TEAMYAKIMA

Well, yes and no. If it was a home layout, you're absolutely right, but this is an exhibition layout set in a specific area and a specific time - Northern China in the Spring of 2001 - and we're trying to tell visitors a story and I would like that story to be as truthful as possible. However, to use a TV analogy, this is not a documentary, this is a drama - or even, perhaps, a soap opera. The analogy may be that if someone in Northern China wanted to find out what living in the north of England was like they could simply watch Coronation Street - it's not typical life 'up north' but it would give an interested party in a foreign country a flavour of what that life is like. Put another way, if the layout was to be 100% accurate (or close enough) virtually every diesel on show would be a green DF4B and that would be boring. As the layout has developed, I have tried to give every freight train consist a unique 'personality' and make each loco hauling them different and so, now, of the 15 main line trains only one is hauled by a green DF4B. Another minor 'problem' is that by 2001 the only main line steam locos were QJ's and so all my steam hauled freights use QJ's and most of them are double-headers, but to add variety one is run tender first and one is run tender-to-tender. So, hopefully, my new BJ double unit will simply add to the "Wow, that's different!" factor And here is a photo to justify my tender-to-tender operation - probably off to a coal mine which didn't have turning facilities and so loco A heads the empties in and loco B heads the loaded ones out.

The latest addition to the fleet. Diesel Hydraulic BJ class passenger locos. OK, I know they only really worked in the BeiJing area, but they're different - and cute!

It's Taunton 2023, not 2024 😏

Hello Nigel Thanks for the good advice - I am trying to be very cautious with all things DCC, but I am finding this new Digitrax command station and the new handset DT602 somewhat easier to use than the DCS100 and DT402 I used before. I'm cautiously growing in confidence.

I regret that I'[m back again with another DCC 'issue' - please bear with me, I am not a DCC expert Based on feedback/advice on RMweb from my previous problem, I have today been going through my entire loco stock and reducing CV29 by 4 in order to de-activate the analogue facility. I had done some when I first got that advice, but decided to go through every loco just to double check I use a DIGITRAX DCS210 command station and I select the MENU option and select QUICK and then select READ. This afternoon I had checked/altered 99% of my locos without any issues and then I went to check/alter a diesel which had sometimes behaved weirdly on the layout and it was this loco which had prompted me to seek advice on RMweb some time back in the first place. So I put it on my programming track as normal and pressed READ as normal and I noticed something weird, something I tought couldn't happen - the ,loco started to move, very, very slowly. In fact, more like stuttering forward than running. Aha! I thought. This loco which had behaved badly on the layout is showing weird movement on the programming track - the two things must be linked. But then the next loco I 'tested' behaved the same. So, I went back to diesel locos I had checked/altered earlier and they now showed the same tendency - I would swear that they hadn't shown this movement earlier in the day. I then went back and found a steam ,loco which I had checked/altered earlier and that just stayed perfectly still. So, to sum up. This stuttering, slow, movement only occurs when I have selected READ -, it only lasts as long as the system is 'reading' the chip. I hadn't noticed it before I READ this particular previously troublesome diesel and now all diesels seem to do it. Is this stuttering normal? Is it that I simply didn't notice it before? The steam locos have sound and the diesels don't and so I guess that explains why the steam locos don't move at all. Does this make any sense? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Thanks for that. How long do you think a freight train loco might have them open? 5 seconds?

Aha! So, that's a feature you can use at our operating session next week 😉

My American sound chips have many more features than I would ever use, but one of them is quite intriguing - cylinder cocks. I have seen them in use on real locos, but never analysed where and when they are used. So, can someone please advise - Are they used only when the loco is moving? Or only when stationary? Or either, just randomly? On average, how long are they used for? It's a nice feature and I'd like to use it, but I want to 'get it right'. Thanks Paul

Iain, Many thanks for your interest in my problem, but in fact setting those CV's has solved the problem. My layout is a roundy-roundy, there is no shunting , it was simply that the first person who gave me advice several months ago advised me to adopt F11. The main problem was that as delivered it was very difficult to be able to accurately stop trains in the fiddle yard road. Problem now solved.

Many thanks - perfect

I have acquired three locos with ESU decoders. The manufacturer is not being very helpful with after sales service and so I have come to ask here. All three appear to have acceleration and momentum as standard - does that make sense? But I want/need precise stopping points as my fiddle yard roads all pretty much match the length of train going into them. I was advised to adopt 'shunting mode' which is F11 with these chips, but that changed the sound and dramatically lowered the maximum speed. Is there a way of simply removing acceleration and momentum?

I think there needs to be somewhere for the operating to sit/travel. This train was inspired by what I saw back in 2014. I would have liked to have included a box car for tools etc but the grade up from the fiddle yard onto the scenic section is so steep that a SY 2-8-2 is slipping badly already with the train as you see it.

The simple answer is 'YES'. The big issue is/was that the fiddle yard curves are tight even by model railway standards and previously that has meant that the jib has entered the scene with the jib hopelessly overhanging the track and only returning to 'normal' when the train reached the straight track on the scenic section - sorry no photo available, but you are right, the jib issue and the tight curves prevented us being able to run it as it was. So, yesterday, I spent several hours experimenting with the whole set-up and I've added a part to the flat car which deals with the jib problem.................... Now, I guess/realise that it's not 100% prototypical but it does the job and if it is 'wrong' at least it doesn't stick out like a saw thumb

Kev - I can see that you follow things carefully 😉 - you are referring to a post which I have now deleted asking if anyone had a caboose they would be prepared to sell me - it was for this 'new' train. I was offered one and it's in the post now and so the caboose in the photo was 'borrowed' from another train just for that photo.

