chris

Good dry day today so got my tram out with a couple of trains and snapped a few photos. I've put some in my gallery but here's an end on shot to give gauge comparison.

That looks rather nice. I saw it at Donny open day and again a month or two later against the buffers at Kings Cross. On both occasion it looked magnificent.

Old physics books? Haven't you heard that we have the Internet these days Actually, a well structured book beats the Internet more often than not. I was thinking that the electro magnet would be switched off most of the time, with only the permanent magnet on the coach creating the force. The electro magnet would receive a pulse of current when an uncoupling was required. This would reduce current draw from the track, and also allow for a CDU if the 500mAmp from the function of the decoder wasn't enough.

That should have been a relatively simple conversion to DCC. I had examined the Tram beforehand and written clear instructions on what I wanted to do. When I finally had a working chip that fitted in the space available I followed my instructions, tested every stage and had a working DCC Tram in a little over an hour. Now the tram is all back together I will take a photo of it next to a loco as requested by Mick and you can all see how they shape up. But that will have to wait till tomorrow, I'm frozen having tidied up the conservatory and packed things away in the shed.

Liberated a Hornby decoder from a unit that came "fitted" an replaced it with a better one. Now time to give the tram car it's third decoder.

Still not actually decided if my tramway will be DCC, but I'm starting to think not. DCC Concepts decoder is small, but nowhere near as small as the Hornby chip and it won't fit in the small space I'd earmarked for it Back to the drawing board.

Bachmann had said that these models were "sold out" to retailers which suggests that Hattons won't be getting anymore from Bachmann any time soon.

Whee IanR came over to visit Amblethopre we talked through this close coupling system and we agreed that it was a good idea, Ian had even bought some magnets, but done nothing with them. We chatted about the pro's and con's of having 1 or having 2 magnets in the coupling and being a DCC man I brought up another aspect, could an uncoupling system work with magnets. If a loco had an electro magnet on the rear, (there would probably be more room in a steam loco's tender) then a DCC function could be assigned to it and could power the electro magnet. A small Capacitor Discharge Unit may be required to give it enough ummph. The repulsion force of the electro magnet and the permeant magnet may be strong enough to separate, especially if the loco was moving away. Just a thought that I've done nothing about.

It was a long wait for the new decoder after the package got lost in the post, but I've replaced the old hornby chip with one for DDC Concepts and a quick test run has proved that the chip was the problem and I now a DCC Tram car. This afternoon I'll tackle the lights, should be simple. And then I can start to think about the next job for the work bench, putting lights into the second cab of my Voyager. Broomsgrove Models were very good about the lost package. I would heartily recommend them, if they weren't closing down. You may want to keep an eye on them to see if they do an everything must go sale.

If they don't announce anything then I won't be able to moan about all their miseed release dates They will announce, but don't expect much of before 2014.

Rails have just announce the latest list of Hornby delays! " Good afternoon, We’ve just had a message from Hornby informing us that the following products have been delayed until 2013 due to manufacturing delays. As you can see some items have provisional dates but these are likely to be revised at the beginning of next year. R2921X BR 4-6-0 B17 'THORPE HALL' - TBC R2922X BR 4-6-0 B17 'GRIMSBY TOWN' - Due January R3020 LMS Fowler 2-6-4 - Due April R3025 LNER J94 8009 - Due April R3089X BR Thompson O1 DCC - Due January R3099 Flying Scotsman LNER 2011 - Due June R3103 BR Class A4 - Due June R3105 GWR Castle "Wellington" - Due June R3107 BR T9 30313 Lined Late Crest - TBC R3115 West Country Unrebuilt "Exeter" - Due January R3119 LMS Duchess Of Abercorn - Due April R3123X CLASS 42XX DCC - Due January R3124X CLASS 42XX DCC - Due January R3125X CLASS 52XX DCC - Due January R3126X CLASS 52XX DCC - Due January R3127X CLASS 72XX DCC - Due January R3128X CLASS 72XX DCC - Due January R3129 SR Class M7 - Due April R3133 East Coast Train Pack - Due June R3134 Northern Belle Train Pack - Due June R3135 Class 92 - Due June R3136 Class 73 Network Rail - Due January R3137 Class 73 Pullman - Due June R3138 BR HST Western Region (Blue/Yellow) - Due May R3143 Class 423 VEP - Due June R3144 Class 31 - Due June R3150 DB Schenker Class 60 - Due May R3151X Class 08 DCC Fitted - Due June R3153 Class 47 - Due May R3154 BR Patriot - Due January R3155 Class 9F - Due May R3156 Class 08 - Due June R4534A BR Push Pull Coach pack - Due June R4537 SR Unconverted Open 3rd Class - Due June R4538 BR Unconverted Open 2nd Class - Due June R4539 Northern Belle Coach Packs - Due June R4540 East Coast Coach 1st - Due May R4541 East Coast Coach Std - Due May R4542 East Coast Coach Buffet - Due May R4547 GWR Autocoach - Due April R4549 GWR Sub B Coach - Due May R4549A GWR Sub B Coach - Due May R4571 Network Rail Super GUV - Due April R4572 LNER Thompson Non-Corridor Composite - Due June R4573 LNER Thompson Non-Corridor Third - Due June R4574 LNER Thompson Non-Corridor Brake Third - Due June R6606 MGR Wagons X3 Old Style - TBC All orders placed for these items by us will be retained by Hornby and reinstated next year. Regards, Owen " Joy, so there's a chance that the Northern Belle (originally Q2 2012) can go on my birthday list (Q3 2013). Should give me an inventive to finish my viaduct and loop.

