RFS

Hard to find? Not trying hard enough obviously - http://www.hattons.co.uk/34862/Dapol_C047_BR_Railbus_Plastic_kit/StockDetail.aspx

Got my Clan Line today and an excellent model it is, but not quite perfect! A few little niggles - 1. The loco seemed to be stuck fast in the packaging. Having extracted it a piece of polystyrene was stuck to the edge of the cab roof and quite sticky. Removing it has left a white residue which will need to be carefully removed. 2. The tender mandrel that normally pings off when you remove the body is nicely stuck in place, but about a mm too low meaning the tender body would not sit down straight until I trimmed it. 3. Last but not least - the NEM coupling pocket is way too low, again! Even testing with the tension lock in place it was hitting the point rails when running in reverse. So looks like another manufactured Kadee is going to have to be made. Apart from these, very pleased indeed!

Or you could use a PC with some free software such as JMRI or Rocrail. Then you can create a PC switchboard where changing points and signals can be done at the click of a mouse, or via a touchscreen. There'll be visual indication of which way the points are set, and if you change points via the NCE handset that will be reflected on the PC display as well.

That's true in an ideal world. My layout once had a couple of code 75 Insulfrog diamond crossings - long and short variety - and numerous modern locos would trip the DCC system with a momentary short if driven slowly over. By modern I mean Hornby T9s, Bachmann 9Fs etc. The picture posted by Peter above seems quite different from the code 83 example. Looks like the vee rails are not isolated from each other, for example, so I can't work out from the picture how power is routed. Looks like an Electrofrog point where using a switch for frog polarity is mandatory.

I'm concerned that the the two vee rails are very close together where they form the frog. Will this not lead to problems with momentary DCC shorts just as happens today with Insulfrog ones, when metal wheels manage to touch both rails?

Graham - in your excellent blog you say that all 10 of the locos in the 35021-30 range were repainted in Brunswick Green in February 1952. I thought they would have been done at different times as they went through the works.

Bear in mind that this will require some sort of hardware detection for each section in the block, the costs of which can soon mount up. RR&Co on the other hand only needs one occupancy detector per block. This is because it profiles all your locos (so knows the real speed curve) and hence can use "dead reckoning" to bring a train to a stand. You can have multiple stop markers in each block (eg for short and long trains, and for both directions), all of which are "virtual stop markers" calculated internally in the software. I have found this method of operation to be extremely accurate. It can therefore be a balance between the extra hardware costs for Rocrail versus the licence cost of RR&Co, so well worth bearing in mind. The entry-level "Bronze" version of RR&Co is €111.

I bought piano wire from Ebay - for example this seller http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Polished-piano-wire-choose-from-18-19-or-20-swg-18-in-length-pack-of-2-/262920876957?var=&hash=item3d374e339d:m:mBoHz4uUd6vjsi9U0qxcYjw Size 16 (0.036in, 20swg) is the recommended size for Tortoises and worked fine for me.

35021's tender was modified much earlier - February 1952. I can't lay my hands on it at the moment, but I have seen a picture of it on the Devon Belle with its modified tender. The Devon Belle ceased operation at the end of the 1954 timetable. EDIT: "Power of the Merchant Navies" (Gavin Morrison) has a picture of 35021 with its modified tender at Wilton during the engine change for the Devon Belle, dated August 1952.

The next big upgrade - Creators Update (version 1703) - is now starting to be rolled out. MS say that all PCs will get the upgrade over the coming months. But I have 4 PCs in my household and would prefer to schedule the change rather than suddenly find each PC undergoing a big change without warning. MS have made the update available so that you can do it directly at a time of your choosing. I have upgraded my first PC - a laptop that is used as a test-bed for this sort of change amongst other things - and it was totally successful. Took a while because it's a bit of a slow machine, but no problems. I'm not really looking at any of the new functionality yet, I just want to know when the change will happen and be able to test my applications first. You can get the upgrade by going to the MS Upgrade Assistant - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 . You have a choice of upgrading in place, but I chose to download an ISO file as that file can be used on all my PCs in turn rather than each downloading. System level on the laptop is now version 1703 at level 15063.13.

