NIK

Hi, There's one thing I forgot - I don't think NCE's command stations allow Railcom feedback from Railcom DCC decoders. So if Railcom feedback is essential to you then you might need to do a bit more research on NCE. Quite a few of the budget decoders from Lenz, ESU and Zimo feature Railcom feedback although the last time I looked there was not a lot of feedback detectors on the market (to extract the Railcom feedback messages from the DCC bus). Regards Nick

Hi, NCE rarely seem to produce new products these days and I haven't seen any new versions of existing products in the last ten or so years since I've been using NCE DCC command stations. I assume the starter system is the Power Cab as there is also the DCC Twin but that has no walkaround controllers and a lot less buttons. I now use my Power Cabs for programming locos at exhibitions (having a single switched output is useful) and a spare throttles. Regards Nick

Hi, I've been working on a way of predicting how different trains will behave on different gradients and curves. At present it is a spreadsheet that uses the values for gradient, loco pull, curve radius, loco and train weight and static friction of train being hauled. I've just done some more tests using a club layout that has a 1:40 gradient combined with a 36" radius curve that starts part way up the gradient. A Bachmann OO 2H DEMU Power car slipped to a halt with 9 mk1 vehicles in tow. It slipped with 8 vehicles and went up the gradient/curve with 7 vehicles. I did a crude test of the hauled vehicles static friction with an adjustable incline plank. I measured the pull of the 2H power car when I got home and added the data to a spreadsheet that models the gradient combined with curve (using the experimental gradient and curve calculator results). The gradient track starts straight then curves, comes to a summit and continue to curve round. The model divides the track up into 1 foot sections - so a section can be straight, straight with gradient, gradient with curve and finally level with curve. The model predicted the result to the nearest coach and the point of slipping to the correct section at which slipping occurred. The gradient/curve calculator predicted the power car would have 58.5 grammes pull at 1 in 40 gradient. With two Mk1 vehicle removed the peak drag dipped under 58.5. The predicted drag was just over at 8 vehicles and 10 grammes over at 9 vehicles. I had only brought along 5 Mk1 EMU trailing coaches as the pull figure I had written down was 32 grammes - the lowest pull of a loco/power car that had a DCC decoder. It turned out to be the best 4 wheel drive pull figure (without Powerbase magnets). I had to borrow Mk1 BGs and a GUV to add to the train - and I could only do crude static friction tests and the BGs were a lower weight (haven't weighed one of my GUVs yet). I plan to do another test before the layout is put back into storage after our open day in Basingstoke on Saturday. First I will try and get a good record of the pull when I retest my weediest DCC fitted loco/power car and I will try and get better static friction records for each of the coaches I use for the test. Its probably better to have a weedy loco and a few coaches so the coach static friction has less influence. I'd like to find out why the 2H power car is so grippy. It seems to have the same weight and weight distribution as the Bachmann 4CEP and 2EPB but 50%+ more pull. I will also repeat its pull test using DCC to see if that makes any difference. Regards Nick

Hi, Beggarwood Lane has had a few repairs to broken solder joints and had one point motor adjusted but now seems to be largely tested and ready for running on Saturday. A dozen routes have been added and the routes to and from the bidirectional line have been tweaked. The bidirectional line in the fiddle yard between the clockwise an anticlockwise mainlines has now been christened about ten years after we started the layout. That line is key to running trains to and from the lower level (interregional and goods yard) via the gradient. We will have to get practise stopping trains on both mainline tracks when trains want to run down the gradient (there is no flying junction). We had to finally resort to bring a laptop down the club to speed up editing the routes. There was enough time during testing to try out getting a train to slip going up the gradient as part of understanding what trains will cope with the gradient (which has a 36" curve at one end). A Bachmann 2H power car hauled 7 Mk1 vehicles up the gradient but couldn't cope with 8. A pull test done afterwards showed the 2H power car to have a lot more pull than expected for a 4 wheel drive multiple unit. Stuart has been carrying on working on the reinforced bank and wall on the front of the goods yard - trying to make it kiddie proof enough. Stuart has added a NCE socket panel to the front of the layout so that the goods yard operator can more easily sit at the front and chat to people. The routes in the goods yard seem to be largely working now. The Open Day is on this Saturday in Basingstoke - why not come along - this includes any one who wants to join the club. Regards Nick

