topnoddy

All sorted now 

After an accident involving the bodyshell and my size 10 i'm in need of a replacement body if anyone has one going spare please .

On 01/08/2021 at 20:37, Hal Nail said:

Someone got lucky tonight with a 7mm malcolm Mitchell prairie kit for £102. I tried to bid £170 which I thought was ridiculously low but internet crashed and it wouldnt go through.

 

Pretty cheesed off to put it mildly 

 

I've had problems like that in the past , signed up to auction stealer which allows you set up an auto bid that no one on eBay will be aware of . Just set the maximum you are willing to pay and wait for the auction to end . You need credit with the site but it's a very small amount taken per item and $5 lasts ages 

There is a good video on youtube from InterCity82 dated May 28 2011

Thanks for the replies , I was leaning towards the NCE and that's what I'll be going for now .

Not being that tech savvy the ease of use is a big plus .

2 hours ago, smokebox said:

Nce information station says 2Amps

https://ncedcc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201479815-Step-1-The-Power-Cab

Thanks for the link , i'd been searching on that site and couldn't get the info i was after 

Good morning gents , apologies if this has been asked many times before but I've done a search and came up blank .

Just getting back into the hobby after getting a spare room for a layout and I've decided to go DCC but only to run the locos , i will not be using sound/lights/points etc . The layout will be a tail chaser N gauge steam with a maximum of three lines , still at the planning stage at the moment 

I'm looking at either the NCE power cab or GM prodigy express , my question is what amp rating is the NCE ? I've been looking around various sellers and some say 1.5A and others say 2A . The GM unit is rated at 1.6A .

Am i correct in thinking that the higher the amp rating the more locos the controller will be able to run at the same time ? 

1 hour ago, rab said:

I was under the impression that some model shops

test run models before they send them out.

Does that mean they are not new when you get them?

My take on it all is if you are not the original owner of an item then it's second hand . How this seller can say it's"brand new" but then goes on to say it's been used is beyond me . I'm sure he's not the only one doing it , buyer beware and all that . I've seen plenty of wagons and coaches that are used  on there for sale at more than they can still be bought for new from a shop 

I noticed an N gauge Dapol loco listed as "New" and in the listing it states that it has been run to "test" it , well it's no longer new then is it . Messaged the seller , no reply as yet . Tried to report to eBay but there is no option that i can see under the reasons for reporting it . 

I have had good results with BioStrip 20 , around £17 a litre from the manufactures . It is available in smaller amounts as well 

I've had good results using BioStrip 20 myself , plastic safe and £17 a litre tub delivered direct from the manufacture 

Just on the new eBay managed payments set up , i've been signed up without me doing anything . They now have around £260 of my money that they will not release to me without me giving them my bank account details ,i decided that i wasn't happy with doing that as it gave them the right to take money from the account whenever they liked and i don't trust them . I've now set up a new bank account just to get my money which after i've transferred it to my normal acount i'll be closing . 

Some items i've viewed that are from Europe have been quoting that VAT is chargable on them when being imported  for a few months now 

1 hour ago, Nigelcliffe said:

 Chipping the 14xx and 45xx is not impossible, but it may be tricky.  And the mechanisms are not the best (understatement!).  

If you plan to run the 14xx always with an auto-trailer, then there is an argument to put the chip and some extra pickups in the auto-trailer (could even have sound that way). 

 

 

- Nigel

 

 

I like the idea of fitting the chip in the auto-trailer , sounds like a very good option 

1 hour ago, Dungrange said:

 

Except you can't really run a mix of DC and DCC - it's one or the other.  If you want to use both, then you'd have to ensure that your mainline and branch line are truly separate railways, so that there is no possibility of a short between the two systems.  You can run a DCC fitted locomotive on a DC layout.  You can sometimes, but it's not advised, run a DC loco on a DCC layout (the DCC signal will make the DC motor buzz and ultimately damage it) but you need to ensure that nothing connects DC and DCC powered tracks (eg a loco across a track join).

It was just an idea , if i went with it the two lines would be entirely separate from each other .

Thanks again for the replies , i'm still at the planning stage of the layout at the moment so some more research is needed i think .

Planning on have a branch line and a mainline on a U shaped board around 3m by 2.6m so possibly run DCC on the mainline and DC on the branch line with the smaller non DCC locos . I'll call in coastal dcc and get some advice re the 14xx and 45xx first and take it from there 

Thanks for the replies , i must admit i like the idea of running 2 or more trains on the same track independently so will go down the DCC set up route . As for block detection and power districts i think i'll leave that well alone , i've been watching you videos and on the lay out i'm planning that would be OTT . I found it odd that given the what to me seems very hi tech electrics the controllers are still wired in 

I only live 20 minutes or so away from coastal dcc so i think i'll contact them about fitting the wired versions for me . The locos are Dapol 14xx and 45xx . 

Good evening gents , i'm just getting back into modelling after a long break and my how the electrics side has changed ! 

I'm just getting my head around the DCC loco control (i think) and my question is do i need to use different decoders on non ready locos or will they be the same as the pinned DCC ready versions ? Only wired in instead of plugged in . 

I'm going to be modelling N gauge steam so only need basic functions as far as i can tell