JT42CWRDriver

Nearly 190 euro for the larger order and just over 40 euro for the smaller one.

Just before Christmas I ordered some spare parts from Roco via their website and a much smaller order on the Fleischmann section. I was hoping they’d get here by the end of the year, but they weren’t sent until 8th Jan. When I ordered them I paid the German VAT on both. They were delivered to me with no extra charges, but both parcels has customs declarations on them. I was worried that I would be charged British VAT as well, so was relieved and happy at this point. Lo and behold a couple of days ago Roco refunded me the German VAT!

66 605 at Brill with one of last weekend’s engineering trains on the Chiltern line.

I've just fitted an Atlas GP38 with a Wow kit, purchased from Coastal DCC. Instead of the supplied speaker I cut down and resealed an iPhone 4 one fitted on top of the rear weight which I milled for clearance. The rear led was glued on top. I'm very pleased with it so far, I especially like that when it moves along at slow speed it will sound like it's going into notch one or two and then back to idle whilst the loco speed remains constant. I drive Emd locos for a living and hate when you see a sound equipped loco running light at slow speed with constant revs. On the real thing the load regulator soon has you up to about 15mph with a continuous notch one selection. It has to be a notch one - off - notch one - off sequence for continued slow speed running, unless the slow speed control (pacesetter) is engaged. The audio assist is easy to use and there are a multitude of bells and horns to choose from. If you decide at a later date you want to fit the decoder to another loco you can change the prime mover as well. The keep alive function works very well too, the sound will keep going for quite a while after you lift it of the track. The only down side so far is the standard slightly jerky TCS motor control, it is just not in the same league as ESU, Zimo or Lenz and unlike Soundtraxx you can't adjust it. I don't think I'll buy another one until I've tried a Tsunami 2 with the Dynamic Diesel Exhaust function.

http://atlasrescueforum.proboards.com/thread/4704/soundtraxx-tsunami-2-sneak-peak New Tsunami 2

I'm not sure about a C30-7, but if they are similar to UK locos the independent brake would give more braking power because it applies the brakes on all the wheels rather than the handbrake which is only on one truck or even one or two wheelsets in some cases.

I was driving 603 in the Moorswater pics, I recognise my lunchbox in the window! Great to see these, especially as that flow has now finished.

That was me! Light engine to Fairwater after dropping off 6A84, MOBC vehicles.

Three ballast trains are booked to Dawlish this weekend, destination listed as "Smugglers". Two of them are mainly made up of empty coalfish so I'm guessing landslip removal.

Guilty as charged. 20 Autoballasters from Westbury top 'n tailed, 1200 tons of ballast in 20 wagons.

Interesting summary at: http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/na0713_lac-magentic_c-rjweb2400f.jpg Apologies if it's been mentioned before. Peter.

Train air brakes do fail safe, the brake is applied by reducing air pressure in the brake pipe. The greater the reduction in the brake pipe the greater the pressure sent to the brake cylinders from the auxiliary reservoir on each vehicle. The device that does this in Europe is a distributor, in North America an updated version of the triple valve. In a single piped train the auxiliary reservoir is charged by the brake pipe when at it's full pressure (72.5psi in the UK, 90 odd psi in NA). When the distributor/triple valve "sees" a reduction in brake pipe pressure air from the auxiliary reservoir is allowed to enter the brake cylinder proportionally. When the brake pipe is reduced to zero the full pressure is applied to the brake cylinder. The problem then is that it will leak off over time. In the UK it is stipulated that enough handbrakes are applied to hold the train when the air has leaked off. What puzzles me is unless the train was dual piped (with a main reservoir pipe feeding the auxiliary reservoirs) and I have never seen a North American freight train that is, just leaving the loco running would only hold the brakes on the locos, not the train, unless the brake pipe was periodically recharged and destroyed, to make sure that all the brake cylinders still had air in them. Sufficient handbrakes should have been applied to hold the train, before it was left unattended, even if that was nearly all of them. Cheers, Peter.