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Jim's Garden Railway


jimbob
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2 hours ago, jimbob said:

Don't put a DCC chipped loco on DC powered track, disaster!

But I've used Hornby and Bachmann chipped locos on DC for some years without any problems.  And after I acquired DCC equipment, those locos ran well on it.  And they still run well on DC when needed.

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Don't put a DCC chipped loco on DC powered track, disaster!

I  agree with Andrew,  I have three trains that has DCCC onboard and they do run fine in DC, one Bachmann DD40AX 6900, Thaly'r TGV  Mehano and an ICE 3 set, sound on board won't work on DC , you can switch it off I think.

Tony from down under.

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Pure DC will do no harm to a DCC decoder. Most will respond to DC but will require more power to start moving. I disable DC running on most of my decoders to prevent spurious signals creating runaways which has happened.

Pulse power and feedback controllers may not work and I would not risk attempting to do so. The big killer would be electronic "track cleaners" such as Relco. These will definitely damage DCC decoders.

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OK, you disable DC operation in a DCC decoder by changing its value of CV29.

You disable Bit 2, which is usually done by reading the total value of CV29 and altering it to a number which is 4 less. The decoder instructions should have the details.

Some very basic DCC controllers may not allow you to read or change the value of CVs.

A feedback DC controller senses the resistance in a motor (perhaps due to mechanical resistance or just that it is going uphill) and then automatically compensates in an instant.

I hope someone else can explain pulse power more clearly than I could!

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  • 7 months later...

Well lockdown and good weather mean l have ventured out into the garden again. Anyway after years of gathering dust l finally took the plunge and and fitted my Tam Valley radio control board to an old Lima class 47 fitted a battery and low it works and Jimbo has gone deadrail.  That of course was the easy bit, spent an hour or so clearing the winter detritus of the track (top tip never build a garden railway under a tree!)  Winter has been reasonably kind to the railway, the new bit from last year anyway,  Conected the radio ariel to the Dynamis track power leads and we were away. Train running and no track cleaning. Flushed with success l fitted the other board to another old Lima loco this time a class 40 and again away it went. Winter had opened up a few gap at the track joins so l set about fixing these  when the class 40 slowly started up all on it's own and moved off round the track a grab of the handset showed that it was not under power and frantic pushing of the stop button finally stopped it.  Took it of the track only for it to start up again a few minutes latter. So back to the drawing board. I think l have traced the problem back to to the Dynamis controller.  Had mega problems with it cutting out saying there was a short last year which disillusioned me more than a bit and l walked away from the whole thing. Anyway l just happen to have a second Dynamis control box in the shed(as you do) and have bench tested this with the 40 and it is seems to be behaving for now. So Saturday will be crunch day, still need to sort out a few track problems but am determined to get at least one train running !

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Welcome to crunch day Jim! I'm really pleased to hear you're still working on the layout even if it has been getting you down a bit at times - we've all been there at some point I'm sure. 

The battery power sounds interesting and it's something that's been muted for some years now but whether it will ever catch on in the mainstream I'm not so sure. It would be great if it were possible, but to date even a small capacitor to enable a loco to bridge the gap in a live frog point or a splodge of dirt on the track is difficult to fit within the confines of some loco bodies. I think live track will be with us for some years yet.

I wouldn't be too hasty in discarding those wires to the track though because after all is said and done, it's been the norm for many years now and it's not really all that difficult to have trains running with very few problems. I can sometimes get through the entire session without a loco stalling anywhere and even when they do it's probably due to accumulated dirt on the loco wheels rather than any problem with the track itself. 

If you're still having problems with 'shorts' or anything similar then do let us know and one or more of us will take a look over what you've done and try to pinpoint any likely spots that could be causing it.

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Praise be to what ever God you support, it all seems to be working. Several circuits  of both tracks completed without the loco falling off, running away with itself etc. Hooked up some coaches and the fun began, they just didn't like my track laying and refused to go round without falling of somewhere. Have sorted out most bits, had to relay a curve which was to tight for the 40 and controller seems OK or as good as an Dynamis can be in the garden. The 47  stopped going but that's a broken wire caused by my dodgy soldering. All in all not a bad morning. Needed to do some work in the garden and the railway shed looks like it's been ransacked and needs a tidy up so rest of the day taken up.

Yes Mick, deadrail is definitely a niche market and adds cost to an already expensive hobby. Battery power does mean a slight loss of speed, yet to test pulling but both locos managed the incline with a rake of eight coaches with no problems. Cost per  loco is around £55 inc battery. Space is a problem for the batteries, main line diesels and tender locos are ok but tank locos or shunters will be a problem. 

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Hallelujah!

