ChrisG

Thank you, a most helpful review indeed. I found the sketch of how the chairs hold the rail most interesting and informative. Am I the only person who thinks the chairs just look "odd"? I can see clearly that DCC Concepts are breaking a few moulds with this product. As with most innovations time will tell as we hear from people who have used the product in anger. Such innovations can also shake up the market which isn't always good and certainly won't be if other good products fall by the wayside as a result. All eyes on Peco now for their product, and of course on the turnouts when they eventually come from both manufacturers, and which are surely what we REALLY wanted! Chris Gardner Alton Hampshire

southeastern finecast produce a whitemetal kit of the O2 and their smokebox door might work in lieu of a spare. I questioned Kernow about service, repairs, spare parts and longevity and got the feeling my question took them a bit by surprise. As someone buying my first RTR product in 20 years or so my worry about the smaller companies entering the fray was that they had no backup infrastructure like Hornby or Bachmann and we might all be spending a lot of money on products which could not be repaired or serviced and would quickly become obsolete. It was for example nigh on impossible to work out how to get inside one of these models and the reply was more or less along the lines of "why on earth would you want to?". Lo and behold, there are no spares! I understand the reasons, but it's a very poor show! The best Kernow could offer was "send it back to us for assessment". Gone are the days of Hornby Dublo and Triang who took this sort of thing seriously and provided a backup service. Chris

Gosh - the slope really does look odd! Is it really right?

Martyn - I'm sure you are right about the return on investment. It certainly makes sense. Meanwhile we have potentially a watering down of the profit to be made by each of the manufacturers, whilst the modeller doesn't have what he/she really wanted in the first place. That's business I guess! Like you I am left wondering whether the reduced gauge was intentional! Chris

Hooray - the World needs more Isle of Wight layouts! Which part of the network are you tackling? Chris

In that I have already purchased material to meet my track building requirements for the foreseeable future, I am literally disinterested in this development. Nevertheless, I am curious as to why two manufacturers have announced (and now one has produced) flexible steam-era bullhead plain track when that corner of the market was already satisfied, and the market for compatible ready made pointwork is wide open, and I imagine something of a crying need which is preventing many people from taking the plunge with finer track. I can well understand there is probably an enormous difference in the initial investment required to launch plain track versus turnouts, but nevertheless a couple of standard-ish turnouts and a diamond might have been a better starting point? Chris Gardner Alton

It is possible he has been working on them for some time as I sent him some drawings a few months ago. These were the ones in the Maycock and Reed book on IOW carriages, and the kits will therefore copy the panelled/non-panelled pattern from those drawings. When I last corresponded with Allen he said he needed to experiment with replicating the rivetting on the panelled sections. I hope you specified 4mm scale, as he usually works in 3mm scale! Chris

I keep my Roxey kits separate from the Ratio/Grafar based ones for that very reason! Although of course the difference in profile between LBSCR and SECR coaches is one of the distinctive features of IOW trains in BR days.

I shall have a look at Sweetex next time in the supermarket! Meanwhile, can you explain the advantage of using the GF coaches as a basis for SECR ones rather than just using the the Roxey bits - is it that it makes easier if you have a foundation on which to stick the chopped up bits? I must say the out of gauge width has never bothered me. The couple of SECR based coaches I have modelled are based on the Grafar suburbans with compartments chopped out to make them shorter. I struggle to get the correct roof shape however. My best approach has been using aluminium BR Mk1 roofs pressed a bit flat! Chris

