tender

Another solution that doesn't involve cutting the switch rails (providing you haven't laid them yet) would be to cut the switch rail bonding wires and feed them to switches on the point motor so that only the active switch blade is live.

Would this still work if the fiddle yard was on the left? i.e the 9' across the top and 10' down the right hand side. This would mean trains arriving on the outside of the curve and departures on the inside curve. The reason i ask is that I have a room of these dimensions with a fixed roundy but want to remove this and replace with something that could be made portable and free up the rest of the room. I've been looking at doing a minories variant for some time now and this looks like it could fit the bill.

I've yet to lay any of my Bullhead turnouts and feel loathed to start attacking them with a disc cutter to cut the rails. This looks like a good unobtrusive solution. Like Martin says, its easily done after laying if the problem manifests.

Well, the Lokprogrammer wasn't up to much, for some reason Widows 10 isn't recognising it as a com port. I did get DecoderPro working with my SPROG so that made things a lot easier. Firstly, doing the uncoupling sequence from a hand throttle gave the same results so its unlikely to be anything to do with TC. After reading the Loksound decoder with DecoderPro i managed to strip the uncoupling sound from the uncoupling function. Hey presto, it now works perfectly. Allocating the uncoupling sound to another Function key and activating it just before the uncoupling function messes it up again. Strange.

Thanks Nigel, I have an old LokProgrammer somewhere so will fire it up, have a poke around and report back. Ray.

Ok, I have the Kadee Shuffle working on my Loksound V4 with the sound turned off. Under Train Controller the train pulls into the station and does a final crawl up to an IR sensor where the train stops. After a few seconds the kadee shuffle is initiated and the loco pushes back 10mm placing the kadee over the magnet and then forward 15mm leaving the coaches behind. Works perfectly ever time. Problem is when the sound is switched on. The train pulls up to the IR sensor and stops as usual but then the push back is randomly between 0-7mm so uncoupling is very hit and miss, mostly miss. The pull forward doesn't seem to be effected. Have I missed something? Ray.

By 'current' i meant the Bullhead long turnouts. Sorry.

The current versions are still available although the major retailers seem to be sold out, but there are still smaller suppliers advertising as in stock. I had a few delivered yesterday.

The DCC Concepts AD1HP decoders can drive multiple Cobalts or Tortoises so assuming you would want your crossover pairs to switch together you would only need 5 AD1HP's. 5x£8=£40 (from a well known Liverpool outlet).

Hi George, what size soldering iron do you use for O Gauge kits? (Just in case the bug bites).

Thanks Nigel, i guessed it wasn't straightforward as it wasn't obvious in the manual, unlike the Zimo decoder where theres a CV to just attach the shuffle to a Function button.

I'm afraid I've no room for a layout big enough to warrant a WC in O, just small tanks engines for me. I've a few RTR examples and would love to add an O2 kit from Connoisseur but I think it would just join the pile of unfinished projects under the bench.

Sorry to drag this topic up again, but how do get this to work on a Loksound version 4 decoder. I've found the section in the manual for setting the speed, push and pull back settings with CV's 246,247 and 248, but how do i attach this to the uncoupling sound function button on F11. Ray.

They look great George. I have a PDK West Country kit that i bought when i retired thinking i'd have plenty of time to build it. That was six years ago and its still sitting under the bench in its box. One day! Ray.

Hi Andy, the POD is coming on nicely, you'll be back in action in no time at this rate.

Well, yes, but why would you want a loco to run uncontrolled for a few inches. If you're having that much trouble you should look at the contacts on the loco, clean the wheels/track etc. Large stay alive's just cover up problems that should be fairly easy to resolve (except for short wheelbase 0-4-0 locos on insulfrog points maybe).

That's the bit that got me.

I may be misinterpreting something here, but how does a arriving train access the middle platform?

The Locoman Terrier sound chip sounds good, I've tried two different sound chips so far in my terrier and not been that impressed with either. Where did you get the Locoman chip from? Don't forget to sync the chuffs to the wheel rotation. Ray.

Many thanks for the 'step by step' Dave. I'll have to give it another try. Ray.

I've never had much success with blackening, can you give us some tips as to how you go about it. Ray.

Hi George. Yeh, i miss Camel Quay, it was nice and compact, had plenty of operator interest and i could set it up in the lounge and have a play every now and then. My worry is the O gauge layout is going to turn out too big to set up at home and will only see the light of day at exhibitions. Whenever that will be.

Er. Yes and no. We have a few items of RTR, a few kits and i have some track and a few turnouts but the intended plan is not working out when i put the stock on. I'm getting buffer lock on the coaching stock through the turnouts so its back to the drawing board. I know how to solve the problem (i think) but it means getting another 3 way turnout and crossing built, but i'm busy with a 5" gauge loco build at present which is taking up all my time. I might give Marcway a ring and see if they'll do it.

Blimey George, looks like you've got a fine production line going there. Take care. Ray.

Likewise, Trebudoc for me.