SRman

Another gratuitous photo of the two Andrew Barclays: the red one is in service hauling the preserved rake of SECR birdcage coaches, while the blue one (shorn of its "C crest R" markings) rests in the siding with the blue Peckett behind. Andrew Barclays in Service by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr The second Wickham trolley arrived at the same time as the ABs, but was only converted to DCC yesterday, using a CT Elektronik decoder hard-wired in, Learning from the experience of converting the previous trolley, I cut the decoder wires shorter to ensure that all of the new soldered joints occurred within the base of the trolley passenger unit. As before I added soldered wires from the pickups to the decoder black and red wires, but retained all of the Bachmann wiring from the motorised trailer this time. As before the PCB was removed altogether, but initially I retained the support arm on the chassis, until I realised it was interfering with my attempts to thread the decoder and wires back through, so it got the snip in the end! A test on the programming track revealed all was well, and it was allocated an arbitrary number 24, to follow on from the earlier trolley which carried a number TR23 on its body; the new one has no such number, but I may add one simply to make identification easier for visitors to the layout. I tested each pair of carrying wheels for their pickup properties, and found that the leading pair weren't picking up properly to power the motor, so tweaked the pickups carefully to fix that. With the earlier conversion I managed to trap one of the pickup tags and bend it over double, and, while I fixed that at the time, there was still a similar problem with lack of pickup on the leading axle, so that also got some attention. I can report that both units now pick up electricity from all available wheels. Wickham Trolley with Wasp Stripes by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Here's a link to the Bluebell Railway pages - scroll down to the bottom: http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/cw/MOQUETTE/1960s.html

I would have thought the grey-based 'Trojan' pattern would have been used, as on other Mark 1 stock, including some of the BR(S) electrics. However, that is only a guess.

I'm just a computer bot? Why is it I am always the last to know these things???

To all those I have sent into therapy with my little joke, I apologise. To all those therapists who have gained a heap of extra customers, I expect my kickbacks very soon.

Not off-hand, Jack. However, I also put it in its own topic in the DCC Fitting Guides - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/95131-dcc-fitting-a-Bachmann-lord-nelson-with-split-chassis/

We chucked them in the bin when Peter wasn't looking!

My CR one is now a bit more anonymous, after a session this morning with some T-cut. It will eventually gain some number and name plates, becoming #14 in my fictional industrial fleet. Both this and Katie (soon to be #15) will gain girl's names starting with 'A', but I haven't decided which will get what name yet. More plates are on the way from Narrow Planet, though, giving me more choices. Hattons Andrew Barclay ex-CR by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

My CR one is now a bit more anonymous, after a session this morning with some T-cut. It will eventually gain some number and name plates, becoming #14 in my fictional industrial fleet. Both this and Katie (soon to be #15) will gain girl's names starting with 'A', but I haven't decided which will get what name yet. More plates are on the way from Narrow Planet, though, giving me more choices. Hattons Andrew Barclay ex-CR by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Just a suggestion, but if you buy the photographic grey one, that would be an ideal candidate for the display cabinet/shelf, so you could swap the works into one of the other unpowered models and get the best of both worlds.

If it's of any consolation, the Caley one will actually lose the CR insignia eventually - I mainly wanted the blue livery. Come to that, the Huntley & Palmers Peckett was supposed to lose its lettering, but Hornby did such a great job with that I haven't been able to bring myself to apply the T-cut ... yet.

More of the Andrew Barclays, this time lined up with the Hornby Pecketts for direct comparison. The ABs are straight out of the box (apart from decoder fitting), whereas the Pecketts have been renumbered and named, had etched plates added, a little weathering applied and two have crews added. Hattons Andrew Barclay and Hornby Peckett Line Up - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Hattons Andrew Barclay and Hornby Peckett Line Up - 2 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Hattons Andrew Barclay and Hornby Peckett Line Up - 3 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

I had two parcels in the mail today, when I got home from work. One was from Kernow Model Railways and contained my second Wickham trolley from Bachmann. The DCC conversion will await a time I can do it in daylight. The other parcel was from Hatton's and contained my two Andrew Barclay locos. Before DCC fitting, I ran them on DC analogue on the rolling road ... together! The photos show them both running in under power - the blurred wheels and motion demonstrate this. Hattons Andrew Barclays on Rolling Road - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Hattons Andrew Barclays on Rolling Road - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr After this, I fitted the CT Elektronik DCX75 decoders I had freed up for them, and tested them again. Both ran very smoothly and controllably.

I had two parcels in the mail today, when I got home from work. One was from Kernow Model Railways and contained my second Wickham trolley from Bachmann. The DCC conversion will await a time I can do it in daylight. The other parcel was from Hatton's and contained my two Andrew Barclay locos. Before DCC fitting, I ran them on DC analogue on the rolling road ... together! The photos show them both running in under power - the blurred wheels and motion demonstrate this. Hattons Andrew Barclays on Rolling Road - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Hattons Andrew Barclays on Rolling Road - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr After this, I fitted the CT Elektronik DCX75 decoders I had freed up for them, and tested them again. Both ran very smoothly and controllably.

A case of safety being more important than authenticity. I well remember how cars were even in the 1960s with drum brakes all round; get them wet and you basically had no brakes at all. I also well remember as a child growing up in Crawley, going out annually to watch the veteran cars on the London- Brighton run.

