NIK

Hi, I forgot to say the layout I showed a picture of we started about eight years ago and is kept in a club hut that goes from quite cold and damp through to hot in the summer. If the pattern makers dowels are too far inboard the layout could have a tendency to pivot around the centre and put strain on the screws that hold the dowels in. Could epoxy around the outside of the dowels to fill in the gap in the recess (we used a Forstner cutter to make the recesses). Holes for recesses and for bolts to hold the layout and legs together were drilled on a pillar drill (the bolt holes as pairs of end boards). Regards Nick

Hi, I am involved with a split level exhibition layout. We use pattern makers dowels recessed into 6.5mm birch ply ends (with another 6.5mm birch ply behind). The dowels are said to have a 2 thou clearance so that should be good enough for N gauge. Might be best to put the dowels towards the corners of the boards for accuracy. The track ends are attached to the ply ends and not the cork or horizontal baseboard. The last sleeper is replaced with copper clad epoxied to the plywood end. Our layout (Beggarwood Lane) which isn't finished yet is in OO but I'd thought I'd show a photo of a baseboard joint (its inline with the backscene and goes to the right hand side of the photo). The mark in the foreground is just a pencilled line on cork. Regards Nick

Hi, Magnadhesion?. Regards Nick

Hi, Many thanks, the topic has now appeared under new content - so I must have been on a slower server. Regards Nick

Hi, I wonder if they will develop a low profile mechanism* or a motor bogie?. As has been mentioned it could be a good candidate for chassis parts depending on the dimensions. *The OO Class 128 single car parcels unit with few windows had a very large chassis but could go up a 1 in 5 gradient. Regards Nick

Hi, I've just typed in Heljan GWR OO Railcar in Forum Index and no other threads seem to have OO in the title - could you send me a link please?. Regards Nick

Hi, Both threads had O gauge in the title so I didn't think that was a suitable place for a new OO model. Regards Nick

Hi, Hattons have said in an e-mail that Heljan have announced a GWR AEC railcar in OO as well as the O gauge one. I wonder if they will develop a low profile mechanism* or a motor bogie?. *The OO single car parcels unit with few windows had a very large chassis. Regards Nick

Hi, DCC Concepts claim their magnets are stronger than standard neodymium magnets and having bought some plus some standard neodymium magnets that I can see that might be true. If you do use steel or Iron you might need to put a waterproof coating on it to avoid stains if ballasting afterwards with water based adhesive. I've done some traction pull tests and the official magnets and plates gave impressive results. Regards Nick

Hi, The secret is out: Some members of the Beggarwood Lane crew were involved in our clubs participation in the Great Model Railway Challenge. Some of the preparation for our teams appearance in the show was done on the evenings Beggarwood Lane is normally worked on. Hence my mention in past forum posts of a special project. The Basingstoke Bodgers can be seen in programme three unless they change the running order after the first episode airs. Some preparation for some additional publicity related to the TV show is also being done the same night as Beggarwood Lane so things are a bit busy at present what with our open Day on the 15th September. Regards Nick (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for new members).

Hi, In what ways is it poor on DC?. Regards Nick

Hi, Its sounds like overheating. I don't think I've tested the current consumption of a Bachmann class 37 chassis. As other contributors have said adding insulation round the decoder and excessive current draw from lights could take it over the top temperature wise. One thing for the future is to test the current consumption of a loco chassis before selecting a decoder to go in it. As an example of what can go awry the Hornby TTS decoder for its HST has a maximum motor current of 500ma yet my Hornby HST chassis draws 600ma worst case. Maybe 100ma is the lights but if they are LEDs its unlikely. Regards Nick

Hi, I think the battery holder is in there so you can experiment with a single memory wire powered from batteries before buying a suitable supply to suit numerous memory wire devices. Normally memory wires consume power whenever they are switched on in order to tighten?. Servos are often used these days instead of memory wire as the wire has become more difficult to get and cheap servos and electronics are more available. Regards Nick

