MarshLane

Very nice Dave, Really looks good, and I think you 'stopped' at the right point, personally! Rich

Not being picky Andy, but by Aylesford i presume you mean Alresford?

Thanks Jeff, Ive just started the scenery on my Rock Creek layout, and I am thinking I’ll do the sections either side of the river in a similar way. All very educational this! Rich

Jeff, Call me picky but I am not sure you've grasped the concept this ... under pinning soil embankments, does not use those kind of nails! That moveable piece looks really good tho. Have you built up the land level on a piece of foam board? Presumably plaster or sculptamould I am guessing then grassed and walled on top of it? Rich

Course! I forgot that little point ... that assuming the welds between the front and back portion of the two wrecks hold out Ah! I haven't seen much of him on good days let alone bad Paul ... I think he's taken Covid isolation to a new level personally .... Oh for the love of god Andy no!!! Especially not ig its a Greggs, you'll be making me hungry .... where did I put that Steak Bake??? Hehe Rich

Just a quick update, as anyone who has followed the linked 'DCC' thread will already know, Nigel Cliffe of this parish advised getting a Sprog device to sort out the problems using Decoder Pro. Duly arrived this morning and I have had chance to have a play and look tonight. Most of the problems I ran into last week have now been solved. All bar one of the decoders is working fine, and all have been programmed to the correct address Hurray! So nine programmed, just another five to go, and everything is 'DCC' compliant - first time ever I could say that with a layout! Next task will be speed profiling them, but I cannot really do that until the continual loop is up and running, maybe later this week. Some good progress tonight tho, and rmWebbers offering support and practical help at its best! Rich

Nigel, Thanks ever so much for your help. Some degree of success tonight. Two of the three problematic decoders, were talkative to the Sprog, and doing a reset on them, then resulted in everything working. The third just won't identify itself to DecoderPro at all, there is no lights flashing or twitching, and the power light on the Sprog starts flashing constantly for 30 seconds, with DP reporting 'no locomotive found', so I will send that back to Digitrax for replacement, as I suspect its dud somehow. However, thanks to your help and the Sprog unit, along with Decoder Pro, I now have nine chipped locos available all of which are fully working, so many thanks. I'll now identify which is the slowest, and takes the highest speed step to start as the 'master' loco and try and profile the rest to match it.

Is that Seven Foot pond forming there ... one hopes the car can float given that rain has been coming down for two hours like that now!

Hi Nigel, From the reading I have done on the motor only (ie non-sound) Digitrax decoders there isn't a test mode, that's only on the sound services. The Sprog unit has arrived this morning, so I'll try and read the CVs this evening. Is there anything specific to look at, that might give a clue as to what is wrong please? Rich

Hi Nigel, Thanks for that advice, I'll let you know how I get on. For interest, I opened a support ticket with Digitrax in American yesterday. Very impressed with their turn around times, added it at 1820ish our time, and had a response within 45 minutes. In case it helps anyone, their response was: Richard, It is highly unusual that 3 different decoders would act the same way. Reset the DB150 to factory defaults. Place the MODE toggle switch on the DB150 in the Center OP position and then press the SWCH key, press 39 and then the c key (which is also the Cloc key). You then go back to the command station and push the MODE toggle Down to Sleep and then Up to Run. Reset the decoders to factory defaults CV8=8. Once you reset both, test on address 03 without doing any other programming. If the decoders are still non responsive, You can send the decoder in for replacement. Digitrax Help Desk. Cannot ask more than that really - but it suggests it really is an unusual situation. I'll try that when I get time (probably mid-week) and by then the SPROG should have arrived, and I can read the decoder settings. I'd like to see if I can find the fault, so I (and anyone subsequently reading this) knows what the problem is and (hopefully) how to rectify it. Rich

Only just found this section in the USA bit! Nice work on the repaints.

