A useful dodge I've been using a lot today during running trials is the little-bag-full-of-liquid-lead trick. When trying to work out how much extra weight to add to a loco a selection of these (the one shown weighs 100g) is useful. It's a lot easier if you can plonk weights onto the vehicle concerned when it's struggling up the grade on the layout and see how much is needed for it to find it's feet. Putting the weight into bags means they mould themselves to the roof and don't slide off, but if they don't stay put you can always add a piece of masking tape.
The little bag being used actually contained a set of Express Models DCC lights for a HST power car before being pressed into service for the weighting game.
Dodge number 2 is a set of temporary connectors I use all of the time for trying out different decoders in locos. Whilst a proper NMRA DCC socket as seen on the likes of the Heljan Class 47 makes this kind of experimentation child's play, most UK outline stock doesn't come with anything quite that sophisticated - we're barely out of the clockwork age.
To make my life a little bit easier I use 4 short pieces of wire soldered to a couple of two pin sections of socket strip, product code DC17T from Maplin. These are then temporarily soldered to the selected loco - nothing fancy as you only need to connect the red, orange, black and grey wires. The photo shows a Zimo decoder plugged into these sockets and being identified as the best performer in a Hornby Class 86.
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Chipping away at the decoder backlog again today, with four more Hornby Class 86s receiving Lenz LE1025A decoders. Unfortunately I've now exhausted my stocks of decoders, so I'll have to wait for a fresh delivery before I can press on. Some of the new LE1035Es should be here soon, thankfully.
When test running these locos today, I noticed something I hadn't really clocked before. The Class 90s are lighter than the Class 86s (276g against 336g typically) with a correspondingly poorer haulage capability. The bottom line is the 86s will move my intermodal test train (7 pairs of Bachmann intermodals) around the layout while the 90s will slip to a stand on the gradient. Some extra weight is called for, methinks....
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Two more locos have been equipped with DCC decoders. The Hornby Class 92 (yes, it does have the 5 pole motor!) has received a Lenz LE1024A decoder and the Hornby Class 86 has been kitted out with a Lenz LE1025A decoder.
One thing these photos highlight is the fact that as well as tackling the backlog of decoder fitting I need to catch up on coupling replacement. Those diabolical tension locks need to make way for Kadees.
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And another! The Lima 67 this time.
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Another new DCC step-by-step guide, this time for the Hornby Class 90 electric. These photos have only sat around for 4 months so I'm obviously improving.
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Nothing new on the layout today, but I have added a step-by-step guide to chipping a Hornby HST. I must confess these pictures have been sitting on my PC for at least 6 months as I find I can convert half-a-dozen locos in the time it takes to type out all that turgid text.
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The sum total of this weekend's work is shown - five chipped locos. Both Class 90s are double-motored as per yesterday's entry, whilst the HSTs retain the single motor as supplied by Hornby. The 90s are fitted with Lenz LE1025A decoders and the HSTs have Lenz LE1024A decoders, although the 1025A would have done just as well.
Contrary to popular opinion I find out-of-the-box Hornby HSTs are perfectly capable of pulling a full-length train up my gradients and around my curves. This doesn't mean I wouldn't like a better mechanism in the things, of course, but it does leave me free to get on with more pressing matters rather than mess around with the drives in a fleet of HSTs.
Don't ask why I've got two HSTs in FGW 'Barbie' livery - it's a convoluted story. Suffice to say they will receive new bodies or a repaint at some point in the future....
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The return of the white expanded polystyrene background, if only because there was so much junk on the layout that it was quicker to put a sheet of polystyrene over the top than tidy up.
Today I've double-motored a Hornby Class 90 and equipped it with a Lenz LE1025A decoder. The benefits of fitting a second drive unit to the cruder Hornby (and Lima) models include better haulage and more reliable starting. This loco now pics up current from all wheels and is driven on all axles, even if it is only by third-rate pancake motors. I also take the opportunity to remove the wheels fitted with traction tyres and replace them with the metal equivalents from the left-over trailing bogie. This gives far better current collection, and any loss of traction can be compensated for by adding extra weight.
Sometimes double-motored locos don't seem to give their best when partnered with feedback decoders, but I tend to get away with it more often than not. This example is certainly a success - quite a smooth runner by Hornby standards.
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There has been a great cleansing. The loft has become a steam-free zone overnight. I've never been one to resist a nice new model and I'll admit the trusty credit cards do tend to come out more often than they should, whether the model fits the layout or not, but how on earth did I get so many kettles? Enough is enough, the place was starting to look like a model railway magazine so I've sold every last one of them. And I'm not going to be buying any more, either, even if it means I'm no longer invited to Barclaycard Christmas parties and paintball weekends.
