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.

Paddy, Thanks for sharing this and making good videos. In the early postings you had pictures that showed that you were using IR sensors. Later you use Reed relays. Why did you switch? Were you not happy with the IR sensors? I am asking because I had problems with Reed relays. Well, rare-earth magnets have improved things since then but still not fully reliable. And you have to mount a magnet on the locos. With IR sensors you don't need the magnets and it senses the whole length of the train, not just the loco. Cheers / Sven

If you want to find more on that Swedish tram, search for "Halmstad Nässjö Järnväg ångvagn". "Ångvagn" means "steam tram" This link is a google search for images. https://www.google.com/search?q=halmstad+nässjö+järnväg+ångvagn&sxsrf=ACYBGNTBWS75lRUcj7nj5Qp4aAaQTXygfg:1580855966559&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjnqM-y-7jnAhWBsHEKHWj7B2UQ_AUoAnoECAsQBA&biw=1600&bih=790

CV5 is the max speed. My decoders (also from CT) have CV5 set to 255. CV6 is the mid range speed. Should be set to 50 or something between CV2 and CV5. If you change CV29 to 6 you enable it to run in analog mode (if supported). If this works, then you can see if it runs faster this way. Or even better, do you have the blanking plate to replace the decoder? Then you can really check how the railcar works by itself. Hope this helps.

The Dapol semaphores are controlled by a pushbutton to change its position. The pushbutton shall connect two yellow wires. Each time you press the button the semaphore changes position. The Peco point switches have a momentary contact at each end of the lever movement which makes it difficult to use here. There are several solutions out there to allow a "lever effect": There are a few commercial kits that allow an on-off switch to generate the momentary connection the semaphore needs. Simple solution but the unit may get out-of-sync with the semaphore. MERG has a kit to change the behaviour so that a single yellow wire is controlling the semaphore. Connect this yellow wire to an on-off switch. A fiddly solution as you need to replace the built-in circuit board. It can be done. I have done it twice. The Megapoint guy has a video showing how he replaced the existing mechanism with a servo. Then he controls the semaphore with his Megapoint controller which even allows him to get the bounce effect.

Drove past Malahide Casio today. Since last time I was there they have put up a nice sign saying "Coming soon".

Excellent map. Good for exploring sites and details of stations for inspiration.

Looking at other forums this seems to be good news for Fleischmann. This event allows them to transfer the burden of 600 pension plans to the state. Supporting 600 pension plans in a company of 33 employees is quite taxing.

Thanks MikeO for sharing the photos. GSR800: Yes, you can make it as big as you have space for. The North Down show in Bangor allowed us to set up a really big layout with a length of 30 foot. Modules came from many individuals and clubs.

Just got a tip about using ordinary document tape which is much cheaper. This advice comes from an very experienced modeller in Sweden. I haven't tried it yet as i only got the advice a few days ago but want to share it.

Nice job. Looking forward to the Raheny show. Won't have time to contribute myself this time but hope to join in later.