GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote: 

 - but for this section of the branch I can now write "finis" and enjoy watching the trains go by:

 

Until you see something else that needs attention………. you do know John, that a model railway is never finished !!!

Looks good anyway in this "finis" state  :pathead

Very Fine Indeed! John.

Pity about the bracket but all the rest looks spot on from here.

Colin

[user=606]Sol[/user] wrote:

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote: 

 - but for this section of the branch I can now write "finis" and enjoy watching the trains go by:

 

Until you see something else that needs attention………. you do know John, that a model railway is never finished !!!

Looks good anyway in this "finis" state  :pathead

Thanks Ron.

Like you still lots to do - a brewery to finish and a castle to build! :roll:

[user=2170]Colin W[/user] wrote:

Very Fine Indeed! John.

Pity about the bracket but all the rest looks spot on from here.

Colin

Thanks Colin - thats very kind of you.

The bracket is tiresome but you cant win them all!

I missed your post about your 59 years of absolute bliss John  :roll:  A very belated Happy Anniversary to you both.

Also, yet more superb shots of Granby and, had I not chosen a more respected region, I might have been tempted towards GWR seeing these fabulous models appearing on Granby.  I'm going to go back and have a proper look once I've caught up a little on other posts I've missed.

In passing, I'm pretty sure I've read of a few teething problems with the Zimo MS range - albeit on the larger scale locomotives.  Like you, I think they are sound decoders but not too sure.

If you have time, I'd appreciate a "how to" on the tantalums.  I tried fitting a couple to an old Bachmann Fowler tank but without success - I blew the decoder !!  Fortunately, it wasn't a sound one but still £20 down the drain………….

I still need to gain confidence and skill in this chipping lark………I have a few locos I'd like to add SA to (and maybe extra pickups) but don't want to end up blowing too many more decoders.

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I missed your post about your 59 years of absolute bliss John  :roll:  A very belated Happy Anniversary to you both.

Also, yet more superb shots of Granby and, had I not chosen a more respected region, I might have been tempted towards GWR seeing these fabulous models appearing on Granby.  I'm going to go back and have a proper look once I've caught up a little on other posts I've missed.

In passing, I'm pretty sure I've read of a few teething problems with the Zimo MS range - albeit on the larger scale locomotives.  Like you, I think they are sound decoders but not too sure.

If you have time, I'd appreciate a "how to" on the tantalums.  I tried fitting a couple to an old Bachmann Fowler tank but without success - I blew the decoder !!  Fortunately, it wasn't a sound one but still £20 down the drain………….

I still need to gain confidence and skill in this chipping lark………I have a few locos I'd like to add SA to (and maybe extra pickups) but don't want to end up blowing too many more decoders.

Thank you for the good wishes Peter. It is very hard to believe that it is 9 years since we celebrated our 50th with you and Liz! Time passes so quickly now.

Regarding Stay Alives - You are not alone in accidentally blowing decoders - been there done that and it is indeed painful. The last one I blew was when I first started installing SA and I muddled the + ve and -ve connection between decoder and capacitor.

If you havent seen this on the Youchoos site it may be helpful.

YouChoos

I rely heavily on Zimo MX617 decoders because Youchoos solder a  -ve wire on to the decoder for me - I struggle to solder this on a tiny decoder pad. Sadly these are currently not available but I do have couple in hand ready to install in a Small Prairie and a Hattons Barclay 0-4-0. I will try and cover this in some detail.

Best wishes

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I missed your post about your 59 years of absolute bliss John  :roll:  A very belated Happy Anniversary to you both.

Also, yet more superb shots of Granby and, had I not chosen a more respected region, I might have been tempted towards GWR seeing these fabulous models appearing on Granby.  I'm going to go back and have a proper look once I've caught up a little on other posts I've missed.

In passing, I'm pretty sure I've read of a few teething problems with the Zimo MS range - albeit on the larger scale locomotives.  Like you, I think they are sound decoders but not too sure.

If you have time, I'd appreciate a "how to" on the tantalums.  I tried fitting a couple to an old Bachmann Fowler tank but without success - I blew the decoder !!  Fortunately, it wasn't a sound one but still £20 down the drain………….