Not sure if its of interest to anyone, but I have finally decided to sell my sets of the British Steel orange/grey BSC wagons. I have two outer sets and four inner sets. They are on the classifieds section on here if anyone is interested (or PM me). If they are still there in a week or so, I'll look to move them on other channels. Never been out of the box and realistically I am not going to get time for the layout to be built in the next couple of years https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/profile/16721-marshlane/content/&type=classifieds_advert Just thought I'd give anyone who missed out or wanted some a heads up. Rich

Nigel, Thanks for the info, much appreciated, and thanks for your time. I’ve acquired a SprogIIv4 from CoastalDCC this morning, so once that arrives, I’ll let you know the outcome. I’d never realised that the Digitrains DB range doesn’t ‘read’ decoders. Being that the American locos run double and triple headed, then speed-profiling the fleet of 14 to match the ‘master’ loco is another task that I suspect the Sprog will be better for. Something else to do some reading up on! Thanks Rich

Evening all, Well in preparation for being able to run some trains, I though I had better get some decoders fitted. Unfortunately, cue another frustrating session! I'll not bore you with the details, (the diatribe is here in DCC Help if you want to read it - N Gauge DCC Decoder problems), but in a nutshell, fitted three decoders, all Digitrax to two Kato and one Fox Valley Model, and nothing worked after fitting them. The lights illuminated but no driver home, as the b****y things wouldn't move or respond, cannot even programme them. Evening ended by replacing a Digitrax board with a TCS and bingo everything worked fine first time, so I have some Digitrax decoders that need further investigation! That aside the American manufactures and DCC companies really have got their act together, replacement drop in Printed Circuit Boards for lighting, power and DCC are a doddle to install, as you can see from this image: Decoder (a Digitrax in this instance) at the top, and the original DC Kato board on the bottom, just slide the board out, slide the new decoder in, and (In theory!) bingo! Including getting the body off and back on, its a three minute job, although admittedly these are motor only decoders with no sound, so somewhat simpler. The Fox Valley Models ones are even easier, dont have to take the body off, just pop the radiator roof off, pull a small DC blanking board out, push in a DZ126IN decoder (which is 9mm x 10mm - so dont sneeze!) and reattach the roof. It really is far simpler than the British manufacturers make things. So end result, not as much progress as I'd hoped, only one loco chipped, readdressed and working, but at least I have narrowed down where the problem with these decoders is, I was worried it might be my Digitrax DCC System, but that looks fine. A few phone calls to make tomorrow to see if we can identify what the issue is. Hope everyone is keeping safe and well. Rich

Thanks Nigel, Ok, I have tried both paged and direct mode, with no response from the decoder at all, although the booster has 'beeped' as it should do. What item of equipment - either in addition to, or change, from my current setup - would you suggest? The DB150 is probably 10-12 years old now if not a bit older. An interesting twist to this tale. It looks like a decoder issue with the Digitrax decoders, possibly all three of them. I took one of the DN163K1C boards out of the Kato model, and replaced it with a TCS K1D1 board, straight swap, nothing else, and bingo, everything worked fine on Address 3 - lights, traction all controllable, reprogrammed the board to the loco address, booster 'beeped', loco shuffled. Selected 4682 on the controller and hurray, everything still works! Put the Digitrax board back in and zilch, back to where we were. So I can only conclude that it is something wrong (either a fault or CV value) with the Digitrax decoders, but why it should affect three or four boards, which have been bought at different times from different places, I am really not sure. Rich

Jeff, May one be so bold as to suggest a letter pleading poverty and ignorance to the Chief Bodger of Model Railways (and superb artist), namely one @Andrew P of this parish, may assist your question for an 'under the arches' view..... or at the very least some polite suggestions in exchange for welsh cakes or a suitable jam sponge? Just thinking if its something you are not looking forward to maybe outsourcing could be the idea.... Rich

Hi Nigel, Thanks for the quick reply. The PC connection is a RRCirkits loco buffer. The status edit of 03 is showing Stat 128. Rich

