Izzy

I had to carve out the front of the 08 body casting to get the 3-pack in as per these shots. The two screws at the rear hold the body on just fine, which was good to find...... Not sure there will be the room to use a SACC16, it's very tight for space. Might I suggest that you consider getting the bits you need off ebay using the links Nick Mitchell provided in the coal tank thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/107235-2mm-coal-tank-test-build/page-6 post 143# It means you can adjust the pack assembly to suit the space, and it is also considerably cheaper...another 30 220uf have just arrived ( I have used the initial 20) at under £12 so SA packs cost just a few pounds each inc the other bits, Zener diode/diode/resistor. Can't really thank Nigel (Cliffe) enough for all the hard ground work he put in on these packs, the best capacitors to use etc and sharing the info so freely. As you so rightly say the difference is quite amazing. Cheers, Izzy Izzy

There is no problem with CT’s with general read/write cv’s inc coreless, but the general advice is that when stay-alives are added DC running must be turned off for it to work and cv read/writing is not possible, so the decoder should be set up before the SA is connected. Just fiddling around with the locos through my sprog/JMRI/Decoder pro as I installed the SA’s I discovered that I could seem to write/change cv’s, and with the standard motor Farish also read them so I did wonder if the coreless were making the difference in this respect. Zimo are certainly better with no issues when adding SA’s, for I also found the p&i figures needed reducing - halving - from 80/40 down to 40/20, to prevent stuttering once the SA’s were added, ( the coreless were already at these figures so were fine). Given the firmware issues that seem to exist with CT’s I now feel that using Zimo’s are preferable except where space is an issue, which are the CT’s trump card, their incredibly small size. Izzy

Thanks for the sound project info. I'm looking for an 03 (diesel shunter) one at present and torn between those available on Zimo's from the different suppliers. If space is tight for stay-alive packs then perhaps making your own might take less room. This is a 3x220uf pack I installed into the nose of a standard Farish 08 (aided by a bit of dental burr work on the body casting. Similar packs with altered configuration to suit the space available have now gone into Farish 03 & 04's (into the cabs but below the window line). An 08 and 04 with etched association chassis have got 4-packs (sounds good!)i.e. 4x220uf as there is much more space. However the results are pretty much identical. All locos using CT DCX 76's ( one had a CT DCX 75 so that got swapped out - I'm not that skilled!) the one thing I can't quite work out is that it isn't possible to read back the cv's on the latter locos with coreless motors, or a Farish Jinty also with a coreless, but the standard Farish ones with their normal motors read back just fine......Hmmm Izzy

Adding a bit of stay-alive capacity really does seem to make a useful difference to a lot of locos as regards smoothness of running even when you think it won’t. I am trying to fit them to as many as I can now, ( where space allows and the decoder has the connections). Could I ask whose sound it is please, it seems very good, just right in fact. Thanks, Izzy

They have done. The new unifrog design has the switch blades bonded to the stock rails, and also to the rails past the crossing. So in effect they are now a insulfrog/electrofrog hybrid which can be used straight away, but now need a switch if the very tip of the crossing is to be fed current. They are as a result no longer self-isolating to the track not selected by the set of the blades, so are truly DCC Sound friendly. The new bullhead points are already unifrog and others are becoming so, the latest production of N code 55 medium radius use them. No doubt more in the different types/scales will follow as tooling is replaced. If you look at Peco track you will find if you compare items from different times that it is often subtly altered when this is done. Izzy

The associations small flat can is decent and reasonably priced (£10), basically a double-shafted version of the small Farish flat can used in the 03/04/08 etc. There are also the 8x16’s Nigel Lawton sells (£8.50) which are good. Sadly those 7x16’s that were on eBay aren’t any more, or rather only a few at now high prices, similar to tramfabriek and what Bachmann want for their coreless motors ( around £20). Izzy

An alternative method, which I have always used, is to apply the transfers as if they are waterslide, so they float off the paper or rather the paper floats off them, slide them into position, then when dry brush meths (gently) over them to trigger the glue. No glue residue this way, and it’s far easier to position them when multiple ones are being applied since they can be got correct before finally fixing down, more water allowing re-position. Izzy

