RobjUK

RS Components trade counters? There are not many places left that sell components retail... Some local computer repair shops may be prepared to obtain items for you, if they deal with the bigger suppliers like RS or Farnell.

You can get filler powder to mix with epoxies / polyester resins to thicken them up as needed, anything up to paste form. The proper stuff does not reduce the adhesive strength at all, as long as you do not overdo it. eg. this is the one I have: https://www.force4.co.uk/west-system-west-404-high-density-filler-250g.html?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0seer9OQ4wIVL7HtCh08DQc5EAQYAiABEgIauvD_BwE It's very low density, the 450g tub as in the photo is 4" diameter by 6.5" tall. Another one that should work well for fine detail, as long as it will be painted over, is ready-mixed polyfilla style stuff - the quick drying one. (If a new plastic tub of the stuff feels almost empty when you pick it up, you have the right one). I now get a different brand from a local trade supplier, but it's exactly the same material. That is a partly alcohol based filler, it dries very quickly and the consistency for sanding is more like balsa wood than normal fillers. It sands extremely easily, far more so than any other filler I've ever used, but it is still quite tough. I have not tried it on models but it is a very fine material so should work well, assuming it will stick to whatever substrate it's being used on.

I detest the things as a "general use" connector, we often come across them in bodged repairs in industrial gear. However for this specific application, I can't think of anything more suitable at a sensible price. That's why I suggested at least the higher quality ones that have a chance of giving a decent long term connection. If I was doing an under board wiring setup I'd probably use miniature DIN rail terminals (for 15mm rail), but it's something we stock so I'm familiar with them. However, in small quantities they are almost £1 per terminal, which is far more expensive that standard 35mm rail terminals.. The full size ones (for 35mm rail) we use in large quantities are too big, about double the size, and overkill for this type of application.. Photo of a few miniature ones fitted to a rail plus some individual parts, for people who are not familiar with them; the big one is a fuseholder terminal:

By the time you get anywhere near 20 locos on the track at the same time, you are probably going to need a DCC booster unit to power them anyway. At that point, you can get eg. a DCS 240 which links to the Zephyr. The zephyr is then just another throttle/booster and the DCS unit becomes the command station, with capacity for up to 400 locos and throttles... The point is, the "20 locos at once" figure is not a hard limit and does not prevent future expansion. (I'm not saying you _should_ buy the DCS51 or 52, just giving some balance to the thread).

There are two grades of choc blocs with very different clamping characteristics. The cheap ones just have a bare screw protruding in to the body, and only really work well if the cables in use are a fairly snug fit before clamping; with smaller wires, a lot of the strands can end up beside the screw and hardly any actually clamped. The better type have a "wire protection leaf", a flat plate under the screw to trap the wires and stop them bypassing the screw - or getting twisted off as it tightens. If you are using them with fine wires, it's well worth getting the better grade - though they can be harder to find. Example: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/non-fused-terminal-blocks/4649744/

I'd stick with stranded for the droppers, personally. Strip, tightly twist and tin the 7/0.2 first and cut any excess off the tinned section; the cheap alarm wire seems to have low grade insulation that shrinks back rather more that most other cables when you solder it.. Then treat it as stiff single strand & bend the end at 90' with pliers, if appropriate for how it will be positioned. Tin the track first then add the wire to the pool of solder, or re-heat while holding the dropper end in the correct place, until the joint has fully flowed. If you try and solder directly to untinned rail in one go, it's likely to be far messier. It's not a good idea with two things that need such radically different amounts of heating. If you go for single strand, I'd try to arrange the joints so the wire runs parallel to the track before bending downwards, even if only for a few mm, plus not attaching it to the baseboard too close to where it goes though, so any slight movement can be taken up over some length of wire rather than all the stress being on one spot. Not rigidly fixing with wire in the baseboard where it goes through really applies to any droppers I suppose, as if its glued it's bypassing the function of the foam bed and passing noise and vibration to the baseboard, as well as stressing the wire - track joint.

That cable rating chart is strange! The 16/0.2 we us is rated at 11A... http://www.doncastercables.com/product-documents/TRI-RATED.pdf The cable resistance is more important than the current rating from model railway use; the longer the run, the more voltage is lost in the cable for any given load. For a large layout, go up a size or two from what appears to be required. For a very large one, go up four times or more. Using DCC does not directly affect the cable requirement, if you were running the same loco as under you were under analog control. The change with DCC is that you can run two, three or more locos in the same power zone, and it's likely you will end up doing that if you go to DCC. That's where you need heavier cables, to allow for running multiple locos simultaneously. With your 25m layout, I'd use at least 1mm, possibly solid core mains cable (eg. twin & earth style, with the outer stripped off). That's also quite easy to spot-strip with a small pair of wire cutters, to connect droppers.

