Phil S

Please Reread THE CONTEXT IN WHICh i WROTE IT TOO !! .... iT WAS TO BE CONSIDERED AND CHECKED .. IF A HIGHER OUTPUT CONTROLLER WAS PURCHASED (such as 3A-5A quoted) replacing the 1A or less of the original analogue. The short circuit current is higher than the maximum normal output - and therefore requires a lower loop resistance to be achieved than would be required to maintain the full current with only a few volts drop, and loco load in series. it is then, hopefully , only momentary, and so heat build up is not a problem. Really it becomes the only safe rule about layout wiring - is it low enough resistance to ensure the chosen controller can trip. .... and that depends on your controller's output. You appear to be overlooking the simple fact that each 'analogue section' would still exist in the 'converted layout' -- the switches are likely to be at the controller end, and thereofore each section is being fed by its single run of cable - without the benefit of a larger bus. A short circuit could occur in ANY section - and the controller should cut out, and not continue to supply the (maximum+) current ad infinitum. And the bigger the controller's output, the greater the problem (unless you use something like a PSX to limit the track current - which would be an effective solution.

"He wants to start out by building the layout for DC. That implies lots of sections with individual feeds. When all the section switches are set to ON and connected to the DCC boster there will be multiple parallel feeds to the layout. Under normal operation, no individual section wiring will ever draw the full continuous current that he booster can supply. Planty of layouts have been successfully converted this way. If starting from scratch, going directly to DCC, then things would be different."? Phil: This is WRONG as their will still be ALL the INSULATING FISHPLTES in place making the feed to EACH SECTION INDEPENDANT !!!!!! ONLY when a loco bridges a section will the current be shared between ( the two ) adjacent sections !!!!! The SHORT CIRCUIT TEST should still be tested in EACH section. Or the protection is not there. After adoption of DCC multiple locos and lighting/ sound loads may occur within a single 'analogue' section.

A consideration NOT MENTIONED in any of the answers above is related to your eventual choice of DCC Control System... What Current Capacity does it have as its NORMAL MAXIMUM ( there will then be a higher current at which the controller then trips to protect itself. Whilst you may be looking at a 'DCC Starter System with a limited output of only 1A ... ie about the same as your notional analogue controller ... you are more likely to choose a system with 3.2 A, 4A or 5Amps as the normal maximum rating ( Using European as opposed to US examples, that is Roco Z/z21, Hornby Elite, or ESU console for common examples ) YOU NEED TO ENSURE that YOUR wiring can CONDUCT continuously that rated current, without producing an unacceptable voltage drop at any part of the layout, AND that a SHORT CIRCUIT occuring in any part of the layout ALLOWS SUFFICIENT CURRENT to flow, to ensure that the Controller cuts out immediately. Wiring that may have been sufficient for Analogue or a LOW POWER DCC system MAY NOT Be sufficient to offer the REQUIRED level of protecton if a MORE POWERFUL controller (or Boosted output) is used !! [This hight-current requirement can be reduced, in the smae way that houselhold mains electrical circuits offer different levels of protection by having 'fused' circuits .... in the case of mains electricity, typicallly 30A (Ring Main) and 5 Amp (lighting) ..... or for the DCC layout: FULL OUTPUT [ or a bit more than needed for your point motors] for the ACCESSORY BUS, and then PSX intellignet circuit breakers or NCE PB1/3 circuit breakers for the track buss(es) .... so that THEY provide the protection at LOWER LEVELS than the TOTAL output of the powerful Dcc control systtem. [ Yout house probably has a 100A 'company fuse', but lots of 30A, 15A and 5A circuit breakers for individual areas - for the same reasoning: PROTECTION.

