dBerriff

Amateur radio enthusiasts still care about interference. There are a few left, including my brother in law.

The aim is to keep a DCC decoder powered when there are short breaks in the supply. This can happen most commonly on the insulated frogs fitted to Hornby points. I think that an 08 should bridge the gap but my not fully run-in 08 does not always make it. The situation is most serious with Bluetooth control as it can take quite a few seconds to restore the connection.

I had this happen but, from memory (Rob will confirm - or not), Browsing the profiles then you can did let me update or re-install the existing profile.

Yes Amlwch line and the line kept open post-Beeching for the Octel works in Amlwch. Unleaded petrol did for that too in the end so the station is now overgrown and more of the infrastructure rots away every year. I have my childhood memories of what was probably a Jinty shunting in and around the station yard. My first primary school was at the top of the mentioned outcrop.

I never stop learning. I would have hoped basic testing would have caught it - but perhaps they do not test these things.

Who would have guessed that this would be a point of failure? You have every right to be flummoxed.

What were they thinking? As this is a family website I will refrain from further comment. http://www.photographers-resource.co.uk/A_heritage/Windmills/LG_WLS/llangefni_windmill.htm

RailModeller Express is proving to be invaluable. This is a real "why didn't I do this before?" moment. I want to be able to split the boards along the E-W axis. The track does not cross this centreline except where the TT8011 quarter-track sections are shown. These will be cut in half (eighths!) for the join. I will either solder to brass screws or try the ModelTech joiner. RailModeller has helped me avoid straying over this joint. The diagonal track orientation leaves space for scenery. I do not intend to fit in Rutland Water even though I rode around it on track or road many, many times. There might be a windmill on a hill. There are still working windmills in Rutland and my home town of Llangefni is dominated by the remains of a windmill on top of a rock outcrop. Sadly this was just a stone ruin in my childhood and to add insult to injury it now has a "cap" on top to house radio antennae. Perhaps we can do better.

To comply with suppression regulations?

This is the current thinking - subject to change of course. Hornby part numbers are shown - I hope they are readable as I am experimenting with media sizing. No curves under 3rd radius - I prefer to avoid the smaller radii. 4th radius proved to be impractical. Layout will be DCC with liberal use of droppers/feeders to not rely on points blades and fishplates. Locomotive control will be by HM7000 direct or through the Dongle/Hornby Elite. As I have a computer science background, point/turnouts will be operated by servos controlled from one or two Raspberry Pi Picos connected by WiFi. If I can get MQTT working as a protocol then the aim is to use JMRI to set the routes - but that is for the future. To start with I will use HTML forms with virtual switches as I already have the software for that. Region - fictional given the current choice of wagons and carriages, plus the Settle to Carlisle architecture. If I can give it a Rutland-ish ambience (we lived in Oakham for a few years) then I will. The ECML does run through the East side of Rutland. Through station in the SE sector for the big express locomotives and a tiny terminus in the NW sector with a run-round for whatever small locos are released. I might change the latter for a small industrial siding. Aim of positing: to show what is possible in the indicated space, but without over-complicating the track layout.

Thread drift. When I was 5 or so I remember travelling to Liverpool on the Crosville bus from Llangefni. At Conwy we had to get out and walk across the (Telford) suspension bridge so the bus did not exceed the weight limit. This is right next to the historic "tubular" bridge (Stevenson). I was home the night the Britannia bridge burnt down - we drove out to watch that magnificent structure destroyed. But Llandudno and Conwy - there is so much engineering history in that small corner, and you get a castle thrown in for good measure. That is one bit of heritage that has not been destroyed by design or neglect. Thread drift over.

I think I will give up, right now! That is ridiculously impressive. My Welsh grandfather was a BR guard, based in Bangor, and he would have worked on some of the trains mentioned.

Kapton tape insulates electrically without trapping too much heat. As a non-sound decoder less heat is generated anyway. You can always put the tape over the chassis rather than the decoder. For Hogwarts Castle (Hall class) I then just blue-tacked the decoder to the (plastic) tender body under the water filler. A year or so later when I replaced it with a HM7000 decoder it was still held in place. Black-tack is stronger than blue.

