gordon s

Thanks Jonathan. There are still a few areas that need attention where there are a few dips/bumps, but whilst time consuming, they are not that difficult to level out. More to the point, did your leg surgery go to plan? I hope it all went OK and you are getting plenty of rest.

Glad to hear it's fixed and all OK. I can't recall if a factory reset means DC operation is on or off. Might be worth checking with your NCE Powercab. I have one upstairs, so can talk you through it if you get stuck....

Thanks Barry, what you guys didn't know on Saturday was that I only got back from the hospital about quarter to four, so it was all a bit touch and go to get on line at 4pm..... Now I have a little more light, here's an update for Pete showing the current state of play. The bridge is simply something I lashed together to check out feasibility of access to ET shed, but is likely to be replaced once that part of the design is finished. I grabbed hold of four loco's so probably have a complete miss mash of capabilities and a couple of loco's are ex works and will be weathered when I get time. I'm revisiting the shed and storage access and have some ideas that are currently being kicked around in Templot. I'm quite keen not to lose visibility of the back of the layout so want to avoid blocking off the view with buildings or stored trains at track level or above. It may need some careful planning to achieve everything or a compromise will be on the cards.

Afternoon all... Managed to get a bit more done today, with the rear pelmet and lights installed. Three five foot tubes make one hell of a difference, compared to the three measly 50w downlighters I had installed when the conversion was done years ago. Before, with no direct light at all for two thirds of the back straight. Lights are in and working, but still need to cut the 4" plasterboard discs to plug the old holes. A huge difference that will allow me to push on with the back of the layout. It was so depressing trying to work with very poor lighting. I also have the small triangles to cut so that a vertical front fascia can be fitted. I managed to get most of the other side done, but ran out of 2mm MDF. When finished it should look like this. The fascia will be painted and I will order an Eastwood Town totem to be placed right above the station building. Good grief, it's starting to look like a model railway..... Saturday saw me back at the hospital to have a camera inserted where the sun don't shine. The PET scan highlighted several hot spots, but biopsies on the lymph glands under my arm and my nether region have all come back negative. First bit of good news I've had in months and this would suggest any cancer in my bile ducts is likely to be localised and may be dealt with when I have the major surgery in a few weeks time. Still a mountain to climb, but I feel a bit more optimistic about a successful resolution.

Thanks Martin. I'd read 'finescale track' as a reference to turnout specs, not flexi track. I took it as read that when talking about EM, there was only one standard and 'finescale' was irrelevant, hence my looking at turnouts in case it was 00 finer track standard. Now you mention it, I do recall way back when about wheels bumping along chairs on track, so that explains my misunderstanding..... Just glad it's not an issue on ET.....

Hi Mike, really surprised about your comment on the RB wheels, so of course I had to open one of the ones I had still in it's box.... All my turnouts are built using 00-sf gauges and 1mm flange way gaps. Of course this isn't conclusive and apologies for the video, but it's hard to do everything on your own. Straight from the box, this has to be the best running coach I have ever seen. The slightest gradient off level and it's gone. Anyway, a gentle push from me and the coach ran through a selection of turnouts perfectly, so personally I can't see an issue with the wheels at all. Again, this was straight from the box, so B2B's weren't checked or adjusted. I'm not disputing what you say, so perhaps it's a difference between 00-sf and EM? Edit: Forget that as Martin has already indicated there is no difference other than the 2mm in gauge width.

Not sure if you are aware, but Tortoise can provide a remote fitting kit to allow you to mount the motor above board and up to 18” away with a fine cable control. Ideal for areas with limited access or where you need to hide a motor under a building etc.

Personally, I would put it on the programming track and enter the data as if it were a new loco. I would also switch off the capability to run on DC. As a matter of course I remove all capacitors/chokes in the circuit as they can cause some strange effects. There should also be a CV to reset the decoder back to factory settings, which is always a good starting point.

There is some info here regarding unifrog and I can see the gaps are quite small once you have passed through the frog itself. I haven’t got one to play around with, but fairly sure with a small modification it would be possible to widen that gap by lengthening the frog element and moving the isolation gap further out. There is a comment about wheels and NEM standards... https://dccwiki.com/PECO_Unifrogp

When you say misbehaving, do you mean electrically or mechanically? Is the width of the tread shorting out the frog or are the wheels bumping through the common crossing. The only reason I ask is I’m running a couple of 31’s from probably 10-15 years ago. Both have had the Mazak problems and were replaced by Hornby. No problem at all through my turnouts which are hand built to 00-sf with 1mm flangeway gaps. I seem to recall Peco has 1.25mm gaps or larger, so the 31 wheels should run through easily.

You think Liverpool have problems.... I have no idea what Spurs are up to right now. Wish I was facing a multi million pay off. I’m sure it will soften the blow, but I doubt Levy will let The Special One go..... At least Bale eventually got a chance and did well. Even Kane and Son gave a fraction of what they are capable of......

Just happened to stumble across this a few minutes ago. Fairly sure it would have been spotted before, but can't plough back through 64 pages to check..... .......but you never know....

I realise you probably won’t go this way, but was sure I had a better pic showing the remote mounting. Here the motor is around 12” away and below the turnout. You can just see the Teflon tube which is only a few mm diameter.

The area you have shown as storage tracks appears to be around 1.4m and with turnouts and reverse curves you will lose a big chunk of that, particularly once you get beyond a fan of two or three lines. I would be concerned that they will be too short to hold trains. Are both the storage tracks and outer loop set at +40mm or is one of them -40mm? If the station/goods yard etc are set at -35mm does the over bridge need to be +80mm or could that be reduced to +45mm?

