7mm King Street Goods

[Simond]

Barnaby,

 

I know someone who is looking for an LH100, so will advise him of your advert. I don’t think he’s after any other bits at the moment, and I do understand you might want to shift your Lenz kit as a “job lot”. Anyway I’ll point him at the forum and maybe it helps you both!

 

On another point, I was at the Bristol show today, (very good!) and discovered that Touchcab is now available again. This is an iphone (maybe also Android) app that gives control of locos and points etc via a Lenz DCC setup. It had been unavailable for a while, but is now on sale at £9.99. It is necessary to have a Lenz USB / Ethernet hub connected to the Xpressnet, and allows you to use a smartphone to get full control of 28 functions and 14/28/128 speed steps on more locos than you can hope to have.

 

Best

Simon

[Andrew P]

Barnaby,

 

I know someone who is looking for an LH100, so will advise him of your advert. I don’t think he’s after any other bits at the moment, and I do understand you might want to shift your Lenz kit as a “job lot”. Anyway I’ll point him at the forum and maybe it helps you both!

 

On another point, I was at the Bristol show today, (very good!) and discovered that Touchcab is now available again. This is an iphone (maybe also Android) app that gives control of locos and points etc via a Lenz DCC setup. It had been unavailable for a while, but is now on sale at £9.99. It is necessary to have a Lenz USB / Ethernet hub connected to the Xpressnet, and allows you to use a smartphone to get full control of 28 functions and 14/28/128 speed steps on more locos than you can hope to have.

 

Best

Simon

 

On my Phone, I can speak to people,   ……..sometimes...….when I get a signal that lasts more than 10 seconds.

 

   

Edited January 27, 2019 by Andrew P

[Simond]

Wi-fi, Andy, you don’t need a phone signal for it !

 

Best

Simon

[Barnaby]

Hello Simon.

 

Yes I was looking at selling all the Lenz stuff together.  Ask him to get in touch as I would expect we can do a deal where I get what I want and he gets what he wants plus the command station and a transformer.

 

Cheers

[Barnaby]

I think I have been spoilt.

 

I have 2 locos working fully chipped with DCC for sound and drive but one is much much better for long term running requiring little or no cleaning attention while the other requires quite frequent attention to its pickups/wheels..

Both need occasional track cleaning but not much and one works while the other stutters.

 

The good working one is the Ixion Fowler chipped by Paul @ NGTrains with a Keep Alive [KA] unit fitted.  

The other one, the stutter, is a kit built JLTRT chopper with Slater plungers.  It is a fine built kit and runs well for a few days before it stutters then cleaning the wheels resets everything and off it runs until a few days down the line.  Mean while the Fowler is still Puttering on and on and on.  I have a supply of isopropanol which is great for wheel cleaning without leaving any residue behind.

 

So am I to draw from this that the KA is the saviour being fitted to the Fowler but not to the chopper, is that what is making the big running difference?

 

I need to speak to Paul to see if he can supply a KA unit for me to fit it to my chopper.

 

Best

Edited February 6, 2019 by Barnaby

[martin_wynne]

3 minutes ago, Barnaby said:

So am I to draw from this that the KA is the saviour being fitted to the Fowler but not to the chopper, is that what is making the big running difference?

 

Hi Mark,

 

Very likely. By preventing any interruptions in the motor current it will be suppressing any sparking at the wheels.

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[Barnaby]

Cheers Martin, I'll get digging into them to see what I need.

 

Thanks

[Barnaby]

Late afternoon visit through to early evening for a KMRG chat on all things Railway and a competitive shunt. 

Followed by a quick visit before closing time to Screwfix to order and collect some adjustable metal legs for my new baseboards.  There will be 3 baseboards, the middle board will have 4 legs and the other 2 piggy-back boards will have 2 on each.

I need 8 in total I collected 3 tonight with 5 due in tomorrow for my collection after noon.

 

The legs are 700mm long with an adjustable foot for leveling oh! and the KMRG stands for KIDDERMINSTER MODEL RAILWAY GROUP.

Thanks to John and Mrs. PT for the Fine teas and cakes much appreciated.

 

Best.

