Tricky

Is it ok to run the same loco dc?

Yes and yes to the above two questions...!

One last one... Is there an obvious reason why the loco won’t work when I plug the DCC stuff into another layout (Bristol) which was working as DC? All the DC equipment has been removed. The handset is live but the little red light on the mother board doesn’t come on. A short somewhere...?

A very wise precautionary measure...who says Health & Safety wasn't around in them days?

Simple is quite often best. It's beautiful. It looks hot and oily! How do you get rid of any white dusty deposits once the Duraglit dries?

I see they've also credited me with my 1:24 signal box...

Oops.

Your paint finish, colouring and weathering is exquisite too; not to mention the mechanical and electrical witchcraft...delicious.

Further contemplation on this area has lead me to think that I will do away with the mirror under the bridge and replace it with a blocked-in arch way with a door, ship-lap boarding, corrugated sheeting etc all looking a bit disused. In-between this and the railway will be some temporary-looking chestnut paling fencing across the road and general workman's clutter; all adding to make the scene look like a back street/yard scenario, rather than a main road that's still in use. There will also be an open crossing gate across the tracks outside the office. Still cogitating about what goes to the left of the bridge either side of the track, as I still need some sort of view-blocker...

Yes - very appealing indeed. There is a bit of sneaking through gaps and across a road on Tewkesbury as well of course , which will adjoin this in the fullness of time. So when its all finished and joined up, trains will sneak in and out and pop out all over the place...!

He’s fine. He’s still having fun in Bristol.

Me too. Wiring terminal blocks are the cheat's way to go....

Looking good Dave. Will be interested to see how it performs over the weekend. If it was me, I would have been tempted to hide the wiring underneath.

Yes, very easy. Apart from taking the track feeds out of the back of the DC controller and sticking them in the back of the DCC panel, no wiring at all. In fact it took longer to jig-saw out a hole in the fascia for the panel! Now that my DCC learning curve isn't quite so steep, I wish (with wonderful hindsight) that I had taken the plunge sooner..!

Here’s a good view looking through the bridge towards Tewks, where a sector plate used to be.

What else to do on a sultry Bank Holiday afternoon but idly contemplate how I might extend the tracks from Birmingham to Tewkesbury - all in the space of an inch or so? Before I knew it I had a mallet and chisel out and this happened: The buffer stops have gone, along with the lamppost. Then my chiselling continued to produce this: Now the carpenter’s workshop and end wall has gone. And now this! All the mad chiselling is done, the wall and fencing to the left of the goods office has also gone and I now have a reasonably flat track bed. And as this all seemed a bit drastic, I thought I’d better do something constructive rather than just destructive and stuck a bit of track down. This last shot will hopefully show how it will all fit together with the tracks from the right-hand Birmingham flowing seamlessly into the left-hand Tewkesbury. Separated only by scenic breaks of the Cameo variety. Not sure what further demolition will be required on the bridge to get it all to line up and run through but we shall see....!

I was fearing this with this loco but I have been very pleasantly surprised. Running is now faultless. Helped by a very nice ABC gearbox no doubt...!

I know this, but I have to say this particular loco has massively improved its slow running since conversion.

Thanks to all the very helpful replies both on here and PMs as well. I think with your help I’ve cracked it and don’t feel quite so out of my depth as I did a couple of days ago! Ever onward as they say and I’m now looking to get a second loco (a Midland 0-6-0T) up and running. It’s been nothing but trouble as a DC and radio controlled loco so I’m expecting great things from a re-build with DCC!

I think love/hate maybe tipping slightly in favour of love!

I think I’m getting the hang of F27 and F28 but you have to be quick...so maybe CV266 is a better option with more control? On the Jinty info sheet I didn’t think it gave a CV number for volume control? If it’s your file though Paul, I’m very impressed as a first-timer!

Oops! This was the screen in question. Apologies for the earlier omission.

Ok, slowly but surely I think I’m beginning to understand this malarkey - and thank you for your patience! This is the screen when I press expn. Does this mean that the volume control F27 and F28 won’t work whilst these are active? If so, I don’t know how to get rid of them and they don’t disappear just by pressing 7 and 8. At the moment selecting F27 and F28 don’t do anything.

I may be missing something but results are variable. It’s either full on or nothing. Once I see F20-F28 and then press 7, nothing happens, I just see 7 dashes as per these photos... And the volume is remaining the same. Eek.

Thanks, I’ll give that a go once the grandchildren have been collected...!