34theletterbetweenB&D
-
Posts
13,148 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Gallery
Events
Exhibition Layout Details
Store
Posts posted by 34theletterbetweenB&D
-
-
Excellent, and also an excellent opportunity for some of the characteristic weathering of these vehicles in fish traffic, with the scraped off filth on the doors, which I at least find difficult to achieve really neatly by DIY.
Now, about the traction to haul them. Yes, it's largely covered, but the ECML South of Doncaster has the gaping hole of a GNR J6 'Knick Knack' 0-6-0, much employed as the 'maid of all work' to move wagons about to off-load points, and marshalling for empty return. Just saying...
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, brian usa said:
New contributor would like to hear of positives and negatives of this design??
Typical of current good quality European design HO for adequate traction, allowing the owner to have it pull long trains on very small radius curves.
Is the loco powered? If not there's no possibility of the wheelslip that so regularly accompanied starting under load.
-
Don't know, not up to speed on this any more. My last time purchasing a s/h model railway item from the USA for $30 resulted in a total demand for £120 on arrival in the UK. I walked away, needless to say. Be cautious is all.
-
4 minutes ago, PhilH said:
I form my own opinions from observation and experience. I have long ago discounted most forms of media as a valid vehicle of information.
But what realistically are the alternatives? Errare Humanum est. The current display of the other half of this maxim: 'sed perseverare diabolicum' is a fine illustration of what to look out for.
-
3 minutes ago, Northmoor said:
I'm a fan of John Wyndham's novels.
Based on his efforts in 'The Death of Stalin' (which is clearly already the greatest film of this millenium) I should like to see Armando Ianucci attempt 'Trouble with Lichen' . A political novel with so many current resonances, should be a natural for him.
-
1
-
-
Two things that I find myself repeating as advice regarding RTR OO.
It won't fix stone age ringpiece mechanisms, and especially those dependent on traction tyres.
Live crossing pointwork and good quality wiring are required.
-
1 hour ago, Geep7 said:
one good adaptation of the book, in my opinion
Applies to all 'good books', even the most sensitive filmed adaptions are likely fail at some point, because we all bring our own interpretation of the text. After the Beeb's wild stab at CLAVDIVS, I was glad that they didn't proceed to attempt 'Count Belisarius'. That one is safe in my and Asimov's imaginations only...
-
1
-
1
-
-
Contact Tam Valley directly to check before sending. That's a North American applicable price would be my first thought. (Been there many times in my career, such service only available outside the USA/Canada via the appointed Agent in Europe is typical.)
If you get the go ahead, it may be necessary to enclose proof of purchase in the UK to travel home with it, to avoid VAT on the 'imported' repaired piece.
-
1
-
-
20 hours ago, maico said:
The director had been in and set the sound levels himself but for me it was way to loud. I had to leave before the end with my ears hurting. I think Christoper Nolan may have damaged hearing...
This has long been a recognised problem within the sound recording industry. Men who have been around loud events from youth onwards with the consequent mid-range suckout then balancing recordings to compensate. I compiled my own list of recording engineers to avoid for my orchestral and choral collection.
15 hours ago, RThompson said:...they want to put their own mark on it.
Which varies from a subtle hint, to rubbing their crap into every available location, the difference between true art and nature red in tooth and claw.
-
3
-
-
6 minutes ago, Hibelroad said:
I think it’s only recently that people have got very touchy about historical events.
You need to read some history! The non-stop argument over who should have the land of the Eastern Mediterranean littoral has at its origin an event in the late Bronze age.
11 hours ago, The Johnster said:...the Iron Duke was Irish.
His opinion on the accident of the location of his birth differed. Something on the lines of 'Did our Lord's birth in a stable make him a donkey?'
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:
A splendid play on words, though I never heard of the A3s referred to as 'Racehorses'
Possibly because one of our number was the son of a bookie? It was years later that I learned of the naming association with the Gees. What we most wanted of course was 'Streak!'
-
2
-
-
1 hour ago, Carver Bridge TMD said:
They were bought from warley, and I've not had a problem with the others, i don't believe. They're installed and I'm not certain in which locos, which implies they're working OK.
