MickeyMoggs

Chaps, many thanks for the responses, I think the real answer lies in the signalling, but that'll ding dang do for me. Many thanks for your help.

Working in a limited space (aren't we all) and was wondering if anyone was aware of a prototype where where an Up line and and Down line shared a passing loop, or would it have been completely forbidden in steam practice (esp. GWR)? ie, two lines in, three lines for a distance than back down to two, with both lines being able to access the central "loop". Many thanks in advance.

Update time! Wrapping the handheld unit in tinfoil stops all the problems. Am currently working on applying foil to the inside of the unit, sealing it with PVA to prevent any shorting problems. Obviously won't be able to cover screen but hope this will be enough to remedy the problem.

With the continuing problems with my Dynamis controller (See the entries on the DCC forum) I decided to spend the day working on some scenery. It's amazing just how much you can get done once the temptation to run a few shunting operations is removed. Using some Wills kits I've managed to build a bridge for the right hand end of the layout, connected to a series of arches. It really has brought that end of the layout to life. I've calculated that I've spent about £20 excluding glues and paints etc on a length of approximately 50cm. Given that I've got another 3m to go, it's going to be an expensive operation. Let's see if I can get it done by Christmas. (I'm not saying which year given previous experiences.) I'll post some photos shortly.

Rebooted my router and hey presto, an improvement. I'm still getting the occasional, and I mean twice an hour, blip. It's almost not noticeable as it's favourite command to send on my behalf is to slow the current loco by 1 notch. Would consider a change of controller, but only when the bank manager (aka Mrs Morgan) allows. As others have said, the beauty of Dynamis was it's price and flexibility. I see on the back of the handset it says "This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation." Now I'm no legal expert, but to me it sounds as though the FCC (whose rule only really apply in the US) are saying that this unit is not suitable for sale in the US as it clearly doesn't cope with interference received. Does anyone know what the sales are like in the US for his? Time to find an american forum.

I think your garage is bigger than my house. Jealousy spat over, how will you keep the spider population under control now that you've cleared them out? My layout is in a garden shed and the first 20 minutes of any session has to be spent clearing the webs from the ceiling and the bodies from the track!

Presumably the same problem would occur if a neighbour had a belkin router and you might then have trouble convincing them to turn it off. I've got a Dynamis. I've just come back from two weeks holiday. Guess what! Can I ask, when you guys have had problems, what did the handset display? Mine behaves as though I'm entering random commands, from both the joystick and the buttons. I've tried new batteries but to no avail. Guess what I'm going to try this evening? Sorry kids, no Xbox Live 'til I've sorted it. My router is BT not Belkin, but it must operate at the same frequency so as to be compatible with all the other kit it's expected to speak to. I'm also suspicious as routers use radio waves, not infrared. Any thoughts?

Good advice, thanks Chris.

I haven't posted any updates for a while, I've been a busy boy, but here's a round-up of what I've been up to model railway wise for the last few weeks... I've upgraded from a Bachman EZ-Command (it gave me the bug but can't cope with my expanding roster!) to a Dynamis system. In it's basic form it's not the most complex of systems, but I do feel it's a simple step from what I had to what can be expanded to quite a complex system. And at just £98.00 at Cheltenham Model Centre, it was a bargain. I found the programming of the locos to be extremely intuitive and had the whole layout running in under an hour, including some tweaks to the CV settings on one of the locos. Acceleration and braking are much smoother on this unit than the previous, and having it on a lanyard means I don't have to panic when I'm at one end of the room and my favourite loco is heading for disaster at the other! Anyone want a dirt cheap EZ Command set? On the scenic front, I've built a Metcalfe Coaling Stage and installed it on the layout. I built the small coal trolleys that were included with the kit, but wasn't impressed with them at all, anyone got any suggestions for an alternative? I used 2mm card to make up the risers for the ramp, and the track bed. I then applied plaster bandage to form the front face and the end of the raised area. Whilst digging through my collection of odd paint pots I came across a small tin of Chocolate Brown Sandtex paint, ideal! I worked in three inch strips, applying the paint to the now dry plaster and then sprinkled N-gauge ballast allowing it to stick where it could and fall where it couldn't. As the ballst is natural stone, it is extremely dusty; this has worked in my favour as it has dulled any sheen that the paint might otherwise have had, and given the whole thing a very rocky outcrop look. I'd missed a few spots with the paint, so the ballast didn't stick, but left some very convincing chalky deposits poking through. As this was my very first attempt at any form of landscaping, I have to say I'm quite impressed - I've certainly seen worse at various model shows and in the model railway press. Who knows, I may get Chris Nevard ruond to take some pictures yet! In the meantime, I'll post some of my own this evening.

I used a standard Hornby 4-function one. A bit of overkill for steam by hey ho. One word of warning, don't use the insulating sleeve that comes with he loco, it doesn't fit in the slot! I put a single wrap of insulting tape around the chip and then another to hold the purple lead. The only other thing to watch is that the socket is, to my way of thinking, the wrong way around, ie the leads face outward when installed rather than inward which would make life far too easy. Put a long load on and you can even simulate slippage, in Pete Warterman's words, "Just like the real thing!"