Time for a holding post. No pictures I am afraid - they will come shortly when the current round of work is complete. In January 2016 I completed the new tracklaying at Newport. There followed a period of extensive testing during which bugs were ironed out. I have a few rough patches of trackwork still (the first running of a Bachmann PLV van discovered a couple!) but basically the entire layout (barring Medina Wharf which is not yet even started) is running perfectly and I know which bits are not up to snuff and what to do about them. A period of reflection and playing trains followed during which I decided to make a few more changes. Firstly, to improve the operation of the layout I decided to make the hidden loops controllable from Newport, which involved making two 24 way extension cables to stretch from one end of the layout to the other to allow the panel to be moved. The voltage drop meant that I had to invest in a high power CDU to kick the solenoid operated hidden loops points into action. This change now means one operator can have fun running Newport to hidden loops. One of my yardsticks for enjoying operation is the ability to do it, seated, from one position. Secondly, to reconfigure the return loops to allow complete flexibility of operation on the Sandown and Ryde lines heading East out of Newport. Work required to change the running direction of one of the loops is a comprehensive re-wiring and re-positioning of the IRDOTS on one of the loops. Job nearly finished. At the same time, I have completed the installation of the interlocked frame for Cowes and installed servo-controlled semaphores at Cowes. Within the next few days I should be able to re-assemble the layout and will take some more photos and videos to show the changes. I've now been at it for three years (or is it four?) , and the last year has been spent re-working and replacing what had been done to begin with. I have no regrets about this. It is one of those "layouts of a lifetime" and I don't begrudge time spent getting things right. There seems to be no point in accepting things that one knows are not good enough. Because the fun is in the building I don't feel any urgency to get things done. Chris Alton Hampshire

First time I did it I followed the instructions to the letter and found it not hard, but it took a long time and you have to be very methodical. it also resulted in a frame which was a bit too slack - too much play in the locked levers. Since then I have built two more. Being a bit cocky I hardly read the instructions I actually did things in the wrong order on the second and good in a bit of a mess (which I was able to sort out). By the time of the third it was almost as easy as falling off a proverbial log. I can thoroughly endorse the product and happy to chat by e-mail in more detail if you are interested in pursuing it for your layout and knowing more about what you would be letting yourself in for! Chris

Would be interested to see the tanks on the weed-killing train, and a description of how you built them. Chris

Although I was able to post that the system performed better on 12v DC than DCC track power, it again began to reset itself whilst turned off. Having worked on it for many hours a day now for 3 or 4 days, I have finally thrown in the towel and will try the Heathcote Electronics bouncing signal controller, still using the Peco Servos so as to recoup some of the expenditure....... Judging by earlier posts in this thread I am far from being the only person who has given up on the Peco product. Chris Gardner Alton Hants

I have spent a couple of days installing Peco Smartswitches to control handbuilt signals on my layout. So far I have very little to show for my effort. I could have given up at the point where the faults included the factory reset not working, any attempt to change the servo settings was causing a track short circuit, servos were not centring properly, with the arms rotating 180 degrees to the opposite position! Given a number of additional problems it was looking like a dead loss. This was running the system as suggested off the DCC track supply. When I disconnected that and attached a 12v DC supply it was a different kettle of fish altogether. In fact, it looks like it will work rather nicely. Another breakthrough was deciding to move away from the Ratio mechanisms I had been using to a much more simple mechanical implementation as shown in this video on Youtube:- Despite my position of relative happiness right now, I have to say that the instructions are not good - they refer in places to the ANE original product rather than the slightly modified Peco one and I am not impressed by the ease with which one can plug things in the wrong way around nor the flimsiness of the attachment of the various connectors to the PCB. I had to resolder many joints which were loosened by repeated screwing and unscrewing whilst fault diagnosing. It's a shoddy product which, at the price, should be a good deal better than it is. Chris Gardner Alton Hants

I have a question about DCC and the O2s. The two I have running at the moment have both been fitted with DCC Concepts Zen Decoders (I can't remember which ones they are exactly, but I don't think that is crucial to the answer. One is a simple plug in, the other is hard-wired and has a Stay Alive (as supplied with the Decoder) added. I cannot read back the CVs or even the address from these locos, using a Gaugemaster DCC Doctor. My other locos fitted with the same decoders and both with and without the stay-alive device can be read back quite happily. I am wondering if the difference is down to the motor used in the Kernow model. I have a hunch that the "stay alive" might also be affecting the loco's performance - it has a very slightly pulsing motion rather than the completely smooth running of the one without "stay alive". I'm curious to know if anyone else has the same problem(s), or categorically doesn't have them, with these decoders in these locos. Thanks Chris

