Noel

Yes they need it to augment their pitch forks and spud gun.

Live long and prosper in your new life

Update. The SF A class we got came on a Hornby class 55 chassis. The model came with a basic Hornby decoder and it had a 'grinding' noise at low speed. I have just replaced the Hornby decoder with a Lenz standard 8 pin decoder and the 'grinding' noise is gone. Loco runs quieter and smoother at low speed and at least CV2,3,4,5,6 now all work. The Lenz decoder cost €12 despite RRP of 17. I've decided to standardise on Lenz for non sound decoders and Zimo for GM sound decoders (141/181, 071).

Ping?

The juvenile crime rate in IOM increased over 500% within 10 years of the end of 'birching' in the mid 90s.

Yes :-) Meant, am I 'totally' off the wall?

Ah ok. I have never fully understand the business logic and structure of the 'Enterprise' service. Why is it still jointly operated by two companies? Would it not be better for IE and NIR to operate their own services on the Dublin/Belfast route in the interests of competition. OR Splitting the rail network from the operators, by letting the two states own and operate the track network but allowing private rail companies operate services which might possibly deliver a better service. (i.e. state ownership of the network and privatised operators). Or am I off the wall?

Well I presume that the design was commissioned by NIR as its their loco, and IR/IE were only the guys who painted it.

Hi Folks Any advice and recommendations for suitable paints for resprays and weathering? Is there a suitable enamel paint for "CIE tan" (i.e. like MM cravens) or will I need to mix? (marks had a product but out of stock) Most of the folks on spraying videos seem to be using Railmatch enamel paints and Railmatch matt varnish to seal resprays and weathering work. Are these the right sort of paints, enamel v acrylic, etc? 406 Sleeper grime (bogies/under frames) 403 Roof dirt (roofs, exhaust, boggie springs) 402 Frame Dirt (under frames) 412 Weathered black (exhaust/grills) 407 Matt varnish Any other suggestions would be welcome and appreciated. Thanks Noel

At least the filler cap is a nice shade of grey

Darwin!

Interesting. Forgive my ignorance but why is 50% of the linear length of the train's container flats not used (i.e. only one container/tank per flat)? Is it a weight limit or a safety regulation, etc?

That was an elegant livery for the early 60s. It looks like an evolution of the 'silver' livery that the A & C classes had. Wonder if CIE were considering moving to that light grey livery but during delivery phase CIE branding were already up for review resulting in B&T. It would have looked ok hauling snail green coaches. Agree the light lettering and logo was crying out for definition either by contrast or outlining.

A very nice and distinctive coach

Yes that is amazing Stephen. It is just so refreshingly nice when you come across really decent straight dealing folk with excellent customer service. It put me in good humour that morning. Another price difference example: ESU 50200 DCC system - from Germany €599 ESU 50200 DCC system - from UK £540 = €738

Fab

Now that I can see the finished livery I don't really like it for two reasons, it is not directionally symmetrical and too wavy for my personal taste. If there was only one cab and the loco ran only in the direction it is travelling it looks quite striking (i.e. a large cat of prey with its mane and whiskers flying). Trains really only suited to horizontally linear livery patterns.

Hi Folks Just thought I'd pass this on. I found an excellent source of Lenz decoders in Germany who sell at vastly better prices that UK or IRL suppliers. The Lenz Silver+ 21pin that suits MM locos are €25 which is a lot less than UK suppliers selling them for £25 each (i.e. €36). http://www.kieskemper.de http://kieskemper-shop.de http://kieskemper-shop.de/public/catalog_xmlxslproductsearch.aspx?qs=LENZ+Silver+Decoder+10321-01+PLUS+21+polig+NEU+%26+OVP&art=SetSearch&suid=1160&zid=9dc243e8-141c-4beb-85e1-5abc51c6c62d A little story BTW, I was bowled over by their customer service and "honesty". On a recent order I was shipped 8pin decoders by mistake. But I got a phone call from Rainer Kieskemper the next day to apologise and offered three options: a full refund, replacements with all postage including return postage paid by them, or alternatively keep the 8pin decoders if they were any use to me and they would ship the replacement 21pin decoders at zero postage, and here's the 'rub', said I did not have to pay for the 8pin decoders I already had until the 21pins arrived here. So I ended up with four 8 pin Lenz standard decoders for only €12 each! They will do my steam DCC conversions nicely and also suit my Silver Fox A class locos. No connection, just very pleased with their prices, honesty, trust and service. Don't you just love doing business with German companies.

Great photos but I am getting dizzy trying to look at some of them except when viewing from in Australia

Yes and Yes. The 141/181s have a speaker cradle inside (i.e. mount) that will comfortably accommodate an uncased 20x40mm speaker. As Stephen has said the space is available but not for larger encased speakers such as bass reflex (i.e. which are housed in a plastic case). When installing a speaker one needs to solder wires from the speaker to two marked points on the loco's circuit board labelled SP+ and SP-. Sound decoders will then utilise this speaker. Larger speakers can be installed, but as already explained by others require either cutting of the chassis block, or doctoring the speaker case. I had just asked Eamonn which he had opted for. I just popped mine in without any 'bodging' and soldered the pair of speaker wires to the loco.

I suppose Hornby points do 'what it says on the tin' and seem work ok with their own rolling stock.

Thanks Guys. What I've just tried is drilling the NEM pocket at the sides to make a gap for the Kadee's plug spurs to catch. Ran out of time to do more than one coach this evening, but will try another tomorrow. If this works then at least the coach could be reverted to NEM363 tension locks by simply plugging in. BTW, there is much more play with Kadee's then I had expected, not much better than TLs. Thanks again. For Mk2's it looks like glue is the only solution, but at least the NEM sockets will be intact if ever they need to be reverted to TL by sniping off the Kadee's.

Just looking at some of the prices for MM stock on ebay, do sellers think all buyers are as thick as turnips? Prices including postage way above what you can buy off the shelf from retailers for readily available items. For example who is going to pay €64 for a coach that you can buy RRP for €49 or probably as low €40-45 if you do a deal with a retailer. Postage of €17-22 seems such a scam.

Fantastic, I love it. I'd say they were less than comfortable.

Well next time I clean track I'll wear a hi vis jacket, helmet and have a fire extinguisher to hand. (just kidding). The corduroy cloth is just damp with cleaning fluids such as methylated spirits, acetone, etc, which while flammable are a bit like paraffin and diesel, difficult to ignite. The CMX itself is all metal construction. But you raise an interesting point, and one I had never considered before. I guess if folk allowed excessive cleaning agent to leak onto the track/sleepers and/or underlay/ballast the risk would be greater, but used properly only the rails get a wipe of the cleaning fluid, and should never come into contact with the sleepers or ballast. So far I am reasonably impressed with it's cleaning ability. A simple idea well implemented and despite the excessive price I think it is worth it. Think of all the track work of some layouts that is not easy to access for hand cleaning like under baseboards, under scenery, etc, with this thing you just drive it around out of sight.