LNERandBR

That will be down to the operators ability to multi task and have two trains running at the same time. Especially true if the train coming inti the fiddle is running into a different road to the one leaving. You then need to remember to change the points correctly. When we last took our club layout out we were short handed. Therefore one operator often ended up running both mainlines of our roundy roundy layout. There was no way we could reliably swap trains after single runs so we ended up letting trains do multiple laps. Didn't seem to put people off standing in front of the layout for ages. Many saying they enjoyed the action.

Poor running isn't a DCC vs Analogue thing in my opinion. You can get poor running on both and you can get excellent running on both. I also believe everyone is entitled to use their prefered method of operating their layout. It comes down to well laid track, well maintained stock with clean track and wheels to achieve good running. The most important thing before a show is to clean every wheel that's going to turn on the layout. However, you can still get derailments and often a train that has worked fine for hours and hours will randomly decide to jump off. Usually when you turn your back! I completely agree that layout operators should be trained prior to shows. However, one friend of mine who knows exactly how to run my layout still takes about an hour or so at the beginning of a show to remember how it all works. During that period he often tells me that he can't do it only for me to remind him that he's helped operate it flawlessly at countless previous shows With clubs it often comes down to who is available to help and you often end up having to take people who aren't as good as operating the layout as others. However, it's still far easier to have those extra pairs of hands available rather than go without them. Your more capable operators remain fresher and more relaxed as a result of not needing to rush around as much. Therefore operations still work better overall. Even if you do tend to send the same person on the tea runs and put them on Fiddle Yard duties.

So this evening I've been able to run my HST with it's new Hunt Couplings and overall I'm very happy. Yes, the gap between the coaches is still a little wider then I'd like but it had no issues negotiating any of the club layout's curves and pointwork. This including a Peco double slip when both pulling or propelling the coaches. I was most impressed with the propelling, previously I'd been reluctant to do this with the tension locks and had poor experiences when I did. However, there were no issues when propelling with the Hunt Couplings. The only problem I did have was some of the magnets coming adrift from a couple of the couplings. Thus, part of the train would be left behind whilst the rest carried on with a magnet stuck to the back coupler. This mainly happened if someone accidentally knocked the train as it was passing, usually as they were adjusting their own stock and the HST came past as they were doing so. Therefore it seemed the weakest point was the glue holding the magnet rather than the attraction of the magnets themselves. If that happens, a spot of glue solved the issue but be sure to put the magnet back in the correct way around! Despite that, I'm still very happy with the purchase and will be getting a second pack for my other HST. I've also got a pack of the close NEM couplings to try on a set of Hornby Mk2E's.

Completely the opposite in my experience, the 'make it work' brigade out number the 'make it look good' team. Therefore, once the track is all down, wired, tested and ballasted many start loosing interest. Moving the layout and setting up/knocking down becomes a pain in the bum because the only part many are worried about is the trackwork and ensuring that doesn't get damaged. They don't care too much about the signals and buildings which are far more delicate. All of my locos have realistic acceleration and deceleration values. Many times there's an outcry of 'It doesn't want to stop', my reply, tell it to stop sooner and drive it properly then To be fair, after half a days operation many get the hang of the inertia on different locomotives. I think there's also going to be many people who leave the inertia settings well alone. The term 'programming' fills many with feelings of fear and dread. Therefore there will be many that will pop a decoder in and do nothing more then change the address. However, it's perfectly possible to drive a train properly with realistic acceleration and deceleration with analogue control. It's therefore equally possible to do so with a decoder with no built in inertia settings. You just need to drive it carefully and pay attention to what your doing. Admittedly, a difficult art at an Exhibition when there's a lot going on.

Oh it is always fun on a club layout where a club member rocks up pulling a random loco from their bag demanding to run it. Doesn't matter to them if its a pre-war A4 and the layout is set in the 80s Problem of course is our wonderful hobby is very diverse. There are many people who are very happy with their 8ft by 4ft railways where they run whatever they fancy. Equally, there are a great many who strive for increased realism and observation of the prototype. The great difficulty is trying to keep both of those types of people happy. Especially when your only a small club and struggle to get willing layout operators.

I'm a firm believer that you should do your upmost to keep something moving on an exhibition layout. Observation of prototypical practice is certainly a second goal to me. It helps to have prototypical pointwork and signals and having these wired to assist in correct operation. It also really helps if things work reliably. If basic troubleshooting doesn't solve a derailment issue then the offending piece of stock should be removed. Then operation can contine. What really annoys me is when your stood looking at a layout and nothing is moving. The operators stood having a private and unconnected chat behind the layout rather then operating.

