DK123GWR

Thank you.

I already had a lower speed limit over the points. What I really want to know (although I didn't make that clear) is the speed restriction for trains travelling down the up line to reach the crossover. Would this be the speed limit at the crossover? Would this signal be interlocked with all three of the sets of points in the diagram?

Here is a (simplified) diagram of the situation. I have a bay platform at the bottom. Trains leaving this must cross the down line to reach the up line. Both of these lines have a speed restriction of 50mph. How would this be signalled in the 1980s on the GWML? What would the speed restriction most likely be for trains leaving the bay platform? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

A few thoughts from a younger modeller of BR Blue (and sectorisation liveries, but blue is still my favourite): 1) I just like the livery 2) A lot of my rolling stock belonged to my father when he was a child, so I had a lot of BR Blue trains to start off with 3) There is a larger variety of rolling stock. The brief period when GWR were changing over from HSTs to class 800s, and still had a few items of rolling stock in FGW purple is the most interesting period in my lifetime. I still remember an HST going past with a mixture of green and purple, as well as a first class coach in swallow livery. Every other point in my life has been watching the same shaped trains go past, wearing either purple or green. My love for EWS 66s must have something to do with the breaks from the relative monotony that they provided. 4) Related to 3, there were loco-hauled trains in rail blue. I live in the former WR, and have had a few trips on former SR routes as well as one journey from Temple Meads to Manchester Piccadilly. I have never been hauled by a locomotive on the mainline (excluding class 43s). In fact, I'm not sure that I've seen a diesel locomotive moving at high speed before (although I did get a very good view of the Flying Scotsman a couple of years ago). 5) It's escapism. I don't want my hobby to look like the world I see every day.

Thought so, but wanted to be sure.

How about Hornby track?

I'll just do that. I'm not worried about gradients as I don't have the space. Even if I did, we are talking about a section of 'Brunel's billiard table'.

I have had an idea for lighting HSTs without a second decoder. As HSTs (or at least, the older Hornby models that I have) do not have 'glass' in the windows for corridor connections, I believe that it should be possible to feed a wire through these windows along the length of a train to connect to the lights on the other power car. The issue is that if this is done using a single wire, it would be impossible to disconnect the power cars and coaches for storage. Therefore, I have come up with the idea of having one length of wire (technically two - one connected to the common and another to the function output) runninng through each carriage, with some sort of connection between carriages. My initial idea is to use a loop of wire on the power car end of the common wire and the dummy end of the fuction wire, with a hook which can be connected to it at the other end of each wire. The challenges that I have identified are: 1) Ensuring that there is enough spare length of wire at the end of each carriage that the tension in the wire is not the force pulling the train, especially on corners 2) Ensuring that the correct wires are linked to the correct components (especially important if I decide to add red lights in the future). The hook and loop system should help to identify each wire if installed correctly, and wires could also be coloured if needed. 3) Short circuits in between carriages. This could be overcome by wrapping black electricians tape around each connection during use, but there may be a better solution. If anybody has an idea, please let me know. 4) Ensuring a continuous supply of power to the dummy car lights. The loop and hook system is untested and may not work as hoped. A capacitor could be added to the dummy car, but if the supply is still unreliable then an alternative connection may be needed. 5) Ease of connecting the coaches. If the loop is small enough to ensure a smooth power supply, it may be difficult for my (rather clumsy) fingers to feed the hook throught the loop, especially in between a pair of coaches. Again, this might force me to seek an alternative system, so if anybody has an idea for a system which would avoid these issues I would be very grateful. Given the above, do you think that this would work? Can anybody think of a way to overcome these issues, or any other issues I may not have thought of? I don't have any timescale for trying out this project - at the moment it is just a mad idea which I am seeking opinions out. If we can find a solution which works in theory (or if anybody has already developed a similar system) I will have a go at making it at some point and post my results. EDIT: How about one of these cut in half and soldered to either the decoder (in the loco), connecting wires (in the coaches) or lights (in the dummy). It might be quite big and look a little odd, but if it can be held so that it does not derail the train on corners it may overcome issues 3, 4, and 5, depending on how exactly it works. Any thoughts on this? https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/lego-power-functions-extension-wire-8886

