New Railway Modellers Forums

Just curious, why does it need two diodes per set of LEDs? Surely a single diode will block reverse current?

I've got a basic understanding of electrics but by no means an expert. I didn't think that you could use a resistor on multiple led's but this morning connected an old pound shop string to a 12v supply using a 470 resistor and yes they worked fine. That's good news for me as I can run all the light...

.... I'll give it a shot using a resistor, not a problem if it doesn't work but if it does it means I can use one power source for all the lights rather than having to plug in the battery pack too. Dave A resistor will work, it's simply a matter of knowing what value resistor. If you calculate what...

A neat idea, but there's one thing I'd like to clarify about the diagram: Even though the three resistors are given different numbers, I presume they're all the same value, depending on the operating voltage and the LED characteristics. But if the LEDs have different characteristics (perhaps differe...

Like Flashbang I can't help with IC2 length, but I can tell you that servo leads can be quite long if necessary. I use servos in my RC model aircraft, as well as for my points, and in my aircraft the leads can be maybe 4ft long. When extending them beyond the supplied servo lead length I use heavier...

I hadn't heard of decoders resetting themselves. IIRC there was a wrong point setting which caused my controller to trip out, but it was one of the other locos, not the Deltic. I didn't check to see if the Deltic had reverted to address #03 but, as I mentioned before, when I re-powered the layout ne...

Thanks for all those tips guys. Lead, or tungsten, shot and superglue seem like the simplest.

Just a note in case anyone else has this problem: Yesterday my N-gauge Deltic was running around my track for quite a while, as my wife had expressed an interest in how to operate my railway. In the meantime I ran several other locos to show her how it all works. At the end of the session I parked a...

I normally cut it with a Stanley knife I don't have an anvil to make it thinner, but I suppose I could cut off thin slivers about 1mm thick and then cut them into suitable lengths.

Thanks Bigmet, lots of points (sorry!) to consider there, I'll check them all.

Good point about the wheel bearings so, whatever I do, I'll take it easy. I've got some lead flashing which I use for ballast in my model aircraft, but it's about 2mm thick (1 foot in N-gauge terms!) so will be quite prominent. Is there a common source of thinner lead sheet?

All of my N-gauge rolling stock (Dapol and GF) is very light, and sometimes derails when being pushed over points, crossings or slips. The obvious answer to adding a bit of weight to open wagons is to put a load in them, but what do you do about closed wagons and carriages? I'm thinking to drill a s...

Certainly tape them off or attach them to a terminal block so they can't get snagged accidentally, as Dad-1 has said. If it suits the shape of the layout I would suggest making the buss wires a continuous loop with both ends connected to the power supply. Maybe overkill, especially if your wires are...

Thanks Bigmet. There's no 'screaming' so, as you say, it's more likely the gears, so I'll pay attention to them. The main culprit at the moment is a GF class 37 where the the gear trains are easily accessible and replaceable.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to get instruction re. general loco maintenance? My kit is all GF and Dapol N-gauge. I'm reasonably competent at cleaning wheels and pickups, and lubrication, but I'm particularly concerned that some of my models sound like they've got gravel in the transmi...