Tallpaul69

Thanks Nick, I don't mind walking in the cold so long as the temperature is a little above freezing! Unfortunately Dan, a friend of ours, slipped over while walking his dog this week and broke his arm. However, it was at 06.15, before going to work. Hopefully he will get a cast on it today, so he can be a bit more mobile! Cheers Paul

Seasons greetings to everyone, Where have the last ten days since my last posting gone? Snow, snow, quick quick, snow (melt!) - I don't think I have been so glad to see rain in a long time, (except, perhaps, at the end of the summer drought! So we have now just about got back on schedule with our pre Christmas activities after things were thrown into confusion by the PO suddenly bringing last postings forward, and the snow coming along. The only thing behind currently is our outside decorations which I think are going to be scaled back as we don't have anyone staying with us at Christmas. Enough of this seasonal stuff I hear you say, what about the modelling? Well, the jury is still out on the Bradenham to Wycombe End joining board. The track is ok, but the scenics are still troublesome, and may well be left until the adjacent areas on the Wycombe End fiddleyard board and Bradenham station area board are sorted. I really want to run a road across the north end of the station area, along the front of the joining board and along the fiddleyard board to cross the track that is heading into Wycombe End, to disappear into the far wall, with a turn along the back of the fiddleyard board. I have ideas about this being a supposedly c1960 built dual carriageway that was part of a supposed Princes Risborough bypass, to allow me to exhibit a good number of my large collection of 00 road vehicles. However, this might be too wide to comfortably allow access to the rails behind it, so I think a mock up will be needed. More of this anon, and possibly some pics in the new year. I am also hoping that there might be some good news from Hornby in January, and that there will be some bargains to be had in sales! Hope everyone has a great time over the next couple of weeks, and that you all manage to meet up with, or if not communicate with, all your family and friends. Meanwhile, don't forget Rudolph's carrot and Santa's mince pie, even if there are not any children in the house. Best wishes to you All, Paul

Excellent progress Nick since the previous update. Are you now able to run trains round on all four running lines? Seasons greetings to you and yours. Paul

Good afternoon everyone, Our fingers are crossed that the football fans amongst you get the result you want in England's match tonight! I am pleased to report that one of our big jobs pre Christmas is out of the way! This is the composing, printing, and despatch with Christmas cards of our annual letter to family and friends. The next job on the list is the external Christmas lights. They are all laid out in our large spare bedroom and visually checked, next is the power check, and then installation. The way the temperature is at the moment, I think it will be one item installed per day over this week. On railway matters, an extra Collett suburban brake that I had found online to use as the substitute for one Auto coach as I described a few posts ago has arrived. Also, I am waiting for three Bachmann Thompson coaches that are Kadee fitted, which I got at a good price, although they are the early version not the current one. These will run as a Marylebone to Nottingham via High Wycombe service with a couple of other similar coaches I already have. Tomorrow is the first of our Festive Season Family events, so I now need to clear away a number of modelling books plus bits and pieces on our dinning table. I hope all those reading this who are in this country are managing to keep warm in the current cold snap without blowing the budget? Cheers for now, Paul

This is true Rob, I have kept the Oxford line open in my model scenario, although I don't model blue era, keeping to c1960 and more modern eras including NSE. Keeping the Thame line open means some of the Paddington-Oxford trains can take the Chiltern line which compensates for lack of 115s. Luckily, there were less 115s used north of High Wycombe, where my model is set. I invoke Rule 1 to allow me to use 108s to give some variety with the 117s! Have you started on a Chiltern line model or are you still planning? Cheers Paul

Greetings One and All, The time of year is here where the railway has to take back seat for a while in order for us to get to Christmas still sane! I am still pondering the board to link the two layouts, being a great believer in a "Draw lots, measure lots, and cut once" philosophy. Meanwhile, it looks like my A5 4-6-2 tank from Sonic (via Rails) is still a way off with the latest Hornby Magazine reporting on decorated samples. Cheers for now, Paul

