David41283

At the time of the first fault, I only had two locos on the layout, which hadn’t been run for a while, so I assumed a decoder issue and reset CV8 to 8, I had to reprogram the addresses again, but this wasn’t a huge problem. second time there were 5 locos on the layout so this is a bigger headache. I am suspecting that through a wiring issue or too many locos drawing power from a powercab system the power has dropped. I will try turning off DC mode on all my locos to see if this works. thanks for all the suggestions.

I did wonder if I suffered a voltage drop for some reason, could the lower track voltage “trick” the locos into DC mode, resulting in the odd speed behaviour?

Hi all, I have encountered an odd issue with my NCE powercab. Twice in the last 48 hours all the locos on the layout have started acting strangely. All of a sudden, they seem to have just two speed steps. They are still at step 0, then full speed at step 1, steps 2 and over make no difference. the first time this happened a loco had just come to a stop against the end of the fiddle yard and carried on pushing against this as I didn’t notice. Fairly innocuous, but the only odd occurrence that preceded the issue above. As there were only a couple of locos on the layout I solved the issue by resetting the decoders in each of them. Today this happened again, just as I was messing about with consisting 2 DMUs. I cancelled the consist and all of a sudden everything, both involved in the consist and not, had developed the speed issue above. The locos concerned are a variety of brands, with different chips, yet are all affected the same way, hence my belief that the issue is the controller. Even when this speed issue is manifest, the chip has still retained the address and the sounds work as normal. i can’t see any reference to this in any forums or online anywhere, so hopefully someone can help! thanks

Some more photos

Hi everyone, Having taken Invernevis as far as I could I contemplated building an extra board to extend the layout, but decided to start again. After selling Invernevis at the start of last year, I started a new project. I had to be realistic in terms of practicalities and space. This would’ve meant building another similar layout if I stayed with N gauge, and I had an unashamed nostalgic ambition to capture the trains of my late childhood around Bristol and Westbury around 1990. I stuck with two 4’x1’ boards, but have gone to 00 gauge and DCC sound. I have posted a couple of photos of the 3d printed people on the platform in the “realistic modelling” thread to positive feedback, so it’s time for the whole layout to break cover. Avon Mills 1990 is set in the Bristol area - an amalgam of Avonmouth and Sea Mills perhaps, but it is completely fictitious. I have sacrificed some realism to include elements I remember from the period. A tiny station like this wouldn’t have had brutes or orange information screens but along with the red benches, yellow litter bins and badgerline buses they are very apt for the period.

In summer 1990, Kevin is very proud of his new shell suit. 00 scale hand painted 3d printed “youth”. Avon Mills - Bristol 1990.

A weary commuter trudges towards the steps, early evening, Bristol suburbs 1990.

Great photos, the Paddington 1988 set are right in my era and region. I can remember the influx of “foreign” traction onto the Paddington-Oxfords well. is that a grey 31 lurking in the background in C9585? I don’t recall many of them around Paddington.

Hi Robert, 2 car DMUs with all wheel pick-ups were certainly not something I even thought of when building the layout! The longest passenger train the station ever saw with me was a 153! I made sure that the isolating section was long enough to contain a 153. Sounds like you've come up with a good solution. Great idea about the new loco lift - I did intend to build a traverser, but couldn't think of a way of achieving this successfully in such a small space. The loco lift could be an ideal solution if successful. Cheers David

Hi Robert, I hope you're well. Glad to see the layout is still going strong! Have you made any changes or tweaks at all. I've just realised it is now 7 years since it was built. I've also just changed the title of the thread to something more suitable for the future. Take care David

answered my own question! If the dates on Flickr are accurate the headlight was fitted sometime between late 1992 and early 1993. It also sported mini snowploughs during this period. It remained in this condition until withdrawal in 1997, so the model is probably accurate for late 1992 to 1997.

Can anyone pin a timeframe on 33023 with a headlight in this livery. I can find post preservation photos at Barrow Hill with an ugly black headlight, but very clean livery. I have also found photos in this livery in work-stained condition before headlight fitting at Stewarts Lane. I know it was withdrawn in this livery in 1997. Did it ever run in BR service in such heavily weathered condition with a headlight, or is this model a strange mix of pre-withdrawal livery and condition with post preservation headlight? Thanks David

The link seems to be broken? I’m intrigued….

I have finally set up on youtube in order to facilitate posting some videos on here - here are some very short phone clips of the layout working at the show.

Funnily enough I was invited to another local show by a visitor on Saturday, but I couldn't accept due to scheduling issues. Watch this space however...

So, 7 months on from the last post on this thread, I have just been to my first exhibition in 3 years. I was booked for the Calne show which was due to take place in a couple of weeks, but sadly this one was cancelled, but I was then invited to an exhibition in Yealmpton just outside Plymouth which did go ahead on Saturday. I eventually did get round to fitting some more Dapol uncoupling magnets which worked well over the weekend. Here are some photos of the layout set up on Saturday. For a small village hall event, it was really well attended. Interesting that demand was up, probably due to the lack of exhibitions for a couple of years, rather than down due to covid fears. As ever lots of people stopped to chat and ask questions about the layout. It was a really enjoyable day.

