DiveController

Yea man it is kind of inevitable... !!! Weirdly though I am finding that since I have been dcc , a small section of my layout plus three chipped locos seems to keep me happy rather than vast runs in circles. Something to do with the control stuff...

Suddenly a lot more to do ……and enjoy:-bd

The clip of the triple headed Jeeps was taken at Portrush. The steeply graded remains of the line down to the harbour was often used to stable excursion trains until it was almost time for the return trip, when it was common to need two Jeeps to drag the coaches up the hill into the station. However, if rail conditions were really poor, then three Jeeps were needed. Quite a spectacular sight, and sound.

Anyone know how they were 'controlled', in the sense that why weren't electronically linked in any way? The third jeep seems to be trying a little harder than the two before it with some significant wheelslip although i'm sure they engineer throttled back and controlled that...

The moulds for resin models have a shorter life apparently relative to the moulds used for the cheaper "toy-like" plastic models. This gives the more popular resin models an intrinsically higher value.

Still, if something is selling well, I can't see the logic in not creating a new mould for another batch. The original manufacturer doesn't stand to make anything from high priced sales on eBay.

 

Came across the following interesting shed in my search: http://www.ehattons.com/60728/Bachmann_Branchline_44_173_Brick_Servicing_Depot_320_x_82_x_121mm_/StockDetail.aspx

It reminded me of a similar shed from Lima many years ago., a few of which have popped up on eBay recently.

Nice little shed. Not sure if it's prototypical of something in Irish outline but maybe we can get some replies on that?

Yea I think it is kind of odd that these type of buildings don't get longer runs? Surely they would sell these over many many years. Jesus , hornby were selling the same signal box, goods shed and engine shed for 40 years.....and they were toy models .....

Been selling for forty years because they were AVAILABLE for 40 years. Yup, we've been through the tooling and mould argument too. One should rarely have a glut of product on the market and NEVER be sold out. It's called not knowing your business...

ok thanks folks. i ve never tried a sound loco being only a recent convert to dcc itself.

If you have a loco that is a equipped with a decoder socket, it might be worth swapping one out for a sound decoder to see if you're hooked

Yea I think it is kind of odd that these type of buildings don't get longer runs? Surely they would sell these over many many years. Jesus , hornby were selling the same signal box, goods shed and engine shed for 40 years.....and they were toy models .....

Shssssh! Don't mention longer runs on this site. You'll have a plethora reminding you of the economies of scale, the rising costs in China and that its a minority hobby that you just have to pay up for!

They are HO is there much of a difference in size

I don't know about these wagons, but I had the misfortune of purchasing some Lima HO coaches on eBay advertised as OO. They're noticeably different, by my calculations maybe 30% change in volume or more depending on how you look at the math. Basically they'd be about 14% smaller in each dimension (cubed)…. but the eye can be deceived in many things…….

An excellent clip, brings back memories!

 

The Jeeps were capable of a good turn of speed even with a heavy load.

I was wondering about that. They're going at a fair clip. I though the frame rate was different for a minute, created the illusion of increased speed like in the early B&W movies

What a shame, the money to invest during the Celtic Tiger and no insight for the (now, missed) opportunity:mad:

Ben, you're on a roll today. Another great clip. Really enjoyed that one. Interesting that, prior to cessation of cattle transport by rail, the cattle were still manually 'enticed' to travel rather than being corralled in to the vans, the doors being at predictable distances from each other. Ahh, the Irish way, yet it still seems to be in use fro humans on Japanese rail system. Superb comment

just a quick novice question. To what extent if at all are sound chips automatic ? for example, if i power forward do the engine noises automatically come on or do they need to be switched on everytime?

BK is right, but some of the thread has been devoted to how well the decoder will do this. It seems some sound decoders emulate what is happening with the loco well:trains: whereas others don't respond that quickly to what the locomotive is doing (you don't want the sound of a train at low speed if you have already accelerated halfway down the track, nor the squeal of brakes AFTER you've stopped)

Other points raised concern manual notching of the engine (the ability of the operator to ask the sound chip to output the engine at high revs .i.e. high tractive effort, even when it is at low speed, e.g the loco is trying to start moving with a heavy train behind, or conversely is at high speed but you want the sound to diminish as it is coasting down a grade)

More esoteric points concern the accuracy of the sounds produced for any particular loco, best listen to the gurus on here who have more finely tuned ears than me:disco:.

Shame about the quality, the technology of the time! Interesting look at life only 50 years ago. Interesting mix of As/steam, freight and coaching stock, some Park Royals and laminates, I think.

Looking forward to it, Noel!

