paulprice

Congratulations on your show debut and I'm pleased to know it went well.  As Mikkel said, it's nice to see the layout from a different angle and those two horse-drawn carts, just setting out, do a lot to add atmosphere.

 

Mike

Mike

 

Thanks for the kind comments, there is still lots to do on the layout, fingers crossed though that we get some more exhibition invites

 

Paul

Hi Paul, nice to hear it went well, and what a nice shot of the layout. I don't remember seeing it from that angle before. Very envious of those who got to see the elephant train live!

Mikkel, it was a brilliant day, well at least from my point of view, as for the Elephant train it seemed to be popular, so at least Im not the only mad person in the world

I want one

I may well have more of them by then (Don't tell the DO though its a secret),

 

At one point the operating team told me to sit down on the floor in a special naughty corner created just for me. I blame those nice ladies in the snack bar supplying me with gallons of fizzy pop.......

If you want Foster Street again, we'll come back next year, if only for the bacon butties

Now there is a thing that brings back terrible, terrible memories

Good job its a portable layout

I have large feet, very handy if your an N gauge modeller, plenty of space to hide new items in, but I don't have any shoe horns

can I send you all my stock to weather?

Hi Ive had the problem before. It pretty much always turned out to be the little horizontal tabs on the point blades not making contact with the underside of the main running rail. If you clean them then GENTLY bend them up until they just prevent the point blade moving all the way and then push them down a tad, I find you get a reliable contact and so a good current flow. Sounds a bit more Heath Robinson than it actually is. Hope it helps Chas

Chas I think I might give your suggestion a go I have just got home from work and I feel the need to do some modelling

Hi try to vacuum the area you have cleaned

David

Me use a vacuum cleaner, any they not for the Girlies to use LOL only joking

Well track rubbers do shed bits of rubber which could be interfering with the blade contact. Those of us who build our own trackwork use a different method where the blades are bonded to the stock rails but insulated from the crossing ( aka Frog). The crossing is supplied via either contacts on a point motor or a microswitch operated by the tiebar mechanism.

Some people modify Peco points to the same electrical method.

The advantages are no issue with blade contact and also no problems with shorts due to wheels touching the back of the open blade (sometimes an issue with DCC) .

If you have available contacts you can add a switched supply to the crossing to act as a back up for the blade contact on Peco turnouts. This helps but does not resolve the shorting issue.

Don

Sounds complicated, and it would involve the dreaded soldering iron Maybe DCC is a way to go but Im not sure

Hi

I've had similar problems, look at the point on the blades where they are milled down to half width, sometimes the milled corner hits the stock rail before the blade proper and this contact is insufficient to carry enough power across the point. It can be sorted by carefully bending the blade so the toe hits the stock rail first.

Thanks for the idea, I think if I try really hard I may be able to carefully bend the blades, now were is my 2ld lump hammer and bolster?

4am is harsh mate! Nice to see some more progress though, you have quite a collection of rolling stock.

The problem is I have far too much stock and the storage yard is not big enough, I only have 9 tracks to play with. Where am I going to fit my parcels train, or the milk train, or the tanker train, and all the other freights....on the endless problems

Who would have thought the exhibition secret to success is a Jubilee.......

I think you need to at least four after all that matches the preservation total.

AT LEAST 4, I can feel serious pains in my Wallet, I think I need a lie down

Getting up at 4.00am! I struggle with 7.30am! :-)

I know tell me about it

Maroon jubilees. Good choice sir.

Not a problem, is 3 enough or should I get the wallet out?

Andy, I better get myself ready for the cutting remarks you make about my layout at your show just remember its still "in progress".

 

Seriously though its good to see honest reviews, by a modeller of layouts on display

"tight as two coats of paint"

 

Brilliant!

It has also been said that I'm a tight as a Camels ar@* in a sandstorm

That canal scene is looking very good. Should there really be ripples on the surface? We don't have much in the way of canals here, so it's a genuine question.

 

Congratulate yourself that you resisted retail therapy. Creative therapy lasts much longer!

 

(says the man who's just placed several online orders...)

Mikkel it was not easy it was a real struggle to resist, errr actually it was easy, as I like to say "I'm not tight just prudent" now if I happen to get to Chester again, I might just splash some cash

Deadline - what deadline would that be then??

Andy you know what deadline I'm on about....

I thought I would drop in and see what u have been up to.  Do we get to find out what happened to the point motors?

 

Hope the fingers are getting better.

 

Regards

 

Ray

Ray, all I will say is I wired a CDU I used for my old Hornby Tin plate up to test my point motors up which looked remarkably similar to my N gauge CDU, well that's my excuse anyway

It is coming along nicely.

Thanks Andy there is still a bit to do yet to bring it up to standard. I must admit the thought of cleaning all those N gauge wheels is making me think maybe I should move to 4mm and build a shunting plank???

Brilliant, very informative maybe Hornby should employ you to show them how to "fettle" their locomotives into good runners

 

Have you ever considered working in N gauge I know some of my fleet could do with your attention.