HLT 0109

EvoStok do a solvent-free contact adhesive.

In order to read CVs with Power Cab, you must scroll the Power Cab to "Use Programming Track". CVs can be written "on the Main" but not read. If using the layout as the programming track, be sure to remove from the track, all locos except the one you want to reprogram. Harold.

But what do you attach your L girders to - presumably a baseboard?

The poiont of the dowels is to make accurate alignment of the track easy when reassembling the boards prior to an operating session. Over time,l the holes drilled for bolts will wea, rmaking alignment difficult and that will become frustrating. If you use metal dowels, then the bolts (or briefcase latches) are there simply to prevent the boards from separating so the wear doesn't matter as long as the boards butt up closely. I have bought carpenters dowels rather than those in the link provided by imt - supposedly esier to fit. No doubt I will find out! This way the bolts do not need to be bilky, just long enough to pass through the thickness of two frames and facilitate attaching a wing nut.

Tom, I am in a similar position, having just started an N gauge layout, starting with an 8x4 sheet of plywood. However, that is where the similarity ends! I have an existing 00 gauge layout fixed in my loft and it uses 12mm plywood. I think you may struggle with the weight of your 4x3 boards once they are framed and have scenery etc - I think it is a pity you didn't have the boards cut all to 4x2. That said, I would opt for 2' spacing of the frame/bracing and, for the 4x3s I would devide both length and width into two - ie four areas of 2' x 1'6". Diagonal bracing is tricky, unless you are good with mitre joints. A problem with bracing (which may not apply here) is the positioning of point motors if you intend to use under-board motors - you must ensure that the points are not going to be located so that the bracing prevents the motors from being located properly. Painting/sealing - I am not sure. My loft layout boards and frames have had no treatment prior to afixing scenery and have not suffered as a result over ten years. However, my new layout is planned for exhibiting/transporting and i am inclined to treat everything before laying track or scnery - but the frames and bracing are already done and nothing has been treated. Incidentally, I have not made my frames first and then attached the baseboard - in my case there is a serious probability of a wonky frame. I make sure the baseboard is completely flat and then make the frame to fit, glueing and screwing the pieces to the top and to each other, one at a time. It involves turning over the board each time a frame is ready but my new boards are completey level. I have no time for Trakmats, though they may help plan the layout. But then a book of plans gives you a choice. With a small child, it may have uses (easier to clean up spills as you suggest) but, if you pin it in place under the track, you will have to take everything up to remove it at a future date should you wish to. You could perhaps cut round the track with a craft knife to remove the Trakmat. I hope this helps, Harold. edited to correct typos

Speed matching is a time consuming and often frustrating procedure - I have done it several times with my 00 gauge locos (both steam and diesel) and you may find that you have to adjust the motor control for each loco separately until each runs at its best. The prpcedure is set out in chapter 11 of the Loksound manual and would need to be done before speed matching. You say you have matched top speeds - after adjusting motor control, you may find they need matching again - using the speed table and speed step 28. However, it is best to start with speed step 1 and set the start voltage to that which gets each loco just moving - I run them one behind the other (better still, side by side on parallel tracks). Once speed steps 1 and 28 are matched, then pick speed step 14 and get them matched by altering the appropriate CV value. Bear in mind that, in order to use the speed table, CV29 must be set correctly. After that, it is a case of setting the intermediate steps, one at a time until you are happy with them. I found it useful to write each one down as I set/altered them because you are almost certain to have to go back and change them slightly - especially if you then run on 128 speed steps. In double heading , precise matching is not necessary but, if banking and there are sharp curves, it becomes more so. Sorry if I am telling you what you already know but it is not a half-hour job. Incidentally, using something like JMRI software or a Sprog makes the job easier but it is still time consuming. Harold.

Nick - Used a broken blade in the manner you described and now have some well-defined lines. It remains to be seen how it looks after painting but not ready to do that yet. Dave John - I am using grey platicard with one matt and one slik finish side - my scribing is on the matt side. DavidB and Neil - thanks you for the tips. I see that Eileen's Emporium has the Scrawker for £8 and that the Trumpeter tool is £4.49. Not heard of them before so very useful information Thank you all. Harold.

Gentlemen - thank you. I am using a 10a scalpel blade but I imagine it will work just as well. May as well try it before seeking out a scraperboard pen. Paul, I had to look up Silhouette Curio cutter - not something I have come across before. An interesting thing to investigate at a later date I think. Thanks again, Harold.

