Tickplan

Following advice from Iain Rice in his book on loco chassis building I have used cigarette papers (stolen from my son who makes roll ups!) which are softened with thin super glue. It does not add much thickness but insulates nicely and strengthens the whole job. Good luck. Bryan

Can I ask what gear ratio did you use? I am watching with interest to see how you fix the outside cranks to the axles. I assume solder is out of the question so will it be one of those Loctite retaining fluids or just a good old interference fit? And then comes the thorny question of quartering. I am confident that you have a solution: just interested to see what it is. That backhead is lovely by the way. Bryan

Thanks everyone, In an effort to be methodical and try these suggestions one at a time I did the following: a) Turned the transmitter on first before turning on the receiver - no effect. (I am sure I was doing this previously except when attempting a binding - however, this is such a simple point that it is surprising that it is not mentioned anywhere in the instructions) b) Took the receiver out of the loco , and then turned on in the correct sequence. - no effect. (The receiver was previously fixed to the underside of the cab roof with some blu tac. This is in a metal-bodied loco. The aerial was trapped partly under the blu-tac so I was hopeful this was the culprit but not so). c) Charged the battery , and then turned on in the correct sequence - no effect. (I use one of the Micron dedicated chargers rated to the battery so I knew it was fully charged when the LED went from red to blue). d) Re-bound the receiver - SUCCESS. (Interestingly the receiver went into rapid flash mode after 20 seconds as it should when "fresh". I had not been able to emulate this earlier except at the initial bind. So what does this tell me? My guess is that it is a combination of these steps. However I suspect that charging the battery until it was "full" made the biggest difference - but not sure why, particularly as I don't think the battery was anywhere near depleted. I have now put the receiver back in the loco (ensuring the aerial is not trapped and with it sort of dangling in free space into the - partly enclosed- cab) and reassembled everything. All now works as it should. A big thank you to everyone on here who has helped and made suggestions. Bryan

Thanks Giles I will try your suggestion. However, I do notice that when the receiver is on it behaves differently (in terms of flashes) depending on if the transmitter is on or off and set to the correct "channel" on the Selecta. That suggests to me that it is receiving a signal, but not the one it needs to make things work. Bryan

I am new to the world of radio controlled model trains but have been "volunteered" on behalf of my local club to try it out on a few locos. So far I have bought and built a Tx22 , installed one Rx41 receiver in one loco and am in the process of installing a second. Progress has not been straightforward, probably because I am new to all this and while I find it fascinating, and the way forward for the future of model railway control, I also find it frustrating when things don't work. Can I say at the outset I have received exemplary service, help and advice from Andy at Micron Radio Control - even to answering my emails late in the evening at a weekend! However, I do not wish to feel that I am pestering him too much so I thought I would come on here and gather your collective experiences with my current problem. The problem is this: the second receiver/loco was successfully "bound" with the Tx22 and worked just fine. However, after turning it all off and coming back to it a day later it refuses to sync. The LED on the receiver has the normal steady on-off pulse of once a second but when I turn on the transmitter - with the Selecta switch on 2 - the channel it was bound to- it changes to flashing twice quite quickly, then a second pause before the double flash. The first loco (Selecta switch position 1 ) did have similar problems but they seem to be resolved and when turning that on with the Selecta on 1 the receiver LED goes solid and the loco becomes controllable. Andy at Micron has said that the double flash is "a symptom of the transmitted Selecta value being out of range". He advised me to calibrate the Tx22 which I think I have done correctly and of course it works with loco 1 so why not loco 2? I have read elsewhere that the problem could be confusion with strong wi-fi signals nearby (my phone is on my person and I have a Smart watch which connects to the phone by Bluetooth I believe. I don't know whether there is anything in this but taking both off and leaving them some distance away has not resolved the problem. I don't know whether it is possible to "re-bind" the receiver back to the same or another Selecta position but turning the receiver on while the transmitter is off does not put it in "binding mode" (rapid flashes) I would love to get all this kit working as it should but I am finding it all a bit too delicate at the minute. Of course it could just be me but if this is to work in a club setting then it needs to be a bit more robust than I have managed to make it thus far. Any advice anyone on what I am doing wrong? Thanks in anticipation. Bryan

I am currently in the process of "converting" a loco on behalf of my loco club to radio control using Micron/Deltang equipment. Another member of the club has an O gauge loco which he runs with Protocab/Acc+Ess (i.e transmitter and receiver etc as a complete kit). He asked today if he brought his transmitter down would it work the club's loco (and I suppose by inference would the club's transmitter "connect to" his loco). I said that I thought it would not because as I understand matters Protocab use there own bespoke radio system whereas the Micron/ Deltang equipment is more "open source". However, since I know diddly squat about such matters I wondered if anyone here could enlighten me and maybe others in the matter of compatible radio frequencies. If by chance they do play nicely together are there any special tricks to learn in terms of binding etc? Thanks in advance and apologies if this has been answered before - I did do a search on the topic and nothing came up. Bryan

Its up and running again - at least for me it is. No idea what the glitch was.

Pleased (sort of ) that it's not just me. This seems to suggest that you can access the site initially but you can't go back there after that first visit. Googling the issue came up with a similar problem with site on another forum a year or so ago. I am sure someone with more computer knowledge than myself can explain this but in the meantime it is of little comfort to those wanting to make purchases from the site, or the owners wanting to make sales.

Thanks for checking. That is the address I am using but it is still not working. Having run the Windows Troubleshooter I get the following: "Your computer appears to be correctly configured but the device Detected or resource (www.rctrains.co.uk) is not responding" All very odd.

I have been trying to go to the RC Trains web site for some days now but my browser says the site can't be reached. Is it just me or is there a wider problem?