From now on I'm tightly focussed on 4mm diesel & electric era modelling. With a bit of US HO, of course. Alright, quite a big bit then, if you must. Some O gauge stuff, naturally. And I couldn't possibly give up those nice Norwegian electrics. Tightly focussed - that's me.
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I've been test running four of the latest Hornby Class 92 releases, reputed to have the newer five-pole pancake motors inside. I haven't actually taken one apart to check for five poles as yet (I will!) but running qualities are certainly improved over previous versions of the 92. The locos are far more controllable at lower speeds than before, whether using DCC or older DC control, and a lot smoother in operation at all speeds. Performance is not on par with a proper, centrally mounted drive system such as those used by Heljan or Bachmann, however.
I'm hoping to be able to produce some interim modern motive power using these locos and will be experimenting with twin power bogies and extra weight in the next couple of days. I regard the performance of Hornby & Lima as generally unacceptable for serious operation, but perhaps with the five-pole design I might be able to achieve something that's tolerable in service, if not as good as I'd like.
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Spent the day taking photographs around Barnetby in the company of John Turner of 53A Models. Things were very quiet by Barnetby standards, so I've got nothing much to show for it apart from a bad case of sunburn and extreme hayfever. I did, however, pick up some of the Hornby Class 92s with the five-pole pancake motors, so I'll be testing those out soon. Watch this space....
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Not a very productive day, but I have found the time to fit Kadee couplings to four US freight cars, purchased at an exhibition last week. The ready-to-run Walthers items pictured are supplied with Bachmann E-Z Mate couplings, poor quality Kadee-clones that need replacing with the real thing at the earliest opportunity. I would have liked to have upgraded to Kadee wheelsets as well, but they don't fit well in the Walthers trucks and don't provide their usual free-running performance.
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In an effort to do something about my huge mountain of unbuilt kits, I've assembled a handful of US boxcars today. These older 'shake the box' kits from Athearn & Model Die Casting are much simpler than their UK equivalents and typically take about five minutes to throw together. All of my US stock runs with Kadee couplers and wheelsets as standard, so these newest additions have been similarly equipped.
The supplied steel weight is discarded and replaced with something a little less inclined to make a sprint for the nearest uncoupling magnet. I weight US stock according to NMRA guidelines, which gives a suggested weight of 4.5 ounces for a 50 foot boxcar, quite heavy by UK standards. It probably takes longer to fit weights to these cars than it does to build them....
My preferred method of weighting for stock such as this is to use self-adhesive window leading, sold on a roll by various D.I.Y. stores. It's quick and clean, but above all has the advantage of being flexible. This is a major plus point when stuck to a floor that has to be bent to be inserted into the body. I've got a number of items of rolling stock with loose weights rattling around inside, a consequence of the stress put on the glued joints when bending the floors, but I've never had that happen with the self-adhesive strips.
I use other weighting methods where appropriate (I'm a great fan of 'liquid lead') but for a lot of US stock, as well as British coaches and multiple units, I've yet to find anything to beat this strip.
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More decoder upgrades. Once again these are locos that aren't likely to be an integral part of any layout I ever build, but I'm trying to bring all locos up to a minimum spec in the decoder & coupling areas. These Life-Like Proto 2000 E7 models have had Lenz LE104XF decoders fitted, which were taken from UK stock that had been upgraded. Version 4.5 of these chips has 128 step speed control and 3 functions, enabling the Mars lights to work as well as the normal headlights. The old version 4.1 chips that I removed from these locos only had 2 functions which meant the Mars lights were inoperative - I've since sold these decoders.
Many locos with higher quality mechanisms such as these will run really well with older DCC chips, it's just a matter of ensuring there are enough functions to operate any extra lights fitted.
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More baseboard work can be seen here, with the end of the third level return loop making it's debut. Teetering on top of some precariously balanced timber offcuts, the loop comes in from the right of the photo with the American E7 A/B/B lashup positioned to show how trains will double back on themselves using this track. Is it just me or is the fiddle-yard starting to look like the Welsh Valleys?
All locos in the photograph have recently had decoders fitted or upgraded, and one of the Class 56s has had LED lighting installed. The Southern Pacific E7 set is in the short-lived red & silver "Golden State" livery worn only by the first three sets. These colours lasted briefly from delivery in 1947 through until 1949, far too early for any layout I'm ever likely to build. One for the collection only - I'm fascinated by all things Southern Pacific.
