aramand

Hi, Package arrived this morning For anyone else waiting they are delivered by An Post so keep an eye out for the postman I guess. Thanks Michel for keeping us updated and have to say it was excellently packaged! Now just need to find the time to run them

Nothing here yet either but then as today is a holiday in Ireland there is no post. As I mentioned above the date kept moving out according to the tracking website but currently shows as 'unknown'. I'm sure they will turn up sometime this week!

Hi, I found the instructions a bit vague on that also but basically there are 2 short cross beams on the underframe and these fit into the grooves on the top of the cylinders. They hang down like that underneath, I'll try get a pic up later but not at home at the moment. Hope this helps! Declan

Me again - just wondering did anyone get a delivery yet ? Still nothing at my end and when I check the status it just seems to keep pushing out each day, was 29th, then 30th, then today and now when I check it says tomorrow so who knows. The website (the TNT one not this one :-) ) is absolute crap as far as I can see.

These are the ones I use : http://www.ehattons.com/21213/Bachmann_UK_36_554_3_function_2_sided_1A_decoder_with_21_pin_plug_and_back_EMF_for_slow_running/StockDetail.aspx simple to fit once you have the body off, I think its better to go with one without the harness as fits directly onto the pins in the loco.

I have the Hornby one also and find it pretty good (apart from an issue last night with a bad connection!) BTW that Black 5 looks fantastic - did you add the lights/smoke yourself ?

Yes actually the problem was the connection appears to have been 'burned out' on the rolling road for one of the rails - the reason I havent noticed this before that all of the other locos I've used on it all were getting the power off the rollers as well so this was the first loco where the pickups were only on the tender. Still getting used to the loco and seems its not quite following the rules as per the manual... Red light is difficult to find - in fact sometimes there are no lights, other times there are both red and green and sometimes just green. I did a quick look on the web and looks like it could be a contact issue. The good news is it is running!! Will get some decent pictures when I get a chance but this is what it looks like : and a little video of it running, will try get some more when I have more time : [video=youtube_share;PuCGUySU07A]

Ok, some progress seems like I have a bad connection on the rolling road and also seems like expected behaviour to cut out it if doesn't detect train. Still issues but working thought them, I knew these live steam were supposed to be troublesome but didn't realise just how troublesome :-)

Ok, maybe this was not such a good buy after all as it doesnt seem to be working. HELP!!! Basically it the power controllers powers up, then when I move turn on the train controller I get a red light, ~17V and it stays like that for about 10 seconds then I get a continuous beep, light goes out and volts go to zero. I think its a short somewhere but I've tried it with and without the train and with a rolling road and a normal track and same behaviour. BTW when the train was on the track there was no light came on in the train at any point. Ideas ??

Will try get some pics up later - unfortunately have to work late this evening!

I picked up a Hornby Live Steam set today, had been looking at them for a while and so when one came up close by I decided to go buy it. Havent run it yet and wont get the chance till much later this evening but wondering if anyone else on here is running a live steam loco ? For the time being it going to have to run on a rolling road but when the eventual layout gets done I'm hoping to have one completely separate track for it and keep the other tracks for DCC. I've read a lot of stuff on the web and seen youtube videos on how to run these but any advice is always welcome. Thanks, Declan.

Thanks for the info Michel.

Hi, Just wondering if anyone is tracking their packages from Michel and if you can see an accurate status from the TNT site ? The status on mine has not updated since last Thur but is showing on the screen as 'Shipment out for delivery' but dont really know what that means, I think it fact the package may not even be in Ireland yet but its kinda hard to know. If anyone package has arrived could you just let me know how long it took ? BTW not complaining about anything and no real panic to get it just trying to judge what day someone needs to be here to take in the package! Thanks, Declan.

This is my current layout - its just a temp job as waiting on a attic conversion so I can build up something more permanent but at least gives me the chance to try out some stuff like the signals and point motors and of course run some trains albeit limited to a 6x3 space! BTW the Lima 001 A Class is running well on DCC after a good clean up last night. [video=youtube_share;UN_vDozaxWU]

I just sprayed some more tankers this evening and they've turned out a completely different finish to the first 2 I did last week and wondering if anyone can shed some light on it cause I'm confused Basically they were both sprayed with Halfords Grey Primer and then with Halfords Satin Black (exactly the same cans), the first ones seem to have come out with a Satin finish but the ones from tonight are definitely more matt (all 4 came out the same from tonight) Not sure how clear it will show on the pic but have a look - the one on the left was done last week and one on the right was done tonight : The second set of tanker kits were a completely different batch and plastics were different (at least different colours) but not sure if that is the reason. Other possible causes I can think of : 1. Paint not mixed up enough ? 2. Different amount of paint (I was probably more generous on the first 2 and tonight was a little more sparing as didnt know how far it goes) Not sure if either of those really explain why the finish would look different though - I would thought a satin finish would come out whether it got one coat of paint or 4. I can certainly try giving them another coat tomorrow and see what happens. Any other ideas ? P.S. I actually think the Matt looks better but I have the transfers on the other 2 so kinda stuck with them!

Perfect, thanks - decoder is running very well and I'm still on the look out to upgrade the controller.

Yes, agree that was the plan - wont go near it with a DCC chip until its running OK on DC

Picked up this little guy today : Body is in excellent but looks like it hasnt been run in a while, wheels really need a clean and motor not running very well so probably needs to be stripped down. Anyone have experience on how these handle a DCC chip being put in (plenty of room in the body and I'm happy enough with the connections needed etc)

Thanks, no where near your level of skill but I have to start somewhere!

The rake is expanding! Have 2 complete now - painted and transfers on, 4 more assembled (90%) but not painted, 1 waiting to be assembled and 3 more on back order! I have to say the quality of the kits is not great and varies quite a bit (including colour of the 4 which I've assembled now they are all various shades of gray! ). I've had one broken underframe, a broken solebar, one kit completely missing the metal wheels and couplings! However I guess for the price they are not too bad and you get what you pay for. Hope to get them all painted up and complete by end of the week. Will be looking then for some advice on basic weathering to make them fit in a little better!

Perfect! thanks, let me know if there is a tracking number of whatever once it gets posted.

That is what we are saying - the earlier bid wins if the bid are the same

No because 1***1 had bid earlier and seems like y**u bid same amount so the earlier bid wins. As mentioned above usually good practice to bid something like €15.07 or whatever (slightly more than the round figure) as that way less likely you'll get an exact match with another bidder. If in this case y**u have even bid 15.01 they would have won.

Its all about being in the right place at the right time Was looking for an Intercity 201 and just as I logged in your post popped up! Must try and stay off eBay and the 'For Sale' threads as always seem to be finding things I'd like to buy!

Click on the 'Show Automatic bids' and it will show how it ended up they way it did. Basically 1***1 had bid 15 euro earlier than the other bidder but it only increases the bid once a new one comes in. If something is listed at say €1 you can bid €10 and it will still only put you in for €1 until some places another bid, it will keep automatically bidding for you up to your max bid and if your max bid is the same as someone else its down to who bid first that wins!