markwilson

Just to add a (possibly final) comment to this thread, the club has replaced the old controller with a Morley. I’ve not tested any of my stock on it yet, but for those of you with safety concerns about the old unit, I thought I’d just add this!

Thank you Steve - really helpful (and looks like others thought so too) - I’ll give that a go.

Hi Steve @sf315, I enjoyed seeing Hillport Goods at Sutton Coldfield last year, and it popped up on a YouTube video I was watching last night (thanks @dcc125). One thing I noticed was the effect you have managed to achieve on the stone footbridge (the colouring). It's exactly what I have been trying to do but not got it quite right yet. How did you do it please? I had a quick look though the history of this thread but it seems many of the photos didn't come back after RMweb's issues a couple of years ago. Grateful for any advice. Cheers, Mark

That's a fair point but my initial (logical) perception was that physics doesn't change and 12V DC is still 12V DC. It's only from experimenting and experiences like the one I posted about that we learn it's not that simple!

It’s a Lone Star and now you can see why I said it’s pretty old! I’ve disconnected it and put my old Gaugemaster D on (technically not an O gauge controller, but these Dapol units don’t pull as much current as my Heljan stock). Seemed to be running fine, but still a slight whiff from the DMU after 10 minutes running in each direction, so I may just need to accept these models are not made to run continuously. My layout is end to end, so that shouldn’t be a challenge…

Thanks @mossdp and @SteveM666 - I should have specified in my original post it’s O Gauge. Given that the second model was new and that when I stopped running it and took it home it then ran normally again, I’d ruled out that problem. I will continue to monitor though. (Thanks also for the video @irishmail)

Thanks Pete. It’s not a Gaugemaster (I’ll check what it is tomorrow). I have one of the cream ones at home and that’s what I use for DC testing on a spare piece of track.

Haha. Small world Pete, and I do indeed mean the Olney club controller!

I'll need to check on Thursday night Ben. It looks like it might be older than I am though. And I'm nearly 52...

Wow! No updates since last summer... time flies. And time for me to set that straight then. In truth, there's not been as much work on the layout as I would like - mostly because I got diverted by the Olney Model Railway Club diorama competition, so was playing with N gauge for most of the autumn. I did plan to write a thread about that project, but I haven't got around to it yet... we'll see. So, first up, what's happened on the rolling stock front? TMC repaired and returned my sound fitted 37426. It's ace. One thing I wish I'd done is fit cab lighting (I didn't realise that's not on the model as manufactured)... maybe one day I'll add it. I might also fit the snowploughs, even though this loco didn't have any in real life, they will look good. The two 121s and the two 08s are still not sound-fitted - or even reliably working on DCC with my setup. I'll send them off to Digitrains soon. I did have to get a replacement for the GWR one though after it expired whilst running on our club layout. I snapped up a Heljan 03 on eBay (doesn't really fit my layout but I like these locos), and promptly messed up the DCC conversion. I also treated myself to an Ellis Clark Wickham Trolley and trailer, sound fitted, with crew, and weathered by Neil Armitage. It looks fantastic, and will fit in nicely with the civil engineering sidings aspect of the layout... I picked up a a bargain 56 from Rails of Sheffield, which is currently with Lees Locos for customisation and sound conversion. When it comes back, it will be 56060 The Cardiff Rod Mill and branded as a Steel Sector loco, with sound and weathering - with this photo as a reference. I've also been buying Heljan VAAs when I see them (and a Dapol VEA) - though Railfreight red/grey variants are rare as hens teeth. One of the second-hand "like new, never been opened” vans arrived from Hattons with a torn/taped box (inside the outer sleeve) and broken parts but I should be able to fix it and they did at least offer me a small discount. The following are all on order, but not yet available: Heljan BR Inspection Saloon (delayed); Heljan 2-car 117 in NSE livery (delayed); Dapol/Gaugemaster Class 66 (delayed); Heljan Class 153 in TfW livery (recently announced). Note that the last two of these are not the period I'm modelling... but could be used to run it as a modern day branch. I keep telling myself I don't need (and can't afford) an Ellis Clark Black 5, but it's very tempting... I seem to have a lot of trains for a small layout. And I really need to sell some of my N gauge stock to raise some funds. That diorama is going to be useful for photographing it all... as long as I do it in the morning when the light is good in the Man Cave! I also invested in some Trainsporters boxes to keep them all safe in storage and in transit. Electrically, I think the layout is pretty much done - except for one signal (to be built), and the station and yard lighting, which will be added after the scenery is more complete. Which brings me to the scenery: I've held off on purchasing any buildings, until I have the track-side sorted and the retaining walls in. Stone walls are my nemesis. This layout has a stone tunnel portal (vacuum formed plastic), stone platform edges (resin), and stone retaining walls (plaster). Tamiya TS-4/XF-63 is a good start, but I haven't yet worked out the "right" finish for dark South Wales stone (the picture below is just grey primer). And, until those walls are in, I can't really make much more progress. I have, today, put in the "cables" for the dummy point motors, into the cable trough trunking. I still need to fit the equipment cabinets (I'm looking for some good graffiti first). And the bridge supports are loose-fitted, subject to the same paint issues as the other stonework. So, all in all, limited progress, but moving forwards. And the diorama competition let me finesse some scenic skills that I will apply to this layout. If anyone has any tips for dark stone walls, I'd love to hear from you.

