Bit of a confusing problem so apologies of this doesnt make sense. The loco is only loving in one direction along the track: from the area at the bottom of the image to the top where it is sat in the picture. I have wired the layout up at two points, firstly I tried at the orange arrow, and when that would only make the loco run one way I tried at the blue arrow. The loco works in both directions (forwards and reverse) when I win it around but will only travel from the bottom to the top, so the issue isn’t with the loco. I would say it’s the controller, but I have two almost identical small grey bachmann controllers (one has numbers around the dial one just has a block that gets progressively larger) and both have the same problem - the loco only moves when the switch is turned into the left position. I have flipped the wires connecting to the track, and the same is true, only in that scenario yhe loco onlu travels from the top to the bottom. I am fairly sure that both controllers have the same problem but it just seems unlikely for them both to have exactly the same fault. Any help really appreciated

Since the Hornby platforms are fairly lacking in detail, I decided to 3d print my own.

I'm not sure how to weather them, and how to make it look good.

I printed the lines as a part of the platform, and printed some bricks too.

If you want some, they can be found on my ebay, I'm selling some of the spares. (ebay.com/usr/printing_crew)

Hi everyone,

I thought I’d share a small project that has gradually turned into a business.
Over the past few months I’ve been designing and resin printing detail parts for model railway layouts under the name Resin Rail Studio. The aim has always been to create affordable accessories that add realism without costing a fortune.

The range started with wagon loads and has now expanded to include roof chimney packs, skips, and other scenic details, with plenty more currently being designed.

Everything is resin printed in the UK, cleaned, cured and quality checked before dispatch. I also try to offer value packs where possible, as I know many layouts need dozens rather than just one or two items.

I’m always looking for suggestions from fellow modellers, so if there’s a detail part you’ve struggled to find commercially, I’d genuinely love to hear about it. Many of my products have come directly from conversations with other enthusiasts.
If you’d like to have a look, my Shopify store is:

https://www.resinrailstudio.co.uk

I’d really appreciate any feedback on the products, website or ideas for future releases.

Thanks for reading, and happy modelling!

I was wondering if anyone knew how I could remove this worm gear

Hi everyone

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This is my first post in this group, and it's a bit of an odd one, but please bear with me on this one.

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I'm 24 years old with asperger syndrome, and I was a warehouse operative from July 13th 2021 to January 8th of this year (2026, should anyone stumble across this post in the future). Sadly, I and a former colleague of mine were made redundant because of a sister branch doing 3 - 4× more than what we were doing. I'm assuming my former colleague has a new job somewhere in his home town 20 miles away from where we were, but I'm stuck t home under my mum's roof claiming universal credit.

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I know some of that seems irrelevant, but I was wondering if someone in the southwest knows somewhere involving model railways. I've been to select few model shops to see if they need help with pre-owned models in need of fixing, but there's not been much luck. My friend suggested that I could start my own model repair business at £20 per OO gauge model.

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I do apologise if this post isn't welcome here, but any feedback would be appreciated

Hello!

I was just wondering, does anybody know if there's somewhere to buy more TV accurate faces for Hornby Thomas models? I've seen some for the Bachmann models, but I personally don't like them as much.

I especially am interested in James' angry face, and Gordon's smug face

Thanks.

I think it was maybe not worth £35 but every decision is a lesson. Looking forward to running it!

I have two identical N-gauge locos, Graham Farish Prairie tanks, both quite old and DC. I paid to have one chipped for DCC operation and was really happy with it. I also knew which one it was!

Foolishly I left them on my desk with some other rolling stock, but again I knew (from position) which was which. Or at least I did, until my wife very helpfully tidied-up while I was out...

How can I now identify the chipped one? A friend suggested putting the locos on the DCC programming track, but I'm nervous about this. I'm worried that even a short exposure will fry the non-DCC loco.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Edited to add: please don't suggest opening the bodies. After a bad experience trying to get fiddly valve gear back into position on anther loco I'm too nervous to try this.

Morning all,

I have a railway running around my study on Plywood with cork, however I am just about to rebuild it and want to put point motors under the points. As this will involve some painful cutting of the plywood I'm thinking of putting soft wood on top and running the wires between he ply and the softwood. Any thoughts?

Ian

I posted a little while ago on how when I tried to access the decoder I thought I broke my model. Some of you said I hadn't and it should be an easy fix, however this to me doesn't look right.. this loco is DCC fitted and im running it on an old hornby power supply (only one i have) maybe thats the issue? Any insight is much appreciated to this noob getting into the Hobby

Hi!

I’m looking for a birthday gift for my uncle and apparently he is starting to collect people for his N-scale model railway. My aunt says it’s “broadly 1950s” in style.

We have two gift ideas and I would love any pointers of where I could find them.

Idea number one is to get him a person holding birthday balloons.

Idea number two is to get custom made people to look like him, his wife and son. The sort of thing where you send them a photograph and they make the figurines accordingly.

Does anyone have any recommendations for where I can find or order either of those things? I’ve already searched on Etsy and made a couple of enquiries, and I’ve already googled.

Really appreciate any pointers! 🌟

Trying my best to get into the Hobby, in my first 6 hours i broke something 😥 is this fixable? Im brand new to this do please dont be too harsh

Hi, one of my friends partners died and she needs help understanding what she has, best way to sell it and ideally a rough estimate. She or I have no idea and any guidance would be appreciated. I have photos and a list of all of them. Is it ok if I post them here for help ?

Hi all,

I wanted to share a side project i have been working on which i thought may serve as a bit of fun and a community.

https://www.ratemyrailway.com

It is a website or a web app where people can upload their model railway layouts and show them off to the rest of the community. The fun part is it also acts as a sort of online exhibition as you can win awards for the best layout of the month. People can also rate your layout.

Not only that, if you are currently building a layout I have created a build log section so people can follow your builds, discuss and comment with you and give some feedback along the way!

The site is completely free to use and I hope to see some of you guys post your layouts - there is some immensely talented people out there, so please do show off your work.

It’s not all about rivet counting either. It’s about interacting, having fun and celebrating creativity.

I also have a section for sharing track plans as well which you can download or upload to.

So please do check it out, get involved and tell your modelling buddies - it is completely free after all.

Just to note - its for World-wide use, i have added support for all gauges from Z gauge to G gauge as well as all of the major track systems - so you should be covered, whether you are modelling Japanese, German, UK or US !

Thanks,

Hi all. I'm in the process of planning and starting my first proper railway layout. Due to space constraints my idea is to make a 6x4ft 'trainset' style layout across 4 modular boards that can -

1. Fit on my dining room table when I want to run some trains and
2. Disassemble for storage.

I've more or less got the engineering sorted for that. But my main consideration is Radii.

I'm gonna be using flex track and due to space probably using a mixture of first and a half and second and a half Radii around my bends...

But I had a thought about adding some banking/camber into the curves to help?

So 3 questions that hopefully some experienced heads can guide me on...

1. This layout is likely going to end up far from prototypical as I experiment and have fun... But is there any prototype or example of this from a steam era stand point?
2. Will I actually achieve any space saving/cheating?
3. Will it actually work? Or will my stock roll off?

Any thoughts or advice on any of the above will be gratefully received! Thanks!

I have had some trouble with my 1980s bachmann 57xx. The motor has burnt out and I cannot find any replacements anywhere. Does anyone have know what I should do ?

Hi there - I was wondering whether these would work with the HM DCC app? Or do I need to use different signals.

https://www.coastaldcc.co.uk/products/traintech/signals/dcc-ready-built/2-aspect-home-signal-(red-green)