paul-dereham

D1022 was my last Western, copped at Reading on the same day as my last Hoover 50022

I live in Norfolk so see Colin's layouts at a lot of local exhibitions but never tire of them. They are an inspiration of how you can have a small O gauge layout.

Wonderful little layout. Well done!

Must remember not to touch the hot bits of the soldering iron. Lovely blister on my finger tip now. Managed to get the droppers soldered on though!

Had a nice time at Doncaster today. Came back with a nice little Dapol 67 in N gauge for my new layout that's under construction.

There is a setting on the Powercab that you can switch on which allows functions above F12 but I'd have to re-read the manual on how to do it. I've done it on my so I know it works! If I can find it I'll post on here but I think I found it through the magic of Google! There's also a useful function, if you have the newer software, that allows up to 6 recalls rather than the 2 normally available.

Interesting to see how many cats are frustrated modellers!

Still nothing! I've used Craftsman parts on a few projects and liked them. It'l be a pity if they've disappeared.

I sent them an e-mail a couple of days ago before placing an order. Not heard anything back yet.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OO-GAUGE-CLASS-37-LOCO-BODY-PLUS-2-OTHER-/201440164004?hash=item2ee6c4f8a4 The only place this should be going is the bin.

I must be worth a fortune in empty boxes! Time to log onto Ebay.

Looks good. I'll await my issue with interest!

Went to the Felixstowe N gauge exhibition today. Only a small exhibition, but very enjoyable.

The website seems to be back up and running. I'll see if I can place my order.

I hadn't seen this thread before but I was searching for their kits as I've bought the Hornby Class 40 with TTS and am looking to detail it. I was looking for headcode disks and buffer beam detailing. Website gone and Howes, where I've bought their kits in the past, are out of stock of most of their lines. Great shame. Even more of a shame when someone takes over a range of kits and then seems to do nothing with them! Just have to see what I've got left over from other projects.

Popped in there today. A handy shop, lots of small suff that I normally need to get from exhibitions. Bought a few things and will be back! Had a chat to the owner and he was saying that he's put his money into stock rather than advertising so I urge anyone local to go and have a look. As my other hobby is cycling I was surprised to see a nice cycle shop almost opposite so spent some pennies in there too!

Somehow only just found this thread. Excellent work - very inspiring!

Just to add my congrats for the article in HM. Nice looking layout.

Took delivery of a new blue with small yellow panel Hymek from a well known Liverpool shop. Ran it in this evening on DC, then fitted a DCC Concept chip. Runs beautifully, very quiet. Well chuffed with it! Detailing and a very light weathering to do.

What did you use for the water? Looks like blue plastic sheet but it gives the right overall impression.

Looks good!

Sorted out the pick-ups. Not a great runner. I'm going to try swapping the decoder for a stay-alive version to see if this improves matters.

Getting into this DCC lark, I thought I'd have a go at an old Hornby rat with the old Ringfield motor. I found the hidden pin that connected the pick up directly to the motor and separated that. I haven't sorted out alternative pick up yet but have tested the rest of the workings by temporarily connecting the black and red wires to the track, grey and orange connected to the brushes and it's running well. Looks a bit of an untidy mess but now I know it's working I'll tidy everything up. I'm considering whether to solder the black wire directly to the hidden pin or to make some pick ups for that side and retain the non powered pick up for the other side.

We to the Peterborough show yesterday. Thought I'd give Kadee couplings a try so bought a couple of packs of No 18 (which fit into a standard NEM socket) and a pair of magnets. Tried them out last night. Very impressed. I like the size of them and they work perfectly. I've played with Spratt and Winkle which I like and I've added staples to small tension lock couplings to be able to uncouple with a magnet but the Kadee's seem to be the simplest. I agree they would look best on North American stock but unless I want to go down the three kink coupling route I think I can put up with their appearance.