My first rule with these P4 conversions (I started in the early 1980’s with the ring field type Hornby diesels), is that there are no rules when it comes down to doing them. Some are easy and quick - especially when 2mm axles are involved - and others.....are not. In recent times the departure from the ‘standard’ sizes of 1/8” or 2mm axles I.e. much of China production, means more fiddling around is needed. Indeed until you strip a model down there is no particular guarantee of what sizes you might find. Generally there is enough room between the bogie frames, but take nothing for granted. You need of course 22mm+ to normally clear a P4 wheelset. Even if 2mm axles are used be aware that when wheels use this size it might be a nominal value. This is particularly so when gears are a force fit on the originals, but not so on the replacements you intended to use....... Have fun!........ Izzy

I’d check what dia the Hornby wheels are first in case fitting a different size might have an impact on any clearance issues or buffer ride height, as well as the actual axle dia. Often the latter isn’t a standard size or might be shouldered. The gears fitted may just be a tight push fit on them, or they might be splined. These are all aspects that usually need looking at if a conversion pack has not been produced. Izzy

I do think that this is the biggest downside to online shopping. The loss of easy browsing around bits you might not have known existed until you saw them and realised what use they may be to you, perhaps not even for their main intended use. Shame they have gone, I found them very useful and certainly bought stuff I doubt I would have otherwise. Izzy

I think that it is probably not terribly well understood that unless a very large capacitor storage amount is used then the level of movement produced by a stay-alive is unlikely to be seen, and will also depend on the speed of the loco/current draw of the motor as well as whether sound is also fitted. Recently I have been fitting small packs of tantalum’s, either 3 or 4 220uf (so 660uf/880uf) into some 2mm tank/diesel shunter locos and here movement relative to the speed can be seen. A spoke or so at minimal level up to a whole revolution flat out. A bit like a flywheel effect. With a 4mm Bachman’s 08, now fitted with a Mashima 1833 since the original motor failed, even with an ordinary electrolytic 2200uf being used I can detect no movement at any speed. This has a TTS sound decoder fitted. But I know that the stay-alive is working, because with it the loco runs reliably without stalling or stuttering, where as it was prone to do this before fitting the stay-alive. Most levels of stay-alive are really meant to do just this, keep the decoder/motor alive through tiny periods when power is lost, micro- seconds mostly, but which impact loco performance overall. Izzy

I have ended up with a couple of class 15's, one each numbered after the shot at Walton-on-naze, so D8205 and D8224. This is simply because I thus know they will have passed behind my house which backs onto the line at Frinton. It's silly I know......but gives a kind of connection.... The first is plain green, the second with small yellow panels, but perhaps the biggest difference is that they are in different scales, one being scratchbuilt to 2mm, the other being a later purchase of a Heljan 4mm version. With (replaced) correct sized fuel tanks I don't find the latter too bad a model although I have also recently replaced all the handrails with metal items (post the photo as with the number). From shots I have seen the bent plastic cab handrails on the LLC 7mm one also seem rather a let-down. Izzy

The second link I gave to the ‘others’ gallery (post #4) has a couple showing them working the Thorpe-le-spoken to Walton service after the N7’s went and before the EMU’s arrived. They didn’t have train heating so weren’t normally used apart from ecs. However there are a couple of pics in Diesels in East Anglia(Allen) which show them working a Saturday holiday one and a Ipswich - Lowestoft service. All in early all green days. Izzy

I have fitted a Zimo 3D dumbo 26x20x8 behind the radiator in my Bachmann 08. The cab has a 2200uf /16v capacitor fitted upright between the crew (plus diode, resistor etc) for stay-alive. Izzy

I have fitted stay-alive to a Hornby TTS decoder in an Bachmann 08. I used an ordinary 2200uF along with the normal diode and resistor. Fitted them in the cab. Made a big difference to the running reliability. I haven't posted any shots but the details of where to attach the wires are here towards the end of this thread. I turned off DC running to ensure it worked. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/124592-some-rtr-rolling-stock-for-all-saints-east/page-2 look at post #32 Izzy

