jpendle

Thanks guys, I'm still waiting for my Revolution KFA's as well, the suspense is killing me John P

So the IN pins need to be driven to 0 volts (GND) to switch the relay on and 5V to switch it off. The Mardec will do this quite happily. BUT the GND of the Mardec MUST be connected to the GND on the relay board for this to work. Regards, John P

To paraphrase, David is saying that he dislikes DCC intensely and he wouldn't recommend it to his worst enemy I have a different view and I think that if you are just starting out then DCC is a very good choice. On a 10' x 5' layout you won't need "hundreds of droppers" from the tracks, if you had just two ovals of track (I know that's too simple) then you could use just two droppers and you would need the same for DC in any case. If you do choose DCC don't buy a Roco Z21 controller because I told you so or a Gaugemaster (rebadged MRC) Prodigy controller because 'Fred' told you so. DCC controllers and systems come in many different flavours and the best idea is to go to a decent shop or to a good show and ask to see different kinds of DCC systems in use. Regards, John P

If it were destined to be a loaded return, to Sellafield, I would have thought that there would have been one or two MK2A BSO's as well for the military escort. Also, what's a VSTP working? Regards, John P

What Paul said. John P

I have no memories of trains at all in my early days. When I was around 10 or 11 we used to take the train from Westhoughton, change at Man Vic, and then go to Dean Lane. We had a very old relative who lived there and we visited on a monthly basis. I don't remember anything about the trains though. My first clear memories are from quite late on in my teens. From where we lived in Westhoughton we always took the bus to either Bolton or Wigan rather than the train because the buses stopped outside our house but the railway station was a good 10-15 minute walk. There was a similar issue on arrival at Bolton as the bus station was in the town center unlike Trinity street. I also took two buses to school in Bolton as the train wasn't an option. Anyhow, whilst out drinking with mates on a Friday in the late 70's, it became apparent that getting the train was a far better way to travel back home. Pubs closed at 11pm, last bus left at 10:30pm, but the last train left at 11:30pm! So memories are a bit blurred but primarily blue DMU's, with a solitary Class 40 on an engineers north bound welded steel rail working, using the centre road at Trinity Street, that has since been ripped up. I remember drunkenly marvelling that the lengths of rail didn't fling the wagons from the tracks as they took the curves at Bolton North heading for Lostock Junction. Regards, John P

Take a look at N-Scenic or York Model Making, they may have stuff to get you started. Regards, John P

One more here.

As you are using DCC then I would use a reverse loop module, or two frog juicers, connected to the two tracks in the upper triangle. Isolate those tracks and let the DCC electronics do its thing. The only issue would be that the only vehicle in any given train that had wheel pickups would have to be the loco as the upper triangle itself isn't big enough to accommodate much more. Regards, John P

I subscribe to Railway Modeller but have given up on the digital edition, it just doesn't work for me. BUT I also subscribe to Railway Heraldis only available online, and I find that the pdf version is an excellent read, even if it is digital. Perhaps it's because the RM is laid out for print and therefore doesn't work in digital, and vice versa for RH. John P

Yes he does, or you could use a suitable resistor. Think about it like a water main. If every tap on a main is turned off then at any given time the water pressure will be fine any where along the main even if there are narrow bits or blockages. If you turn a tap on where the water flow if good then the pressure should remain reasonably constant, but if you turn a tap on where the flow is bad, then the pressure will drop and will take some time to recover (if it ever does). It's the same with electricity, you might have a location on your layout that has 'poor flow', but you'll only notice if you put a loco there or thereabouts, and then you'll likely see the voltage drop. Regards, John P

I think that's a bit apocalyptic! I wonder if Farish are struggling to think of what to do next. They clearly have production constraints (competing against other parts of the Kader empire for production slots) and probably are required (by Kader) to make relatively high margins. Even stuff that would appear to the untrained eye to be relatively simple, like re-releasing models that have sold out, either with different running numbers, or new liveries seems to take forever. Just to illustrate this point, I can only have 1 Evening Star or Biffa 66 on my layout, but I could have any number of 'bog standard' EWS/DBC, Freightliner, GBRF, & DRS 66's. Also anything that could be considered a 'no brainer' has already been done, and all that's left are either 'risky' (anything using OHLE) or 'niche', i.e a one off, very modern class of MU's, or a Pre-Grouping loco or carriages. I also think Farish might be waiting to see how well Kato's entry to the market will go, let's face it there are enough models in the pipeline to keep Farish busy for a year or two, and Kato may shake up the market in a big way, or they may bail, if their CL800s, et al, don't sell well. I'm looking forward to some 802's in TPE livery, but won't be best pleased if Kato refuse to include a suitable DCC socket (as they apparently are threatening). Regards, John P

OK so I missed this completely when I got my newsletter and wondered what was going on. Then I realised that these pictures are NOT in the latest newsletter, at least not in the one I received December 12th. BUT they are the latest "News" entry on the Revolution Website. Mystery solved. John P

I am led to believe that its Next18, but as I've ordered sound fitted ones, it's a moot point for me. E.g, I have 4 Sound equipped Pendolinos and I've not had the body off any of them to poke the decoder. Regards, John P

I find that Tortoises can't cope with the spring in Peco N Gauge points, I'm sure it's worse in OO and above. If that's the issue, it begs the question, why not remove the spring and let the Tortoise do it's slo-mo thing? Regards, John P

2020 will begin on January 1st and end on December 31st, other than that anything else gets very long odds. John P

Sorry, but an inverter converts DC to AC, not DC to DC. For example inverters are used on solar panels to convert the DC voltage back to mains AC so that your house mains supply can be run from them. Regards, John P

It absolutely is a case of people using the wrong terminology, which in and of itself is not a big deal. When I call the 2 leading wheels on a 2-6-0 loco, a bogie, I'm just using the wrong terminology, and nobody gets hurt. BUT when talking about an electrical device which can be connected to the mains in your house then the terminology becomes more important, because you can get hurt messing with domestic mains voltages. BTW there are many devices that will change a DC voltage, but for the purposes of powering things up, then the device is typically called a voltage regulator, and it converts higher voltages to lower voltages, e.g 12VDC to 5VDC, or 5VDC to 3.3VDC , etc. And just for the record, a transformer that converts 240VAC to 24VAC, can be wired backwards to convert 24VAC to 240VAC, which is why you don't want to wire one of these backwards and then plug it in. A power supply that you plug in and which generates between 0VDC and 12VDC (i.e. a model train controller) doesn't do anything if wired backwards, except maybe go up in a puff of smoke . Regards, John P

I would suggest the Zimo MX617N, 20 quid from all good DCC shops. Zimo support "Swiss Mapping" for lights, I don't know anything about Lenz decoders. Regards, John P

OK fella's, I totally confused. Scale Model Scenery sell their tactile paving in packs of 5 A4 sheets, you can't download it, it comes in the post. Scalescenes sell downloadable kits hat you print onto card, but unless you use textured card there won't be any texture. So the OP has the 2 confused, but it looks like MalcT is confused as well. Or maybe I'm confused! Help. John P

Just got to grind my axe a bit. Why don't Dapol mention the scale in their flyer? At least the Hatton's email fessed up that these are the OO version. John P

Lights are on all the time in First, optional light bars were/are available for second. Regards, John P

BBBBut you might want to change the title John P

According to Mr Ando the Mk2e’s are not used with the KUA’s, the Mk2a’s are. Revolution announced the N Gauge version a couple of days ago and the same question was asked. Regards, John P

Looks like they are to me. John P