@Rallymatt yes it would. I have the Peco points I need in OO gauge so where's the matter-transformer when you need one? 🫤

I happen to use a Mac mini but I'm sure there are good planners for those of you who suffer use Windows. I don't know about Linux.

A big thank you to MacTrains for letting us know that RailModeller Express includes Hornby TT:120 track. Without marking out the sections with ruler, protractor and accurate curves it is all too easy to distort the track to fit (guilty) - and this is not just for Hornby set-track. Those early scare stories about TT:120 track inaccuracy were just silly - I have found the track consistency to be excellent. The only problem has been my optimism in trying to fit too much in. RailModeller has helped me come up with a plan that actually fits the baseboard. While I remember, this is an almost overwhelming resource for real-world track plans: https://signalbox.org/track-layouts/by-railway-company/ If you think we modellers sometimes over-complicate our plans, take a look at Llandudno Junction.

There was a station yard between the goods shed and station. The layout is all too square-on at the moment but I do not track joins across long-axis baseboard join. I might try to squeeze in an extra siding but the Hornby points are quite long. You cannot see it in this picture but a road bridge dropped down from right to left at the far end of the platform. But yes, time for a re-think on what is possible. Copyright of the image duly acknowledged.

The reason for the diagrams is to show that 3 coach trains are quite easily accommodated in this space. I could not find kits for the station building and goods shed that I liked so I gave in and bought the resin buildings as a bit of a luxury with 15% off. They do look good to my eye and Settle to Carlisle architecture has never been so popular. Platforms will be laser-cut; the In The Greenwood range looks ideal. Now I have thought about it a bit more, I would like a run-around past the goods shed so that the heritage 08, immaculately restored in DB colours, can be kept busy. This will need a right-hand point and so what have I got spare? Left-hand points.

Those coal wagons look small, but still believable.

I am keeping it simple. The baseboard will be set up as two halves along the long axis so I can easily move it out to the garage when we have visitors. I gave up my idea of a twin-track oval and have settled on single track, mostly 3rd radius curves with a few 6th radius. With hindsight perhaps I should have started with Peco track but the Hornby track is easy to work with and I would not want to put any beginners off using it. It has also brought a bit of discipline to my planning. Roughing one half out, 440mm wide.

Sorry, I cannot offer a solution but only describe my own experience. I have not tried using my Select with the App set to Select, but only my Elite. I need to read up on this in the famous manual.

That matches my experience. My initial problem with switching to DCC was not realising that using long addresses in the app does not set up the CVs for DCC to work with long addresses. Easily solved. The decoders are susceptible to momentary power loss. At least a stay alive will fix this, if you can find one and find space for it (TT:120). We need a smaller, reduced capacity stay-alive for smaller locomotives and the realities of less than perfect track (speaking for myself).

How many people do we think there are in the world who could develop this software? DCC has evolved into an awkward set of protocols as the original concept was extended. The Bluetooth LE specification runs, I am told, to a few thousand pages. It is a small market. I doubt there are ready trained developers you can hire on contract. Ok, Hornby chose to enter the market. The reality is that things will be ready when they are done. But amateurs? Be thankful that this has been done at all. And in the UK.

I like the system including the Dongle, but then I have no intention of using DCC to control accessories. The roll-out is a bit puzzling - where are the stay-alives? They are the least high-tech component. Also a non-HM7000 decoder will have to be used in my TT:120 Class 08 on a DCC layout. But overall a thumbs-up from me, especially for OO locomotives. As for being conned, under distance-selling laws you can return the Dongle for a refund. Hornby support is excellent.

Non-leaded solder is now the norm and many will tell you it is nothing but trouble. I have seen excellent results using non-leaded but it does need a hotter iron. Antex irons seem to work ok and it is easy get replacement bits for them. I have a "made-in-China" temperature controlled model and that works well but I don't have high expectations for its longevity.