Rallymatt

It’s amazing how good the 66 looks in the retro large logo livery. Anyone modelling blue era could pop that in and it would look right at home. Creative modelling 😁

RailTec do numbers that are quite easy on an 08

Ahhh the basis of the ‘Ant & Dec’ tower blocks overlooking St James Quay 🤣 These are great for getting height. Like many buildings, blocks were made to fairly standard designs so fit in anywhere. I did a bit of research of Newcastle tower blocks to find the pale yellow finishes. Glazing and a back sheet to give impression of an interior make a big difference on these, I did some lighting in various flats too, still need to knock it back a bit with another resistor. I wouldn’t get too hung up on very specific detail of what locos and stock ran where and when, particularly as the range is limited even though it’s growing. 99% of hobby has always been running trains people have or like in more or less convincing situations. The layout size lends itself to that high rise urban environment of the Midlands 😁

Ha ha That was in my head ….. maybe it will be a future project 😁

It can’t have gone unnoticed that Hornby has been upgrading all of its control systems. And so is every other major manufacturer 😳

HM DCC is at its heart regular DCC. If you have a suitable device to support the App it’s well worth using for any changes, vastly superior to programming tracks and a row of confusing numbers. I still use a regular DCC system for running. All works really well. I know you are not far away, happy to show you if you wanted.

Very curious glitch. Well worth dropping George at HM DCC team an email. For you a replacement it’s probably most useful 😁

This weeks moving picture offering is now available to view https://youtu.be/TJr4Ft01cC4?si=BDKSZUej_ZOd4mOJ

Who knows maybe the growing interest in TT across Europe may spark a US revival in the scale. I’m sure for many US modellers the same advantages would apply, I’m sure the majority of Americans don’t live in a place the size of ‘SouthFork’ 😁

Getting the bits together can be a bit of effort and some expense but then you find as you do more modelling, you keep going back to the same things and so the cost is spread over a lot of enjoyment. I find rocket card glue best for Metcalfe kits and superglue on the laser cut wood ones. If you check out big craft stores like Hobby Craft and general hardware places you can often get better deals on things that more specialised shops, but always check out their prices too, there can be bargains😁

I am sure on a video presentation there was a comment that the Hornby PB had bespoke circuitry to allow use with HM DCC BT decoders and others should not be used.

Absolutely agree with @ColinB that a stay alive really only needs a couple of seconds of life to get across a tiny problem area. A stay alive should never be a replacement for curing poor track connectivity. I stopped watching Sam after the debacle of poking a screwdriver into a decoder, the other stuff is drama but lack of basic electrical knowledge told me all I needed to know.

Hopefully it will inspire and give people a starting place for their own track plan. 😁

@BritInVanCA the tunnel mouths are just too tight in unmodified form for TT:120, the other one is the footbridge kit but that’s not their best in any event. There are much better footbridges available

As I have some continental Diesels on High Fell and the odd wagon I did allow an extra bit of clearance just in case Hornby TT:120 didn’t match expectations (its way exceeded it) something I allowed for which often gets overlooked was station platform clearances at the cross over for the run around. Even on the longer Peco points overhang is something to check. The rods on the 08 poke out quite a way and I had to trim a bit off my loading dock.