Sven-E

Don't know about that decoder. The problem with the Dapol semaphores is the momentary switching as you mention. There are some fixes for this. MERG has a replacement PCB that changes the operation so you can use a toggle switch. You need to be a MERG member for this and capable of soldering SMD components. I have converted two of these signals so I can testify that it is not too hard to build. I have seen a kit that uses a toggle switch as input and does the momentary connection for the signal when the switch changes. I think this was from Heathcode, but I am not sure. Problem here is that the unit can get out of sync with the switch. Dave Fenton of Megapoints produced a Youtube video where he replaced the motor part of the semaphore with a servo. Then he could control the semaphore from his servo controlers and get a nice bounce effect.

I have used break fluid to great effect. However some other people have reported that it affected the plastic. As mentioned above, different models need different treatment. Start with something weak to be on the safe side and if that doesn't work, go to stronger liquids. Sorry I don't have enough experience to rank the various liquids.

Thanks for all the pictures from my original country. You mention the passport control at the Danish border. This came about during the mass immigration wave a few years ago. There were lots of screams when Sweden and Denmark wanted to introduce passport control and thus violate the Schengen rules. I was actually surprised about the passport control at the Danish border as I thought the passport control was only at the Swedish border. Interestingly there is no check when you go from Sweden to Denmark.

This industry practice seems to have changed over the years and not recommended anymore. The problem is possible breakage at the end of the tinning, as you already mentioned for soldering cables together. There is also a potential problem with the tinned copper that it shrinks over time, thus making screw terminal loose. Retighten now and then, just like IKEA furniture.

Thanks Robert. One tip is this video from Megapoints Dave who converted a Dapol semaphore to servo. I like his simple method of just gluing the servo to the bottom of the semaphore base. Makes it a single unit so you can lift it off the layout easily. Join the MERG Irish Area Group on Sunday for some more advice.

Nice! What do you use to move the wing? If servo, what servo controller do you use?

DC or DCC?

Great stuff Nick. This is how I want to see operations on an exhibition layout.

Great to see Paddy. Have you decided which sensor to use? Have you tried them on real track to see how they work? I had the same problem as you describe with black under sides that didn't reflect the IR beam. A problem with the photo transistor is that you may want to adjust the threshold in case you have extreme brightness in your room or if the room is dark.

Thanks again for sharing. Sounds reliable. Looking forward to the real thing.

Thanks for sharing this clever thing Paddy. Just a thought on this now that I understand your circuitry. What if one of one of the reed switches misses a contact. Say that the entry switch doesn't register the magnet when a loco comes in? Then when the train passes the second reed-switch it will turn off power at this point. Then you are out-of-sync and when the next train comes over the entry reed-switch it turns on power on the crossing track. I do hope your modern magnets are more reliable than the ones I used in the past so you don't get into this situation.

Much better to connect the wire from the frog (the V) to the point motor polarity switch. This guarantees that the polarity is switched correctly. If you use a separate switch and your point blades start to work again you run a risk of short-circuit if you don't flick the switch exactly as the point changes.

Excellent. Lots of activities for the viewers and more to come when you get further. What software do you use to control the layout?

Thanks Paddy. Then I understand your motivation. Yes, the IR sensor needs some driver transistors. I am planning sensors for my layout and looking at different options, including track current detection. For IR sensors I look at kits that provide the drivers so just need to plug them in just like your reed relays. I am a member of MERG and get good and cheap kits that way. The Arduino community has a lot of simple sensors that are easy to plug in to an Arduino (as you mentioned yourself) or other solutions. You can get these quite cheaply too. And while I am at it, I did have some problems with the IR sensors. Simple IR sensors are affected by the ambient light in the room. When it is dark you need to turn up the sensitivity and in bright rooms you need to adjust it again. Some kits have an IR LED and the sensor gets the reflection from the under side of locos and wagons. No problem with ambient light but a lot I discovered that a lot of rolling materials use some plastic that does not reflect IR light. I am now looking at a new technique where you have only an IR sensor in the track bed and then another IR sensor somewhere else that only measures the ambient light. Then you compare the result of these two sensors. Sounds promising but not finished yet. Also interesting to see the characteristics of the reed switch and its double pulse. Shouldn't be a problem for you as you use latching relays.