NormanQ4

Apology graciously accepted. You'll probably also need to keep some heart medication handy.

That would just be common sense and could easily be supported by evidence. My comment was in response to a comment made about turning off a car engine whilst driving along. On many forums regardless of their subject matter people will theorise about why things happen, but just because a number of people, or even a very large number of people, have made the same comment on something doesn't make it a fact. Of course there are similarities between model railways and real railways but I think that people sometimes get carried away extrapolating conclusions between the two. Where's the evidence? I don't know why you assume that I might be running my trains fast. My layout is 4.0m x 1.8m with 5 loops and a passing loop, all interconnected with points and four diamond crossings plus sidings, sometimes running up to six trains at once and watching what my four year old grandson is getting up to. By the time I worked out which train to stop on the screen to prevent a crash it would probably be too late even at relatively slow speed.

I don't usually look at posts by JJ and certainly not his videos, but about once a year I get curious about what others are replying. I find the analogy with what I assume is a petrol / diesel car a bit odd since a car that's out of gear would freewheel quite merrily downhill with the engine turned off without doing any harm to the engine and one that's in gear would automatically jump start. I'm also puzzled as to how cutting the power to an electric motor would wreck a loco since all the moving parts are interconnected and would all stop moving at the same time. A flywheel keeps a certain amount of momentum which is also transmitted through the other moving parts after the power is cut. I have six cut off switches around my layout around 2 metres apart that kill the power to the track and stops all the locos instantly. These switches are in place as an emergency measure to prevent collisions, which I think are a more likely way to wreck locos than cutting the power. I would sure like to know the logic being applied to reach the aforementioned conclusions, since they don't make any sense to me. Maybe I'm missing something. Some evidence would be good.

@RAF96 Thanks, that's what I thought I would do.

Would it be wise to change the ini.file to Check Controller=0 (if not already set) prior to downloading?

The part with the coupling hook has two barbs on the end where it has been pushed into the socket. Just pull both pieces apart with your thumbs and forefingers. You may have to wriggle them a little.

I haven't had this problem with any of my locos with bogies but I certainly have it with both of my CoN with pony trucks at long Peco points and long diamond crossings. I think that the problem with the points was due to them being directly after a curved track. I tried weighting the pony truck but that made no difference. I solved the problem with the points by cutting a piece of black plastic about 50mm long from a CD case and fitting it between the tracks with just enough clearance to permit the eight driving wheels to pass through freely. It's held in place with Blue Tack which allows easy removal for adjustment. I then adjusted the B2B down to 13.9mm (the minimum that I could get). This allows the piece of plastic to act as a check rail and guide the pony truck away from its previous curving trajectory to a straight ahead trajectory. I've done this to eight sets of points coming off curves and do not get derailments from pony trucks at any of these points. I still get occasional pony truck derailments at my four long diamond crossings but the 13.9mm B2B has made a big difference. My two Bachmann locos with pony trucks have never derailed on points or diamond crossings, probably due to their better design with a spring applying slight downward pressure.

I could be wrong but I take CoN to mean Cock o' the North which does in fact have a 2-wheel pony truck.

@WtD As the saying goes, "one good rant deserves another", or three 🫨

Given that information it looks like you may have a low spot at a track joint. I had a similar problem on my last layout, which like yours, had an incline on a curve. I located the low spot(s) by cutting a piece of flat ply to the approx. length of the driving wheel wheelbase and around 5 mm wider. This I moved along the track in sections pressing down on one pair of opposite corners of the ply, then the other. The diagonal that rocks indicates a low spot. Move the ply by one length along the track and do the same thing and if it rocks again this will indicate which rail is low and requires packing. Use thin layers of cardboard to adjust to the required leveling height. Given that you appear to have used rigid sections of track, then the joints should be your most likely target. As you adjust one joint you may find that this may have an impact on the next joint which will in turn require adjustment.

I had a similar problem with some of my Gaugemaster point motors when using foam board. I got around it by cutting a hole in the foam larger than the point motor and pushing a fairly snug fitting piece of 12mm ply up to the underside of the track from underneath. Mark where the centre of the pin will be and put a directional mark on the ply for relocation. Remove the ply, drill a 10mm clear hole for the pin. Fix the point motor to the ply and push the ply back up into the original marked position. Fix the ply in place with a construction adhesive such as "liquid nails". The ply is then concealed by ballast and other ground cover.

@slowshunter I'm surprised no-one has mentioned it already. To the right of this page there is a box marked "search forum", just like there is on all web sites where you seek information. Simply type in what you are looking for, in this case "ballasting," and take your pick from the many answers that have already been given on this subject. This should be your first port of call for any information you require. The members generally are happy to help, but they do get a little put out by being asked the same questions over and over, when the questioner could have found the answer themselves with very little effort.

Hi Dave welcome to the forum If you look at many of the previous 19 pages of this thread you will see that there have been problems with ver sion 1.70 You need to go to the top of the Railmaster page and download from the 1.70.2 link.

Or you could have done as Eric suggested and saved the pennies as well.

Why can't the track pieces be turned right side up and the bits of the labels visible between the sleepers trimmed off with a sharp knife?

Someone wants to get sticky labels off in General sub forum, someone else wants to put sticky labels on in the DCC sub forum. Is there some sort of sticky label conspiracy going on? All this drama is too much for me, I think I'm losing the will to live.

Here's a couple of starting points. https://picclick.co.uk/vintage-postman-pat-wind-up-train-set-183256051135.html https://www.google.com/search?q=hornby+clockwork+percy&rlz=1C1CHFX_enAU697AU697&oq=hornby+clockwork+percy&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.18093j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

@WtD I think you may have missed this little bit of post.

What a disappointment from SK who has most likely done a lot of presentations and public speaking.

Hi George You say that you are setting up a OO gauge layout. Others here have mentioned the European HO gauge but unfortunately have not alluded to the differences of the scales. You should be aware that OO is 1:76 scale and HO is 1:87 scale which may not seem like much (around 15% difference) but it would probably look quite odd on the same layout. A Hornby carriage for example stands around 50mm above the track whereas a European carriage would stand around 42 - 43mm. However, the track size is the same and European gauge rolling stock will run on Hornby track.

???????????????????????????? Have you gone off topic?

I apologise, I didn't make it clear that you need to click the scroll wheel while the cursor is on the actual text not the ads.

This is the first time that I have seen an article that is at least based on some technical evidence and not just anecdotal evidence so I thought it was worth a run. I use 99% purity from ebay, I bought a 5 litre container. I don't have any plastic wheels, I changed what I had a couple of years ago.

On that site just one single press on the scroll wheel does the trick to full screen and back again, then you've got to step back into the room two paces to avoid being overcome by the text. I could be wrong but your comments seem to indicate that you may be approaching the subject rather negatively, however, now that you will be able to read it better perhaps you will express a more considered opinion. 😆

I've been an IPA user for around a year and I have to admit I have not been overly impressed with the results. I know that many on here rave about it and that was my main motivation for moving from methylated spirit, which I had already moved to from dimpled hardboard. I’m surprised that no one has commented on this web article previously indirectly linked to by Ian from Spain in which a technical chemical assessment of various solvents has been done. I find the table on page 4 of the article a real eye opener especially with regard to IPA. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mrhpub.com/2019-05-may/online/index.html?page=9 This initial article links to another which explains the origins of the dreaded black gunk. https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/3229 I think a can of worms is about to be opened.