I have started a new project which involves scratch building a number of enclosed coaches - the nearest scale description would be 009. I have used second-hand Lima N gauge coach chassis (120mm long) and am making the sides from plasticard. The divisiions between doors and side panels have been marked with pencil during the cutting procedure for window aperatures. Once the sides are painted, those marks will disappear, even if not erased prior to painting. Clearly I would like to reinstate those divisions/crevices and feel that the easiest solution would be to scratch them into the surface before painting, then overpaint with a dark wash which is immediately removed from elsewhere. In practising with a piece of scrap, I am having difficulty making appropriate scratch marks; if I use my cutting scalpel, the cuts are very narrow and run the risk of cutting right through; if I scratch with a tiny screwdriver, the marks are not deep enough Can anyone suggest a tool that will do what I want? The alternative would be to paint the marks over the livery but I think in my hands that woould be a disaster! I plan to paint the livery in BR crimson and cream in Humbrol enamels using a brush. Incidentally, on-screen, Humbrol cream looks more like ivory - there doesn't appear to be a correct shade. - Just found Phoenix P117 which looks better. Any guidance much appreciated. Harold.

How come the coupler is outside the rail? I know you said it seems to jump it but I have never seen that before, with a loco that is still on the rails. If it remained between the rails, it would probably not catch the sleepers. I think the second largest of Hornby's curves would 3rd radius.

I agree with everything that others have said but I appear to have accidentally achieved super elevation on my layout on a third radius curve - see attached photos It is evidevt from the second photo that the approach is level but the cant in the first photo is genuine - I promise you! I am sure if I tried to replicate it I would have difficulty but even 1mm elevation at the centre of the curve will be visible. The cant appeared after I modified the track to insert a curved point crossover and the ballast has fixed the track in place. As I think you can see, I do use Kadee couplings. Harold.

Unfortunately, no longer available! But I came across an alternative and a dimmer claiming to have a capacity of 30amps: https://www.amazon.co.uk/JOYLIT-Dimmer-Dimming-Controller-Lights/dp/B074D82WVX, which would mean needing only one dimmer and not having to rewire my switch panel. Whilst considering how best to locate the new equipment, I decided before ordering, to carry out some more checks to ensure that there wasn't a wiring problem I had missed. This included wiring my working transformer to the lighting circuit that had failed - everything then worked so I knew the problem was with the transformer. Then I decided to reconnect the failed transformer - everything worked! How or why remains a mystery but I had changed the choc-block connector taking the mains feeds to the transformer, so i can only assume one of the screws was not making proper contact, even though the tightness of connections had been checked and a continuity test had not shown a problem. Although I am now aware that there is a better way to do things, I do not propse to change the current arrangement while it continues to work - but if problems arise again, that is what I will do. I hugely appreciate all comments and words of wisdom - knowledge is never wasted. Thanks, Harold.

Suzie, I am nervous about making my own case for your suggested PSU (how much ventilation would need to be provided?) and can't find a suiutable case on-line. Whilst searching, I came across the cased PSU in this link https://gimsonrobotics.co.uk/categories/electrical/products/mains-to-12v-dc-20a-power-supply-adapter-steady-output. Would this be suitable in conjunction with three of the Sodial dimmers? Quite a bit of work involved to make these alterations (relocating the hardware and rewiring my switch panel) but i can see that it is necessary. I appreciate all guidance. Harold.

Gentlemen, Many thanks for your comments - much to consider. The reason for the dimmer arrangement has to do with photography - I found when taking photographs, there was burn-out from the bulbs and installed the dimmer to overcome it but, in normal use, dimming is not required. It is rare in use for me to have all the lights on together but I did do so recently when having visitors. Noting the comment that feeding the output of a dimmer into a transformer is mistreating the transformer, I have to ask why some suppliers advertise them as dimmable and confirm (apart from the TLC response) that their products are suitable for installation after the dimmer. Thanks again, Harold.