I'd back Ron's mention of the Digitrax Zephyr (DCS51 or now DCS52). I have had a DCS51 for around three years, it's an excellent controller if you want a console style. You can get a USB interface that connects to that for computer control (and via that such as smartphone / tablet throttle apps). The DCS52 appears to now include the USB interface, which makes it very good value - and the buttons are a bit more conventional in styling. From a quick look on Google they are available at less that 200- (pounds or dollars, depending where you are).

I'd just verify if it's a 5V or 3.3V regulator by checking the output voltage of a good unit, then try only replacing that in the failed ones. There is a fair chance that the reg is the only damaged part; don't worry about the MCU (probably a PIC) unless that is definitely dead - they are pretty bombproof..

I'd have a look if you want to send one to me, just for the cost of postage back if that is significant. I have been repairing electronics as a profession for around 40 years.. PM me if of interest. RJ.

This may be of interest - though I have no idea how you can integrate it with other systems, or if that is even possible. https://www.simsig.co.uk/

You could try turning the speaker over (compared to the photos) and sealing it, airtight around the edges, to the roof fan opening (if it has a grille rather than a solid insert). Temporarily removing the insert / changing to a grille may be worthwhile if not. A carefully applied bead of blu-tack to stick and seal it may work as an experiment. That makes the whole loco body act as a baffle and should give a significant improvement to a simple "open" speaker. Whether it's good enough is another thing altogether.

That would breach UK / EU law, unless they have a geographic address on another page of the site. (But I have no idea of the laws in Canada). It's part of the "E-Commerce Regulations" from 2002. extract: And a link to the full regs & info: https://www.out-law.com/page-431

Their domain "lococraft.co.uk" was registered for a year and expired in April 2019. I never saw the original posts re. this, but for information any web site selling anything in England / the UK must by law give a street address for the business (not a PO box or similar) plus phone number / email. The same applies in Europe and quite a few other countries. Any site that does not give a real street address should always be assumed to be a scam of some sort.

As a technical point of note, that does not appear to actually be "litz" wire, just stranded tinned copper. Litz wire has every strand individually insulated and twisted/braided/woven together to make the overall conductor. It is normally used in high frequency applications where "skin effect" is important and the same strands without separation would have high impedance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litz_wire Many extremely fine strands but without insulation between strands is normally called "extra flexible" cable. This is nothing like as thin, but as an example it's the most flexible cable I've managed to find for power links such as tender <> loco, "NSR Ultraflex" in various sizes, from whatever supplier has it cheapest at the time... https://www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/nsr-ultraflex-motor-cable-1m.html https://www.tbirdslotracing.com.au/nsr-silicon-cable-x-1m This is a cheaper sub-1mm diameter extra flexible type: https://thepihut.com/products/adafruit-silicone-cover-stranded-core-wire-2m-30awg-blue?variant=27739708817&currency=GBP&gclid=COD1pbWr2eICFXAA0wodbuIJQA For general low current interconnections where you do not need the ability to stand continuous flexing, "wire wrap" wire works well; that's my normal type for interconnects on prototype circuit boards etc. It is 0.5mm outside diameter. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/hookup-equipment-wire/2094849/

For stripping small (or most) wires, I just use good quality side cutters. These Toolcraft ones are pretty good quality, for the price. I've used them for fine work for several years. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toolcraft-816744-Electronic-Diagonal-Cutters-No-Facet-128mm/131133775368?epid=1428922468&hash=item1e882e9e08:g:~R4AAOSwNmxb7kbP Or these from RS; they are rather heavier duty, very good when new but I tend to use them for large cables as well, so the blades get chewed up after a while. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/cable-cutters/0536329/ Make sure you get a type like those with "flush cut" blades (what they call no facet in ebay listing - see the inset of the blade profile in the ebay article), not angled at both sides like a typical larger wire cutters. If you gently nip the wire with the flat side of the blades towards the wire end and just pull towards the end, it should strip. Unlike double angled blades, they dig in and grab the insulation very easily, with little "grip" force needed. It may take a bit of practice so try on some scrap wire first. To join fine wires, strip about 1/4" or 5-6mm of each, twist the stripped ends (with both ends facing the same way), solder then straighten the wire so the soldered joint lays flat against the insulation at one side or the other. Then insulate the joint. [Electronics designer & manufacturer for over 40 years].