Hi, As its for your fiddle yard you might get away with trying to carefully scrape (swiss file) any rough edges and solder off the tops of the sleepers the blades run over. Make sure the sleepers either side of the tie bar aren't fouling it. Regards Nick

Hi, The club I belong to is currently having two open days a year and the next one is on Saturday 15th September: https://www.basingstokemrs.org/open-day.html There will be at least layouts in OO (at least two DC and one DCC) and 2mm/ft. There may be a surprise N gauge layout that is due to be built in 2 days just before the open day - not directly for TV as far as I know. Regards Nick

Hi, A week and a bit has gone quickly and the scenic boards of Beggarwood have had the longer static grass applied: Every ones a fluffy one now. The grass that had fallen on ridges in the cutting has been held in place by careful use of spray glue from a great range to stop the grass blowing away. In the second shot the wood screws used to attach the electrode of the static grass applicator to the scenery can be seen. Last night the track and brickwork were masked with low tack masking tape and paper roll. Peco spray glue was applied liberally and the next longer fibres put into the applicator. The glueing and using longer and longer fibres was repeated over two hours. Today the joints between the boards were split using a combination of brute force and a Stanley knife inserted where the gap was thought to be. The scenic boards are now for ready for checking and track cleaning before our next Open Day on the 15th September. Regards Nick (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for new members).

Hi, If its the one made by ESU with blue circuit board and supplied in plastic packaging rather than a cardboard box then yes I've had a problem with a similar decoder - the ESU Lokpilot Standard. If it is a modern ESU made one the only suggestion I have is to try and find someone with an ESU Lokprogrammer and the latest software and try and update the firmware in the decoder. Regards Nick

Hi Izzy, I think you were thinking of kilohertz not megahertz. I also think some early designs of DCC decoders may have used lower frequencies since later decoders were often advertised as having new high frequency (~19khz) options. Regards Nick

Hi, Finally we have started applying electrostatic grass to the layout. Just to prove its not easy being green - having said in the last post that special projects come along once in a blue moon the club members working on that last project have been approached to build a layout very quickly - not for TV as far as I can tell. Hopefully it won't delay Beggarwood too much. I thought the foliage growing on the chalk face looked good but it was just resting there on ledges - maybe if some spray glue is not too forceful and is matt the foliage could be fixed in place. One club member pointed out that the grass used for the basecoat as in these pictures has a lot of red in it. It looks much like patches of the Trent Bridge cricket pitch on the test match TV on Channel 5 to me. We used a type of PVA type glue mixed with burnt umber Acrylic paint. Unfortunately instead of turning dark brown the mix went pale mauve. This didn't happen during the static grassing on the last project so maybe the glue has some filler in it. This first layer used short fibres, but hopefully when we go over to spray glue and long fibres we will get a more 3D effect and less red in the fibres. We had agreed to do the layout in autumn colours so we may need some parched grasses etc. We have to take the scenic boards apart by Sunday so we haven't got a lot of time. We hope to get the layout back working for our next Open Day on the 15th September (https://www.basingstokemrs.org/open-day.html). Regards Nick (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for new members).

Hi, Thanks for your replies - I will ask at my club if someone has a LokProgrammer. I will also try a number of resets to see if that helps. Many thanks Nick

Hi, My model railway club chairman asked if I could with the aid of my newish ESU Decoder Tester have a look at a DCC decoder of his that wasn't working properly. I found the FL/RL lights wouldn't swap over when the direction was changed regardless of speed. The motor would only run when F3 was turned on and then it would only run at a constant medium speed. I reset the decoder by setting CV8 to 8 and this fixed the FL/RL lights but now the motor wouldn't run at all. I would have suggested he try and find someone with a ESU Lokprogrammer and try a firmware update but the LokPilot Standard isn't listed as upgradeable. Any suggestions?. Regards Nick

Hi, Model Railways Direct have got the Hornby Maunsell Restaurant Car in BR Green for £40.80. Regards Nick

Hi Marcyg, Are you referring to an NCE SB5?. Regards Nick