AndrueC

Yes there's a few approaches: Current detection which as you say really needs something to draw current at the last wagon so that you know where the front and back are. Coaches are pretty easy in this respect. Just fitting internal lights will work and if not it's easy enough to stick a resistor in there. But for wagons you have to stick a small resistor on the wheels and that's quite fiddly. Another problem with this is that I'd have to cut my layout up into isolated sections and I'm not keen on that. RFID readers and small cards. This is kind of the gold standard since you not only know when a block is occupied you even know which train it is. However it's an expensive option. The cards are cheap but the readers not so much. IR detection (my preferred solution at the moment) doesn't require any track cutting and is pretty cheap. I also have to write my own scripts but as an ex-computer programmer that doesn't scare me and since my layout is a simply roundy-roundy with no shunting and no reversing the script will be relatively simple. All I want is to be able to tell the computer to 'circulate some trains' while I watch. As for combining the hobbies yes that is great. I originally wanted to incorporate a golf course into the layout but when I did the maths I realised I'd need a far bigger house 😁

A little bit of snagging and a plan for next winter. I was running the layout - as you do - and discovered that one set of signals wasn't lit. Now I've had issues in the past with the plug-it connectors dropping out so I thought that'd be it. Unfortunately as I might have mentioned previously the wiring under my board is not very tidy. In fact it's a bit of a mess. Anyway after much huffing and puffing and scrabbling around I discovered that the red/green wire pair for two signals (one at either end of the yard) appeared not to be connected to anything. I was able to confirm that as the cause because when I flipped the corresponding turnout the signals lit. I'm still not sure what happened there but I found the motor controller output dangling in the breeze. The signal pairs were all plugged in and had ferrules on the end so either I'd forgotten to connect them back in the day or else I had jammed the wire into the connector along with the ferrule and it'd fallen out. For now I've wrapped the wire around a ferrule before connecting both but I have a feeling I might have to revisit that. One snag I can't fix is a turnout that leads into my two longest passenger train yards. My 4-6-2 Queen Elizabeth is not happy crossing it at speed. Now as it's the entrance to the yard it shouldn't be travelling at speed but still - it's snag. The cause appears to be that the track approaching the turnout (it's wye) has a curve such that when taking the right route there is a change of direction. This thrusts the loco against the switchblade and at speed it can pick the hinge. It doesn't bother bogied locos but large steamers just don't have the same flexibility. The plan. Oh! the plan! But I mentioned a plan for the winter and here it is. At present the passenger yard (officially The South Yard) looks pretty much like this: The arrowed turnout is the one that gives the QE grief (in the actual layout there's a short piece of track between that turnout and the turnout before it). I did try to relocate her onto one of the bottom sidings but it turns out she's just a bit too long. I could turn her around but I like variety on my layout and since she doesn't have a headlight I prefer to run her clockwise so that the diesels can be seen coming out of Castle Tunnel with their lights on. Anyway, onto the plan for next winter: List of changes: The top run around line has gone. I don't know why I had that in the first place. I never use it because it runs behind the yard and you can't see the train. Running around will now be done through the station. At present I never use that section either and honestly why would anyone bother with a run around just to avoid going through a station? More cowbellpassenger sidings. This gives me two more sidings and one of them is a right honker! 1.5m long. I can put a seriously long train on that. Unfortunately it might be longer than the station platforms but who cares? I still also have the intention of making my duck-under at The Doorway Interchange a lift out as well. Other large tasks that remain: A golf tee box on the corner where the sheep/horses are. A golf green on the corner where the cliffs are. Both angled to imply a right angle hole that runs out the front of my house. Something on the corner opposite the golf green. I'm still undecided whether to create a small industrial/townscape or have a large mountain. Lining the maintenance yard access line with trees. Creating a farm along the front of The Doorway Interchange and adjacent unused land. Automating the layout. This is a big task with budgetary constraints my vague plans so far suggest that I need: Replace my NCE PowerCab with something else. Possibly something MERG. Might also need to buy a dedicated tablet of some kind. Install a lot of IR sensors. Get to grips with JMRI.

This was the mask I bought. Probably not something I should wear in public.

As a child I loved the stories by Hugh Walters. Voyage To Venus, Mission to Mars. Journey to Jupiter. Nearly Neptune Passage to Pluto But he never did a story based around Uranus. It's strange. I would have thought the title was obvious: Up Uranus. NB: He really did write a lot of chidren's S/F and his novels are now available on Kindle. Highly recommended.

