Gordonvale

When I was a nipper, living in a 2-up 2-down house with my parents and 2 siblings, our (mine really} layout was permanently laid on a 8'x6' board. When not in use, it was propped up against the wall. When in use, it was dropped on the floor. On occasions, the board was lugged in to the living room and laid over the dining table. The moral of the story is "pin the layout to a solid board", avoid continually connecting/disconnecting track pieces. If this is a problem you have 2 choices - forget the layout or move to a bigger house.

I use a 0-15 V 60 amp switch-mode power supply to drive 27 individual DC controllers and 3 LED circuits. For protection, there's a 10A circuit breaker between the supply and the individual circuits. Each individual circuit is further protected by 4 x 5W resistors totalling 8R to permit a max of 1.5A @ 12V or 1.875A @ 15V depending on what takes my fancy on any given day. Each "train running" circuit is controlled by a DC speed controller (various Chinese types) and works just fine as any loco that enters a circuit is already "warmed up". The shunting and storage circuits are controlled by a 100R potentiometer wired as a rheostat. These vary the resistance, not the voltage. Hence, when powered up , a loco is hit by the full 12-15V. I've chosen this set up because I've observed that the rheostat controlled locos move off nicely. When warmed up, they move off smoothly. When cold, they move off gradually, some more gradual than others. I don't have any science to back this statement, but I'm happy with things. Also some of the smaller locos (pocket rocket 0-4-0, 0-6-0 shunters) don't come to a complete stop at 100R, because they crawl on tiny amps. To combat this I include a second rheostat (50R) in series which I label "brake". It works for me. Whenever a loco is parked, I isolate it. I don't know why I do this, I just uneducatedly think that the tiniest current running through a motor isn't good for it if it won't move it. Points work for sidings, switches work for places like engine sheds where there are several locos on the one track.

@Lairdy The symptoms you've described are those of the Bachmann equivalent of R603, as used to be sold by Hattons. To remove a rail joiner, I resort to twisting it off and discarding it, as trying to pull it off just buckles the track.

For tension lock couplers. Acquire a piece of soft flexible plastic about 0.25mm thick. EG: supermarket veggie packaging or laminated A4. Cut a 10mm wide strip about 100mm long, and thread it in the centre of the track, so that it goes over about 8 sleepers and under two sleepers at each end. Check that it doesn’t foul the backs of the rolling stocks wheels. It forms a raised hump. Adjust for height by pushing items of rolling stock over it to ensure that the coupling hooks lift clear of the bar. Depending on your make of track and its sleeper spacing and stock manufacturer, it may be necessary to adjust these details. Pulling stock over the ramp just depresses it and doesn’t lift the coupler hooks as they pass over. Pushing stock over the ramp lifts the coupler hooks. Stop, then move off in the opposite direction and the uncoupling is done. Once adjusted, fix the ramp in place with a track pin at each end. The mechanics are similar to those of the Hornby R617 uncoupling ramp. The major differences are: • the R617 contains a spring to raise the plastic ramp back up after being depressed by a coupler, whereas the homemade ramp has natural spring in it; • the homemade comes free of charge; and • if using laminated A4, the homemade can come in many colours.

On my DC layout, I use double IRJs at each end of the loop plus double IRJs in the middle of the loop. By utilising 3 controllers (3 DC motor speed controllers, powered from a common DC lab supply) a train can negotiate the loop without stopping. This setup also allows for sidings off the loop.

The Peco accessory switch easily attaches to the Hornby point motor, both "under-board" and in the Hornby R8015 Point Motor Housing. Some advice for "under-board": Tip 1. Attach the point motor to the point first, then attach the accessory switch to the point motor. Tip 2. Secure the switch to the motor by using a 100mm x 2mm cable tie.

If DC, you don't necessarily have to switch across the gaps, you can switch between the isolated rail and the power track power feed. The latter saves a switch if the isolated rail is within a continuous loop, or in a chain of isolated rails.

I buy tack packs from the local hardware shop, 15mm x 1mm, qty 950, rather than the shorter Hornby ones, pack qty 130, for half the price. Don't bang them all the way in, so they're easily removed with pliers, 'til the track sits right.

Dirty track doesn't help matters.

You might find some useful stuff here: www.brian-lambert.co.uk Click the "Electrical" tab for pretty much anything you'll need to know about ............. electrics.

Not as valuable as my Beatles Eurostar featuring "Only A Northern Song" where "northern" is spelled "northen".

