Noel

Hi Dave. Cheers. This pic from Page 1 of thread showed the track work in the station mouth. All the BR big four rolling stock is now gone, its all black'n'tan and orange, no more GWR, LMS, LNER.

Love the signal. Presume the LED is under the baseboard with fibre optic running up the post.

Looking back. Step 1 - Transpose track plan Step 2 - Dry fit track and general arrangement Step 3 - Test Lay track Step 4 - Lay track on track bed - 3mm closed cell foam Step 5 - Ballast track Step 6 - Weather track Step 7 - Scenics and landscaping - add some small details Step 8 - Let people in Step 9 - Drive trains

Seems daft for what in truth are Toy trains, that will one day eventually be re-run with better specs, so collecting 1st gen models now will devalue not appreciate. This seems like a repeat of Lima 201s all over again and you couldn't give those away now even as a door stop.

Is it on the passing loop around the outside of the station building (ie the old access road to the former goods yard)?

Looking forward to delivery of D6704 whenever they are ready. Will be a nice replacement for steam locos to haul my BR stock (ie especially ex-LSM stock).

I've no idea why, but for some reason I never developed an interest in buses. Some fine models available these days. I generally don't put roads on layout scenery so little need of vehicles. However a tractor in a field or a truck in a goods yard adds visual interest. I've a pal who collects trucks and buses and has made amazing display cases for his collection.

IRM A class A23r thunders through woodvale junction bound for Kingsbridge hauling the 1974 'Bundoran Special'. IMG_1505.MOV

Birds eye view of the yard Busy yard below, wagon loads installed Agri supplies and builders merchants generated a lot of traffic The wagon loads I made from airfix kits about 50 years ago.

Bump. Looking forward to this. It will be my first exhibition as an exhibitor. Bringing Gort. 12 days to go.

See you at the big Wexford show so. Fantastic venue and rail is a handy way to get to Wexford.

Delightful atmosphere

As Graham has suggested modelbahnshoplippe (https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com) is the best pricing on blank ESU decoders. You will need a LokProgrammer to program and upload a sound project yourself, or buy a commercially available sound file from the likes of wheeltappersdccsound and burn it yourself onto blank decoders. But for the Fx you probably only need to connect it to your DCC programming/test track so you can adjust CV values and mapping. modelbahnshoplippe is euro and bypasses any brexitistani delays and costs by avoiding GB retail channels. The sound files for 071 and 201 are free from ESU's own website library as are other US EMD variants that are suitable for 121,141,181 but you'll need your own horn, guards whistle and flange squeal recordings to make up an Irish sounding baby GM. Graham has done a lot of work in this area.

Looking forward to this

@BosKonay Hi Stephen. Just wondering when the IRM A class Crossley engined sound decoders might become available to purchase. I've some lovely green, silver, and black livery A classes in need of a run on the layout. I'm not good at making silent layout movies The existing EMD ones sound great on the later livery CIE/IR A class locos. Thanks in advance. Noel

Another photo op today. Opps need to paint that P&T letter box green.

Anyway first world problems The driving characteristics of toy trains.

They are not terrible, the sound is actually good, they just lack prototypical driving characteristics. Not like driving a real train. But that's a personal preference thing. I just find them boring to drive compared to the skill needed to stop a scale 70mph train at a signal or station platform after coasting and braking to a gradual scale like halt. The 071, 201 and 121 decoder projects all drive pretty much the same with minimal inertia, no coasting nor need for manual braking. They are like driving an EV using regen braking to slow down by lifting off the throttle pedal rather than having to actually use the brake pedal. 1960s and 1990s trains never behaved like that, they took considerable running distance to slow down and stop. Skilled drivers could judge the distance and level of braking and coasting required.

Looking down the line towards Athenry Cattle time - two cattle wagons loaded ready for next passing goods train to pick them up

http://www.wheeltappersdccsounds.co.uk/styled-5/index.html Best quality and most realistic driving characteristics for 121, 141/181, 071 and 201 are from Neil at Wheel Tappers. Much better than the vanilla ESU desk jockey efforts they produced for manufacturers including MM. Driving a model train that lacks coasting and braking seems a bit like a broken pencil - pointless. LokSound V5 decoders have ESU's latest 'Full Throttle' software, but the MM ESU sound projects don't use such features, not even throttle hold. I've been using their decoders for some years, and they make driving even more enjoyable. PS: If you have a LokProgrammer, you can buy blank decoders direct from Germany (€94) bypassing brexitistan customs fees, and burn wheeltappers projects onto them yourself with Neil's help.

Yes I've been adding weight to the wagons that will run on Gort to comply with NMRA guidelines and make shunting more reliable Had some spare roof lead flashing so cut strips off it and glued it into wagon interiors to get them to recommended 75gm weight and improve reliability of magnetic uncoupling and coupling up. The extra weight avoids axle shuffle when passing over the large hidden under track magnet. Tests showed almost 100% perfect coupling and automatic uncoupling behaviour with the added weight. Some RTR wagons are nearly half the recommended weight.

Started adding cosmetic point rodding from signal box. Its very very fiddly.

Thanks, relieved it worked out, runs reliably and smoothly. I can run a loco at speed step 1 anywhere on the layout without any stalling or juddering. The extra work for electrofrog points and cobalt point motors paid off.

Some time lapse added to make video shorter - delayed automatic uncoupling using one under track magnet. Edit updated video

Just curious to understand how the brakes and notching are properly managed on a train. I get the basic controls seem to be: Throttle notch controls 1-8 Direction lever Loco Braking Train Braking Watching old IRRS and RPSI videos of cab rides there seems to be a sort of choreography of nudging the brake handle and notch controls, just curious to know what's going on and why. It seems obvious very different to driving a HGV.