the flanges. Post a photo of the wheelsets that are giving problems - maybe they've been replaced with non-Hornby wheels, or maybe they're just very old wheels given those seems to be old R numbers? Can the wheels be removed from the bogies? I'd take a wheelset out and simply roll it by hand through your points. If they get stuck or bind through the check rails/wing rails then the back-to-back is too tight. If the flange hits the tip of the frog V then the back-to-back is too wide. Depending on the design of the wheelset it may be possible to adjust the back-to-back distance with careful push/pull and twist (or better still use of a worm/gear puller tool).

Yeah I had a Nellie with a proper chassis and X.04 motor. Reliable, decent weight and easy to service. So much better than the cheap plastic chassis and can-motor things that my son had as a kid.

The length of track is kind of irrelevant. How many locos will be running at the same time, how many others + lit coaches will be sitting active on the layout? Sound locos add to the power draw. The motors in the locos are reasonably efficient from what I can tell, though I only have a couple in TT (hundreds in N). When servicing locos I expect to observe around 100 - 150mA when running light, some modern coreless motors being even less. I like to allow plenty of headroom and reckon on something like 500mA per running train in the smaller scales (N, TT, 00) which is probably double the actual draw in a lot of cases. I'm sure a 5 amp booster is usually sufficient for most people's home layouts. If you really will need more power then separate the layout into power districts each with its own booster. Try and keep other power drains such as lighting accessories on a completely separate AC or DC bus, there's no need to waste DCC track power on them.