Chamby

Very many thanks to all above for the informative replies.  50210 it is, then.  I’ll have to hunt further for that UK retailer selling at under £600, assuming they have stock!

I have decided to upgrade from my current GM Prodigy control system that I have been using for the last 8 years, and like the look of the ECoS system.  The current command centre, 50210, has now been around for six years and I would be reluctant to invest over £600 in something that could be superseded imminently.

I notice that an ECoS 50310 Cab Control system is now available in the US and Oz.  It is described on their website as the future of DCC Control (no doubt marketing hype), but it does beg the question as to whether the currently available 50210 is now old tech.

So, would you commit to a 50210 now, or wait for the next iteration?

As a user of Kadee couplings, one of the bugbears that I regularly encounter is the difference in coupling height used by Bachmann and Hornby.  I have a couple of fixed rakes of coaches with mixed Bachmann and Hornby coaches, in particular my Master Cutler rake where there is a Bachmann Restaurant 1st coupled next to a Hornby Gresley Buffet car, and the train intermittently uncouples as a result of the height difference. 

Having unsuccessfully fiddled about with trying to lower the Bachmann coupling using bits of card stuck in the NEM socket, a simple solution has been found:  swapping out the 14mm Bachmann wheel sets for a set of Hornby 12.6mm ones.  This lowers the coach by a sufficient amount to couple securely to the adjacent Hornby one, it also improves the alignment of their roofs, and the different wheel size is unnoticeable to the casual viewer:  

Bachmann Restaurant First on the left, Hornby 3rd on the right:

This photo reminds me... I must change the number of the Restaurant 1st to the Eastern Region!

This might be of interest?  Not sure that it would fit in the platform at Pentowan, though!

20 hours ago, Goodnight Sweetheart said:

 

Is there a work round, at the moment I’m not using any point motors so there no polarity switching could this solve the problem ?

 

Many thanks 

Yes there is a workaround, documented previously on this thread but unfortunately the associated images were lost in the server move a while back.  I’ll have a look and see if I can recover them.   Essentially my solution is rather more dramatic than @Dominion’s, albeit a more permanent solution, and involves reconfiguring the turnout from a unifrog to an electrofrog configuration by relocating the rail breaks further away from the frog nose.

In the meantime try running the 37 slowly over the turnout and look very closely as it runs over the insulated rail breaks inside of the frog.  That should show you exactly where the short is occurring and help you to work on a solution.

10 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

No doubt the reasons are buried in the company archives somewhere (no I'm not volunteering!) - but I wonder how long it would have taken for the cost of fitting to be recovered in the efficiency savings gained?

This dilemma is encountered frequently.  The problem is that to undertake the conversion now, means finding additional funds somewhere from this year’s budget, so it is an additional unbudgeted cost.  The savings will be realised either from an alternative budget that has already been allocated, or recovered sometime in the future ie: not in the current financial year.  So ‘the system’ determines that within this year’s budget the costs will be negative, thus not worth doing!

Down here the only river of consequence is the Tamar!

14 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

 

I absolutely understand your sentiment. I don't have anything against RTR or layouts set in the 1950s myself. I try very hard not to criticise layouts or models produced by others as all that matters is whether they satisfy the builder. That has to be the ultimate test of whether a model railway project is a success or not. People have taken my "following the herd" comment as if it is a criticism. It was not intended as such. The "herd" can be a very good place to be. It allows ambitious projects to proceed at a good pace because so much is available without the need for it to be built.

 

What I do say is that if you want a layout that is a little bit different and stands out in a crowd, then modelling something more obscure is a good way to achieve that. That is my chosen path but in no way would I be advocating that everybody else does things my way. There are too many good layouts around for me to think that my way is either the best or the only way to go about things.

 

If there are only a tiny number of pre grouping layouts around, that suits me down to the ground. I don't want too many experts spotting all my bodges and dodges!

 

Edit to add that the recent MR kit purchases were in 7mm scale, so I would like to think that I am safe from the RTR folk.

That’s life....   A few people lead, many more follow, the rest just do their own thing!

