Noel

Superb. Love the colouring and weathering.

Perhaps they may be permitted to reposition the empty train if it has no pax and at low speed. Pity they don't get to travel over the Barrow bridge. An awesome piece of railway engineering.

OK, that sounds positive, the decoder is working. As BosKonay suggests try it on a short piece of track wired directly to the DCC system just to rule out wiring issues. Only tonight I've discovered some of my crossings are causing brief shorts when metal coach wheels run over them. I will have to 'depower/isolate' the crossing rails unless in use.

Well I'm very much still in the learning process myself. Got an old Hornby Pannier tank sorted with a TCS T1-LED decoder. These old Hornby locos with X04 motors have the chassis grounded with the motor, so needed to isolate the second motor bush pickup. Not much space inside, so fitted the decoder in the coal bunker. Will make a proper fitting coal cover later. Just discovered my ancient Hornby BR blue class 37 and its rake of BR Mk2s coaches won't run over Peco code 100 points. I probably haven't run this loco or coaches since I was a child, so will have to replace the coach wheels with smaller depth flanges and machine down the flanges of the diesel bogies. She was a nice runner so a shame to retire her without trying.

Excellent pics & very interesting subjects. Thanks for posting. What camera/lens do you use?

Got a 25yo BR Class 25 diesel done today, and in the middle of converting a 30yo Hornby GWR Pannier tank (TMS 9pin). Put a Digitrax 126D in the old diesel and wasn't satisfied with the running, but then read up a bit more on some of the CVs that assist older motors and wow what a difference it makes with settings like pulse frequency and BEMF - all new to me. A different loco! The more I learn about setting up DCC decoders the more I realise how very much I have to learn! Enjoying fiddling around with locos, soldering iron and wires again after such a long break. A good service and DC test run seem essential before fitting decoders. Four done, more to do! Got three cab bus sockets wired up around the layout with RJ12 crimping tool and some cable.

I know what you mean. Give them 5 star food, wifi, roll out the red carpet and provide limousine transfers instead of mini buses and they should be happy. Fitting warm lighting into the coaches instead of cold blue led or filament bulbs should add to the ambience, and utterly immaculate loos.

Great idea for a holiday for those interested in train journey tours. If the Cravens are dressed up a little inside with linen and table ware and carpets it's amazing how a coach can be improved (i.e. like CIE charter trains of the 70s). Mind you at the advertised price a 10 day cruise in the med might look somewhat enticing for a holiday.

Does the loco run on 12v DC with the decoders fitted?

Hi Richrua I thought 21 pin decoders just plug directly into 141, 181, 071 motherboards. Not sure what you meant about wires being soldered, there shouldn't be any wires to or from a 21pin direct fitting decoder? Cheers Noel

What a great read and unique idea for a layout. Classic. The HBA website may have some useful marine info http://www.heritageboatassociation.ie/cms I know a few of these guys quite well if you ever fancy a ride on one. They come into Dublin en mass every spring. One of their bugbears is the severe operating restrictions at the notoriously renamed "effin bridge". Many spend the rest of the year on the river Shannon. Rambler passing under newcommon rail bridge on the royal canal.

I can tell you with a degree of technically informed certainty that the best camera is without doubt, the one in your bag right now and the one you know how to use right now. Be content with what you have and don't catch gearitis - its a plague that eats into railway modelling budget Snap away till it breaks.

Old thread, but just by way of update, the decoder was dead and replaced no problem by the retailer. It now works a treat in the 071 in DC Analog or DCC mode. For DCC, I went with the NCE Pro Cab 5amp system, and so far happy with it. A few software annoyances on the cab user interface, but the overall system does what it says on the tin quite well. The physical ergonomics of the hand held cab is quite nice, combining speed buttons with the optional rotary button. The built in RS232 interface enabled iPhone use as Wireless cabs running WiThorttle app linked to JMRI on laptop plugged into the NCE. The RS232 port, JMRI and WiThrottle has potentially saved me a lot of cash because now I dot nned to buy wireless cabs nor additional cabs.

Hope you found the exploring process fun. Our WIFI router is downstairs and through a 9" block wall (Apple Airport Extreme), but the signal upstairs seems good enough for the iPhones to operate without a lag or missing soft key touches. Agree with you about the tactile feel of a knob v screen vision. However in my case a wireless cab setup would cost an additional €145 for the base transceiver and another €165 per wireless cab, and NCE is no where near as expensive as ESU or Zimo. The phone gives me an inexpensive method of walking freely outside the layout to view traffic, or inside. I will probably buy one more wired cab with a rotary knob for shunting in the main terminus station. The iPad could operate as a fixed central base station operating four throttles for the four continuous loops. Good night.

Thank you

Good pal LJM dropped over Wednesday for a look at JMRI and WiThrottle in operation. Certainly the iPhone app is way more useable especially for functions with English labels than any cab I've had a chance to play with so far. For example, how is one supposed to remember that the 8 key is for a cab light on a keypad? With the app the function buttons are labeled in English. Bye bye wireless cab sales.

Yes the little circuit plate on top is a blank. Carefully remove so you don't bend the pins I used a wooden ice cream stick to gradually prise it upwards one side at a time. Before you remove it, note the orientation and place the 21 pin decoder in the same orientation. Its easy to try and mount it upside down. The pins on the loco board are meant to go through the holes on the underside of decoder circuit board and not directly into the socket (ie the pins end up in the socket but after coming through the decoders pcb holes). One of the holes is a blank to assist orientation.

ROFLMAO

Awe Please no 'Canikon' debates, lets leave that to the 'fan buoys' on DpReview It's just like iPhone v Android - They are not a religion, just consumer electronics that will collect dust on top of a wardrobe soon enough. Seriously, which ever system folks start with is the one they tend to stick with because of lenses acquired along the way. Canon and Nikon are equals on the DSLR patch.

Looking great. Is it made of paper card or plasticard, or both?

Thanks for the info. That's a really nice crisp shot for ISO 1600, and that 35mm 1.8 is a cracking good lens. The 18-105 is very versatile and not too heavy for travel. You have a fabulous library of railway scenes. Getting into a good position visa-vie early morning and late evening light must be tricky with limited access to rail side property. Love your shots.

Excellent photos. Do you mind me asking which camera/lens combination you normally use for such railway photos?

Thanks guys. Great advice.

Building layouts is a bit like gardening. It is a never ending but enjoyable, and needs a lot of maintenance.

This fantastic Dave. Where did you get the 'negative ion generator'? Was it out of an air purifier? So glad I searched this forum for 'static grass'. Having watched some Everard Junction videos, static grass seems the way to go. The timing of this is great. Where do you source your static grass material?