Deltech

Looking forward to seeing the progress. Likewise Glenfinnan. AND ESPECIALLY Fort William..............

Bruce & Mrs Watt..... Back in the 80s, a lot of Mallaig kids used to attend Lochaber High School in Fort William (before the NEW Mallaig High School was built), and lodge all week. The Watts’ older Daughter (Pamela) was in my year, and I really fancied her. Everybody did. She was absolutely film star/glamour model stunning. Wind on a few years and I married another Mallaig girl who hated her lol. Anyway, I’m beginning to turn this into my very own “This is your life”...... Any updates (and photos/videos) of the layout?

I’ve certainly enjoyed myself, made a lot of friends, driven a wide variety of Trains, and over a wide variety of routes. But I realised on my Daughter's 16th birthday that this was the 8th house she’d lived in, so decided enough was enough, and I’ve been with Heavy Haul 13 years now.

I heard that, but don’t know whether it’s true, though I do hope so.......

They used to have old MOT-exempt Fodens that only ran between Station and pier, but now they have to do 2 x return trips to Inverness daily with an articulated tanker, to fill the tanks now situated on the pier (I think they still have a few old wrecks to fuel boats that can’t get close enough to the pier tanks). Mafia? Johnston Bros.? God no. There ARE a few “mafia-like” characters in Mallaig but not the Johnstons. They’re still running the ship chandlers, and petrol station, and have a big industrial building where they do net repairs. They also used to have a “Wrangler”(jeans) branded clothes shop, right next door to the chandlery, which the Wife of one of the Sons of the Brothers (my former Sister-in-Law) used to manage, but they closed that maybe 20 years ago now. I wasn’t quoting any “official” maximum Train length; just what was “typical”, in response to another poster suggesting shorter Trains would look more realistic. I’ve been away from Tom-an-Faire since 1993, working for Central Trains, Valley Lines, Northern Spirit (subsequently Arriva Trains Northern), Great Western, Great Western Link, absorbed back into Great(er) Western, and now Heavy Haul, so I can’t comment on whether anything has been lengthened at Mallaig, but my family are still in Fort Bill so I’m up there regularly and aware that the Jacobite exceeds what I as accustomed to on the Royal Scot. I’m a diesel man so know hee-haw about steam, but do remember that we had a “Black 5” and a “K 2” when I worked there.

I’m not convinced it’s Callum. I’m more inclined to think it’s Peter “Uncle Peter” Cameron (not my Uncle; just his Depot name). Hopefully any other ex-Tom-na-Faire men can clarify?

When I as based at Tom-na-Faire, the “typical max” at Mallaig was 5. We used to stable the Royal Scot (9 as best I remember) at Spean Bridge on a Tuesday night, fetch it into the Fort on Wednesday morning with a 37, and the steamy would take 5 to Mallaig, as that was the max that they could run round. As an aside, the oil at Mallaig was for Johnston Bros., the local Ship Chandlers (who also owned the only petrol station), a family business run by my Brother-in-Law’s family, now owned by Denholm, but still trading as Johnston Bros. They stopped getting oil by rail when B.R. put the transportation costs up by 60% in one hit in (I think) about 1992/3. A deliberate act, one might consider, to get rid of “unwanted” freight.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. Very informative, and I enjoyed yer "warts and all” honestly by including yer mistakes. Well done.

Bigger pedant hat on. 3/8 being 9.525mm is more 10mm than 9mm. Sorry, but my OCD’s kicking in.

teaky, did ye use this on top or below the baseboard?

How thick is “a thick baseboard”?

New layout planned. Never ballasted before. Been reading a lot about ballasting nullifying the sound reduction benefits of using cork underlay, and wondered if it would be possible to use the “rubber crumb” they use on artificial football pitches for combined ballast/noise reduction?

Batteries are a no go. Too much hassle (for me) changing them when required, and switching them on and off every day. I want to take DCC track power, and won't be using a decoder as I'll only have the lights o-f-f when the layout is off.

I recently bought an OLD Hornby “Virgin Trains 125” DC (R1023) on Gumtree, boxed, complete with track and controller, to add to what we currently have. To be honest, if I’d bought second-hand track alone on eBay, I’d’ve paid what I paid for this whole set, so basically we’ve got a 2+2 HST for free. All mint and running like new, using the supplied DC controller, AND, also on our DCC layout. Having watched (listened to) loads of videos on YouTube, we like the idea of installing a pair of sound decoders (Paxman, obviously) in this set. I rang a reputable supplier/installer of sound decoders today, and he told me not to bother, telling me:~ a) “that set is rubbish”; and, b) I’d be “disappointed with the result”. Now, this guy could easily have took my money, but didn’t, so what I’d like to know is:~ 1) has anybody fitted sound to this old R1023 set; and, 2) was it any good? Thanks.

John, appreciate the link, but I really don't want to use batteries, thanks.

Having decided to illuminate my Hornby Virgin Mk3s, I have discovered every wheel is insulated, so was wondering about conductive paint. Has anybody used this, and is it any good?

I fancy fitting interior lights to my coaching stock. Loads of videos on YouTube and looks fairly straight forward. But wondering what size springs to use? Should I choose the exact size for my axles, or go a size larger? Should they be a "snug" fit, or a more "loose" fit? Axles are 2mm diameter, so should I use 2mm diameter springs, or 3mm?