Apart from Shackletons, which were also supported by a few venerable Lancaster’s, the other squadron based out of St Mawgan was No.22 squadron from June 1956, flying Westland Whirlwinds.

19 hours ago, ian said:

 

Then it's on to the Shackleton...

And scenery.....🤭

40 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

*snip*

 

Jilly, our lovely cat, loves to be in Bytham's room with us, and has occasionally jumped up to see what's going on. Her tread is so delicate that (fortunately) no damage has ever been incurred. A previous cat used to sleep on another layout we had in a shed in Wolverhampton, but never caused any harm, apart from the occasional derailed wagon. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I would caution that cats and overhead catenary are most definitely incompatible!

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

 

With very few exceptions, and those are largely down to the folk at the controls, good operational layouts rarely make good exhibition layouts and vice versa.

Those exceptions almost invariably fulfil both briefs: an ‘operational’ area such as a yard or busy shed (ideally both), and a through running main line where the trains just keep coming.  

They are usually larger club layouts requiring several conscientious operators, sadly these layouts seem to have become less common on the exhibition circuit post-Covid, probably because they also come with greater costs associated with exhibiting them.  

19 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

Some excellent work here, I kinda regret having to dismantle my rendition of Leicester GC, I spent quite a lot of time around there in my yoof train spotting, only criticism I might offer is you have way too many people on the platform to be realistic, sadly it was usually empty unless it was 1961 when Leicester City played Spurs at Wembley, then platform was packed with footie fans.

Yes, I understand that most of the time the platform was a bleak and windswept place, being elevated above the surrounding streets - especially during the winter months with the buffet being a place of refuge for waiting passengers supping mugs of hot chocolate!   I have seen several photographs though (unfortunately copyright restricted so I can't post them here) that show a flurry of activity around diverse train arrivals and departures, including the Master Cutler in the 50's and a 1960's DMU operated service.  Some of them are clearly commuters, others suggest perhaps a holiday service with lots of suitcases in evidence.   I have around 25 waiting passengers on the platform, plus a few station staff, concentrated in front of the station building, which looks about right compared to these pictures.

I guess it comes down to whether to model the 'normal' environment, or a specific time.  I opted to have one side of the platform anticipating an imminent arrival, the other side deserted apart from a porter with a broom....

15 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

Interesting developments Phil. That A5 tank looks a bit of a monster!

 

I like those sleeper alignment jigs. Does Phil Mk2 have any for sale?

Will see what I can do, Trevor.  They’re a very simple design and easy to use.

The A5 is a solid looking beast.  They were powerful and accelerated rapidly, ideal for commuter services.  Shame one wasn’t preserved.

A new addition to the locomotive fleet arrived from Sheffield this week.  The new Sonic Models A5... very nice indeed.  69804 was allocated to Colwick in 1955, it is location-appropriate albeit sightly later than my modelled period and therefore I won't be renumbering it.  With the layout part-dismantled for the turntable install, I've not given it a proper run yet but first impressions are favourable.  I opted for the DCC version with pre-installed sound.  The sounds are OK but the "upgraded speaker" makes me wonder what the original one must have sounded like!  definitely something to be looked at later on.

Further progress on the layout has required some of the sections to be removed to access the corners, and do some work under the boards.  Having installed the warehouse in the 'north end' corner, the 'south end' one looked decidedly incomplete so the turntable installation has commenced.  

The turntable installed at the South end of Leicester Central was a Cowans and Sheldon 70-foot vacuum operated well turntable.  There is not a kit currently available for this, although Metalsmith Ltd have had one "in development" for what seems a very long time now.  I decided to crack on and use the Heljan DCC operated version instead, with modifications.  A 90-foot HO scale model, this works out at 78 feet in 4mm scale: overscale but workable.  The deck-mounted operators hut has been removed and the vacuum operating gear included side-mounted tanks will be fabricated and added in due course.

