hartleymartin Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 I’m looking forward to this new range of track. Whilst I am primarily an O gauge modeller, there is a project for a British Branch line station that I would like to build and operate. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Tim Dubya Posted October 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2017 What are we going to do once they are released ? All start building our own track... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted October 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2017 I have a question, this being about the Uni-frog and how it works. Forgive me for not reading the main Peco bullhead thread in it's entirety (my therapist said I wasn't allowed to), but am I right in thinking that these new bullhead points don't/can't isolate in the direction for which the points are not set? I think I've understand this correctly. If so, I'm going to have to get my mind around that one. Presumably one would then isolate the siding (or whatever) by means of an isolating rail break beyond the crossing nose assembly? I would guess that this could be linked to the electrical switching of the point itself? Does the wiring for 'traditional' point motors like Seep, Tortoise or Cobalt allow for this? All very interesting. PS. Have you realised that I'm not DCC yet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 I have a question, this being about the Uni-frog and how it works. There is a separate thread on the Unifrog, but I found this link quite helpful as the known facts were getting swept under the carpet on the "other" thread... https://thehobbyshop.wordpress.com/category/product-information/ As well as a review of the new points, I believe the November Railway Modeller has an article on the Unifrog. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Tim Dubya Posted October 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2017 (edited) PS. Have you realised that I'm not DCC yet? Me neither and I have more than two colours of wire in my electrickery box of stuff... Oh and it's the devils work ; I'd definitely be in the market medium radius at the moment but I can fully understand why Peco have gone for the far end of the ready to lay market with the large radius. Unifrog did initially baffle me but again I can understand why they'd go down this route (& saves an awful lot of expense in tooling up two production lines). If these had been around when I got back into the hobby (obsession?) 12 or so years ago I'd have snapped Peco's hands off (and probably have a working layout by now). Yeah right! . Edited October 21, 2017 by Tim Dubya 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pint of Adnams Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 There is a separate thread on the Unifrog, but I found this link quite helpful as the known facts were getting swept under the carpet on the "other" thread... https://thehobbyshop.wordpress.com/category/product-information/ As well as a review of the new points, I believe the November Railway Modeller has an article on the Unifrog. Buried on the Peco website under Techincal Advice Bureau are various instruction leaflets, including for Insulfrog and Electrofrog. One day, when Peco finally realise the importance of investing in a usable website and accompanying maintenance, an instruction leaflet for Unifrog might appear... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roythebus Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 Regardless, I think Peco should be congratulated on investing what is probably a considerable sum in a product that will probably be limited to sales in the UK only, and few sales elsewhere in the world. I have recalled this story before with Charlie Skelton of W&H Models at an Earls Court toy fair in the late 1970s: talking about why Hornby didn't do particular loco; Charlie, being a wholesaler, manufacturer and retailer told me that someone like Roco could make a model of say a Belgian diesel and it would sell tens of thousands across the world because it was HO scale and there are great numbers of people who COLLECT anything HO; the production run would be say 20,000 units. Take a British loco, 00 scale, it would be lucky to sell 2000 in those days, the number of 00 collectors across the world are few. The same can be said for what is in effect a purely British outline track. I suspect that situation hasn't changed much today, I'd be interested to know how many the big boys have to make in a first run. I bet it's not tens of thousands, even with livery variations. I've tried Tillig track, it looks nice, the geometry was different to Peco as we know, but I had trouble with the point blades, so abandoned that layout. I don't think Peco will have the same problem as Tillig as bullhead rail is a lot more flexible than flat-bottom rail. As for the unifrog crossings, it's not rocker science to wire an isolating switch to a siding. After all, if you use live frog points, you have to wire the frog anyway and fit plastic fishplates to it. Would I buy the new Peco track? Yes but I've nearly finished hand-building the track for my quite large layout in 00! Stop knocking it, give Peco the support they deserve for such an innovative long-awaited product. You all spend £100s on locos but go for the lowest common denominator when it comes to track. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted October 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2017 Talk of electricity reminds me of some dippy new age mystic type selling some miracle cure all (or as you might say, a scam artist) who when asked about their wares said "it's like electricity, nobody knows how it works, it just does". 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 57xx Posted October 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2017 Talk of electricity reminds me of some dippy new age mystic type selling some miracle cure all (or as you might say, a scam artist) who when asked about their wares said "it's like electricity, nobody knows how it works, it just does". It's very simple, smoke is generated, travels through the wires and powers the device at the other end. If the smoke escapes, its broken and stops working. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pint of Adnams Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 Talk of electricity reminds me of some dippy new age mystic type selling some miracle cure all (or as you might say, a scam artist) who when asked about their wares said "it's like electricity, nobody knows how it works, it just does". Reminds me of an aged aunt of my first wife, who was concerned about all the electricity that had flowed out of the (switched) socket onto the floor because she had forgotten to turn the switch off. That's how gas and water supplies work, so why should electricity be any different? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 I have a question, this being about the Uni-frog and how it works. Forgive me for not reading the main Peco bullhead thread in it's entirety (my therapist said I wasn't allowed to), but am I right in thinking that these new bullhead points don't/can't isolate in the direction for which the points are not set? I think I've understand this correctly. If so, I'm going to have to get my mind around that one. Presumably one would then isolate the siding (or whatever) by means of an isolating rail break beyond the crossing nose assembly? I would guess that this could be linked to the electrical switching of the point itself? Does the wiring for 'traditional' point motors like Seep, Tortoise or Cobalt allow for this? The easy way is to put insulated joiners on the frog rails, connect the rails beyond the frog to the frog and use a switch that works with the actuator to switch the frog polarity. I suspect there might be a couple of links under the point you can cut to save having to use insulated joiners. If you want a dead frog you can fit insulated joiners in either both left rails or both right rails and use a switch that works with the actuator to provide the power feeds for the two routes. For DC common return wiring you will need to combine both methods with an actuator with a double pole switch (PL15, or the double pole switch built in to many slow motion motors for example) - one pole to switch the frog and a second pole to provide the power routing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 I know they have these nice new fishplates to connect this stuff up but is there a insulated equivalent for this ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cmax Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 There been a lot said about the new bullhead points and track..but not only are they for the british market Peco advert from this months Loco-Revue. Gary 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve45 Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 November_Loco_Revue_2017.png There been a lot said about the new bullhead points and track..but not only are they for the british market Peco advert from this months Loco-Revue. Gary So Bullhead is called 'The Double Mushroom' en Francais? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEAMYAKIMA Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 Certainly ironic! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Tim Dubya Posted October 22, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 22, 2017 (edited) I know they have these nice new fishplates to connect this stuff up but is there a insulated equivalent for this ? I think n gauge fishers fit code 75 bullhead? . Edited October 22, 2017 by Tim Dubya Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted October 22, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2017 Well, you can always build your own, Larry: that’s what modellers do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nile Posted October 22, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 22, 2017 Yes they do, SL-311. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 Zut alors! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBRJ Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 Well, you can always build your own, Larry: that’s what modellers do. Do they do that? I most certainly would not do so for any application in OO when Peco provide the product we see here So Bullhead is called 'The Double Mushroom' en Francais? I rather like that term - it fits well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted October 22, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2017 Do they do that? I most certainly would not do so for any application in OO when Peco provide the product we see here.According to Larry, anything other than building models is “collecting”. I can only assume that he collects track. But then again, he appears to have deleted the post I was responding to but hadn’t quoted. Rather a poor show, that. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffield Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 A form of bull head rail chaired track is common in France. I can envisage the new track being popular there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 HO? OO? Here we go again.......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted October 23, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2017 HO? OO? Here we go again.......... And your point is...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris M Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I don't do OO these days but I think Peco are to be congratulated for these points; they look like a good step forwards. Yes they are different in the way they work but it is just about getting used to it. Most G scale points don't isolate when switched which was a surprise to me at first but I soon changed my way of thinking to work with this. Dropping the little pips on the side and the holes for mounting point motors directly underneath would appear to be a sensible thing to do as part of improving the realism of the point. They look good. I would like to see N gauge points with some of these features but I expect the market is too small to make it a viable proposition. Well done Peco for making this step forward. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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