boxcar_jim

A number of clubs and societies already do this to some extent, think of EXPONG or society shows/meets 009 Society, NMRA. There are also scale orientated shows EXPOEM, N guage show, etc. As others have said there are Freemo or NTRAK modular meets. These however tend to cater for niches within the hobby. As an exhibition manager of a general model railway show, and previously involved with an American only meet, it's quite clear that specialist shows / meets don't attract the general public in the way a general show does. Let's also be quite clear that low numbers of "hard core" hobbyists through the door doesn't make for an economically viable show - halls cost money to hire, layout operators need overnight accommodation and petrol money, catering needs to be paid for, etc . All the feedback we have received from surveying visitors indicate that the public want to see entertaining models they can relate to, regardless of prototype fidelity. I certainly don't see specialist shows becoming the norm any time soon especially as exhibition costs continue to rise, but they will certainly be part of the scene.

I am currently building a brickworks micro-layout using HOf track and mechanisms. I have used a mixture of Busch turnouts and hand built plain track (2mm finescale copper clads and Peco code 60 "Z scale" rail), the Peco rail is a slightly different profile to the Busch but is compatible. I have had no problems with the Busch sleepers melting during soldering. On the hand built track I have used the DCC Concepts "Power Base" system to lay under the track, this works just as well as the Busch track under test, despite being slightly further from the loco's magnet. This could equally be used with Marklin or Peco Z scale track or the slightly nicer looking but expensive PMT Technomodel HOf track, as the track is just glued to the top of the metal plates which are then hidden under scenery. I had looked at the Busch "DCC decoder" and rejected it, as it ignores most of the advantages of DCC by essentially applying 3v DC to the track! I was planning to install CT Electronik micro decoders in my locos - but haven't done so yet, but will need to shortly as the layout is getting nearer completion. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has done this? Are the tiny 3v motors Busch uses coreless or standard motors (and therefore need different settings in the decoder)? If anyone has done this have they just relied on the max voltage regulation in CV5 or have they installed a voltage dropping resistor / voltage divider circuit? In terms of the Busch points I have also found the levers and tie bars fragile. I have attempted to overcome this by powering them under the baseboard by Fawn Electronics Little Jemmy motors - these have a clutch mechanism to prevent undue stress on the fragile plastic tie bar, as well as having a micro switch for frog polarity switching. Time will tell how effective this has been! James