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ColinK

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Everything posted by ColinK

  1. I hope you’ve fully recovered from your shingles, a very nasty disease. I’m just over shingles on my face, relieved that I didn’t loose my sight.
  2. PROBLEM SOLVED Well, my friend Robert tried the three way point at his house and it worked properly without any modifications and told me why. So so simple. Now you have to remember all the ‘normal’ points already worked fine powered by the CDU, but the two three way points didn’t. The reason was something I hadn’t thought of; the CDU output is not AC current, but a short burst of DC current; and the little circuit board I built for the three way points uses diodes - diodes only let DC through in one direction. So the way it was wired, the diodes were blocking the DC from reaching the solenoids. All I had to do was swap the two wires coming out of the CDU, so the current was flowing in the other direction and everything works. It really was as simple as that. I have to count myself unlucky, I connected the 3 way points to the CDU at least four times, and got it the wrong way round each time. I am glad I used the 5 amp diodes as the DCC concepts CDU when connected in the high power configuration (wires attached to the two outer terminals) gives a really big burst of power.
  3. Great work, I do like the latest photo which looks like the bodies are supported by brickss. Suggests someone has nicked the wheels,; is your workshop in Liverpool?
  4. Another one, Frodsham, brick platform changes to wooden over the bridge, and it dips a bit.
  5. My Heljan 05, two 07s and 14 are all shelf queens as none of them run properly. The 05 and 07s are certainly pick up problems, the 14 a combination of pick ups and too much side play. The shunters are worse after sound fitting. I’m really gutted over the 14 as its one of my favourite locos and I had it professionally painted rail blue. Are the newer 14s just as bad? I’m not good at adjusting pick ups, is there anyone who does that type of repair? In contrast, one of my friends has a 05 which runs superbly. My Heljan 26, 27s and 33 run superbly and have done for years.
  6. Have a day off unpaid while striking, then work your rest day instead and get an extra £600 for it. Totally nuts.
  7. Suggest you have a look at ‘Dispatch’, a free online magazine of micro layouts. It might inspire you to build something small, cheap and quick to build to get you started. You’ll learn quite a lot too which will help you build your next layout. Last year I made a two level automatic micro layout in just a few months - could have been weeks if I wasn’t so busy. It is 009 using Kato N gauge track. A Gaugemaster shuttle for the low level (the aim was for a loco & wagon to shuttle between the two sidings, but I couldn’t get that working) and a Heathcote simple station stop for the high level (it changes the signal on the building and starts lights flashing in another). It fits in one of those ‘Really Useful’ boxes. Under constructiom, note different scenes each side.
  8. £600 extra for working overtime (plus the extra pay for the day) and drivers earning £100k a year isn’t going to generate any sympathy with the public for the current dispute over pay. A lot of people don’t earn £600 a week.
  9. I have led’s in buildings (and coaches), wired in parallel and powered by batteries.
  10. Agree, for my first etched brass attempt I built one of his wagon kits, it went together well and the extra instruction book he sent me was a great help. Almost worth building one as a learning experience. While I’ve soldered electrical joints for a very long time, soldering brass kits is different. I went to one of the Merseyside 009 meetings (open to all) where the chap from Worsley Works showed me how to solder brass kits successfully.
  11. DCC Concepts make a high power CDU, the price is reasonable given that it is mains powered and includes the transformer in a sturdy metal case.
  12. I wouldn’t be surprised if WCRC are trying to get The Scottish Govt to fund CDL.
  13. My Heljan 26 and 33 are superb runners, but their shunters are awful, I think it is pickmup problems with the shunters.
  14. I use Devcon, bought in fairly large bottles from Squires tools. For modelling I use the 5 minute setting stuff which works fine. I did buy the 3 ton strength stuff by mistake once, it is great for jobs at home. Repaired a chair with it several years ago and the bond is still rock hard.
  15. Typical, I’ve just finished building a kit of one - chosen because it wasn’t available as RTR.
  16. I agree it is probably the long sequence of the engine starting up; it will not move until that has completed. What you can do is, with the sound off, move your controller to speed step one, then turn the sound on.
  17. Thanks, had another go at the 3 way point today. All 4 solenoid coils are getting power, but they will only set the straight direction. One suggestion is that because it is a symetrical 3 way point, when trying yo set the left or right direction, the two sets of point blades try to move, but because they are moving against each other the point will not change. Anyway, I’ve removed one of the 3 way points from the layout and one of my more electrically competent friends is going to try and get them working.
  18. Interesting plan, looking forward to seeing it develop. I had a 0-16.5 layout of a rail served chocolate factory - it was called ‘Quality Street’ and was very tongue in cheek.
  19. Unexpectedly I had a free day today, giving me a choice of visiting Preston or Rainhill exhibitions. I chose the latter because I wanted to see Crinan and because I had never been to the St Helens Museum of Transport. Crinan was excellent, better than the photos on here and the revised quayside superb. Very friendly show too. In the morning I took the free vintage bus to the St Helens museum, that was far better than expected. As well as the expected buses (two of which I had learnt to drive on) there were smaller displays throughout the museum which were well worth reading.
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