A minor update. You also need to be aware that loose scatter getting into the motor itself can be a problem. It really doesn't take much. But mine are all still working and I'd say 95% reliable. If one doesn't throw it's usually just a matter of prodding around carefully with a scalpel and all is good. I'd stick with my original assessment though. If you have no choice other than above board, surface mounted fitting then Cobalt-SS is a good choice. For something like a fiddle yard I'd argue they are a great choice. You can keep an eye on them when throwing and help them if you have to. Installation takes mere minutes. For scenic sections I'd suggest going for something underboard if you can. This is especially true for smaller scales like N where the motors are rather large. You can hide them using distant rodding but that sounds like making a delicate situation even worse. What would I do in the future? I think I'd look at assembling from smaller baseboards so that I can pull a board out and put it on its side in front of me to work on. This isn't just a turnout motor issue - it makes working on everything a lot easier. But with the underside of the board more accessible I'd go for a IPDigital motors.

It's like being in a train but without the sea.😁

Enabling DC running should take about a minute the next time you're at your club and that includes the time required to remove the loco from the box and place it on the track 😉 https://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/cv29 calculator.htm It's possible that Dapol have a good reason for shipping sound fitted with DC running disabled though. Maybe the sound feature doesn't work or works poorly. Still I agree that they ought to mention this. DC doesn't have the flexibility of DCC but I see no reason for people to assume that a sound fitted loco is DCC only. Note: There can be issues running some DCC decoders on some DC based systems but as you appear to already be doing this it doesn't seem worth worrying about.

Enabling DC running should take about a minute the next time you're at your club and that includes the time required to remove the loco from the box and place it on the track ;) https://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/cv29 calculator.htm It's a bit irritating but I'd hardly call it a disaster. Note: There can be issues running some DCC decoders on some DC based systems but as you appear to already be doing this it doesn't seem worth worrying about.

..and is carrying far more passengers 😉 I'll admit that I posted that graph more as a cheeky discussion point than because I believe that it shows a definite causal relationship. But still I'd be interested in whether you think that is 'more cost per passenger' or just 'more overall cost to run'. Because those are two different things and depending which you believe (or maybe both?) surely affects future planning.

I doubt it will work like that. The money saved will just be retained by the owners. I don't think it's likely that it would be redistributed to there lower echelons. And even if it did - top level management might be paid well but when you divide it by the thousands of people doing front line work it won't amount to much.

Maybe. But if it's not-for-profit where is the pressure to improve? That's typically one of the big advantages of private ownership. The desire for enrichment by making a better company and access to funds to invest to achieve that. Unfortunately at some point the owners want to cash out and that's where things often go wrong. Governments ownership typically means limited desire for improvement and lack of funds to even attempt it. On the other hand it also usually means that funds are not going to be sucked out of the company to make someone rich. It can however result in a company collapsing because the government sees it as somewhere to reduce expenditure when the public purse is looking tight.

Yes. Did the government ever do that? Well okay there is an example of government investing money into the railways. HS2. That's working out...not so well. The Post Office was privatised because the government was unwilling/unable to invest the money needed to modernise the network - despite all the great inhouse expertise available. BR seems to have suffered the same fate. There is a lack of investment in roads. Is there anything that any government has significantly invested in successfully invested in over the last 70 years?

It brings to mind this graph which appears to show an unfortunate corelation between ownership and passenger numbers.

I was examining one of my Maunsel coaches earlier this week in order to work out how to fit light bars. In the process I discovered that there are concertina extensions on the doors. I've had these coaches for several years and had never noticed them before. If you pull them out you can assemble a train with continuous corridors. It looks good stationary. But what I hadn't expected is that due to some strange alchemy they stay connected as the train runs. They don't appear to be magnetic and nor does there appear to be a spring. I only wish Dapol had added them to their more modern coaches.

That's not the point. The point is that it doesn't matter what I set CV 5 to be because the top speed is always the same.

Did I imply there'd be no more work on my layout? Well I'm sticking to that..just. I decided that my newly purchased 102t aggregate hoppers, nice though they are, really would benefit from having a load. My initial plan was to have them contain sand. My track has sand between ballast and grass so it seemed a reasonable commodity to be hauling around. Unfortunately I wasn't able to colour match on my first attempt. But..I decided to go ahead and complete the process as an experiment and it looked so good that I've run with it. So what was the process? The hopper wagons have internal 'baffles' which I thought slightly complicated things. I had this idea of cutting out some foam, sliding it underneath then putting a thin 'load layer' on top. But I couldn't find what seemed like the right kind of foam. Also it seemed like it'd be an irreversible process since the load would have to be glued in place. So instead I thought I'd try something really simple. There is a gap between the baffles and the top edge (you can just about see it in the above image). I reckoned I could slide a bit of card in there and have it rest on the baffles. So the process then became: Measure the load space - 70mm by 10mm. Test insert the card. Turns out that the front and rear slopes prevent the card sitting down so reduce the length to 69mm. Paint the card the desired colour - don't overdo the paint though as it'll make the card bend. Prepare some plaster (the kind used for casting). Reduce the water content slightly and replace with appropriate amount of the colour acrylic paint. Leave to dry. It'll take a lot longer than normal due to the paint. Break the plaster up and put into an old coffee grinder. Give it a few whizzes until the plaster has almost become a powder (for larger scales, stop sooner). Using a glue stick liberally coat the painted card with glue on the painted side. Place the card glue side down into the powder. (*)Using thumb and finger sprinkle a bit more stuff on the card until it looks good. Carefully spray the card/plaster with matt lacquer. Repeat from (*) until you're happy. You can then insert each card into the hopper. They go in best sideways to get them under one edge then they just click home. And the result? See for yourselves: The colour doesn't match that of my sand but I don't think I care. The train can be something being hauled into Wallarium rather than just around it. And I think it contrasts nicely with the grass and the colour of the hoppers themselves.