In which case, worth trying a reset on the problem decoder, until it reverts to address 03. Always worth a try.
-
10 hours ago, locoholic said:
I am to all intents and purposes a former customer.
I too have transitioned since 1999: from Bachmann the only serious game in town for RTR OO, to about 40% of my spend, with purchases to date from eleven RTR brands, and any new entries not yet sampled only because they haven't produced anything of interest.
The significant underlying question is whether the customer base is expanding to absorb all this commercial activity. I guess that it must be, or it wouldn't be happening...
-
1
-
1
-
-
5 hours ago, NZRedBaron said:
Ooh, what's the story of this picture of Centenary here?
Alternatively: Racehorse!
That's what the little gang in short trousers that I was part of would have been yelling. This so typical scene led to a love of Doncaster's finest, which produced the 'Grand Parade of Flamboyant Velocity, placing the ECML Miles Beevor all other lines'. Sigh.
For Tony's benefit, I used that arrangement of pacific names in an essay on the topic 'memories of childhood', and dear JAG Walker graded it A+.
-
2
-
2
-
-
9 hours ago, Chuffer Davies said:
Perhaps it is time for some on ‘hear’ to consider a hearing test?
It's a good plan: local supermarkets usually offer a good free 'first cut' assessment. Go to the DIY checkouts. If you find them near impossible to use because you hear all the user instructions from each of the checkouts in use, your hearing is performing beautifully.
And back to model railways, this is just one of the objections to sound effects at exhibitions. The sound doesn't stop neatly within a foot or two of the layout edge...
-
4
-
7
-
-
7 hours ago, Pikey said:
I bought it from CoastalDCC in 2020. After emailing them, I've received a pretty unsatisfactory reply saying 'an actual short circuit on one of the outputs can take the unit out', which surprises me as there's nothing on their website or the Tam Valley website about this. Also, if there is ever a real short circuit, my ECoS shuts the power off immediately, so I cant see how this is possible...
It doesn't help the case, but the explanation is simple. The DCC system protects against a short on the rails and up to the decoder input, by detection of a large 'instant' rise in current draw. Failing electronics usually don't generate this effect, and the DCC system has necessarily to tolerate current draw variation up to its rated output.
7 hours ago, kev said:It can be mended but may well cost more than a new one
Honesty time, I have been very pleasantly suprised at the robustness of DCC decoders and the like: these are low cost consumer electronics. The occasional failure has to be accepted in my opinion. Not long had a Zimo MX 618 go 'phut' pretty spectacularly, my first ever failure from a Zimo decoder after over 15 years using their product. And the DCC system didn't trip out as the magic blue smoke escaped and the loco slid to a halt, while everything else running kept going.
As suggested by Kev return to manufacturer for repair is almost certainly uneconomic...
-
On 01/04/2024 at 09:57, phil gollin said:
One of the manufacturers really has to bite the bullet and produce a full range of "generic" short (ish) bogie coaches suitable for the (approx) 1900 to 1920+ period.
I would suggest that the better signs on this front have been the Bachmann SECR birdcages, Dapol GW toplights and now Ellis Clark's announcement of the GNR/LNER 'Quad Arts'. Let's have 'character' stock true to prototype. There's plenty enough choices to go round all the brands competing in 4mm...
-
2
-
2
-
-
3 hours ago, The Johnster said:
Wood needs to be left outside for long enough for it to bleach but the problem with this is that it is difficult to keep the stuff from being blown away in the next gale or pinched by nesting birdies, but worth the effort as it is very diffiuclt to get the correct 'look' by painting.
Likewise, lost more than I have produced by 'outdoor exposure' to obtain the silvery grey tones of really long term bleached wood!
-
35 minutes ago, MJI said:
I am in the unenviable position of TV getting old and needing replacement in next couple of years...
I too will be in that position soon enough, but no worries. So long as the TV speakers manage effective solo voice production, that's good enough for news and serious documentary productions.
Everything 'entertainment' is routed through the stereo system, the primary role of which is music reproduction.