Well, it might be platform 2, it's hard to tell at his stage. Spent the day building components and finally two platform sides for the first of the two platforms on this main station. I'd tried using a Metcalfe set an wasn't overly happy with the final result. I tried making a bespoke one, which I was happier with, but not delighted, so downloaded the Scalescenes platform kit. I'm happy with everything here with the exception of the edging stones which come pre-printed with a white edge: I'm reasonably confident that the Health & Safety madness police didn't exist in 1935, so need a way to get around this. Any ideas? Am I right about the edging? I said on a previous post that I'd attach some pics, so here they are, enjoy. Bit sad as yet, but you can pretty much work out what I'm trying to achieve. I've only done them at low res for speed for now. Once I've got some scenery in place I'll consider doing them at a higher res.

caught a train

Took delivery this week of the new Hornby 2800, NRM version. It's awesome, the level of detail is beyond anything I've ever seen in an RTR model, my only complaint is that the regulator arm is silver instead of red. (Don't argue with me on this, I'm a shareholder in one! Check out www.gwr2807.co.uk ) It was tremendously fiddly to put a chip in, had to use a Hornby chip rather than a Bachman one: Hornby have cleverly designed it so that only the more expensive chips fit, which is a blow as I have a ready supply of the Bachman ones. It was even more fiddly to fit all the brake gear, but well worth the effort. Set her running with a rake of 16 coal wagons and a toad. She's even more impressive on the move than she is stationary. Slow running is nothing short of magnificent. I've also made some progress on the layout itself. Track is now down for a headshunt at either end of the yard, underlay is down for the road from the shed via the coaling stage to the turntable. I've started work on platforms for the stations and have modified an old ratio footbridge kit in readiness for some platforms to mount it on. All in all, I'm reasonably happy with the progress made. As mentioned previously, I designed the layout using AnyRail, if anyone wants a copy of the file, let me know and I'll attach it to a future post.

I'm amazed no one has come up with some form of silver conductive paint to automatically convert the vees. I can't imagine it would be a difficult job for someone in the know. My only problem with electrofrog is the awful look of insulated rail joiners.

Spent most of my spare time yesterday building a workbench for the shed. No more taking a set of measurements in the shed, running across the garden in the rain to build a piece of scenery and then having to run back because I've missed a measurement. Finally I'll be able to measure, build, test fit and final without getting soaked through to the skin. I'll probably save a few bob in shoe leather as well. Did some test running of the loco yard with mixed results. I need to build some form of tester for the rails: I'm never sure if the problem is with the rails / rail connections or dirty wheels on a loco. Perhaps my new years' motto should have been "Keep everything clean" instead of "Paint everything cream."

My name is Mike Morgan, I work full time, I'm a District Councillor and father of two teenage children; when I get 5 minutes spare I enjoy building model railways. I've called this blog starting in the middle, not because I stand in the middle of an oval circuit, but because I've already made some progress towards building my layout. It all started when I was 14. I'd had a bad year, spending a few weeks in hospital having my appendix removed, then a few weeks with an unidentified gastric problem. My parents who were anything nut rich took pity on me and splashed out on a Hornby train set. I no longer have any of the track, or the carriages, but I do have the original locomotive, in it's original box. It was a generic 0-4-0 steam loco with a distinctively American look to it. I saved almost every penny I had to by extra track and within a year was in a position that it was too much work to put it all together when I wanted to use it and take it all apart when I had finished. I went with my father to the local hardware store and purchased an 8 x 4 sheet of 1/2" chipboard. We carefully strapped it to the roof of the car (no roofrack!) and set off the half a mile homeward. 300 yards short of the house a gust of wind caught the front of the sheet, ripped it in two and sent half of it across the road into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The impact with the floor took a 4" chunk out of one corner and the oncoming vehicle left a perfect tyre mark diagonally across it. Having got it home, we proceeded to place three lengths of 2 x 1 timber longitudinally to a) give the board some rigidity and B) pin the two halves together. No thought at all was given to horizontal rigidity whatsoever. My first permanent base had been created. Clearly, several mistakes had been made along the way, but that's how we learn. This tale has pretty much set the tone for my approach to modelling: Some people do months of research before adding a new rivet to a model, me I just give it a go, if it looks right and it works I leave it alone... Unless I chose to tweak it later. So, 33 years later and where am I now. Despite several house moves and the arrival of a wife and two children, in that order, my collection of railway bits had continued to grow. With my last house move some eight years ago, I insisted that the new house would wither have a) a dedicated railway room or B) sufficient space in the garden for railway only shed. Mrs Morgan decide she preferred plan b, and as in all things that require planning, Mrs Morgan got her way. Within 6 months of moving in, I'd acquired a very impressive 12 x 8 shed. I spent a small fortune lining it with polystyrene insulation and 6mm ply for the walls, all cut by local timber merchant to my specification and, much to my surprise it fitted. A power supply was laid on and I was ready to go. After the usual collection of false starts I finally had a layout planned using AnyRail on the PC. (I liked this product, I found easy enough and flexible enough for a beginner to do a reasonable job.) Baseboards were built, properly this time, using a standard 2 x 1 frame and topped with 9mm ply. The track plan was printed in 12" to the foot scale and pasted to the boards and track laying began. Lesson 2: Don't glue Trackbed to the plan, you won't be able to see the all important locations for placing your points! I've already laid 90% of the track on what I refer to as the main oval. (I'll include some photo's soon so you can see what I mean by that.) All my track is Peco Code 100 using insulfrog points. I'm steadily converting my collection of locos to DCC, so only currently have 4 that I can operate on the layout. I could, theoretically operate 5, but I abhor the "singing". The plan over the next few months is to work on the scenery before beginning work on the branch line. I'll log my progress here.

Interesting baseboard, Sundeala on top of ply rather than instead of. Looking forward to pictures of the completed shed, looks great.