Edited February 7, 2019 by Barnaby

[Barnaby]

Collected my other 5 legs from Screw fix so now got the necessary 8 in total that I require.  They are 700mm long but will be screwed to a 75-100mm wooden corner block under the baseboards as I intend to be sitting down to play.

 

Anybody got any comments on the new Peco uni-frog point work?  I will be reviewing the electro frogs removed from my old layout but incase they are a little scruffy or suspect I may get some fresh ones hence the uni-frog question.

The new layout will be DCC.

[Barnaby]

Just been communicating with Andy P ref his back scene painting.  He replied to my question on this topic by posting up a vid which I'll try and post here as a future ref "how to" for me to get inspiration from.

Andy P the man in Black shows how he paints backscenes.

https://youtu.be/SRWMBADl4kA

 

I gotta try that.

 

Best

Edited February 12, 2019 by Barnaby

[Barnaby]

Just following on from the Vid above I've listed some of the paints and brush sizes etc for quick ref.

The back panel.  White faced mdf 3-4mm thick.  Paint onto white surface.

Spray can acrylics.  Ford Olympic blue -- White primer.

Cheapo Tube Acrylics.   Light green -- Yellow ochre  --  Raw umber  --  Payne's grey  --  Titanium white.

Only use 1 colour green and change it by adding other colours off the palette to darken or lighten the mix.

Brushes cheapo.   A couple of 1 inch brushes.  --  A mix of 1/4 to 1/2 inch brushes often sold in packs of 5 and 10.

Edited February 14, 2019 by Barnaby

[Andrew P]

I can't wait to see your results Barnaby, any effort would be a start, PLUS it's fun trying, and as I said, with acrylics, once dry you can paint over it, and surprisingly, the Titanium White is a good cover for darker colours.

 

All the best.

[Barnaby]

I still got to assemble the legs onto the baseboards then connect them up before fitting the removable white faced backscene boards...……..then I may be ready to paint them using the techniques you demonstrated.

Also in my world the hands on the station clock move incredibly s l o w l y.

 

Regards

 

[Barnaby]

Just received my order from Eileen Emporium, phosphor bronze for locomotive pick ups a speedy delivery indeed.  Thanks.

Eileen does a great pack for pick ups containing some P Bronze flat strip some varying dia. of P Bronze wire some Printed circuit board some lengths of connecting wire and a small amount of solder.  That's a great little bundle.

 Oh yes and for 30p I got a cut off from my local family DIY store of a piece of white faced mdf so I can test try Andy P's painting as in the vid above.

The mdf is about 8 inches high and 48 inches long which won't be high enough as I will want about 12 inches maybe a little more on the height but at least I can have a play.

Now where is my smock and beret.   

Edited February 13, 2019 by Barnaby
add picture

[Barnaby]

Just an up date on the Sig-Na-Trak ACE DCC controller and where I'm at modelling wise.  

 

The controller is simplicity itself to operate.  It does all I want and more but for now just controlling the locomotives and their sounds is good enough.  Its ability to recognise and allocate new locos is brilliant, just what I needed.  The intuitive touch screen display is very attractive and informative.

 

The only downside which also is an upside is that I'm having so much fun I'm still playing on the old layout instead of continuing to strip it out.    That's the down side but the upside is I'm having fun and it has got my new layout mojo working again on all fronts.

So far today I had a play with my 2 chipped locos the Ixion Fowler and the JLTRT Class 20.  I made them hoot and toot back and forth and delivered a few wagons to either end of the plank.

 

I then started to clear up storing all the wagons I had out and generally shifting things back onto their home shelves.

Placed the new layout boards ready for their leg blocks to be fitted and have their legs screwed to them.   I found the baseboard joining holes were into the corners so I had to mark up 3 Inches away from the corner for the leg blocks to clear.  It should only be the middle board that needs this leg spacing as the end boards won't be connecting onwards so the legs can fit up into the corners.

 

Over the weekend if possible I want to get the old layout boards taken apart.   It was built as one 12ft long baseboard so there will be some fiddling required to separate.