Re. the controller, I have a Digitrax Zephyr [DCS51] which works well. It's an all-in-one box, but extremely expandable, it can be linked to hand throttles, booster stations, there is a USB interface that allows connection with PC control software such as JMRI and via the PC link you can use software throttles on smartphones or tablets etc. It's rated at 3A on its own. I got mine off ebay.. Link to provide the details only, not a supplier recommendation (I think you can find them rather cheaper, in fact). https://www.dccsupplies.com/item-p-103207/digitrax-dcs51-zephyr-xtra Whether it's suitable or not probably depends more on what style of throttle you want, eg. if you want a box/console or hand throttles only.

I need to complete both the smoke unit fittings and the cab interiors before progressing with the body, so I know exactly how much space is available; I can see the speakers needing to be shortened slightly to shoehorn everything in! The cab interior is being made from a set of parts supplied by Peter Clark Models. The quality of my painting should not be used to judge the parts! I did go totally wrong with the very first bit of paint. I got some pots of Railmatch paint in the appropriate colours. The last time I painted a model with enamel paint was a plastic kit for a young relative, a few decades ago and using Humbrol enamel. I expected the Railmatch enamel to be the same stuff - it's not; it appear to be the same industrial grade paint as would be used on the prototype or other machinery, extremely thick and needing thinners to be usable even for brushing, slow setting and is nothing like the paint I remember. However, I'd already started on the front bulkhead so that now has to be completed with enamel, as acrylic just will not flow over the oil-based paint. I got the equivalent colours in the acrylic versions, which are infinitely easier to use. I also already had a set of Vallejo acrylics suitable for some parts. The body must still be enamel as there is no equivalent for the lower yellow-green band (of the green livery) in any paint series I've found so far. That will be airbrushed and is for another day, or more like another year... On the subject of painting, I got a few different sets of small brushes from ebay; most are average but on particular set, branded "Maries" and some chinese characters, is outstanding. They have excellent shaped, fine tips for detail work. So, the cab interior parts, as they stand at present, still needing rather more work. The white paint went very wrong, it did not quite mix fully and I got a brush of almost watery stuff that just ran on, so some rework needed there. Plus the crew, three figures as I'm not sure which will fit best until the cab is nearer complete. These are from Hardies Hobbies, apparently 3D printed but with the best finish and detail level I've seen in any 3D prints.

I have not done very much with the interior of the body shell yet, beyond fit the crossmembers for the fuel tanks and the fan mesh. Although it looks very big (it's 18.5" end to end as it stands, without buffers etc.), once it has the cab interiors, space for the motors above the bogies, roof fans, smoke units and a pair of very large loudspeakers to to give a something like realistic sound, it's suddenly an extremely cramped space... The smoke units (ESU ones) will mount crossways together in the centre and link to brass tubes feeding the roof exhaust ports. I'm still trying to get the fit on those just right, at the moment they may be a fraction too tall. The side "T" branches will connect to the ports on the respective speakers to pass some of the sound via the exhausts, plus put as much bodywork as possible between the port and the speaker itself in the base of the body, for the best acoustic baffle effect.

The body has also made some progress - some early photos while trying to get the overall end and nose shape correct, with the nose and window castings just resting in place, then recently with the body shape improved and the ends completely soldered up:

And the other, which has the outer frame drilled and screwed in place, though the castings still need some details cleaning up:

More bogie details, one with a motor fitted (and temporary paper shim for clearance). If the wheel alignment looks odd, it's probably because the centre axle is in floating bushes for vertical movement and has more side-to-side play than the driven axles. There additional sprockets and a drive chain to add eventiall, to link the outer axles.

Some of the bogie castings and part-built stages:

Project: PRMRP 7mm Class 55 Deltic. I've not been deliberately documenting this project so far, I usually forget to take photos unless it's for specific details. Anyway, some bits to date since starting in January 2019. The bodyshell etch, as received: The start of the roof curve seemed a bit out of place to me so I reworked that. For information, for a long bending rig, I used some B&Q aluminium U channel I had (around 20x20mm section) for sharp bends and some mini industrial "C" rail for smooth bends, pairs of either type clamped up solid with a small vice and a few small G cramps. For small parts I use a couple of cheap pressed steel angle brackets with about 4" legs. They have good square edges and work well when clamped in a small bench vice.

I don't use the Zimo decoder, but looking at the manual, the two digits in CV56 have different functions, the proportional and integral parts of the speed feedback. Try adjusting each separately up and down a step or two at a time? The info on page 19 of the manual suggests trying such as 73 for jerky response & one of the items in the motor table uses 91.. Also try adjusting the digit values of CV9 separately as again they have different functions. The manual I was using, in case the page numbering is different to yours: http://www.zimo.at/web2010/documents/MX-KleineDecoder_E.pdf