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Copious quantities of woodwork over the last few days, if my antics with timber can be dignified with such a term. Note the burn marks on the top level's chipboard, something that sent me scurrying off to Homebase for the annual jigsaw blade renewal ceremony. The trackwork at the bottom, where the coal trains are parked, is the low level fiddle yard. Above that is the middle level line and finally the new, upper level which I'm currently working on. No track is yet in place, indeed this is just a semi-circle of chipboard at the moment, unconnected to the rest of the layout.
I hadn't planned on installing this section just yet, but operationally I've exhausted the entertainment possibilities of the terminus to fiddle yard arrangement (something I've never really enjoyed) and wanted to press on to running the through trains that I see 99% of the time on the real railway. This upper level will form a giant return loop, giving me a kind of linear fiddle yard in which to hold trains in the short term.
This is not a helix, despite appearances. The section this side of the blue clamp is part of the temporary arrangement to give me a return loop, but ultimately the track will continue straight off the right of the picture, following the line of the middle level.
Eventually this top level will be a couple of inches higher, so I've made provision for the use of risers and shims later on, but for now the slightly reduced height is adequate for a return loop as it doesn't have to clear any of the obstacles further along the layout.
Most of the middle level will be hidden, although perhaps restricted visibility would be a better term. The main purpose is to gain height with a 100 foot circuit of the loft, but I don't want to completely hide that amount of track. Instead, buildings along the main part of the layout will screen it when I'm seated, but standing up will enable the progress of the train to be monitored visually, if required. If you have a look at Saturday's photos you'll get the general idea, although these are just temporary structures, plonked down for effect.
Generally speaking I prefer to use chipboard for all baseboards, as it is cheap, strong and doesn't warp or sag if properly supported. It's weight means it wouldn't be my first choice if I was building a layout for exhibition purposes, but just how many of us are actually part of that niche? This is a domestic layout - some of the board is over 20 years old, has been under various layouts and is still going strong.
Although historically I've bought chipboard in 8 foot by 4 foot sheets, these days I take a more pragmatic approach. I find the 3 packs of 18mm tongue & groove loft flooring panels sold by the likes of Homebase to be a much more suitable choice. They're lighter, easier to thread between the roof joists and, most importantly, fit into my car. I can pick up a pack when I visit the retail park to get cat litter and other domestic items without having to swap vehicles or arrange deliveries.
The photo shows one of these panels and the method I use to mark out some of the standard curves for the hidden sections of the layout. I lay a run of Rocoline radius 9 & 10 set-track curves on the board, draw around them and cut the board with a jigsaw. Quick and easy. Individual sections are joined together with offcuts from the same board glued underneath the joints. Clamps hold everything in place while the glue dries, as many of the photos will show.
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Having had the core low level fiddle yard and station trackwork more or less complete for over a month now, I've been doing an awful lot of operation to test things work as they should. I'm really thinking of the design concepts here, not whether the point motors actually throw reliably, although I have found a couple of the latter that can be a bit belligerent on occasions. I know some people can come up with flawless trackplans first time around, but I've rebuilt the fiddle yard at least twice so far in order to get something I'm happy with. Playing trains is a vital part of the testing process - after all, it's what the layout was built for.
The only major problem I've come up with is the absence of a crossover between the fast & slow lines at the fiddle yard exit. This isn't required for proper operation of the layout, but will be a boon when marshalling stock between sessions - the couple of loose Peco points and short length of connecting track in the photo show roughly where it will live. Also of note is the timber framework over this area which will one day support a small 'daughter board' layout. For comparison purposes a slightly older view of this area can be seen here.
A few words about the various test trains might be in order. The layout is designed to run with two sets of stock, one representing the late 1970s scene and the other depicting fairly recent times, 2000 or possibly a little later. Seen here is a 1970s test train - a Bachmann Class 25 hauling a train of 50 coal wagons. This corporate blue era is now fairly well supported by the trade and I have no doubt that I will be able to model it successfully using available kits, RTR models and a little bit of bodging.
The photo well illustrates something I've mentioned before, the fact that the layout is designed to be viewed along the tracks in a way that a bridge-hanger or platform-ender would see the real thing. Visitors' reactions to this concept can be interesting, some cotton on pretty quickly while others spend an hour peering through the mass of roofing timbers in a vain attempt to get an exhibition-style side on view. Presumably they're trying to recapture a youth spent linesiding in the Forest of Dean.
