Riddles

I suggest you download the free Z21 app to your tablet and see how you like the feel. I am sure that your new tablet will be fine with Z21. I have one old(ish) android phone with the app and it works fine. I have several Apple devices with Z21 on and it is very easy to copy the settings between them. I did find it a problem to copy from iPhone to Android but you can easily set up your locos manually. Riddles

I saw one running at the Dapol Club members day and also at the Warley/NEC show but I didn't get the opportunity to try for myself. They were far too busy to allow that. One at the NEC was running backwards and forwards on an automatic shuttle circuit so it didn't show it off to its best. The attraction of having the lamps, sound and smoke unit already fitted is attractive to me. They provide two sorts of smoke fluid, one petroleum based which provides the best smoke but doesn't last very long, and another which is glycol based and lasts longer but isn't as dense. Riddles

Is it worth trying to run a train? Riddles

I should think that it was more to save time and labour. Perhaps it was the paint shops which suffered most in that respect. Mick, I am wondering whether you might be adding a Dapol A4 to your collection? I have Silver Fox on order although I would have much preferred a valanceless BR version. If sales are good, that will be coming next, I have been told, although I really wish for a BR Standard or LMS loco to a similar specification. I suppose an LMS Princess Coronation is out of the question after last weekend's announcement by Hornby of a re-tooled one. Riddles

Had you left the power turned on by any chance? I once had a similar thing happen and realised that electrolysis had taken place. I can't remember whether it was the right rail (positive) or the left rail (negative) assuming one way running of course.

The Z21 continues to work from my iPhone or iPad, when the ZTC is connected. The ZTC, 611 or 511, uses its own power supply but the track output is connected to the Sniffer input of the Z21. Of course if you use a 511 you will only be able to operate functions 0 to 9 (possibly only 0 to 8) but the upgraded 611 will allow you to operate all the decoders functions. The Z21 Sniffer should accept and pass through, all instructions from any make of NMRA approved DCC system. I imagine a Hornby Select controller might not work, but it might be worth trying if you have one.

The Wrenn track was a useful product for users of 3 rail, but the sleepers were made from a fibre material so would not have been able to withstand outdoor use. It certainly wasn't nickel silver either. It might be worth investigating whether you could put batteries on the trains and use 2 rail track. Bit of a challenge though!

I presume that you mean in OO/HO scale! The closest you will find is Marklin stud-contact track. The two running rails are electrically connected and there are studs sticking up through every sleeper which a skate underneath the locos runs over. It is intended for AC current but that is probably irrelevant. I did think of trying a Hornby-Dublo 3 rail loco on some but never got round to it. Early track just had a third rail but the studs are less obvious. I don't think it is available in flexible track. Many years ago there used to be a OO/HO layout at Alton Towers in an old chapel, and all the 2 rail locos had been converted to three rail as they said it was more reliable. I think the track was ordinary 2 rail, with a third rail added after it had been laid. I am pretty sure that USA Lionel O gauge is 3 rail, and still available.

I see nothing wrong in Amblethorpe being a Model Village. It's good to see a railway having a purpose, i.e. serving its surroundings. It will be interesting to see whether Faller buildings are as durable outdoors as the resin Skaledale/Scenecraft from Hornby & Bachmann after treatment with varnish for U.V. protection.

I hesitated to mention Roco Z21 as the discussion was about NCE & Gaugemaster but I have to say that I prefer it to anything else I have used. Of course you do need to already have an iPhone, or iPad (probably even an iPod) but if you have one or more of these available it is not too expensive, compared to say an ESU EcOS. Some android smart phones will also work but I have only tried one of those, an HTC Desire A8181 and I find the Apple system much more user friendly, especially when copying control data from one device to another. I have tried Bachmann E-Z Command, ZTC511 (and 611), Hornby Elite, Hornby e-link and ESU EcOS which was a hugely expensive mistake. I do still like the ZTC611 with its nice chunky levers but this is not redundant as it will connect easily to the Z21 through its sniffer port. Only the black Z21 has a sniffer port though. The white z21 from the starter sets does not have this. Note the upper and lower case "zeds". I bought my Z21 from Scograil in Ipswich and their current price is only £249.95 including delivery. It is a good idea to visit Digitrains in Lincoln. Jeremy is very helpful but I don't think that a Z21 is connected to their demonstration track. If you have an Apple device, download the Z21 mobile app and see how you like it. It's free at the app store (unlike Hornby's mobile download)

Trevor Jones has always used slightly diluted SBR on his Great Wakering Flackwell Heath & Whitefield Railway. See his post #16500. There can't be many garden railways that have stood the test of time like his although some maintenance is inevitable. Riddles