(I tried surround systems years ago; rejected because there were too many weird artefacts, which it appears those involved in production simply cannot resist. The resulting garbage made of what might have been fine theatre and opera perfomance recordings was a great disappointment.)
-
12 hours ago, Torper said:
I'm not fussed about adjusting motor control, etc, as I expect decent decoders to work straight out of the box.
Useful statement that. We would talk straight past each other in respect of what matters to each of us.
My Morley DC gear worked straight out of the box, good DCC decoders likewise worked out of the box. Thus far, no benefit from making the change to DCC
What sold me on DCC was the customisation it enabled. Adjustment of system output, motor control characteristics, speed curves and inertia settings enables matching of locos into groups that operate uniformly. Every loco starts with a dead slow creep into motion, and likewise stops smoothly. By matched group all the locos are uniform throughout the speed range up to scale for maximum speed. That was the step forward in control that DC could not deliver when using a mixture of kit and RTR mechanisms from multiple sources.
-
14 hours ago, MJI said:
I find that films are easier to listen to, if the centre speaker level is boosted a bit. Something like 20% louder than the front stereo pair.
Also decent quality speakers.
Mine are Castle Acoustics pre going bump. With upper mid range Sony receiver.
The first essential in any sound replay system is the ability to reproduce the human voice accurately; because this is the primary function of our auditory system, and it is typically initially 'calibrated' by parental input, mother's typically dominant. In an ideal world we would all possess some good quality recordings of people we know speaking, and for the most effective evaluation among competing voices, as that quickly identifies whether the replay system is good enough.
8 hours ago, lezz01 said:There are documentaries I've seen about him that were far more entertaining than the film. The factual accuracy left quite a bit to be desired as well.
Entertainment is to the fore, the facts can take a running jump! Take another recent film from this era: 'The Imitation Game'. Terminally flawed by the savage misrepresentation of Alastair Denniston; for any that know the scale of what he, with Gubbins and de Wiart - among many nameless others - achieved, in making the deciphering operation possible.
-
2
-
2
-
-
13 hours ago, locoholic said:
I can't think of a single Bachmann product that I'm planning to buy, except perhaps a handful of Palvans, if they're not ludicrously expensive. I don't suppose I'm unique, and would therefore have doubts about Kader's return to profitability.
It's heavily dependent on each purchaser's unique interest set.
My actual spending over the past 12 months and planned purchases (hopefully in the 12 months to come) is in order of value:
Bachmann
Hornby/Oxford
Heljan
Rapido
Ellis Clark
-
1 hour ago, Carver Bridge TMD said:
Just put this in Sir Gwynedd class 47. On step one it stutters but doesn't really move, on step two it jumps to a scale 40mph and tries to throw itself on the floor.
But what happens when you adjust the basic motor control CV's? That's what's crucial, does it have a useful adjustment range?
-
14 hours ago, Matt said:
In end I concluded that the current draw was too much for that decoder - a different brand of decoder and all well.
Heljan's regular motor in full body width models was current hungry (and the more so in many of the earlier models with less than free running gear towers).
I have zero direct experience of the ViTrains product motors, but don't recall any report of great problems with current draw when these were first on sale. Back then (2007) many, myself included, were still in the habit of performing a stall test on a 12V DC supply, to obtain the peak current draw in order to select a decoder rated for a larger curent output, but after a couple of searches elesewhere I have drawn a blank on a report of any results.
If you have a 12V DC supply - ideally from a simple resistance controller - and a meter, you could perform the test, simplest with this type of drive by having the body off and stopping a flywheel turning.
What do you wish you knew about DCC or think others should know?
in Modelling Questions, Help and Tips
Posted
It took a long time to move the traditional MRC member from 'the hairshirt approach is the only authentic way', and to accept that good quality RTR was 'acceptable'; and DCC simply iced the cake.
(First thing I purchased on getting a place of my own was an automatic washing machine. My late mother adhered to a single top loader tub with 'agitator' plus mangle device, and took years to regularly use the stand alone spin drier.)
Not so, all your existing knowledge is relevant, it's more akin to moving from stick shift to automatic transmission.