salop89a

Luckily it seems no damage has occurred. I have reconnected the signal to the toggle switch and it is working fine.

Karst Drenth on the YaMoRC group has confirmed that a group of 8 turnouts can be connected in common for one YD8008 unit but not for multiple units. The commons are connected internally in a YD8008. Looks like I will be staying with dc control and toggle switches for the turnouts. Thank you to everyone that has responded to my query.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that.

Thanks for the quick reply. It is the YD8008 that I have been looking at. However, your confirmation that it is indeed three wires from each point motor back to each accessory decoder is what I feared. The prospect of altering the wiring of 30-odd solenoids by going under the baseboards is too much of a risk for my dodgy back, I fear. Regards

At the moment I am operating the turnouts on my layout using dc by means of a control panel with toggle switches controlling Peco solenoids. Power to the turnouts is supplied via a secondary bus for the common with short connecting wires to the turnouts. Longer wires connect the left and right of each of the solenoids to the control panel toggle switches. I am using a Roco z21 to control locos and signals and am considering using accessory decoders to control the turnouts. Can I still use the secondary bus for the common supply to each turnout or would I need to run an additional length of wire back to the common output of the accessory decoder for each turnout? The decoder manuals I have looked at seem to indicate that each turnout will need three separate wires back to the accessory decoder but I am unsure if I am correctly interpreting the diagrams.

I have a few Dapol servo operated junction signals which I currently control using toggle switches but would like to operate them with DCC. The Dapol manual states they can be operated by means of an accessory decoder such as the Digikeijs DR4018 but this is no longer available so I bought a Yamorc YD8116 which I understand is the equivalent. I have connected everything in accordance with the manual as far as I can see but the Dapol unit is not responding to commands from the DCC controller - Roco z21 white box with Multimaus. Does anyone have any experience of using the YD8116?

Seat units for the coaches are also available from www.dcresinreplicas.co.uk in white or brown for £7.00 each. I bought some a few months ago and they seem a good moulding to me. No connection other than as a satisfied customer.

On another forum, Paul Dunn has announced that the Coopercraft business including the Blacksmith range is for sale. Apparently he now has a full-time job so has decided to sell up. If anyone is interested, I saw the announcement on the Great Western Study Group forum.

Thanks for the link.

I am looking to restore an old K's GWR 40' passenger brake van that is missing it's roof. Can anyone suggest a suitable replacement item? Thanks

Not accepting new applications for business accounts until next year according to their website.

SVR have announced this morning that all refreshment rooms, bars, Engine House, etc as well as all services are closed until at least the end of April.

There is a photo in Middleton Press' book 'Shrewsbury to Newtown' of a stopping train train from Welshpool to Shrewsbury comprising GWR coaches hauled by ex-LNWR 0-6-2T no. 27640 on 21st June 1947.

Mercian Models were at the Warley Exhibition last month and had the Carlisle kit on the stand.

Thanks, Pete

Thanks for the links. Some great photos there.

Hi Pete, Thanks for the information (and the kind offer). Plan at the moment is to fly to Toronto Pearson and spend a couple of days sightseeing before taking the train to Windsor. I am not planning to hire a car and will be reliant on my cousin for transport in the Windsor area. At the moment I am looking at being in Canada for late May/early June. Basil

Hi, I am planning to visit my cousin in Southern Ontario (Windsor) next May/June for the 1st time and am looking for suggestions for railroad places of interest to visit in the area. Thanks in advance. Basil

There is a photo on the excellent Warwickshire Railways site of Stanier 8F No. 48700 on a northbound goods train at Studley & Astwood Bank Station so they did work on the Gloucester Loop Line between Evesham and Redditch in BR days.

I don't understand this suggestion. Hereford to Redditch is not an existing line - Redditch is the southern terminus of the cross-city line via a branch off the main line at Barnt Green. Travelling from Redditch to Hereford involves a change of trains at University or Birmingham NS stations.

When I moved to Redditch in 1974 there was a minimal service - two morning commuter trains to Birmingham (1 on Saturdays) and 2 from Birmingham in the evening on weekdays. Service frequencies on many lines were much less than today.

Plenty on the shelf in WHS Redditch this morning.

My experience of its performance is entirely different. I ran mine in on a rolling road for about 30 minutes in each direction before fitting a decoder and find it is a very smooth runner. It easily pulled seven coaches on level track (no inclines on my layout).

Plenty on sale in W H Smith in Redditch today.

Milk trains ran from Dorrington, Shropshire on the Shrewsbury to Hereford line. Donnington, Shropshire is further east near Telford and the site of a MOD depot.