tender

Hi Jamie, missed you last night, must have been a good curry. I think Peter must be getting fed up with me playing with his layout as I keep finding the odd gremlin. Still it looks pretty sorted now, just a point motor at the end of the quay to sort out and get an operating schedule together. Be up again at the weekend if your around.

Hi Peter. Will be over tomorrow evening for another familiarisation (play) with the layout and check out the sector plate. I'll bring a few of our latest purchases (4575,45xx and Collet) to test on DC before chipping them. We could take them to Hartlepool as a backup but will need a couple of your couplings modified for NEM sockets. Ray.

Looks like your timetable is coming together nicely, more picture please.

Hi Peter. Weathers rubbish for the weekend so will come over to the unit and give you a hand. Ray.

Does Wendy know about that one?

At 4:00 yesterday Railroom Electronics (stand 95) had all types on display and another box under the counter. Bought a GWR Home with a view to converting to DCC. Hopefully Southern types will be available in the near future.

Yep, just have email saying that too (R4534 coach pack). A case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing - I phoned their sales team yesterday and was informed that they didn't expect them until late July.

Hi Peter. Sorry we couldn't make Bakewell, sounds like you all had a good time. Well done on the award, that up's the anti for the rest of us. Ray.

Hattons not expecting R4534 (coach pack) until end of July.

Hi Peter. Are you ordering more of them corridor connections? If so can you get me some.

Hopefully, you'll have more luck with the replacement. Let us know how you get on. Out of interest mine is using a Lenz Silver + decoder and is giving acceptable slow running after a bit of CV tweeking.

Hi Martin. Does it run on DC, (Unplug the decoder and put the original blanking plug in)?

Can't see why not, but not in time for Hartlepool. We could try it out for the Glen Gillie extension and expand it to the rest of the layout at a later stage (if you prefer). Suggest we move this discussion to the Glen Gille thread if you wish to pursue. Ray.

Hi Jamie. The PCB is 'off the shelf', it's an NCE Mini-panel. The rest I made up from components, just LED's and switches, nothing complicated at all wiring wise. The cleaver bit is in the programming of the mini-panel , but not difficult for this simple application. The same could be done for Glen Gillie for point/route control but the unit is DCC so all the point motors would need to be run from a DCC accessory decoder instead of the current CDU (capacitor discharge unit). The Loco's/track could still be DC. Humm nice project, the existing switch panel on Glen Gillie drives me insane at times. Ray

Hi Jamie, I like the one of Peter laying down on the job, how does he stop the paint pots rolling off the table? BTW I was looking through your photo's of the Signal Box and Tornado earlier in this thread and thought you might like the one the signalman took. Ray.

What show's that then Jamie?

Here's a picture of C&L and Peco side by side, both code 75. As well as being spaced out the sleepers are about 2mm longer, slightly wider and significantly thinner (1.6mm). Part number for the C&L is 4FT101A. Sorry for going OT

Hi Martin Firstly, put back in the dc blanking plug and make sure the drive unit runs on dc track. If it doesn't then you have a wiring fault, it will never run with a DCC decoder until this is fixed. Report back if ok. You only need the drive unit, the connections between coaches only supply power to the table lamps (and head code on the BR/Blue version). Ray.

Or, you could just buy C&L/SMP track and save all the time.

Isn't that the same as post #189? Ray.

Nice shed layout, like the way you go around the corner giving you a triangle instead of the usual turntable. Here's a couple of pics I took. Ray

That's a fine looking footbridge Peter. I'll try and get over this weekend you're around. I might stick the new exhibition layout baseboards in the car to see if they fit. Ray.

Hi Jamie. I didn't find a simple turnout that difficult, just a methodical approach, advice from RMwebbers, a little time and patience and the right tools for the job is all you need. Having said that I've yet to tackle double slip!!!! Ray.

Hi Jamie. Here's another picture of the control panel. I've added another two buttons since the Llanberis show. The black buttons on the left select the route (by setting the points) which is indicated by the leds. The Green - Red - Green buttons at the bottom control the Loco, Forward - Stop - Reverse. As it's a shunting layout there's only one speed, SLOW. Intermediate speeds (between stop and slow) can be obtained by alternatively pressing the forward/stop (or reverse/stop) buttons. The two new buttons (black on the right) select between two different loco's, (I've not labelled these up yet) and have a built in led to show which loco is selected. This adds an extra layer of complexity to the operation of the layout (if desired) by having access to two loco's The clever bit is a NCE Mini panel pcb (inside the control box) which is programmed to send the relevant commands to the DCC command station (a NCE SB3a smart booster) in response to which button is being pushed. Ray

Yep, the hut hiding the point motor/wiring is missing. What software did you use for the track plan Jamie? No visit to the unit this weekend, went off to LYDCC exhibition at the Museum of Transport, Manchester. Didn't intend to buy anything other than odds and ends but couldn't resist another west country class in Southern Malachite. Immediately passed it on to Steve at Grimy Times opposite for him to work his magic with a renaming/numbering job - 21C141. Should be ready for collection at Wigan, just in case I need an excuse to go! Ray.