wasdavetheroad

That's pretty much what RC control is about but the OP has realised that you can also use it to replace a normal DC controller for simple layouts and have a 'free' radio control throttle. For me a big plus point for RC is I have no layout wiring. Another is minimal rail cleaning, once or twice a year is enough. The downside is I have to keep those batteries charged although next generation RC gear should have auto battery charging

How much do you want to pay? You can buy a new Gaugemaster Combi for less than £50 but if you want wireless it is going to cost you more, up to £100

This idea is basically using radio control gear to replace the DC controller. There are R/C receivers that have sufficient amps, at least 3 amps so that should not be a problem. what you must ensure is that there is excellent short circuit protection of the receiver as a layout short will fry the chip. The R/C receiver can take its power from a DC power source with a regulated voltage. The 'controller' ,they are called 'Tx' in RC jargon, still has a battery but these last a lot of hours. You can't merge this with a DC controller, it is either or. You can't have both switched on at the same time. A Deltang simple Tx kit would cost about £24 and a receiver 13V 3A about £40 with a 18V option about £50 You would have to install your own short circuit protection

I added the central pillar at the door end used lego single bricks for the cores of the smoke vents. the stone work is scalescenes papers and I 'midlndes' the shed by using wilko ruby ring emulsion for the red bits

This is my not yet completed version of the old kit. fits the Cumbria feel of my layout

Are the drawings 4mm to the foot or 1/76 scale?. If it is 1/76 scale the answer is multiply by 2.375 or 237.5%. If you can't enlarge by fractions of a % then enlarge the drawing by 475% and reduce the enlarged drawing by 50%

Have a look at the BlueRail trains topic on the DCC discussion forum for interesting news.

Indeed Ron, The second projected Bluetooth integrated boards will make any arguments about DCC/radio control irrelevant because it can be both. If the manufacturer has real business clout it may prompt other decoder manufacturers to produce their own version, hopefully using the same Bluetooth protocols. Mention of a high end product may be a problem as it would mean a high price. Another problem might be the mention of HO scale, as far as I know US HO scale is smaller than UK 00 but the models are wider because of the different loading gauge. In other words, hope the boards will be small enough. One of the good features of the original bluerail board was its ability to seamlessly shift between track and battery power when running. combined with an auto charging feature this could considerably reduce the complexity of DCC wiring. I wonder who that high end sound decoder manufacturer is?

I believe 3V output for P pads

If you are considering a Deltang receiver (Rx) note that they use the Spektrum DSM2 radio control protocols as do the Deltang transmitters (Tx). If you find an alternative transmitter make sure it can handle the DSM2 protocol which is older than the present DSMX protocol, although older the DSM2 protocol can control all the stuff you need. Building a TX kit should not be too difficult as the Tx2 transmitter core is supplied complete and you are basically connecting up the switches and potentiometer(s) and adding various resistors. You can buy the Tx2 transmitter core for about £20 and supply the other components yourself.

No thanks for the useless advice. I had cataract surgery 3 weeks ago and my modelling is curtailed for about 3 months. . I will have to go through the whole procedure again for the other eye. My original point still applies, I am glad Dapol still sell their 'cheap and nasty' wagons.

I found no problem with traction when converting my Lima diesels to radio control with battery power. Not having any pickups reduces drag. The large steel block was removed and replaced with lead sheet to keep the loco weight the same as before. I could not achieve the weight I wanted in a Class 26 so I placed a strip of lead over the power bogie. Those Lima diesels are good value and ideal for conversion as inside it is mostly empty space. I also modified the bodies so they lift off easily. Change the loco hauling the train, just swop the body for a different livery!

That good old fashioned method looks the easiest. Modify the knob or buy a replacement with a protruding 'pip' that can hit a stop on the casing, maybe superglue a plastic or rubber pad at the appropriate location

I find bullfrog snot cures Lima diesel traction problems. My Class 20 pulls 20 coaches no problem. The single bogie diesels have good haulage power with snot over the traction tyres so it should work with replacement wheelsets

I too have fitted the Dapol LMS non corridor coaches with Hornby wheels with no problems. Mine are the cross country lavatory coaches and I did not know Dapol made a suburban version

I reckon I can remember at least 20 vehicles, especially as they would be organised in pairs. Combine that with some locos and you have the potential for a lot of flexibility Organising in pairs: branch passenger - 2 servos lakes express - 2 servos main line pickup goods - 4 servos branch pickup goods - 4 servos coal - 2 servos cattle - 2 servos parcels - 2 servos engineering /milk - 2 servos plus some brake vans and locos I checked some prices this morning. Combining a Deltang transmitter kit for £20 with 4 Lemon receivers at just under £12 each gives a price of about £17 per installation plus the price of servo/battery etc which can vary It needs testing so I am going to order a couple of Lemon receivers and try it out.