The same viewpoint here features year 2000 stock, a Lima Class 60 on a rake of 20 Bachmann JGA wagons. The use of the phrase 'on a rake' instead of 'hauling' is deliberate as the photo has been posed for the camera. The toy-like mechanisms fitted to Lima locos aren't able to pull significant trains of heavier wagons such as these. Even when I've fitted twin power bogies, extra weight and reduced the train lengths the erratic and unreliable operation of these crude pancake motors renders them useless for serious operation. For testing purposes I've been hauling this train with a couple of Bachmann Class 25s.
The modern modeller is very poorly served by the trade. I'm able to put together a fairly convincing passenger service, but freight is a dead loss at the moment - even though there are some nice modern wagons now on the market there's nothing to pull them. Most of my modern stock is now packed away until such time as a convincing and operable Class 60 and/or Class 66 fleet becomes a reality. I have had a lot of fun experimenting with the computer control of the local multiple unit services, I will admit, but that alone isn't going to hold my interest.
A simlar problem exists with this Hornby Class 92 on a rake of 20 Bachmann intermodal flats - it'll just sit there and spin it's wheels without moving the train an inch. Some of the other Hornby electrics (Classes 86 & 90) can be usefully double-motored, but the 92s feature a particularly shoddy motor bogie that even when paired isn't up too much. The enthusiastic butcherer might like to try fitting a Heljan Class 47 chassis under a Class 92 body. The wheel diameter is spot on, the bogie wheelbase is out by a gnat's whisker and the chassis design lends itself to the lengthening required. A serious amount of metal will, however, have to be removed from the famously wide TubbyDuff chassis before the Class 92 body will fit over it.
During testing this train has in reality been hauled by a pair of American SD40-2 diesels.
The very pair of SD40-2 diesels that have been uncomplainingly doing what their UK cousins fail to manage are seen here hauling a rake of 25 US wagons for a change. The silky smooth way in which these moderately priced locos will effortlessly shift a long train around the layout is either inspirational or depressing, depending on your point of view.
From time-to-time I receive e-mails from kind souls who suggest that I could have everything I want if only I'd knuckle down and get on with a healthy bit of scratchbuilding, in a similar way that my grandfather strongly believed a good dose of National Service and a sensible haircut would put the world back on course within 24 hours. I'm sure they're happy in their hobby. I think their carers are doing an absolutely smashing job. But I don't think I'm going to build much of a busy mainline railway spanning two eras without the help of some nice chaps with injection moulding machines. I'm trying to build my trainset in my lifetime. And on this planet.....
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The latest acquisition is the new Roco release of a Danish 'Nohab' diesel, supplied ready-fitted with DCC and sound. Sonically this is the best I've heard yet, start-up is really laboured and you wonder if the old bucket of bolts is actually going to make it. One for the collection rather than the layout, though.
I can only apologise if things are looking distinctly un-British on this page at the moment, but it is entitled 'On My Workbench' - somewhat different to 'On My Layout'....
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Another low light shot, using 6 seconds exposure to make sure the lights show up. Further supplies of LEDs for lighting purposes turned up today from Maplin so another 5 locos have had their lighting systems updgraded. I'm using 3mm white LEDs (product code GV65V) with 680 ohm resistors (product code M680R) which is costing around £3.50 per loco.
If you think these lights are very bright, then look carefully at Class 67s or Freightliner 66s - model what you see. I've tried to choose a combination of components that give a prototypical look in sunlight, once you've got that you can further alter them using resistors or DCC CVs for a correct indoor appearance. This will obviously depend on your layout lighting.
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A bit of a murky one, this, as a 4 second exposure under room lighting was needed to show off the loco lights. I've replaced the dim yellow LEDs in the two SOO locos with bright white equivalents - the Union Pacific loco in the middle shows the old LEDs for comparison purposes.
I had planned to fit lights to a Lima Class 67 today, but these American locos jumped the queue. A couple of years ago I blew several components on their circuit boards by carelessly connecting a higher voltage LGB controller to the test track and repair work was long overdue.
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Playtime! After a lot of wiring in difficult to reach parts of the loft today, it's time for some relaxation. In the small hours of the morning (when nobody is watching) the US stuff gets a run out. Three U-boats are working hard up the grade here, having climbed from the lower level with one circuit of the loft.
The slight undulation in the fiddle yard baseboards (accentuated by the telephoto lens) is starting to annoy me. The boards are removeable here, should access to the water tanks/pipes be required, which means they're not as rigid as they might be. I think they've settled a little over the years and a little packing might now be in order.