Many of the problems with derailments can be put down to our track laying and I'm as guilty as anyone in that respect. I'm aware of it and I try to ensure that the track is flat and level but in such a small scale even the slightest uneveness can lead to stock leaving the rails. I recently had problems with a class 156 derailing and although I initially thought my track was fine I've had to realign several areas where I discovered it wasn't quite right and thankfully it's more or less cured it - though some additional weight wouldn't go amiss in the DMU either.

I'd always recommend laying any curves as large as you can, not only does it look so much better but it also improves the running qualities of all your stock. Take advantage of the space available outdoors and if necessary reduce the length of your straights in order to have larger radius curves.

I'd never thought about the cost of battery installation and I'm undecided as to whether £55 is a good or bad deal. I suppose it all boils down to the number of loco's you intend fitting. No doubt there's the same argument to be had with regards fitting sound chips to loco's and whether that's a worthy expense. It is what it is and we pay what we feel we need to.

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6 hours ago, mick said:

 

I'd never thought about the cost of battery installation and I'm undecided as to whether £55 is a good or bad deal. I suppose it all boils down to the number of loco's you intend fitting. No doubt there's the same argument to be had with regards fitting sound chips to loco's and whether that's a worthy expense. It is what it is and we pay what we feel we need to.

It's not for everyone,  justifying the cost to my self by saying l don't like/ need sound on coco's and the fact that all the railtours l have booked this year are now cancelled so have more money to spend !!

Bluerail are developing (l think with Bachman USA) what is almost a plug and play system on which the battery is wired into the system and you just plug it into the DCC chip holder. They also reckon you can leave the wheel pickups in place and it can switch between track and battery power on it's own. All things to all men!! It was supposed to be avaliable end of last year, but.....

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First sorry about the repost, tablet refuses to delete it!

Secondly 

HELP

Does anybody know how to get the body of a Lima class motor coach. Yes l've removed the screws from underneath,  run some card along the carriage sides, there free, run a scaple blade along the front and back where l'm told ends there might be lugs, nothing. Bit of a heavy handed Harry so don't want to try to much force. I assume the body had to come of when l had DCC fitted or does the motor come out on it's own.

Any suggestion welcome before l take a club hammer to it!

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I don't have any Lima stock Jim but I'm sure you're going about it the right way. People keep mentioning the lugs at the ends saying that's where you need to start so I'd take another look there.

Wouldn't it be great if manufacturers took the time to make these things easy, after all, they encourage us to do regular maintenance and indicate where to fit relevant decoders but then make them almost impossible to take apart without damaging something or other. 

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1886006029_Screenshot(53).thumb.png.50cf746c9445b3dc4a6da0062efd1acf.png

6 hours ago, jimbob said:

Does anybody know how to get the body of a Lima class motor coach. Yes l've removed the screws from underneath,  run some card along the carriage sides, there free, run a scaple blade along the front and back where l'm told ends there might be lugs, nothing. Bit of a heavy handed Harry so don't want to try to much force. I assume the body had to come of when l had DCC fitted or does the motor come out on it's own.

Any suggestion welcome before l take a club hammer to it!

Some of the Lima designs are now in the Hornby range, having been fitted with an upgraded motor. Getting inside them generally has stayed the same. Some of the DMUs have a small lug just above the centre of the buffer beam and this needs to be released.  Don't know whether this is any help!

Edited by Riddles
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Because of lockdown l have not been shopping in my local superstore due to the queues. This means l don't  have my weekly treat of buying whatever model railway mag is just out. In my now favoured supermarket the only mags tend to be about celebrities l have never heard of but today loud and proud was the May copy of Railway Modeller.  Anyway looking through the Hattons add l was shocked to see that they have hiked the price of 24 lengths of Peco flexiable track from £66 to £77 in less than six weeks. I know Peco have shut down for the duration but this smells a bit of profiteering to me.

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Peco has now announced that they are re-starting limited production.

Quote:  "In the factory in Beer we have implemented a split shift to help allow us to keep everyone spaced out and safe. It has been an enormous task and initially we don't expect to be at full production capacity, but it is a safe and steady start that we can build on over the coming weeks. The Ratio business in Buckfastleigh is also back to work under expert guidance, which is very good news."

To be fair to Hattons, the RRP for a box of SL-100 is £103.75 but there is none in stock anywhere unless you want to pay £123.95 a yard on eBay!!!   https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PECO-SL-100-Flexi-track-Streamline-Code-100-Wooden-sleeper-Flexible-/153785620846

Edited by Riddles
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Hatton's price hike is currently an irrelevance because they have no track to sell. Well they do have some. I bought a box of flexi yesterday, O-16.5 Streamline Code 100. It's probably the only Code 100 Streamline they have! It's more expensive, but it always has been, 12 in a box for £46. Obviously no Code 100 rail joiners to be found.

Edited by chris
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