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Er... very simple just position the cursor within the quoted text and edit as needed 🙂

Somebody tinkered with it and fitted a second power bogie? I'd have at least wired them together to spread the pickup capabilities. You wouldn't want to hit the case where one bogie has lost power and the other is trying to push or drag it.

I have no knowledge of these particular coaches, but I'd say that's big and potentially risky assumption to make. In the days of real bulbs (not LEDs) it was common to have to change out the bulbs for higher voltage versions to be safe with DCC. With LEDs there'll need to be some rectification built in for them to work on DC in either direction of travel, but the electronics might be designed more for nominal 12V rather than the 15V+ of DCC (yeah it's only a few more volts but some manufacturers save on costs by skimping on headroom for component specifications). My guess is they'll be awfully bright on DCC 😞

What height are you climbing for each revolution? I would imagine the bare minimum is 45mm (doesn't allow for any pantograph locos). My calculations using R1 (267mm) curves makes that roughly 2.5% gradient, not only is that steep for a straight gradient and locos with no tyres but on such a tight radius as well that's a lot of drag. Good luck but I would have serious doubts!

Not a fan of Bullfrog Snot nor using Copydex for this purpose. If the wheel isn't made with a groove to accommodate a traction tyre then adding snot to it just increases the diameter and lifts the chassis so it's not riding properly. I've yet to be in a situation where I cannot replace a traction tyre, even if it's with a 3rd party tyre. Tyres should last a long time, but can be affected by some of the track cleaning or continuity improver potions some folk like to use. I don't allow any of the those on my trackwork 🙂 I'd love to get hold of a spare set of driving wheels for a Pacific and machine out a groove for a tyre.

hmm... could do with a sharper photo to be honest - use the macro setting on your camera? Anyway, I trawled through AC Models Spares' pages for Electrotren (better photos than Hornby's web site) but didn't spot anything. I'd be looking to dismantle and remove the entire black KK mechanism part from the wagon and glue it back together, maybe using some brass wire or strip to add strength.

It's a perfectly viable method. The thickness of the wire and tube isn't vitally important unless you intend to include bends in the tube, in which case don't go too thick. Unless you need to, I'd suggest stick to straight lines. I used w-i-t on a club layout back in the 70s before moving on to point motors on later layouts. If you have a local model shop which caters for radio control aircraft they'll usually have stocks of various gauges of piano wire and plastic/brass/aluminium tube. If you have live frog points then using a slide or toggle changeover switch as the "lever" is sensible as you then have switching for the frog polarity feed. Here's a very short N gauge example. Note the loop in the end of the wire at the switch, this is to compensate for the difference in throw between the tiebar and switch. Here's an example ebay listing for the slide switches (not necessarily the cheapest source, just the first which came up) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264488712752

Can you post a clear closeup photo or more of the KK mechanism?

@JJ73 definitely don't go switching your Duette to half-wave for any DCC fitted loco you might test on DC, in fact don't use half-wave for modern DC models either as coreless motors won't like it. Under full-wave the output is a bit "ripple-y" and could suffer voltage spikes which is what can damage modern electronics. The old H&M Duette, Clipper etc. controllers were great and appropriate 50+ years ago with contemporary Hornby Dublo and Triang stuff etc. I still have my H&M cases but I ripped out the innards and replaced with simple Gaugemaster panel controllers about 30 years ago 🙂

The auto-referral of post content does seem to be a little over-zealous, it even objects to at least one user name on here when I've tagged them in replies. Not much we can do I suppose, if it simply works off a list of words or phrases perceived as naughty. Would be nice to have one chance to correct/re-write and avoid referrals/approvals which otherwise might be delayed so much the discussion has moved on and your reply isn't seen in context - it might have some vitally useful advice or info 🙂

So just run the loco on your DCC system. HM7000 decoders can run on traditional track power DCC too. From what I've read, quite a few people are doing that and maybe only using the bluetooth and app for programming the decoders.

Yes it's been done loads of times in N. To be honest I find such videos uninteresting, they do show up scenery faults etc. that need sorting out as you see the layout from a different angle 🙂

I find nothing wrong with Fedex per se, they're as good as any of the international couriers. I was most impressed with a recent model railway order from Japan that arrived by Fedex in 3 days, even quicker than most of my orders from Germany 🙂 Buying through ebay with the charges/fees all included in the total price avoids any doubt.

I've had foreign deliveries from UPS where the tax/duty/handling charge was outstanding and I received an invoice later (I paid immediately and one time they couldn't find the payment so sent more demands which I had to sort out with them, but that's another issue).

