Martin S-C

Thanks SRman, that helps a lot. I got the *114 address enabled now as a long address, so that solves the problem. I am not sure what was happening before when I couldn't get "0114" to be recognised but its working now. Thank you to everyone for your kind help. Case closed!

If that is going to be an issue then I'm in trouble as I have several pairs of short turnouts making crossovers in the design... usually in goods yards so we'll have to see about that. If only some stock items are affected it may be easier to not use them. I have a few spares. There is the same reverse curve in V.1, only it's right at the station entrance where freight trains will be shunted. In V.2 the dodgy crossover is the loco release and will very rarely see any stock propelled over it. I can certainly try that. I've got a couple of inches to slew the approach track as it crosses the room's lifting flap. I'm just hoping I can keep the general shape of the trackwork interesting rather than mostly straight from the entry to the stop blocks.

Thank you very much Ron, that explains a lot. The magical 128 addresses! I should have guessed. I wonder how Nick G can do the change I cannot? I hope he gets back to us with more information. In the meantime my 101-120 range will have to be 1010-1200 it seems.

V.2 (today's effort) leaves more space for the earthworks than v.3 (green lines) will. There is some foreshortening going on in these photos I suspect. The run round loop is only 20", about 24" if a train stands on the turnout that accesses the carriage shed. However my two branch passenger sets are both 18" or under in length and the daily goods will only be ~4 wagons plus brake. Its unfortunate then that I like them a lot! Apart from the double curve which is not so railway-like, V.2 fulfills all my requirements. I'm going to leave well alone for a few days, go back into rumination mode and perhaps other ideas will arise.

Thanks Colin, I don't have classes but a range of steam locos from a fictional railway company numbered from 101 to 120; 201 to 220; 301 to 320; 401 to 420, etc. These are their cab numbers and it would be great if I could use these as the addresses.

I'm happy for you! I cannot. Perhaps you could let me know your step by step process. I'm following the manual exactly and its not allowing me to do it (no leading zero). Try giving a loco a long address of 2309, saving it, then changing it to long address 114. I would really appreciate it if you can actually do it and what steps you used EXACTLY. I have been trying for about 2 hours and it really won't allow me to make this change.

I agree it does. I made the V.2 layout with a curved turnout at the station throat. If I swapped that for a curved one for the engine shed road (see red arrow) I might be able to do this.

A 3 digit address is the short address? Not the long? Interesting, I will try it. Thanks. I have locos with the short address as the default 3. I can type in a NEW 3-digit LONG address on these. My question really stems from why a 4-digit long address cannot be changed to a 3-digit long address.

Thanks for the replies, but maybe I wasn't clear. I have locos with 4-digit addresses. I no longer use 4-digits and want to use 3 digits. However the system does not seem to be able to change a 4-digit address to a 3-digit one. Putting in a leading 0 makes no difference - the loco does not respond. I have a loco currently numbered 2309 and want to change it to 114. This seems to be quite impossible unless I use 1114 or 1140. 0114 does not work. Has anyone else encountered this weirdness?

I tried laying loose lengths of tracks around but it was next to impossible to slew the existing layout nearer the edge without coming up with the second plan. The station has only one siding, the outer track nearest the baseboard edge in both cases, which parallels the platform road. The two short roads that kick back towards the station entry are the engine shed road and an engineers siding where the company crane wagon will be stored. I thought it would be acceptable to curve the one siding in order to follow the platform road - the aesthetics of two parallel curving roads is appealing. Of course in the real world, unless there was a pressing reason to keep that road close to the platform, it would have swung off away to allow access to both sides of it. In the model there isn't that reason other than the benefit of how it looks.

On a brighter note, today I got the exchange sidings laid. Reasonably happy with these; the shortest is 48" long and the other two 60" withe two spurs totalling another 50" so plenty of room for stock storage. I made a straight section on one road so the Peco loco lifts can be used. Just need the turntable installing now. Apologies for the mess; these really are WIP shots.

I have sat beside the Witts End board and ruminated over it for a few days. There were a couple of issues with how I had laid out the track - first a big area of unused board at the front edge of the layout and secondly very little room between the end of the carriage shed road and the stream. My plan suggests a small bridge here, stone arched, giving access from the village centre to the station with a small cottage on the station side of the bridge - but as the track was laid out there simply wasn't room for anything bigger than a Hobbit hole dug into the stream bank. I have therefore pulled it all up and relaid it. I used a curved point at the station entrance and swung everything more towards the front of the board. This fixed both the problems - still plenty of room at the front for the small coal depot, loading bank and provender store with a good deal more room at the back of the station for a field below the railway embankment. The carriage shed siding end is now a good bit further away from the stream. The problem is the station trackwork doesn't seem to look as balanced as it was and doesn't flow so well. What do people think? Before: After:

That last one is a nice little train.

I find the Sultry Purple and the Hot Baby Pink work best.

Hi all I have several locos programmed with 4-digit addresses and want to change to 3-digit addresses, The problem is my NCE PowerCab doesn't seem to like this. Any 3-digit address I plug in is accepted but the loco fails to respond. Does anyone know if this is a known issue? Thanks.

I'm curious to know what method you do intend to use. I am leaning towards a normal "morse clicker" switch to communicate with other signal boxes but the closed switch illuminates a lamp on the other control panel, rather than ringing a bell.

He was four years late for the psychedelic summer of lurve but that is still a fairly far-out poster. Love the colours and the trippy expressions on the engines. I wonder what fuel they were using?

I agree with this assessment of the Rapido model, it really is superb in every way. I have two and the detailing is second to none. Its motor and gears are one of the smoothest mechanisms I've come across. They also have plenty of room for sound as well, if that's your thing. I am following this new venture with interest Tom. I have stashed away Knuckles' photos of the SR pattern van and the 6-plank open in NW livery so that I can paint and letter models of these for use on my own fictional line. The NWR is a really fascinating "prototype" to study and model because, as you and Knuckles say, there is so much supporting information, plus its just plain good old fun. The reason I model fantasy lines is to balance the serious side of trying to model British prototypes accurately leavened with a spoon or two of whimsey and humour.

That look superb.

Awesome Kevin, thank you. The LED strips are about a metre above the model, is that about right?

I would try a wash of various rust colours there, maybe a fairly bright orangey tone first which you should wipe off with a lint-free cloth, or sponge, then maybe a black or sepia over that, also wiped off. Its all about experimenting until that eureka moment happens. The trick is remembering the recipe that got you to that point!

Chris - I need to remark on what lovely neat baseboard tops and edging you have. The minimalist approach works very well with the lack of scenery in that shot.

A question from a numpty - what does "LoS" stand for in signalling parlance? I only know the military acronym - Line of Sight.

Sorry to be a pest Kevin but can you specify the new LED strip colours again please? You used two didn't you, Daylight and Warm Daylight - is that right? What lumens are they and what manufacturer? I presume the LED runs are stuck on the layout-facing side of battens above the viewing area? Is it possible to let us see a photo if the LED strips in position? Thanks very much.

Have a trundle around Google images Chris at colour photos of railway track and you'll most of the time find that rusted rail in use is the same dark grey-brown colour you have used already. I don't think it needs more. Brighter, more orangey rust tends to appear on unused tracks where there isn't a constant deluge of general grime moving about the area. Coal stage is looking a lot better now that its grimy too.