CarriageShed

Sounds very similar to cities being 'founded' by a conquering group when in fact they were rebuilt, redesigned, or refurbished. Perhaps the canopy was similarly refurbished or improved?

Isn't that something along the lines of 'if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?'. Nope, the train doesn't need to stop *exactly* at the buffers but it does have to fit inside the isolated section, and if it has a pilot loco in front of it then both have to fit inside the isolated section which brings them within two or three centimetres of the buffers. With the best will in the world, sooner or later something is going to hit the buffers unless I can auto-stop it.

Not massively far from me actually, but it's highly unlikely I'll get over there without a car, If you do visit and would like to write up a 'railway walk' then I'll be more than happy to publish it on my site: https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/MainRailwayWalksIndex.htm

Possibly, although that supposes that all coaches are the same length. In scale terms, I already have two 44ft conversions from Farish suburbans, plus a couple of 57ft conversions that haven't been shortened, a 47ft ex-royal saloon, and plenty of 54ft conversions on the schedule. The passengers would have to be positioned according to carriage lengths, but would still need to shuffle around for mixed trains. Hmm... I see a snag!

So the normal isolating switch is left 'open' (ie. isolating) at all times, and is only turned off (supplying power) when the loco is reversing away from the buffers...? If that's right then it sounds easily workable. I already have a DPDT On-On switch installed for this (although no wiring is in place). It wasn't my design of course, but the idea is that it isolates two roads at a time. When it's switched off only one of those roads will be supplied with power anyway, depending on which way the points are set. Will a DPDT On-On switch be suitable? No, no, that's absolutely fine. Happy to slow down the loco manually (and keep things as simple as possible). The buildings that will obscure the buffers will only be located across the last quarter of the platform length, so the train will be pretty slow by the time I lose sight of the loco. What's more, the isolated section is pretty generous in length, so that it can accommodate a train loco and potential pilot. I'm not sure how that affects things if one loco is being slowed down while the other is still gently pushing forwards until it also gets across the isolating gap in the tracks. Or if there's no pilot and the train loco has a double-loco length in which to slow to a halt.

And Dapol are working on Maunsell high window stock (in N gauge, at least). Yet more Maunsells to chose from.

Definitely an earlier version at least. I run a 1929/1930 layout so even if the N gauge shrink ray was brought out I'd still have to reletter the 1936 SR brown version.

It literally is the slow to a stop that's all I need, and the simplest-possible solution is likely to be the one I go with because my ability to understand electronics seems to be very limited. But I'll certainly give Mr H a buzz if a solution doesn't present itself here. Thanks for the suggestion. Yep, 'always slows and stops' is precisely what I'm after, and why I was a little hesitant on posting my question here even though it seems to be roughly along the same lines as that of the OP. Given that my electrics abilities are very basic, I'll need very simple words to be able to understand any solution! With that in mind: - There is already a rail break on one side of the tracks, with a feed wire on either side of it so that the train loco can be isolated and the coaches removed by the station pilot. - Would the feed to the buffers side of the break be suitable to use in your solution? - Would the solution work automatically or will it need a switch? - If the diode(s) are part of this feed, how will that effect the power when the train has been removed and the train loco can leave the isolated area near the buffers? - If the arriving loco has already been slowed down by the controller, but the stop is still abrupt, is it simply a case of adding another diode to 'top-up' the slowing effect? Apologies for the simplistic questions, 34... I can see how great it would look in practice but I need to plug the gaps in my knowledge of how to set it up. I do want to know, though.

I'm really hoping these sell well as I'm looking forward to the N gauge batch in time for next summer.

Hmm... looking at the Heathcote option it suggests (to my limited understanding) that a light on the control panel could come on once the train reaches the sensor: http://www.heathcote-electronics.co.uk/irdot1.html If the train is travelling at a slow buffer-approach speed and the light comes on, the operator would know that it's time to ease to a stop, manually, but reliably. Am I right in that?