Going back over your earlier post, it became fairly clear to me that the real selling point of Alpha is that it means you can get the benefit of DCC (i.e. simplification of the wiring) whilst being able to control your signals and turnouts from a switchboard or lever frame, with a mimic board if you want it. Somehow this fairly simple USP does not come across quickly and clearly from the plethora of marketing material, whilst the "simple as Lego" slogan is just disingenuous. Chris

i guess I probably come over as knocking DCC Concepts, but I have a fair quantity of their products on my layout and have had a very good experience with it. Their marketing however needs a complete overhaul because it Is baffling and does the products themselves few favours.

Not exactly as easy as Lego then!

p71 of the latest Model Rail (No.221) which arrived in my letterbox this morning - an advert for DCC Concepts "A-Mimic". Never-before mentioned I think. Apparently it works with all DCC system brands. But what does it do, and is it complementary to or does it replace all or some of the rest of Alpha range? I am left completely bemused by it, and have deduced that it may provide the basis for creating a mimic diagram illuminated by LEDs. And such a panel is going to be as easy to assemble as Lego, we are told. All for £49.95! Come on - I really doubt that. It's so badly presented! Or am I just being stupid? I would be interested to know what others make of it. Chris Gardner Alton Hants

Interesting stuff here about dismantling as well as EM conversion:- http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/109446-kernow-02-em-gauge-conversion/?p=2244880

Well, I guess it could be the fact that from May DCC Concepts will be based in the UK, as Rand let slip in his last e-mail......? Chris

Thanks Phil. I have by-passed the whole issue by staying with an electro-mechnical system! Chris

Stepping back a bit from all this... When thinking through how I would control my new layout, begun in retirement and intended to keep me busy for evermore, it occurred to me that:- a) In the absence of a viable wireless/radio control set up for 4mm scale (especially a layout like mine which only has small tank engines), DCC was the obvious way to go since it makes driving a model train pretty much like driving the real thing. It allows a separation of the duties of a signalman from those of a driver and means you can run your railway like a railway. And that's what I wanted. b) DCC was also a possibility for turnouts and signals. Except they can already be controlled by mechanical or electrical (non digital) means, precisely in accordance with the prototype, and therefore weren't exactly looking for a new solution. c) DCC does offer a saving in time spent wiring - but it's a one-off saving per layout, and that has to be traded off against the additional cost of the digital kit. And, as with most things electronic, one risks the equipment becoming obsolete or simply wearing out, as seems to be the way with computerised stuff. Therefore, despite being momentarily tempted by what DCC Concepts had to offer, because of the cost (and the simple fact the products were being hyped before they even existed!) I came down on the side of electrical control of turnouts and signals, and the money I might have spent on the digital equipment I spent on lovely brass kits (by Modratec) of fully interlocked lever frames which drive little SPDT switches which fire the point motors. In the process I discovered a hitherto unknown benefit which is that you can still change the points when a loco causes a short circuit by driving into a wrongly-switched crossing! Chris Gardner Alton Hampshire

There is a double page advert in Hornby Magazine 106 (April 2016) which does little to demystify the various Alpha products and steers clear of quoting any prices. I was considering using the Alpha system on my layout and read all the manuals many months ago, as well as having a detailed conversation with DCC Concepts via e-mail, before concluding the small one-off saving in the time to wire the layout was not worth the huge cost of buying the various boxes I would need. I've now installed the point motors in the traditional way, some weeks before DCC Concepts got the product on the market. Frankly, the advert in Hornby Magazine is baffling. The PDFs on the Internet are also baffling (and who chose blue print on blue background?). I defy anyone, on the basis of reading the two pages in Hornby magazine, to have any clue as to why they might want such equipment and how they would expect to benefit from it, let alone how much they would have to invest in it. It may be a great product for some people but it's so badly marketed it's going to find it difficult to find and reach its market. Chris Gardner Alton Hampshire