Roger Sunderland

Sorry you felt that they let the layout down David, so many other people were amazed by them as they are so much better than what is currently available. As mentioned previously we are trialing this system for Paul ( who is a " very clever chap") under exhibition circumstances. Not sure what you mean by legality? The system bears no relation to vaping at all.

Many thanks Jamie, most helpful.

Hi Jamiel love your work, absolutely superb. I've converted, or Anglicised, a few American kits in the past but am looking at a new West Yorkshire based layout. Please can you advise what kit the department store is based on, wether it is still available and also any other kits which you think may be suitable for converting.

This is very dissapointing for you. Can I ask if the affected rodding, in the shed, is exposed to the sun. The reason I ask is that I have used Wills rodding on our exhibition layout and also on my own layout. The exhibition layout is stored in the back room of a factory. Temperatures vary between 0 degrees in Winter to around 70 degrees in Summer. It can be even higher in some exhibition halls. My own layout is in a garage. Temps vary here between around 40 degrees up to over 80 degrees. in both cases I've seen no joint buckling (yet!). Neither layout is ever exposed to sunlight though, which even in Spring can cause very high surface temperatures. we recently attended an exhibition where our fiddle yard was in the sun for at least half the day. Despite there being expansion joints at track joins we experienced quite severe bending of the track due to the heat from the sun. Again this had never occurred before , despite the above mentioned temperature variations .

Hi Andy, this ticks a lot of my boxes, will be following with interest. On the uncoupling issue, have a think about the Precimodels ones, a la Bournemouth West. Just finished my tenth loco with them on.

Avoid Humbrol varnishes Matt,Satin and gloss, like the plague. They should carry a health warning like "these varnishes may ruin your precious model". Terrible product and their paints are no better - now.

Confirms what I've thought all along. Zimo decoders produce fabulous running and are far more "user friendly" than ESU. Couple that with a price comparison. LOksound V5 micros still not available in UK, and won't be for another month or so.

I think this is a good idea, particularly for the classifieds and people are right, this is just a better link between the web and the magazine. Andy is to be congratulated for all the work that's gone into it. By all means ask questions but when left wing based class criticisms start to show themselves on here (you know who you are) then really I give up! It's a model railway forum at the end of the day.

Michael Any possibility you might have a 4mm Stanier 2-6-2 T etch at Railex in May?

All possible solutions but as this seems to be a factory fitted Hornby DCC model have you considered that it might be the decoder itself?

Just to thank everybody for their comments on Bournemouth West and a big thank you to all at Wimborne club for both inviting us and for putting on a wonderful show, we all had a great time. Some really good layouts this year, I particularly liked Sidmouth, Whithorn and shades of grey. Also Wimborne itself although I'm a little biased there having played a small part in its building!!

Looks magnificent, as do all your creations. When is it likely to be available?

You can add me to the growing list. Why can't all online retailers provide a fabulous service like they do and their prices are very competitive too.

The confusion arises I think because the small Bachmann Ivatt 2-6-0 tender loco has the socket in the tender. The large Ivatt or "flying pig" to give it its correct nickname, has the socket in the loco. I have two of these and don't recall any major problems, although I'll admit there is very little space. Fitting a standard size 8 pin decoder will be very tricky but there are smaller options on the market. Try the TCS range of decoders, not cheap by any means, but superb bits of kit. The M1 micro will easily fit and even smaller is a Z2, however IIRC I fitted the direct plug in - think it is a DP2XUK (note the UK) - which is flat, unlike some other direct plug offerings, and of course has none of those pesky wires to find a home for.

Hello all just an update. Following the faults we experienced at Peterborough (which didn't manifest themselves at Poole previously) we have had a bit of head scratching. Essentially the problems we had were under 3 categories, baseboard joins, track and electrical. Dave has spent a lot of time sorting out the joins and a better system of erecting and levelling the layout will be deployed at Wimborne. I took the plunge and replaced the double slip with a new one - time will tell if it's more reliable than its predecessor but tests so far are positive. On the electrics side I've completely reworked the Loconet cables which should mean more reliability and easier set up. Wimborne show will reveal if we have cracked it or not, as any amount of testing is not the same as exhibition conditions. We are fortunate to have the use of Paul's wonderful real steam locos for Wimborne and we have a very special guest on Saturday so we need to be at our best. See you there.

Ok. if your be changing the option switches DO NOT use the knobs. With your handset plugged into the DB150 and track power on - select the middle switch position OPT then select switch on the handset. It will show Sw001. All option switches should be set at "t" for factory default except SW4 which should be changed to "c". With SW001 showing press "t". The unit should beep. Now press 2. The screen will show SW002 press "t" again etc etc right through to SW47, the last option. BUT LEAVE OUT OPTIONS 36-39 (I think) - these are reset by a different method - see the manual. This will do a full factory reset and may iron out any problems. However if you have the power dot flashing this could be a simple issue of it not fully powering up the track. My advice before trying the above is. With switch set at run press "power" followed by "n" - the dot should dissapear. set switch to sleep Reset switch to run press power followed by "y"- the track power dot should be constant plus an orange light on front of DB150 if you don't get a constant dot keep pressing power and "y" till you do or repeat above. Many problems with Digitrax are caused by the buttons sticking or malfunctioning. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Bournemouth West has two shows this year. Wimborne on March 16/17 and the Hornby Great Electric Train Show October 12/13.

Totally humbled to even be mentioned in the same breath as the late, and great, Allan Downes and equally the other names on the page. Stunned that Bournemouth West achieved silver in layout of the year, what a day! Thank you ever so much to all those who voted.

I'm a bit shell shocked, what can I say. The whole team is absolutely thrilled with this Andy. Huge thanks to everyone who voted for us, and to you for taking such brilliant photos.

Depends on what works best for you. I use a fibreglass pen for badly soiled wheels or to remove paint say after weathering. Once done and for not so dirty wheels IPA on a cotton bud.

Thank you so much Nigel. Works perfectly.

A quick bit of help guys if at all possible. I want a random flicker on an LED. In both directions. Operating on the white wire. On function button F0 Can get the effect forward by making CV125=8 - but not in both directions. I know the White wire normally controls fwd light but I thought you could make it bi-directional. CVs and values if possible?

No contest. The Zimo budget decoder is in a different league to all the others.

Sorry but it's probably unlikely, the travelling is a bit much for some of us old stagers. It's taken several days to get over Peterborough!

Yep agreed it will be changed.