That's an entirely fair question, to which I'm afraid I don't know the answer. I'm not the organiser, I just offered to publicise the event here. Perhaps try giving the shop a ring on 01752 665007 I know they are there today packing up for the show tomorrow. From previous years, this is usually a very quiet affair in a school/community hall, so even pre-covid social distancing wouldn't have been a problem. Sorry I can't be of further help.

Exhibition in Yealmpton, just outside Plymouth on Saturday 9th October. Organised by Chris' Crafts and Model Railways model shop in Plymouth. Yealmpton Community Centre, Stray Park Road, Yealmpton, Devon PL8 2HF OPENING TIMES: 10.00 am-1500 pm ADMISSION: Adults £2.50 Concessions £2.50 Children £2.50 Family £5.00 13 layouts ranging from N, HO, OO, O, G scale, and 3 traders. Refreshments available, Accompanied children (U14) free. One of the layouts will be my layout Invernevis which is on RM web here.

On the coupling front, I have turned my attention to electromagnets. The official PK magnets seem to have sold out at the supplier. Gaugemaster offer an alternative - the EM1 which has the added advantage of working on the 16v accessory feed already installed on the layout for the point motors. However I feel these are overpriced at £11-£12 each for what they are. There are numerous threads about making your own electromagnets, but all require a greater degree of electrical understanding than I posses, to work out the number of windings, resistance etc.. I also like the idea of using a power source already in place, rather than adding another. On this basis I picked up a few of these very cheaply - all three costing less than 1 Gaugemaster EM1 magnet. I figured that these were suitable coils, which I knew worked with a 16v supply through a push-to-make switch. They come apart very easily. And through separating the coils, and recycling the PCB base I made this with the addition of a 3.5mm diameter nail. After setting up a quick test rig - it works. The coil did get a quite warm, but then I did activate it an awful lot of times in a few minutes while testing, and my method of touching wires together to provide the current was probably a bit less controlled than a push-to-make switch. In my simple world, this seems a good solution - if anyone who understands these things better than me can see an impending disaster, please let me know!

Sorry - posted in the wrong place!

After getting hold of some 0.8mm brass wire, I had a go at making some NEM compatible DG couplings, as per Dave Searle's method for Hinksey Yard posted further up this thread. The coupling requires cutting down quite a lot to fit, I soldered the wire on slightly over length, then trimmed it back to fit. The big problem I found with this was the force needed to clip the coupling into the NEM socket was so great it was very difficult to avoid distorting the coupling itself - as can be seen by the mangled example above. I tried a few items of rolling stock and found all equally stiff when trying to clip into the socket. I was hoping this would prove easier than packing the pocket with plasticard, or a full conversion involving removal of the moulded coupler pocket.

Thank you. Although your photo would suggest you had managed to bend the roof the right shape and get the body profile right, which I found one of the hardest parts. The noses and other parts on mine have been aided by milliput to fill gaps and get the shape right. I was actually quite impressed with etched brass as a material to be honest. (about 50 years late to the party, I know!) - it's strength but also how well it can be filed and shaped too. I did a fair bit of reading about etched kit construction and invested the princely sum of about £20 in what I felt would be essential equipment - I bought some 145 degree solder and some liquid acid flux from Eileens Emporium and a new 2.3mm chisel bit for my basic 25w Antex soldering iron. The brush-on flux and low-melt solder made a massive difference I believe, especially as I had a relatively low-powered soldering iron.

Aside from my coupling experiments, I have had another side project on the go for the last few weeks, which now it has not been a disaster is at a stage to share. I just got a first coat of primer on this morning, and there are still a few bits which require a little more filling and filing, but overall I think this will look the part. It is built in etched brass, my first go at such a kit, using Worsley Works "scratch aid" parts. Other details are from the spares box or made from styrene. I have a new Dapol cl 33 chassis bought from Dapol Spares at DCC Supplies from which I have filed a few mm off each side to fit, so it should run nicely too. I reckon I've just increased the chances of Dapol announcing an N gauge 29 in the next 6 months by about 500% too!

I spent today having a better go with the DGs. To be honest, once I took a few minutes to do the soldering properly, it was easy. A quick wipe of the wires with a fibreglass pen, tinned both ends and the loop and dropper went together really nicely. Again a little more time on each loop and they were also a lot more consistent. I made up 7 couplings in an hour and fitted a latch only coupling to a farish 08 using plasticard pack into the NEM pocket as per Keith's method above. I was able to get them working on my little "lockdown layout" even with it's settrack curves and permanent Dapol magnets. I did get some buffer locking when pushing wagons, but I don't think DGs were ever designed with trainset curves in mind!

That's a great idea, I had assumed I'd use a chemical blackening solution, but I'll try a permanent marker.