Sorry to say, but steel will rust in a spectacular fashion. I've left some steel track out to see if it starts to look like redundant sidings. It's rusts very quickly and not to scale! I would not want to run any of my trains over it. Points would unuseable within a few weeks.

I have DRS 66 which I picked up second hand on my travels, but I've offered it to a mate who is modelling a DRS depot. I want an intermodal train, but can't really justify it until I have a loop to run it round, it'll look out of place agains the buffers in Colwick. My current plan is to go for a rake of 5 auto-ballasters and 4ish "JNA" low sided ballast wagons. I've seen this setup out and about and fits well with the type of engineering trains that would be required on Amblethorpe. I'll still need a 66, but I may go for a GBRf version. I say I need a 66... I think I'll end up with a bit of a collection once I have a loop.

Looks like my Bromsgrove Models order is lost in the post! Without an new decoder to try, I popped the tram on my newly created programming track. A thorough investigation of the CVs did through up one odd value, but changing it didn't make a difference, the tram is still binary, full speed or stationary. While I await a new decoder I may try the Hornby one in an old loco to see how it performs.

It's the wet that makes cleaning difficult. A heavy dew is a real pain when it comes to winter running. I try and remember to give my track a quick once over from time to time to stop the build up. My other technique is to dry off the dew with a tea towel and then leave it an hour or so to air dry before I clean. I can't abide water on my track rubber, (Garyflex) it's so messy.

Up until today I didn't have a programming track. I don't use the programming track feature very often, but as the amount of DCC kit I've got has increased the need for one has grown proportionally. A programming track allows you to interegate one decoder in ways not available in normal oppertation mode because the the controller is only in communication with one device. To achieve this I used to have to remove all my stock and accessory decoders from the track and place the one item I need to programme on track. I've now isolated one siding from the main track and wired it separately from the controller rather than using the bus. I was going to used a DPDT switch but had a rummage in the spares box and found some phono plugs and sockets and decided they would be more flexible. The programming track will be plugged in all the time, and when required the main track can be simply unplugged. The siding will work as normal when in regular oppertation. The way I've wired means that if I want power districts it he future than they will be easy to add.

Nice day today so I did get out into the garden. There were a few small maintenance jobs that were best done before winter, but otherwise I didn't have anything much to get on with. After a while I remembered that I wanted to wire up a programming track so I cracked with that. I need to buy the three remaining points I need to complete the sidings in the shed, I'll then have that to do on days when it's just warm enough to spend a few hours inn the shed.

I've been asked for my Christmas list! I'm not impressed with the Northern Rail Pacer from Hornby. There's no sign of the Northern Belle, so I'm going to go for my first freight train.

Decided to pop a post in this thread, mainly because this subject is being discussed elsewhere. I work in a similar way to the above posting. Although I'm not adverse to bonding two lengths of flexi together indoors to save me a couple of joints outside.

I've ordered a few DCC bits an bobs from Bromsgrove Models (who are closing down ) including a small two function decoder. They should arrive tomorrow and I'll have a go at fitting that and see if it works any better than the hornby chip.

Close, but no cigar. Ive emailed the NRM and had a positive response. I'll pop down on Monday or Thursday and make some copies.

Just a tad.

This morning on twitter I offered to pop into the National Railway Museum and copy Table 26 from the BR Summer Timetable 1991. It was a generous offer and I didn't expect the person to take me up on it. I've just got home to find a response form Andrew thanking me for my kind offer and asking me to pop it in the post to the House of Lords. Andrew is Lord Adonis, the last Labour Secretary of State for Transport, you know, the good one, who actually wanted the job because he cared about the railways. He want's to compare the current East Coast time table with the one immediately after electrification. A trip to the NRM is hardly a chore, but if one of you guys have a copy... I did buy myself, and probably kept it for years, but it's been chucked.

Not too silly, my DC supply is a 9v PP3 battery, so it had only been tested at one speed! However once chipped a loco will still run on DC so I have now tested it at 6v, 9v and 12v and it runs fine. The chip from the spares box had previously been used as a function only decoder so it's the first time it's been used to control a motor. Ive only programmed it in 'opps' mode, I'll pop it on the programming track at some point and see if I can get a better idea of whats going on.

Haven't made my mind up on whether my tramway will be DC or DCC. This morning I looked into converting my tram to DCC operation and I could not find anything close to a guide on how to do it. I found a forum entry on how to take the tram apart which was helpful, so I cracked it open and found a clear and well labeled circuit board. With an old Hornby DCC chip in the spares box I decided to go where apparently no one has gone before and install it. First I wrote my own guide to follow and then got on with it. It was a two stage process, get the motor wired and then the lights. When I put it on the track I was disappointed to find that rather than 28 or 128 speed steps I had 2, stationary or full speed. I played around for a while and got a bit of understanding of what was going on, or not going on, but I haven't been able to fix it. I think the problem is with the chip, but it's not easy to diagnose because it's hard wired. More testing is required.