Pen Y Bont from page 39.

[MarshLane]

And now a simple Video whilst up at George T'S today with Paul Chetters Protodrive Sound Chip. We didn't have the time to run through the many and varied functions of this Chip, but here is a little taster.

Firstly the Black 08 with a Bass Reflex Speaker, then the Blue one with Jintymans big round Speaker. Jintymans has a little more depth and growl whilst the Bass Reflex has a lighter Bass tone, I wouldn't recommend one over the other, (it would be rude to do so on here) but if you have 2 x 08's give Jintymans a try for a very nice deep and different sound, I'm sure you wont be disappointed.

 

 

Yes, think I prefer the blue one with Jinty's speaker in it.  Both very nice!

 

Rich

[gismorail]

The Blue one gets the vote for me Andy just that bit more defined ..........oh dear this is going to cost me .....money 

[Andrew P]

Morning Guys, Yes Sound is a VERY personal thing. When I was in my last Band, The Silvertones, I always had 2 Fender Bass Guitars with me at Gigs, a Precision and a Jazz with lighter strings, and along with the different Pick Up configurations gave me 2 very different and distinct Sounds, and depending on the Song we were playing, each was RIGHT but each was DIFFERENT. I also had a Violin Bass, (AKA Paul Mcartney) that I took out in place of the Jazz to some Gigs.

[Andrew P]

O.K. So getting back to Beale St, I saw some interesting Layouts yesterday, but nothing that shouted at me to change things radically.

 

There were 2 BLT's with nice Goods Sidings, but an 08 in there would have looked wrong, as the Train Engine would have done it's own Shunting.

 

With 3 08's and a 25 I have to stick to the inside of a Goods Yard, where the 08's would be confined to Barracks, and trundle around at a leisurely pace banging Buffers and getting instructions from the Yard Man or Shunter.

 

I will have a play, as Don suggested, with some Wagons this afternoon and see what works for me.

 

I've been looking for pics and plans of inside Town Goods Yards  where there would have been at least a Shed / Warehouse, Loading Dock and Coal Sidings for more inspiration, but again in O room is at a premium. 

 

Hey Ho, onward and upward.

[emt_911]

Morning Andy. Both sound really good and yes they are slightly different.

 

You still can't convince me to move to the larger scale though.

[Guest Digital]

Thanks for taking the time to do the video Andy, very useful to see the differences between the 2 speakers.

Both sound great but the Blue one has my vote.

Regards

John.

[Clive Mortimore]

I have ear ache so I avoided the videos with noise

[Tove]

O.K. So getting back to Beale St, I saw some interesting Layouts yesterday, but nothing that shouted at me to change things radically.

 

There were 2 BLT's with nice Goods Sidings, but an 08 in there would have looked wrong, as the Train Engine would have done it's own Shunting.

 

With 3 08's and a 25 I have to stick to the inside of a Goods Yard, where the 08's would be confined to Barracks, and trundle around at a leisurely pace banging Buffers and getting instructions from the Yard Man or Shunter.

 

I will have a play, as Don suggested, with some Wagons this afternoon and see what works for me.

 

I've been looking for pics and plans of inside Town Goods Yards  where there would have been at least a Shed / Warehouse, Loading Dock and Coal Sidings for more inspiration, but again in O room is at a premium. 

 

Hey Ho, onward and upward.

Don`t want to influence your 'train' of thought Andy,but you could use Birmingham Central goods as a basis for a layout?.Well,the right side at least.....(as you look at the pic`s)

Ok it is a bit... bigger than the space you have,but it does come straight out of a tunnel,and if you scroll down the linked page a bit you will also see a 25 & 08!.

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/centralgoods.htm

 

Brian.

 

PS,i like both  08`s......

[Andrew P]

Don`t want to influence your 'train' of thought Andy,but you could use Birmingham Central goods as a basis for a layout?.Well,the right side at least.....(as you look at the pic`s)

Ok it is a bit... bigger than the space you have,but it does come straight out of a tunnel,and if you scroll down the linked page a bit you will also see a 25 & 08!.

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/centralgoods.htm

 

Brian.

 

PS,i like both  08`s......

Thanks Brian, and a very good link to some wonderful ideas and inspiration.

[boxbrownie]

Thanks Brian, and a very good link to some wonderful ideas and inspiration.

