New Railway Modellers Forums

Thanks for taking time for that explanation. So my box is going to get a full complement of levers, some with cut down handles, and quite a few painted white. BTW, just out of interest, what was the issue about not getting a two-handed grip on the levers operating modern equipment? Was that simply t...

That's an interesting insight stuartp. I had thought that all motorised points and colour light signals would be operated from a remote control centre, or is that only the case when there are no mechanical signals and points remaining? So my box could be controlling all the points and signals, of wh...

Thanks Jim. Yes, I'll make a brick relay room to go with it.

I'm in the process of assembling a Ratio signal box to add a bit of interest to my N-gauge layout, and the kit provides a lot of internal detail. The box will be located at a junction between my main line and a branch line. The main line is deemed to be to modern standards, with colour light signall...

Yes, if you use a LED with a resistor in series the brightness will vary in relation to the voltage applied. Not many ways to avoid this with DC. You can minimise the change in brightness by using a current-limiting device such as an NSI50010 LED driver instead of a resistor. That'll limit the curr...

I've used Lenz silver mini decoders in all my N-gauge dcc-ready locos, including a Dapol Castle and Grange. All of them were as easy as Paul-H has said. My only issue was with my Dapol 0-6-0 tank where the decoder is slightly visible in the cab. I painted the visible bits matt black so they're not o...

Lenz is the only system I know, and it has a socket on the back of the control unit for programming purposes. So, a piece of track with two wires soldered to it, and a plug on the end to go into the programming socket, is the simplest way for me. It goes in a drawer when I'm not using it. With diffe...

From Wikipedia: " United Kingdom The standard height for platforms is 915 mm with a margin of +0,-25 mm.[5][14] On the Heathrow Express the platform height is specified at 1,100 mm (43.3 in) .[15] High Speed 2 is expected to be built to dimensions conforming to the European Union technical stan...

How long do you want your test track to be? I use a loose piece of track about 18" long, with wires permanently soldered to it, with the appropriate plug for plugging into my Lenz controller's programming socket. Anything more than programming, and a short forward/backward test, I do on my layo...

I moved from OO to N-gauge a few years back and, using Peco code 55 flexible track and electrofrog points and crossings I've never had a derail since I corrected the gauge of the front bogie on one of my Dapol locos. One key to reliable running is, of course, to have a good solid base for the track;...

I converted from 00 to N-gauge a few years back, so that I could get more-realistic train lengths and track curves within my limited table area. I also switched at the same time from analogue DC control to DCC and, contrary to fourtytwo's experience, I've found it to be an eye-opener! In particular,...

I suspect that they built the prototype and then realised that the (white) LED would not work on 3.3V since its forward voltage is higher than that. They should of course have used a yellow LED to get proper oil lamp colour which could run from 3.3V with a resistor. White LEDs that I have experienc...

. . . . You should be able to operate the signal on a voltage as low as 6V DC if required to reduce the brightness to sensible levels. While the LED is run from the supply voltage via a 820R resistor, so brightness is dependant on supplied voltage, the 'works' is powered via a 3.3V regulator, so an...

Most of the posts I read in the link were quite old, so maybe Dapol have improved the reliability now. I suppose, if the worst comes to the worst, I could remove Dapol's actuator and electronics and somehow attach a standard servo, of the type I've used for all my points.

Yes, the light was quite bright enough (too bright?) on 9v DC. It stands to reason the lower voltage -- so long as it's enough for the signal to work -- should cause less heat, so 9v DC is what I'll use for both my signals, in the hope that they'll last longer than those of many contributors to the ...