devondynosoar118

its also been known for thieves to uncouple the rear wagons of an intermodal in a loop "somewhere in scotland" and promptly nick the intoxicating content from the curtain sided wagons gaining access with stanley knives

 

You don't need any of that for a shunting layout, use the powercab "setup motor" function, set start as 0 middle as 50 and top as 100, then look for a description of optimum setting for pwm frequency for your motor/decoder combination.

A decent quality decoder will provide perfectly good control for anything, without the need to dig right down into individual CV's or set all the points on the speed curve. I have a VERY small shunting layout, in N, where it's much harder due to the limited choice of decoders to fit small locos, I have never needed Jmri decoder pro or a Sprog to get very good motor control, mainly thanks to Nigel's excellent notes on the CT decoder range and a little careful trial and error. Also running 128 step off the handset is ideal for close control off the thumb wheel. I am sure JMRI is very useful but not essential unless you have a very large and diverse loco fleet with a variety of motors and decoders from lots of manufacturers.

It is also a myth that shunting was carried out at slow speed all the time. Certainly shunting carriage stock and special loads were (mostly!) done slowly and carefully, but regular goods wagons were often accelerated more sharply once the slack was taken up to propel the cuts of wagons along flat sidings to avoid extra work by the loco and to speed up sorting. I would recommend both "Railway Operation for the Modeller" and "Shunting and Marshalling for the Modeller" by Bob Essery if you want a great insight into how freight was handled in the steam age.

2014 again.

 

A "See through" 66!

That is one of those pictures where the real thing looks like a model!

There's some great pics here, as I am still thinking about my next micro layout you just gave me some great ideas for line side buildings, thank you!

Also if you are having issues with dead spots then you should ensure you are not relying on the switch rail to carry the power, bond it like making two separate points "DCC friendly" as per Brian Lambert wiring.

Westerns have a "Devon" end and a "Cornwall" end, that's probably the source of your confusion. Generally clotted cream or a pasty placed on the locomotive will determine which is which.

I standardise on one chip maker if possible, ideally a single model, it makes setting easier. This is not so easy with sound or if you are buying manufacturer installed chips. I have N gauge so you rarely get a dcc fitted option,

PAG is paged programming mode, this from the DCC wiki-

"Paged Mode

Paged Mode introduced the term "CV" (Configuration Variable).

It is very slow when reading back the CVs.

To read a CV, a number is sent to the decoder. If the response is negative, the number is incremented by one, and the process repeats until a positive response is received from the decoder. This process can repeat up to 256 times.

Reading the complete CV set of a decoder will take a long time. Every CV will be tested sequentially in this manner."

I would bin that old decoder, newer ones from decent makers perform much better and are easier to set up in my experience.

I built a fully functional exhibition layout "Squeezebelly Lane" in a table that sits by my sofa in my actual living room when not in use. It's been at RMweb members days and Trac as well as several Dorset shows. I don't think size of available space is an issue, you can fit a perfectly interesting layout, even in 4mm, into the space occupied by a large flatscreen TV and stand, which most people manage to fit into their houses.

I think the best shows do show layouts that fit in people's lifestyles, they aren't always centre stage because seeing huge subjects is a large part of the reason people go to shows. I wouldn't get to see Lime Street or Bath Greenpark or all the other beautiful club/group layouts without shows, neither would my kids, who hopefully see there's value in model making.

I agree there's probably a silent majority of magazine consumers and armchair modellers waiting to start something and cameo or micro layouts surely make sense as a way to convert thinking about building something into building something.

It's easy to forget that for many of our older modellers equipment and rolling stock was very expensive in the 50's and 60's and many people thus built smaller layouts with less stock requirements to reduce outlay. Many of those modellers may be enjoying the friuits of their labours now in the form of huge RTR choice but it's worth remembering that the hobby hasn't always existed in a land of plenty.

My father bought railway modeller for years on and off, he never completed a layout, despite considerable modelling skill. He remained one of those who just didn't find the time or inspiration.

Modular layouts- SWAG at Taunton did two years in a row of a modular set up as part of its Members Day, there was lots of great stuff in both.

The solution to me seems clear, equal focus at shows on high quality, small layouts and continuing to make them family friendly. Exe MRC always get that right and the members are superb with all ages. Also Bridport and District MRC have always had a great cross section at their events.