Evening all, I’m hoping somebody may be able to give me some pointers because might Digitrax DCC System and these models are slowly drive me round the twist. For the past 12 months I had one Kato engage model that just would not respond the lights were on but nobody was home. I was undecided as to what the decoder in the loco was, it was already fitted when I bought it, But I’ve since established that I am 99% certain it is a TCS. I’ve tried to do a reset doesn’t have any effect I’ve tried to program the decoder from both the handset and from the PC using the well-known piece of software that I forgotten the name of the moment., called JMRI Decoder Pro. Still no luck and I concluded the decoder must be faulty. Tonight I decided to have a decoder fitting evening I have about seven locos have now got over the code to get with them. Started with another Kato trying to put a DN163K1C decoder in it. The American Models in theory should be so easy the existing light boards simply pull out and the replacement decoder board pushes in. In all cases these are pure motor not sound. Successfully installed I put it on the way out the lights come on and I can turn the lights on and off using F0 but despite being set to address 03, no movement. Two iffy decoders seems highly unlikely. After 30 minutes of playing around I decided to put the model to one side and move onto the next one. The next is an engage Fox Valley models Kansas City southern SD70ACe model, which uses a really small six-pin Dogitrax DZ126N decoder that plugs into the original light board. As simple as it gets. So having fitted the decoder, I placed the logo on the track, and nothing, zilch, zero. Quickly established that the pushing board was fitted the wrong way round, turn it round replace the locomotive on the track and hey presto the lights come on. Set the controller to address 03, and the same problem comes again no traction, no movement, but this time also no ability to turn the lights on and off. Now three iffy decoders can’t happen, So I am now thinking it is the DCC controller at fault. I have come back to the first Cato loco that I tried tonight and attempted to do a reset on the decoder the display gave me an old code including what appeared to be the word wrong at one point and although the power booster beeps as normal the loco does not shuffle. Same happens if you try to reprogram the address same happens if you try to reprogram a CV value. In all of the above cases the DCC system is connected to a 2 m long isolated independent test try this isn’t on the layout it is just a test track and the model concerned is the only one on the track. You know the check that I had got track power I’ve placed another loco that was bought with a DCC decoder already and fitted, Select that address and everything is fine traction, lights, direction all fully controllable. Can anyone offer any thoughts, ideas or suggestions of things that I could try, check or do? Something (probably very simple!) isn’t right here. My DCC system is a Digitrax DB150 booster with DT402 handset connected directly to it. Never had any issues or problems in the past. All help gratefully received! Rich

Its primarily a safety issue Andy. Handbrake should be applied, but if the shunter or driver remove the handbrake prior to moving it/starting it, and the air brakes have leaked off over time, it still cannot go anywhere... well in theory!

ZZzzzzzzzzz ... ough erm ... ahh ... totally agree Jeff.. erm.. with whatever it was you were ermm ... yea ok Asleep, who me, never! Seriously, thanks for that Jeff, interesting. I'd forgotten Marcway did EM gauge pointwork as well as O gauge. I have used their 7mm track work in the past and its been superb. I am getting the hand of point building in 2mm, but still have a hankering for doing something in a 4mm finescale .. nothing as big as GH tho! Keep up the good work mate. Rich

Very nice Jeff, Your making excellent progress. Sorry if I have missed this, but what track have you used? Handbuilt?? Rich

Hi Andy, Nice catch there Trust you to be in the right place at the right time! Personally think the livery works well, in keeping the corporate style, but giving a nod to the co-operation between the two companies - GBRf (UK) & EMD (US) - involved in the conversions. First four will be in traffic out of Tonbridge by early July. Also, just been told Bachmann are to produce the 69s in 2mm and 4mm! Rich

Haha! Well they are an own-brand cereal product of a certain supermarket, whose motto really is true .. 'every little helps!'. In this case, the family have suggested renaming Rock Creek Canyon to the Coco Canyon, on account of the hillside being created from CocoPops boxes!!

Sorry you've not had a productive day Andy, but at least you've got out and seen Eastleigh again... Rich

Evening all, A very frustrating afternoon today. I'd been able to put the day aside to work on Rock Creek. Had a good couple of hours this morning sorting the wiring out (forgot to take some pics tho, so will post those tomorrow) which is now all neat and tidy under the boards. After lunch, put the whole layout up, with the intention of laying the last of the track on the upper level, only to find that something has happened to the opposite end board where the double track was already laid, and that the end pieces against the edge of the board have been damaged. I was afraid of this and will have to look for a better way of securing the track work. Its been regaled and screwed for the time being (its off the scenic section, so quite happy with small screws in). Then turned to some of the track work on the opposite end board, and what should really have been an afternoon's job at most to get it laid, turned into mammoth effort! Some track has gone down, and the point for the top level return loop is in, but the mojo took a bit of a battering with the damage and endless problems to get the new track work to line up right. Just one of those days when the best thing to do is to pack it in and come back another day! One evening this week will be decoder fitting night! I have about eight decoders sat here since mid-December waiting to go into the locos. Hope everyone is having a better evening! Rich