I have a large number of grain of wheat bulbs (187 at the last count) lighting the platforms, streets and buildings on my 00 gauge layout. They are fed from the mains via a dimmer switch to two transformers supplying separate banks of switches for the various items. One transformer is rated at 60w powering 73 bulbs and the other at 105w powering 114 bulbs. I guess these units are at the limit of their capacities but they have been working for some time - the first since 2009 was bought from Kytes Lights and is still working; the second is an Aurora bought in 2013 from a discount store. The Aurora lasted a couple of years or so then failed and was replaced under warranty - the replacement has now failed, despite being specified as having overload and short protection.. (I have checked that there is no break in any feed wiring). Assuming that I needed a unit with larger capacity, I searched for a new transformer and was attracted to the one in this link https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/LTYT210.html as it not only has sufficient capacity for the whole installation but is rated from 0w - unlike the failed unit which is specified for a minimum of 35w. Before placing my order, I contacted the supplier about whether the YT210 was suitable for use with a dimmer and was surprised to receive the following reply; "I would not recommend any of our drivers, as from experience of other customer using them with models, they seem not to work. The best I can recommend is visiting a models shop.". I appreciate that there are other ways of powering such lighting but I would need to make alterations to the mains installation in the loft (and probably rewire my switch panel(!) in order to use them, but I wonder whether anyone is using the YT210 (which appears to be available from other suppliers) and could tell me of their experiences. Many thanks, Harold.

. . . . or tweezers that know exactly here it has pinged to and guide one to it.

But, as discussed many times, as soon as the track is ballasted, the sound-deadening effect of the cork is lost.

How about something for the operators to stand on?

A gradient always adds interest to a layout but you do need to be careful. You say there is plenty of room for a shallow gradient but how shallow is shallow? There are several threads on this forum about gradients, all worth reading, but steam locos may struggle with anything steeper than1:50 - depending on how many coaches/wagons they are hauling and how tight the curves are. As the lower level is just for storage, you can always use double-heading to get the stock up to the higher level if the gradient proves too steep without. With a 10cm gap plus the baseboard thickness etc you will need about 6m of track to keep down to 1:50. My other thoguth is that 4" is rather close for a deep baseboard, With stock on the near tracks you won't be able to handle what is on the far tracks. I hope this helps your thought processes. Harold.

I have had repairs carried out professionally in recent years, with mixed results. Some shops do repairs in house and you know the quality of the result to expect (until staff changes) but others outsource to free-lancers and one takes the results very much on trust. No doubt all the professionals have some work they are really good at and other work they struggle with - just like me but, if a job comes in, they are going to do it whatever the result. Hence, where we can do it ourselves, we choose to so so. I must say that I have not found professioal repairs expensive, but by doing the job ourselves, we can make a financial saving (unless the repair is under warranty).

It would be nice if we all had 34C's level of ability to dismantle and reassemble our locos (especially steamers) without causing damage or upsetting settings, in order to be able to get one's fingers around the pickups, but I for one do not. Yet I have had the same problem as Right Away from time to time and it can be very difficult to achieve the necessary good contact - indeed it is difficult even to see the pickups on some examples. I have had some success with the loco upturned in a suitable cradle so that both hands are free then, using a lit magnifier (desk standing or head fitted so hands are still free) one can manipulate a small, flat scredriver in one hand and tweezeers in the other. The screwdriver can be used at the fixed end of the pickup prise it away from the wheelback while the tweezers push (or bend but not crease) the free end until it touches the wheelback. Try also to arrange for the wheelset to be at the extent of its travel away from the offending pickup. This is not to criticise 34Cs method but if, like me, you feel unable to dismantle a model, my method is worth a try. I had the problem recently with my Bachmann class 37 and couldn't access the pickups without removing the body. Having done that, I dropped the bogies one at a time but the wires to the decoder etc were too short "to do a proper job" but I was able to effect a cure in the manner I described. Harold.

. . . but the controller will not do the job unless the train has a decoder fitted. Most ready to run items do not have a decoder fitted - even those shown as DCC Ready. Harold.

Ah! That's a pity. Hope you find a satisfactory solution.

There's nothing difficult/complex about the Heljan TT wiring - it says DCC Ready but does not need a chip adding. Just two power feeders from the Track Bus to the supplied control panel and connect the two wires from the turntable to the control panel - the instruction manual shows how. The most difficult part of installation is cutting an accurate hole in the baseboard to take the well.

In my opinion it is unrealsitic in looks and in manner of operation. The Heljan Unit is worth looking at. http://www.hattons.co.uk/53242/Heljan_89121_27_4_metre_90ft_Motorised_turntable_ready_for_installation_For_HO_OO_scales_DCC/StockDetail.aspx Harold.