What About The Bee

Perhaps @malyou could set up a small experiment. If you have a bit of extra track around, set up a test loop. Put Tiger on the test loop and give it a go. If the problems follow Tiger to the test loop, it is likely Tiger at fault. If the problems do NOT follow Tiger, it is likely your layout. Divide and Conquer Bee

I think it will be very unlikely that Hornby release Locomotion No.1 as 'Active' for the S&DR Anniversary. For commercial reasons. Hornby have expended a good bit of resources to bring this model to fruition. That should not go to waste. For public eye reasons. The public has observed Locomotion No.1 as it was after restoration in 1857 by the Shildon Works. For more than 150 years, the public has a view of what Locomotion No.1 should look like. Active is not that. For practical reasons. Active's valve gear, as portrayed by Longridge, is very much like the Killingworth Locomotive. Nicholas Wood, 1825. The front piston and connecting rods drive the front axle, on both sides. The rear piston drives the rear axle on both sides. Unlike a more modern steam engine, the quartering is by axle, not by which side of the axle. On Active, the rear axle is quartered to the front axle, not the left wheels to the right wheels. The chain in the Killingworth Locomotive is present to retain the quartering. For Active, Longridge does not portray any timing chain, and the sketch by Backhouse has the cable stays drawn, but not any timing chains. This arrangement was so poor, that Robert Stephenson and Co refitted Active's valve gear in 1828. To what is not precisely known, as the Shildon Works 'restored' Locomotion No.1 in 1857. For practical reasons, duplicating a poorly functioning valve gear arrangement is a terrible idea. Would I buy as Active, instead of Locomotion No.1? In a heart beat. But it may be quite the wait. Bee

Hi @robcat Locomotion No.1 comes "DCC Ready", not "DCC Fitted". Further, on the Hornby webpages, R30346 has been marked "unavailable" for many months now. This means is sold out on pre-order. You must therefore be purchasing Locomotion No.1 from a model shop, who will fit the decoder for you. With Locomotion No.1 in high demand, you would be best served by placing your order with your model shop now and not waiting, as someone else may get there before you. [Edit: and to beat the 1 Sept price rise] With the model secured, have the model shop fit the decoder later. That is exactly what they are telling you. They cannot be sure what Hornby is to supply. So they are being cautious. As to HM7000, that recommendation appears for many locomotives when shopping. It's really an advertisement for HM7000. Treat that as you will. Bee

Hello Robcat While I cannot answer your question about a sound decoder for Locomotion No.1, I can answer your question about the couplings. I wrote to Carl, Director of Engineering at Hornby, to ask that very question. Here is what he said: ÷÷÷ The answer to your question, locomotion will be supplied with the following; 1) Moulded chain type coupling – suitable for Hornby era 1 rolling stock. 2) A metal chain type coupling with magnet – to mate with Accurascale Chaldrons. 3) A metal chain with a moulded NEM plug – That can be connected to any piece of rolling stock that has an NEM pocket. ÷÷÷ Hope that helps. Bee

A clipped and zoomed image of the above. Hopefully, this shows the prood It does! Yippee! The bold black line is the singular rail, running left right. The vertical lines are the join Bee

I was unsatisfied with Milen's answer. I do understand his rationale and reasons, but it leaves the technical question unresolved. Here is a much better answer than the one provided. The first unknown to obviate is any length variation the SCARM library may posses. To this end, a first start point is set at X=0 Y=0 and A=180. Essentially a starting point facing left on my screen. Then, for each subsequent test starting point, X is variable, whilst Y=0 and A=0. A track going to the right on my screen. The length of track to the left or right is now completely irrelevant. It is simply the join in the middle! The second item to resolve is the resolution. Ha! That is, at the maximum zoom using SCARM, what does each pixel represent? The standard tick marks on SCARMs' axes do not change as you zoom. Each tic represents 10 millimeters. So at maximum SCARM zoom, I issued a Windows 'print screen' which copies the screen so it can be pasted. Which I did, in Microsoft Paint. I then examined the pixel address of -10 mm and 0 mm, finding the delta is 200 pixels. 10 mm / 200 pixels = 0.050 mm/ pixel 50 microns per pixel. At maximum zoom SCARM presents 0.050 mm/pixel. Note: Your screen may vary in resolution, this was using my screen. My screen is 1366 pixels wide. Knowing this, I asked for three starting points. In each, Y=0 and A=0. But X=0 then X=0.05 mm and then X=0.10 mm. The image represents those three starting points. At 0 mm, the join line is 1 pixel wide. At 0.05 mm, there are two lines, side by side, looking like 1 fat line, two pixels wide. Finally, at 0.1 mm, there is a line, a gap then a line. It is my assertion that I can provide 20 times better tolerance than SCARM permits, when using SCARM. The image confirms the resolution and the assertion. Bee Edit: I saved the image as png, where the lines are visible separately. Apparently, the forum hosting tool compresses the image, making the separate lines hard to see, even when viewing an image directly from the gallery. This, unfortunately, make the proof hard to see.