I have a number of these coaches from the Bachmann set and coaches sold separately including a number of duplicate running numbers (one of which was in the wrong box when purchased). I'd like to renumber them and was wondering if anybobody knows where I can get transfers to renumber them (green numbers on the eau de nil band)

Thanks in advance

I used a paper backed polystyrene sheeting as underlay before ballasting. It comes on a large roll for insulating a wall before papering it. It has several advantages. 1. A suitable depth of 2 or three mm raises the track nicely. 2. It has sound insulating qualities. 3. the paper backing makes it easy to work with / accepts glue and paint. 4. Super cheap compared to cork / foam etc.

 

I then used a noch ballast spread using the little clear ballast spreader from ... cant remember the name now. will dig up a pic. V. Happy with results.

Always interested in cheaper when you get a chance to post:tumbsup:

PM sent

In practice not unless you were planning 2 or 3 coaches only.

 

From testing I did a few years back only heavy modern diesels could manage 4% gradients. Go with 2% if you want most things to manage it will decent length trains.

 

2% means that you will climb 2 inches every 100 inches or eight feet will clear about a two inch climb.

 

So you'd need a 16 foot climb to get 4 inches off the baseboard.

Yup. Dave got in there before me. If you have space for a loop in the layout or a helix, that will keep your gradient lower. Alternatively, If you can drop the thing you wish to climb over, you can effectively half the gradient/length you need to climb (one climbs 2 inches, one drops two inches= 4 inches clearance)

Just remember you need to pay postage from the US plus import duty when it arrives. The transformer is probably 110V. The others on eBay are ridiculously priced however which is why they haven't sold. They've been up there for months.

EDIT: Just had a chance to read this. If any of you want to bid on this, the quoted post if for US GROUND. You will need Intl. AIRMAIL which is more expensive FROM the USA then in the reverse direction. This is an outsize item, so to avoid coronary occlusion you should get a shipping qoute from the seller BEFORE you bid, not after as suggested by the seller!!

You need closed cell foam, cut it to width you can taper the edges by cutting a block of wood at a 45 degree angle and screw on a blade works a treat. The preformed foam breaks down over time so stick with the closed cell pu foam.

I buy from here

Thanks, Dave! Good tips

Yes, once ballasted the sound deadening properties of the foam is lost. But there is a way around it, if you cut the foam much wider than normal then ballast without the ballast touching the baseboard that reduces the sound considerably.

I guess I was thinking of the preformed foam that fits between the sleepers, so do you use just a sheet of foam that is cut to width and do you taper off the edges eventually wide of the ballast? and how do you taper that edge, and what foam would you recommend?

Questions, questions.....

this is an interesting topic that has come up before,. My vested interest is that I am trying to design a layout and will inevitably have to ballast it. Foam insulates well against sound but I think that someone stated (probably on a previous thread) that this sound-proofing effect is lost once the PVA glue on the ballast dries and establishes a rigid layer that transmits the sound back to the baseboard (now, I don't know if anyone has stuck an audiometer on there and measured the noise in decibels so it probably worse to some extent but maybe not as good as before ballasting)

Not this particular coach. More here Dive ... http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/793-Travelling-Post-Office

Interesting thread, Glenderg. I knew there were TPO's but have never really seen many pictures of them. Not sure that the model on eBay looks much like this, sprayed green with the flying snail stuck instead of a P&T. Seems like the catchers were not a big feature on the Irish TPOs. I wonder if they stop took most of the main stations to let passengers on and off and collected that way instead of by catcher on an express, even though I know would've been all sorted en route. I wonder if anyone on the site has modeled some more authentic versions of the Irish TPOs?

Did this ever actually run in Ireland or even up north?:confused:I thought this was a UK only coach?

Hi lads,

Would anyone of ye have a reasonably priced donor chassis for the Silver Fox A Class Locomotive? Despite many mods to the original supplied chassis (with pancake motor), the loco is still running erratically, a Hornby railroad Deltic might do the trick if anyone has one to sell.

 

Thanks in advance, Tommy.

Cosmetic defect will not affect the chassis you need on this one

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Bachmann-32-525A-Class-55-Deltic-The-Kings-Own-Yorkshire-Light-Infantry-/390965704761?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item5b075f3839

Could this traffic be enough to warrant the reopening of the Waterford - Wexford line? It would open up a scenic corner of the country without having to travel back up the East coast line to Dublin, or having to bus the passengers between Wexford and Waterford.......

I doubt they'd maintain the line for just one train…… there reason it's shut is they don't want to run anything else on it, if you se my point.

:SORRY:Shattered dream, I know