Thanks Andy. Buildings need bedding in and I've succumbed and ordered some seagulls.

Given mine were up at 4am on Saturday this may be a decision your little people don't thank you for. The fish market won't be able to leave open crates outside either!

Looking great. Keen to see the big finished photo dump.

As someone who lives in 1:1 scale Kingsbridge I can safely say it would be better without any seagulls. God help that family when they get their ice cream and the nice shiny cars won't stay like that if your seagulls end up like the real ones!

As a total noob at DCC when I started, I got the Powercab after a false start with other stuff, it's been really easy to use despite development having seemingly stopped in about 2010. It is relatively easy to set up decoders with, the menus are not too labyrinthine and the throttle itself is also comfortable. I haven't found the relatively low power to be a problem but the Smartboister can ge added if you want later. It's overload protection is a bit basic, but not much worse than other systems. It's expandable and has good interfacing with a member of other systems.

If CV programming is your priority then decoder pro with a computer interface is the simplest way to see everything, but if driving smooth running trains with quality decoders and a bit of tweaking is all you want the powercab delivers very well. You can't see every CV and if you have complex bi directional DCC in mind with automated layout operation, block detection and want to set more obscure parameters in your loco fleet then NCE will do all that, it's just a little more long winded vs a PC.

Primer is there to provide two things, a colour block to build on and a key surface for coloured paint to bond to. All plastic kits are poor surfaces for paints to adhere to. Primer is designed to overcome this by having a high particulate count and less thinners than topcoats. On large plastic pieces and oily plastics a toluene based adhesion promoter is also a good idea. This is not really a problem in N. Washing parts to remove moulding release agent and surface contamination is a good idea,

In metal painting an etch primer is worth considering, especially on non ferrous metals like brass which oxidise quickly.

I find Halfords grey excellent for general modelling, Games Workshop Chaos Black is good too and if you want a base colour and primer Army Painter coloured primers are great as well.

Not priming is a poor substitute for proper prep in my experience.

Wartime photos of anything seem to be in short supply regarding railway stations.  I plan on modelling a condensed Minehead.  I might use creative license to put some bofors there.  I don't know how easy it was for German planes to make it over to the West side of the country, and I suspect it wasn't too easy, but it would make sense for some defense as Minehead was an offloading point for tanks, as it was a huge training area for them on the shore.

I don't know if you have seen the book "Somerset at War" which contains lots of anecdotal and official incidents as well as some photographs? It's quite cheap to buy and may well be in libraries.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Somerset-War-1939-45-Mac-Hawkins/dp/0946159548

Hope you have a speedy recovery. When I had mine done I was able to sit in my chair at the modelling bench on about the 5th day. In the meantime plenty of opportunity for research for your new layout ideas?

Re- use as Tank guns- AA guns have barrels designed to fire at higher elevation, as opposed to flatter trajectory AT guns, the majority of designs would have required re design of the barrels, expensive. Rest as above. The 6 pounder AT was much better once it got the discarding sabot ammunition later on and initially performed well in the desert against the lighter Italian tanks of the early war period.

Your yard may well have not had AA but it might have had barrage balloons, especially earlier in the war. They were cheaper and designed to counter both low strafing (how many trains were attacked on the move) and bombers. I have not seen these modelled and the crew with the lorry to deploy it would make a great cameo. Source- my grandad crewed barrage balloons in the SW.

An example of the equipment truck used to deploy one- http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/barrage-balloon-its-crew-and-lorry-picture-id591979172

So the powercab doesn't show its start up screen at all?

If you have the track power output disconnected does it load the regular screen?

Please check both of those first. The Powercab DOES support loco programming on the main. You can check the Sentinel better by placing it on a fully separate length of track and trying driving it, as from the factory the chip should be default set to short address 1.

The powercab, despite being a little aged now, is excellent and usually reliable for CV programming, mine has worked very well on the whole.

As noted this may also be a faulty decoder, they do exist.

Love the Travellers Fare buffet. The prices were far from Fare if memory serves, maybe my parents were just tight!

Look at the proliferation of bins, indicative of a time when they were mostly for throwing rubbish in as opposed to a "security risk." The modern approach seems to simply be to employ more people to pick up the litter and just toss it on the floor.

