DCB

If you are desperate to keep off load voltage down you could use an off the shelf Lucas Motorcycle Zener Diode and heat sink, as used on 1971 to 1976 BSA and Triumph Motorcycles with the unregulated permanent magnet alternators. These used 10 amp/hr batteries or for off road a capacitor in place of the battery, a capacitor about the size of those used on a typical CDU. These Zeners are capable of keeping voltage down to around 14.5 volts from 2000 to 7000rpm whether the lights are on (80 watts) or off. The Zeners come in - ve earth and + ve earth versions and the heat sinks get hot! On the other hand a decent Morley Vector or similar will keep the off load voltage down if that is an issue but to be honest I can't see 24 volts DC making any difference to a DCC decoder. [Edit,] as NMRA standards require decoders to be OK on27 volt DC

Sounds like a reasonable assertion to me, all the videos I have seen of Heljan models have the return crank outside the con rod fitted so as to give an eccentric motion whereas in the prototype it would have been concentric to provide an anchor. I suspect Heljan originally assumed it had Walschearts gear as per the GWR Vale of Rheidol 7 and 8 (as do most modelers) and that the outside rod has to waggle about (as do most modelers). Might be an idea to simply fit Walschaerts gear and 99% of buyers would think it was great.

Savernake (East) was a unique place where you would find a Manor or 43xx or Southern U class mogul stopping at the platform on a three train coach train and then a couple of hours later a Kings hauled 13 coach Cornish Riviera Express would rush through non stop as some of the MSWJR Cheltenham - Southampton passenger service and the GWR crack Paddington - Devon and Cornwall express services all used the station. In fact the ratio of non stop Express Passenger trains to Pick Up Goods would be about 6 expresses to one pick up and probably a dozen through freights to one pick up, however then as now many through freights ran at night. (Which is why I for one don't model many of them.) There was not much mineral or through coal traffic on the Berks and Hants, it went Swindon -Reading on the original GW main line. Equally Tank engines would probably have been quite rare at Savernake East though Swindon based 45XX operated from Savernake West to Marlborough. A Ratio of 10 Kings or 20 Castles or Halls to 1 tank engine, is probably about right. ( Incidentally all the 20 or so Plymouth and Old Oak based Kings passed through while only the 2 Gloucester based Manors were normally seen there.) Getting even further off topic, Swindon, Gloucester, Eastleigh, Old Oak, (Southall?) and Plymouth sheds definitely had duties through Marlborough, Probably Newton Abbott, Reading and Westbury maybe Taunton and Exeter as well so the variety of locos was pretty extensive even though the number of trains was comparitively small compared to the Reading - Didcot main line.

Sidings sloping down towards the exit points and running lines being on a downward gradient both caused challenges. I think Mottram yard near Manchester on the GC line used gravity for all its shunting instead of using shunting engines. Full size railways don't use baseboards so getting sidings level is not usually too onerous. However apart from wagons escaping backing steam locos uphill for shunting was not good, a rapid start or stop could lead to water uncovering the firebox crown causing the fusible plug to melt and allowing steam to escape into the firebox so stopping the loco. So when there was any appreciable gradient the sidings tended to slope downhill from a rising gradient. The siding at my own local station, Chedworth MSWJR was accessed of the downhill gradient and were never opened to the public. Probably because of this very issue. Subsequently Chedworth Woods siding, also accessed from a downhill slope, probably 1 in 75 were shunted by a loco running tender first to avoid problems with water surging.

A bit like asking "How long is a piece of string." If you can find any old railwaymen ask them how they shunted but they are getting old and many of them simply didn't take much notice of the detail, the youngest WR steam firemen are now 74 remember, 18 in 1965, and many small stations and yards had closed by then anyway. Adrian Vaughn's books give some insight into workings.

Hornby Dublo wagons struggle to run on a 1 in 50. I actually used to use an old mainline coach as a spirit level as it would run on less than 1 % grade. I suspect placing a small super neo magnet or 50 in strategic places to attract metal wheelsets may work, we hear of Kadee uncoupling magnets attracting steel wheels being a problem. Otherwise a brake operating on one or both axles on a brake van could be good. I have one planned but making it work is not easy, split chassis pick up operating a solenoid is do able but the actual mechanism is a nightmare for DC. DCC should be easier but Putting a power bogie under a van sounds a bit OTT unless you want a cut price Toby to keep Thomas the Tank company.