Fascinating and thank you for posting this and other posts, with videos: they help so much to demystify the world of model railway radio control. However, there is one point I am not clear about and would appreciate your comment. I am not familiar with the model but assume it is made to run out of the box on a conventional analogue layout using 12 volts DC. I would therefore expect to find some sort of "voltage booster module" in your circuit (to boost the 3.7 volts to 12 volts) but there isn't one. The motor hasn't been swapped out for a lower voltage one than I can see nor does it appear to run very slowly - so how is this working? (and working so well?) I am intrigued. Bryan

I have a rather complicated - but flexible - system for powering my points. The points are in the main operated by Cobalt (stall) motors. These in turn are connected (via a Tam Valley Stall Motor "daughter board") to a Tam Valley Depot Quad Pic Auto Servo Driver. This is connected to the DCC power bus. Power to the Cobalts is from a separate 12 volt DC supply. What this enables me to do is to operate the points either by issuing an accessory command on my NCE Powercab controller or, more commonly, by throwing a lever in a lever frame which in turn operates a microswitch which is connected to the toggle inputs (Signal System Inputs) on the Quad Pic. The two methods of control are I am told "opto-isolated" (whatever that means!) but I have had no problems using this (together or separately) over a number of years. A number of "paired points" - crossovers and the like- are operated together and function as if they were one point. I also have one set of three points also operating as one (with two Cobalts and one point operated by a servo). This has all worked well for some time but recently I have had problems with the one output which serves the three points. Operating the lever frame - and therefore the microswitch - for most of the time now does nothing even though the other levers/switches are working/operating the other points. I have checked the microswitch and it is OK. Interestingly, I can change these three points by issuing an accessory command and in this set up they work as normal/as they should. Occasionally, the system does come to life and operating the lever does work the points but they are very slow to respond to the signal and when they do move they are sluggish. It is possible that they are only operating in one direction - I need to be more observant! I know nothing about electronics and only a little about electrics but it seems as if the points are not getting enough power, or signal to make a change. I don't understand the power thing since the Cobalts are fed from their own power supply and in any event they work when actuated by an accessory command. I seem to remember (it is a while since I put my head under the baseboards!) installing a Tam Valley Accessory DCC Booster to help with this sort of thing. The servo is from memory using the DCC bus power rather than have its own 5v supply. Could this be draining power away at the same time the Quad Pic is asked to change points for the two Cobalts? That said why did it work before? I have bought another Quad Pic but installing it will involve some under-baseboard contortion or removing the boards altogether - not a simple job. I also did not want to install it and find I had the same problem and without knowing what the problem and its possible solution would be. Sorry this is a bit long. I hope there is somebody out there who understands and can help. Thanks in anticipation. Bryan

Here's my belated contribution to this long-running and fascinating thread. It is a K's body only kit of the Midland 0-4-0T (1322 Class) sitting on a scratch built (actually Gibson frames) chassis with a Mashima chassis, High Level gearbox to S4 standards. It uses Gibson brass-centred wheels and split frame/split axle construction. Runs well and looks good despite my poor paintwork job. This is one case where the cast metal body helps with adhesion in such a small loco. Bryan

I am pleased to report that a good (and entirely appropriate) home has been found for these photographs so please treat this thread as closed

Can I begin by just putting this topic in some sort of context. Over 40 years ago I was at university with a chap, who, like me, was interested in railways. We shared a house together in our final year. Although we did not keep in touch as such a series of reunions over the last 8 years allowed us to re-establish contact. Unfortunately Steve passed away a few years ago and it has fallen to his family (largely his widow and son) to deal with his vast collection of all things railways. The modelling side of things has now been disposed of but at the most recent re-union his family asked if I "would have a look at" his photographic collection. I was happy to help of course but did not expect to receive through the post packet after packet of so many photographs! I have now been through the lot. They are not catalogued (by Steve, and I am certainly not about to start) but the gist is as follows: Total photographs :2164, of which 652 are in proper transparent sleeves. The vast majority are in black and white but there are some 60 in colour. Size: nearly all en-print in size with a smattering of smaller prints. Subject matter: Nearly all are of steam locos from BR days. There is a preponderance of large express locos and standard classes and only a small number of tank/shunting classes. Most are of the loco itself (side-on/three-quarter view) but there is a small minority of locos out pulling trains both close up and at a distance. There are a few diesels but these are limited to the very early ones. Many of the photos appear to have a connection to Scotland where Steve lived most of his life. Origins?: Steve may have taken some of these photos himself but it would appear that the majority of them have been bought over a long period of time from specialist suppliers (Lens of Sutton etc) or at swap meets etc. Some of the photos are properly labelled on the back with date/time/location, many are not. I have no idea if these photos are rare (and therefore valuable) but I suspect they are commonplace. So what to do? I have been in contact with the family and they are happy to leave it with me to keep/dispose of as I see fit. My interests are in the modelling side of railways and my interest in the prototype is limited to The Midland Railway in the Edwardian period and in small colliery type locos. The locos depicted in the majority of these photos do not excite me but they may you. I have therefore decided I would write about the photos on here and see if there are similarly-minded enthusiasts to Steve who would be willing to take on this collection. I do not wish to part with this to a dealer (to break up and sell what may be valuable and junk the rest) and I do not wish to deal with split disposals - you take the lot or none at all. I suspect that large photographic collections such as this do not come available very often. Although this is being posted in the "free to a good home" section it would be nice if whoever wants these would make an appropriate donation to charity. I have no intention of posting any of this out. If you want to see the collection then you will need to travel to the Derby area. I am happy to answer any general questions on this forum but if you are genuinely interested and can give these photographs a "good home" then please PM me. It is what Steve would have wanted. If there is a scramble to view/take them then I will be the judge of who will give them the "best home" Thank you for your time in reading this. Bryan