For a long time I have had a Bachmann N class 2-6-0 loco in Southern Railway olive green livery sitting in the drawer, waiting for me to convert it to DCC. I have already done two BR liveried Ns, using Digitrax decoders (a brand I'm not all that keen on). In every case, the decoder has had to be hard-wired to the motor, replacing the pcb that sits next to the vertically mounted motor in a rather tight space in the firebox of the loco. Digitrax DZ123 and DZ125 decoders fit nicely, although in hindsight I should have opted for TCS M1 decoders. Anyway, now I have a source for the absolutely tiny CT Elektronik decoders here in Australia, I have purchased a few for these difficult jobs that require small decoders to fit in very limited spaces, so the SR N has been fitted with a CT Elektronik DCX74 decoder and runs very nicely. The slightly larger DCX75 would also have fitted. The DCX74 has a rating of 0.8amp continuous, with a 1.5amp peak, which is more than adequate for the N. I have owned a set of three of the beautiful Hornby Maunsell coaches in SR lined olive livery, and purchased two more at a swap meet last Thursday, an all-first and an all-third. The Bachmann E4 in LBSC livery looked quite good on this set too when on test after a decoder swap, but the N, No. 1829 was really the loco of choice for this rake. I did have some difficulty with the lighting for this relatively darkly coloured train. Note also the similarity of the green shade used for the Hornby MSC Peckett 0-4-0ST. SR N class 1829 and Maunsell Coaches - 5 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr SR N class 1829 and Maunsell Coaches - 6 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr SR N class 1829 and Maunsell Coaches - 7 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

This mod is still on my "to do" list. I did carry out the mods (from the original topic, if I remember correctly) to the pcb to actually get the cab lights working and switchable from the decoder. That involved cutting the tracks and soldering connecting wires from the decoder pins (on the pcb) to the resistors in line with the cab light connections.

I'm not a fan of the trans-Atlantic styling, but the models capture it perfectly, with great detailing. The lighting looks very good too.

Guilty as charged!! I have some if you want to try it. Just remind me to bring it along to a suitable meeting. Bring a cocktail stick or toothpick along, and some jumper leads to get the wheels revolving.

Nice pic of her you sent me last night. I was hoping the Bachmann 36-568 decoder could be persuaded to fit into the AB, possibly with slightly shortened pins, but in view of yours and others' findings, I have just spent a pleasant half hour swapping two 6-pin CT Elektronik DCX75 decoders out of my two Bachmann E4 0-6-2T locomotives, replacing them with the Bachmann decoders I had intended to fit in the ABs when they arrived (not here yet, for me!). The E4s run nicely with the Bachmann (actually Zimo) decoders, but we'll have to wait and see how well the CT Elektronik decoders work in the ABs. I recall that I had to play around with the BEMF settings on them to get the E4s to work properly.

LMS livery is the one I have never actually owned! You are quite possibly correct as to their nearest prototypes, but I always thought the bolection mouldings around the windows most closely suggested GWR origins, although I don't think the roof profile wouldn't match any GW prototype I have seen. I should add that I am not an expert on either of those railways' rolling stock types. I would agree with Adrian, above, on the corridor versions resembling Maunsell stock, although, once again, they were nowhere near accurate for those.

You have to untangle the coupling hooks from your jumper!! That's usually my problem when I can't put them down. The Farish coaches, while entirely generic, are actually quite presentable for a number of uses. I have a lined olive set of four like those in the photo, and very nice they are, too. I also used a set of LNER teak, GWR chocolate and cream and one someone had painted extremely well into BR blue as London Transport pseudo-Dreadnought coaches to go with the Heljan ex-Met Bo-Bo electric loco, although I'm still experimenting with shades of brown on those. They aren't accurate for any given prototype, and are probably wrong in every possible detail, but look good in almost any of the colour schemes as representatives of 'typical' non-gangwayed stock, at least from normal viewing distances.

No sign of the ABs but the crews arrived today in the post!

Newer Hornby 4Fs have locomotive drive chassis with decent motors, and are DCC-ready (8-pin). I think they were moved to the RailRoad range as well, but still aren't particularly cheap to buy. I would guess that the old body would fit readily to the new chassis, but that isn't guaranteed. As an aside, I motorised my Wills/SE Finecast Maunsell Q 0-6-0 with a Bachmann 3F chassis, which, while DCC-ready, has the decoder socket in the tender, which was useless to me as is. I had t hard-wire the decoder to the loco chassis, but gained a good runner from that. It may be too much of an "ask" to have the Bachmann chassis fit the Hornby/Dapol body easily.

A further note on 2-6-4T 80032: I finally bit the bullet and opened it up (a dreadful job as there are five screws, two of which are right up behind the valve gear, plus the pipework under the right-hand cab side; the speedo drive broke years ago, so at least that wasn't a problem any more), with a view to oiling the motor bearings and the gear train. I cleared out some of the white gunk that still remained too, and swapped a decent decoder into it, a Zimo MX600. The previous decoder wasn't a Hornby Sapphire, but was, in fact, an older Hornby decoder - I had trouble reading the settings properly on the programming track, previously. On placing the loco back on the programming track, it was dead. Nothing. OK, so opened it up again, checked all the wires leading to the decoder socket and brushes, and tugged the wires leading through from the pickups ... the red one came free. So there was nothing for it but to take the base plate off as well; another four, inaccessible screws because of the brake rigging. I managed to thread the red wire through and re-solder it to the pickup strip, then reassembled the model once again, with much cursing as bits of pipework dropped off and the rear bogie got locked onto the cab steps, but eventually I got it all together, to the point where it is even sitting better than before - note the slight gap under the steam pipes in the previous pics. Back on the programming track, and this time everything read properly and programmed correctly. The loco moved under its own power, firstly on address 3, then on the programmed address of 8032. There is a little stiffness apparent in the movement, but a few circuits of the layout seemed to start the freeing up process. so I'll have to make a point of running it some more this coming weekend. Hopefully the dramas are over now for this locomotive.