Phil: Synchronising, and producing any chuffs at all are not necessarily the same thing 8-) As I understand from the TTS - and perhaps the reason people have commented on wrong speeds when fitted to other locos, is that the Hornby team have matched each loco to the Hornby model - knowing whether it was 3 or 5 pole. How well it changes with speed of the loco is another problem. ESU and other decoders either track the speed with an algorithm OR can use a synchronising axle-based input, as I understand the options. In the case of the TTS and steam - it is why, I believe, the '2 decoder solution' does not work - having a silent decoder for the motor and the TTS just for sound ...... whilst it does for a Diesel - and is one of te ways of using a TTS with a 'high power' loco like a Heljan -- the other alternative, which I have used, is to add a 10ohm resistor in series with the motor to prevent the motor current exceeding 0.5amp... at the cost of a reduced top speed (which perhaps compensates for Hornby not providing CV5. Although the statement that a resistor load is required to enable readback, is correct: Readback from a decoder is NOT REQUIRED - it depends on the controller you use. I use multimauses - and deliberately have one set up with the basic 10764 amplifier so as NOT to have any readback. (If , extremely rarely - such as bothering to read TTS version CVs because I had lost their packaging and wanted to confirm which loco tey beloged to - I can plug my multimauses into a MCP or Z21 or dig out a Sprog 2 and s/w .... But all that readback really does os slow down the reprogramming process!

A small caveat: If a TTS steam loco sound, then apparently the chuffi g effect will not work because it relies 9n monitoring the motor's bàck emf. Similarly, the sound of other sound decoders may and slightly different for the same reason ( heavy / light load effects ) but should otherwise work: As mentioned ...the ESU decoder 5ester is an extremely useful method of testing decoder operation. The current version has switchable speaker impedance and many types of decoder socket.

Perfect alignment can be achieved at a baseboard join by sliding the fishplate across half way from one board to the other..... simply cut back the chairs to allow the fishplate to be fully retracted in transit, and use a pair of pliers / fine screwdriver on its back edge to push the fishplatr onto the adjacent rail. (However - I would ensure that there was a SECURE FASTENING SYSTEM actually holding the adjacent boards together ) if you are worried that it will be 'too loose for reliable electrical contact' - no problem - its not expected to be used for that (although that does work) .... you have plugged inter-board feeds which connect to the adjacent tracks. If you wanted a bit of alignment tolerance - then leave the last few centimetres of track 'unglued' or perhaps with only copydex (not all the way to the edge)** - to allow a millimetre of flexibility. ** any ballast to the edge can have a separate paper base glued beneath the sleepers Note that this is best done with UNSTRESSED track - ie straight to straight or pre-curved to the required radius so that it NATURALLY aligns. This also works with H0e/009 as well as 00/H0 ... and in G Scale it is the 'only' precise alignment we used when locating adjacent doors (boards) ... although in this case it is the brass profile Massoth rail joiners/screw clamps which provide both the aligment AND electrical conduction for the 17m+ long layout ( LGB rail being large corss-section brass and a very good conductor unlike Nickel Silver ) . We use cable ties to secure the doors together for physical security ... tightened once the rails are clamped together. For smaller gauges the boards benefit from/need bolts or location-dowels to provide the physical anti-knock security. On many layouts a popular approach is to have a short removable section which is inserted in the gap - ensuring the fixed track is protected in transit by being bck from the edge. A method of using this - which is admittedly easier with ready ballasted track - but can be made to work with peco - is to 'secure' the drop-in section with Neo magnets [1cm-2cm diameter works okay] , and to locate the rail in position 'effectively by a jig' - eg raised ballast either side of the sleepers, representation of cable trunking concrete channels ... or similar.. and to avoid the piece being lost in transit, it is connected permanently to one of the boards by a pair of wires providing the track power. This allows alignment and conduction WITHOUT any fishplates being needed. Over my many years in the hobby, I have been making my baseboards lighter and lighter ... our whole Skandi layout 5.4m x 1.5m x 2 levels (without STOCK onboard !!!) can be lifted and relocated by just 2 people ... it is made of Aluminium Framing and XPS foam. Yes it 'flexes' in transit (if the 3m long board is twisted) but that is not a problem - there is no rigid plaster used in the scenery. It has diagonal bracing of the frame, and other intermediate supports for the foam, and when it is set up, it is once again 'flat'. There is no need to demolish a forest to produce a back-breaking layout that cannot be relocated.