@andys steam dayz Perhaps, a note appreciation to Mr Oakes is in order? I'm sure that the staff will pass it on to him. Bring a man's spirits up Its just a thought. Bee

Hello Stephen The trees look wonderful. Good job! Bee

Understood Colin. Yet the Steam Generator is a flagship feature. One only available at Hornby. I would hope and expect that Hornby have enough spares to cover warranties. Presumably, every Steam Generator model issued is still under warranty. Yet as it is under warranty, Hornby doesn't send out the part, they must do the warranty repair at Margate. In a way, this is very wise. They get a good sample of factory defects related to a new feature. Excellent fodder for Engineering. How the distressed owner of a defective smoke generator views this may be another matter. I will leave that part to actual owners to state. Bee

The tiny washers have arrived. The crankpins have a shoulder which prevent the crankpin bush from fully seating at the flange. This creates a gap which could bind on the coupling rods. See pink arrow. The washers have a 1.2 mm ID, which fits very closely to the 0.96 mm OD of the crankpin shoulder. These washers were specified as 0.2 mm thick, but are actually 0.18 mm thick. It was 4 washers fill the gap but I may need 5. See blue arrow. I am in the process of making the assembly procedure. This has revealed one shortfall in the design. As designed, it would be nearly impossible to assemble. Relatively easy fix, but requires a few tweaks. Bee

If Hornby will not sell the part, then if the locomotive needs service, it must be returned to Hornby? I see no other venue for repair Bee

A proper working wagon will have dings, dents, scratches and other odd scrapes. That one looks like it has a long hard working life, which is exactly right. Good job Three Link! Bee

You are correct Colin. I never understood underside detail. What you can see from the sides is perfectly rational. What is not? Detail I have to turn the carriage over to see. Detail up top is fine. Detail inside of closed wagon, that you can never see? Seriously, no. You may be able to make out the brake handle through the window of a brake van, but not the desk in the corner. Why add a desk? Or invisible underside detail. Bee

Hi Brew Man Surely you are aware that there are many components of a suggested retail price. Debt service. Salaries for accountants, etc, etc & etc. Perhaps, as you suggest, a comparison of the features of each is better suited to decision making. Bee

Hi RB51 The idiom is in practical use here in the States as well. The point Milen raises is quite simple. We must place our track with a precision less than his selected tolerance. Whilst there are ways to place objects with much greater precision than his selected value, it is not typically available to the average enthusiast. Not brought up was the production standard of the track itself. The track is imperfect. His theoretical track is perfectly uniform (deterministic). We can always wiggle the track to make it connect. Milen does not have that luxury. Therefore, as a practical matter, it is irrational to reduce SCARM tolerance below 1 mm. I understand his reticence. Bee

A picture is worth 1000 words Bee

Astonishingly, Milen Peev has already responded. I did not expect this. ÷÷÷÷÷ Thank you for your e-mail. Everything you say is correct, however 1) R600 in SCARM is defined as 167.5 mm as well as all standard Setrack turnouts and left and right crossings. This is done in order to make the Setrack geometry fully consistent with R601 (335 mm) and all radii from R1 to R4. That is the main reason for your observations. 2) The main problem with zero tolerances is that almost everything in the plan books and geometry examples made by the track manufacturers just does not work and does not joins in any CAD software. And that is simple math. Only full circles or closed ovals works fine, but when you place a turnouts, the problems starts immediately, when there are no tolerance allowed. The secondary issues arises when the users start to tweak the settings. And almost every user sets the tolerances to zero, because he knows that his favorite track system is perfect (it just can’t be opposite). And when he can’t make a join after that, he says “if it shown in the plan book and if I can made the joins with real tracks then your SCARM software is wrong”. Sorry, but I am really tired to explain that all track geometries have their flaws and there is nothing is perfect. The software just tries to adapt to this and that is why I introduced the tolerances in the early beta versions of SCARM. ÷÷÷ I do understand his statement and reasons. It is a dreadful task to constantly explain and re-explain the same point. Some will get it, others will not (or refuse to). Hopefully, by publishing his statement, his work load is (slightly) reduced. Frankly, 99.99% of SCARMs user base will never investigate the underlying geometry. To permit fine settings under that regime is asking for trouble. When used to plan a layout, it is more than sufficient. Perhaps I've exercised the tool beyond its limits Bee

Doh! Caught out again. I prefer white text on a black background, as I find it easier on the eyes. So when I copy text and subsequently paste it here, Hornby will ask if I want rich or plain text. I must learn to not paste rich text. With no particular rhyme or reason, sometimes it pastes as white text. I cannot detect the error, since it shows beautifully here. The background is dark. Thank you @LTSR_NSEfor realizing the situation and rectifying it. Now that it has been over 1 hour, I cannot fix it. Bee