New Railway Modellers Forums

A fascinating program but better if you watch it on BBC iPplayer as it has better resolution and you can watch it on your TV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p ... ato-siding

SRman wrote:
From memory, there was a bit of space at the front of the boiler/smokebox for a decoder.

There's actually a large slot in the chassis between the driving wheels for a decoder which makes it very easy. I have Lenz Standard+ decoders in both of mine.

I believe the first program contained information that would have pre-empted their 2023 announcements the following day which is why it was pulled. It's on tonight (Thursday) at 9pm.

Pricey indeed - more than double that of what I would call the market leader, namely the DCC Specialities PSXX range.

The loco is fitted with a plux22 decoder plug. This is a very expensive decoder costing about £30. Dose this mean a 21 pin decoder will not fit? 21 pin decoders can be purchased for half that price. Zimo budget Plux22 decoder costs £25 compared to £24 for their 21-pin MX638D so not much difference....

An alternative, although more costly, would be the Gaugemaster relay switch. It's a DPDT switch so could function for two points in a crossover for example.

https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magen ... t/?q=GM500

Short of renumbering some of your locos, which might mean it's no longer representative of the individual loco you bought, how do you mitigate such a scenario of duplication and what numbering methodology do you use? My layout is based on Southern Region 1955-1965 era so my numbering is simple. Die...

Best have a read of this DCCWiki article - https://dccwiki.com/Address_Range which explains 4-digit addressing. Basically, the maximum range is 1-10239 because the two bytes for CVs 17 and 18 only hold hex values from 0-27FF (ie 1-10239) as only 6 bits of CV17 are available plus 8 bits of CV18. Simp...

But my understanding is, where you have say a 5 amp power base, unless you fit a current limiter to each district, you'll be pumping 5 amp separately into each of those districts. And your 1.75 amp rated DCC sound chip will be lucky to survive intact if you get a short at that amperage. What am I g...

The purpose of multiple power districts is two-fold - 1. To ensure a short circuit in one district does not shut down the whole layout 2. If power requirements are large, there is the option for each power district to have its own booster But you have a home layout where doubtless you are the only o...

I find the NEM short pocket doesn't work as the post blocks the back of the pocket so you cannot fit a coupling. Yes I had this problem at first but the solution is simple. Remove the pocket from the post, fit the coupling into it and then replace the pocket on the post. I have used the Hornby-Roco...

I've used these Symoba couplings for all my Bachmann Bulleid coaches. I configure these coaches in fixed rakes with the Symoba close-coupling on the inner couplings with fixed Kadees on the outer ends. The UK supplier for Symoba is https://www.dccsupplies.com/ . The German maker's site is http://www...

You could also use some Wago switches - eg these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403339270498?hash=item5de8e4d962:g:yhUAAOSwk8dhrfLF . One wire from the CDU into one port of 5-way connectors, and 4 ports output. If all wires are of the same size then it's no problem having two output wires of the same si...

But it has been lettered SECR instead of LBSCR. That's going to upset the purists.

Can you read back the values of CV7 and CV8 as these will identify the maker and model.