I still need to gain confidence and skill in this chipping lark………I have a few locos I'd like to add SA to (and maybe extra pickups) but don't want to end up blowing too many more decoders.

Funny you should mention that. I sent an MS decoder to Zimo that I thought I'd blown out only to find that it was repaired FOC and free return postage. The MS series are sound decoders. Non sound are MN.

My grand daughter's wedding was wonderful - and that is despite the bride managing to break her arm the week before while roller skating!

Not much time for modelling - what with the wedding, Canadian Thanksgiving and an amazingly long spell of unbroken sunshine - in the last 6 weeks more rain has fallen in Las Vegas than Vancouver!

However I did find time to weather the new Dapol Manor.  Here it is straight out of the box:



 Compton Manor will be used on the Cambrian Passenger service as I suspect she was in real life. The aim was just light weathering to reflect a well cared for locomotive out of Oswestry Shed.


Just a couple of diluted washes of black/grey to get traces of dirt in all the crevices. Multiple coats of matt black on the cab roof, finished off with a dusting of smoke weathering powder.

Brass safety valve cover toned down with Dullcote. Highlighted plastic "copper" chimney cappuchion with copper paint.  



Smokebox, steam pipes and cylinders painted with mixture of matt black and steel to replicate that heat induced sheen.

Firebox and boiler were lightly painted with Pledge (in lieu of Kleer) and then buffed with a cotton bud to try and represent wiping with an oily rag. I have never attempted this before but I am not unhappy with the result although only having lemon pledge, Compton Manor now bears an unprototypical citrus odour!



The wheel rims were blackened using a Sharp felt tip. The plastic cross head was painted with oily steel. Mud and touches of rust and grease to the brake gear



Tenders always took a beating and were prone to rusting. Modelu crew, real coal and fire irons added. Green (!) vacuum pipe painted grey/brown. Buffers: rust/dirt with steel centre




Brass plates are supplied as an optional extra. Fractionally larger than the existing decals, they are very easy to apply. All in all nice attention to detail from Dapol.

Talking of detail : In addition to normal weathering, the steps have touches of steel highligts to represent paint scraped off by the hob nails of the foot plate crew's boots.

To compare degrees of weathering:



A fairly heavily weathering Mogul alongside the lightly weathered Manor.

I find light weathering the most difficult finish to achieve. Everything has to be so subtly applied. Anything ever so slightly heavy handed and all is lost - you are into what I consider standard Granby muck and grime.

This photo suggests that I havent got the smoke box quite right. Other than that I am content with the overall effect.

From an operating point of view the Manor continues to be an an absolute delight - sure footed, ultra reliable and smooth as silk.







Couldnt resist a Box Brownie shot to finish with:





Regards from    -    would you believe     -  a still sunny Vancouver

I've yet to pluck up courage to try weathering. I trie d it on an old pannier body shell and wasn't pleased. I might have another try once I've got the new layout running.

Yours looks really good.

Hi John

Not a GWR "fan" but their engines did have some character and the Manor looks the real deal.  A lightweight 4-6-0 is always going to be a Really Useful Engine.

Barry

[user=1120]peterm[/user] wrote:

I've yet to pluck up courage to try weathering. I trie d it on an old pannier body shell and wasn't pleased. I might have another try once I've got the new layout running.

Yours looks really good.

Thanks Pete I am glad you like it

My advice would be to keep trying.  I hesitated for years before taking the plunge but it makes such a difference.

When weathering, I find it is good to remember John Flann's old watch words " Less is more"

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

Hi John

Not a GWR "fan" but their engines did have some character and the Manor looks the real deal.  A lightweight 4-6-0 is always going to be a Really Useful Engine.

Barry

Thanks Barry.

It took them a while to make it "Really Useful" but I think they eventually got there.  

I think Dapol have captured the lean elegant look rather well.

Most of my train room time has been spent running trains and fine tuning RR&Co routines. Much of which is not very photogenic. However I thought these shots of the "Shed shuffle" might be of interest

I have been working on my Cambrian routine, a 4 car train which runs between Granby and Barmouth (Storage yard). Its quite an intricate routine involving loco exchanges at both termini. Only tender locos are used so the routine involves using the turntables at both Granby Shed and the Storage yard.

