If the light is on, the power is not at zero for that output.
The simplest possibility (and easiest fix) is if the knob is loose on its shaft so you are turning the knob but it's not actually adjusting the output. There is a grub screw that holds the knob on to the shaft.

The other possibility to check for is that the track is definitely connected to the controlled outputs and not to the constant voltage accessory outputs... (IIRC the the Q has 2 each of 12v DC and 16v AC)

Gaugemaster offer a lifetime warranty on their DC controllers, and are excellent at honouring it IME. It certainly sounds faulty from your description.

I have a four track controller , it is a Gaugemaster Q model that I bought in the 1980's. I'm only using 2 of the power outlets.

Three of the four lights above the control knobs are illuminated when I plug in the unit. Whichever loco is on the track connected to the lit output starts immediately without activating the speed controller

Some of the locos being operated from the that outlet are not smooth runners.

Is the controller broken and if so can it be repaired? Any advice please


Regards

Lima British HO models:
http://www.limabritishho.co.uk/

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, Swaffham has a lot going on at the station and its approaches, but was very long in real life!

Good luck, and keep the Forum posted on progress, and always remember you can ask for advice on here as well.

Martyn

Thanks Martyn,https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/Smileys/NGF/claphappy.gif

The posts I had seen didn't have that link but got it now, thank you.

I'm looking at doing a greatly amended version of Swaffham Station with a liberal amount of licence due to space, I only have about 1.2m x 3.4m max.

The maps I have show a great deal of interesting elements which I want to capture if I can, so just planning at the moment.

Thinking of around the 1940's - 60's era but with modern guests so a bit like a Heritage site but linked to today's world, if you know what I mean.https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/Smileys/NGF/hmmm.gif

Roy

Hi Roy;

Click on the 'load pdf' link underneath Stu's signature and it should download.

I model East Anglia-which part and era (if applicable) are you intending to follow?

best

Martyn

Hi Stu,

I'm just starting a GER layout and was most interested to see your 'Modelling East Anglia's Railways' booklet being discussed.
Problem is I don't seem to be able to find it, that is probably because I'm new to the forum and still trying to work out how it works!

Anyway, any help you may be able to offer me it get a copy would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Roy

Lima's earliest European N gauge models in the late 60s did indeed use the HO style loop coupling before they adopted the standard Rapido hook.  I don't recall ever seeing any of the Mk1 coaches with them though. 

Also, Lima initially offered a range of British models in HO and those had the HO couplings - are you sure it wasn't HO coaches that you saw?

Can you post a link to the photos?  The general "chunkiness" of the models should help judge the scale - things like pizza cutter wheels, thick bogie frames, deeply inset windows are more prominent in N than the HO models.

[edit]
The 1967 Wrenn Micromodel catalogue page appears to show the British coaches with the loop couplings, but the images look like doctored HO rather than the N tooling

https://lima-n-scale-catalogs-1965.webnode.cz/#!

I spotted some Lima (supposedly N-Gauge) Southern Region Mk1 coaches with what look like continental HO scale couplings in N-Gauge instead of the usual Rapido/Elsie: are they really British N-Gauge 1/148 or are they HO 1/87?
I do have some other Lima N-gauge Mk1s with rapido couplings: impossible to tell the size or compare lengths from just the photos.