Can I make a rather blunt assertion that this is the opposite of what you want for testing. It will deliver a set VOLTAGE and vary the current according to the demands of the motor, disguising any tight spots and potentially damaging the gear train. However add a centre off DPDT reversing switch and these will potentially make brilliant controllers for the layout or for running in, very smooth quiet speed stable operation, no angry Bee PWM buzz...

"The West Highland" do you mean the Glasgow to Ft William or the Mallaig extension as the extension was more likely to see 2-6-0s and the Glasgow line 4-6-0s by the 1960s. The 4-6-0s were a bit too "Big in the wheel" for the Mallaig line (still are comparing the way a Black 5 struggles out of Glenfinnan where the K1 eases away effortlessly...) but their speed came into its own along the Clyde coast when they had to keep out of the way of the Suburban trains. J36s were used as Ft William Pilots and I think they dumped the 4F there to get it as far from Eastfield as they could, did it have a snow plough? I think steam ended in Ft William in 1962. Ft William is a great subject for a model whether old or new stations

Good advice, if it will run smoothly on one of those it will run smoothly on anything.

I have done the Romford conversion in the past, however the crank throw on the standard Romford wheels is very short and they change the appearance of the locos quite considerably which is why I am turning down Triang flanges. The Markits "Triang" axles which fit directly into the chassis and the knurled ones take the gear wheels directly make re wheeling these models a lot easier than the old Romford 1/8th axles which needed bushing. Power bogies are a bit difficult as ideally you need to fill in the spokes in the standard Romford 14mm etc wheels with Araldite or similar to represent disc wheels and they benefit from shimming the gear wheels to take the side play against the chassis instead of against the backs of the wheels which seems to make the wheels come loose. Without shims the wheels have excess sideplay which plays havoc with the pick ups and can lead to large steam locos being out gauge as they crab down the track.

The last GWR stations were built as light railways, the Wrington Vale being one and the stations had 4 points, one each end of a long loop and two sidings, both through and terminus stations used the same track plan. Many had a goods shed on one siding. Loco sheds were only provided at terminus' in earlier years, later practice kept locos at larger sheds almost always on "kick back" stubs so a runaway loco could not escape to the main line if left in gear while raising steam.

There are plenty of X04s and the like available on Ebay and elsewhere and super Neo magnets which improve their efficiency. Carving a milled brass chassis to take a motor gearbox is probably more hassle than simply finding a brass strip, or etched chassis if you really need a motor / geabox. My K's cast 42XX snapped a few coupling rods and crank pins in its brief career with very low gearing and an X04 and currently resides in my scrap box. I find the 5 pole Airfix motors are comparatively gutless compared to the X04 and need lower gearing for main line work. If the 42XX chassis is intended for Romford gears there should be no problem using a 50:1 or 60:1 gearset. The problems come when the Airfix motors are used with a standard X04 gearset. The Airfix have better brushgear as the brushes are shorter and the diaphragm below the top pole piece which can ease the problems with taper boiler to live brush clearance. In many ways a 3 pole X04 armature in an Airfix frame is the optimum.

I have read that GW 48XX (14XX) had a cord connecting the Auto trailer controls to the Loco whistle chain when attached bunker to trailer, I read it in a fireman's reminiscences about the Faringdon branch where the loco left the trailer to do some shunting and the fireman forgot to disconnect the cord resulting in the whistle going "peep"... I will try to find which book. Didn't see anything about smokebox end.

I think the prototype had smaller unpowered wheels. Are the traction tyres snug in their grooves. Are the points flat. They do tend to go hump backed if not pinned down firmly and the 31 has quite a long wheelbase. Do the idler wheels move freely? My battery powered Lima 37's floating unpowered centre wheels foul on the replacement CD motor and the motors have to have the lower edge ground away. B to B sounds suspcious, Both too wide so the check rail does not do anything, and too tight so the wheel rides up the check rail are equally bad. I use 14.2 sliding fit which is about 14.5 actual.