Thank you. I'd been planning on a bit of mix and match anyway having seen photos so this is definitely an option. I'll just have to make sure I remember to buy power cars as most of the individual unnits for sale are dummys. Failing this, how much work would be required to replace a regular bogie with a motorised one? It's a bit frustrating that for every cheap Lima product you find on Ebay there seem to be three Bachmann ones, even when searching for 'Lima'. Does anybody know a way to get around this, or is it just the price you have to pay?

I am not sure if this is the right subforum, but I can't see a better place for it. Where would the best place to look for cheaper models of 1st generation DMUs be. I am particularly interested in the Thames Valley area. My research so far suggests that the following regularly operated in this area: 101 104 108 117 119 121 As well as a few of the following: 115 118 122 Hornby do not currently produce models of these (unless I'm blind), and the Dapol and Bachmann models are above the price that I would be willing to pay. Where can I find models of these on the second hand market (Ebay obviously, but is there anywhere else)? What are the best* manufacturers to look for? As mentioned, I am looking at the Thames Valley around the 1980s (possibly stretching into the early 1990s) so the liveries that I am looking for will largely be blue/grey and NSE. Thank you in advance for any advice. *Any lack of detail on older models will not be an issue - they will fit right in to my existing 1980s/90s rolling stock. I am looking for a model which is likely to run well (or at least could be made to without too much work and after a conversion to DCC) and is recogniseable as that class (although I can't really tell the difference between similar types such as the 117 and 118, certainly not at a distance). As long as it meets these two conditions, price will determine which is best.

Thank you everybody. Those links were especially helpful. Railair definitely makes sense for my layout as it depicts a major intechange between all BR regions. As an aside, it's strange to consider that a connection with certain individuals was once considered desireable for a brand - I'm too young to remember any of them as entertainers. One further question: How many posters would there have been? Would they have been on almost any available space or would they be more sparse, with just a handful around the station? Another further question: And how large would they be?

What adverts, maps, information, etc. would have been displayed at major stations in the 1980s. I am thinking of Reading and Paddington in particular as they are the nearest to the location of my layout. I have attempted to find images but have not had much success, so any help would be very much appreciated.

This means that the RailRoad range is roughly i line with inflation from the Lima models. I would argue that give the way inflation is calculated, with newer technologies added to the basket and older ones taken out they should be slightly below inflation. Railroad provides good coverage of steam, and good for post privatisation diesel. but everything else is non-existent. The second hand market does cater quite well for BR eras though, and I have found that most of my old Lima locomotives are good runners, the only issue is that whereas you can buy a new release whenever you feel like it, you can never guarantee exactly what somebody will be selling second hand. The price of this basic rolling stock is not an issue. The next level up, including very basic lighting features should probably be cheaper than it is (again, taking into account the fact way inflation is calculated) but that's another topic. What I really think makes these big ticket items so expensive for young people is actually nothing to do with model railways. It's social media. If you aren't connected online, you will lose socially (always last to hear news, etc.). As much as I hate to say it, young people today need smart phones (I am cringing at writing this). This means that they wouldn't just be putting their money towards a new locomotive. The best way to reduce the apparent cost of rolling stock may be for everybody to buy a Leagoo M12 instead of a bigger brand. Conversely, social media could easily be use to draw people in, if harnessed correctly. Model railways are perfect for Instagram, and that point is rather self explanatory. I think that the greater issue is scenery, because small costs repeated several times soon turn into very big costs. The commons sector should grow over the next few years, if all of the XR members actually translate their banners and chants into lifestyle choices (and many of them already have). I hope that model railways will follow this trend and that more suppliers like Wordsworth will spring up, as a greater variety of buildings available to print of will go a long way to resolving that. Furthermore, from the videos that I have seen scratchbuilding and weathering tend to focus on acheiving perfection where the stock on the market falls short of expectations. Almost all use specialist paints and other materials which look very expensive to a young person (considering that they are ultimately a peripheral feature). There was a poster earlier in this topic who uses water colours bought from Wilko, which I think are a much better starting point for the young person who is trying things out for the first time.

