meatloaf

Hi probably easy questions but... Using electrofrogs for the first time and its all wired up and working. Occasionaly the loco stops on the frog and loses all power. If I touch the tie bar the loco carries on, so the blades either dirty or not making good contact. So reading up online ive seen people using point motors with a separate add on for the poliarity of the frog. I don't really need a point motor but if I use the DCC80 will it still switch the frog polarity? If so does that mean the point blade is only essentially there to set the direction the train travels thru the point? Will I need to make the modifications to the point ive seen online - bonding the rails together and snipping the little bridge wire? And finally it looks like the DCC80 only needs 3 wires - the track feeds and the frog wire. The track feeds can they come from the DCC bus or do they need to come direct from the point? Sorry for the newbie questions

In the new 24 all you need to do is install the sound decoder of youre choice and youre ready to go

Just seen this on facebook

So the layout is now up and running and all wired up correctly. Whilst at one of my local shops I saw the DCC concepts busbar and it tidied up the wiring no end. Whilst the trackplan is fairly simple I feel very pleased to have done it. I had wanted a DCC Sound 03 from Bachmann but feared that the old insulfrogs would casue issues, but now when funds allow it will be the next loco purchase.

Ive finally done it... I ended up putting IRJs on all frogs. All the tracks at the B end now have feed wires at the ends of the tracks. Ive also pit a pair of feeds on the top part of the loop and a single feed on the lower part of the loop. The cabling will need to be neatened up a bit so ill get more wire tomorrow. But for now its all working as it should

Im struggling with this. Ive slightly modified the trackplan and for now done away with the kickback siding. Ive highlighted in black and red where the track feed is and in blue where the insulated joiners are. Im struggling because if point A is set to straight the loco runs fine along that line but everything else below that point is dead. Change point A to curved route and everything is live except the top track which goes dead, apart from beyond the crossover marked as B which is live? When point A is curved the bottom two sidings are live even if there point is against them Help!!! Where should other track feeds be? What am I missing I bet its something obvious

Apologis im on DCC ive posted in the wrong place. Maybe a mod can move it to the right section.

thanks for the replies. The 2nd extreme seems the way to go. I don't really need to motorise the points but I am considering using dcc80 units to switch the frog polarity

Decided to bite the bullet and get some electrofrogs. I have quite a simple track plan. I know I need insulated joiners on the frogs but where do I need power feeds?

youll either need to get a prodigy advance or get an advance handset to work with your express control box

Just seen this from hattons https://www.hattons.co.uk/newsdetail.aspx?id=749&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=mar-0595-dapolgwrmanorannouncement&fbclid=IwAR23krWFlpx2WOsBWZmuoGNn1CHq17NhaY86Mnzp7frTaWL3zH__tVUPEHg

No its the 6 pin version

Thank you managed it in the end. I thought id managed to break it when the bogies and the baseplate came away. Thankfully the decoders in now and it runs great. Only thing ive noriced is that in direction of travel the headcode and the tail lights light up at the same time

Ive got a Dapol 27 and according to the instructions the body just unclips. However I cant get the body off mine. The bogies come off and the plastic base plate comes off but everything else stays stuck in the body. Am I missing something?

Has anyone got this set? Seriously tempted but not seen any reviews of the set on youtube

Im looking to get a Hornby 08 but want one that I can just drop TTS sound into. I ibileve the latest ones it fits with no modifications. Can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me the R numbers. Either in BR green or blue.

Has anyone got one of these yet? Been holding off waiting for a few youtube videos to assess the running qualities. Theres only a couple on there which don't do the loco any favours as it stalls and cuts out on plain track let alone insulfrogs. So does anyone have one and how id it on insulfrogs

I have a spare 21 pin loksound decoder taken from a class 25. Im fairly sure its a v3.5. Will this work in the 24 using the built in speaker?

Im sure I saw that they do have working lighting I think I saw the light on the outer edge of the cluster was non functional

Ive got a small inglenook around 4ft x 1ft of that's not too small

As a boy I remember a few long gone shops in the stoke area. Pleasure Treasures in burslem. Only recall going there a few times with my dad but I think they had huge glass display cases Brookfields in longton. They had trains and all sorts A shop on Uttoxeter road / high street that I cant remember the name of. Went in there with dad a few times City Centre models in hanley had a couple of shops. First one in lewis arcade then they moved onto the main street. Spent a fortune in there. The first shop I really spent my own earned cash in. Still remember some of my best purchases - Hornby 2-6-4 tank in lms red, Bachmann ivatt 2-6-2T and the pride of my collection was the premier boxed set with a merchant navy, light up Pullmans and loads of track. I thought I read somewhere the chap who owned this shop is the same chap who owned pleasure treasures in burslem. Then there was collectors corner under the railway bridge in longton. Remember paying £100+ for a Silver Link and a coronation with matching coaches. They were hard to find then and had been out of production for some time

Mine ran fine both on dc with a cheapo Hornby controller and on dcc with a gaugemaster chip fitted. Wasn't quite a smooth at low speed as the Dapol 08.

Flurry of stuff done the last few days. Buildings glued in place and changed the metcalfe walls for some ration stuff I had lying about which saved the need to buy another metcalfe kit. Ive put a small embankment at the front of the layout. The embankment is formed from plasticine which is then painted with a mix of brown paint and pva glue and then several shades of scatter were mixed toghether and sprinkled on top. Peco fencing was then inserted into the embankment. Vegetation has been planted alongside the fencing and the road. Static grass has been used along the base of buildings / retaining wall to bed them in and ive put some in between the rails at the end of the sidings. All in all im pretty pleased with how its turned out so far. I may put a yard crane at the back by the factory, not sure yet. Obviously my modelling isn't as good as a lot of the layouts I see on here but its been a fun project to work on so far. Loco wise ive ordered a Hornby set from asda for £25 with a small Hornby 0-4-0 in it which is a perfect size for this layout.

I know ive seen it mentioned before but Hornby train set at £25 in asda, also available online to click and collect https://direct.asda.com/george/toys-character/cars-trains-planes/Hornby-freight-master-set/050743517,default,pd.html

Done a bit more over the past few days. My lad spent a good half hour shunting stuff about using my 08 and a few of his tank engines. All seemed to run ok so decided to stick with the insulfrogs. Track has been ballasted with ballast magic but after hoovering up the excess after drying its left a few bald patches that need touching up. Peco backscene has been purchased ill have to try and cover the join somehow. Im going to take the buffer away from the headshunt and use a sleeper across the rail as a buffer stop gives me just enough space then for 3 wagons. Need another retaining wall kit for the backdrop. The road needs doing at the front of the layout, along with some fencing. And I need to find a box to store it in.