NIK

Hi, Bought a BR Blue Booster from Alton Model Centre. Ran nicely on the shop DC test track. I've run it in on my rolling road. The maximum continuous current I've measured is 440mA (on the rolling road). An idea which supplier produced this for EFE/Kernow?. Regards Nik

Hi, Before most of Beggarwood Lane was taken down for a scheduled break some more of the tracks were measured for length. This could allow planning for running a greater variety of trains at open days etc. For instance there is two feet between one of the carriage siding walkways and its point (green line on picture). So two locos could be parked there. The layout has just acquired its first SR Booster in BR Blue via Alton Model Centre. So maybe the Booster could sit in front of some old EMUs or DEMUs in the back carriage siding?. Just to end with we are fundraising to complete our first new club hut. So any donations such as via the BNHMRS website would be gratefully received. Nik (on behalf of Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members)

Hi, A full power cycle of all devices on its own didn't fix it but unlinking the loco in the app and then relinking did fix it for a while. Then the app seemed to not offer sound control even though the settings screen showed loco had a sound decoder. Sound still works on DCC control. PS I connected a DC current meter to the DC power input to an NCE Power Cab. When the decoder was in DCC mode with Class 73 sound profile the current draw only went up a few milliamps when the sound was on and the loco at tickover on default volume. Current draw for the R7336 decoder in DCC or Bluetooth mode was indicated to be 12mA. Regards Nick

Hi, I linked and downloaded the Class 73 profile into a R7336 DCC/Bluetooth Sound decoder in a Bachmann Class 108 DMMU Power car. It seemed to run fine on Bluetooth, I then swapped it to DCC mode and it seemed to run fine. When I swapped it back to Bluetooth mode I can't seem to operate the loco. It seems I can change the loco address because when in Bluetooth mode I can change the loco address and it remains at that new value when I swap back to DCC. Any ideas?. Regards Nik

Hi, Just seen this on the Zimo Website: NOTE: Due to the continuing demand and the favorable availability of components, in addition to the MX616 and MX617 types, all MX decoders are available until further notice, contrary to what is stated in the current price list. The prices in the December 2022 price list apply to these other types. Could be out of date info. Regards Nik

What do British Gas and Toucans have in common?. They can both stick their enormous bills up their bottoms.

Hi, Most of Beggarwood Lane is being taken down and shouldn't be up again until after our club's exhibition on the 9th and 10th March 2024. Work will resume on lowering the third rail. One of the points on the mainline on a scenic board is playing up and as the microswitch isn't operating it will need to be looked at pronto. Beggarwood was up at the time of the last Junior meeting and the layout got tested quite well. In addition to thinking about stock for the West London Line spur other stock is being considered for future shows. The EFE Booster is due soon and the refurbished CEPs are out. I've ordered a Dapol OO Class 59 with smoke generator just to see how it performs when smoking. It might be nice to have smoke fitted diesels going up the gradient on the scenic boards and also starting up in the interregional exchange sidings. Beggarwood also gets used for running whatever stock members have including South African steam. I think our platforms are built to an old British model standard so clearances can be very tight. Beggarwood is going to have an NCE SmartSwitch added to the DCC accessory bus so that the MERG DCC point decoders can't be accidently reprogrammed. Just to end with we are fundraising to complete our first new club hut. So any donations such as via the BNHMRS website would be gratefully received. Nik (on behalf of Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members)

Hi, I see the orange line is missing from one cab end on the South West Trains version on the Hornby website. Is that correct?. Regards Nik

Hi, The other thing I've noticed about the E-bay offering is that the motor bogie has been moved to the brake end of the motor coach. Most of the photos on the E-bay page are the same as the Hornby website. Regards Nik

Hi, If its a production model the close up photos seem to confirm the wheel flanges on the trailer coaches haven't been reduced in depth for this batch. By the way I did some speed tests on a club DCC layout (min 3 foot radius curves) and a Hornby 4VEP power car did 130mph. Probably would be a bit slower with all the trailer cars attached and their slot bearings. Regards Nik

Playing his fave hit "I can't get no benediction".

But inspired Brian Ferry to name his daughter Brittany............

Reminds me of Chesney Hawkes roasting on an open fire.

Santa uses up his air miles.

Hi, Beggarwood Lane is up in the club rooms for December. Some of the third rail was being lowered to a more scale height to avoid some of the newer stock catching it but that work has been suspended so that trains can run uninterrupted until the end of the month. A very close up view of some of the detail that's being added to the layout. Out of interest the length of the clockwise mainline circuit was measured with a long plastic tape measure. It turned out to be 60 feet and six inches. It was found that one Hornby 4VEP power car did 130mph at max DCC speed step and a Hornby Class 153 did 125mph. Both units have self contained motor bogies similar to those used in the Limby (ex Lima) locos and DMUs. Frustratingly some of the points in the fiddle yard had problems with the feeds to the frogs but it may be due to problems with positioning of the microswitches and it was a very cold day. Result was the speed tests had to go through sidings with an S bend in it so not the lowest friction route. Not wasted work on the speed tests as the layout may be used briefly for testing an RFID system and that system is designed to work up to 120mph. We are hoping to move to a new club room where layouts like Beggarwood can be up most of the time. Importantly it will have toilets both for the disabled and the able bodied. The access will be much improved and layout work should be more fun for young and old with more space. So any donations to the new club hut fund would be very gratefully received - an internet search for BNHMRS should find us. Nik (on behalf of BNHMRS - still looking for new members)

'My grandfather use a professional cine camera to film the real Santa Claus coming down a chimney' 'Bolex?' 'No its true I tell you'.

The 2024 to Crewe has been cancelled due to the wrong kind of high energy particles on the line.

Went down to Lewes for my birthday and finished the trip by going to a Harvey's pub and then to the Harvey's Brewery shop and bought as many bottles as I could carry. Didn't take many days to drink them.

Currently drinking Badger Cranborne Poacher although Harvey's Bonfire Beer or their Xmas ale would be nice as well.

Yes, a small test circuit would be very useful to test out the concepts. You would probably be breaking new ground with some of the features you are envisaging. Rocrail has an autostaging (auto shuffle up) feature built in (for DCC). An autostaging feature for DC can be done using relays to do the logic. RFID cannot tell what a loco's ID is until it goes over a reader. Railcom can tell the ID of a loco within a Railcom track section but it is DCC only and not all DCC decoders have Railcom (I have that problem on the DCC club layout I help with). Not all DCC command stations are Railcom compatible. JMRI is probably best if there becomes a need to add features as it has extensive scripting capabilities. It might be worth your most electronics savvy member joining MERG to ask for advice (especially if keeping club costs down is important). There is the JMRI users group online. Regards Nik

If Fred Flintstone had been at the last race of this Formula 1 season he could have had an Abu Dhabi do.

After Oscar Pistorius is released early from prison the parole board admit its a shot in the dark and it could all go down the toilet.

Hi, The Railcontroller info in the first post says it has a scale speed loco database. Maybe the system can use that (with some extra info?) to calculate what speed steps for the DCC command station to send to each loco to keep them speed matched. Regards Nik

Such a shame the octopus always won.

My partner is an anticruciverbalist - we've never had a crossword between us.