jpendle

So what's that in real money? Hang on, so 446.75mm in N Gauge, assuming of course that OO is 1/76th 😁 John P

Only if I get a bulk discount from Revolution. What do you think? @Revolution Ben 🙏 John P

I don't think my storage yards are long enough for 10 sets! Regards, John P

So would a "typical" rake consists of 4 or 5 five cars sets? Regards, John P

That's what I've done with my double headers and top and tail consists. I either measure the speed using iTrain, iTrain then controls both locos and compensates for differences, or I do the same in the Z21 app and the Z21 app then does the compensation. It especially important if you want to run two different locos in the consist, say a CL37 and a 47 or a Pacer and a CL150. Regards, John P

Does it matter? The article is about track work and the picture shows some track. The journalist clearly does not build her own track but neither do 99.999% of the people for whom this article is intended. Regards, John P

Hi, I have around 80 Peco N Gauge Electrofrog turnouts on my layout and the only change that I have made electrically is to solder a dropper wire onto the frog, or an adjacent piece of track, so that I am not relying on blade contact to switch polarity. There's absolutely no need to make the changes recommended for OO points because the flangeways on N Gauge points are proportionately much wider than those on OO Gauge points so there is no real risk of wheels causing shorts when running through points. Regards, John P

Possibly because they spent most of their time off the mainlines where track speeds are lower. Regards, John P

Hi, The CAN Bus cable is just a Cat5E or Cat6E network cable. If you have one of those lying around, give it a try. Regards, John P

Bear in mind that most sound projects have very high values for CV3 and CV4, i.e acceleration and deceleration. This means that locos take a long time to get up to speed and just as long to slow down again, while this may be prototypically accurate, a loco hauling a heavy train may well take minutes to get up to line speed, it can cause problems on a model railway as we typically don't have long enough layouts. It also makes stopping a train accurately very difficult, unless the sound project designer has incorporated an active brake function. Every time you do a factory reset then the sound project will set the values for CV's 3&4 so you'll need to change back to what you prefer. Regards, John P

I think that's an oxymoron 🤔 Surely you do want bells and whistles on your sound equipped loco's? 🙂 But seriously, sound equipped loco's from Bachmann, Dapol, Accurascale, et al, frequently use function keys up to F28, so a simpler 'cheap' controller might not support that. As @Steven B said, it's a very good idea to visit a specialist DCC retailer and try out different systems, they can also advise on which systems would meet your needs. Regards, John P

I’ve been biding my time on these, but this post got me looking online again. Rails seem to have sold out of the Northern ones and Kernow had fewer than 4 of each type in stock. So out came the credit card for a bit of panic buying and 2 sound fitted ones will be winging their way to Colorado very soon. Regards, John P

What do you mean, I'd have thought that the headlights on an HST are either on or off, in what (other) way are the outputs not correct? Regards, John P

I agree with Iain that looks fine to me and a better test would be with some locos running and providing a load for the Z21 to deal with. Regards, John P

Or even a Reiver or two, perhaps. But back to pubs, the Strawberry Duck is (in)famously best accessed from Entwhistle station on the Bolton Blackburn line. John P