Taigatrommel

I never felt quite so on the margins of the hobby as when filling this survey out! I know what I do isn't mainstream in the UK, but seeing Continental Modeller not even listed in the magazines was surprising. I quite agree that there are too many manufacturers to list, though boxes perhaps for "other- European; other- North American; and other - Rest of World" could be informative. It's a bit like seeing how pollsters can skew questions to make it more favourable to their clients! Overall I'd regard this as a survey of British outline railway modelling, and it's no less interesting for being that.

How wonderful to see pictures of people's modelling from that pre-digital age! It looks like it was a fun layout with plenty of operations in a fairly compact space.

The guard's van space remained right up to and into privatisation in the power cars that were built with it.

Depends on the prototype. I've seen Hungarian and Polish outline layouts with extensive selections of kit/scratchbuilt stock, and German & Czech outline ones exlusively populated with RTR. When it comes to scenics I sometimes notice the same buildings cropping up across layouts, though I've also seen a healthy number modelling specific prototypes. This is equally true for H0 though. There are a decent number of "small series manufacturers", but I have no idea how the number compares to other scales - I never got in so deeply with German H0 as I have with TT. Here's a list which might not be comprehensive: https://www.fktt-module.de/de/Kleinserienhersteller Sometimes models which I thought were kit builds have been revealed to me to be RTR, for example there's a remarkable range of German TTe, not cheap but still prices are lower than Bemo equivalents. The range of TT Czech outline building kits seems to outnumber those of German outline! If one wanted to see a representative taster, I'd say Erlebnis Modellbahn in Dresden the best for layouts that I've been to, though Modell Hobby Spiel is good for trade.

I would think any continental 1:120 items will be branded Arnold. The ASF, BR58, BR251/171 and double deck articulated sets are all under Rivarossi branding in H0. That said, certain H0 items (wagons particularlyt) are sold under multiple brands simply on the basis of which country they're lettered for, so I won't be putting money on this one!

Is that a class 126 on the right? Were they sent down there for scrapping?

Having the TOPS code IFA would imply so to me. Also the UIC code Sffgmss suggests it, as the "ff" denotes to British loading gauge and suitable for channel tunnel use.

Roco: https://www.roco.cc/documents/uploads/service/downloads/20230110_ROCO_Neuheiten.pdf Fleischmann: https://www.fleischmann.de/documents/uploads/service/downloads/20230110_FLM_Neuheiten.pdf I put this in general overseas modelling as they're far from German only!

I'm wondering about getting one to renumber/name the loco as 60009 in 1990s condition. Aside from not knowing exactly which years she carried "Osprey" as opposed to "Union of South Africa" and making sure chimney, handrails and tender are correct, is there anything else that 60004 is likely to have different to 60009?

I dunno... there was this... 😆

I'm all for that where it means better prices on individual items to the customer and a bit of extra profit for the retailer. If it turns out that the command station does have a Loconet socket, I'll be canvassing my H0 modelling friends to see if any want to do a split on a set. The V200 and Silberlinge set is very nice!

New from Piko's SmartControl range for 2023 is a set featuring a wireless handset. https://www.piko-shop.de/en/artikel/piko-basis-set-smartcontrol-wlan-37164.html The English page there is light on detail (edit, it's actually copy and pasted from the SmartControlLight), so I've thrown the page of this year's catalogue through Google Translate: At €249 RRP it seems reasonable value. It's also to be available in train sets which start at €259. I don't know what it offers in compatability with the existing SmartControlLight handset or whether it has any kind of PC interface, just what I've quoted above.

It was on page 22, just like Nigel said! To make life a little easier, at present they're the only items which come up when searching for "Southern Pacific" on Piko's website. https://www.piko-shop.de/en/praesenz/search.html?q=Southern+Pacific+&b_warengruppe_id=0

That explains why they're a relatively cheap model then! It got me to looking up the prototype, Hbis-tt 293. They were rebuilds of older vans, albeit a West German type - see https://gueterwagenkatalog.dbcargo.com/katalog/nach-gattung/h-gedeckte-grossraeumige-schiebewandwagen/Hbis-tt-293-5839870

No, you need to unhook them first. You could use Fleischmann N gauge Profis if that's one you're happy with of course.

Having a new day with a fresh mind, I started by making a DCC - Arduino interface to check that processes worked with an Arduino Uno (I only have the one DCC Next), I was working through the steps in the Mardec manual again to see which pins on the Uno related to which ports in Mardec, I spotted the single keystroke I missed to make it work. Having configured my ports on the DCC Next, I should have then pressed "E" to enter runtime mode. I reconnected my DCC Next to the PC, did so, and now it's working. And I also now have a piece of hardware that I didn't before, so I can play further with Arduinos and DCC,

No, they weren't, although a sample was on display at Warley.

I really don't consider you not "helping" further a loss. I had looked at your post history before my comment. I'm not expecting anyone else to research, it's simply that someone else might have had the same issues too. I'm reasonably literate, I can google, compose emails and read a manual...

I tried the offset within the DCCNext settings in Mardec for Z21/Multimaus, I'll give it a go manually trying those addresses in the morning. Thanks!

Are all your answers "I don't know, contact the shop/manufacturer"? By asking a question on an open forum it creates the possibility of there being an answer which comes up in web searches, potentially helping others. If your instinct is to reply with "I don't know why I bother trying to help", well, you haven't helped and I don't know why you bothered either.

Hi all, I've got a DCCNext to operate some servos for point switching. Setting it up with the PC is fine, and testing the outputs in Mardec operates the servos as it should. However, when I come to trying it with DCC, I'm getting no joy - no movement whatsoever . I've tried with both DR5000 with DAISY II handset and Fleischmann Twin-Center. I've tried with the power jumper on "SERVO" and "INTERN", with +5 and ground in the servo input at all times and +12 and ground in the 9-16v input when on intern. All LEDs illuminate for the appropriate inputs, and the status LED is glowing happily during both successful test under PC control through Mardec and when connected to power/DCC as it would be on a layout. Here's what I've got as settings in Mardec. The angles aren't so important yet, I'll tune those to suit the points. I'd welcome any pointers to get this working with DCC!

Yes, but I'd suggest not painting the wheel treads and flanges! 😆

Although I'm 100% a fan of 1:120 TT, I wholly acknowledge that the standards may not be to everyone's liking. I here illustrate Roco (02 201), Tillig (01 502) and Arnold (95 1027) to show the general wheel standards of the scale/gauge. The track is 1.8mm high, i.e. approx code 70. If they are coarse to your eyes, then RTR 1:120 might not be for you. As time goes by, perhaps proto:120 might join the scene. I don't know, it's all down to what any individual likes!

Haverthwaite! https://goo.gl/maps/poecEro6n42MjiVa8 And right on Andi's (and my) doorstep, Cheltenham Spa (Lansdown) https://goo.gl/maps/88cE3d7H4zkpysHT6

I think option 2 is simplest, PoM with the Daisy is pretty easy. Good thought, I've not used advanced consisting for ages as double heading with the Uhlenbrock kit was reliable and I could still operate functions on the locos independently, rather as one can with advanced consisting.