James 1707

Hi, I bought an old Hornby Class 56095 Harworth Colliery. When I opened to add a decoder someone had been there and hacked out the light wires and some of the leds had blown. So I set about fixing and with a bit of trial and error I desired and got the directional lighting to work with DC. So have with the I added a decoder and his F0 for the lights but nothing. Not sure where to go now but ideally does anyone have the wiring diagrams for the board 1621 x009R5 ? Also included some pics. Thanks Jim

Tried a LokPilot basic decoder I had and the performance was much better and also improved control. Think will need a bit more weight and maybe improve the pickups. I guess the I just need to find an economical but effective decoder. That might be trial and error unless anyone can advise from experience? Thanks for the feedback.

Bachmann. Tempted to try a a half decent one like a Zimo MX635R but then the cost of the conversion starts to ramp up. Any thoughts on a robust but economical decoder that’s best for conversions?

Hi Ive converted my old Hornby Class 47 from the 80s with a CD motor following a recent video I saw on you tube. I’ve also added a lais decoder and it works. However when I turn to the first speed step it’s off very fast, probably about 20mph to scale. Not the slow control I was after. I’ve messed about with all decoder speed steps, start voltage CV’s I know, slight differences but nothing major. It’s a 6v motor so I’ve also added some reversed diode pairs in line with the +ve motor and +ve decoder but still no real joy. Anyone any wisdom? Oh also tried another decoder brand. Thanks Jim

Well a few weeks now but getting on rebuild from some old boards. It looks like it's going to work out well.

I've put it on a plan now and when you take into account the corner I seem to have a lot more space before you enter the scenic area. Any thoughts how I should use this space? I don't want to extend the scenic this is just for movement to and from the scenic and sidings

I'm trying to make it so I don't need to touch the locos once on the track at the moment

Thats another great plan. I've got a 3rd and 4th radius quarter turn before I get to the scenic section so I'll use this also for some shunting around. Don't know why I never thought about it before. I suppose the question now is could I use that space differently now. I'll put the that bit on my AnyRail plan and send it.

That's a good idea. I also opens up lots of other operational opportunities from the stage area. Thanks. Back to AnyRail to map it out and do some measurements.

Ok took a bit of step and invested in AnyRail over template prints. I've attached my head shunt to be able to uncouple and run around to then head up before heading out again. I've got about 107cm to play with in the sidings so will need to check what that looks like wagon wise. It's not nice looking but it's just required to be functional. Any thoughts on further improvements?

I added the longer Y's and all aligns better. It's about 70cm leaving me 160cm to play with. Now onto the run a round and head shunt on one of the 4 lanes that give me the most flexibility. I want to avoid a sector plate as I'm hoping to run all this with no hands

Hi, I printed out the double slip and y's tonight and the two tracks converge as suggested, it's as if the slip is too narrow. My 20cm width is very tight even if I mess about with separation between the slip and y's but in doing that I start to compromise the length of the siding.

Hi, thanks for the top feedback so far. My longest loco is my class 66 about 28cm long so I guess the head shunt will need to support this. I'll print out some peco templates tonight and try the double slip and two y points and see how long it is and report back. Thanks Jim

Hi, I need some help please with a siding to handle my trains that run from my main layout and can be shuffled off stage without any hands. Ive got 230x20cm to play with. I would like trains to enter on my up line then exit on the down line. I'd ideally like 4 sidings as a minimum. Although I have some DMU's that can shuttle backward and forwards to the main layout I also have some locos that will need to run around to head the train again. Im hoping to use peco 100 medium points. Ive had a go at coming up with something, see attached but with my very rough maths it leaves a siding of 110cm, not the longest. I really would welcome advice on a better arrangement to maximise the space. Thanks Jim