The Lima 4 wheel chassis just needs a CD motor, a bit of plasticard with 3 holes, 2 screw holes and a big one for the rear bearing bulge on the motor and a scalexric drive pinion. 6 wheel need a slim motor or the centre wheels foul. I might have another go at a Hornby chassis using Mersey507003's methods later, instead of trying to fit a Triang Dock shunter chassis to a Airfix / Kitmaster City of Truro (yes seriously)

The CD drive motor fits the Lima derived chassis with a ring magnet while the one in the photo is the old 1980s Hornby variety. I have several Lima chassis with CD motors but I have not managed to fit a CD motor to a Hornby chassis, sleeving the drive gear to suit would be a challenge as would grinding enough off the motor housing to fit the CD motor. My son's Hornby HST goes like a rocket so maybe it just needs a service

Which leads nicely on to whether bankers should be coupled to the train, I understand that the Midland didn't and the GW did couple bankers. The Lickey bankers dropped off at speed at Blackwell (?) summit and there are tales in "Firing Days at Saltney," of 3F 0-6-0 Tender engines used as bankers on Camp Hill bank chasing after the train they were to bank (on goods lines) and dropping off at the summit, or where the bank eased. I understand the GC didn't couple the bankers on the Worsboro' incline either but that was a goods only line, and that the SDJR used a special slip coupling operated by a rope from the loco cab. Now that would be a challenge, DCC 3 link couplings etc...

The Midland main line expresses out of St Pancras were accelerated in the mid 50s and many were too heavy for 6P (Jubilee) locos and Black 5s and really required a 7P, Scot, rebuilt Patriot or Britannia so the Jubilees and Black 5s were piloted, and rather than waste a useful locomotive they dragged some 2Ps off branch line duties and probably the scrap line and stuck them on the front of expresses on the basis that they could probably just about manage to pull the 30 ton or so overload... I don't know much about Cumbria, always sounds like Black 5 territory to me, with the occasional Mickey Mouse after the last LNWR Cauliflowers finally fell apart. I guess the coast line is fairly level buy the line across to Penrith was anything but with lots of pics of Mickey Mouses (Ivatt 2mt's) double heading on as few as 5 coaches. I guess f they sent the Mid Day Scot round the coast it would only have had a pair of Black 5s, I don't think Stanier Pacifics were allowed in BR Steam days. As Timbowilts says Pilotmen rather than Pilot Locos were provided for diversions where the Driver, and sometimes the guard, did not know, or did not sign for the road, lots of anecdotes in various enginemen's reminiscences, Drivers getting upset with Pilotman's handling of "His" loco etc.

There were hardly any two alike by the end and different cab styles at different ends were common. Get some photos of 47524 and compare them to your models.

I have a one yard long isolated section in the platform just over 1 loco length from the platform end so train loco can be isolated and the pilot can back down and couple up, the up end of the platform is one section and the down end a different one so a banker can come up behind. For trains taking a pilot from the hidden sidings or terminus the Pilot and Train engine couple up in the loco sidings where there are lots of isolated sections before backing on to their train. This needs designing in to a layout from the outset, but with 1 in 30 gradients and 7 coach trains pilots and bankers are a necessity. Uncoupling is usually in the loco depots after the stock has been pulled off. Most railways put the Train engine on the front including the GWR. But between Newton Abbott and Plymouth different rules applied and effectively any loco with a bogie could act as pilot despite the fact that Bulldogs, Dukedogs and Manors could not release the brakes effectively on trains of more than 10 coaches. Normally 5'8" wheel locos were used as pilots here but from Stratford on Avon 2251s were often coupled inside Counties etc for the leg to Birmingham. The SDJR often double headed 7ft wheel 2Ps with 4'7" 2-8-0s and 5'2" 4Fs, the Midland put 2Ps in front of Jubilees following accelerations on the line out of St Pancras, don't know why, it would probably have beet better to leave the 2P in the shed. Banking needs more thought, Tension lock couplings tend to ride over each other when pushing, so I use Peco type (Kadees would be better) and I make a coupling mounting bar which is guided by a pin engaging in the bogie or pony truck but free to float up and down between so the coupling does not lift and derail the leading wheels. I regularly push 20 wagons over a code 100 long diamond and up a 1 in 30 and around a short 3rd radius curve.

