irishthump

That's something I've noticed too. I've no problem with prototypical operation at exhibitions but there needs to be something happening all the time if exhibitors expect to hold people's attention for any amount of time. A small loop with a train constantly running will have more interest for the casual observer than timetable-driven scenic masterpiece that has minutes elapsing between each movement. The type of operation that David describes in his first post is perfect if you want to keep a layout constantly on the move. To drift off topic a little; this is where I think sound equipped stock comes into its own. It allows you to drive the locos at protypical shunting speed without it appear TOO slow to a casual audience. You can also reproduce most of the action that goes with it like coupling, brake hoses, charging brake lines etc.

So did I to be honest, had to double check it!

Granted it would'nt be as strong but you get 3x14" for €5 so it works out a bit cheaper. http://www.marksmodels.com/?cid=493

Styrene C channel would probably be strong enough if it's only for display. Mark's sells the Evergreen stuff but it might work out a bit expensive if you need 24ft of it!

Looks great! Judging by the position on the cuts would I be right in assuming there was no need to modify the drive train? (A big plus if that's the case!)

They are Hornby class 31 buffers. I got them from Peter's Spares on Ebay. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-X9313-Class-31-Set-Of-4-Sprung-Buffers-/321311699047?hash=item4acfab7067#ht_1607wt_1040

I still have the limp....

Athearn frame, Atlas bogies, Proto motor. And like you said the drive parts are all identical. Have a shufty.... http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/77-Graham-s-Workbench?p=74174&viewfull=1#post74174

Jayzus.... I KNOW!!!!

Cheers, Fran. I already converted an Athearn F7 chassis with some Atlas bogies, so I'm sorted! Just wondered if this could be a solution for anybody else who is contemplating a kit.

Appreciate that, Des. Thanks.

Des, Could this also be a potential donor chassis for the A Class kit? (Apologies if this is slightly off topic and SSM does'nt produce the A class. Just a general query.)

Oh that's right, you're not. You're one of those "real modellers" who makes something better rather than settling for inferior RTR models. Missing an axle, but better.....

Bloody gorgeous! A good layer of carefully unwashed filth and you're grand!

A little unfair. Nothing wrong with striving to get your model trains to run in a prototypical manner. When you bring sound into the equation it becomes much more important to get a loco to run at prototypical speeds. Please, don't start accusing other people of double standards after that statement! You continually criticize manufacturers and their products for incorrect or missing detail yet it's ok for YOU to omit an axle?

You see there's a justification, IMHO, of why the powers-that-be might be reluctant to allow hobbysists to look after the layout. I've seen far too much of this myslef at exhibitions.

The 121's worked the push pulls on the Bray/Greystones shuttle until the Dart was extended to Greystones.

Wise words! In that case I would go back to the retailer. It's clearly not running as it should and they should sort it for you.

A knocking noise fro the loco would indicate a mechanical issue. Maybe one of the drive shafts has become misaligned and is causing the mechanism to bind. Would you feel confident opening up the loco to check? If not I'd go back to the retailer again and tell them it's making a noise.

It's quite possible that the chip is fine but just doesn't work well with the select. NMRA standards are designed to ensure that any decoder will work with any DCC controller. Since the Select is not NMRA compliant it's a well documented fact that it doesn't play well with certain makes of decoder. I used a Select myself so I know about this! Bachmann, TCS and Gaugemaster decoders have all been known to cause issues so it's worthwhile finding out which decoder you have in the loco. Hornby decoders all work fine, understandably enough. So if all you want to do is run the occasional loco then the select will do the job if you stick to the Hornby chips. It might also be worthwhile making sure your Select has the latest firmware version installed. You can check this by looking at the display when you turn the controller on. It will display a series of 3 numbers, if you see 15-30-03 in that order then you have the latest version. Version 1.5 is the latest firmware, the 15 representing this. If you get a different number then you can send the unit to Hornby for a free upgrade. The newer firmware allows the controller to access more functions (originally you could only access 9, now you can access 29) as well as fixing some (but not all) compatibility issues. If you don't have the latest firmware you can send the unit to Hornby for a free upgrade.

You can always gut the loco and try to scratchbuild a suitable chassis. At the very least it would be the right size...

That's true. Modellers just won't accept bad drives in locos anymore. The Railroad stuff IS bad, but you get what you pay for.

A font of information as always, thanks lads!

Thanks Garfield. And how were these positioned? Was it with the 2 white lights to the outside? ie: White Red Red White

Guys, How many rear facing red marker lights did the A class have? There seem to be 2 pairs of light housings on each end of the loco but any photos I've seen only show one red marker (the same as the 141/181/071's) and two white when running forward. Specifically referring to Supertrain era locos here. Cheers,