Christleton Junction - 1986 - Gateway to North Wales

[lincolnshiremodeller]

On 25/04/2024 at 15:38, 61656 said:

We probably all have a favourite and a least favourite loco. Rarely does reality align in such a way that your favourite loco is also your best runner!

 

My current favourite model is my 45/0. I’ve always liked the real ones and the Bachmann offering is pretty convincing to my eye. 45022 jarred a little as the Bachmann blue is a bit pale for my liking, but in its new heavy weathering I really like it. Despite having wheels everywhere, they run superbly too. Haulage fans will be delighted to see the usually freight-only, no heat loco waiting in the holding sidings. Will it be Coast or Pennine bound?

 

 

It’s been a while since we had a view down the station throat. I’ve no idea what makes the sleepers shine like it’s just been raining, but I do like it. 

 

 

A little GPL is really needed on the holding line to show the loco is in and clear.  
 

At the other end of the spectrum is my Hornby 08. I want to love this as it’s the only class of loco that I’m actually qualified to drive. But it’s hard. The original pick ups are abysmal and the wheels don’t quite run true. It’s forever stalling and runs too poorly to enjoy. 
 

I have tried on several occasions to sort it out and never succeeded. Time for one more go…

 

I decided to go back to basics, remove the chip and run it on DC. This has firstly enabled me to improve the pick ups. I had replaced the Hornby ones some time ago, but the new ones weren’t making consistent contact. With that resolved, I looked at the lumpy running. When I first got it I thought it might be a poor runner due to inaccurate quartering, so I got a full replacement wheelset. It seems inconceivable that two sets might be wrong… but it looks like a distinct possibility. Fortunately I kept the originals and I have managed to get 3 good axles to fit. There is certainly one axle (either front or middle) in each set that is slightly out. The Hornby wheels are nearly impossible to adjust, so if they’re wrong they need changing. 
 

With the loco running on DC, improved pick ups, and quartered wheels, the running is transformed. Time then to reinsert a chip… and the running is stuttering and lumpy! Fortunately I have plenty of spare 8 pin chips, so I tried another one and finally the running seems to be about right. I’m not sure what can be wrong with the chip, but something’s not right. 
 

Sadly this means I probably need a new sound chip, so I’ll run the 08 for a while on mute, and see if it’s really fixed before stumping up for a new noisy chip. 

Hopefully this is the start of a new chapter for the 08…. which is good, because the trip workings need it!

 

 

Have you tried installing a stay alive for good measure? I recently improved my father's terribly running Hornby 08 by adding new pickups and a stay alive. It did the trick...though needed to disable DC capability in the chip CV settings as well.

 

Cheers

Simon

[5BarVT]

8 hours ago, lincolnshiremodeller said:

Have you tried installing a stay alive for good measure? I recently improved my father's terribly running Hornby 08 by adding new pickups and a stay alive. It did the trick...though needed to disable DC capability in the chip CV settings as well.

It’s an 08, not a Tardis!

If you can find room, it’s a good idea.

Paul.

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, lincolnshiremodeller said:

needed to disable DC capability in the chip CV settings as well.

I do that as a matter of course.

[61656]

9 hours ago, lincolnshiremodeller said:

 

Have you tried installing a stay alive for good measure? I recently improved my father's terribly running Hornby 08 by adding new pickups and a stay alive. It did the trick...though needed to disable DC capability in the chip CV settings as well.

 

Cheers

Simon

It’s a good tip. I have fitted a very small stay alive, which will just fit with a sugarcube speaker in the cab. 
 

I hadn’t considered isolating the DC function, but it sounds logical. Fortunately I have an NCE Pro cab which does it in the config settings. Lesser mortals will have to subtract 4 from the value of CV29 and set CV50 to 0, assuming the chip’s default is DC active. Sometimes it’s slightly more complicated than just two wires…

[61656]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

I do that as a matter of course.

Does it have a meaningful effect when a stay alive isn’t fitted?

 

I try not to mess around with CV values other than loco number and volume unless I really need to. 

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, 61656 said:

Does it have a meaningful effect when a stay alive isn’t fitted?

 

I try not to mess around with CV values other than loco number and volume unless I really need to. 

There have been reports over many years of sub-optimal behaviour when running on DCC with DC enabled on the decoder. Whether this is still true with modern chips and/or when stay-alives are fitted, I don't know. Since my locos never need to run on DC I always disable it. With JMRI DecoderPro it's a single click of the mouse.

[lincolnshiremodeller]

On 27/04/2024 at 08:28, 5BarVT said:

It’s an 08, not a Tardis!

If you can find room, it’s a good idea.

Paul.

Both the Hornby and Bachmann 08 have sufficient room for decoder, speaker, and stay alive. The cab roof is a good useful space. 

[61656]

A relatively recent realisation is that locomotives waiting to back on to services in the through platform or middle road should probably wait in the White Lane through siding, rather than on the Down Holyhead. Likewise any shunting to set back into the yard should use the through siding as a head shunt. Originally the through siding was an actual siding, usually occupied by a DMU, so it couldn’t be used for such moves. Now that I’ve made it a through line, pertaining to lead to a larger set of DMU sidings and sheds, it can add have an additional purpose. 
 

A pair of class 20’s are seen in the gloom waiting to set back on to an MGR set for Point of Ayr colliery. 
 

[61656]

For context, here's a long overdue update to the track plan. I've added the additional 2 DMU sidings in the Holyhead fiddle yard and the EMU siding in the Warrington fiddle yard. I've also annotated the drawing with a little more detail. It's very diagrammatic and not to any kind of scale. It's drawn in Anyrail using Peco finescale components, so obviously different to the model which uses Marcway hand made points with C&L plain line. 

 

[Wummyock]

5 hours ago, 61656 said:

For context, here's a long overdue update to the track plan. I've added the additional 2 DMU sidings in the Holyhead fiddle yard and the EMU siding in the Warrington fiddle yard. I've also annotated the drawing with a little more detail. It's very diagrammatic and not to any kind of scale. It's drawn in Anyrail using Peco finescale components, so obviously different to the model which uses Marcway hand made points with C&L plain line. 

 

What size is it approximately? Love this design with fiddle yards being destinations yet you can still run trains on the continuous laps if you so wish to just watch them stretch their legs.

[61656]

4 hours ago, Wummyock said:

What size is it approximately? Love this design with fiddle yards being destinations yet you can still run trains on the continuous laps if you so wish to just watch them stretch their legs.

I genuinely didn’t know the answer, so I had to go measure it. I suspect saying it’s exactly the same size as the room wouldn’t be all that insightful. 
 

It’s 5.2m x 2.85m. Bluebeck shed adds an extra 0.5m into an alcove and the 2 DMU storage sidings sit in the window reveal adding another 0.3m. 
 

I’m really happy with the design. I love operating it, and it provides endless possibilities to operate it properly. It’s not often I let one tail chase, but it’s good for running in and invaluable for making the timetable work. 
 

My original plan only had through lines between Crewe and Warrington, but then the timetable brought home some reality. Because services like the freightliner are based on shipping, you get 5 or 6 all going in one direction, so you have to make use of the circle. I would also need around 14 DMU sets if I didn’t have the link lines between fiddle yards.