Hi, Beggarwood Lane (OO third rail finescale ) is up, running and seems ready for the open day this Saturday. Scrufts Junction (O gauge) is having detail added. The Royal Albert Bridge tribute layout (N gauge) using parts from the Brunel layout built for the final of the Great Model Railway Challenge TV show is being assembled. Lulworth OO (steam) should be running and maybe Santa's Globetrotting Vacation from our heat of the Great Model Railway Challenge TV show. Admission is free. There are refreshments (and toilets). For those who are thinking of joining the club why not come along as well. Regards Nick

Hi, I wonder if £445 RRP for a 4 car Bachmann BR(SR) EMU is sustainable?. Regards Nick

Hi, I don't think getting the wheels the wrong way round should cause the DCC decoder to overheat as it is downstream of the pickups. Most OO Heljan diesels have the wheels insulated both sides from the axle. Regards Nick

Hi, I haven't taken the top of my Hymek yet but its possible when the 8pin DCC connector went back in some of the pins may have touched the metal chassis beneath or pierced wires beneath. If so you could try putting a piece of electrical insulation tape beneath the decoder socket and carefully putting a new DCC decoder in (checking for wiring faults first). Regards Nick

Hi, I haven't built one of their EMU kits (I've got some of the their DEMU kits to do). One suggestion would be to make a bush out of a piece of plastic tube and add washers top and bottom of the bogie to hold the bush in place and get the ride height correct. Or you might be able to glue a piece of plasticard with a smaller hole on top of the bogie to suit the Southern Pride bolt. I suspect Southern Pride have changed bogie supplier at some stage. I think the bogie supplied may not be quite accurate as I think those HAPs that didn't have commonwealth bogies had single bolster BR bogies - which may be as fitted to the Bachmann 2-EPB or the type fitted to the Bachmann 4-CEP which have additional springs or dampers. Unfortunately I don't think either type is available in Bachmann general spares - could ask them if they would sell them. Regards Nick

Hi, The club I belong to is currently having two open days a year and the next one is on Saturday 13th April https://www.basingstokemrs.org/open-day.html Our last exhibition was very busy on the Saturday so here is a chance to have a less busy look at mostly club layouts including probably Santa's Globetrotting Vacation and two other layouts and a diorama built for the Great Model Railway Challenge TV show. The open day is free to visit. If you are thinking of joining the club why not come and have a chat, we are looking for new members. Regards Nick

Hi, Our clubs next open day is just over two weeks away (13th April 2019) https://www.basingstokemrs.org/open-day.html so work is being done to get it ready for that day. The goods yard routes were being corrected and while scenic work was going on (no spray glue) the layout was used for an experiment. A Heljan Class 16 with only one bogie driving was tested with five trailing coaches from Bachmann 4CEPs. The test was to see what the top speed was on Beggarwood's curves. The chassis is intended for a MTK 6S Hastings unit. Round a gentle curve it did 69 scale MPH. The top speed of the prototype is 75 MPH so the practical test seems satisfactory. Might need to add a bit of weight to the power car to see if that gives a bit more grip. The chassis is fitted with DCC powerbase magnets and the train romped up the Powerbase fitted 1 in 40 gradient from the lower level to the mainline. Regards Nick

Hi, With one of my Heljan Class 16 chassis with one bogie disconnected it only did 60 scale mph hauling 5 Bachmann CEP trailing coaches round my third radius test track. I did that to see if I could use Class 16 chassis cut in half to power my MTK 6S Hastings unit. The prototype had a top speed of 75MPH. I typed the loco weight, tractive effort and train weight into my experimental gradient and curve calculator which predicted the one bogie drive barely had enough pull for 5 coaches on 3rd radius curves. I then tried the same test on a club layout Beggarwood Lane as it had more generous curves. Unfortunately the baseboards with the sharpest curves (36" radius) couldn't be put up in time but the train managed 69 scale mph which I think is close enough for me. The chassis span its wheels when the throttle was increased fast so I may try and add some weight to see if I can increase the traction. As the chassis now has DCC Concepts Power Base magnets attached I tried the train on the Powerbase equipped 1 in 40 gradient and it romped up. Regards Nick