I'll let pictures do the talking:

The empty corner:

Board removed and marking up for the turntable install:

Raising the surface to track level:

Installing the pit:

Tracklaying:  sleeper spacing and alignment courtesy of these natty little gadgets 3-D printed by club-member Phil Tombs:

Testing the alignment of approach tracks using a couple of wagons:

Turntable in situ, showing the station approach:

Starting work on the 'surround wall' for the turntable - this was something of a feature at the Leicester Central site.  Foamboard is used for the wall core, to be covered with Redutex brick sheeting:

Some further scenic work and painting to go, then it will be underneath the board for connecting up the wiring...

18 hours ago, MJI said:

Some advice please.

 

Going to give up on my garage layout for a while. Buried under junk. And build a small layout in a bedroom.

 

Anyway baseboards, make own or assemble laser cut kits.

 

I am practical but not well, so unless i can buy precut stuff i will struggle.

 

Would cut a top though, or go for bed only.

 

 

What advice would i get?

 

One side 600mm wide, end 300 wide, station, 1m wide but want to be able to fold goods yard.

 

Eventually lifting by door.

I used pre-cut ply boards from White Rose, and have found them excellent.  Their website is very informative, just check on the delivery lead times.

Laser cut ply boards are robust enough to cut away or build up, see the first page of my layout blog (link below).

Having just caught up with WW after a few days otherwise indisposed, I have found the TT discussion fascinating to read through in one go, and the discussion seems to have ended in the right place.

A hobby is surely about personal enjoyment and self indulgence?   Sixty years ago, I had Princess Victoria and an Australian liveried F7 hauling wagons with a helicopter that flew, a missile that fired, a freight car that fell apart and a giraffe that popped up.  They raced on track laid on the carpet, against a Minic Motorways Porsche 911 and a Routemaster bus, more often than not all coming to grief at a level crossing.

I have a lot to thank Hornby for, very much so in the past, and yes (to a lesser extent) today.   TT is not for me but might well have been back in the day:  I hope that Hornby have made the right call and wish them well with it.  If it sets more people on the road to enjoying this hobby, I hope they enjoy the journey as much as I have.

That’s a nice length of flowing trackwork.  It should be a real pleasure to watch the trains running over that section…

The mass market ‘trendy craft ale’ bandwagon is probably past it’s peak, but real ale will of course survive.  Which might not be a bad thing imho.

As long as we still have PJ on draft locally, all is well!

“Cornish Best” is a new one on me too.  They must have introduced it to catch those who just walk into a pub and ask for a pint of your best...  

Happy St Piran’s day!

Celebrated with a Sunday roast at the Crown, St Ewe, which just happened to have these on draught...  

Onen Hag Oll.

18 minutes ago, Dave John said:

Then again Tony there are I think a good many modellers like myself who have gone in exactly the opposite direction by choosing to model subjects for which there is no rtr available....

I did something similar about thirty years ago, deciding to model the Montreux Oberland Bahn in HOm, following a most enjoyable holiday in that region of Switzerland.  Since, I found that it was so obscure, at least within the UK, that it was a very lonely place to be in modelling circles.  Most UK modellers working in HOm model the larger RhB that is much better furnished with RTR models.  Being both obscure, and Continental, seems to be a major factor in the disinterest shown by the vast majority of my fellow modellers!

So much so that when approaching retirement, and joining a model railway club, I started also modelling OO scale:  Initially to participate in club projects, but then to further develop my own emerging interests.   

For me, I found that the social side of modelling through shared interests and wider club life generally, is a large part of my enjoyment of the hobby.  I have no regrets and still cherish my rare-in-the-UK MOB metre gauge collection.  But in OO scale I have found something that is just as enjoyable, but is also fulfilling in so many other ways, because of it’s wider acceptance.  By the time I moved house after retiring, it was an OO project that took shape in the railway room.

I think for many of us, there’s probably a sweet spot in the hobby, of developing something that is individual enough to be distinctive and unique, but mainstream enough for it to also retain wider interest.

Has anyone received a sound fitted Version from Rails yet?  

I pre-ordered two on the day the A5 was announced, later converted the orders to sound fitted, but have heard nothing as yet other than being advised earlier that they’re in the system!