My layout is 8m x 6m. I run 4 DC circuits of lengths between 23 & 25m approx. Each circuit is split into 4 sections of length 6m approx. Each section has its own controller. I'm a firm believer in "minimum wiring" so each section has 1 +ve and 1 -ve wire attached, except for where point work dictates a second wire connected. I use 6-Core Alarm Cable (14/0.20mm). For purposes of trying out different controllers, I have a setup whereby a single controller can be connected to each of the 4 sections in a circuit. When I do this, a slight drop in maximum train speed occurs over the whole circuit. This barely affects "train performance".

I'm a big fan of Bullfrog Snot - I never replace traction tyres unless they came supplied with the loco. It's easy to apply, just paint it on to a rotating wheel then let it cure for about 24 hours. 2 or 3 coats may be required. The stuff can be applied to non-tyred wheels to give greater all round traction. Once cured it is easily removable, so plenty of fun to be had experimenting without risk of damage.

I've got: Lima XPT 205165, 205166, 205167 & 205168, bought new in Aus as individual boxed pieces.Hornby InterCity 125 R541 set, bought new in UK.Both look to me to be the same scale, so OO. PS I'm on the wait list to get cataracts removed. PPS I dug out the boxes. The Lima items don't state a scale, the Lima drive unit id is suffixed by L, so 205165L. The dummy drive unit is plain 205168.

Alternatively, connect switch to a chocbloc.

I saw this one on TV last night.

How about a big boy's Dremel - the angle grinder. It works well with a 1mm disc. Always use away from the layout.

Further to Chris' post, here's how I do it. My lab supply has a range of 0-15V and is rated for 60A, though 5-10A should suffice for most layouts. Each polarity terminal is threaded through "chocolate block" terminals to give me 36 pairs of +ve & -ve DC power sources. Each individual circuit has 4 x 5W rated resistors totalling 8R. At 12V we have 36 x 1.5Amax circuits each with 20W of "protection". (12V x 1.5A = 18W). I use 25 pairs for powering track sections and 5 pairs for powering LEDs. Points control has its own 24VAC plug in power supply hooked up to a CDU. Track occupancy sensoring has its own 5VDC plug in power supply. So I run the whole show from just 3 GPOs. Additionally, in each circuit, I employ: 1) an on/off switch, because some speed controllers don't have a "click off" position, and I like to "click off"; 2) a micro 1A circuit breaker, whose characteristics give a trip after 4 seconds if 1.5A is put through it. NB my advice when choosing a circuit breaker, is check out it's characteristics and test it out before use.

Thanks Chris, I stand corrected.

It looks like you're confusing bi-polar and bi-colour, or whatever other terminology might be flashed around. Here's my attempt at definitions. A bi-polar LED has two legs. Depending on the polarity, it emits one of two colours. If the same polarity is applied to both ends it doesn't light up at all. Good for putting across DC track to indicate power. Good for putting across adjoining DC isolated sections to indicate matching polarity. Note, putting an LED across DC track reduces the voltage going to the track, but doesn't impact across isolated joins where polarity across matches. A bi-colour LED has 3 legs. A common cathode or anode, and two legs for the other polarity. Current applied to one leg gives one colour and current applied to the other leg gives another colour. Good for indicating point lie. If current is applied to both legs, the so called dominant colour wins. Eg Red & Green. A "protective resistor" goes to the common. Current is applied to red, red is emitted. Current is applied to green, green is emitted. Current is applied to both red and green, red is emitted as red always dominates green. Now reduce the current going to the red by adding a second resistor to the red. As red's resistance gradually increases and therefore current decreases, red becomes less dominant and gradually goes through shades of orange, then shades of yellow and eventually green becomes dominant and so green is emitted. If the third colour is wanted, the value of the second resistor depends on the properties of the LED and the shade of third colour preferred. In some cases, due of the properties of the LED, a second resistor may not be required, but don't hold your breath on that!

What Rog (RJ) said. Plus you'll need a resistor in there somewhere to keep the current below the LEDS maximum capability.

However, locos which pickup one polarity from the tender wheels and the other polarity from the loco wheels may come to a stop. This is because one polarity from one controller doesn't make a circuit with the other polarity from the other controller, unless both controllers are powered by the same DC source.

Job 1 - Fix to a rigid surface. eg baseboard.

Class 2F-O, 0-6-2T

Before becoming engrossed in how much power a layout uses, have a go at working out how much power is used by the lights, heaters, fans etc in the room. May I suggest the former will be of little significance compared to the latter.