LMS14B

Good afternoon burtos Thank you for your post. That's really helpful and makes a lot of sense. there seems to be so many things I have not considered or even thought about. hopefully I will be able to use some of this newly gained knowledge to help others at a later date. Regards Dougie

Good morning Harlequin Thank you for your post. The orders have now been placed for the track and I am happy to report its Electrofrogs all the way. My next job is to work out were to fit the insulating fish plates to avoid the those pesky shorts. Regards Dougie

Good morning ITG Thank you for you post. You assumed correctly my plan was always to use Electrofrogs. Just as I was about to place my order for the track I saw a couple of post regarding short circuits. Anyway the track order is in and I am sticking with the Electrofrogs. Regards Dougie

Good Morning KingEdwardII Thank you for your post. you have confirmed my first thoughts regarding Electrofrogs I am looking at the possibility of fitting Stay-alive. But I need to make sure there is a enough room to fit the capacitor in locomotives a long with the other DCC related bits. kind regards Dougie

Good evening. I am just about to place my order for Peco 100 track. A certain amount of doubt has crept into my mind whether i should be using Insulfrog or Electrofrog turnouts. The plan is to use DCC so that some of the operations can be automated. On reading some of the post there seems to be a problem when using a crossing and a turnout. The fish plates may need to be of an isolating type to overcome this problem. My limited knowledge assumed that with DCC the whole track was live, so use Electrofrogs. but now i am not certain if I should use all the same type or a mixture of both. Help. Regards Dougie

Good afternoon Harlequin. You are probably correct, I am just over thinking things. Its a release of 50 years of ideas pouring out in one go. (Kid in the sweet shop) But I don't want to miss out on anything because of lack of thought, ending up with a load of IF ONLY. I am sure once building starts the daydreams will stop or not be so frequent. Thank you for keeping me on the straight and narrow. Regards Dougie

Good morning Harlequin Thank you for your post. I had always consider the FY to be basic in appearance because usually its not seen. Mine will be on full show, so why not decorate it? Because both areas are stabling points, to make it look realistic I need to replecate years of dropped ash, cinders and coal. so probably 70% of the sleepers will not be seen. with this in mind, I will need to make sure the point motors will fit and operate correctly. I will do a test area, firstly to see if what's in my head can be modelled with my skill set. Regards Dougie

Good morning Chimer Thank you for your post. You are correct in the fact that I have the rolling stock but theirs all ways room for a bit more. Up to the time I left home at 15, I had a box of track and rolling stock. This would appear most days and was set up on the lino floor at my parents home. 15 years later I built my step son a Roundy Roundy on an 8x4 board, delivered by Farther Christmas. His enjoyment was trying to have as many crashes as the poor old 0-6-0 could take. so in answer to you question I have very little experience in building a proper layout, in fact none. With the shortage of track and my lack of experience I think you suggestion is probably sound advice. Regards Dougie

Good Morning JRB Thank you for your post. I have had a quick look on YouTube and yes they have the action that I am looking For. Regards Dougie

Good evening PaulaDoesTrains Thank you for your post. Yes, you are correct I did make a few calls today to find out about stock levels. points seem to be the problem with no firm idea when they might be back in stock. so pre-ordering seems the way forward. Not sure if I should order a few extra in case of any last minute changes. Regards Dougie

Good evening ITG yes, buying the wood for the baseboard was not straight forward, due to low stocks. Hopefully I will make a start on the framing this coming weekend. so in no major rush for the track just yet but it would be good to order it. Regards Dougie

Good evening ITG Thank you for your post. over the years I have brought nearly every model railway magazine that has been published. I can remember reading articles at the time thinking that's interesting but that information has slipped from my memory. The other thing is of course things that seemed a good idea 5 years ago are probably not relevant today. There is so much to consider were do the signals go, do I use point Roding etc . when deep down inside I just want to run a few trains. I know however that time spent now on setup is impotent so that there are no major disappointments later. slow action points and a bounce on the signal is a must for me. Now my plan is to place a single order for all the track and a single order for DCC set up. hopefully that might lead to a small discount but more importantly a good customer service. Regards Dougie

Good afternoon Harlequin That's helpful information, just being pointed in the right direction makes such a difference. its easy to get carried away with manufacture's information and end up with equipment that's not suitable. Now, there is a cost implication but just the sheer disappointment when something doesn't work how you expected. Due to covid I have not been able to attend shows like everybody else. so I am grateful to you and all the other members who freely give there time to help others less knowledgeable. Regards Dougie

Good morning Station Master Thank you for your post. I was try to work out were to fit the cross battens on the baseboard to miss the point motors on the FY. This was proving a bit tricky, hence the idea about surfaced mounted motors. could you give me any pointers in what type of motor to look out for in your experience? my intension is to use DCC so that there can be some automation. Harlequins design for the FY is starting to have a life of its own. what started as a storage area is now becoming a feature to be celebrated and not hidden. Regards Dougie

Good morning Harlequin. Thank you for your post. pleased to report that all walls and Ceiling have been well insulated and the doors draft proofed. with the battens, insulation and plywood covering there was a loss of 4 inches all the way around. This was planned for which left the 18x8 useable space. Just in the process of fitting inferred heating to the ceiling which should give a constant and even heat level. point taken regarding the turntable. what's your thoughts about using top surfaced point motors on the FY? Flying pigs suggestion made sense but the lower area that he has highlighted I intend to use for the control centre. regards Dougie