Charlie 66

Hi Smithy, I'm a newbie and I know there are plenty of very knowledgeable modellers out there who can get technical for you. For what it's worth, I've got about 55m of TT gauge track and am using an Elite running 5 loco's plus 34 point motors and associated LED signals off micro switches with no issues for me. I am using a separate bus circuit for all accessories (Street lights etc). Going up to 80m I'd definitely create at least 3 power zones - which also helps against shorts.

I've been using a mix of TT and N gauge low profile for backscene work. The n gauge is close enough to enhance forced perspectives quite nicely.

Yeah I searched for slip blocks but they seemed to go in 0.1mm increments to around 8mm then only 0.5mm increments. Anyway, I'm now waiting on a pin gauge I've ordered and Trigo seems to be running fine now with the glued down pickups - apart from occasional jumping of the infamous front bogie. We'll get there.

Thanks Rallymatt, I found your video which was very interesting. Unfortunately not the cause of shorts with Trigo though as it's been happening on straight tack sections too. However, the good news is I believe I have resolved it this morning - the pickups were catching somewhere around either the wheel axles or chassis - presumably having got slightly out of shape during that first 30 min run in. I have glued down the length of the pickups to their plastic casing so only the ends bend out to the wheel rims and it seems to have done the trick. I will be doing the back-to-back wheel alignment on all rolling stock when I can get a suitable tool around 10.35mm.

Thanks, it's going to be a long-term thing, which is fine. About 15ft long.

So, after a couple of months work I have a functioning albeit not finished track. I've now started some modelling on the layout to mix up my activities a bit. Sadly one of my 2 loco's is causing problems short circuiting so I'm in the process of discussing a repair with Hornby. In the meantime:

Thank you for your feedback, I'll be more careful next time!

Hi, Thanks for your reply, it is the Hornby fitted Next 18 TXS decoder. I've not used the app yet, so I'll have a look at that. I did notice CV 19 had changed to 019!! I'll rewrite that to 000 and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.

Hello all, I'm new to the hobby and decided to dive in on a brand new TT gauge layout. All good so far! However, I'm getting very frustrated with the whole DCC set up as I can't seem to get it working consistently. I'm using Railmaster through an Elite controller. I got to the point where I have laid a large oval of track with sidings and decided to "run in" my brand new A4 "Falcon", partly to ensure the track was ok and also to get a locomotive up and running. I renumbered CV1 to 001 and lowered the sound volume onCV158. - again, all good so far. So off "Falcon" went for a 30 min run at half speed forwards - I turned the sound off after a short while. However, at the end of the 30 mins I tried to stop the loco with the Railmaster screen control and nothing happened, I tried the sound and nothing happened and I had to lift the loco off the track! I then shut everything down and restarted and not only was there zero repsonse from the loco, but the slider control on the Railmaster screen only showed shunt speed or max speed. Having slept on it I have tried again and basically the same thing is happening. The loco sets off, but after some time it seems to go "autonomous and just keeps chuffing along with no control commands being received. I have no idea what's going on here - is it me - have I missed something or is there a faulty product in there somewhere? Thanks in advance for any guidance.

This is brilliant thanks so much for your help, this is really all I was looking for and hoping Peco Tech Support would provide. I do have a multimeter, so thanks to your help I can now get on with wiring.

Hello everyone, Grateful for some help - I'm new to all this and am trying to instal Peco twistlock motors with microswitches for a new layout. The physical installation is straightforward, but I need help to understand the wiring. I'm using peco unifrog turnouts and Hornby accessory decoders. I want to connect the frogs to keep them live and ideally synchronise a associated signal, which I believe is possible with the microswitch. The basic diagram that comes with the microswitch does help me. I contacted the Peco technical support and they just sent photos of said diagram!! can anyone point me towards a diagram a newbie could understand please? Thanks in advance.

Great work! I'm soon to embark on a TT build from scratch myself. Baseboard timber arriving next week and then I can get to work. This will be a return to the hobby after nearly 50years and I finally have the time and space for a decent layout. Bit shocked at how expensive everything is, I can remember being given the Hornby 00 gauge Flying Scotsman as a Christmas present in the mid '70s and it cost £25! What a different world we live in now.

Great work! I'm soon to embark on a TT build from scratch myself. Baseboard timber arriving next week and then I can get to work. This will be a return to the hobby after nearly 50years and I finally have the time and space for a decent layout. Bit shocked at how expensive everything is, I can remember being given the Hornby 00 gauge Flying Scotsman as a Christmas present in the mid '70s and it cost £25! What a different world we live in now.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm going to do it and hope to start my own story on You tube to show my journey from empty space to full layout.

Thanks - I think I'm going with it and it's good to hear some other views about the situation.