SRman

When you run it with sound, before turning everything off on the layout, make sure that you deselect any sound functions that you used, e.g. make sure that functions 3 and 4 are not selected when you turn off. Then turn the layout back on or remove then replace the unit on the track and see if the sounds still go off. I suspect that the decoder is simply remembering its last state and when you turn on again it plays the sounds associated with the 'remembered' settings.

That's one of mine too! My grandmother moved to Bideford to stay with my cousin for a while and I saw a lot of the local circulars and newsletters, all of which referred to 'Woolsery', using that spelling.

Hi Doug and welcome home again! I am looking forward to being able to run a few full-length trains with more variety available at any one time. That is still a way off yet as I need to do more carpentry at the other end of the layout as well as a whole raft of electrical work. Will try to catch up with you and the family very soon.

One of our local friends was a driver on one of the J94s in the movie. He had to stay out of camera view while the so called schoolgirls in mini skirts and fishnet stockings sat above his head ... he claims it was "a little distracting" at the time! He also says that the safe working was pushed to the limit and beyond, notwithstanding that some of the sequences were speeded up in the movie itself. They had one or two minor derailments and miscalculations during the making of the film! Jack: A minor correction (being pedantic here) - the Hastings shunters were Driving Motors. If they were Driving Trailers there would have been no power! I think we all knew what you meant though!

Does that make you "Old Dooders", then, Ian??

On more than one occasion I have heard Australian news readers pronounce Reading (Redding) as Reeding! Ahhh, the vagaries of the English language ... and spelling (which brings us back on topic!!)

I seem to recall that Dormans Land was spelt as Dormansland on London Transport bus destination rolls. I'm not too sure what the station had on its signage.

I'm glad you had such a perfect day for the running session. I hope to make it for the next one. The photos say it all, really. Nice!

Thanks, Peter. Kernow have still to confirm delivery dates on their remaining 'Thumper' liveries of BR blue and NSE. No mention of blue and grey at this time but it's obviously yet another option for future production. I'm still awaiting an announcement that they will produce some centre coaches to make up the three-car units.

Yet another new arrival: my second 'Thumper' from Kernow Models arrived today. This one is in Connex livery (not my favourite livery by any means but the model is superb!). I tested briefly on DC before fitting a TCS EU621 decoder then set it off for an hour or so of continuous running. It is still barely run-in and needs a bit more to free it up further.

Thanks, David.

I decided to do just a small bit of grass and weeds, pending much more extensive scenic work later on. This area will have a little bit of a grassy embankment eventually rather than just being flat as it is now. However, for photographic purposes, I think it looks better for posing trains for the time being. This is a two unit 2 EPB set running past. I must do something about that temporary brick paper walling - it is starting to wrinkle a bit and it shows in the photos.

Some further progress with track laying in the upper fiddle yard, done today. The track spacing may look a little odd but I have deliberately left extra space towards the back (the right of the photos) since if something needs to be reached my arms will be at a more awkward and acute angle in relation to the tracks (trying to think ahead, here!). I am also proud of the fact that I had trains running on the Underground tracks and I didn't disrupt any services while I was doing the work above!!! The track is only lightly pinned at this stage so the alignments will be refined a little later. I may yet swap one of the curved points for a straight one to improve the flow of the design.

A couple more shots from slightly different angles - these give more idea of the track and point alignments to come. These were taken last week. New progress shown below.

The 10 BILs in the videos look very impressive. Metadyneman's lighting also looks good. Trying to keep the light out of the cabs may take a little more work but it is also a 'feature' of my other Bachmann units, including the 2H shown earlier and the EPBs and CEPs.

Glenn, I haven't been going to Brian's place in recent times but it could be nice to go on the long weekend. I'll have to decide closer to the time, though.

I was expecting to have difficulties with the 8F chassis but I followed the very clear instructions and all went according to plan. I did have to file the resin chassis mounting and sandbox moulding at the back to get it to sit level but that wasn't too much of a problem. The biggest problem was getting the pressure on the front bogie right to get it to go around the tightest curves without derailing.

So that's why 90 mile beach has shrunk, is it??

I think the best source for that information would be Kernow Models themselves, although their website is not particularly helpful on that score right now. They do update their news section regularly and I feel sure they will advise delivery dates as soon as they get that info themselves.

Jack: the H16s weren't quite as imposing as the G16s but would still make a very nice, and desirable, model, especially in 7mm scale. I did fit sprung LSWR buffers from Markits. They are visible in a couple of later photos. Glenn: I tried a few different speakers, including two different sizes of bass reflex speakers, a bass enhanced one and a QSI hi-bass one and none sounded any better than the existing 40mm rectangular one fitted. However, I did replace the mounting with a fully enclosed and deeper chamber from another speaker in my collection, and that did improve the sound quality somewhat. I'm still convinced I can improve it further but that will involve a little more work, including soldering extra connections and fitting a smaller additional speaker to improve the treble end of the spectrum (eg for the turbo whistle) and also boring out the speaker opening in the chassis to allow more of the sound out. I am not after more volume (I turned it down to 90) but I am after the best quality output I can get. Having said all that, it's not bad at all but I think the 'chuffing' noise at idle is a little overdone. The irregular idle itself is well captured - something I always remember observing at Three Bridges station where the whole DMBS would vibrate in time to the drop in revs on each cycle.

Thanks Jack. I must finish the detailing work as it is already operational. A 7mm model will be a real beast - there is something about the larger scale that captures the mass of the stock much better than the smaller scales. I'll look forward to seeing that when you are done. Who knows: you are only a few hours away from here so maybe we'll get to meet up and compare G16s at some time in the future!!

Some great photos there Rick. Lovely work. I'm not too sure of my schedule for April 6th but will contact you soon.

Hi Glenn. The whole layout is on castors and has been wheeled out from the window and wall to allow me to work on it from behind. The 205 didn't run brilliantly on Frank's layout as it needed a tad more voltage. It runs very nicely on mine and I have posted a video in the DCC section, under sound videos. The camera work was a bit shaky as I was driving and filming simultaneously (Look Mum - I'm multi-tasking!!!!).

I have been laying cork underlay over the last couple of weekends for the hinged part of the upper fiddle yard. Having completed that yesterday, I started laying some track today. I have been cutting out small portions of cork (which I was careful NOT to glue down!) to fit around the point operating mechanisms and motors. These bits will eventually be attached to the points themselves to make the job of mounting the motors and wiring them and the microswitches and frogs. It will still be some time before trains are actually running on the upper level but this is progress! The photos show progress to date with four of the eight tracks pinned loosely and points positioned correctly, while the remaining four tracks are still to be done. There is a crossover in the middle between the innermost two tracks to allow for reversals of trains. The viewpoint of the second photo would be roughly what the local Vicar would see from hs church steeple!

Here's another one from me. This one is of the Kernow Models class 205 2H 'Thumper' unit, 1115. Also in the vid are a pair of Bachmann 2EPBs in multiple (consist). Apologies for the slightly shaky camera work. I was operating the camera with one hand and the trains with the other! I also pressed a few of the functions although the guard's bell and driver's buzzer at the start were actually unintended as I accidentally pressed F5!