I can't imagine how that rumour started. Hornby has just raised 8million GBP by selling more shares to existing investors, at 27pence each. I just hope it is enough as they are heavily reliant on support from Barclays Bank. Kader Holdings has owned Bachmann since 1981, having previously been Bachmann's main manufacturer. The company is registered in Bermuda although based in Hong Kong and China. Kader also now own Sanda Kan which at one time was Hornby's main supplier. Sanda Kan's takeover was one of the causes of Hornby' present problems in my opinion. Riddles

To be correct, the "Princess" Class, often referred to as the "Princess Royal" Class, after the first named, included locos numbered (4)6200 to (4)6212. The "Coronation" Class included locos numbered (4)6220 [named Coronation] to (4)6257. To complicate things further, (4)6212 Duchess of Kent, was a Princess Class loco but two of the Coronation Class locos were named after Princesses ( [4]6223 Princess Alice and [4]6224 Princess Alexandra ) I have shown the (4) in brackets as LMS locos had this added at nationalisation when British Railways came into existence. The two classes are very similar, but the Coronation Class was larger and improved. None of the Princess class were ever fitted with smoke deflectors but all of the Coronation Class ones were eventually, some having been previously fitted with a streamlined casing. 6229, Duchess of Hamilton, has now been re-fitted with the streamlining casing and looks magnificent. Riddles

Using anything more abrasive than a damp sponge (such as a file or sandpaper), can damage the surface of the tip, which will prevent the solder from flowing.

Thanks for showing the cab ride view camera. A picture save a lot of words. The weather during the last few days has been very encouraging for garden railway work. It's a pity I've got so many other things to catch up on.

Both videos are absolutely inspirational. From the cab, I prefer the double track views although the shots in the earlier videos, of the train crossing the viaduct, are just as interesting. The long curved platforms in the station also look good.

I think I might be tempted to return it to the supplier for checking and to see whether the problem was caused by overheating or moisture ingress. It might persuade the makers to produce something more robust. You say you are not mechanically minded but the switching arrangement using the copper-clad sleepers seems to disprove that!

To me, the effect you have achieved is perfection. Would you have achieved such a good effect if you had done things differently? Please do say what you would have done differently!

I think it was about 10 years ago now, that the EU, China and California banned the use of lead in consumer products and there was a rush to stock-pile "proper" solder. There's still plenty of lead about in car batteries though. For track connections, I use simple electronic "flux-core" solder which probably has tin in it. Sometimes I use a little liquid flux if it's convenient.

You've made a lovely job of the track laying with nice flowing curves. One thing that does shout out to me is the lack of sleepers underneath the rail joiners a.k.a. fishplates. Did you realise that you can slice the chairs off the sleepers with a sharp craft knife so that the fishplates rest above them? I think it would look so much better but perhaps I am being picky. Alternatively, you could just slide a couple of cosmetic sleepers under the joins, again, slicing the chairs off first. Very impressive progress in such a short time.

I suppose the "Merry Christmas" wagons fall into the same category, for the market of "wives and children who don't understand", but the year suffix (2008 onwards) has apparently also made them "collectible" as very few retailers stocked them. Perhaps they were exclusive to Modelzone but I'm not sure. Some people would buy a stack as soon as they became available and flog them on eBay at 2 or 3 times what they'd paid for them. I suppose there were no tooling costs (except for the initial pile of presents) and nothing was spent on advertising them so presumably they made some money for Hornby or they wouldn't have carried on with them for over 5 years. Hornby has made some very strange marketing decisions though, I completely agree. I also thought the Downton Abbey set was a daft idea.

When you do try your APT-E, be sure to try the surprise unpublicised Function 16. Truly an amazing feature! I consider Hornby TTS locos are well worth £25 or so more than a DCC ready loco, but the fact that turning one sound on turns another one off, is a severe limitation. I think most children's starter sets will continue to be analogue/DC for simplicity and cost although there are already several DCC starter sets from Bachmann and Hornby.

I take it you haven't tried your APT-E yet? That is a model that is absolutely brought to life by sound. Perhaps gas turbine sounds are easier to re-create than steam or diesel. I do know what you mean about actions not synchronising with the sound. The Zimo sound decoders have the advantage that "Stay Alive" capacitors are more easily added, and less expensively than Loksound but some of the projects have so many different effects built into them that they take away the simple enjoyment of sounds happening naturally as you drive off and slow down. Having said that, the SLW Class 24 uses Zimo and you are obviously impressed with that, as am I after hearing it at York. I guess some projects are much more impressive than others. How do you feel about Hornby TTS?

Just to make sure we are not comparing apples with pears, the latest HST 125 power car from Hornby, introduced in 2008, is a completely different beast to the one that came out in 1978, and of which hundreds of examples must still exist. The latest one has a centrally mounted 5-pole skew-wound motor connected to both bogies but the early ones just had the notorious pancake motor on one bogie. There was a similar Lima model which I found marginally better in most examples.

Delightful shot, and the railway looks as though it has a purpose and is going somewhere, instead of just going round in circles. Trevor Jones's Great Wakering is similarly inspiring.