There is a somewhat generous allocation of 4 locos to the routine

Currently there is a Mogul and Compton Manor at Barmouth:

.

And an Earl class and Collet Goods on Road 5 at Granby - the second shed road from the right: 






Working on the FIFO principle the scheduled loco for the next Barmouth run is Earl Class (Dukedog) 9003.

The first job is to temporarily move the blocking loco, Collet Goods 2259


 
I suspect the Collet Goods is the least likely of the quartet to be on a Cambrian passenger service but its acting as a placeholder for another Manor - expected early in 2023,

Once 2259 enters the bridge the Dukedog leaves the shed :



Please ignore the derailed sand wagon - the shed staff dont seem bothered!

Once the Collet is centred on the bridge it moves through 5 roads to a short release road kept solely for this purpose



To improve this shot, the hand of God moved the Small Prairie previously seen in the track next to the relief road.



Once clear the bridge returns to the Cambrian Road  T5



The Dukedog moves on to the bridge



and is turned through 180o ready to eventually head South on the Up service to Barmouth



As soon as I edited this shot I winced at the excess spare lamps. I am getting grief on another forum for my habit of carrying too many spares. I now realise that apart from Royal Trains the fireman only ever drew 2 lamps from the store


The next shot is not great shot but is needed to conclude the sequence :




The Dukedog leaves the bridge on to the Shed exit road where it will await the arrival of the Down train from Barmouth.

Once the bridge is clear it swings back to the Relief road so the Collet can be returned to the Cambrian road. The Collet will now be stabled inside the shed leaving the road outside clear for the incoming loco from Barmouth.

I hope you enjoyed the photos and that rather breathless account of the "Shed Shuffle". Its all automated - the usual single button click does it all. Took forever to programme but is very satisfying to watch - I should really try and video it

Next week I will take some shots of "Barmouth"

Great set of photos John, "Very Fine Indeed"!

[user=2170]Colin W[/user] wrote:

Great set of photos John, "Very Fine Indeed"!

Thanks Colin. Glad you liked them but I do wish I had spotted that sand wagon! :oops:

Hi John,

A great sequence of photos and I love the fact that there is a Pannier lurking in the background!!

A video of the automated running of the "Shed Shuffle" would be brilliant  (as would a copy of your  TC schedules that you use).

Don't worry about comments about "too many spares"  -  I am sure that on at least one occasion it happened in real life - and I am sure that the person(s) making the observation do not have a layout as fantastic as Granby

Keep up the good work


ps Even though Spring has been very wet and I have spent more time indoors, I haven't spent much time in my train room since I had a go at re-profiling the Dapol Manor:oops:. 

[user=540]gdaysydney[/user] wrote:

Hi John,

A great sequence of photos and I love the fact that there is a Pannier lurking in the background!!

A video of the automated running of the "Shed Shuffle" would be brilliant  (as would a copy of your  TC schedules that you use).

Don't worry about comments about "too many spares"  -  I am sure that on at least one occasion it happened in real life - and I am sure that the person(s) making the observation do not have a layout as fantastic as Granby

Keep up the good work


ps Even though Spring has been very wet and I have spent more time indoors, I haven't spent much time in my train room since I had a go at re-profiling the Dapol Manor:oops:. 

Thanks Dave

I suspect that the video will take a while but I will send you a PM with the commands for the TT exit routine

The big challenge was the fact there are three possible start points from which a loco can exit Track 5. The situation I photographed with a loco in the shed and one in the road in front or there could be just one loco in T5 - it could be either in the shed or in the road in front! . To avoid having three different buttons which would have been very complicated I had to devise a series of "if this then do that" routines. Once I had cracked the problem it was relatively easy to replicate the routine for all the other tracks. I should have mentioned that each track (block) can only be accessed by a defined group of locos eg Passenger Xpress, Milk/Parcels etc.