What date was this? I'm trying to work out whether that is in line with inflation.

I've just skimmed through that and I am astounded. The best example: What is the point in switchable day/night lights on a model railway? Can you really tell the difference? Does it matter if you can? I understand the desire for more features, but only the best of the high end models should come with them by default. I have never tried, but I imagine that it would be possible to change the lighting systems and solder in a more advanced decoder if desired. I would have thought that it is better to provide a lower priced model with fewer standard features but room (by which I mean physical space) to make the desired improvements than to price many people out of the market for all but the most basic models. We generally accept that a pristine model which can be weathered by the consumer makes more sense than a pre-weathered one since it is suitable for everybody. Surely this principle can be applied to electronics too. One criticism which I think is legitimate is that if this model has far fewer features than rivals then that should be reflected in the price.

Thank you for the advice. I am currently leaning toward Rail Blue as by 1985 (roughly the target period of my layout) you would probably have to scrape around for the last remaining black 08s, if any were still in service (and I've never really like the black ones). Yes, although I do not have the model to hand I believe that it does have the wasp stripes. Where would be the cheapest place to source decals for a class 08? And just to confirm, will it be OK to apply the primer without removing the current paint?

I have a class 08 in 'Dino Safari' livery which I would like to repaint into something which looks a little more prototypical (I don't think an 08 ever made it to the Isle of Wight, where it would probably be closest to replicating an actual livery). It is likely to be Rail Blue. This will be the first time that I have repainted anything so I would like to know what the cheaest way to repaint something and have it look reasonable is. By 'reasonable' I mean that the colours should look correct to a normal person (like me), and that it should be possible to paint all of the major details (wasp stripes being the obvious example on a class 08). It's only an unboxed, second hand example of a locomotive initially offered as part of a train set marketed at young children, so I'm happy to use this for my first attempt at repainting a loco (I will probably try out the techniques on a broken wagon first though, just to be safe). Thank you for any help and advice you may be able to provide.

No. With DCC the polarity changes thoudands of times each second, and is not controlled by which way the dummy is placed onto the track. You need to use diodes to ensure that no current is able to flow the wrong way through the LED and damaging it. I feel like the answer to the original question, if everything is working correctly, will be: You didn't before (with a bulb), but you do need it now.

If it's just buzzing, and it was buzzing even with the bulb, what exactly are you worried about? Unless there are other problems then you could leave it. Are you sure that the buzz is coming from the dummy, not something else such as the controller? I would still reccomend going back to the bulb or installing some sort of rectifier (whether homemade or in a decoder) and removing the diode (don't do this unless you do change something else though - it would only be worth it to ensure that the rectfier's output is smooth) in order to prolong the life of the LED.