 

Indeed, very interesting......and what's better some of that track laying is worse than mine, there is hope for me yet! 

[Andrew P]

Indeed, very interesting......and what's better some of that track laying is worse than mine, there is hope for me yet! 

I thought that about my Track Laying too,   we were at Hazel Grove Station yesterday and GEORGE T said; corr look at that Track did you lay that Peters?   :nono:    

[Andrew P]

I've re jigged the Fiddle Yard a bit this morning, by doing away with the Locating Bolt, instead there is a SIMPLE block of wood to line up the Middle Tracks.

 

 

[Brian D]

I've re jigged the Fiddle Yard a bit this morning, by doing away with the Locating Bolt, instead there is a SIMPLE block of wood to line up the Middle Tracks.

Fiddle Yard 2 001.JPG

 

Fiddle Yard 2 002.JPG

 

Fiddle Yard 2 003.JPG

 

Dear Andy,

You are such a ready source of good ideas mate.  I may well "nick" this idea if you don't mind for my own traversing fiddle yard which only has to move laterally the same distance, except in OO of course.

Regards,

Brian

[georgeT]

I've re jigged the Fiddle Yard a bit this morning, by doing away with the Locating Bolt, instead there is a SIMPLE block of wood to line up the Middle Tracks.

Fiddle Yard 2 001.JPG

 

Fiddle Yard 2 002.JPG

 

Fiddle Yard 2 003.JPG

 

A lot less clutter, much better Buddy...

[tender]

A good morning at the Manchester Show, after a BIG BREAKFAST at Weatherspoons, then back to the Poynton Garden Centre and the purchased a new DCC Controller. It's a Sig naTrack and the same as George uses, after having a Play today and doing a Deal on one for less than £150 including a hand held unit I thought it was a good purchase. It's pleasure to use and will go nicely on Beale St.

 

0000000870666_370_0.jpg

I looked at one of these at a few recent exhibitions but not sure touch control is for me, It didn't feel very responsive. Much prefer my Powercab with a wheel and up/down buttons.

The Signa track also has a few shortcomings for my liking compared to other controllers, but as it's still in its infancy, hopefully they will get sorted out in time with a few software upgrades and some better specified handsets.

Will be interesting to get some feedback from you and George once you've had a chance to put it through its paces.

 

Edit - to remove double negative.

Edited December 4, 2016 by tender

[emt_911]

A good morning at the Manchester Show, after a BIG BREAKFAST at Weatherspoons, then back to the Poynton Garden Centre and the purchased a new DCC Controller. It's a Sig naTrack and the same as George uses, after having a Play today and doing a Deal on one for less than £150 including a hand held unit I thought it was a good purchase. It's pleasure to use and will go nicely on Beale St.

 

0000000870666_370_0.jpg

I've spent a fair bit of time today looking at the web site. At the moment the controller doesn't interest me but the point and signal control is interesting.

[Donw]

I like the precision location system. However I would have to chain the block of wood to the baseboard to stop it wandering.

A lot of full size track is not that well laid or perhaps was well laid but since moved. The difference is with several tons even in a wagon it makes a lot of difference to road holding.  Wagons are harder to get going and hard to stop full size. You can watch track distort as a loco passes over.

A goods or a marshalling yard sounds your best bet to me. A marshalling yard just needs a set of sidings . A freight pulls with stuff for local distribution the 08 sorts in into a number of trip or pickup workings. Another freight comes in and that gets sorted too. When the trips freights are ready they are dispatched. I assume an 08 might do a local run to a nearby goods yard. When the trip freights bring back empties or loaded wagons these get sorted into the freights to other destinations. Plenty of action.

Don 

[tender]

I've spent a fair bit of time today looking at the web site. At the moment the controller doesn't interest me but the point and signal control is interesting.

I use the Sig-Na Track IMP digital servo controller for the semaphore signal on Camel Quay and it works very well, not that anybody notices the signal going up and down.

Edited December 4, 2016 by tender

[georgeT]

I looked at one of these at a few recent exhibitions but not sure touch control is for me, It didn't feel very responsive. Much prefer my Powercab with a wheel and up/down buttons.

The Signa track also has a few shortcomings for my liking compared to other controllers, but as it's still in its infancy, hopefully they will get sorted out in time with a few software upgrades and some better specified handsets.