I find the early Triang Hornby 9F / Evening Star with permanently coupled 6 traction tyre tender is a very powerful beast, the later 2 traction tyre detachable tender type only about 60% as good and the current Railroad loco drive only about 30% as good. I find loading the current RTR with strips of Lead Flashing and lots of running in improves the traction, doubling it in the case of te 42XX, ROD etc, while Pacifics are more sure footed than 4-6-0s as the weight is more evenly distributed, some 4-6-0s actually pull less if you weight the smokebox without adding weight at the back as the weight is all on the leading drivers. Tender drawbars need to be arranged to be neutral or lift the tender when pulling not lift the rear of the loco, the Hornby Dublo Duchess being a text book example of how not to do it. We were playing the other evening and had a Wrenn 8F pulling 40 Hornby Dublo metal chassis open wagons which must be equal to 100 modern all plastic pin point wagons up 12 feet or so of 1 in 100 which was supposed to be level. Didn't try the 9F, but both a Farish 81XX on Triang Chassis and a Wills 61XX beat the 8F with the Wills pulling 53 at one stage. We filmed the Hattons 14XX on over 35 Hornby Dublo wagons, sort of cheated by using the 61XX as banker, must put it on YouTube!

Sounds like a tired /faulty X04 to me, 1.5 amps stalled is very high, I use a 1 amp breaker and it never pops when I'm playing with X04s. Assuming you have insulated both brushes from the brush spring and added an extra wire on the live to frame side are you sure the brushes are not shorting to the motor frame? Touching the frame or pole pieces? X04s will sometimes do this as the windings either foul the pole pieces or short internally to the armature shaft. I would change the motor for a known good one as first step. Some M7s have 1 insulated and 1 non insulated wheel per trailing bogie axle, I would check to see if they are live to the frame and if so that they are the right way round

A 240 V illuminated switch of this type is going to have resistors to operate the illumination on 240 volts and hence its not going to light on 12 volts. I sort of understand what you hope to achieve but it won't be easy with DC as the voltage applied will vary over the range of 0-18volts and anything that lights on 1.5 volts will go pop at well below 12 v......

Its your railway, you can add or remove as much detail as you wish. Even painting and lining only one side of locos and stock has been done, even by BR when experimenting with liveries on black 5s, or painting one side in one livery and the other a different livery as the Rev W Awdrey did with some of his stock. I find painting the inside of coaches to be the single most time effective way of upscaling stock. The white partitions on some not that old Hornby stock was hideous so I paint them brown with a simple dash of blue or green for the seat upholstery. Passengers, well mine in early 60s so a lack of passengers is probably prototypical, but a lack of footplate crew on a moving loco is to me as bad as not having any valve gear on a BR std 4. Fireman pirouetting on one foot is nearly as bad so my figurers are just standing around. That's just my take on it, its not set in stone, at least not until I get better at using a chisel.

I habitually double head and bank trains. The trick is getting both locos to run on the same voltage, or accurately pairing similar locos up. I use Morley, On Track, Playcraft and H&M variable Transformers. All these control track voltage, and will provide a progressively higher maximum voltage as the knob is turned even off load, and I can double head a Hornby 42XX with a Triang Hall despite a 3 or 4 to 1 disparity in maximum speeds. I have a YouTube clip of them on a 24 wagon freight. This also means my Triang chassis GWR Prairie tanks can bank most locos up the 1 in 30 without slipping. With resistance controllers, Duette, etc which show 14 to 21 volts off load on minimum speed you have to accurately match the locos. I haven''t used a feedback controller for about 20 years, but I suspect they are totally confused by two sets of back EMF and double heading may well be completely impossible with them, unless the locos are essentially identical. On my floor layout with Triang super 4 track which has graced holiday houses and patios from Devon to Scotland, I find dodgy fishplates cause power drop problems so I simply put two resistance controllers on one track, at opposite sides of the layout. As long as they are turned the same way its fine. Radio Control is the answer for banking, and double heading, two operators/ drivers for one train real teamwork, just like the real thing. Not sure if you can control two locos on separate controllers on the same track with DCC.