A few weeks ago, I was running one of my O Gauge Dapol Class 121 DMU "bubble cars" around the club test track and, after running well for a while (I think about 20 minutes), it suddenly "clunked", spun its wheels lots, and became a very poor runner, with a funny smell. I suspected a gear issue but as it was only a few months old, I contacted the retailer to ask about a warranty repair. They swapped it out for another model for me. I started to run in the new model on the same track, and after a while, I began to see similar issues. This time, I turned it off quickly, and haven't run it on the club track again - it seems to be OK on a short length of DC track I have at home (phew!). I started to think about something I'd seen in the manual for another of my locos - the Ellis Clark Wickham Trolley says: Because of that warning, I've never run the Wickham on the club track. I don't know what sort of motor the Dapol unit has (coreless, or otherwise) but could this be the problem I was seeing on the Dapol unit? Might the elderly DC controller on the club test track actually be damaging my locos?

It looks fantastic @ChrisS. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I'm inspired to have a go after I've got the layout landscaping more complete!

Just to pick up on this, the bowl car park for Watling Street was not available for the organisers to book. I know because I’m one of the coaches using the bowl for Youth Cycle Training on a Saturday afternoon. Before us, there’s motorcycle lessons. These are regular Saturday bookings that go way back before MK Dons bought the National Bowl. (We also warned some people taking a “short cut” back through the bowl that there was no way to the car park but it didn’t stop them trying and saying they would just climb over the gate!) It’s a pity that there was a clash between GETS and MK:Dons fixtures but as others have said there are alternative options, they just need a bit more planning. Pleased to say that Sunday parking was fine… though probably just as much contention with retail as there would have been for the Dons!

It that one of the ModelU ones? I tried a Northumbrian Painting Services man but he was too tall for my cab door.

Ah, I see where you’re going @Nigelcliffe. Looking at the decoder now, the only way I could have misaligned it is if it were upside down. The header side has 22 “holes” but the PCB side has 21, as expected, to prevent numpties like me from misalignment.

I can’t be sure now because I whipped it off again so quickly. Interestingly, after I confirmed that it will still run on DC (phew), I tried the decoder again and had some successful running for a while. But, later in the day, it just didn’t want to play at all, so I have clearly done some DCC damage and have put it back to DC only until I can free up another suitable decoder.

Thanks for the advice!

Yes, it was an eBay purchase and I had run it in on the club test track. I just didn’t have an “o gauge” DC controller at home. It’s working on DC with my controller now though, once I’d refitted the blanking plate correctly. I’m normally very diligent but yesterday was clearly not my day and I think I just panicked after seeing smoke!

I’m probably about 3 years too late but check out @mudmagnet’s air braking bits and pieces: https://mudmagnet-models.sumupstore.com/product/7mm-class-03-air-tanks-cabinet. I guess buffer beam pipes can come from a detailing kit on another model.

On the subject of lighting, has anyone had any luck please with working out the DCC functions? Mine (with a Zimo MX634D) seems to turn on lights with F0, cab lights with F2 but the lights are only on at the rear, not the leading end and only in shunt mode (red and white together). I’m a bit of a DCC novice but I’ve done some basic CV editing on other locos (e.g. Dapol 08). There’s nothing in the instructions for this one though!

I know this is an old post now, but as mine was in pieces on the bench I had the opportunity to take a picture and confirm that the top front light is definitely a dummy (no connection) and I’ve only seen the outside two lights working (front and rear).

Thanks for the suggestion. I just checked and it is now (it wasn’t 🤦🏻‍♂️). Really needed to be pushed right down but working now. Thank you @Ray H!

I think so, but that’s worth a look I guess! Will report back in a while. Thanks for the suggestion @Ray H!

I’ve just made a very stupid mistake and I’m trying to work out how bad it is. I thought I’d drop a DCC decoder into my Heljan 03. I put it back together and there was no response from the loco when I tried to programme it. I tried on both the programming track and on main. No luck. I opened it up and saw I had misaligned the 21 pins - only 1 row connected. I lifted the decoder off, connected properly and witnessed a puff of smoke. Arghh. Track power was still on. So that Zimo MX634D is now fried. Annoying but we live and learn. My concern is that I’ve blown up the main PCB too? I put the blanking plate back on and tried to run it in a DC track but no luck. That could be the controller though as it’s an old Gaugemaster Model D - possibly not enough grunt for a Heljan O gauge loco? I will test on the club layout this week, but is there another way for me to see how badly I’ve damaged the loco, please?

Thanks @mudmagnet. And now I’ve seen your site I can convert my 03 to add air brakes too! https://mudmagnet-models.sumupstore.com/product/7mm-class-03-air-tanks-cabinet