arff999

pretty sure its not 5 amp well the one we got today for test is not is says 4 amps on the transformer but is set internally to 3.6 amps but still a great set up john

just one thing on the mini panel, ever though it is good when used with a power cab and i'm not sure if it was said before to set up the mini panel you need a separate hand set as it has to be plugged in to the device and the power cab one cant be removed john

There was At the ally palace show with Richard i was on the Digitrains stand i think we were the only ones with it all John

Nice one Richard Should be ok when you get it, i've been demoing it at shows for a few weeks now and your not the first one, a lot of people think the same as you did until i point out you need the other bits unless you use a NCE system. john

I take it your alpha central is plugged in to your prodigy system via the Alpha box and then the adaptor cable not just the cable john

Hi Rand ok pity but then i did talk to Richard and the other guy i forget his name He told me about some new bits but its not for me to say about them yet. i also discussed your uk office. and a few issues about the items hope fully he has not forgotten by the time hes home Regards John

i had a powercab handset plugged into the cobalt box on its own it works fine also the auto switch for the programme track works but i guess if you plugged a nce procab throttle in it won't work as a complete system as there would be no system box plugged in as there is with the power cab handset so for a cheep 5 amp nce system it it works well but theres not alot of differance when you compare costs for both ways john

Rand will you be with Richard this week end at the show john

Ian the adaptors are in the shop now they've been in about 3 weeks had a play the other week not managed to try all systems yet but yes i agree fully with your last comments john

Hi Ian I have tried this and it all works with the different systems also with various other bits of NCE kit down at your local DDC shop i may have also been in when you've been in JOHN

Rand i was under the impression that the alpha switch A was a stand alone system not able to connect to the Alpha Main unit unit only for use on 2 wire stall motors with its own regulated power supply also if the Alpha Central is just really a cab unit working on the NCE bus then i presume you can connect the nce mini panel into your 5a booster to give you a 30 switch fully programmable device as you would on a stand alone nce system? and it would work ok. i had sent a e-mail to richard asking about 3 way switching using the Alpha Central but have had no reply as yet.i think i have a way of doing it or do you have a small pcb that will work are you going to ally palace if so ill pop along and have a chat john

silly question have you rang james at dcc train automation hes the best person to answer your questions john

Hi Welly there made from a bit off 7 mm copper clad sleeper gapped down the middle long ways then 6 nano leds are fitted across the gap making sure to keep the correct polarity, two small holes are made 5mm from either end fitted with a piece of transformer wire to simulate the hanging conduit they also carry the electric,these inturn are fitted to a copper strip tape on the roof via a 1k resistor. the lens is is a clear plastic rectangular bar hollowed out with a dremel to take the leds, the name tale were made at a printers on clear back ground hope this helps john

Hi Lez Most of the buildings i'm afraid i can't take credit for, there made by Howard Leader, all i do is fit them to the model and sort out the electric for the lights.

Ok final picture for tonight i have saved the best till last, I met Howard a few weeks ago at the show at Spalding where he was demonstrating his model making skills, And on his table was the start to my station main building bear in mind it's a start as it's going to be huge when finished well over 1.5 meters long and will look awesome.

thanks i think so too John

Last week i was asked to post some more pictures of the great northern hotel building

Thats all on the construction now for a few of the finished building Thats all on the construction now for a few of the finished building

A few general pictures of the island building

Then we had to sort out the wiring of all the lights and make sure they worked as when the roof was fitted it would have been impossible to get to the connections

Hi update time again after having a chat with Howard the other day he said i had omitted to post any pics of the island platform building, so i thought i better put things right on that front. well here we go firstly a few pictures of the construction

Sure leave it with me ill take some pics when i get down to the shop next john

Hi jrg1 we don't use working drawings for the models there all scratch built using just original photos the only thing we do have is a scale footprint drawing of most or the area around the station. hope this helps. JOHN

I have been looking to make the loco running smoother as we have a few minor problems with some joins in the track, If you remember when i started this project it was all made on 1200 x 600 boards transported to a show then fitted together this in principle was ok but in reality just did not work. tracks cut across tight angles across joins don't work,so we joined the to make 1200 x 1200 modules great we thought works well lets leave it at that. Then when planning the station building it was noted that the 2 main buildings were longer than the 1200 modules. now what, well there was only one way to do this so we ended up joining 2, 1200 modules together to make a 2400 x 1200 so now we have 2 large and 2 smaller modules. The only problem now is that there are cuts across the rails in the middle of the 2 long modules not a problem you may say but in one place that accounts for cuts in all of the tracks 10 in total, this is were the problem lies. We could just rip up the track and relay it all or leave it as is and carry on, after a lot of thought and figuring out some other minor electrical lighting bugs i came up with the idea of having a whole new set of baseboards made so i can relay the track sort out the lighting bits and make sure the roadway all works and the cars and buses all move as there designed to. so over the next year this will happen as for now we will carry on using what we have. I do hope you all stick with me with this mark 2 version for now you wont notice any difference and ill post pics of the new bits as time goes by. JOHN

Hi Over the moon is probably an understatement the works awesome come to mind a true credit to Howard patience and skill as a model maker. I for one could never have built anything this good. If you think these are great just wait until you see the main Station building this is in a class of its own,i do have some build pictures but i have decided not to post any until its finished. JOHN