Quite a bit of early infrastructure fell outside the later structure gauge and got altered to conform. In this respect many canopies had their fronts shorn to comply in later years. If the front is/was intact it would tend to indicate that it was thus outside the minimum structure sandard. Here are a couple of drawings I produced many years ago for mag publication (1980's). If the canopy extended over the track then it's height must have meet the line of the standard construction outline. Hope they help any Izzy

I may have it wrong but I believe Cavan uses standard profile/size N wheels with modified check rail gaps/b-t-b’s. Further thoughts on this suggest that with a checkrail of 0.85mm - 0.35mm greater than 2FS - the tread width needs to be that measurement greater I.e. 1.35mm rather than 1mm to ensure wheel drop does not occur through crossings. Currently the NMRA RP25 profile uses a 1.3mm tread + 0.5mm flange and are thus 1.8mm width. The NEM uses broadly similar profiles but with a width of 2.2mm and a wider tread. Izzy

It is possible to get standard 2mm/2FS wheels to run on N gauge track i.e. track gauged to 9mm if they are set with a b-t-b of 7.9mm. This also allows them to pass through standard Peco points with their wide checks. It works, but isn't perhaps ideal, ( the dropping into the gap). And of course those using 2FS standards @ 1-160 with 9mm gauge also use them. Think it should be feasible if you can find the right b-t-b to use. About 8.1/8.2mm might work. The narrower width flanges aren't the main issue, but the combination with the narrower tread, so how far they have been reduced down from their original width - how wide the treads are - will play a major part. Making up a length of plain track with some check rails set at various distances and seeing what arises might be the only way to judge before experimenting with a turnout. Izzy

Quite a bit of info here: http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/proto_class15.html and here: http://www.d8233.org.uk/gallery_others.htm Izzy

In this case I would solder bits of wire across the V/wing rails in-between where the sleepers will sit. You can snip off any excess on the outside once laid on the sleepers, or if they really bother you and look obvious, snip them between the rails and de-solder them once the turnout is made. (individual bits will be easier to remove than one longer length needing more heat). Generally though I just solder up the V in a simple card jig to get roughly the right angle and then tack it down onto the sleepers/chairplates. Often I will make the V up straight onto the sleepers/chairplates. But then I have always made the wing rails separately, never having used jigs, often working in scales where they just didn't exist anyway. Trying different ways may help you find a method that suits you and the tools you have. In truth there is no right or wrong way of doing most things, just that some are better/quicker/easier when you can use them, and everybody finds some options work for them better than others. Izzy

What's to elaborate? Stay alives work on DC with all ZIMO mobile (loco) decoders. I don't know of any exceptions. However, the types of capacitors which can be connected (and therefore their effectiveness) does vary between the many decoder types available; this applies equally to DCC running so is not a specific analogue issue. Best regards, Paul Forgive Paul, and thanks. It seemed so good/easy that I assumed there must be some qualifications involved. What a nice change. Cheers, Izzy

I can vividly remember driving a J4 on afternoon collections during the long hot summer of ‘76 when you could have cooked a good meal on the flipping engine cover sat between the seats.... Then there was some Idiot who thought getting mini vans was a good idea...... Oh the good old days...... Izzy

Hi, Any chance you could elaborate on that a bit please ? i.e. Whether this applies to all Zimo decoders/just sound ones/only those with built-in stay-alive circuitry/ past a certain software version, or indeed a mix of those. Any info would be quite handy to have and might save a lot of possible confusion. thanks, Izzy

I always remove the pcb from 03/04/08’s etc - they are just soldered onto the motor tags - as I have never been able to get them to run well with them fitted whatever the decoder make - I tried a few before discovering they were the issue. Izzy

Machine Mart do a 10 piece diamond needle file set for £8.39. I got a set a few years back so just checked they still sell them. Okay, not as fine as some others I have, quite coarse by comparison (they are usually classed in grit sizes), but don’t be fooled by the price as for many jobs - like the one being discussed, they do the job needed. If you have to use a cutting disc in a mini-drill then hold the end of the motor shaft in either a pin chuck or a vice. They will act like a heat sink and keep the heat level of the shaft down.