billtee

Thanks for the tip about lamp shades - they look great! It looks as though I will have to make the yard lights, I was hopng some company made them in 7mm scale, but apparently not! Hey ho! Anyway, thank you for your help. Bill

I'm building (very slowly!) an O gauge layout and now working on a small(?) goods yard. I've built a goods shed lit with 2 12v GOW bulbs, but wired in parallel to 12v supply they were too bright; in series they were too dim. Eventually wired the lights in series through a switch to my DCC track power (about 15v AC?), and that gives me just about right brightness! Now I want to put in some British-type goods yard lights, I think the posts weren't very tall, and had two arms which go upwards to the light itself which depends from a small shade (?). However, I can't find a supplier of them, and I am requiring about 6 (they will also be lighting up my loco depot. Can anyone suggest a firm? The bulb of each lamp may be 12v GOWheat or GORice, or LED - I have plenty of 1k ohm resistors! Thank you for any suggestions. Bill

I'm planning on getting the new Hornby DOG when it eventually becomes available, but it won't be anywhere nearly as good as yours. And your paintwork and lining are superb! Well done indeed! Bill

This Crosti locomotive is becoming a superb model - it's absolutely brilliant! Bill

Blimey, those photographs of coaches, etc with interior lights are just amazing! I'm seriously impressed! Thank you, everyone, for your help in this matter. I think I will be able to make a reasonable job of lighting my whole TWO coaches! I probably won't purchase any more because my layout is primarily an engine shed (yes, I know - yawn!), but it displays my collection of diesel locomotives very nicely, and now that I've made a complete circuit, albeit the rear of the layout is not scenic in any way (think of it as a fiddle yard where you drive in, and drive out!), I can watch my locomotives running past the TMD all day if I want. I've got to say that it is VERY relaxing. Now I'd better get that ballasting done - a job I've been putting off for ages because I don't want to 'finalise' anything until I'm VERY certain that everything works perfectly, all the time, and under all conditions. Think of my layout as being in 'beta' stage of development! All the very best to you all, Bill

Many thanks to all who have replied to my questions (which have been merged from two different forums to keep everything simple!). I am very much favouring a method sold by DCC Supplies, because (a) the shop is only about 35 miles from where I live so I can go there and TALK to the very knowledgeable lass who works the shop, and ( B) they also sell DCC Concepts stuff. I very much like the Flicker-Free lighting kits, and I'd LIKE to add a red tail light, but I'm not absolutely sure I can add one yet. I'll have to ask (one of the benefits of actually talking to a knowledgeable sales assistant!). DCC Supplies also sell fine pick-up wipers which only have to be Araldited to the bottoms of the bogies - brilliant! (PS: I'm just a very satisfied customer of DCC Supplies!) Anyway, thanks to those who mentioned conductive paint - I had never heard of that before, and it would overcome the problem of getting power to the axles. Perhaps they sell that at DCC Supplies! I'm still a bit mystified as to the method of getting the power from the bogies into the coach without upsetting the close-coupling cam arrangement, as I can't go 'through' the bogie pivot - it is a very short screw, and there is a little 'stop' moulding right next to it to restrict the swinging of the bogie, so I couldn't just run a wire up close to the screw! Perhaps I could use the screw as a current conductor if I am able to see the other end (inside the coach, which I haven't yet pulled apart). This particular problem is causing me a bit of a headache (again!) - I can see that there is an 'open' section of floor right above the bogies to let the close-coupling mechanism move, but if I threaded a wire up through there, it would restrict the bogie swing and possibly restrict the close-coupling as well. Oh dear! All the best, Bill

Marty Mc, I'm very, very impressed with your coach lighting, that's for sure! And all your passengers (where did you get them?) I would like to have a working tail light on the BCK if possible, but there are a few problems which I have spotted, even if I go with DCC concepts flicker-free lighting kits. I've posted a fuller explanation of the problems in the Modelling Questions section. Anyway, dear friend, thank you for posting the photos and videos - as I said at the beginning, I'm VERY impressed indeed! Thank you, Bill

Having had a look at the DCC Concepts Flicker-free coach lighting, and these kits looks to be ideal for me. The 'fly in the ointment' that immediately springs to mind is the power pick-up from the rails - Bachmann axles are completely isolated from the wheels! I could get some VERY fine wire which could lightly rub on the back of the wheels close to the axles, so that's not a complete block to getting power to the bogies (though how I'd fasten the wires on the smooth lower surface of the bogies and still keep everything out of sight is a bit tricky!), but then there's the next problem: getting the power from the bogies into the coach. There's a beautifully fine cam-thingy directly above the bogies which keeps the coaches closely coupled when on straight track, but extends the couplings when going around curves (which is absolutely brilliant!). I've taken off a bogie to have a close look at where I could feed the power leads (+ and -, of course) up, but as I see it, any wires, no matter how fine, would snag the close-coupling mechanism. I'm having a headache just thinking about doing these conversions at the moment! Has anyone actually lit up a Bachmann coach? I have two Bachmann coaches, a Mk 1 BCK and a Mk 1 CK, both to be hauled behind a green BR (split headcodes, with small yellow panels) Peak diesel which is fitted with a factory-installed sound chip. My 'storyline' is that this small (short) train is a 'Spotter Special' bringing enthusiasts to my TMD for the day! I have a couple of Bachmann 16-pin 3-function decoders I could possibly use if I can get some 16-pin sockets and if someone can tell me what socket pins I would have to solder the + and - to, and what pins would give me an on-off output. I could then give the chips a dedicated 'loco' address (probably 51 and 52, as I will never have that many locomotives!).I'm not an electronics expert, but I can solder fine wires fairly neatly - my signals have wires so fine I can hardly see them, so I've soldered thicker wires (16/0.2 which is all I've got!) to the ends of them so that I can see what I'm doing! So far, everything seems to be working OK so I must be doing something right. If anyone can help me re the coach lighting I would be very, very grateful! All the best, Bill

I've just purchased a Bachmann Mk 1 CK and a Bachmann Mk 1 BCK and want to fit LED lighting withon them. But how will I be able to turn on/off the coach lights? My layout is purely DCC. I want each coach to have individual control, as the coaches are not stored in a fixed rake (no sidings longer than one coach length!). There are several different manufacturers of lighting for coaches, but which is best? I don't want brilliantly lit coaches, just the 'usual' dimly lit variety, but my main concern is DCC control. Thank you for any suggestions/help. Bill

An excellent model of Banbury Station - congratulations!