If the LED not working then you could try turning it around. This is why: The important thing to remember is that a diode will only allow current to flow in one direction. A light emmitting diode (LED) is the same, so it will only light up when current is flowing in the correct direction through the LED. A DCC track provides an AC power supply, where the direction of the current changes direction several times per second. This means that when you tested your LED against the track, it will flicker, turning on when the current is flowing in the correct direction and off when it is flowing in the wrong direction (you will not be able to see this since the frequency of a DCC supply can be up to 10kHz, so the current changes direction 10,000 times each second). However, in your model the LED is being wired in series with a diode. As already explained, a diode will only allow current to flow through the circuit in one direction. This means that the diode will only allow current to pass through the power car when one of the rails is positive, but not the other. If your LED is wired in the opposite direction, then the only current flowing to the LED will be in the wrong direction, so the LED will block that current and will not light up. Turning either the LED or the diode around would solve this issue, HOWEVER even if this is the problem, and you manage to get the LED to light up, it will not last for very long. The AC current will damage the LED and cause its life to be very, very short. It is very possible that you have wired the LED the correct way, but it has already broken (I would suggest that this is actually the most likely cause of the problem, since a buzz would indicate that current is flowing through the power car). You have two (maybe three) options in order to resolve this problem. The first option is to switch back to the bulb (bulbs allow current to flow in both directions, so will work on an AC power supply). The second is to install a DCC decoder, which will convert the supply from AC to DC. The third is to install a rectifier (described here as a 'diode matrix') of your own creation. A circuit diagram for this is provided in the article, although given your apparent lack of confidence with electricity this may not be the best option for you. Please could you describe how the lights operated originally when the power car was using a DC power supply? Did the lights light up when the train was going in one direction or both? If it was only one direction, and there is nothing at all other than the lighting system connected to the circuit within the power car, I would recomend removing the original diode when carrying out any of the three options above, since this will prevent a continuous power supply to the bulb. Please also note that if you choose options 2 or 3, you may need to replace the LED if it is indeed damaged. I hope this helps, and I hope that I haven't made too many mistakes. I'm taking an A-level in Physics but I there are a lot of areas around DCC electronics which we don't cover (or at the very least haven't covered yet) so I am relying on my understanding of the basic principles combined with a little advice from Professor Google, rather than any firm knowledge. As a result of this, please correct me if it turns out that I'm talking out of my gluteal aperture!

Thank you for the information about routes used. What sort of loads would most commonly be moved? Would it be a bit of everything, or would there be certain types of freight which were extremely likely (or unlikely) to appear?

It could be a part finished model. To complete it: a) Remove the vertical sides of the bogie with no wheels, and the coupling b) Attatch a horizontal bracket to the back of Hornby's Bagnall* c) Attatch the bracket to the remaining section of the bogie d) Wonder why on earth your new lorry on rails is any better than a normal train *Other small shunters are available Those with more money than sense may wish to substitute for Bachmann's class 03 in BR Blue

As I briefly mentioned above, the periods I need help with are roughly 1900-1940 and from the introduction of TOPS through to early privatisation (the most recent model I have is a 166 in First Great Western Link livery, so 2005 would be an approximate cut-off point for the end of the time period).

To briefly explain my layout's setting, it is based around a fictional station, North Pole Junction, on the site of the depot of the same name. Along with Willsden Junction, it serves as an interchange between the GWML, WCML, and smaller lines in the region. Using a fictitious line, it is possible for trains to run from the WCML through the station, and then through a tunnel under London (don't ask about ventilation!) which runs from Paddington to Cannon Street, linking to the former Southern Railway, or to Stratford, linking to the former LNER (including the ECML via Cambrdge and Ely). This is allow me to run all of the mixed bag of rolling stock that I have acquired over the years. Given this, what freight movements would be likely to occur here from the beginning of the 20th Century until the start of WWII, and from the introduction of TOPS to the end of the EWS era? I know that nowadays, aggregate and containers seem to makee up most of the traffic, but I don't know about the past. This is essentially a question of what would be moved from London to the West Country and back? I know that its a very broad range of eras, but I'm hoping that between a few people it should be possible to piece together a basic idea of what would be suitable in each era.

That's exactly the point! This is the sort of thing that will make model railways so much more accessible. It will also help to relieve some of the problems caused by the price of models - its still a lot of money to most young people, but if they're not spending money on scenery, or spending is minimal, it may allow them to actually get that model they want, and to stop them from being put off by only having the same two trains running around in stock condition. If you go for the option of buying your buildings and specialist products for weathering, the only option allowing them to buy a new model will be to run them in stock condition on a very mundane sheet of wood. Either way, finding ways to do it yourself will prevent people from being put off because of either boring trains or boring scenery, as well as making the process of developing the layout more interesting and rewarding.