Another from the GRP label: Rippingtons Miles Away


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynduhf-c2YI

To answer a couple of  points;
I cut the Dapol magnets in half. They can tend to splinter so care is needed.
With fixed rakes I use a combination of medium/short or short/short couplings to achieve as close coupling as possible. I then use Dapol Easi-shunt couplings at each end, again a mixture of medium or short.
I'm not aware of anyone supplying Easi-shunts already fitted but it's an easy unplug/plug in process.

If anyone thinks using these couplings is a slow, painful process, I volunteer at the Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre (AIMREC) https://aimrec.co.uk/ refers. On the Gresley Beat our longest train is around 82 wagons long – all coupled correctly with three link or screw couplings. We think very hard before varying the rakes!

Here I am, new to the hobby, 8 years later, have spent weeks researching couplings so I can make sure I have the best chance of reliable coupling and auto uncoupling in a ready to run fashion, without modifying anything.

Are there wagon brands that come ready to run with Dapol easi shunts or similar?

Quote from: emjaybee on March 28, 2026, 10:54:05 AMOkay, the flashbacks are happening.

My early model railway experience was the obligatory 'O' tinplate. We had enough track for a oval & a siding. I can remember the builders doing our family extension winding up the loco for me & setting it off. That was 1973.

Then came my first trainset.

My first set too, but about 5 years earlier, with birthday presents over the next few years, some GWR carriages, a hall loco, plus a few other items created my first scenic layout 6ft by 3 ft.. loosely based on the station  my grandfather worked at.. very loosely, in oo gauge that station is 32ft long!!!.
Sadly no photos..

Also Sadly when I went away to work my nephew's and nieces destroyed it,..
I still have the remains of the rolling stock..

Soon after I got my first N gauge rolling stock, but that was left at my parents while I moved again and disappeared..


I now have 2 N gauge layouts and an HOe layout under construction, having worked on club layouts in various places during my previous peripatetic life

George sent me a pic of him and Anne being mobile, although George is walking with the aid of a stick. Unfortunately, it seems they think he now has pneumonia
I must admit when my Mother fell, broke her hip and was taken into hospital first she got a UTI then pneumonia. Hospitals, eh? They just keep on giving.

I'm just happy to have got through Storm Dave with no damage to my little bungalow.
I have to say in all the years I've been here that one was the worst, I reckon.
I'm sure at least twice I felt the property vibrating!!

This probably ought to go in the "Phew! That was lucky!" thread, but as we don't have one, this will have to do.

A note on the family calendar reminded me that the house insurance was due tomorrow, but I thought it odd that I hadn't had a renewal notice. I searched through my paperwork and emails and found I didn't get one last year either. That was when I started to worry. I had taken out a 3-year fixed rate deal in 2023, and got a renewal notice in 2024 but stupidly I thought the deal meant it was renewed automatically. Reading it again, more carefully this time, I found I was still expected to actually respond to it. So..., we have been uninsured for the past two years! What a good job the house didn't burn down.     

Thank the Lord for instant cover, even on Easter Sunday.

Cheers,

Chris

Quote from: EtchedPixels on April 05, 2026, 01:11:42 PMUse a voltmeter. One pair is 13-16v AC for accessories, the other is 0-12v DC controlled by the knob for the track power.

Trix conventionally used blue/red for track and black/white for AC.

Given the age of most TRIX vario controllers I'd also consider whether it's best kept as an exhibit as it's unlikely to meet modern safety standards, and given it's age really ought to be properly inspected and tested before use at all.

Thank you for this reply. I agree about the testing. I was just curious. I'm am brand new to the hobby but have a background in electronics as a radio ham. I had tested the outputs with a meter and couldn't determine exact info presumably because of its age etc. thanks for getting back. Really appreciated

There should be symbols for track and points (accessories) on the back, and AC / DC symbols.

Blue and Red for track outputs (DC), black and white for accessories (AC).   ** get it professionally safety tested before using it.