johnb

That's the way thing are at present, it's unfortunate but ...... I reckon that selling to the trade be it to a dealer, a model shop or wherever, the offer will usually be in the region of one third of what they expect to sell it for, that's been the case for quite a few years now. I keep an eye on Ebay and many on there seem to over estimate what their items will fetch. It is easy to check on sold prices, on the left hand side of the ebay page is a list of options, scroll down and a selection for 'sold' can be seen, tick that box and it can be very illuminating. For example I have been looking at one model for which the asking BIN prices are in the region of £140 to £170. Completed auction results have yet to exceed £110! At an exhibition on the clubs second hand stand prices in the region of 60%/70% of a dealer's likley sale price can sell quite well, for nearly new then perhaps 75% of the as new price may be achieved. I am of course discussing the regular sort of stuff, NOT the 'rare and collectable'. John

Looking forward to seeing you there. Happy New Year John

Updated to add Chefflney John

A good way to check for wear at the frogs is to lay a straight edge scross the point, if there's any serious wear it will show up pretty well. I use a 6inch (150mm) steel ruler.

Have had the fire retardent requirement at a couple of the bigger shows, think it's the venue requirements or maybe insurance. I use certified material and have kept the documentation.

One issue that can arise with Peco insulfrog points is that the plastic crossing nose wears down, aggravating the tendency for the wheels to drop. The end of the frog should be sharp and level, but as Alfsboy says it is crucial that they are also laid absolutely level. After the experience with insulfrogs on an exhibition layout years ago I went for electrofrog. If some are worse than others then I would suggest that frog wear is a factor I don't buy secondhand points because it is difficult to see the issues with them.

Buy the best that you can afford and maybe even a bit over that. They will repay you over the years. I've a set of jewellers screwdrivers with brass handles that I bought forty years ago, I winced at the price but they are still very good. I only go cheap for rough work tools.

There have been a couple of changes to the layout line up:- Brindlecombe from the Loddon Vale Club - N gauge has been withdrawn and replaced with Emmbrook Lane also N gauge. Webb`s Wharf- Michael Watts - O gauge- Great Western has been withdrawn due to personal circumstances. A replacement is in hand and is expected to be confirmed in the near future. John

'Cannot read CV' means that the controller is not 'seeing' the chip. Therefore you cannot programme it. As it is 'jerking and juddering' I would suggest that the issue could be dirty track, dirty wheels and pickups. Suggest you check the track and wheels before you go any further.

A good few years ago I put square headcode boxes on a old Hornby 37. I had a good photo and proportioned the size from that. I made them from plasticard. It was rather fiddly but looked the job, at least to me. I used 20 thou card for the top and bottom and filed another section to fit neatly as the outer edge. Once I had an open ended box I filed and fiddled with it until in sat snugly in the right place. The panel itself was thinner plasticard with an outer frame. I painted the 'glass' black, put some transfers on and gloss varnished it to represent glass. It took a while but looked ok. Sorry I cannot provide photos as I sold it years ago!!

Yes there's no issue with soldering up the middle section and allowing the ends of that to float and then fixing the track at baseboard ends. I would leave a 1mm gap in every rail at either side of the middle section. John

On a 5ft board I would strongly suggest that you leave small gaps at rail joints and not solder it up solid for the full length of the board. I'd leave free floating gaps of around 1mm at intervals, as you're using droppers on every length of rail this should not cause problems with current flow through fishplates. Exactly where I can't say as I don't know the track plan, but in my case on a 4ft board with Peco code 100 track, I leave a minimum of a total of 2mm in gaps. My boards are 9mm ply. Remember that you not only have to allow for rail expansion/contraction, but to be aware that the baseboards can move, not much I agree, but enough to cause problems. It's not only temperature, but humidity can cause timber baseboards to expand or contract. I have no knowledge of Peco bullhead rail and components but assuming it is the same metal as Code 100 then it will expand longitudinally the same amount. Fixing down, well ..... you'll get many recommendations on here. I use temporary pins to hold the track in place, then a ballast with watered down PVA to fix, depending on the environment then a 24+ hour setting time is not unusual. Hope that helps John

I would use the crossed wire route so that F always goes one particular way which ever side you are. I'd be inclined to use F to the buffers. AFAIK there is no convention on this. My personal layout is DCC with EMUs and diesels, I always have them set as 'F'orward is to the buffers. I twiddle the DCC chip setup so that all items head that way regardless of the actual orientation. As with EMUs it is not always easy to see which way they run on 'Forwards' I stick an orange dot on the underside to identify the 'Front' end regardless of what is prototypically correct or not for diesels. John

It's patchy here in Hertfordshire, slow, fast, slow, fast. Middling at the moment at 15:30 John

Speed has just picked up in the last few minutes while I've been on. Wouldn't call it flying along but rather better than it was. John

