Signal Post

(Edited version in italics). Don't think so, that looks to be from Griffith Ave, as far as I know (and as stated above) the entrance to DFB Training Centre is on Malahide Road. Just looked at it there on Google Street View and it shows it clearly enough, (drove past this afternoon just to check). The entrance is directly opposite the gates to Mount Temple (the show venue) on Malahide Road. Be aware that Malahide Road is a dual carriageway so entry to the DFB Training Centre is only possible heading towards Malahide ie travelling away from the city centre, for those coming from M50 etc head down the M1 towards Whitehall, keep going until Griffith Avenue (a large tree lined road), turn left onto Griffith Ave and keep going straight, past large white church on left hand side until you come to a large chicane (s bend) (trees straight in front of you) and go left there onto Malahide Road and the entrance is a short distance up that road on left hand side. Hope this helps.

@jhb171achillI am sure that you probably saw it already but @Irishswissernie posted a photo last saturday of just such a van on the UTA system, in full living techicolour (especially the rust!)

Love this, it is absolutely brilliant, wonderful storyline and video, loved the nuns sitting on the side of the loco. Well done Patrick

Ah, a classic.

"The Lads" are in Wexford this weekend at the Wexford Model Railway Club's show! I wish I was there too as they always put on a good show there, but alas work gets in the way this time. Enjoy the weekend.

I see what you mean about the second video, in fairness I was really giving it welly in that one and the unsecured track on timber without any underlay is probably not helping. I ran one of the original batch (2013?) on the track just now and it sounds very similar to the new one and at very low speeds I would say that they are both comparable to the MM 121s. I also have the iPhone quite close to the loco, from a normal hearing distance (say 2ft) it doesn't sound that noisy. But the stamp collecting might be cheaper!

Hi @derek, that noise does not sound normal to me. For comparison purposes I have uploaded a few clips of my new MM181 class (by co-incidence the same number) and I think you'll agree that they sound very different. I too have run mine in for 30 minutes in each direction but there was no appreciable difference in sound before and after. It sounds to me like your replacement loco has the same fault as your original one. One or two folk on here have suggested various repairs that you might attempt yourself which is fine if you have purchased an oldish second hand loco and have really no other option to make it work, in this case you have purchased a full price new loco with a warranty from a reputable dealer and manufacturer so if it were me I would definitely get back onto IRM for a further replacement or repair. In fairness I have found both IRM and Murphy Models (via Mark's Models shop) to be very good for warranty repair or replacement in the past IMG_8620.MOV IMG_8621.MOV IMG_8622.MOV Hope these are of some help.

Thanks for that Jonathan, I can feel my appetite being whetted!

Nice pictures @Broadstone. Can anyone enlighten us as to what the type of wagons are nearest the camera in the bottom photo (The Royal Canal 1961), would they be horse boxes?

Just looking at the photos above it doesn't look like you have a huge amount of space for wheels etc. How about some metalwork (which we can see that you are adept at) representing the leaf springs, just the tops of the wheels, top of the axle boxes and some surface treatment of the ground in front of the shed to give the impression of a platform edge?

They're coming along very nicelyI As regards ground signals it's not unknown for some exhibition standard layouts to include non-functioning ground signals, the small size of these compared with the much larger signal arms means that the fact that they don't move isn't terribly noticeable, however the presence of the (fixed) ground signal does add to the overall impression.

Having seen the wonderful results of your labours on previous locomotives I'll be following this thread with keen interest.

Just a question David (@David Holman), in reading the text above and referring to the diagram I wonder if you are have inadvertently swapped platforms 1 and 3 in your thoughts?, The explanation seems to make more sense if platform 3 is considered as the bay platform (adjacent to the siding) and platform 1 as the up platform. Anyhow I'm glad you did put this up as I was going to post a diagram myself and you have saved me some work! btw my suggestions would have been somewhat similar to yours (great minds etc...!)

It was great getting the opportunity to see this wonderful layout today having seen so many photos of it here on the forum and to meet with yourself (Patrick), Alan and Kieran and receive some great modelling advice. A very enjoyable day out. Thanks.

