Emmo

Thanks everyone for your input, I will look out for the books.

Many thanks Darius - sorry, only just seen your reply. Cheers Martin

I am planning on producing a micro layout of Ashburton in 3mm. Anyone who has any plans, building elevations or indeed anything that might be useful will be greatly received. Many thanks in advance.

I have purchased this in kit form but it doesn't seem to have any instructions, can anyone oblige with a PDF please?

You might 'Bodge' Ben, but 3mm modellers certainly don't!

I've never liked the look of this springy things Nearholmer, but I guess it would make people stand about a foot away from the layout than standing within 2 inches from it! Perspex is very expensive and I don't want to purchase any if I'm going to have to discard it a few months down the line. I had one guy a few years back - actually from the club who were running the exhibition - stand his camera on my layout to take some shots without even asking. I find these people ignorant and should know better. When I look at layouts my hands are usually behind my back if I need to get a closer look. I am thinking of an electric wire, or even a gun, however, someone suggested I place pins in my static grass painted the same colour so when they lean on it they get a nasty surprise, but I'm not keen on blood stains in my fields!

I have recently done an exhibition where in spite of signs saying 'Please do not touch' I have had to challenge people who totally ignore the request. I have had people leaning whole arms on my static grass while talking to us as well as children picking at various items on the layout while their parents just let them carry on without saying a word. I'm afraid I get rather annoyed with these people and it probably shows when I speak to them but I think I am justified in my demeanour. I have thought about putting a perspex front (about 4" high) on the front of the layout (at exhibitions who do not supply barriers) and have seen others that have done just that for the same reasons. There's a mixed church on this however and some have said it destroys the look of the layout and the perspex can get scratched or cloudy in time. I'm interested in hearing from people who have done this with their layouts and what experience they have had with it. Many thanks in advance... Martin

Thanks DCB. I have cut the rail marked in red, but it made no difference. However, I have solved the mystery - the point motor! Obviously something not right with it so I replaced it and everything works as it should. Thanks Martin

Thanks for the help guys. They are indeed Peco points - HOm to be precise as I am a 3mm modeller. I will cut the rails as I have suggested in red and get back you you with the results. Many thanks Martin PS. The double slip has insulated fishplates on all rails and has its own isolated power supply.

I am having a shorting problem with my layout. Referring to the diagram the main line is shown as a double line. Everything works as it should but when I switch the point at 'A' it isolates the main line both left and right sides of the point which also prevents me from entering the yard off the point. However, I can enter the yard at point 'B'. I have checked the polarity switch and it is all correct, I have even disconnected the polarity switch and tried again relying on the point blades to make the connection to no avail. I would appreciate some help on this please as I am exhibiting the layout in three weeks time. I have indicated an additional rail break in red which I can do, but will it solve my problem? I need someone who is all things guru on layout electrics as it's puzzling me. It's DC by the way. Thanks in advance, Martin

As far as I can see from the photographs I have the platform actually goes right up to the bridge and terminates without a ramp. As far as 3mm is concerned, I have been modelling now for about 55 years on and off and have never modelled in any other scale - I wasn't aware there were other scales, lol!

Many thanks for your help on this guys, I guess I'll split the difference between the suggested 100' and 150' and make it 125'! Very interesting that the station belonged to your late uncle Phatbob, I don't suppose you have any photos of it other than the ones that are published on the web and in books? I will in time post pictures of the model. It is in 3mm and is L-shaped, one end is Spilsby station and the other is Halton Holgate, with the track terminating hidden under the bridge. The track is laid at the Spilsby end and I have attached a photo here of the station building I have made.

Thanks for all your help on this guys. It is of a prototype station so I'm unable to adopt Phil's suggestion, moving the feeds as David suggests seems the simplest so I will be adopting that. That said, thanks to all of you for taking the time to solve my problem, much appreciated. Martin

I think I am right in what I have attached, but can someone with more knowledge on these things please advise me if my wiring is correct here for DC. The SS symbol denotes the line coming into the station from the other parts of the layout. Many thanks.

I have trawled the internet and books I have on the line but I can't for the life of me find anything that tells me what the length of Halton Holgate (Spilsby to Firsby line in Lincolnshire) is. I know it was very short, probably just long enough for one coach and loco but as I am making a model of it I would like it to be as accurate as I can. Any help greatly appreciated.

My 3mm layout 'Uppingham' is booked to appear at Warley this year as long as it goes ahead. Lenny Seeney of Lincoln Locos (https://lincoln-loco.co.uk/) is one of my team of operators and he will have a good selection of 3mm 3D printed bodies available to purchase from the layout.

And now... Resoldered the AC wire and I seem to have complete control! However, although it doesn't give any power to the track, the LED lights up when I turn the knob with the R-F switch in the centre neutral position. Is this normal?

Further developments... One of the track wires was soldered in the wrong place. I now have power on the track in both R and F positions with LED illumination, and trains can be controlled with the knob, however, it still illuminates in the central (off) position. I have noticed on of the AC input leads might be shorting to another section of the PC board so I am going to resolver it and then try again. Progress it seems. The other controller on the same panel (it's a dual unit) is totally dead and I've no idea as to why but I only need one, however I'd like to get that working as well if I can.

Didn't know they had a lifetime warranty? I've soldered new wires though, would that matter?

Following on from my earlier posting regarding these controllers, I now have a problem with one of them. Once powered up, with the polarity switch in the centre (normally an off position) the Track LED lights up when I turn the knob, however, there is no power on the track. With the switch positioned in either L or R, the LED fails to light when I turn the knob. I purchased these second hand and the wires on the PC board were a bit of a mess with bad soldering evident, so I have soldered some fresh ones to the same points, however I'm not sure if the ones that were on when I bought the unit were soldered in the right place. If anyone can post a picture of exactly where the wires go I'd appreciate it - if they are in the right places, any ideas on why I'm having the fault explained earlier? Thanks Martin

Thanks Cliff for the clarification. I thought using two off one winding would burn something out, but as you say, shouldn't be a problem on a turntable. Thanks Martin

Thanks Pete and DC, great answers. I'd never thought of using a switch. I think what I will do now is to fit an isolator switch on the turntable controller so I can switch the power feed to it completely off when not in use. Many thanks guys, appreciated. Martin

I have a Gaugemaster dual feedback controller which says on the back 'One controller per transformer winding'. Both these controllers need a 16v AC feed to produce 12v DC output - I want to use one for my track and another just to control the turntable, but my transformer only has one 16v AC output. Will this be safe? I will not be running trains whilst operating the turntable. The advantage of using one of the controllers for the turntable is that it has a reverse polarity switch which will allow me to change turntable direction. Thanks in advance of any assistance with this. Martin

Thanks David, very useful information. Martin

Further to this, when I received the unit, the worms were just catching the edges of the the gear wheels which I thought was not right, so I moved them inwards to be a central connection with the gears. Are they supposed to be at the edge possibly?