2e0dtoeric

Is this silly thing still running? I expected it to die of old age by now! 😎

Something that nobody else has mentioned on this particular thread, but is a well-known problem. Insulfrog points are now known to have the plastic 'vee' moulded a bit too shallow, (worn pattern?) so as a wheel runs onto it, the flange bottoms out, and lifts the whole axle up a half milli or so, breaking the connection to the metal track of the following wheels. The solution is to file the slot a little bit deeper.

Kadee's - something I have been contemplating for exactly the same reason (plus when the cat decides to 'kill' the rolling stock in the fiddle yard, in my absence, they don't all end up in a snarled mass!) I was going to go the same way as Gitter, loco's and each end of the various rakes first, as I have a LOT of four-wheel stock to change, some are snip, drill, and pray refits, with the fiddly little NEM box to fit and height-adjust, first.

I thought this 'silly' thread would have died of old age by now! 😛 115 Replies 5,305 views - lots of people repeat viewing, or spying! 😎

Back to Postie - why are all domestic letterboxes made by guillotine manufacturers?

Mine does, too - two bits of board, stuck shiny faces together by a couple of dots of silicon glue. Ease an edge in between and one 'pings' off the other. It takes longer to cut a scrap of wood up to fit, on my modeller's jigsaw! 😛 Now - if you put this contraption together with my self-powered radio-controlled T66 diesel, I can clean the track without having to power up and wonder if a loco will make it round the first couple of times without stalling on muck! (Cat's bootprints, spare fur, yesterday's midnight snack, etc!) It will also find a home on my garden railway, if I ever build it - no concerns about leaking volts after a rain-shower or real leaves on the line!

As my photo still has not appeared, I assume the gremlin has eaten it! If it works this time, this is the bottom view of my hardboard track-polisher, and if you look, you can see the parallel stripes of muck. The board is free-floating on the two countersunk screws, which pass through the old triang carriage floor, and have a couple of chunky washers and nuts on t'other end to give it a bit of mass. (The two screws merely stop the board from rotating). One day I might replace those horrible plastic wheels, but as they are of the style where the axle end protrudes though the bogey side, I'd need to find some way of sticking those little brass cones into the hole first! /media/tinymce_upload/ab32662abb6e16615d308ba3fd415ae7.JPG If the missing pic turns up now, would someone kindly remove one - thanks.

Hello - I've been 'moderated! I wasn't, previously. Images to follow! 😛

As an aside - we are always being told to not leave things on stand-by, then they put the master off switch on the back where you can't get at it! (I use one of those remote control mains switches - then I know that EVERYTHING is off!) ((except for the trickle of power the remote switch uses!)) edit for a typo

So far, then, the mean number is retired, or almost! 😎

As a spin-off to another comment, with Admin's permission, just post your age on here. No addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, locations, etc. Me, I'm 67.

Ah, missed your post at 1727 because I was typing my comment!

As your loco's have been sitting in a box for 20 years, I'd start by cleaning and lubricating the mechanism and motor bearings! Oil goes thick and gluey after a while. (Especially if you previously used 3 in 1!) Also, are the wheels and pick-ups clean? I believe that Zero 1 is very fussy about that. Next - the track - is that clean? As it is 20 years old, it may well be steel track - steel goes rusty! Are the rail joiners really joining the rails, or just vaguely holding them in place? Is ALL the track 'live', when the power is turned on?

Why use a short message when a diminutive one will serve? 😛

In that photo, it looks as though the red and pink wires are shorting at the edge of the board! Pop goes the chip!

Bachmann 66. Nothing special about that - except the paint job, it's the GBRF 'rainbow' competition livery one, 66720

Slightly off-topic - but topical, considering how much rain we've had over the last few days - Six feet of Icon A5 amphibian r/c aircraft, weighs in at just over 6lb. See the real one here -

Or just as a trial, place one diode in series with the cap, so it only sees the positive-going 'side' to the power supply! Admittedy that will not then smooth out the flickering LED's but it will point to the problem better, because if the apparent short has gone, you'll know where to look for the fault.

You can HAVE your existing nickname changed, but you cannot do it yourself. You have to ask Admin to change it.

The difference between single and double slip points - Start by having two parallel lines - the up and down routes. Then add two pairs of ordinary points so you can cross from one to the other line, and then another opposite pair so you can do the same, but going the other way. Then compress them all into the one track-piece, so you can go straight through on either track, or switch through to the other track, going in either direction, from either route! Draw it out on a scrap piece of paper, and you'll get the idea. It gives you a complex junction in the minimum of space. A single-slip is the same as two sets of points, so you can change from one route to the other, but only in one direction, compressed into one track-piece. (Edited to add a comment)

I cannot answer that from experience, LC, but as they are designed to run from 12v dc - what would you think? 18v is the average voltage, but the peak volts could be as high as 20v. Chrissaf might have a more definitive answer to that.

Nice comprehensive post, Sarah. Thanks. I'd add one comment - you cannot run a smoke unit directly from a DCC decoder, you need some way of providing a lot higher amperage to the unit than a standard decoder can safely deliver.

If you want to race things, Jimmy, go for a Scalextric set! Yes, I know that the 'Big Four' used to race trains, but most of them ended up in the workshop afterwards, with wrecked bearings, etc.

As a p.s. - the digital versus analogue servo naming isn't really correct, both types are 'digital', as they both receive a series of pulses of data from whatever source (controller - radio receiver) based around a 1.5 millisecond 'frame'. This 'frame' can be squashed down, or stretched out (electronically!) between around 1 and 2 m/seconds in length, and the little circuit board inside the servo 'reads' it, and winds the motor, and thus the gears and the tiny potentiometer, round until it's internal pulse length matches the one coming in from 'outside'.

Roger B quoted - The SG90 will be a bit quieter though since it should stay put once in position, and the low torque should see it not move very quickly even if it does hunt around a little bit. As an r/c model flyer, as well as a railway modeller, I can tell you that the SG90 will be fine for what you want (and a sight cheaper!) All you need to do is ensure that the mechanical movement of the pushrod isn't less or greater than the tie-bar movement! If less, obviously the point will not switch cleanly, and if greater, the gear-train and motor will be under constant load because the servo will have stalled at less than it's full travel. Servos usually travel about 90' from end to end, depending on the controlling signal, of course! In most cases the controller can have the 'end-points' adjusted - ie how far it tells the servo to move, or of course you can use simple mechanical adjustment, (move the push-rod in or out one hole on the servo arm for less or more movement of the point). Digital (nothing to do with DCC) servos have a different electronics board inside, which is a lot more precise in it's position-monitoring, and as a result, all digital servos can be heard to be buzzing all the time, as the motor is constantly being driven back and to a tiny amount, (using power) whereas a basic analogue servo just goes to the instructed point, and stops, unless you try to force it away from it's position by twisting the output arm. (That's a good way of breaking the plastic gear-teeth off!) Any servo that is overloaded or stalled will buzz merrily until the motor gives up or the electronics melt. (Just like your analogue loco on a DCC track!)