Good afternoon, everyone, Writing about B sets and auto coaches in yesterday's posting, lead me to think about introducing the single coach substitute for an auto coach, to give added variety to my local trains. Looking at some photos of these trains, I think the best of the available suburban break coaches for this use would be a Hornby Collett one. The other RTR alternatives are a Bachmann BR Mk1 suburban, which I think is too modern; or a Dapol Toplight suburban, which would be too old, for the early 1960s? Thinking of motive power, most of the relevant photos show 41xx or 51xx 2-6-2Ts, although several of the photos are from 1963/4 when there were probably plenty of these locos spare after their displacement from suburban services, although one caption did say that these locos were not seen often on suburbans, south of High Wycombe. Off course, thinking of the new loco announcements, another possible loco might be the 45xx/4575 2-6-2Ts, although I only have photo evidence of them on auto coaches worked in a non-auto fashion as these tanks were not auto fitted. So, if I introduce this train to my rotas, how would I use my fleet of auto coaches, AEC railcars, and 121/2 diesels in an early 1960s scenario? I think as follows: - 1) 2-6-2T + suburban brake Aylesbury/Banbury locals 2) 0-6-0T + auto coach Banbury/Aylesbury locals - alternating with 1) 3) 0-4-2T + auto coach Marlow-Bradenham and return locals 4) Streamline AEC Railcar Oxford -Bradenham and return locals 5) Angular (car/crm) railcar Paddington -Princes Risborough locals (via direct GW&GC route) - fictitious 6) Angular (green) railcar Princes Risborough -Paddington locals (via direct GW&GC route) - fictitious 7) Bachmann 122 + Lima non motor 117set Paddington to Thame local and return (In reality a 6 car set!) 8) Dapol 121/2 Maidenhead to Aylesbury locals (some trips with DMU trailer) 9) Hornby 122 Southall - Bradenham (Driver training) -fictitious! The two fictitious AEC railcar workings run in the some of the real timetable times of Princes Risborough/Aylesbury to Marylebone LMS workings to reduce the amount of siding space required for these trains. The driver training 122 has appropriate southall and depot destinations in its destination boxes! I think my rule 1 trains in the above are reasonable and allow me to run trains I like while reducing the amount of siding space required! There would be 61xxs + 3/4 coach sets as other as timetable Aylesbury to Maidenhead, etc., and return locals. Any comments or suggestions on the above welcome? Cheers Paul

Happy Warley to all those visiting yesterday or today! Recession, what Recession?? You wouldn't think so with the flood of new releases! I must admit to being tempted by the B sets and 44xx/45xx, but that was yesterday. Today, common sense has intervened, and the realisation that my existing B set is perfectly good for my single turn of an Oxford to Princes Risborough extended to High Wycombe, and return. There is no obvious candidate for a second B set. It could be a substitution for an auto coach, but the photographic evidence I have suggests that the usual substitute was a single non corridor coach. Added to this I have two Auto coaches and 4 railcars to cover what in reality were two diagrams. However, two of the railcars are absorbed by my extension of the Marlow to High Wycombe Auto coach working to Bradenham, and my extension of an Oxford to Princes Risborough to High Wycombe! The 45xx might be another story. I have a couple of sound fitted Bachmanns, one being a 45xx, the other a 4575. So, it depends on the details of the spec., and what numbers are offered. The fact that 45xx/4575s were not frequent in the High Wycombe Area has also to be considered. On more modern eras, the news of a new Class 50 is of interest, but I am reserving judgement until I see what the 37s and 31s turn out like. Meanwhile, back on the layout, the drawing up of a plan view of the layout connecting board is complete, but I am cross checking it by drawing a couple of cross sections, one for each side of the board. So I will put all three drawings up on here when they are completed around the middle of this week. Happy modelling to you all, Cheers, Paul

Hi, One and All, The plan for the bridging board between the two layouts is progressing. I have got to something I am satisfied with but need to draw a final version as my current working document has been altered so many times, I think that only I can make sense of it, and that relies on my memory to correctly fill a few bits where I have drawn lines, rubbed them out, drawn something slightly different, then rubbed that out etc. etc.! If I don't draw a proper clear version, by the time I come to build it I will have forgotten which of some of the duplicate lines are the correct ones!! It was relatively easy to fix the line of the tracks and where the hill ridge would run across this by a cutting to make the scenic break, but the difficult bit turned out to be settling a line for the road to continue that crossing the main line just north of Bradenham Station, and link into another road at the back of Wycombe End's fiddle yard board which will eventually become part of the scenic railway. Highlights of the week included the arrival of my sound fitted Bachmann class 121 in the GWR commemorative livery from the late 1980s which with Marlow and Maidenhead destinations is ideal to visit my 1990 version of Bradenham having travelled up the Wycombe branch from Maidenhead. The 121s did do this, (but by then only as far as High Wycombe) in real life. I had been putting this purchase off for a long while due to the expense, but with a small discount on offer and only 3 left in Kernow's stock, I didn't want to miss out! On Friday I met up with Malcolm in Bedford who had some weathered rolling stock for me, and I handed him another batch, this time some modern engineer's stock for treatment. I haven't yet unpacked the batch I collected, I will keep that for a wet day, of which we are promised several in the near future. I also will need to fit them with Kadees. I also found some goodies in the Oxfam Bookshop for my interests in Local History, Maps, and Stamps. Cheers for now, Paul