I have taken the plunge and updated to V10 - the price increases significantly in the New Year. If you have V8 or earlier and your systems are mostly set up its probably not worth considering although having said that V9 had some big plusses on V8

Best wishes

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

Thanks Dave

I suspect that the video will take a while but I will send you a PM with the commands for the TT exit routine

The big challenge was the fact there are three possible start points from which a loco can exit Track 5. The situation I photographed with a loco in the shed and one in the road in front or there could be just one loco in T5 - it could be either in the shed or in the road in front! . To avoid having three different buttons which would have been very complicated I had to devise a series of "if this then do that" routines. Once I had cracked the problem it was relatively easy to replicate the routine for all the other tracks. I should have mentioned that each track (block) can only be accessed by a defined group of locos eg Passenger Xpress, Milk/Parcels etc.

I have taken the plunge and updated to V10 - the price increases significantly in the New Year. If you have V8 or earlier and your systems are mostly set up its probably not worth considering although having said that V9 had some big plusses on V8

Best wishes

Many thanks for the PM John - it will help me get reacquainted  with programming schedules  :oops:

No rush for the video -  one day when you have nothing to do  

I will interested in your thoughts on Version 10  -  once you have destroyed your USB , which I understand is a requirement for activating V10, can you revert back to Version 9 or is it a one way journey?  (I am running V9 at present).

what's the arrangement for activating via the internet rather than  by the USB?   Not that I need to at present but will the new software allow you to log in on any computer ?  - ( When I recently bought a new computer I  simply switched the USB over) .

[user=540]gdaysydney[/user] wrote:

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

Thanks Dave

I suspect that the video will take a while but I will send you a PM with the commands for the TT exit routine

The big challenge was the fact there are three possible start points from which a loco can exit Track 5. The situation I photographed with a loco in the shed and one in the road in front or there could be just one loco in T5 - it could be either in the shed or in the road in front! . To avoid having three different buttons which would have been very complicated I had to devise a series of "if this then do that" routines. Once I had cracked the problem it was relatively easy to replicate the routine for all the other tracks. I should have mentioned that each track (block) can only be accessed by a defined group of locos eg Passenger Xpress, Milk/Parcels etc.

I have taken the plunge and updated to V10 - the price increases significantly in the New Year. If you have V8 or earlier and your systems are mostly set up its probably not worth considering although having said that V9 had some big plusses on V8

Best wishes

Many thanks for the PM John - it will help me get reacquainted  with programming schedules  :oops:

No rush for the video -  one day when you have nothing to do  

I will interested in your thoughts on Version 10  -  once you have destroyed your USB , which I understand is a requirement for activating V10, can you revert back to Version 9 or is it a one way journey?  (I am running V9 at present).

what's the arrangement for activating via the internet rather than  by the USB?   Not that I need to at present but will the new software allow you to log in on any computer ?  - ( When I recently bought a new computer I  simply switched the USB over) .

Hi Dave

When I downloaded V10 I put it in a separate directory in Programme Files and left the V9 File untouched. I can still boot up V9 from the V9 programme directory

I keep my *.yrrg files in a separate directory - the installation automatically saved two copies of the "working" file  -  the normal Granby.yrrg and one labelled Granby_Backup_9.0C1.yrrg

A few days after you have downloaded to Freiwald a photo of the severed USB you receive an email with a validation code. I saved it very carefully  :) then entered it the box you see if you boot up without the USB in place. V10 was then activated and I have booted up TC many time since then and it starts automatically - no further entry required. (While waiting for the code I just continued using TC in demo mode)

You can install and validate V10 on multiple computors but only one can be used at a time. I dont use my laptop much for TC now When I  install V10 later this week I dont anticipate are any issues but will let you know if there is a problem

It sounds as though you are in a similar position to me. I guess I would have upgraded eventually but I only did so now because of the price increase at year end. It will be some time before I experiment with the new facilities - probably banking and long trains - although I have noticed minor improvements in layout

Best wishes 


 

Hi John,
Still sitting on the fence!
Do you only need a connection to the internet during activation of a PC or do you have to be connected all the time?  Just wondering as I am building a small portable demo  which would run off a laptop but wondering how TC would know its in use if not connected to the WWW
Dave