With Bachmann installations, there can be a third capacitor - - connected on the underside of the motor

Not very different in appearance to a chair supporting a flat bottom rail .... Which is what they are 8-)

Graphite in a grease form is also popular. A considerable benefit of LGB rail over Peco Rail for G Scale is the large brass cross section - its a better conductor than many people's bus wires ! (Its a better conductor than the small size wires that they provide holes for in connectors too !) The alternative solution (which can still benefit from the graphite) is Massoth Screw Clamp Joiners ... I retro-fitted over 450 last year in our garden. Our through rail resistance is about 0.5 ohms over 125 metres of track (with some parallelled connections ) ... but the sun can still bake an insulating layer of dust/dirt on top of the rails to give near perfect insulation !! - heavy tracking loco runs were needed in the heat this year. Our H0 layout 'lives' for nearly 2 months at an unheated exhibition site with lots of coal and steam in the air - it needs frquent cleaning there .. but after 10 months back home in the (admittedly heated ) garage - trains ran without problem - except for a few whose looc wheels were totally coated from use at the other place. Previous experience in the loft with extreme changes also needs more cleaning - whilst the fully converted loft has no problems. environent is key! [Oh dear, our G scale portable is still out in the van, without its heater on .. cheaper fuel bills but lots of work next year 8-( unless we get it inside.]

Also many of the problems described are inherantly related to the use of a certain (assumed make of point and method pf ballasting which invites insulating adhesive wicking up into the gap between rail and joiner! Other makes and methods ARE available - possibly at hight initial upfront cost - but perhaps cheaper overall when reusablillity is considered. This is as relevent as mentioning the gauge (rail code) being used, and the Normal MAXIMUM outout of the Central Controller (UNLESS reduced by circuit breakers) in conjuction with reference to voltage drop. As always: DOES a short circuit trip the central controller from ANYWHERE ... it SHOULD. When Multiple Locos are running in an area (and perhaps with sound and lighting) - is the voltage drop MINIMAL ( and how critical tha drop is also relates to the TRACK VOLTAGE being used. and the 7V nominal minimum voltage for any deocder to work (some are lower nowadays) Use in a 'loft' with poor insulation can also result in rail-creep whereby with a long 1m lengths, large gaps can open up.

05 means 0.5A. The manual should also identify the coding used in the 11. Eg another popular decoder was 1014 ( 1 amp). I think the 3rd digit was 1 for single-sided component mounting ( ie a flat side away from camera ) The 1024 having components on both sides of the board ( and therefore shorter overall). The Macoder of the same period ...an economical special for the UK market when Mackays were the importer, was the 1000 and had only 1 non directional function output ( white wire ) and sold for 10GBP. The last digit 1 = white and yellow F0 and 4 for 4 functions ? The coloured probably simply reflect different batches ..... As also implied by the different printing dates on the manuals. They were good decoders at the time, and should still be. I cannot recall, however, whether at those dates, they supported 'silent drive' by having a switching frequency above 16kHz. Ish. Look for the CV giving control of the motor drive pulse rate.

