irishthump

Thanks, I have downloaded the manuals for both, the only downside to the Z21 it doesn't support consists, they say it will be available soon. I'm only thinking about it at the moment it will be a while before I get one. i want to make sure the one I get will do everything I need as I don't want to change again.

I'll have a look at the Gaugemaster.

 

Cheers:tumbsup:

Does'nt support consists?!!! That's terrible for the price, tbh it sems a bit gimmicky to me.

The Z21 looks very impressive but it's a big outlay at £340! You can get the Powercab for just over a 3rd of the price and it will do everything you would really need.

I use a Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance 2 and I could'nt recommend it highly enough, but it's a little more expensive than the Powercab at around £200.

One piece of advice I would give you is to download the manuals for any system you may be considering.

Looks brilliant! How did you do the walls? Love the programming track with the led.

The walls are 6mm mdf covered with brick paper that I downloaded for free from newrailwaymodellers.com, it looks a lot better when

weathered as you can see.

The brick courses on top are scored in 3mm foamboard painted grey with Halfords primer.

Looking absolutely excellent!!! The walls are very effective at 'anchoring' the scene! Loving the hardstanding - what kind of foamboard did you use?

5mm foamboard from my local art shop, the kind with smooth pressed surface on each side.

Thanks, lads.

Here's a couple more shots...

I also made a start on my freight yard and sidings...

The concrete hardstanding is foamboard painted with a mixture of grey emulsion and plaster which gives a good concrete effect.

I have to make some sort of backscene for the yard to hide the mainline running behind it.

Finally some progress!

Finished the retaining walls around the station platforms...

The kiosk, sandwich stall, bike rack and footbridge were Xmas presents!

The headshunt to the left of the platform is also my programming track which is wired through a DPDT switch.

When the led on the buffer is lit the track is under main power and it goes out when the track is in programming mode.

Folks can we just clarify that it is a 201 model that Signal is having difficulty with chipping here as there seem to be wires crossed as some think the model is an 071.

 

Rich,

Maybe it needs to be moved to it's own thread?

I saw this layout myself at the Dun Laoghaire exhibition last year. My eldest son and I thought it was the best layout there, the scenic work on it was beautiful and I loved the fact it was just a backdrop for "trains to run around"!

To get everything working on a 201 you will need a 6 function decoder or else you could do some rewiring on the loco circuit board

Do even the "faulty" circuit boards work with a 6 Pin decoder do some still need modifying?

Hi

 

I see that Bachmann's 21 pin decoder (36-557) now has 4 function outputs. Would that do for 201's and run the cab lights as well. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the old 3 function 36-554 would work in 201's but that you just wouldnt have cab lights.

 

Has anybody tried this combination.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that would only give you cablights at one end.

Has anybody counted the rivets..?

Did'nt get the chance....

I think only one window frame was in IE colours - maybe two; not all four.

Saw her arrive in Connolly on Sunday and she has 3 windows in the IE colours.

I did'nt use a template myself. I used various pieces of MDF all cut to 50mm width and used those to space all my track. For curves usinf flex track I just made sure not to make the radius any tighter than 2nd radius setrack.

Seems to have worked ok so far!

Had quick look at Colbert on Googlemaps and counted 6 141s in and around the station. God bless Google for not updating their images!

Hi Driver, welcome aboard!

It will be great to see an Irish layout in N gauge.... Plenty of pics please!

Assuming your using OO gauge then the distance between track centers should be 67mm. That is when using normal Peco or Hornby settrack.

The distance can be around 50mm when using more gentle curves and points, but should always check that your longest pieces of stock can pass each other on your tighest curves.

Wonderfully neat work!

Those little "contraptions" as you call them, I imagine the leds are for route indicating? Can you give us more info on them?

Hi, Signal and well to the forum!

Although I don't own a 201 myself there have been documented problems like the ones you are experiencing. Here's a link to a thread about them http://irishrailwaymodelling.com/showthread.php/449-MM004-Chips-for-201-s-problems

I'm sure some the other members can help you out...

You can only program with the pro box and its €200

You can write to all cv's with the Dynamis, but you need the Probox to read them back.

It was around €80 for the four. I wasn't impressed to find they are not programmed. I have the basic Dynamis so I'm changing it for an NCE Power Cab.

But AFAIK you can program CV's with the Dynamis can't you?

You can but then they're the correct lighting patterns to worry about! Maybe I take this too seriously....

Well that's not a problem as you can map the light functions to suit the consist.

fran, just out of interest, if you wanted to doublehead, why not remove the motor from one loco?

You can always set both locos to the same address.

I wonder would he be able to add a manual "notch-up/down" feature to the 071 and 141/181 chips?

Not sure what DCC controller you are using but have you tried resetting the chip?

It's easily done, write a value of 8 to CV8. That might sort the problem.

Like the lads if that does'nt work give Gareth a shout, he's very helpful and will sort it for you.