Message on the website in big red letters states they will be posted in 9-10 days due to high demand. I ordered 10 days ago and they arrived today. Have fitted them to my HST but not run it yet. It's the older non NEM type but despite this fitting was very very simple. Unclip top off coupling mount, remove existing coupling, place new coupling into position and clip back together. First impressions are the gap between each coach is certainly reduced from the tension locks. However, there is still a gap that your 4mm passenger would think twice about crossing. That said, I doubt you could close this up anymore without some form of sliding mechanism to open the gap on the corners as per Bachmann coaches. Certainly some form of paper gangway between the coaches will improve things further. I'm looking forward to testing them on the club layout.

Less then a week to go now. I've also been helping the owner of Breydon with it's extension. Hopefully it will be complete enough for the weekend:

Looks to me like the crew of the A4 have forgotten to take the express lamps off after it's previous working

This one's only a week away now. I'll be there helping out on Wolds Way:

Out of interest, any idea which 3F's did work on the M&GN?

I do hope Williams improve this year. Would be nice to see them at least able to fight regularly with the other teams.

I have a J15 fitted with a Zimo decoder from YouChoos. Very good quality sound and excellent advice from them regarding the best decoder and speaker combinations to use. No affiliation apart from being a happy customer

It looks to me like these couplings will be perfect for fixed rakes on exhibition layouts. No fiddly coupling and uncoupling when setting up and knocking down. Especially the latter when you just want stock off the layout as quickly as possible and without damage. Very much looking forward to trying mine out when they arrive.

I've been wanting a better coupling for my older style HST for sometime. Getting around the step in the power car coupling was my biggest sticking point. Every other option for close coupling seemed to need mods in this area. I have a pack on order and I'm looking forward to seeing how they preform.

What about including a discount code in just the digital version?

Longer C4 coverage is really good to hear. Hopefully when the sky deal finally finishes we'll get some all live free to air coverage again.

Shed trackwork wasn't always the best maintained. I've seen a video of an 8F stood by a very leaky water column. There was a huge puddle around the column and the cameraman zoomed in on the tender wheels showing them on the edge of the rails.

Possibly but also it depends on what show's the layouts are being invited to. I know from experience that small club shows in village halls sometimes struggle to book layouts. Low budgets demand that they have to rely on those being produced in the immediate local area. Especially if said area is rural and therefore the number of competent modellers is very low. If there's a local modeller who's good at scenery and regularly churns out a new layout every year then they will get an invite. A lot also depends on how a layout runs when the Exhibition Manager or Scout is viewing the layout. If it only runs well for 1 hour and that happens to be the hour that the manager is there then they'll invite it.

There is an element of lottery when it comes to exhibiting a layout at shows. However, if the layout has been built well then you'll have very few issues and any that you do have will be fixable. I'm often surprised that my own layouts can spend ages in storage only to work perfectly once put up in an exhibition hall. My best advice, clean wheels and clean track!

I've started standardizing on the Hornby close couplings but as mentioned with Bachmann Mk1's the coupling is pulled as tight as it can go. The best way I've found to couple two coaches is to turn the bogies so the coupling extends. However, as mentioned, it can be fiddly. Previously, I used the bar coupling that comes with the Bachmann Mk1's and had no issues with derailments. However, my stock only get's to come out at shows and therefore coupling and uncoupling what is meant to be a more permanent coupling was troublesome and time consuming. Not ideal when it's time to pack up! What about using Kaydee couplings between the coaches that need to be parted and the Bachmann bar between those fixed rakes that never need to?

Hornby diesels now come with a similar close coupling mechanism. Perfectly fine when pulling coaches or longer wheelbase 4w wagons like MGR hoppers. However, get a lager wagon with small bogies like a 100t tank and the coupling often pulls the bogie off on corners. Again, it's due to the coupling not re centering and remaining kinked to one side.

I never realised that it was permissible for lay-by sidings to be positioned between the main Slow and Fast lines. I've always thought that they'd be on the outside of the formation. Is that something unique to Little Bytham or was that done in other areas of the ECML?

Well the High Street is known locally as Chip Pan Ally

None of this modern frame stacking either. He works his magic with one long exposure.