GWRDukedog37

Thanks for the advice John, I’ll be sure to give that ago tomorrow 

Hi all, once again thanks for the reply’s. 
 

I thought I’d offer a small update. 
 

ive tried some gaugemaster decoders in the trailer cars and these work fine. As intended. Whilst the hattons decoders still aren't working so I’m still a little baffled. 

Hi all thanks for the reply’s. When I press function zero the lights do turn on and off. However when I put the decoder in the other way round the head and tail lights both light up simultaneously but slightly dimmer than when it’s just the headlights on there own?

Hi, I’ve had two Graham Farish class 350s for a little while and have recently got round to fitting dcc into the second one. 
 

for the first one I used gaugemaster chips with no issues. Having come to do the second one, the chips I used aren’t available any more so I’ve used Hattons chips. 
 

the chip in the motor car works perfectly, however, the chips In the end cars only seem to light the forward lights regardless of the direction. Add this to the fact they will only read on the programming track in the motor car I’m really quite stuck for a solution. 
 

does anybody have any tips or advice before I consider returning them?

thanks in advance

After a bit of fiddling I’ve solved the problem and will add it on for anyone who has the same issue. 

I removed a snall capicitor as per another thread 

And then used a gaugemaster OMNI 21/8 pin decoder (all I had) as appossed to a direct plug in one. As it was a larger decoder I drilled a small hole in the coal bunker to pass the wires and the pins through as then placed the removable coal load back on top and this holds the decoder in place. 

I have recently purchased a Dean Goods from the Doncaster show and I ran it on dc to test its running capability and it ran smoothly. I then put a dcc chip in and the running was completely shot. The loco moves 4 inches then stops and starts on its own and repeats the process over and over. 

Has as anyone else had a similar problem and how did you solve it? 

Thanks in advance

Regards, Cameron 

I like the idea of the joint line. A good excuse to have a mix and match of each companies signals as they are replaced over time perhaps?

Pretty much, yes. It depends how much of the curve you're happy to expose and how close you're willing to position the points to the tunnel mouth.

 

But you can clearly see the advantages of making the loop longer:

• More room to store and shunt goods wagons
• More room to run round passenger trains that have terminated at the station before going back the way they came in (in either direction)
• Room enough for slow goods trains to stand aside while fast express trains are allowed to pass.

Paint? Eurgh! ;-)

Thank you very much for your help I really like the plan you have helped me achieve. This is the result

This is the amended plan. and it includes a longer passing loop to allow the expresses to pass a goods train in the loop. The only down side to this is the radius of the left hand curve is only allows for a Settrack curved point. I'm sure some weathering and a well placed tree could solve that. By moving the platforms closer to the right hand side I can extend the goods yard slightly. However, with the new and improved size of the garage would allow me to move to a more suburban location. (Food for thought)

Yes, exactly.

 

Some of the details probably need to be tweaked but that simple, elegant plan will allow you to perform lots of interesting prototypical moves.

 

I would suggest trying to elongate the loop siding if you think you can do it without making things feel too "busy". Maybe push the left hand tunnel entrance back a bit so that some of the end curve is visible and use a left-hand point on the curve, just before it straightens, to branch out to the loop siding. (Does that make sense?)

This is what i assumed you were intending. I have made the amendments quickly using paint. (the ultimate planning tool)     with the yellow line representing the rough location for the tunnel portal.

Your design is beautifully simple - it's got real potential.

 

Do you need the left-most crossover? And could you align the goods/bay to feed directly into the loop siding instead of having to use the other spur siding as a headshunt? That would make operations much smoother. Something like this, topologically:

DukeDog1b.png

 

If you've got the whole 16 * 9 garage (luxury!) then could you build the layout around the outside walls in the traditional way? If so, that would make access to the fiddle yard trivially simple (it would be on the opposite wall to the station) and you could relax some of the curves a bit.

Something Along these lines perhaps?

After a bit of playing around. This is what i came up with. I've caved in and i'm going to by my granddad the shed he so desperately wants. As a result i have the full garage available (16 X 9) resulting in enough space to walk around the layout to reach the fiddle yard as well as a bit more space on the scenic side. The yellow lines indicate retaining walls.

That could be a significant problem. The backscene might have to be lower than ideal, leaning over the model will make it difficult to work on rolling stock, there's the danger of damaging scenic items and a huge person arching over the station every now and then could destroy the illusion.

 

What scale is the design for? What are the overall dimensions?

The layout will be 16 feet long by 4 foot and 3 foot in the middle. Although I have been able to make enough space in the garage so it can be 16 by 4 and leave a little space at the back to access the fiddle yard.

You could also get a gentler curve through the station and get more space for the goods yard by putting it behind the station.

 

If one of the scenic breaks is a bridge rather than a tunnel, the headshunt/shunting neck can go through it. That can be a useful spacesaver.

 

Not electrified, but an interesting trackplan for operation, is Semley.

Thanks for the suggestion I’ll have a look I’m sure a little modellers license could be used

Do you have clear access to the fiddle yard? Do you have to reach over the backscene?

I will have to reach over the backscene

Thank you very much. I will change the crossover for a trailing one and I really like the idea about having a cutting on the right hand side. I will implement this into and amended plan and see what it looks like

Hi all, This is my plan for a layout in the space available. If possible i would like to avoid increasing its width else ill have to by my granddad a shed lol. I would like to run trains up to 5 coaches long. This has been considered within the fiddle yard. It will be based on a electrified 3rd rail line with EMUS and steam including West Countries and Merchant Navies on the big expresses. I imagine it to be somewhere along the SWML or a spur of it. I am unsure as to the prototypical nature of the plan and if anyone has any amendments or completely different ideas would be appreciated.

Hi all, This is my plan for a layout in the space available. If possible i would like to avoid increasing its width else ill have to by my granddad a shed lol. I would like to run trains up to 5 coaches long. This has been considered within the fiddle yard. It will be based on a electrified 3rd rail line with EMUS and steam including West Countries and Merchant Navies on the big expresses. I imagine it to be somewhere along the SWML or a spur of it. I am unsure as to the prototypical nature of the plan and if anyone has any amendments or completely different ideas would be appreciated. The red box indicates a goods shed and the boxes the coal yard.

Thanks Kris. I’ll have a look

My Dapol Britannia is making a very loud grinding noise and is quite a jerky runner does anyone know what might be causing it and how can I solve it please?