Do you want a cased power supply or a bare transformer? A 2 amp 20v supply should be ok (and indeed overkill in terms of current source) for powering a CDU. In what way is it not sufficient, voltage too low? You must have some very stiff points if a CDU charged to 20V won't shift them 🙂 Remember the the idea of the CDU is it draws a reasonably low current when charging and throws a high current burst through the point motor when fired. That said, I use a 24V ac supply for my CDU power. Its one of the bare transformers within my power supply box so I forget exactly where it came from - probably Kent Panel Controls in the 1980s. It's quite small, I'm pretty sure it's something like 500mA with a dual 12V tap, the taps wired in series to give 24V. Here's a bare dual 24V transformer I found on google (there are many to choose from). https://www.railroomelectronics.co.uk/Controllers-Transformers/Transformers/24V-Ac/Product-92553.aspx Or this one's more similar to the one I have https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173120212387 There are loads of 24V AC cased power supplies and "wall wart"s out there on ebay, amazon, RS, Farnell and other electrical component suppliers so shop around for the best option? https://www.poweradaptorsuk.co.uk/24-volt-adaptors-50-c.asp

There is no need to connect the bus in a loop, although arguably if you do it acts a bit like a mains ring and distributes the current either way around the loop. Whether or not DCC buses should be joined as a loop is often debated - the way you wire a huge basement / club layout (as found in the US for example) is different to what's needed or best for a small tabletop layout 🙂 Are you sure you need a bus for a DC layout? I use "star" wiring from my DC control panel to my layout, for wiring switched isolating sections etc. The only time I have something resembling a bus is on modular system layouts designed to allow many modules to be connected together. The bus is then carrying the power for the "through" tracks and is thick wire as it may run for many metres, but any additional locally controlled trackwork is still on the "star" pattern.

The component is a capacitor, it's there to reduce RF interference for TVs etc. For DCC use, just remove it as has been suggested. If not removed it can upset the DCC signal in the track. DCC decoders have their own interference suppression built-in.

Biggest mistake not fitting traction tyres IMO. Most of my European N pacific and similar locos will outpull the TT:120 A4 I have.

According to an RMWeb page I found, there is a 3D print out there which someone used with SMD LEDs. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/blogs/entry/21941-off-indicators-ra-repeaters-platform-screens-oo-gauge/

I usually only use re-railers in my fiddleyard (unballasted track). I guess it you need to use it over ballasted track then it'll depend on how wide your ballast extends beyond the sleepers, you may need to remove some of the outside "lip" of the re-railer and also the locating lip at the very front? If you use the time honoured methods of ballasting including the trick of tapping the rails with the ballasting shovel (eg tea-spoon!) to literally "bounce" loose grains off the tops of the sleepers before gluing then you shouldn't have any problems with the main floor of the re-railer not sitting flat on the track.

According to wikipedia it's simply called an Off Indicator, used on platforms to confirm the main signal shows clear. See about 3/4 down this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_railway_signalling

As LTSR_NSE asks, are you able to control movement and other sound functions? Did you receive instructions and details of the function key setup for the loco? A couple of thoughts: 1) have you set the speed steps correctly to match the decoder? In the old 14 speed step DCC the head/tail light function command was embedded within the speed command sent to the decoder, It changed to a separate function command with 28/128 speed step mode. A mismatch between loco and decoder speed steps can cause lights not to work, or make them flash on and off as you change speed. 2) Some Next18 decoders are programmed so that the lights for each end are on separate functions, this is to allow prototypical lighting such as turning off lights at the rear of the loco when it's hauling a train.

Just to add, never put any loco (Lima, Hornby or other) on a DCC track unless you know for sure it has a DCC decoder fitted. The risk of damage to the loco's motor makes it not worthwhile, even if the DCC system purports to allow running one DC loco. That is an old capability which fell out of favour many many years ago and is known to be very unhealthy for some modern motors. Decoders are cheap enough that it's much more sensible to buy and fit one first. You can safely do the opposite (ie. put a DCC loco on a DC track). Unless it's been disabled in the decoder, the loco will run on DC.

Until the Lima loco has a DCC decoder fitted don't put it on the DCC track, you will fry the motor! Without knowing exactly which Lima loco you have, it will probably require the decoder to be wired into place (it probably hasn't got a DCC decoder socket). Once you have a decoder fitted, you can then run it on the track at the same time as the Hornby loco.

The NCSC do take an interest in such things. They say they investigate every report, will check the site over and try and get the hosting provider to shut it down if it warrants. They can't inform the result of the investigation (it was an anonymous report anyway). Facebook do take action sometimes - I've reported dodgy scam ads and they've confirmed the ad was removed.