Please excuse me if this is in wrong category, and feel free to move it to correct category. For a DCC layout with multiple blocks by multiple breaks in one rail, and using multiple droppers........ Can anyone advise on a self-build circuit for occupany/detection by current flow in droppers, to give suitable input signal for an Arduino (as the Arduino will be used for control of 3-and-4-aspect colour-light signals, now that I've figured out the code). I've read that droppers can be fed through micro current transformers to detect current flow; I've read that transistors can be used as switches; I've read that opto-isolators can be used to keep inputs/outputs electrically isolated; I think I understand what each of those 3 mean,at the basic level anyhow. But with next-to-zero electronic experience, I do not know which, or which combination, if any, would be suitable to provide a suitable input signal to an Arduino. Loads of clips of people on YouTube saying "I use this" and "I use that" for detection, but no diagrams, and no component list. Happy to solder something up to experiment based on any suggestions given, but without initial advice I would feel like I was doing a jigsaw without a picture to reference.

Nigel, just an update. I "gambled" £10 on a Chinese Mega off eBay, and also bought an Elegoo breadboard kit off Amazon, and have now (after much pulling out of remaining hair) written suitable code for the G-YY-Y-R sequence (using one pushbutton per signal). Now, as written, there are only 5 "connections" per signal, because the pushbutton effectively represents 3 inputs (Block occupied AND/OR conflicting move AND/OR signal replacement switch). I presume when put into practise, I could combine 1 block occupied and 1 conflicting move and 1 signal replacement switch into a single input on the Mega? If so, then 20 x 4-aspect signals, plus 20 x {block occupied AND/OR conflicting move AND/OR signal replacement switch} equals 100 pins, which would only require 2 of these Chinese Megas, so another £10. So now I have "cracked" the software side, any advice on how I could combine the occupation(s)/conflict(s)/switch(es)? At a basic level it should be the same principle as 3 light switches in a long corridor controlling all lights, but on the layout the occupation(s)/conflict(s)/switch(es) may well be providing different voltages. I could obviously run the switches at the same voltage as the conflicts (I am anticipating the conflicting move "signal" to come from the auxiliary switch contacts on "certain brands of" points motors, OR alternatively, from frog polarity), but how could I marry up the conflicts/replacement switches with the occupation detection from current transformers around the track feed droppers? There's something in my head telling me it can't be too hard, but I just can't think of how to do it.

Nigel, I have learned more from yer response than from many MANY hours of trawling websites, forums, and YouTube. If ye will once again excuse my rudimentary Excel diagram, is this getting the jist of what ye mean by Option B?

Nigel, thank you for speedy reply. I've seen loads of clips on YouTube where people have their whole system run by computer, including calling up the routes and the computer tells which Train to move from A to B and C to D etc, and I accept the "technology" of running the layout wholly by computer is a massive leap forward since when I had a "Train set" as a child.... BUT>>>> both my son and I feel we simply don't want a computer doing that. WE want to take turns where one of us sets up the route(s) on the control panel, and the other controls the Trains "manually", so to speak, from a controller. The layout is not exactly complex. At first glance it looks like 4 UP loops and 4 DN loops, but the 2nd and 3rd loops are a "folded loop" or "folded figure of 8" so there is in effect 3 loops each way. A few "rural" 2 platform Stations with no points, and one main Station with 6 platforms on the low/street level and 2 platforms on the high level. It is possible to cross from any loop to any other loop, but only in the same direction (and only either end of the main Station), and there is also an entry and exit to a TMD accessed only from the outermost loop at high level; likewise a marshalling yard accessed only from the inner most loop. I have written a "truth table" of sorts to identify what the prerequisites are for every signalled move. It's not really very complicated as most of the time there will simply be 6 Trains moving (3 in each direction), with no conflicting moves. But we would like the signals to cycle "semi-automatically" through the standard sequences, but also be able to manually place signals to danger to hold Trains at the junctions either side of the main Station to allow other Trains to move between the various loops. Apart from obtaining a Raspberry-Pin (or Arduino), how do we interface the signals with the signal replacement switches, block detection, points N/R, and signal replacement switches? I am fairly confident my son and I could do this with a little "steering" in the right direction. EDIT If it assists your next reply, there would be approximately 20 signals (not necessarily all 4-aspect), hence 20 blocks (unless we add more), and excluding the TMD and yard around 20 sets of points around the loops (in 10 "pairs") to move between loops, and 6 (or possibly 8) signal replacement switches.

FOR A DCC LAYOUT Please forgive me if I am asking too much. I would like to install 4-aspect signals, and have them "interconnected", but also have the facility for each to return to danger when either:~ a) block ahead is occupied (current transformers); b) points ahead are set for conflicting move; c) signal post replacement switch is operated on control panel. Please excuse the very rudimentary drawing below, created on Excel, but it illustrates what I mean. Now, if these shop-bought 4-aspect signals were "proper bulbs" then I could "hard wire" this, but given the different current/voltage characteristics of the various parts, how could I go about something like this, using either an Arduino or Raspeberry-Pi? I do not want to control the Trains or points "by computer". The Trains will be controlled from Hornby controller, and the points set from control panel by push-buttons (2 per point N/R, and 2 for pairs of points forming crossovers N/R). I have no experience whatsoever with either Arduino or Raspberry-Pi, and it is nigh on 40 years since I did any PLC programming. Thanking you in advance.

Neil, sorry to "jump in" so late, but I have only just registered. The colour lights between Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton North Junction (which were installed not a million years ago) have many pairs of R/G and G/Y. (there are also a few Y-G-Y) I have no proof of the economic/engineering REASONS for such installations, but it seems to me that installations of this sort are used where a series of old signal-boxes get replaced, and it is cheaper to install these pairs "many miles" apart (like the boxes), and where the volume of traffic is such that 3 (or 4) aspect signals wouldn't provide any great benefit to traffic. I think these are also in use between Shrewsbury and Crewe, but I'm not 100% because I've scratched Shrewsbury off my route card, and not driven over the route for 3 years or so.