Hi Nat! Loved those kebab skewer strengthening aids! Great that you can move large sections of landscape around to work on! I'm definitely looking to do something similar on Shelfington in various areas! Looks like you've got some nice new stock! Shame about the coupling issue! It looks like the coupler on the tender is sitting too low! I can only mirror what others have said about using some sort of magnetic coupling! I've also had success with Blu Tack and Black Tack, although that was more about keeping the coupler in its pocket rather than making the connection stronger! Was surprised that the loco with the DCC chip ran at all, but good to see you sorted that with a blanking plate! All the best, Ian.
Hi Nat, nice work on the scenic strengthening! I think I too would go for Hunt magnetic couplings between the new steamer and the Pullmans, but that wouldn't be any good if you want to mix what it pulls, or what other locos pull that train. I imagine the surprise decoder in your EWS Class 66 wasn't getting enough power for its circuits to work until you had about 5 Volts at the rails - I think that (or maybe as much as 7V) is the minimum level decoders have to work at to be NRMA DCC-compliant - so that would be why it would suddenly spring into life.
Hi Nat, sometimes you can pair up couplings that may be odd heights or check to see if this coupling has a spring in which case removing and refitting can work. I have a City of Birmingham coronation class, a beautiful runner too. All the best.
Lots of new locos nat. The Coronation class loco looks very good but alas suffers from the curse of the saggy coupling. Looking at the shots you took I am not sure the coupling itself is sagging very much, but the coupling pocket sits lower than the pocket on the carriage and so any sag makes it difficult to couple. Not a lot you can do to put that right. I have seen on the N Gauge Forum people suggesting to use some Tacky Wax if you encounter this problem to hold the coupling in place. It is made by Deluxe and often used to fix figures to layouts especially where you might want not to fix permanently. Alternatively y could change the coupling either to a dapol easy shunt or a magnetic coupling, but as Endoor says that would limit both which carriages the loco could pull and which locos could pull any carriage. Personally I would want to be swapping over couplings too often. Stephen
Hi Nice update there, good progress and nice loco's too. Thanks
nice train collection!
Hi Nat! Loved those kebab skewer strengthening aids! Great that you can move large sections of landscape around to work on! I'm definitely looking to do something similar on Shelfington in various areas! Looks like you've got some nice new stock! Shame about the coupling issue! It looks like the coupler on the tender is sitting too low! I can only mirror what others have said about using some sort of magnetic coupling! I've also had success with Blu Tack and Black Tack, although that was more about keeping the coupler in its pocket rather than making the connection stronger! Was surprised that the loco with the DCC chip ran at all, but good to see you sorted that with a blanking plate! All the best, Ian.
Hi Nat, nice work on the scenic strengthening! I think I too would go for Hunt magnetic couplings between the new steamer and the Pullmans, but that wouldn't be any good if you want to mix what it pulls, or what other locos pull that train. I imagine the surprise decoder in your EWS Class 66 wasn't getting enough power for its circuits to work until you had about 5 Volts at the rails - I think that (or maybe as much as 7V) is the minimum level decoders have to work at to be NRMA DCC-compliant - so that would be why it would suddenly spring into life.
get a hunt magnetic coupling for the tender and the brake coach. that's probably the easiest option.
Hi Nat, sometimes you can pair up couplings that may be odd heights or check to see if this coupling has a spring in which case removing and refitting can work. I have a City of Birmingham coronation class, a beautiful runner too. All the best.
Lots of new locos nat. The Coronation class loco looks very good but alas suffers from the curse of the saggy coupling. Looking at the shots you took I am not sure the coupling itself is sagging very much, but the coupling pocket sits lower than the pocket on the carriage and so any sag makes it difficult to couple. Not a lot you can do to put that right. I have seen on the N Gauge Forum people suggesting to use some Tacky Wax if you encounter this problem to hold the coupling in place. It is made by Deluxe and often used to fix figures to layouts especially where you might want not to fix permanently. Alternatively y could change the coupling either to a dapol easy shunt or a magnetic coupling, but as Endoor says that would limit both which carriages the loco could pull and which locos could pull any carriage. Personally I would want to be swapping over couplings too often. Stephen