With the Powercab the DC or not option can be sorted in the setup procedure. No need to fiddle directly with CV 29. After setting the address follow the setup options and one of them is the DC option. Once the address is set then you get the option 'SET CFG?' Press '1' then step through those options, 'DIR BIT?' (direction) and 'SPEED' pressing <ENTER> each time will set the usual defaults which should be OK for most things and the third option is 'DC MODE' . Press <ENTER> to disable DC operation or '1' to enable. Pages 48 and 49 of the manual (I'm reading from the version 1.65 issue) details all that. It's one reason why I chose the NCE system it avoids some of the direct CV twiddling. That option is however easily available, see the manual page 53. Following on through the manual from there goes through the simpler motor setup options. The Lenz manual may well give more info on the appropriate CVs to adjust. However if you do start changing CVs directly, do please, please, note the value of the original setting so that you can get back to where you started. This is easier if you use a Sprog allied to a PC or laptop which again takes away much of the direct CV adjustments, you can also record the initial CV settings and easily get back to them. There's lots of information here on that aspect. I expect further posts waill elaborate on that!! hth John

To some extent it depends on the length of your boards as obviously the longer the board the more expansion. I've tried and seen attempts to avoid gaps, but sooner or later something is going to give way, remember the baseboards themselves will expand and contract as temperature and humidity act on them. Laying track on a hot day can also cause problems when the track contracts on cold days, It can be enough to pull a soldered joint apart, seen that happen in a cold clubroom. As a guide, on a 4ft board with track running the full length of the board and fixed at either end, then I allow a gap of 1mm approx, not really noticeable, but it avoids problems. I exhibit my layout and sometimes, particularly if I've an early start, it can sit in the car overnight in freezing temperatures ( 0 deg C) and then be in a hot exhibition hall reaching into the mid 20s C. Things are going to move whatever you do. Anyway there will probably be a gap apparent at the board joint Most of my track laying is done in a domestic environment say 18C to 20C but I still leave that small gap. John

Marlow, Maidenhead and District Model Railway Club's annual exhibition will take place at Cox Green Community Centre on Saturday 5th January 2019, 10am - 4:30pm. Admission:- Adults £5.00, Children 5 - 14 £3.00, Under 5's free, Family (2 Adults + 2 or more children) £13. Please Note: There is limited parking on site, it may be necessary to park in the nearby side streets during the morning period. Cox Green Community Centre, 51 Highfield Lane, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 3AX Website:- www.mmdmrc.org.uk/ Layouts. Allanbrea - Colin Heath - N gauge 7`x 6` Scottish Bampton Branch - David Mitchell - OO gauge 8` x 5` Brindlecombe - Loddon Vale Club - N gauge 6' x 2' Withdrawn Replaced with Emmbrook Lane . N gauge. Koln Drauben - Andrew Knights - HO German 14`x 6` Loddon Road - Loddon Vale Club - OO gauge 26` Old Elm Park - Mark Pollard - O gauge - British 7` x 5` (Club Member) ( Night setting ) Salinas Valley - John Baggaley - HO - American - 5`x 2`- ( Club Member) Southwick - Club layout - OO gauge - 18` x 12` ( Night running ) Webb`s Wharf- Michael Watts - O gauge- 18`x 6` Great Western Withdrawn due to personal circumstances Replaced with Cheffley Gauge OO British era 1939 Trade. Berkshire Dolls House and Model Shop. Freestone Model Accessories. JB Modelworld. Joe Lock model railways. Neil Cresswell P & G Engineering Supplies MMDMRC members second hand stall. Society stand. RCTS We hope to see you there. John Edited for typos (twice!)

To help people would need to know what locos they are.

Looking very good Steve, please keep the mojo going. John

My current exhibition layout (Whitecross Street) is only 1ft (300mm) wide and I have no stability issues with it standing just under 3ft high. The two individual scenic boards are 4ft x 1ft in plan with the sector plate fiddle yard at 4ft 6ins long. That was an unplanned expansion due to the kind Mr Bachmann producing 4 car EMUs! The legs are 2x1 (50x25) softwood cross braced with 6mm ply, set as close to the end corners of each board as possible. It has done quite a few shows over the last three years and it is just possible to erect single handed at a show. I usually ask for help for a few minutes though. I did build one layout at 8ft long by 8 ins wide (two 4ft long boards) at my usual height of 2ft 11ins and that was unstable. I tried using outriggers which produced the trip hazard as mentioned above The cure was to add a 4ft x 1ft 6ins board at one end, not all that ideal as it had some tall (1ft) buildings fixed down and was somewhat unwieldy and awkward to manage on my own, it stabilised things though!. That layout is now scrapped and on new ones I generally make any tall buildings removeable for transport. John

Individual boards able to be moved safely by one person would in my opinion be no bigger than 4ft x 1ft6ins (translates to 1200mm x 450mm). Anything much larger become unwieldy and risks damage to unprotected scenery. John

Yes they work 'upside down' John

Quite likely the power supply is an issue there. My Tortioses are screwed solidly to the underside of a 9mm baseboard top and when they move there is a whirring sound, but by no means would I call the sound noisy. Have a look at CPC (a division of Farnell) for power supplies. A quick search found quite a range. https://cpc.farnell.com/search?st=plug%20supply%20plug%20in Hope that helps John

I used Fox transfers on a Lima 117 that I redid into NSE some years ago now. They went on well and looked pretty good. Sorry but can't give a photo as I've since sold it on. John