GreenDiesel

Thanks! In my view, at least some sound is better than none, although I'm bound to become dissatisfied with that and will probably prompt me to switch to DCC later. My avatar is about 10 years too old, as I visited Exporail near Montreal in 2010 and saw Dominion of Canada then. I now have more current pics of me standing in front of DoC which is now nicely painted in LNER blue (thanks to its return to the UK a few years ago). I was last in Montreal in Oct. 2018 and had a great visit there. The Exporail museum also has Waddon there as well, a nice LBSC Terrier. :-)

Thanks! ... so which are the best British outline locos (that aren't TTS) that you'd recommend? Also, are not BLI locos American?

I currently use an analog 1x8' layout. I'm not interested in switching to DCC, mainly because of the cost of chipping several locos and also because my DC track work is working well for me. However, I do love the sound of modern sound-equipped locos. Does anyone know if any controllers are in the works that might allow a sound-equipped loco to run on DC track? I find it frustrating that sound and DCC seem to go hand in hand. I'm hoping for the day when they won't, i.e. when analog controllers can be used for sound locos. Thanks in advance, Rob

I think I've found a way to fix this, at least it's working much better. Kevinlms spurred me onto this with his suggestion to gently push the loco to the right to make better contact with the rails. At any rate, with a pair of pliers and tweezers, I gently bent the rail that is inside the yellow circle (in the attached photo) down to the bottom of the photo. That seems to help the loco to make better contact with the rails. It's not perfect but is a lot better! Thanks for your feedback here.

Thanks. Interesting, I can actually hear the loco's motor making a faint noise when it stalls there, so power is getting to the loco but not enough. I'll check the little tags under the point blades, although they seem hard to see. Cheers, Rob

No, but I’ll have to get one! Thx.

Thanks... Just tried this, pushing the loco to the right and, yes, it does come to life! However, the screwdriver suggestion didn't show anything but I'll keep tinkering. I'm sure this problem has a simple solution.

Thanks. Interesting, I can actually hear the loco's motor making a faint noise when it stalls there, so power is getting to the loco but not enough. I'll check the little tags under the point blades, although they seem hard to see. Cheers, Rob

Thanks... no, there are no fishplates there, or at least I didn't put them there! If there were, the switch/points would not operate?

Thanks, David. You might even have given me this turnout a couple years ago! I'm not sure. It's the perfect size, etc., so I'll keep tinkering with it. :-)

You can actually see it in the photo. It simply connects the left side of the point to the right side. It seemed to help at first, or at least on the top part of the turnout. But now most locos stall in the red area unless I increase their speed. BTW, this is a manually operated point, no point motors, etc. . Thanks.

I'm using a Y switch at the back of my layout. Please see the attached photo. Quite often my locos will stall went passing through the "bottom" section indicated in this photos. I believe their wheels stall when they go through the "dead" area circled in red. I suspect that this is because this area is so large that there is no electricity passing through there. I am not sure what kind of Y switch this is as, when I assembled this layout, I was using old track and switches that I had on hand. Is there a way of fixing this or should I buy (say) a new Peco Y switch? (Interesting, I had a similar problem on the "top" part of the Y, but I fixed that by soldering a piece of wire from one track to another. Ever since doing this, however, the problem migrated from the "top" section to the "lower" one!). Thanks in advance for any feedback. Cheers, Rob

Yikes, so true. Even modest purchases over the years add up. In my case, I've been in the hobby for 15+ years and started off with my dad's collection. But it still adds up to a lot.

Great idea! And easy to do. Think I'll try this.

Just wondering how many folks here catalog or record their purchase, i.e. keeping an inventory of the model railway items they've purchased and own. I've just become interested in this, although it's rather late for me because (after 15+ years) I now have lots of stock! I was thinking of at least recording all my stock onto a spreadsheet, although I obviously would not be able to remember most of the purchasing details -- i.e., when I bought them, from where, how much. If I were to do this now, it would be a daunting, time-consuming task! yet I can see how this list/inventory would be useful. Just curious to see if and how many other people have done this. Mods: Hope this is in the best place. Please feel free to close or move it if it's in the wrong place. Thanks, Rob

Thx! Will do.

Just found this thread. Now that we're this far into the lockdown, you'd think that many model shops would be doing quite well via mail order, online sales and via "curbside pickup." In many ways, model shops have an unusual opportunity where modellers are forced to stay at home. In the past, I've heard that rainy or snowy days really do help model shops. You’d think that the lockdown would create a steady demand and make up for having to temporarily close their bricks & mortar sites. I live in Canada and have already bought some model railway items either online or via (what we call) curbside pickup from shops. Just curious to find out more, i.e. how shops are doing, etc.

Thanks! As usual, I had to do some compression but I'm trying to at least make it recognizable.

Here are some pics of the Medstead & Four Marks end of the layout. Will have to try to post some of its sidings as well, and the "Ropley"/fictional station end as well. I do run more appropriately Southern locos as well, i.e. a Black Five, Drummond 700 Class or a Terrier. Guess they were having a GWR-themed day when these pics were taken.

Just looking at Just looking at the Ropley trackplan -- that sem34090 posted -- and my current track layout for my other fictional station is pretty close to Ropley's! although mine is much simpler. Will have to see how this takes shape. I don't think I'll have room for the Harry Potter Bridge but then that's not original anyway.

Thanks for sending this! I'll check it out in more detail later today.

Yes, I even thought about the Itchen Abbas idea. That still might be the best option for me, giving me the most flexibility and being "semi-accurate."

Wow, thanks for this feedback & research! Yes, I'd be interested in seeing your Ropley track plan. I'll try to post some pics of my Medestead section in the next day or so. Please note, I'm only really showing about half of the Medstead section as this layout started as a 1x4' shunting layout that mainly focused on the sidings and yard there, and only about half of the station area.

Thanks, sounds like it might be more trouble than it's worth. I'd like to get an Ivatt Class 2 tank at some point. Are there any newer or better options out there?

I read once on this forum about how some folks have scored good deals by buying either non-runners or locos with 1-2 problems from places such as Hattons or Rails. Often, these locos can be bought for good prices and just need a simple fix. Well, I have my eyes on 1-2 Ivatt Class 2 (# 31-450A-PO17) "wobby runner" locos by Bachmann. The prices for these seem good but I thought I'd check it anyone has had previous problems with this type of loco, i.e. is the loose wheels/wobbly runner issue an ongoing or difficult-to-repair problem? Just checking in advance. Thanks, Rob