WolfofBadenoch

Glen Ogle viaduct on the disused C+O line.

Are any subscribers to Railway Modeller unsatisfied with the delivery of their magazine? I'm asking for my dad. For years he just had an order with the local newsagent and once a month it got delivered with the morning paper. A couple of years ago with an impending change of ownership at the newsagent he decided to subscribe direct to Railway Modeller but has found the delivery quite poor. Often it has been delivered later than expected, and he's had to contact Railway Modeller at least twice to get a 2nd copy sent out as the original hasn't arrived. I'm interested if other people suffer from similar problems which may indicate a problem from the Railway Modeller end. If not it would suggest it's the Royal Mail probably at my dad's end. This was happening before COVID so that is not solely the issue although i don't think it's helped over the last few months. EDITED to add His location is near Paisley.

1520 is about right as i got back to the car about 10 mins later. Thanks

Some photos from south of Dalwhinnie yesterday. From the morning: A Colas class 70 heads north - Does anyone know if this a regular service on the Highland Mainline or is it the diverted Aberdeen service? A Scotrail HST heads south after passing the class 70 at Dalwhinnie. Later in mid-afternoon : A DRS 68 (i think) heads south followed by a LNER Azuma -i thought there was only one train to London a day and we saw the morning train heading south about 9am. Anyone know why i saw another one mid afternoon?

Half of Horseshoe Curve but no train. Not the greatest photo but the wind was buffeting me a lot and for July it was far too cold to wait for a train to come along!

My 9 year old son saw the viaduct for the first tme today and seemed pretty impressed. The railway is now a cycle path, the most consistent 2% gradient i've ever ridden - over 3miles!

An HST (on the Highland Chieftain) heads south through the Drummochter Pass kicking up a flurry of snow. 3rd Feb 2010. Later in the day a Class 66 heads south. Unfortunately my zoom lens stopped working as this train passed!

They'll be added.... at some point!

Thanks. Yes interlocking is planned, but for now i set up the first photo to show the different colours (i'm sure i've seen comments about variations between different manufacturers). The second photo i only noticed the conflict between the set route and the signals when i looked at the photo on the big screen! Stupidity! When i brought up this topic again i was concentrating on signal placement and didn't check back on answers given 4 years previously!

Thanks to the help at the start of the year i now have signals in place at one end of my layout :-) (Although the gantry isn't permanent yet!) Half a Traintronics gantry with CR Signals signal heads + PLS and 2 CR Signals. Now to work out interlocking!

I've posted this photo elsewhere on the forum. It shows two Duchesses that were painted in the Pressed Steel factory in Linwood with the same paint that was being painted on the 303s.

Sorry Richard but Pete is correct - Class 87s are my favorites!

Does anyone have a copy of instuctions for this kit - Traintronics TT180 Modern-style 4-track Gantry Kit - that they could email me? https://www.goldenvalleyhobbies.com/traintronics-tt180-modern-style-four-track-width-gantry-kit I recently bought the kit from a well known box shifter, but it came with the wrong instructions. Despite numerous emails over the last 5 weeks they have been unable to find the correct instructions. They did have at least 5 in stock when i bought mine, but i now see they have none so my little hope i had of them sending me a copy is now lost. I also tried emailing Traintronics themselves but no response from them. So if anyone could help out it would be much appreciated. Thanks

Came across this article on the demolition of Dundee West Station today if anyone is interested. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/nostalgia/1276699/the-death-knell-sounded-55-years-ago-for-dundee-west-railway-station-with-demolition-of-gothic-masterpiece-described-as-tragic-loss/

I'm trying to be patient and work through the Arduino starter kit before proceeding on the layout. Thanks for your code, I've downloaded it for studying later. Thanks also for the info on your inputs - sounds like a good system to indicate point direction. Just need to educate myself on what an optoisolator is!

That's a good suggestion and one i often do myself. Another similar one is to try a different chip that you know works fine in a different loco.

The Most Complete Starter kit UNO R3 Project arrived today so i shall have a play with that and hopefully learn about the Arduino. If that's successful i'll no doubt be back asking in more detail about opto-isolators and other things i need to learn about, in a few weeks (ok probably months). Thanks for all the helpful comments.

Could be! He was talking about re-painting them back to LMS colours for his layout, but i'm sure he's given up on that having bought a replacement Duchess of Atholl last year + another couple of the previous Hornby incarnation Duchesses (+ one of these is definetly a non-runner).

Thanks for the replies. I must admit i was thinking about one of the starter kits (will also be something i can do with my daughter as she has a basic electronics kits but wants to move on.... so brownie points with my wife too!). Signals are 12v DC (Absolute Aspects + CR signals). So i will go look for a starter kit and probably retunr with more queries on this subject in a couple of months! Thanks

Ok, took slightly longer than 3 weeks but here is the photo i was talking about. Not that great, will need to try and get a better one!

I’ll start by saying up until this week I had no idea about Arduino or similar so what follows maybe rubbish and full of impossibilities. I’ve done a wee bit of research but I’m looking for advice if what I’m describing is possible. I control my points with stud + probe and seep point motors, and plan to operate my 4 aspect signals through rotary switches. Initially I wasn’t planning any integration between any of the individual components, but I’m now thinking of changing my mind. I still plan to use the same control methods but was wondering if I could use an Arduino (or something similar) to partially interlock eg hold a signal at red until a route was set. I was thinking of starting with just one junction of the layout and having the signals controlled by the points in the following way: Each of the signals (red circles) have a call on except the far right signal. For a train departing any of the platforms ( 4 lines to left) the signal could only change from red if the points are set for a route to U line. The call on could only light if a route was set from the respective platform to the D line. I’m thinking the inputs to the Arduino would either be the pulse from the CDU as I throw the points or the point motor switch powering the frog (DCC signal). Not really sure how this exactly works at this stage. Output would be to a switch (relay?) in the circuit of each signal – the switch would direct the current direct to Red, or via the rotary switch. At this stage I know control of the Call On hasn’t been mentioned or control of the signal approaching the station on D line and potential conflicting routes there. Currently I’m looking for confirmation that I’m on the right lines and my ideas are a possibility, and what sort of equipment I’d need to build this project. Thanks

I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that although I can't remember which train it was, on the one i remember being banked, you could see in the couplings, that the banker was pushing about the last 1/3 of the wagons.

I also meant to say i (and my dad), were very impressed with the banking / double heading of trains. How long does it take to set that up so that locos of different classes run at the same speed on DC?

Enjoyed viewing this layout last weekend at Glasgow. I think it has the best modelled catenary i've seen - looks very good and also the EMUS. Seems a shame to run so many diesels under the caternary. If i was in charge I'd move it back 10 years + and have 87s on all the express trains.

Had to walk past this at Glasgow last week............................ it was too busy, but went back for a couple of views in the last 90 minutes as things got quieter. Didn't see the whole sequence (as there's so much to see in the rest of the hall), so nice to see the set of photos depicting the various eras. Great layout and looking forward to seeing the rest of your masterplan being created.