I have some spare bits left over from my other projects, plus an interesting array of odd wagons like a peaked "Saxa Salt" one that don't really fit on Kingsbridge. Some of you may be familiar with my micro layout "Squeezebelly Lane" that has appeared at a few shows with its armchair and standard lamp.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/39822-squeezebelly-lane-depot-n-inglenook-in-a-table-still-going/page-1

This was a lot of fun to build and operate, I want to make another. I have been looking for a second table that I could link to Squeezebelly and run them together, with a "floating" fiddle yard in between. So far none of my local junk shops have turned up another suitable table! Then an idea hit me, why not use the table I have?

Squeezebelly will fit in an alcove in my house, with its lights etc, so I can use it to show off my stock when it's not being used.

It occurred to me this has the added benefit of not angering the domestic authorities with ANOTHER junk piece of furniture!

The idea is simple- an urban pickle works, with as much operating potential as possible in a very tiny space.

Key limitations-

1- Maximum track space is the same as SBL, 450mm long by 320mm wide

2- No need for any fiddle sidings etc but stock must enter from one side, as there's a hole there! It could be moved to the centre of the board. Look at the SBL thread to see what's there.

3- An exit is possible as well as an entrance- see above!

3- Can't be the same layout as SBL

4- DCC control

I am not averse to single/double slips (like a challenge!) or a 3 way point. These have only become available since I made SBL so using one would cut space.

So before I start messing about, anyone got any good ideas for a design I could re use or modify?

You could run some great goods services in that space, supported by some secondary passenger trains featuring shorter trains of older cascaded mainline coaches. Freights varied greatly in length from huge mineral trains and block freights to shorter trip workings and offer a much higher operational potential as well as looking less compromised on tighter radii. The other bonus with freight is that kits of wagons are cheaper and offer a great way to learn the skills needed for more complex construction.

More and more great/interesting goods and secondary passenger locos are becoming available RTR in all common scales. Bigger locos also ended up on secondary and freight duties when past their passenger carrying prime or nearer withdrawal.

The above would be true for any scale. Both 4mm/OO and 7mm/O offer the chance for scale 3 link couplings so you can be the shunter and driver of your freight yard, N offers the chance to model later time periods with long block trains and you can now get automatic couplings off the shelf in the scale.

Freight facilities, excluding large marshalling yards, were also often more space efficient than passenger facilities as they needed to be near the industry they served and near industrial centres in towns, where space was more important.

If you want some idea of the variety of freight traffic then Bob Essery's books have superb and realistic detail on all aspects and greater detail on passenger services for smaller spaces. I also like this amazing site for lineside industry/goods- http://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/12-linind/012-index.htm

Freight also offers much more opportunity for grimy realism and a bit of real world dilapidation as freight was a business of volume and efficiency not shiny aspiration.

I am also a fan of the SDR, so Staverton has to be included, especially with some of the night time runs in the winter, this shot by Steve Ash is wonderful.

Thank you Nigel. I had a skim through some US sources before coming on here to ask. I obviously need to improve my search discipline!

I have email Team Digital and will post their reply for posterity.

Edit- Received a very prompt reply from Team Digital-

They say the SMD84 is NOT compatible with the NCE bus, they also recommended a booster module that they sell to keep the signal to the accessories going in the event of a short. This is the board they sell for that- http://www.teamdigital1.com/prod_catalogue/dccboost_product/dccboost.html

And how many decades will have to pass before somebody thinks it proper to restore a station to 1970s state. (See a Friend this Weekend, Golden Rail, etc. And boarded-up windows)?

I have worked/visited preserved stations where demand and aged facilities have meant the toilets were much more "authentic" than we would like, not sure if that counts?

They survived the last attempt and I have a spare eprom. Going to try running it off DCC for now. The SMD 84 instructions seemsped to me to say it is NCE compatible via the bus otherwise why turn the bus on through CV29? Surely it would just say to use gateway mode and ignore the bus?

It's certainly as clear as mud, which is what I have come to expect from the majority of DCC manufacturers literature.

Thanks again both of you- I have below a page from the manual showing the 4 wire cab bus with the pins numbered. My cable on the left, which has the "wrong" colours. I will sit down later and try and work out what goes where to make up the lead suggested to test again.

Worst case scenario I have it all working on the track feed. Cables would be much tidier the other way, but we will deal with that later.