metijg

I'm having a very haphazard play with Tillig track at the moment, mainly because of their mixed gauge (HO with HOe) range. It's like all projects, started off with enthusiasm but then reality of time and space kicked in. The track is very cool though, quite different to the standard UK offerings. I've make a few observations in this blog: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/blog/2566-why-dcc-not/ I hope it's of use..

Amazing track plan! I saw this and had instant regret i didn't plan something similar. Looks like so much fun

Amazing, inspirational stuff!! Can I ask, did you scratch build the hopper, or is it available as a kit? thanks!

Just had a look at this thread. Wow! I thought i was being persistent that you take it to another level.. Will follow your work, it looks very thought provoking

I wanted to embed some of the narrow gauge rails in cobbles, but unusually for the internet i couldn't find a method which seemed to provide an effective end-result. The most common ways are either to use embossed sheet or modelling clay to fill between the sleepers. As far as i could see neither method provides a clean edge to the gap that the wheel flanges run in and often leave the sleepers visible, which breaks the illusion of a buried rail. Therefore, i wanted to add an additional rail next to the running rails to simulate the tram-like look and give a clean edge. Testing showed this to be impossible as the chairs block any close contact between the rails, so the gap is back and the sleepers are visible. I therefore tried the following.. Detached some sleepers and filed off the chairs Glued them to the board upside down to have a flat surface Super glued rail to them, using the normal sleepers as spacers to keep the gauge Destructively remove the normal sleepers to leave the rail glued to a flat sleeper Added a second rail in contact with the running rails Without a doubt this was the most patience testing modelling I've done, but the end results exceeded my expectations, visually recreating those tram-like rails. My only problem is to find the enthusiasm again to do the rest Final thought - Super Glue is the devils invention.

4 new points were added to the board - two mixed gauge points and two narrow gauge. The board is like a swan, it looks pretty calm on top, but all hell breaks loose underneath with a maze of multicolored wiring. So far the running reliability is good, but with the stay-alive in the loco's its hard to tell if it's down to my track and wiring or not...maybe i need a 'normal' loco for fault detection? The Tillig track has been interesting to use and the transition from standard gauge to mixed gauge to narrow gauge is something different that brings a lot of interest. The track plan is evolving as i put the pieces down and along the way the aim may have changed from an isolated test board to a building block for a small layout. In the meantime, i will try and find a way of completing a continuous circuit with temporary loops, at least for the narrow gauge, to allow some more running sessions. Lets see where it takes me.. The biggest challenge so far is fitting the Cobalt point motors, they are really nice pieces of kit, but the alignment is difficult and always takes a bit of jiggling.

Just saw this little snowplough loco in Les Diablerets station. I found it quirky and interesting, so sharing in case you do as well...!

As a proud owner of some Tillig track, but no layout plan i spent a moment deciding on the next step, which should be a simple, self-contained one to maintain some momentum and to get some more insights into the complexity of DCC. I plumped for installing a single HO point, which i would have to make from a kit and then mount on a small board where it could be controlled by a DCC driven point motor. The point was relatively simple to build mechanically with the rails sliding into position and some simple trial and error bending, however the real challenge came from the electrical connections which were a bit out of my league, so i resorted to soldering wires to the bottom of the rails. The complexity of locating the Cobalt IP digital motor was managed by following this tutorial from Chadwick and only required a small bit of rejigging once the holes were drilled; the wiring was very simple and worked first time. Not sure how this builds into a next step, but this was a satisfying one!

I got hold of some Tillig HO / HOe track and had a play around with it. First impression is that It's very different to the standard PECO / Hornby settrack i'm used to, but it looks great and has an amazing variety of points, especially the HO and HOe mix together. Also had three locos (Peckett, Rushton and Baldwin) tweaked by Olivia's trains and they also turned out to be stunning, especially as it's the first time I've really experienced the full potential of DCC. It's a first step to build some understanding of what's possible and decide on the direction to take. Here’s a little video to capture my thoughts of these novelties for posterity Cheers! Tim

Maybe a stupid question, but if a loco with a stay alive capacitor crosses an auto reverse controller does the world end? Does the charge stored in the capacitor Have a direction or can it still be discharged once the rail polarity has changed? thanks!

Hornby have just taken payment for the pre-order. I guess this means they are on the way?

Hello community, I've searched the forum and found only negative comments on Olivia's trains in regard to customer service and cost. Not to open that debate again, but is there another similar supplier who can provide the whole service in a one stop shop (DCC, sound, lights, cab crew, weathering etc..) which people can recommend? I'm going to move to DCC and would like to push the boat out on one or two locos to see what is the full capability of the system. Thanks for your help!

This is brilliant. I'm also using Peco 009 setrack with a Bachman Baldwin and find 100% reliable running difficult. Like you, I've wired up as much of the points as possible to avoid needing point-to-rail contact, which works to keep momentum going but it doesn't eliminate the problems you get if you stop a loco in the wrong place, frog especially. I'm inspired by this and everything else you have achieved. Thanks for sharing! Tim

I'm not sure if anyone is following this any more, but just in case i worked out some more detail for the sidings in the middle. I'm pretty reassured the whole thing will still fit in 3m x 0.8m, which is a dimension i will have to negotiate with the other occupants of the house!

Followed the link from your comment on my blog. I see what you mean! We have a lot of similarities, i like your track plan a lot, especially that you managed to get both a continuous run on the NG and a reversing loop on the SG which give a lot of space to your sidings. Will spend a bit of time looking at the rest of your posts!