Hi, Did it say what type of socket it was fitted with and what current the motor draws and if the motor is coreless?. Regards Nick

Hi, What relevant information was provided with the loco?. Regards Nick

Hi, Can't a CDU be damaged by being over volted?. Are some CDUs DC supply only?. Regards Nick

Hi, It depends on what voltage and current the CDU requires. Regards Nick

Hi, I use JMRI for various tasks on model railways including electronic mimic panels. I write Jython scripts where JMRI doesn't do exactly what I want. JMRI also provides support for DIY model railway electronics such as DCC++ (Arduino based DCC Command station) and MERG CBUS (a layout control bus). Regards Nick

Hi, The third time in thirty years I had to replace part of a fence. I feel too old to dig the concrete bases out and opted to use an SDS2 drill to break up each base. I couldn't drill in deep enough to break up a base and called in a local fencing contractor who had replaced the fence 18 years ago. I was kind of pleased that they broke their concrete breaker on the base I couldn't break up. Regards Nick

Hi, That's a very interesting top speed - I shall try and remove any thick grease and put some light oil on and see what top speed I can get. I shall have to work out what the RPM is for the motor at 110 scale mph and 14mm wheels. I've refitted my test track with a point to point speedometer as some of my chassis slow down on part of the lap (not enough to pin point where they are slow). Regards Nick

Hi, The 4VEP motor coach has a lot of underframe detail firmly attached to a recess in the solebar - would you try to remove that detail and try to attach it to the Replica chassis or fit the Replica chassis to the unpowered coach in the middle?. I find the Replica chassis a bit noisy at speed and the slow running not too good although the 5 pole version of the Replica chassis should be better but with a lower top speed. I've been testing Heljan Class 128 chassis as a possible donor (use only part of chassis and drive one bogie only) but the top speed is in the range 65 to 72 scale MPH. I've ordered a Faulhaber coreless motor to see if its higher rpm than the Heljan motor will give a higher top speed. I bought a Hornby new style HST motor but its RPM when driving through the Hornby mechanism was too low and its max RPM is too low for the approx. 20:1 gear ratio of the Heljan Class 128. Regards Nick

Hi, I've been testing various chassis and I've found the Bachmann 4 CEP and 2 EPB chassis should give about the same top speed as the prototype 4-VEP - might need to improve the bearings on the unpowered coaches to get approx. 90 scale MPH. The Bachmann Class 108 chassis has slightly lower top speed but has smaller wheels which might match the 4 VEP motor bogie better. Regards Nick

Hi, I've had the same doing a STD read of a MX600R using a NCE Power Pro 5 Amp system (didn't try reading any individual CVs). Regards Nick

Hi, This years show was probably a record breaker with a more than usual surplus (which will go into a fund to pay for a replacement clubhouse and also to pay some running costs). Hopefully other clubs will have a similar experience - the Great Model Railway Challenge effect?. Regards Nick Murphy (a member of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members)

Hi, I've just tried one Powerbase magnet (could only get one to stick in place with glue) with single bogie drive version of Heljan Class 16 and: Extra 12mm wide strip cut from Powerbase strip between rails (for non scenic sections), Powerbase strip still under track. Pull increased to 86 grammes (was 37g without any Powerbase, 51g with two Powerbase magnets and Powerbase strip under track). That's more pull than a Bachmann Class 25 with all four axles driven. I will try and glue the other magnet back on and see if the pull increases further. Regards Nick

Hi, I just tried two Neodymium magnets (not from DCC Concepts) on a Heljan Class 16 chassis sitting above Powerbase plates. There was no increase in pull. So maybe the magnets field was not enough to grip the Powerbase plates. I've mislaid my Powerbase magnets so I've ordered some more. EDIT I've just found some Powerbase magnets. With a Heljan Class 16 with one bogie drive disconnected the pull went up from 37 grammes (no magnets) to 51 grammes (Two OO Powerbase magnets). So that's a 37% increase in pull. Tests were done with Hornby Code 100 track. Probably get a bit more pull with thinner track such as SMP. Now to buy some 12mm strip as per a previous post to see if I can improve the pull on non scenic sections where the strip can be between the rails. END EDIT Regards Nick