A number of locos had these brackets - for example 34091 Weymouth here https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/SR-and-BRS/Original-Bulleid-locomotives/i-wjGhqCF/A They were lower down on the Battle of Britain locos (below the nameplate) - https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/SR-and-BRS/Original-Bulleid-locomotives/i-SKpbTL8/A

But I think it's safe to say the locos never ran on the SR in green livery. They were all transferred to the the LMR by the middle of 1955.

According to SEMG the 3 locos were painted green by Derby Works after transfer to the LMR - http://www.semgonline.com/diesel/bull_1coco1_01.html Here's 10202 leaving Euston in 1956 while still in black - https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/Miscellaneous/Diesel-traction/i-wwFWNDp/A And another of it at Euston still in black - https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/Miscellaneous/Diesel-traction/i-bLdBBbV/A. Some further photos here too - http://railphotoprints.uk/p177325174

Kernow's web-site (http://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/pg/111/Bulleid_Diesel) still shows 4 variations being produced, and none of them have the (rather ugly IMHO) interconnecting doors. 10201-3 in black and 10203 only in green. The pictures of the real locos used do clearly show the difference in the outer grilles. No doubt these details will be clarified soon.

I assume you are referring to Bachmann decoders which need CVs 54 and 55 setting to control the Back EMF for certain locos? Other makes of decoder do not use these. The reason these CVs need adjusting is that the Bachmann decoders were designed for locos with flywheels which their current models do not have. Hence the need to adjust the CVs to avoid jerky starting and stopping.

My order was actually made on 30th December 2011 - can't believe it was that long ago! I've not been contacted by Kernow since. The pre-order price at that time was £139.99 whereas the price on the web now is £169.99. Not sure whether the pre-order price will be honoured, though I'll still buy the loco...

Isn't it the other way round? The black version is correctly numbered 10203 and it's the green version that should be 10201.

What tender is fitted to 34100? It was built with a 9ft wide tender but lost that in November 1958 and instead got a narrow 8ft6in tender which it retained for the rest of its life. SEMG has the details - http://www.semgonline.com/steam/blp_ten.html

A blue 35020 Bibby Line at the top of this page on David Hey's collection - http://www.davidheyscollection.com/page30.htm The picture is 60+ years old so it's sometimes difficult to say how representative the colour is, especially as the negative/slide has been scanned plus your own PC's display are involved. And also 35027 at Victoria about half-way down - http://www.semgonline.com/steam/mn_01.html But now a bit shabby - https://www.flickr.com/photos/rgadsdon/6242947069

I had the same problem a few years ago when using some TCS decoders: for example, with one loco using 28 speed steps I was able to record a scale speed of 81 mph at step 28, and 87 mph at step 26. Plus there were variations between running sessions. The firmware in Lais decoders is allegedly "derived" from TCS which might explain why they show the same characteristics. I now use Lenz and Zimo decoders exclusively. Yes they cost a bit more but you get what you pay for, and Lenz and Zimo they are top quality plus they have overload and short-circuit protection.

My first PC had a problem with this (failure 80070003) but was fine when I clicked on "retry". I assumed it was an issue of some sort with the server perhaps being overloaded.

Also here for example, although there are no models (yet) of the coach set - https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/SR-and-BRS/Original-Bulleid-locomotives/i-tQqtJgr/A And here - https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/SR-and-BRS/Original-Bulleid-locomotives/i-MrFNWqL/A

Yes - installed OK on all of mine with no issues and in a reasonable time (less than 30 minutes). It's a bit bigger this time because last month's update was cancelled so this time it was two months' worth of changes.

Hatton's are now also confirming the April date having only a few days ago said March 14th. "Our latest information from the supplier suggests this item will arrive with us April 2017".

Yes - pre 1948 as this picture shows - https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/SR-and-BRS/Original-Bulleid-locomotives/i-Crv24Zt/A