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There have been yet more track revisions in the lower fiddle yard area in the last 48 hours. Primarily these revolve around the inclusion of an extra point in the up slow line, just visible in front of the Class 67 in the photograph. The purpose of this is to provide access to a storage area which will house surplus rolling stock in the fullness of time. The up slow at this point is one of the two lines that form the return loop from the fiddle yard on the left.
While the track was lifted I took the opportunity to re-align some of the lines in this area in order to provide smoother curves, and also to completely re-lay the track on the middle level, visible above the train. This raised stretch of line is the only remaining part of the original layout and I made a complete mess of it first time around. The two running lines were positioned too close together with the result that passing trains would scrape each other.
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A model loco that has caused a lot of people not inconsiderable grief is the woeful Bachmann Class 37. One problem I personally have is my inability to take a photo illustrating it's deficiencies - once again today's snap doesn't really show what's wrong as well as seeing it in the flesh. But I'll get there!
My other problem is I'd worked a handful of class 37s into the planned year 2000 scenario for my layout. As well as local trip workings I'd envisaged the North Wales Coast services being routed from Stafford to Birmingham via Rugeley and Walsall rather than Wolverhampton to give me a little bit of loco-hauled variety. This whole concept has been abandoned as I'm not willing to put up with a loco that looks so unlike the real thing.
My return to UK modelling was based around the expectation of a string of better quality models appearing, something that is beginning to look a little doubtful. Did I make the right decision?
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Over the last few days I've had a bit of a purge on some of the older DCC decoders in various models and carried out a few new installations. As I've been using DCC for over 6 years now some of my original chips were looking a little lightweight in the features department, plus operating experience has shown me which products best suit my requirements. All of the locos shown have had chip upgrades and a whole pile of Roco and Digitrax decoders have been binned, along with a handful of older Lenz examples. All locos now run with only Lenz, Zimo or LokSound decoders.
The high proportion of US locos here is because that's what I was modelling when I first converted to DCC and they contain the oldest decoders. Few had even had their details fitted by the time I switched back to UK modelling, as unfortunately the photo shows only too well. I might fit a lot of these parts over the next week or so, but deep down I know I should leave it until I've upgraded the lighting circuits, otherwise delicate parts may get broken during handling. The more comprehensive lighting facilities on modern decoders was the main reason for the upgrades, running qualities of the older chips were more than satisfactory.
Talking of running qualities, the Stewart F3 on the left is the smoothest loco I've ever owned, bar none. It has thus had one of the excellent Zimo decoders fitted, but ironically this hasn't improved the performance in the slightest over the Lenz LE110 that was removed. I guess this is as good as it gets....
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Another recent Bachmann arrival is the 37-300A 'Consent Leasing' intermodal/container set, seen here fresh out of the box apart from the addition of Kadee #19 couplers.
For comparison purposes, here's a very similar prototype combination, snapped at Rugby a couple of years ago.
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Given that my railway interests are many and varied, things do tend to creep into these pages that don't, strictly speaking, belong here. These two Kato SD40-2 locos are a case in point, but as they've had DCC decoders fitted and detail parts added today, here goes....
When Kato first released these locos they came under fire almost immediately for an obvious error on the bogie sideframes - or trucks as our American cousins would have it. If you look at the left-hand model the row of six holes on the silver sideframe are too low compared to the revised model on the right. So what did Kato do? Deny the problem existed? Set their lawyers on anyone that mentioned it? Withdraw advertising from any magazines that dared to point it out? No, they fairly rapidly produced replacement parts and shipped them to anyone that wanted them. Mine turned up free-of-charge via airmail with no questions asked, other than what did I want? Given that I wanted a considerable quantity that was very impressive service in my book.
Compare Kato's actions to the lamentable attitude of Bachmann after the release of the dreadful Class 37....
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As always, things aren't going quite according to plan. For over 6 months now there has been provision for a daughter board that would be detachable from the main layout, shown as a 'scrap branch' on the layout plan. This would be a fully functional part of the larger layout when in place, but could also be operated as a self-contained unit downstairs on cold, winter evenings. In actual fact the plan has always been for two daughter boards, enabling me to ring the changes in the loft whilst always having something to play with in the office. One would be the scrap branch shunting layout and the other the traditional loco shed that most of us build at least once in our life.
My problem at the moment is I'm just not very good at thinking in terms of 'ironing board' sized layouts and the track plan always seems to grow to be 40 feet long. So here you can see an offcut of chipboard balanced precariously above the return loops while I try to think small - I think I'm getting somewhere at last.
In the foreground are two US Auto-Rack wagons in use holding a support for the removable section. I use these to check clearances between levels as I still like to give my American stock an occasional run when no-one is looking....
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