I have a Dapol N Scale Class 121. It has a Dapol Next 18 Imperium decoder fitted and the top speed is insane - I have to set the speed to no higher than 5 out of 28 on my NCE PowerCab to get a fairly realistic speed. Quite frankly it's too scary to run at step 28. So I've tried setting CV 2 to be 1 then CV 5 to be various values and CV 6 to be half CV5. Nothing I've done appears to make any difference. CV 29 has a value of 6. When I put the decoder in a different loco the speed is fine so presumably it's some kind of gearing issue in the 121 (it also has a noisy whine). Anyway I don't understand why nothing I do with the CVs is having any affect on speed so can anyone explain? Thanks.

I found time to have a bit of a play around. I think setting the value up to 255 does make them brighter but it was hard to be sure since the room with the layout was in full sun. But I could see the flicker with my eyes. Whether that's just because I was looking more closely or because of the different values I put in I don't know. I should have more time this week so will investigate further. I have other Class 68s on the layout so I can see if those also flicker. I can say that to my eye they don't.

Manufacturer 154, ver 4. So that's Dapol. My guess would be an Imperium Next 18. That makes sense since they make the loco but I can't see anything in the CV list that relates to light brightness unless 'dim value' is the one?

For what it's worth I've managed a reasonable effect in thin card in N scale by using a jeweller's cross-head screwdrive like a punch. You don't want to punch all the way through but a smart rap with the palm of the hand produces an effective rivet. Should work for larger scales as well.

Good question. I'll need to put them on my programming track to find out as they were all bought DCC Fitted. Guess that'll be a job for next week - I also want to get my Bubble car on the PT to investigate its outrageous top speed. I wonder if I should get them onto the PT (it's in my yard) using the Hand of Dog or by moving them there by rail...? 😁

I haven't adjusted them at all - didn't know I could. If that means they could be adjusted brighter by removing the strobing then that's something I'd like to investigate. I have several Class 68s and their lights all appear too dim to me.

If you look on the video below the headlight on the blue Class 68 (pulling the aggregate hoppers) are strobing. It's not visible to the naked eye but I was wonder if this was a known issue and if there was anything I could change on my phone or perhaps the decoder to avoid it?

Working on a public footpath. So I had a sudden desire to build more fences. Well..desire is the wrong word but it had to be done. There was already a crude path along Beekle's Bluff as demonstrated by Fred earlier in this tome. But I decided that as the swan song for this winter's work on the layout I'd finish the path off. It needs fencing but only two strands this time since it's only humans being guided. It also needed some trees adding. I decided for the trees I'd use seafoam. I've had some of this kicking around for a while and in fact had used it a couple of years ago to reasonable effect. But this time I did a bit more to it. Firstly I sprayed it brown then I sprayed on diluted PVA and sprinkled some fine scatter on it. The result is actually quite impressive. One branch in particular has come out as an awesome tree however it's a bit too large. I mean, sure, trees on model railways are often too short but at 240mm high this is excessive. That would be 355m tall! I also added some bushes of various kinds. Creating gorse bushes is very easy. Just plonk down some coarse scatter then dribble a few flakes of yellow very, very fine scatter on top. Red also works but obviously not as gorse. Purple very fine scatter along the ground works as heather. I did try some fine white scatter from another kit but that didn't work at all for some reason. It was almost like a powder that just blurred into a single mess. Here are some views of the path, ending with a picnic area: And finally a video of trains passing including (if you wait long enough) an overhead view of a passenger train (Miss Behaviour) passing a goods train side-by-side through the cutting.

Also worth noting that by default the PowerCab only supports two locos on the stack. You can configure this up to six locos however. You also need to be aware that the PowerCab doesn't initialise all locos on the Recall stack when powered on. Nor indeed does it initialise the last loco used. It remembers the state of the last loco though so if the first thing you do is increase the throttle it should also set the lights and sound to be as you last requested as well. However at power on locos and accessories will be at whatever their default is. Some decoders will remember how they were last set and act accordingly, others don't. Eg; I have a Class 43 and when powered on the lights will be off even though they were on when powered off. All my other locos remember how their lights were last set and display accordingly. It's worth noting however that if I Select a loco that has its lights on at power on and then increase the throttle the lights will go out because the PowerCab starts off with 'no lights' as its default. My sound enabled Class 68 never remembers that it last ran with sound either. So whether I get sound initially depends on how the PowerCab is set when I send the first command.