Dominion

I have had 5 Tam Valley hex frog boards in use for several years. They are all still working fine luckily. I hope you can figure out what caused your issue. I did not get them from coastal DCC as I am in Canada so could get them closer but I have sourced lots of other things from them and I find Kevin to be very knowledgable and very helpful.

Sorry Martin, Templot is a wonderful resource. Tom

Big locos certainly look good and run well through the Finetrax 1:7 slips. I believe in Templot t for a double slip the blade tips start one further timber towards the centre to allow space and clearance for soldering to the tie bar arrangement and for flange clearance. Single slips could be one timber closer to the V crossings, and that maybe the default for a single in Templot. Wayne’s singles use the same spacing as the doubles. Initially I was wondering if it was worth extending the blades on the singles somehow, but the only solution would have been to do a lot of butchery or start from scratch and Wayne’s just are too good for that :-)

Mmm, you have me wondering now. Like many things on the layout I did it so long ago I am struggling to remember the specifics of why I did something a certain way. I agree you certainly need to protect DC locos from DCC power. Also I did not want any stationary stock to accidentally be able to bridge the two power sources, as I do sometimes run a DC loco on its loop while the rest of the layout is DCC powered and operating. But I agree you can set CV29 in the decoders to not respond to DC, which I routinely do when I first configure them. I am now definitely scratching my head as to why I have been removing the DCC locos from that loop and why I thought it was best to separate the storage loops from the DC switchable running lines where I could. Perhaps it has just become an old habit ! Paul are you saying some old decoders were not happy on DC ? I do have some locos I fitted a very long time ago so perhaps that was the issue.

I notice you mentioned earlier you planned to have the ability to run DC for Mark’s unchipped locos. I do that too. I would suggest making it one loop only and not even the associated storage loops. Otherwise it means all the DCC locos on sections that might become DC should be removed and it becomes a bit of a faff if you have lots of locos in loops. In turn that would mean adding insulation gaps at the end of the stock rails of turnouts in fans that might otherwise bridge the DC switchable and DCC permanent loops. I mention this as in normal DC or DCC wiring you would not have to insulate outer rails of fans, and I missed it when first laying my storage loops. It may be too late as it looks like you have laid several of those turnouts already but may still be easier to do sooner rather than later. Having the switchable loop is also very useful for running-in locos before fitting a decoder. Tom

Photos of coal trains in the grouping period are a glorious mix of different sizes of wagons. I have many Bachmann and Oxford Rail RCH 1923 wagons and I am grateful that they have made several appropriate livery and operator names for my area, but the trains look too uniform. I am delighted Rapido have made these earlier wagons and look forward to any more colliery and factor wagon liveries they may do in the future. I am supporting the project by buying as many names in the current releases as I can justify running on my lines :-)

The Notts & Derby Pinxton wagon is a joint commission I think between TTC Diecast and Malcs models. The Malc's website shows it as being sold out already but perhaps TTC Diecast have some left. https://www.ttcdiecast.com/rapido---notts--derby-7-plank-wagon---ttcdiecast-x-malcs-models-exclusive-oo-gauge-172694-p.asp Tom

I just paid for 4 special commission wagons from Malc's models, and they will be on their way to Canada tomorrow. The photos of the actual products on their website look really excellent. https://malcsmodels.co.uk/collections/rapido-wagons That link should show all 5 they have done. Here is one example. Malc's has commissioned some very useful colliery wagons in the mix. I hope they do well for them and I am very excited to receive mine. Tom

I just did a 2600km drive, twice. I spread it over 3 days of daylight both times. The most I did in one day was 1100km. Easier headed west than east as in one direction I was picking up an hour of daylight each day but going home I lost an hour of daylight each day.

Hornby produced Rosamond. The real Pullman car was Rosamund.

I use a volt-meter to test if there is any connection between any of the 8 sockets and its neighbours on all Hornby 8 pin locos now. With the blanking plug out of course. All 8 should be isolated from each other. When I have found a fault it has been a small solder bridge on the underside of the socket. Fixed with a knife or triangular file. Good luck with your loco. It is a nice model once you get this issue fixed. Tom

If you have power feeds to both rails on both tracks the cross over should work with 2 insulated joiners. Is that what you have ?

If you want the loops independently powered then use insulated joiners between the 2 turnouts. If you want then to be on different power zones then use 2. If you want them on the same power zone but just independently switchable you could use one depending on your track plan. The short frog rails beyond the unifrog get their power from link wires on the underside of the Peco turnout from the stock rails. Just to be sure, by crossover you do mean 2 turnouts heal to heal, and not a diamond crossing don't you ?

Checking this reminded me that the tender top from Great Snipe has the letters slightly higher than the other similar tender tops. It still may look better than a dremeled one though ! Good luck finding a spare. Those tenders or tops seem to come up reasonably often on eBay. I strongly suspect the actual R30261 top is very unlikely to be available yet, but the alternatives will look fine. Tom

I checked the colour. I think you will be fine with any of the streamlined non corridor LNER blue tender tops you can find. The Garter blues look consistent to my eye. FYI I am comparing R2339 to R30262 (as I don’t have R30261).