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Looks great Simon! It will I am sure work how you are well regards Andy

Hi Simon, those sheet metal fasteners do look quite flimsy. Needing to open a gate through a layout always seems to be challenging. I am lucky I can walk into mine. Good luck with it, Rob

Hi. I think you've made a fine job of that. Looks really good.

Great job and video Simon!!! Very usefull! Cheers Onno.

I have re hashed my access point into my layout several times and am just about to think of which alignment dowels to use, I will watch with interest to see how the DCC Concepts ones go.

Hi Simon, I do understand your situation, life doesnt get any easier the older we get. You asked for suggestions: personally I would remove the upper level as you would not see a road or rwy line above another track, but secondly I think it will get in the way. I would build up a road / town through the middle of the layout, large open fields, sheep cows lots of trees etc etc whatever makes you smile. My suggestion is to put each board (eg 4' sections) on hinges mounted to the wall, they can be mounted on vertical supports of the shed. This way you can lift each board, in turn clip it up, then do all the electrics under the board you want. Pop it down and Bob is indeed your best friend. I would do them all, but thats a huge job. The other issue you may encounter is from the wooden board itself as it is subject to expansion and contraction even 0.5 mm can misalign the tracks. I personally reccommend replacing any lift out section with acrylic sheet (persex) that wont move. Big job whichever way you look at it. Any hinges need the pivot point on the hinge mounted higher than the rail head to avoid catching. Two other youtubers to look for who have fitted such Graham Foulston and Allan at Dragon Jcn mk2. You have to search for videos mind. Allan fitted acrylic and those sections have been perfect, after several attempts to fix misalignments using wooden boards. Might be worth getting in touch have a chat. Hoping thats helpful.

Hi Simon i like the idea of keeping the raised section along the back of the layout it's adds interest with being at a height im not sure how you would achieve the lift out section unless you have track joiners at each end of each section of track that is on the lift out part? then you can slide the joiners away at each end and then lift out the section?

i tried the hm700 in a bachmann class 66 and hornby 08 , i gave up in the end , had the same issues you had , both locos ran fine on other non sound decoders and DC.. wouldn't touch the hm7000 with a barge poll now.... there was no help out there , no simple go to guide to solve the issue..other than joining the web forum and getting no specifics..waste of my time and money

I can't help but fully agree with the comments received so far mate. Return to sender and full refund. Buy Dapol "Fit for purpose" on this occasion, I think not

if you turned the steam sound off maybe we could hear what your saying

This doesn't sound good Simon , I would send it back for sure . Hope you are ok ..........Peter

Hi, personally Id send it back again. Alternatively, do you have another decode you could test the loco with? Does it run on DC? If it is the decoder you could reset with the hornby app then re-install into into the loco. Hoping that helps

I have asked them for my money back, they are very slow to respond. You are right about the Dapol 73

I would send it back. Get your money back and buy the far superior Dapol version.

Have you tried rmweb or hornby community page on their website Sorry i can't help you

good work loos good keep up the good vid thanks lee

Pretty useless video that doesn’t help anyone build or design a control panel sorry to state this but there it is!

I feel your pain. That is a very nice back scene. Cool lights. Thanks for sharing. Dave

The back scene looks great. Wives can sure fill in the gaps we all have. It does look good. You might try white styrene tubing. That is what I used in the canopy of my petrol station. Rob

Always good every now and then to let the frustration out!

I did smile when you were talking about the back scene and the timely intervention of your wife (even with your help). It looks very good. The lights are going to work very well. The camera was always going to struggle to get the exposure right both for the background and the light, which just shows you how clever the human eye is. Stephen

Looking great Simon like the back scene. Takes a woman's touch lol

Your control panel looks brilliant. Nice on the wiring and layout of the wiring. I had no idea you were an electronics master. Horrible service. Sorry you had to experience that. I would be tempted to rip it all out and go another way. It is wonderful to see how well you’re doing with your railway. Rob

Please speak more clearly and explain the wiring setup better.

Can't hear you very well !

I have issues with the sound on mine which directly affects the steam generation. There is a lack of chuff whatsoever up to speed step 32 and reverse is just a load of garbled nonsense. This is after multiple profile downloads to try and rectify the issue, even on a brand new chip. The standard P2 sound profile and other profiles work perfect but without steam operation. Crazy!!! Im still awaiting Hornbys response!!