You should find the 10mm panels quite firm .... You may be able stand on a sheet without damage ....but not in stilettos !!!. There ARE different densities ...but you won't want the densest types ....such as used below the concrete floor of our garage to ensure it supports heavy vehicles. Colours vary by manufacturer ....usually dupont = blue, yellow = travis perkins and pink = B.... You can build up contours from multiple layers held with blobs of copydex / latex ...... Yes, it will wind around a drill bit if you drill into a layer of copydex which is why I advocate just blobs . ... You may use less too. I havn' t tried diluted copydex for ballasting but agree that PVA is rigid and tends to therefore prevent track being reused. Copydex can usually be pealed off. Gorilla glue is one if the new generation of quick grab adhesives ..... I've used it this year to repair g scale buildings left out in the garden. They have survived do far. I tend to paint the surface with standard water-based acrylic emulsion paint from b and q and the like ....and add static grass at the same time. I do sometimes use halfords car primer grey ....particularly as a primer for then spraying with a speckle finish rock effect ....BUT particularly with aerosols .....keep the can some distance away to avoid the solvent still being present in high quantity .... If in doubt test in an unimportant area. XPS foam is easily cut or carved or can be cut with a hot wire cutter. ...without creating lots of static bits like expanded polystyrene, or being crumbly like the polyurethene foam eg in kingspan insulation ( sold with aluminium foil either side). XPS stands for EXTRUDED. Polystyrene. It is available in many thicknesses from 6mm or 10mm via 50-60mm to 100mm or possibly more. 50-60 mmcanbe leaned on on its own. At 6mm or 10mm it may appear tobe 'brittle' .... And a partial knife cut is all that is needed to cut and snap it to size. 25mm is i between. Most recently, i have been buying the 10mm sheets in packs of 10. Each 600mm x 1200mm i think. For our skandi layout i bulk bought 20+ x 2.5m lengths x 600mm x 25mm thick ... Surrounded/supported by an aluminium square tube frame.... With a few diagonal braces but otherwise the 25mm XPS is 'self supporting‘ within the surrounding frame ( 1.5m x 600mm, or the longer 3m x 600mm sections which have 50mm aluminium flat strips along their length to be 'free standing' over that length. ( layout erects as 5.4m x 1.5m x 2 levels and can be carried easily by 2 people...(without any stock on it !!!!!) it transports as a 3m long 'tea trolley' of the boards stacked together which is then lifted and wheeled in and out of the van ... ((Although the helix incline connecting the levels is now loaded separately. )) Whether you lay the XPS across the entire board or not may depend on how final your track plan is .....but it is easy to cut away unwanted areas later ....especially if only held by blobs of glue. In suggesting the 10mm, if used as 1 thickness, i was probably assuming it was probably onto at least a 50% supporting surface eg holes can be cut in any ply sheet below to lighten the load.

Flexi track can be 'pre-bent' by using a rail bender ( something I started using 'in reverse' in G Scale, to straighten surplus Radius 1 curve to form straights for an industrial railway ... then I bought myself an 00/H0 version ) It is where the fishplate(s) are that is the greatest problem, of course. Alternatively a heavy weight (I tend to have a few transformers or heavy locos around) will hold the track while the copydex dries. This can take a couple of hours, or in the cold of wnter, overnight. But as in real life, 'de stressing' by pre bending is the best option. Equally you could experiment with the newer 'grab type' adhesives that are 'solvent free' ie in this case do not attack the XPS foam For 'tight' flexi curves, you can also cut the inner web between sleepers (as I do when straightening G Sclae radius 1 8-) ) A small screwdriver can also be used as a temporary anchor whilst the adhesive dries - inserted between, rather than trhough, the sleepers. Note that when using Copydex Latex adhesive or similar: Use it in SPOTS - and do not spread it continuoously - however tempting - because if you change your mind, and want to lift a mountain or similar, that ou have joined this way - then the 'entire sheet' of copydex will stretch and try to pull its elf up - a sharp knife will, however, cut through it. Separated pieces of copydex are eaily pulled off the XPS foam or track, reganing a clean smooth surface to fix down again. When it gets on your clothes - do not try to wipe it off - LEAVE IT TO DRY as a thick lump - then pull it off the next day, and you can use a solvent. Alternatively you can consider using track like ROCOLINE -with trackbed ( a rubbery ballasted track bed which also quietens the running ) and is available with preset radii from Roco R2 to R20 .... and I cut them to length as required to make transitin curves if a standard ength does not fit. (Their points also have inbuilt frog switching, and the point motor fits within the ballast, so making overall constiruction much easier - points are available with several rasii upto about 1.2m.