Didn't manage to make it to Bangor today after all. Got up early and went down to the kitchen for breakfast only to discover the small matter of a leaking roof.......! Hopefully all sorted now and planning on getting up there tomorrow so hopefully will get to see Brookhall Mill and finally meet @Patrick Davey and @Tullygrainey.

Best of luck at the show. I'm really looking forward to seeing it tomorrow having followed its construction etc. on the forum.

Had same problem, not able to order using Firefox, but worked first time on my iPhone. Looking forward to this model.

What a shame, you missed a great talk. You were even mentioned in dispatches!

Have you considered using adjustable feet to raise the height of the legs? The type shown are what I am referring to, the great advantage of these is that they can be adjusted very accurately with ease rather than trying to get the dimensions spot-on for wooden blocks etc. I have obtained some from Station Road Baseboards in the U.K. a good few years ago (pre-Brexit) and more recently at the Squires stand at Warley (www.squirestools.com). The screenshot is from their "Tools and Materials" Catalogue, p367. I'm pretty sure that they will dispatch to points outside of the realm.... Hope this is of some use.

Thanks for this detailed explanation Jonathan. I know that there are many on here who will already be familiar with the situation and with the history of the RPSI/IRRS/DCDR having been around and either involved in or following the events described above, but there are also many others, including myself, who either were not active railway enthusiasts in former times or in some cases had not even been born. It is very useful for us to gain some insight into the wonderful work that has been done and indeed continues to be done by a very dedicated few who work tirelessly in the interests of Irish railway preservation. Thank you.

I saw this appeal on here last night, it is a terrible disaster for the good folks at the DCDR and indeed for any of us who value this wonderful heritage railway. I hope that they manage to raise substantial funds to help out with repairs to the huge amount of damage caused. In the nature of this forum if members aren’t commenting on the topic (ie making replies) then the topic tends to drop off the list of recent posts, in addition if the topic is located in a group of topics (eg News, Irish Models etc) which includes a popular thread (such as the Hatton’s 6 wheel carriage thread) then it won’t appear on the home page either. I know that you are all aware of this but the reason for my post is just to bring the appeal to the attention of members, I am sure that many of us on here would wish to make a generous contribution but may not even be aware of this appeal. To this end if members could post an occasional reply it would help keep this topic to the fore and hopefully get the word out there. Finally I have no connection with the DCDR myself but I would wish all those involved the best of luck with the appeal and I would like to express my admiration for the wonderful work that they do on this marvellous heritage railway.

I came across this video on YouTube, nicely put together and may be of interest to some on here.

Hi Jonathan, Given that A12 works ok with the Lokpilot decoder that would indicate that the loco itself including wiring, motor etc is good. Since the sound functions (of the Lokpilot) are working that means that your decoder is in contact with your controller and would point to a problem with the decoder itself. There shouldn't be a compatibility issue between the Digitrax controller and the ESU decoders since they all work to a common protocol. The likely problems with the decoder are either a fault in the decoder itself (hopefully quite unlikely given the symptoms) or a problem with one or more of the CV settings. I would suggest that you put your loco on a programming track, put the controller into programming mode and read the value of CV2, the value should be something fairly low (I normally use a value of 2 for the A class and I think the default value is 1). I have seen this CV take on a value of about 153 (I can't honestly say that I didn"t inadvertently programme that in, but I don't think I did!). If CV2 has taken on a value way above normal the effect would be that the loco won't move until the speed step is brought up to over half way (ie if you're using 28 speed steps a value above 14) at which point the loco will take off at breakneck speed! Changing CV2 back to 2 would cure the problem if that is the situation. If you don't have a programming track etc handy, you could try putting the loco on a rolling road or a continuous loop (oval etc) and winding the speed up in order to see if this is the problem, however BE CAREFUL if doing this on a shunting layout etc as the loco may start off at high speed....

Yes your video above (125 and A3R) are playing perfectly. Enjoy the benefits of DCC, I personally think that DCC sound is great on shunting type layouts.

Delighted to hear that you got it sorted.