irishthump

Haha! Even Farage is not that stupid. Putin has shown just how vulnerable Europe is without NATO.

To be honest I did'nt find increasing the weight of the wagons made any difference regarding the magnetic axle problem, it the fact they rolled freely that caused the issue. But I fully agree increasing the weight leads to superior running in general.

I don't use neodymium magnets for the same reason but I've also had issues with the Kadee undertrack magnets attracting metal axles. There's a couple of things you can do to prevent this: 1) Try sourcing non-magnetic wheelsets. Pretty near impossible for OO gauge stock. 2) Causing some "drag" on the axles by attaching a brass strip to the underside of the wagon/coach to apply a tiny amount of friction to the axle. This works but doing this with every piece of rolling stock just isn't practical. But it might be an option for a small shunting layout. My solution was to switch to the between-the-rails magnets. They work fine and the visual impact is minimal.

I think that's a possibility. The UK have really put up a united front with the rest of Europe over the Ukraine situation (yes, I know NATO obligations play a big part in this too). If/when it blows over the EU might look more favorably on the UK's situation and come to a better deal.

This video shows the installation...

Kadees are not designed to work on curves. Having said that, if the couplers are mounted on the bogies of both pieces of rolling stock they may work, but it will be hit and miss.

Pretenders? I suppose that's why diesel supplanted steam......

Sorry but I have absolutely no interest in steam locos, and could never see the attraction of them, except perhaps for those who grew up watching them.

This is a good video that clearly explains the basics of speaker enclosure design in the context of model railway applications. It's a bit dated, but still relevant.

Personally I don't think we will see more 141/181's anytime soon, new or old. But in regards to features... 1) Yes, that would be good, but the access hatch on the 121 works fine too. 2) Not a hope! Where would it go? Remember, there's pretty much the same amount of space inside the 121 as there is in the 141/181. 3) Pretty much expected, and easy to accomplish. 4) To me the see through grills in the 121 were unnecessary. It gave up precious space inside the loco that could have been used for a better speaker setup. 5) Again. No room. 6) Seriously?

A lot of the more recent American HO models have come with rotating axel caps, it's where I saw them first anyway. The Hattons Class 66 also had them, and their problems are well documented on the web but I'm not sure how many other OO gauge manufacturers (other than IRM/Accurascale) are using them much. I'm sure one of the IRM guys could tell us if they're more common. Beat me to the punch!

Don't know what you're getting at the there. The 201 is a very different beast from the 071.

Alan, You simply set CV64 to 0 then press F1. After the loco finished moving the process is finished. It is recommend you repeat this process a couple of times to get the best result. This process adjusts automatically CV's 51-56 which control motor BEMF and are quite fiddly to adjust individually. BTW F1 on the Elite is this button;

Yeah I didn't think so! Personally I've found the sugar cube speakers give the best sound on the 141's.

The EM2 bass speaker sounds incredible! Have you managed the minor miracle of fitting it inside the loco?

The good thing about the Lokprogrammer is that it does'nt take long to get to grips with it if you just want to do basic things like loading files , remapping functions or tweaking decoder settings. Swapping out sounds on files is also easy to get to grips with.

The files on the ESU website are free for anybody to use and there’s no restriction on how many decoders you load them on to. Third party files are different, they are almost ALWAYS locked to a single decoder.

Hi Alan, You can set CV54 to 0 on the programming track but you must then press F1 while the loco is on the main track. It won't move on the programming track at all, that track uses a much lower voltage setting. I'm a little confused when you say the Elite does'nt have a F1 button. I simply mean the no.1 button on the controller. Also if you use this feature make sure the loco has been ran for around 15-30 minutes before you do it. Also, do it 2 or 3 times to get the best result. The auto-tune MAY help. If the motors have similar properties it may help them to match up more when running together. It also won't alter any adjustments you've already made, it changes CV's that you would'nt normally touch.

I'm in the same camp as Adrian. I love the DCC sound aspect of the hobby and now almost all of my locos are sound equipped. I'd also recommend the ESU Loksound decoders but I went a little further down the rabbit hole and purchased a Lokprogrammer which allows me to buy blank decoders and upload files to them myself and/or tweak factory installed decoders to function how I like them to.

Have to say these look great. I'm fond of BR blue and one of these would look good next to the Deltic. George you should think about investing in a Lokprogrammer. You can remap the functions to whatever function keys you want. I find I never really use more than 10-12 functions regularly.

Also a testament to the quality of the La Grange produced GM product. Many other locos of the same vintage as the 071’s (and some much older) are still running and in revenue earning service in the US and around the world.

What retailers would you recommend? I've pretty much stopped buying for the UK completely since brexit.

Same here. Our eldest son who lives in the UK sent us a package of gifts for Christmas, he filled out all the necessary forms and the package still did'nt arrive until mid-January. We then received a customs notice a week later; pay or else. Yeah, good luck with that.

I won't be one of them. I cant afford one at current prices, I have no driveway to safely charge it and the current battery life would be inadequate for my needs.

That's some lovely work there John. The proper wheel gauge really makes a difference to the look of these models.