Then I want to get the legs attached to the new boards join them together and place a couple of yards of track down so I can run my locos up and down.  Who knows it may include a point and could even end up being an Inglenook albeit not stuck down.

 

Still undecided whether I take all the track off the old boards or leave it on incase somebody wants it to play with but as I need the space I'll certainly be splitting it and moving it out of the way.

I've got a busy 2 days ahead just you watch the Station Mistress put a spanner in my plans.

 

Best

 

 

Edited February 16, 2019 by Barnaby
add text

[Barnaby]

Well I'm not so sure by the end of day tomorrow I will have got everything done.

I got stuck in today and de-wired and boxed up the Lenz kit ready for sale.  I removed the loose scenic items that I had built and randomly placed on the layout.

I took the opportunity to use up the stack of take away meal boxes that we have collected to store all the bits and bobs I had out on the layout ie track rubbers ,loco oil, rail joiners, electrical connectors etc.  

That took up time that I hadn't made available but after writing on the lids I now will be able to find things and not end up with multiples of the same item just because I couldn't find it.

Started lifting the track back to the join, there is only one join so I can split the boards tomorrow, the join is at 8ft.   So by mid morning tomorrow I should have two boards one 8ft long and the other 4ft long both minus their legs which should make plenty of build space for the new boards.

 

Off for a soak in the bath -- Cheers.

Edited February 16, 2019 by Barnaby

[Barnaby]

Well I did manage to lift all the track and split off the 4ft baseboard.   I also made up a yard of track to retest the Fowler and JLTRT class 20 locos were still working with the ACE DCC controller.

 

Top photo shows all the track lifted but the baseboard complete at 12ft

The 2nd photo shows the 4ft  board split off and taken apart. 

Just got the 8ft board to break down tomorrow and fit the legs to the new Laser built boards then connect them together.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2019 by Barnaby
added photo details

[cravensdmufan]

On 25/01/2019 at 13:32, pauliebanger said:

 

You can achieve the same thing with a PowerCab and cheaper alternative boosters.

Agreed.  I purchased a Tam Valley booster for around £45 on advice from Kevin at Coastal DCC.  It really transformed the operation of the PowerCab.  The whole layout operates a lot better.  Before I used to get a few locos occasionally "running away" and a few strange unexpected sound start ups. The booster has cured all that. Trains also keep better constant speeds as well.  

[Barnaby]

Today I decided to start fitting the legs to my new boards first having lost the morning to some real world stuff.

Hope to make time to be able to strip down the old board tomorrow and install the first of the new boards while enjoying all the new made space.

 

 

[Warspite]

16 hours ago, Barnaby said:

Today I decided to start fitting the legs to my new boards first having lost the morning to some real world stuff.

Hope to make time to be able to strip down the old board tomorrow and install the first of the new boards while enjoying all the new made space.

 

 

 

Hi Barnaby

 

Great to see some good progress, despite the 'real world stuff' getting in the way. My own distinct lack of progress is because the real world stuff won't go away!

 

The baseboard looks very good.

 

Stephen

 

 

 

 

 

[Barnaby]

Little more work done with the leg fitting on the first board so now I have a table top to hold things on while I dismantle the rest of the old BB.

 

Wagon on the new BB.Closer wagon on new BB

 

Paints and brushes to play @ back scene painting

 

More fun to be had down at the Gentlemen's retreat tomorrow.

[Andrew P]

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished job Barnaby.

[Barnaby]

Some more work done on the new base boards, we have  another set of legs added to the 2nd of 3 base boards.

 

Still got the remains of the old BB to dismantle  . . . . . . . maybe tomorrow.

 

Finally did the Blue sky tester as per Andy P's advice, fields, hedges, bushes and some

trees next. 

 

 

Best

Edited February 20, 2019 by Barnaby

[MarshLane]

Hi Barnaby,

The new boards look good - are they laser cut ones (I have probably missed that you've said somewhat what/whose they are!).  Love that sky backboard too ... another artistic Andy coming up here I suspect.

 

Glad to hear your experience with the Signatrak has been positive too always good when things move forward rather than backwards.

 

Rich

[Andrew P]

Good start on the Sky Barnaby.