Noel

Thanks, will look forward to that, and yes totally agree about 'octopus'. The LokSound and Zimo chips I've played with can play up to 8 simultaneous tracks, BUT I've never used more that two at a time (e.g. engine sound + one of: horn, or brakes, or curve squeal, or guards whistle, or station announce, etc). Haven't Bachmann also announced some sort of low cost sound system as well?

Great to hear this. A little bit of weathering and those 'railroad' models could look as good as any of their fine scale counterparts. Anyway few folks over the age of 40 have eyesight good enough to notice the difference between fine scale and railroad models. (e.g. HD v SD on TV for the over 40s makes little real difference). If you get a chance please post a video. Would like to see how the steam sounds match speeds, especially things like coasting. Does the TTS decoder support brake sounds, curve squeal, etc? If it does the days of €120 sound decoders are numbered.

PM sent this morning

Hi Guys, what type of board do you mount your back scenes on? e.g: 1/4" Plywood, 1/4" hard board, etc, or more modern light weight materials such as the white plastic honeycomb board used for conference, marketing/exhibition posters, election posters, etc? Thanks in advance. Noel

Looks like a great project to sink your teeth into until the shed is sorted. Nice track plan too. I'm interested in the points because I hate the idea of controlling points by typing silly numbers into a key pad, but love the idea of also having analog lever switches to control the points even if DCC is the means of transmitting the change of states. Lever switches offer the playability and tactile feel of a signal box, and most importantly visual feedback as to how how roads, points and signals are set. Having a few clusters of point lever switches like a mini signal box also has the advantage that they can be sited near the yards they will control. I see you have a turn table, is that for steam ops, or for turning future 121s? If the former, could I suggest considering direct access to the TT without having to enter the shed, or route via an ash pit (e.g. end of day steam loco shunted to ash pit for cool down and servicing, before recoaling, rewatering and returning to shed ready for next days service). Anyway looking forward to seeing it develop. Like the spur for modular hookup.

Thanks Rich. If you can forgive my ignorance, what is 'clear'? Cheers, Noel

Interesting. I'd forgotten about the shiny glazing. Don't notice anymore, but the blue seating has to go.

IMHO, the old Lima is not worth the bother as it is a poor runner. If a Heljan chassis could fit a Silver fox nicely that is the way to go. My pair of old Lima 33s already in CIE livery are such hideous runners, I'm not going to even bother converting them to DCC. Off to the attic collection for both of them along with the BR mk1s in CIE livery, except for two that I'm going to convert to GSVs.

Hear hear. I'm not a rivit counter myself.

Very nice indeed Geoff. Some fabulous scenes and a noticeable 'SAR' theme that looks great. All you need now is a simulated derailment with SAR services in attendance!

Just discovered, the earlier livery MM CIE cravens (i.e. single white strip) do not have the fluorescent blue seating. Very nice coaches and look just right with a black 141.

Well I don't follow soccer but that goal was insanely genius, so gets my vote. Good on her.

Seismic

Thanks. I was a little disappointed with the older bachmann 36-554 as they were supposed to be better than the newer 36-557 which some hornby controller users had mixed results with.

Hi Dave. I presume you mean the Hatton's ones. Do you know who's or which product they really are (i.e. rebadged)? I've now tried Lenz silver, Bachmann 36-557, Zimo MX644D and Bachmann 36-554 decoders in MM 141/181 locos. The cheaper Bachmann 36-554 does not seem to run these MM locos anywhere nears as well as the other three, and has a very strange power curve. The Lenz and Zimo seem by far the smoothest and quietest, especially at crawl. Its possible I'm not getting the best out of the cheaper Bachmann with its 'out of the box' settings. I've experimented with a few CVs but no significant change in behaviour. The Bachmann 36-557 is not bad at all though. Anybody else had success with various Bachmann decoders in MM141/181s?

HI CGA FYI, MM1515 and MM1504 Cravens in early CIE black'n'tan one white strip livery are recently back in stock with most retailers. The Model Shop Portlaoise and Mark's models both have plenty in stock. Noel PS: I think MM1149 (1st class CIE early livery) is also back in stock

That's excellent info John. Thanks for such an informative post.

See here: http://www.irishfreightmodels.com/index.php/2015-releases.html Looking forward to these

Well even with my lexdisia it reads a lot like "supertrain" Whatever they are enjoy. Happy Christmas & new year.

Interesting I have eight Lima CIE (ex BR mk1s) in black'n'tan livery, the models are circa 1978isn, but run OK on my peco 100 track. I was wondering about rewheeling to reduce shorts on the crossings.

Enjoy. The loco shed is looking great.

Hi Dave, thanks for posting. That's a nice blast from the past. Wrenn was fabulous gear and the top of the pile back then. The fact that the locos were metal and seriously heavy gave them amazing traction, and they felt and looked like real steam engines. One of my great modelling regrets as a child was selling a Hornby-Dublo 'Cardiff Castle' loco to one of my school teachers in an effort to fund the purchase of more track work. The larger tender locos had the original 'ring field' motors on a long shaft with very good gearing for their day. The motors were nearly 3 inches long. They could start at scale speeds and also crawl at low speed, wheres Triang and early Hornby locos started with a jolt at scale speeds of 25mph. I think it was 'Evening Star' that was Triang-Hornby's first foray into tender drive locos with their plastic ring field motors. I remember Triang track work was o'rrible and oversized compared to the finer scale Hornby-Dublo track. Cheers. Noel PS: Did lines brothers sell off Wrenn or Triang?

Unlike fashion, models can have a long shelf life as they tend to be current for a long time.

Hi Dave. Like you I'm not a fan of real 201s, but I do like that livery and we've travelled quite a bit behind green/silver 201s in mk4s since our RTA a few years ago, so had to get one and very glad I did. Looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting stuck into making a start on the scenery in the next few weeks. But for me the baby GMs double heading is what they did so well on passenger and freight work and look great on the scaled down confines of a layout. Noel

Wishing you all a very special and peaceful Christmas celebration. Noel