RonnieS

I am just beginning to experiment with tender pick ups . I first tried the DCC Concepts OO gauge wheel pickups but the drag seems to make them unsuitable. The sacrificial lamb is a spare Bachmann Collett goods tender. Has anyone else had more success?

I might try the 9B pencil trick or Peco electrolube before giving up though?

After a big rest from Old Mills (trying to catch up on holidays missed during the Pandemic) I am catching up on paused projects. First of these is tender pick ups for a few locos. My first thought was to experiment on a Bachmann Collett goods spare tender using the DCC concepts thingies. Far too much drag............back to the drawing board!

Today (Saturday morning) I did a bit more and was helped by Mark, our Exhibition secretary and Co-ordinator Clive. Paul F has been invaluable too especially on the lift bridge. Norman is a stalwart and James is a "really usefully engine!" Today was when all the parts of the jigsaw gelled due to combined effort. The teamwork at our Club is great. The project is going well due to the cross fertilization of ideas. Still much remains but a milestone achieved.

Wow! You are extremely helpful thanks. I can use this information on the next panel.

Super reply! That is a great help and an endorsement to the route I took. It also occurred to me that the diodes in the matrix might blow if the load was increased.

. So last night was another working session and proved the max number of point motors that could be fired at one go with my present set up was 4. I thought I’d post my solution on the off chance that some one else ever had a similar problem. As the set up only fires 4 motors at once I decided to control the left and right on separate studs just drilling 4 holes and inserting new studs on Roads 1,2,4 & 5. This works OK but is not as slick as I had hoped. Trobleshooting took far longer than I had hoped but it's not a race. I guess the 2 main factors in this hobby are:- A It takes twice as long as expected B It costs twice as much as expected

This question was in conjunction with a club project I am working on. So last night was another working session and proved the max number of point motors that could be fired at one go with my present set up was 4. I thought I’d post my solution on the off chance that some one else ever had a similar problem. The top sketch shows a rough plan of 5 loops I hoped to control with said set up. Road 1 at the bottom, Road 5 at the top. Ignore the stars and the green numbers, the other numbers are the point motors. The king points each end are 3 ways so we have to fire motors 2,3,6,7 every time. Road 1 fires 1,2,3,6,7,5 Road 2 fires 1,2,3,6,7,5 Road 3 fires 2,3,6,7 Road 4 fires 2,3,4,6,7,8 Road 5 fires 2,3,4,6,7,8 As the set up only fires 4 motors at once I decided to control the left and right on separate studs just drilling 4 holes and inserting new studs on Roads 1,2,4 & 5.

I guess my question was phrased badly. What I am trying to establish is would a bigger voltage supply give a bigger “belt” and improve performance? The recharge time is great but I don’t feel there is enough umpf to fire a double demand. This is the CDU I am (at present) using https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252833225672 I did ask the supplier my question but his answer was a bit ambiguous. I feel the combined experience of rmweb readers is my best bet.

I have a 16v 1 amp power unit feeding a 4 pot (each of 4,700) 18,800 microfarad CDU. The CDU is good and fires 3 points at the same time OK. I have ambitions of firing 6. The CDU manufacturer claims it should fire up to 10 but recommends a bigger power unit. I was under the impression that when a Capacitor was full it was full and the voltage and amperage were not a consideration. Am I wrong? (I quite often am)

It wouuld appear I am not on my own with "pie in the sky" Q Wikipedeia "Future potential reopening" Numerous proposals have been made to reopen the railway line in some form, most involving the still-existing branch line from Frome to Radstock. A consultation report produced by Halcrow Group in 2014 outlines the feasibility reinstating service on that branch which was estimated to cost £40 million in 2013. Furthermore, the possibility of opening a heritage railway line has been discussed. The former line through Bristol via Brislington and Whitchurch has been described by pressure group Transport for Greater Bristol as 'technically feasible' but would require a large land acquisition budget due to most of the old route being built over. In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line from Frome to Radstock as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).

I like to try and use colour code and numbers to identify and trace circuits. On the club layout working upside down I managed to lose a few slide on numbers. The runs are in the main 7/0.2 equipment wire. All the clip on markers I have found so far on the web seem to be for heavier duty cable. Can anyone advise a solution please? On the face of it these may be helpful? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164735833422

Model Railway couplings are a personal choice. I have chosen (in the main) to go for a simple hook and bar made from 0.5mm wire blackened with a spirit based marker. This is all the fixed rake stock. There are a few dozen or so of the "Sprat and Winkle" magnetic couplings. Here an empty cattle wagon has been dropped off because of a "hot box". It will go to the nearby Marcroft wagon works Radstock for attention.

Well I have had a break from this layout as I got involved on https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/178790-the-bognor-regis-club-american-layout/but I have a few additions planned for soon.

The backing of trains should not be a possibility on our set up. Although on a club layout you can't rule anything out! On the hinged side if the flap was up and a loco ran into it: the buffers are the same width as the track so I think we should be OK. On another (unrelated) tack Layout co-ordinator (boss) Clive will shortly be posting some better photos.

I finished the Panel this morning. It tests out OK with the Multimeter. Fitting, connecting and trouble shooting next week (and probanly the following 2 weeks too)!

Well! A bit more progress this week with the outer track laid over the bridge. And since this pic was taken.; soldered up and most wiring undertaken.

And on the right hand side (Top of plan) Norman is working on a goods yard.

The "Rockies" is the work of Project Leader and Layout coorindator Clive. Carved from Celotex type insulation board it is pretty impressive and incredibly time consuming.

As you may notice amongst the untidiness there is in place a very temporary control panel. I am (very slowly) building a replacement. It utilises a £12 box from "The Works " as a basis. As you can see I am about 50% there.

The outer circuit climbs on a 1 in 36 towards the "Rockies".

The current is carried over the lift bridge via bolts. When the bolts are "open" no current for 18 inches or so prior to said bridge due to an isolation break. This prevents trains plunging into the abyss.

The slip is on a "lift bridge" near the doorway. The Bridge is a sort of copy from my mate Tony Wrights version on Little Bytham.