The Blocksignalling url has changed since 2018, but that's precisely what I was looking at myself - and it's what brought me here via a search: http://www.blocksignalling.co.uk/index.php/train-detector-with-relay-bod2-rly I'd like to slow a slow train to a stop in front of the buffers in a terminus. The trains will be half hidden behind a station building so I won't be able to see the crashing-into-the-buffers moment myself. The trouble is I am to electrics what Donald Trump is to civility (ie. a near-complete stranger), so the solution has to be a very simple one. Did the OP ever produce a working solution to the problem?

Having come across this in my own search, I would certainly welcome the ability to be able to automatically slow down a train as it nears the buffers. I have a terminus on an upper level towards the back of a layout which is still in the process of having its track laid, so now's the ideal time to try and fit something. Two of the terminus lines will effectively be hidden behind a station building, so although I will be able to send in a train at a low and slowing speed (manually), I won't really know where the lead loco is until it smacks the buffers. Easing to a stop from that manual slow speed would solve that problem. I'm certainly interested to know whether a solution been found. Failing that, even the originally-unliked sudden stop would be better than nothing, especially if the speed is already slow. I was looking at this with the eye of someone who is almost clueless about electrics: http://www.blocksignalling.co.uk/index.php/train-detector-with-relay-bod2-rly Peter

Royal saloon No 17 of the old LSWR royal train was serving as a makeshift bungalow by 1940. I don't think the other carriages fared even that well.

I've since found out that some one is working on a kind of 'peg' thing to obviate the need for screws when attaching new bogies, for precisely the sort of use that you need (and me too, as I'm working on a 3D coach body and scratch-built chassis myself). Can't exactly remember where I saw it (possibly on the NGF), but it will be useful if and when it happens.

In that case I live in hope! Mind you, I usually do that anyway. The massive increase in 3D-printed 'kits' and building aids is really helping with that.

It's such a shame that you're not a Southern modeller

In terms of time I know exactly what you mean. I can just about manage around an hour of modelling each evening and perhaps no more than three or four hours each week on building a layout (five years old and not even all the track is down yet). But I've found that by making small increments in each session, you get there in the end. Little and often still produces results even if they take longer to achieve.

Wouldn't it be a good idea for one 3D producer - such as Rudi who excels in N gauge - to team up with someone who specifically works in another gauge - such as 00 - and then allow that person to fine-tune the specifications for printing in that gauge? Or is that too simplistic? It would also mean that N gauge specialists could work on reducing 00 specifications for the N market.

I've got this far and have been waiting patiently to find out how you build the lookout duckets Mind you, you've got the distraction of building 7Fs with the wrong kind of wheels (2mmFS instead of N) to keep you busy!

It depends what sort of bogies you're looking for, but the NGS sells several types.

That 7F looks lovely, as does the 3F, but it's the carriages that really catch my eye. My user name may give you a hint of my main interest, but it also shows you my one and only S&D blue carriage (so far). Modelling in 1930 I'm not sure I can justify any more... Is that one of your little helpers slacking in the corner in your first pic?

Thank goodness you're not producing a shrink-rayed version for us underprivileged N gauge modellers of the Southern, otherwise I'd have to buy at least two or three...

That list of yours is strangely coincidental with another discussion (on the NGF) about producing standard 3D parts for Southern locos - boilers, cabs, tenders - so that scratch-builders could pick the parts they need to produce the loco they need. You already seem to have an Eastleigh of your own there.

Yep, I also thought the ones with blackened bits on top looked quite effective. I'd say for operators of older stock (1930 in my case) a simple mimic vacuum pipe would be enough along the top of the couplings.

Hmm... that does narrow it down, but Haresnape doesn't mention anything in that region sadly. There's tons on info on which Terriers wouldn't be suitable though. These are still SR after 1925, but no info on locations: 77 Modified for IoW in 1927 650 modified at Brighton and shipped to IoW in 1930 These are definitely not suitable: 673 & 674 (Edge Hill Light Railway from 1919/20) The SR E-Group has a bunch of them based at Fratton (Portsmouth), some at Newhaven, and some on the IoW, but none elsewhere (http://www.semgonline.com/shed_allocations/shed-alloc.html) That's about as far as I can go. Peter