Warning!!!! Never trust Hornby manuals….. they are notoriously incorrect and misleading!!!!

I have a P2 hopefully getting it back from hornby this week I sent it of because it wood not steam it did for the first time then Pack up I had a chat with George from hornby he said send it back so I did he was telling me that you can turn the steam up which I wanted hopefully I can when it comes back the locomotive they are going to bring out is the flying Scotsman which is due in may got one on order and the black 5 I must admit it looks good on my garden railway that is the P2

Interesting... all grist to the mill as they say.

The F24 issue is the most shocking to me. When you buy a product, you own it, and the manufacturer has no right to keep information on how to service it away from the owner.

I understand your frustrations. Customer service to the individual customer is almost non existent here in the states. I also think its the decline of competition that enforces this attitude. Thanks for sharing. Dave

Hi Simon and thanks for the video. I guess you have now made my mind up for me in not to get this loco, as much as it looks great on paper and there maybe several models out there which operate perfectly fine, I find the way Hornby have treated you was terrible, I’m not willing to take the risk of having to go through the same scenario should I buy this so it’s a no from me. It’s a shame because it looks to be a great looking loco but looks are not the only thing to consider when spending this kind of money, Hornby really need to Buck their ideas up. Cheers. ………..Graham

water is water

Hi Simon I hope you are well I don't do dcc ect am purely analogue Sorry I can't help you As for black 5 mine had no issues and is a great model As far as am aware Sam's trains is only one with issues but could be wrong Sorry again Keep safe ARP

Dare I say the present situation has made me very "picky" about spending the hard earned on new models. I tend to sit well back and observe first, not always possible with limited runs. You make a good point with our contemporaries proffering lots of help solving problems and freely giving information which the companies see as some kind of half-arsed secret.

Hi Simon my friend, I understand the frustration completely, Ive had similar experience with Hornby after sales it took then six weeks to respond to my e mail they were not helpful either ! Thankfully i had only spent a few quid on their HM 6000 controller, in the end i just gave up and chalked it down to lesson learned, i dont buy new products from Hornby anymore, its a dreadful way for them to behave they could have easily just replaced the loco that you bought and solved the issue.

look forward to next update bud

Mine was the same sent it back for a refund very disappointing

Could you please tell me the lenght of it including the tender as im getting a special box made for it thanks

Got mine working all ok, it did turn up with the magnet detached from the engine so the door was falling around in the packaging, wasn’t easy getting the magnet to sit back into the hole, seems to be pressed fitted, thought it would be easier to fix it myself than to return it to Hornby.

Aren’t you supposed to change the chimney over to the one with the bigger hole that is supplied separately? It looks to me like you have the chimney that comes already fitted on the loco? Maybe this will help, hopefully 🤞🏻 I think this affect is a game changer 👍🏻 it looks amazing

Typical Hornby, overpriced for the average family man + the retired or basic wage (I have always been a Hornby fan since the early 70s).

Hi Simon, lovely addition❤

I seem to remember Hornby's auto reply says they can take up to 7 working days to reply to an email so any response before Wednesday would be well under target!

I've never seen a model steam generator that looks realistic. Real steam locos will fill the entire area with steam, which often drifts around way after the locos has passed.

Happy Easter Simon

I have a couple of problems myself. On the 9F I want to turn the Firebox Glow off. Also I want to turn those ridiculously bright Lights off on the Turbomotive.

Hello again Simon I wish to provide you with an update regarding my own P2 ‘Prince Of Wales’ Having complained to Hornby about having the wrong nameplates with my model (Thane Of Fife) I’m pleased to say Hornby have now sent me a replacement accessories bag with the correct’Prince Of Wales’ nameplates. Furthermore I’ve made another discovery regarding this model, if you remember I did mention and complain about the lack of steam generated on my model, which is nowhere as good as other TH-cam’s models. I have discovered that if you go into ‘locomotive settings’ then click on ‘Advanced CV setting’, scroll down to CV 184 which is listed as F24 volume control (default setting on my model was 33) I have discovered that by increasing the value on this CV increases the steam generated. I have set my CV 184 to a value of 255! If you decide to submit any further updates on TH-cam regarding the P2, please feel free to pass on this information to others.

Hi Simon, while i like the look of your Prince of Wales Loco i keep well away from Hornby Locos, always something worng, missing parts really hope Hornby get in touch with you Neil

It’s a superb model. The steam is a bit of fun but it worked straight away.