Thanks Lez, I’ve been under the Radcliffe for my immune system issues for 25 years and funnily enough it was only a routine blood test last November that flagged this up in the first place. The cancer group are all in the Churchill and I’m now under their wing. I have been very impressed with their expertise and have no doubt I’m being treated by experts in this field.

I had visions of painting the whole loco and tender, so what do you mean by "You don't need a lot to cover a large area though". Edit: Sorry Baz, I think I misread your comment, so just wanted to check I do the whole loco body and tender. Does it dry very quickly or do I need to put it away somewhere?

I also have one spare, so PM sent...

Thanks to all of you for all your notes of support and best wishes. I'm determined to get through this and hope the next few months go to plan. Lovely to hear from you, Pete, even with your Covid troubles and 18" of snow..... I have a month in which to get some things done and hope to get all the new lights up and in place in the next week. Once that is done, Pete, I will shoot some video of various locos and stock that are currently tucked away in boxes. Right now the light on the back straight is so poor, the quality of any pics or video would be compromised, so give me a few days and I'll get something up for you to see. Whilst in hospital, I was doodling with the shed and traverser layout and may make some changes there to improve the gradients and visual appeal. Don't panic, none of that has been built yet and everything that is running today will still be there, plus the new crossovers. Still undecided what to do with my A2/2. The colour still grates with me and the build quality is somewhat suspect, but it runs so well. I have some loco's going to Tom Foster for weathering and feel sure he can work some magic on it to tone down the green and give it an accurate weathering to reflect the conditions typical of the late 50's. That will cost a few bob, so will have a chat with him to avoid throwing good money at a hopeless case. Out of interest, I do have some original Johnsons Klear that I have never used. I don't know if I airbrush it on or just paint by hand. Any recommendations as to how to apply to get a decent finish? Of course, once done I can't return it, but there is risk that any replacement won't run as well as the one I have. It's really that thought that has lead to the indecision.

Not a cheap solution, but Tortoise offer a remote mounting kit for their motors which use a steel wire inside a Teflon tube. I have used them on an earlier layout and from memory were OK once set up. They can be mounted up to 18” away. https://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/tortoise/800-6100_tortoise_remote_tortoise_mount.htm I’m fairly sure I have some pics somewhere, so I’ll see what I can find. Edit. Hope this helps.

Evening all..... Apologies for the lack of activity as I’ve been back and forth to hospital over the past few weeks. Managed to escape this afternoon, but this will be temporary break before returning. Bottom line is that I do have bile duct cancer and they have suddenly gone into top gear to get me through it. Yesterday saw them block off all the blood supply to the right side of my liver to make the left side grow quickly. Another four weeks and it will be back in to completely remove the right side along with any suspect bits. With any luck the left side will grow back to the size of the whole liver in three months and I should have the all clear. Of course this is not without risks and there are numerous possible complications.....but I’m going to get through this as I have the Seniors Championship in June and I’m determined to compete...... On the ET front, I’ve been doing odd bits between hospital visits. All the new crossovers have been built and I’ve made a start on the overhead lighting on the other side and both ends. The led strip lights make a huge difference and I know work will pick up once I can see what I’m doing..... Thanks for all your support over the past few weeks. I still can’t believe what’s going on, but the surgeons really know their stuff and I trust them to get me up and running again within months.

Fran, I think you deserve a knighthood, for your patience and perseverance in accommodating all these tiny, but proven changes in your pursuit of perfection..... This thread should be pinned up in the Boardroom of every manufacturer in this market as an example of how to relate to your customer base and engage in positive acceptance of changes before finally pressing the button on production. This model will be outstanding and how much better it has been to have these inputs now rather than have all these minor observations detracting from the purity of this model after release. If only all models were made this way.........

I have taken GAP insurance before on two high performance cars and as depreciation is quite high on those types of cars, I believe GAP insurance is good value. The supplying dealer wanted over £1000 for 3 years cover, but I found a well rated company on line that charged around £300 for the same level of cover. Same thing happened with the second car (different make) last year, so I declined and went back to the same on line company and once again they were 30% of what I had been quoted. Certainly shop around and check out the company ratings. Here’s a list of insurers by Defacto ratings. I haven’t had to make a claim, but feel OK that I should get a new replacement vehicle at full cost rather than lose 30-45% depreciation in the first couple of years. https://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/other-car/motor-gap-insurance/

Bit confused..... If Yeadons says 60505 wasn’t reversed before withdrawal, then surely the pic of 60505 with a rear facing lion is correct? You even say as much Rob in your comment, but then go on to say it’s wrong.......

I’m sure you’re on top of it Simon, but as always my first concern would always be security and the more visibility/ exposure, the greater risk of stock theft or pure vandalism of years of work. Just tread carefully as I know it is your pride and joy......

As a neutral, a most enjoyable match to watch. Liverpool’s goal was a great bit of skill from Firmino and Salah took it well. The penalty/free kick/goal/offside/goal was bizarre and then Alison seemed to have lost the plot again. After that the Red Sea just parted......:-) Brendan Rogers really is doing a great job in building a team which just ooze confidence. No idea which Spurs sides will turn up in 45 minutes. Just hoping it’s not eleven defenders for 90 minutes and a policy of keep them out at all costs with zero at the other end, even with Kane and Son..... Let us pray........:-)