Will be interesting to get some feedback from you and George once you've had a chance to put it through its paces.

 

Edit - to remove double negative.

 

Hello Ray, You do get a hand held controller as well, so you can use either....

[Andrew P]

Evening Guys, I've been out in the Old Potting Shed this afternoon and wiring the Points ready to fit the PL33 Frog Switch.

 

I like Don's idea of the Yard and Sidings to sort Wagons into Train Formations, and that would work very much like an Inglenook Shunting Puzzle with Train make up again decided by a Playing Card type System.

 

I'll have a look at that later this evening after tea.

[tender]

Hello Ray, You do get a hand held controller as well, so you can use either....

Ah, the hand held controller, that for me was its biggest shortcoming.

It's incredibly basic for a digital system. Just a knob and a few buttons, what no display - how do you know or change what loco you are controlling? Sig Na Track answer, you have to do it from the main system box.

What about passing control from the main controller to the handset (or vice versa) while the loco is moving (as you would at exhibitions with a few operators) and matching the speed? Answer, either stop or take a wild guess.

 

I'm not trying to knock it, it is in its infancy after all, but I think it still has a long way to go to be up there with the competitors, admittedly a little more expensive.

As a system for a small home or one operator layout i'm sure it's more than adequate and talking to the developer at Warley I'm sure things will improve over time with a few software updates and 'add on's'. But it's not his only job so don't hold your breath.

 

Anyway, enough talk of DCC controllers, we want more TRACK.

Edited December 4, 2016 by tender

[Andrew P]

Ah, the hand held controller, that for me was its biggest shortcoming.

It's incredibly basic for a digital system. Just a knob and a few buttons, what no display - how do you know or change what loco you are controlling? Sig Na Track answer, you have to do it from the main system box.

What about passing control from the main controller to the handset while the loco is moving (as you would at exhibitions with a few operators) and matching the speed? Answer, either stop or take a wild guess.

 

I'm not trying to knock it, it is in its infancy after all, but I think it still has a long way to go to be up there with the competitors, admittedly a little more expensive.

As a system for a small home or one operator layout i'm sure it's more than adequate and talking to the developer at Warley I'm sure things will improve over time with a few software updates and 'add on's'. But it's not his only job so don't hold your breath.

 

Anyway, enough talk of DCC controllers, we want more TRACK.

I no longer do Exhibitions and generally work on my own in my Shed, I wanted a system that was easy to use and had all the add on's of the Prodigy, but without having to use a Hand Set, I just want to sit in front of the Layout with the Controller Panel fixed in front of me. If I want to walk to the far end to do a bit of Shunting, then it's no issue to stop the Loco and switch to the Hand Controller.

 

As for the Hand set, I cant see any problem with it, It has the Lights/ 1/ 2 / 3 / 4 functions and a direction switch and a nice smooth feel knob. It works well and suits my Shunting Style very well.

[Andrew P]

Well yesterday I also picked up a very nice Brake Van from George T.

 

[Andrew P]

I like the precision location system. However I would have to chain the block of wood to the baseboard to stop it wandering.

A lot of full size track is not that well laid or perhaps was well laid but since moved. The difference is with several tons even in a wagon it makes a lot of difference to road holding.  Wagons are harder to get going and hard to stop full size. You can watch track distort as a loco passes over.

A goods or a marshalling yard sounds your best bet to me. A marshalling yard just needs a set of sidings . A freight pulls with stuff for local distribution the 08 sorts in into a number of trip or pickup workings. Another freight comes in and that gets sorted too. When the trips freights are ready they are dispatched. I assume an 08 might do a local run to a nearby goods yard. When the trip freights bring back empties or loaded wagons these get sorted into the freights to other destinations. Plenty of action.

Don 

Yes Don, The Block of wood will need a nail in it with a bit of string attached to stop me thinking it's an off cut, ready for the BIN, hahhah

[Andrew P]

Dear Andy,

You are such a ready source of good ideas mate.  I may well "nick" this idea if you don't mind for my own traversing fiddle yard which only has to move laterally the same distance, except in OO of course.

Regards,

Brian

By all means Brian, I've been out and re jigged the Track and now all 3 roads line up with the exit track and the back to tracks line up with another new exit Track from the Yard.

 

Pics in a mo will show what I mean.