Depending on how you plan your scenery - all wiring CAN be 'above board' - in all senses of the phrase 8-) If you wer to use a 1cm layer of XPS foam - over your existing surface, it would also help quieten the trains running ( although a rigid ballast glue would then make it a bit louder again ) Then you can easily, from above the board, copy the Gas, Electricity Water Phone and Network Rail in 'digging down' to bury any wiring rather than trying to find a 'conveneient australian' working from the othe side of the world ! A 2cm layer would allow Peco type point motors to be fitted below points without encroaching on the wooden board. Depending on how you have done your framing - you may wish to start by marking their position on the top surface - for those DEEP items like Dapol Signals or Train Tech 'analogue' Signals PS I use spots of copydex to secure the track - I stopped using track pins many years ago !! PPS XPS Foam (fireretardant/firefproofed buildong insulation) is easily carved for 3D scenery, and is light in weight. Model railways do not need to be back nreaking !

It is recommended to use '2 separate busses' when both track and accessories are run via DCC: this could be as simple as having a switch for each of the 2 paths ,'track' and 'accessories', when you split them off the controller's output. (Although I would, and others have, recommended using an automatic self-resetting circuit breaker such as the PSX, on the track circuit. This is because one of the most common reasons for trains stopping under DCC is a loco overrunning onto a wrongly set point. This level of wiring is still much simpler to install and maintain or modify than the 'analogue equivalent' requiring multiple isolating sections for the track, and sets of 2 or 3 wires 'from your chosen control position' to each and every point, and signal or other added scenic item using power. It is simpler and neater because. locally to your accessory is where you 'tap off' the accessory bus and connect 'an accessory module' ( remote controlled switch(es): it MAY be more convenient in some places ( eg if only 1 accessory is located on that board), to use a 'single output pair decoder' or if there is a cluster to use from a 2, 4, 6 or 8 output pairs, or even an integrated digital point motor .... I use a combination of all of these, and have, for example, 38 sets of points on our portable skandi layout controlled by Train Tech CDU 1 or 4 output pair modules, which are charged from the DCC (accessory) bus. Our garden layout uses 25 sets of points and are controlled from LGB 4 output modules ... powered from the track ...( LGB points are dead-frog and all-effort in the garden is to get (duplicated) power feeds to ensure all weather reliability ,). My loft layout uses many more points, and a combination of integrated digital point motors and Lens LS150 decoders with 6 output pairs BUT WHICH ALSO need a 16Vac bus run 'alongside' their DCC accessory bus. ( track is all Rocoline and live Frog, with PSXs for each track district or subdistrict. Control VIA DCC allows me maximum flexibility with minimum complication. Everything CAN be controlled of each Roco Multimaus Handset ( including Routes on the (blue) or black Wireless handsets). Or ( using the Z21/z21 current offering). I can use smart phones or tablets AS WELL or alternatively ... My choice. The use of Xpressnet or Loconet gives a choice of mix and match for controller's if preferred eg Lenz users often use Roco Multimauses as they are so versatile and also show L/R for each point A computer display screen or a tablet (z21) is now my preferred method of having a TRACK MImIC diagram to show points and signals ....this could also be done 'in hardware' by using accessory decoders with continuous display outputs. ( I have a Zero1 mimi diagram 2metres long showing 130 points and signals with 99 addresses from an earlier version of my loft layout ...but now replaced by LED screens at lower cost. What DOES add a lot of wiring, and benefits from adoption at the earliest design stage is the inclusion of train-detection or feedback. For those who want to do this by current detection, it requires the track to be split onto isolated sections - each fed through a 'feedback module' which might handle 8 or 16 sections each. My approach is to use optical detection which still requires the same number of feedback modules, BUT leaves the DCC running tracks unaffected ....no sections our still needed. This feedback is needed if you wish to show where trains are on a track diagram, and then if you wish to have any automated running . The sections are not the same as would be used in analogue control. Remember also, that what has been written about the frequency of 'droppers' for the TRACK bus DEPENDS on the scale and therefore size of your rails !!! 00 using code 75 has more resistance than Code 83 or Code 100. N gauge has much more need with its smaller rail section. However, in the garden, we use LGB Brass rail of Code 320+ so it conducts better than the individual adjacent bus wire ( I use 4 in parallel ) Whereas a layout using finer Peco G Scale track has difficulty running multiple locos without many more feeds than a simple 1 per section ! It also depends on how you ballast your track ....as the PVA adhesive used by many is a good insulator and gets in between fish plate and rail !