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The day after taking the photo of the Jay in flight, seen in my previous post, I captured a Magpie as it took off from the top of a nearby lamppost. The months of October/November are the usual time for seeing Salmon as they make their way up the rivers to their breeding grounds. A popular spot on the river Ribble is at Stainforth where there's usually a gathering of people hoping to capture a photo as the adult Salmon negotiate the falls. We've stood there ourselves on a couple of occasions in the past but never managed to see anything, however, this year we happened to come across some Salmon at Langclife weir. Not a brilliant photo but an event that was nice to witness. Winter is the time for an influx of visiting birds and for the past 3 or 4 weeks I've been attempting to get a photo of a Fieldfare as they feed on Hawthorn berries. The trouble is that they're usually in flocks and as soon as one bird notices you approching they all take flight making it impossible to get close enough to them for that really special shot so these were taken from a distance and in the freezing cold!  

Superb photos, Mick.  They really showcase both the models and the scenery.

It seems to be lessening in frequency and magnitude the more I use it. Thanks for the link Mick, I haven't yet tried any of that but I will. The suggestion of binding in the drive matches my first thought. Perhaps there is something much more sensitive with Sound decoders. I will try that after I've re-lubed and given the loco a good run. 

A great session Andrew - very enjoyable videos. The layout continues to look good and perform extremely well.

I'm afraid I can't offer much help with this one but in my experience it's something that affects a number of individual models. My 37114 runs perfectly with a sound decoder but I've had some class 60's recently that run perfectly with a standard decoder but do exactly as you describe when they are fitted with a sound decoder and it annoys the heck out of me. I assumed it would be something to do with the start voltage but no matter what I do it seems I'm unable to cure it. I get to the point these days where everytime I come across something like this I end up putting everything away and leaving it. It seems to be a constant battle with trying to get things working correctly, as we should expect them to. Have you tried the following 2 tips for smoother motor control found here....about 10-11 rows down the page? https://www.intermountain-railway.com/customerservice/dccwebpage/ESU-FAQ-Page.html  

Two new videos A couple of excellent compilations from Josh reflecting two separate visits to the Dorking Garden Railway by him and Geoff:   and  

When I fitted the sound decoder to my MMRC Bachmann 37114 Dunrobin Castle earlier in the year I didn't do much running of it so didn't pick this up until I went to my Dad's and did some shunting around the depot. On occasion when changing direction and restarting the loco will surge slightly. I've done a little video on the window sill to demonstrate. It doesn't happen every time and there isn't anything I can do to force it. It doesn't seem to depend on whether the sound is on or off or lights are on or off. It also doesn't depend on whether the loco is stopped quickly or slowly or anything I seem to do with the controller. I've tried it with DC on a blanking plate and can't get it to do the same and it doesn't do it with a Bachmann non-sound decoder. The loco was run in when I first got it and it doesn't feel like there is any more play in the wheels than the other Bachmann Co-Co locos I have. The only thing I can do physically is re-lube when I get back to my Dad's and give it another good run. However, with it not happening on DC or the other decoder I'm disinclined to think it is the loco. I suppose the other thing I can do is try the decoder on 37506's chassis. And since it is intermittent I'm not sure it is CV related. Any suggestions welcome.