Good Afternoon All, I have continued working on plans for the bridging board between Wycombe End and Bradenham. I am going ahead with a simple level baseboard with scenery built up at a later date! I have decided that it will be a small snapshot of the hills to the west of the GW&GC, north of High Wycombe. I have started to draw up a plan of the board. So, keep watch this space!! Have fun with your modelling, and stay safe, Paul

Hi Neal, A typo maybe- I think you mean Thame, not Thames?? Mention of Princes Risborough and Thame, makes me wonder whether i should add a 1930s option to the multiple BR periods for my GW&GC layout! Of course, I could invoke Rule 1 and suggest that the Steam Railcar was allowed out on the mainline for a gala or some such in the modern era? Options to be thought through! Also, the £200 3D printer sounds too good to be true, but worth further investigation. Cheers Paul

Good day everyone, I am working on plans for the bridging board between Wycombe End and Bradenham. Initially, I thought it was a choice between a simple flat baseboard and one with a drop section. However, I have now decided that it would be better that this bord helps to form a scenic break between the two areas, so it's a choice between a flat baseboard with embankment and road bridge or a tunnel, and an elevated board except for the tracked areas. It really boils down to the simplest way to form the scenic break, and at present, I am thinking of a simple level baseboard with scenery built up at a later date! Next thing to do is to draw up a plan of the board. So, watch this space!! I have also started compiling a list of the things I need to connect my two layouts from a control point of view. I have to estimate/measure the lengths of the various cables. I intend as far as possible to avoid soldering by use cholate blocks with new cable and repurposed NCE PCPs as UTPs and pre terminated cables. Hopefully I can find suitable items in the DCC Concepts range, some of which will be stocked by my local model shop AGR, other they will no doubt order in for me. A key decision is whether to use the NCE SB5 as the power booster or the DCC Concepts Cobalt Alpha Box. I know the SB5s are not due in from the States until early new year. This is not a problem as I don't foresee doing this work until January/February, and if global warming doesn't send us a warm winter, it could be the Spring! My next update will be at the weekend. Cheers for now, Paul

Good day everyone, I have started compiling a list of the things I need to connect my two layouts from a control point of view. I have to estimate/measure the lengths of the various cables. I intend as far as possible to avoid soldering by use cholate blocks with new cable and repurposed NCE PCPs as UTPs and pre terminated cables. Hopefully I can find suitable items in the DCC Concepts range, some of which will be stocked by my local model shop AGR, other they will no doubt order in for me. A key decision is whether to use the NCE SB5 as the power booster or the DCC Concepts Cobalt Alpha Box. I know the SB5s are not due in from the States until early new year This is not a problem as I don't foresee doing this work until January/February, and if global warming doesn't send us a warm winter, it could be the Spring! Cheers for now, Paul

I don't think there is an existing Cab Bus as such in either layout because the controls in each case are single NCE PoweCabs plugged into the only UTP, as shown in John's first two diagrams. However, I don't think installing a Cab Bus will be too difficult. Cheers Paul

Hi Folks, Here is my first update on my project to join my two layouts, Wycombe End and Bradenham. In terms of the whole project this last week has not proceeded as expected. I have yet to start clearing the accumulations from under the layouts to allow me to adjust their levels to a common height. This is because sorting out the integration of the two layouts' DCC Systems has turned out to be more complicated and therefore more time consuming than I expected. However, I am getting good input from postings to the Thread I started in the DCC Help Section of this site, so things are moving forward. While some details still need to be sorted out, what is apparent is that there will be more wiring to carry out than I had initially thought. It is beginning to look that as well as joining the track on the new bridging baseboard to the track bus, I need to install a DCC Cab Bus across the whole layout and join together the Accessory Bus on the two layouts. So, I am now planning that this coming week will be devoted to finalising the wiring plan, with sorting under the layouts delayed until the following week. If this week goes well, then I might get to further consider and perhaps mock up making the new baseboard that will bridge between Wycombe End and Bradenham either a solid board or one with a drop section to the front to allow me to construct a scenic feature. However, I do think I have decided to have a facia to the board with a socket for the NCE handset. Cheers for now, Paul

Hi, There are no Smart Booster or Sniffer, the DCC Concepts Alpha Centrals are connected to a socket on the PowerCab's PCP Panel. Cheers Paul

Afternoon All, I realised re reading my last post that when writing it my brain was not sufficiently in gear! The builders of both my layouts, being professionals in their game, did, I am sure, include Accessory Bus. That being the case, to provide an Accessory Bus on the combined layout, I think I will only need to disconnect one of the existing Accessory Bus from its track power feed and install a link between the two Accessory Bus? The only thing I am not sure about is the impact of the fact that the DCC Concepts switch panels, and their associated point motors, being set up on a separate cab on the roundy round's NCE PowerCab to that of the track? Any thoughts on this matter would be welcome. Many thanks Paul