I would like to have the modified coupler function as a normal tension lock as well as remote uncoupling. It can then auto couple to another tension lock and uncouple if the other tension lock does not have a hook. Plus existing uncoupling ramps will work, hopefully! I have been thinking about some cheaper alternatives. For a small number of tension locks a Deltang transmitter kit for about £20 is worth considering. Deltang use Spektrum transmission protocols and other manufacturers receivers are available. I found Lemon receivers are less than £12 in the UK and it should be possible to control them with a Deltang transmitter. I think buying one to test might be a good idea. Over on FreeRails there has been a lot of discussion on Flysky products, it uses a different transmission protocol but also worth looking at there are several topics here http://www.freerails.com/view_forum.php?id=45

Yes, a prohibitive cost for individual wagons but doable for short rakes etc. I must admit I did not find any photos of duchesses or Royal Scots shunting at Penrith but admit it could be done. Actually the bigger locos should be easy, at least for the tender end. You already have the receiver onboard. I thought about a rotating hook but it looked more complex, difficult to construct and the coupler would not function like a standard tension lock.

The coach rakes can be variable length and uncoupled in 3 platforms, 2 storage sidings and the fiddle yard. some of those locations can be difficult to see due to obstructions, distance or angle of view. I tried a fixed uncoupling location with the Brian Kirby system and could not get the consistency of operation I wanted, hardly at all at distance. This might be down to my poor eyesight. I also counted the number of fixed locations I would need, when I reached 35 on the scenic section I stopped counting, no way am I going to dig up my 150mm blue foam baseboards for that. I added some extra weight to the coupling hook so no effect on balance. When I trial the no lock version I will a little more weight. the whole hook assembly only weighs about 1 gram so no problem with servo power. Yes even the prototype version fits in a standard sized van. I am thinking the open wagon version, I won't need many of them, will use a linear servo with the connection below the floor. The receiver is about 5mm thick and 3mm thick batteries are available. I will be happy if at normal viewing angles I can't see the false floor above the electronics. Some brake vans coupling at both ends would be good and I tested a servo yesterday, the idea is a push rod that moves left or right as required, pushing up the coupling hook. Yes there are regular locations but also some single wagon spots, I reckon with a little thought it could be done, having a working coupling in the tender would help.

A low cost system would be attractive. The components I used would total over £40 per installation. There are cheaper commercial radio receivers which have the capability to control a servo or actuator but the ones I have seen need one transmitter per receiver, not a viable solution IMO. Maybe getting the cost below £10 would be a target. Over to you Robin!

Unfortunately my ancient hands are not capable of doing any fine work, the most I am comfortable with is soldering wires together. Micron Radio Control solder the wires I need on the Rx which means I wont destroy the Rx trying to do it myself. As I mentioned before I have plenty of N scale stuff to sell which should raise a few hundred and have about completed my loco fleet. If a good second hand class 5 or appears I will probably buy it. There is a £5 cheaper Deltang Rx which is 11mmx10mm and I will buy one of those for testing

Both ends of a loco is attractive however dealing with the front bogie is a problem. A lot of locos would only need a tender installation, for example large passenger types or heavy goods, the ones that don't shunt. My problem is I have 4-4-0 and 2-6-0 locos that do shunt, at least on the prototype, also some 0-6-0 tender locos. I also have 2 pairs of locos that prototypically do double heading, at least one of each would need a tender installation. That idea of snipping the 'lock' of the coupling arm has merit as it would allow uncoupling with the tension lock under tension, no more reversing the loco a tiny bit before hitting the button. I must run some trials. There is a lot of work here, many months I reckon

I have started a topic in the Radio Control forum describing how I am trying tension lock uncoupling using radio control. even if you don't want to use radio control you might find the mechanical aspects useful, basically the aim is to allow uncoupling almost anywhere on the layout

I have started a topic in the Radio Control forum describing how I am trying tension lock uncoupling using radio control. even if you don't want to use radio control you might find the mechanical aspects useful

Yes, Deltang receivers are expensive but luckily I still have a considerable amount of N scale stuff to sell which will help fund the project. Dentang receivers are not the only option, others are available on ebay for good prices. You could try a DCC decoder as well with the advantage that you won't need the battery. The basic mechanism can remain the same. An alternative to a micro servo is a small actuator as used in tiny RC model aircraft. I will probably try making a prototype using one of those as well. I bought my servos fromm Micron Radio Control, they do actuators as well http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/actuator.html You mentioned possible difficulty in identifying vehicles and I have given this some thought. I intend to use a Deltang TX22X transmitter which has four switches/buttons, these can be used for operating servos. That is four servos for each of its 12 'Selecta' positions, up to 48 servos! Initially I want to convert 2 passenger rakes. A branch 3/4 coach rake and a main line 3-8 coach rake representing a 'Lakes Express' or Convention Special. These will occupy Selecta position 1, servo 1&2 for the branch train and servo 3&4 for the main line one For goods trains for example my main line pickup goods could have Selecta position 4 and comprise 2 variable length rakes of wagons, each with a converted wagon at each end. I don't have a return loop so all my rolling stock has a fixed orientation. The servo identities reading from left to right. I will also have to give some thought to fitting converted tension locks to some locos and brake vans. The locos already have a receiver installed anyway. I also found that uncoupling is possible on curves down to radius 3 in some cases Here is the TX22X transmitter, servos can be operated using S1, S2, S3 and the bind button. You can also control a servo with the throttle knob A question, why are operating tension locks not fitted as standard in loco tenders?