johnb

Oh yes, that was great fun! Also the one about locos being given giant bar codes but no numbers. There were whinges about spotters having to buy bar code readers if I recall correctly!

They do make a nice 4 set I've used them on my show layout too

It's not that simple, yes for structures the total weight is important . But it is the weight or point load on the track itself from any axle that is also important. The heavier the axle load the more robust the track, rails and ballasting must be. As for the RA difference I would suspect that things like total coupled wheelbase and the ability of a 2-10-0 to go round curves. However on that matter no doubt an expert will be along shortly!

Be aware that the DCC voltage is at a high frequency square wave format that causes some multi meters to read incorrectly. They are designed to work on 50Hz AC voltages and a different frequency Hz supply will cause a different result

The issue could be switch corrosion or dirt on the contacts, depends on the storage conditions. Could the scenic works caused issues I'm thinking of wet ballasting entering the motors causing corrosion.

Good news, glad to have assisted. John

A bit of a longshot, but I just wonder if all six wheels are spinning. I had a similar problem with a loco where the cardan shaft between motor and one bogie gear tower was missing. Therefore it was trying to drive on one bogie with no drive to the other on which of course the wheels were locked due to the gearing. This resulted in a lot of spinning but little movement. Of course Half-full has a very good point

Don't be tempted to rush the weaning off, it takes time to get the stuff out of your system and for you r system to adjust to the changes. You will get there though, just be patient. Remember you've got friends on here, a fair few of whom have been through the mill. It took real nerve to start this thread, so that's a beginning at least. Don't hesitate to come back to us. All the very best. John

Have sent a PM John

Gaugemaster do a wide range and they have a lifetime guarantee on their own kit

Obviously the programming track is OK. Will the DMU run on DC? Have you tried the chip in another loco? Have you tried another chip in the 105? Until you have tried those we cannot tell if it's the chip or the 105 that may have a fault.

Use of a local auction house is very understandable if the owner just wants to get shot of the lot without hassle and is not too concerned about maximising the cash. I'm thinking here of health reasons (maybe involving a house sale/move) or an estate sale. In both cases there's very probably more than enough else to do without using ebay or similar routes. A local auction house just turns up, loads all the unwanted stuff and takes it away, simple!

I've got the British Transport Films DVD set and that is in it. There's some splendid old films in that set including wrong line working I think on the S&D.

You could always use Rule 1. It's your layout and you could run anything you like!

I agree about the PowerCab. I've has mine for around 8 years and feel no need to change. It us used for exhibitions and works very well. If fact I do carry a spare set and have never needed to use it at a show

The Met electrics that I saw when I was a youngster always had two men in the cab. Saw them enough times from the footbridge just south of Ricksmansworth station which gave an excellent view of the electric loco stabling point

Worth looking at the Walthers 'Roof Dress-up kit' or similar name, HO I know but they do look good. Not sure of any UK stockists though.

Certainly look at the Proxxon, I considered getting one some years ago. Looked pretty good. Only reason I didn't go ahead was that I couldn't justify the cost for the amount of use it would get

Think about the size of your boards, 4ft x 2ft is rather unwieldy to shift around when fully sceniced. It is also vulnerable to damage. Would you be moving it single handed? I'm retired now and have to shift boards. I went to a max of 4ft x 1ft simply because of weight and vulnerabilty to scenic damage. I use ply baseboards with no thicker than 9mm ply.

It should take those curves easily. I wonder if Derekl has the answer, the centre two driving wheels were flangeless as built.

What curves are you using or the radius? As new they ought to take 15inch curves.

It's a bit of a long shot, but what current does the Deltic draw when running on straight DC? Lima motors, at least the ones that I have, don't usually draw too much, but how freely running is the mechanism? Does the motor get hot on prolonged running? Could there have been a short somewhere on the loco? That won't have done the decoder any good. As I indicated at the start, it's a bit of guess.

When setting up a decoder with NCE Powercab there is an option to to disable DC running. It comes up on the screen and does the CV29 twiddling for that requirement for you. I'd agree with Oldddudders that reading up about CV29 would be useful as it can do a lot of adjustments.

May well depend if the club involved is a Limited Company that is eligible for SBBR and/or RRR and occupies rateable premises

As has been said above, you need to try several of them and see what suits YOU! I did that when I started in DCC and eventually settled for an NCE Powercab. Years later I am still happy with it, it does all I want or need and has some nice features and some that I've never used. I use it at exhibitions and in fact have three of them. Mine's a simple end to end layout with maybe two locos running at once. There is an upgrade path to the NCE ProCab which does not render the original handset redundant. I've no need to go down that route though Yes there are more sophisticated systems on the market but they can be expensive.