Thanks for your input. Having used both the NCE Handset "Select Assy" and DCC Concepts "Alpha Central" method of points control, I don't think that the DCC Concepts is sufficiently better than the NCE Select Assy to warrant the cost and effort required to change over. Clearly if two layouts were being built from scratch then you would use the same system in both. It has also to be remembered that I did not build either layout and so am loath to meddle. I am a great believer in "If it isn't bust, don't mend it", particularly when I have plenty of work that must be done on the layout! So, if I am to introduce an Accessory Bus I want to do it with as little change to the existing wiring as possible. Yes, a cut out in the Track Bus makes sense. I will give this some further thought, hopefully John will be able to do a diagram including accessories, which might clarify things! Cheers Paul

Hi There, While I have only heard good things about MERG and their gear, realistically, this is not an option for me. I have more than enough work to do on the layouts, without taking on electronics construction as well! I have done such work in the past, some 40 years ago I made a FM Tuner kit, which worked well. So now time is more important to me than money and realising that the SB5 is of similar cost to a sound fitted 00 locomotive, it is ok. Many thanks Paul

Hi John, Many thanks for your diagrams, they are a great help. I had just got to the point where I was going to draw a diagram for the combined layouts, but you have saved me the trouble! I have no problem with the addition of the cab bus, and alterations to the Track bus. However, can I be cheeky and ask you to draw a revised version of the diagrams to take into account point and signal operations? The relevant data is as follows: - The end-to-end layout has 12 points and 12 signals that are operated via the NCE Power Cab Select Accy button. The roundy-round layout has 20 points operated via two DCC Concepts 12 channel push button panels daisy chained into the right-hand socket of that layout's utp panel. Signals, their operating solenoids and control electronics all made for me by Stephen Freeman, have yet to be installed, but it was envisaged that they would be operated by the Select Assy button on that layout's NCE Power Cab. I would prefer to keep the current way of operating the points and signals so as to minimise the new wiring, wiring alterations required. Many thanks Paul

Good afternoon one and all, So far, I haven't found any UK stockists with SB5 in stock! It's not urgent to get one, so if some arrive from the States early in the New Year that will be fine! Meanwhile, I am debating whether to make the new baseboard that will bridge between Wycombe End and Bradenham a solid board or with a drop section to the front to allow me to construct a scenic feature. I am also debating having a facia to the board with a UTP socket connected to the track for the NCE handset. There is a query that moving to a SB5 system presents: - The easiest way to introduce a SB5 into the layouts is to use the existing cabling and UTP for Wycombe End for the SB5. This means the Handset for Bradenham will be redundant. However, the UTP for Bradenham also powers acab that is for Bradenham's points boards via its second socket, so will need to be connected to the power and the track. Will this be ok provided I don't plug a handset in to it? - Connecting the SB5 here is, I think, too complicated! Any thoughts welcome! Cheers, Paul

Good afternoon one and all, So far, I haven't found any UK stockists with SB5 in stock! It's not urgent to get one, so if some arrive from the States early in the New Year that will be fine! Meanwhile, I am debating whether to make the new baseboard that will bridge between Wycombe End and Bradenham a solid board or with a drop section to the front to allow me to construct a scenic feature. I am also debating having a facia to the board with a socket for the NCE handset. I will post a full update at the weekend, Cheers for now, Paul

Very true John! After various inputs on my DCC thread, particularly a number of well stated options from Ron Ron Ron, I am (hopefully) moving forward on plans to join the two layouts: - So, I am going to source an NCE SB5 to boost power around the combined layout. Ron Ron Ron's other options don't appeal to me, for instance I don't have space for further expansion of the system: - Any thoughts on best (not necessarily cheapest!) UK sources? I need a source that is willing to provide good online/e mail/phone support! Many thanks Paul

Good evening, all, So, I am going to source an SB5. Ron Ron Ron's other options don't appeal to me, or i don't have space for further expansion of the system: - Any thoughts on best (not necessarily cheapest!) sources? I need a source that is willing to provide good online/e mail/phone support! Many thanks Paul

Hi Paul How to tell which of two suggestions is correct and what is thread drift? If I implement something wrongly, because I don't understand it, but have taken it at face value, that could also lead to blue smoke rising!! Anyway, in my other thread I have thanked everyone for their input and proposed two alternative courses of action. Let's hope I get a clear steer on them, or clarification of what is wrong with them! I know from reading other of your posts that you know what you are talking about, but some others I can only take at face value. Cheers Paul