Another 'back-burner' issue was the TRACK LAYING TRAIN - in the past it has always just sat in a siding on the industrial railway at the back of the layout. I've been working on it today and manged to test it on the flyover end of the layout as I have three fiddle yard boards and one scenic board set up in my shed. It will still need to be tested/proven at the other end of the layout before we commit to it at an exhibition, but things are looking good so far.

I'll be 70 this year, but up until recently I generally worked and socially interacted with women between 25 and 35 and so it was easy to delude myself that I was still young. But those days are over, I have come down with a bump and the thing that made me realise that I'm officially old was that I watched MAGPIE MURDERS on the BBC last week and I found Lesley Manville attractive ! 🤔 What was it that was your wake-up call?

I'm not 100% certain if this should be in the DCC section, but I do use DCC and so, here goes. I generally use INSULFROG points with no problem, but I do have two crossovers with ELECTROFROG points. I would normally use a PECO PL-13 switch to switch the frog polarity, but I was worried that the PL-13's would add unwanted stiffness to the point motors and so I looked for an electronic devise to do the job instead. Basically, I fire each crossover as a pair ie a single fire from the DCC stationary decoder fires both points together. I am using a Gaugemaster DCC80 on each point in the crossover and I am very disappointed with the time taken to switch the polarity. Trains noticeably stutter going through the crossover. Is there anything faster than a DCC80?

And I'm told it was your first ever layout - is that right?

No, we don't use DCC - we use DIGITRAX. That's an in-joke 😉 Joking apart, yes we use DIGITRAX and in the very early days, due to the size of the layout, we were advised to go wireless. So, all four DT402 throttles were sent back to the USA to be converted to wireless, but our very first exhibition was the big BRISTOL show and our layout was located directly under electricity pylons and that caused mayhem. Then later, we went to the Glasgow show and mobile phone use caused absolute chaos with the signal - apparently it's a well-known thing in that venue. So, last year I sold off all those expensively upgraded DT402's and replaced them with the latest conventional DT602 and UT6 throttles and they work well and operators now have fixed operating positions and everyone is relaxed and happy. TBH on the basis of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" I think we're now where we want to be. I realise that what you are suggesting is not the same as what we had before, but I am not that technical and having just splashed out £hundreds on these new controllers I want to be conservative and stick with what we have. But thanks for your interest and input and BTW I thought your layout was the best at the recent London show.

Hello Kev Yes and no. I am in process of producing a series of documents which will help newbies ( and the not-so-newbies ) with setting-up, dismantling and operation. Basically, in theory, things are easier now that I have replaced all the DIGITRAX DT402 throttles with the newer and (hopefully) easier to use DT602 throttles and the even easier to operate UT6 throttles. Best regards Paul

Speaking as someone who only builds exhibition-only layouts I can offer some advice. 1. Don't build a layout that is too big to set up for testing in your home/shed or perhaps at a pinch in your garden - see below! 2. Don't build an exhibition layout if you don't drive - don't ask me how I know this!

Absolutely brilliant weathering! With so much excellent 'foreign' modelling going on here, there and everywhere it's a pity that we can't have a proper foreign-only exhibition. I know the GRS do something (or at least have done somethings in the past) but I think they were one day shows and that doesn't suit big layouts which take a long time to set up. We would need a sponsor who likes foreign layouts - where's Rod Stewart when you need him?

I am going through every train and making 'final' checks and then signing off each train in turn as being 'done'. I spent most of yesterday working through just one freight train - checking/solving rolling resistance, checking Kadee couplings for things like missing springs, gluing back damaged steps etc. When all of those reliability issues were dealt with I found time to address some outstanding weathering issues. I have six super detailed container flats by MTC (Model Trains China) and They have loads of underframe detail which will be lost if/when they run with containers and so I plan to leave some without containers or just one. I didn't want to over weather these as they have plenty of nice lettering along the solebars and it seems a pity to weather them so much that that detail is obscured. Here is a weathered one with underframe detail exposed and a fresh out of the box for comparison.

Hello Bill Thanks for the idea, but I just want to deal with these issues ASAP and move on to other things. If the GREASE'M method proves to be insufficient to do the job I will simply shorten the trains to suit the allocated locos.

Now, with the layout nearly finished, I have finally got around to several issues which have been on the back burner for a long time. One of those issues was the rolling resistance of some rolling stock - especially the lesser known brands i.e. our old favourite Bachmann is very good in this regard, but some newer brands (some of whom have long since come and gone) were not so good. After a lot of sole-searching (years!) I decided to try Kadee GREASE'M as my preferred lubricant and set up a test rig using a PECO railer to be able to compare before and after so as to ascertain if it was having an effect Going back into pre-history, there were these (awful) NX17 flat cars manufactured by a company which (thankfully) only ever made one model - to see just how awful, look at this initial 'before' test run ........ You can see that its rolling resistance was so bad that it didn't even get off the railer. But after applying GREASE'M .........................