Newton Broadway

The container train from the other end, still being hauled by 73 141. I must weather a few of the wagons, especially that bright blue megafret pair. This gives a view over much of the layout. At present, it is pulled out from the right hand wall so I can get in behind it to troubleshoot the points I referred to earlier.


Various Container Wagons Behind 73 141 - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Now that there are more photographic locations on the layout (not all scenic yet, though), and trains can be moved under their own power, I have it in mind to pose various trains and locomotives for posterity - it's also good for insurance purposes as proof of ownership or for replacement in the event of some disaster.

 

Watching trains go by near Newton Broadway:

Hornby 700 class 0-6-0 30315 is seen passing different locations with a local passenger train, made up of a 'van C' and a Maunsell 3-set 237.


700 Class 30315 on Local Passenger - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


700 Class 30315 on Local Passenger - 3 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


700 Class 30315 on Local Passenger - 4 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


This was followed closely by M7 30108 propelling Maunsell P-P set 615.


Maunsell P-P Set 615 with M7 30108 - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Maunsell P-P Set 615 with M7 30108 - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Travelling in the opposite direction is an EMU made up of ex-Southern Railway stock. 2 BIL 2134 is leading, with 2 HAL 2639 in the middle and 'tin' HAL 2694 trailing. 2694 has not received its unit numbers at this stage.


2 BIL and HAL Multi - 3 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


2 BIL and HAL Multi - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Passing the other way is D6520 propelling two 4 TC units.


4 TC plus 33 D6520 - 2 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Following the SR EMU sets is rebuilt West Country pacific 34026, Yes Tor, with a parcels and milk train.


WC 34026 Yes Tor on Milk Train - 1 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


WC 34026 Yes Tor on Milk Train - 3 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


More modern units (although not by much) are represented by MLV 68006 leading 4 CEP units 7128 and 7126.


MLV plus 4 CEP x 2 - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


MLV plus 4 CEP x 2 - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


MLV plus 4 CEP x 2 - 3 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

MLV plus 4 CEP x 2 - 4 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Coming the other way is 'King Arthur' N15 4-6-0 30764, Sir Gawaine, with a race day special consisting of horse boxes from several other regions and BR mark 1 4-set 869.


N15 30764 Sir Gawaine on Race Special - 1 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Following the MLV+8CEP is S15 4-6-0 30830 on a mixed goods working.


S15 30830 on Mixed Goods - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


S15 30830 on Mixed Goods - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

 

Thanks Chris (and Ian too), and even better, I made progress yesterday and today to eliminate the dud contacts on three of the point frogs - all turned out to be faulty bus connections for the wires to the frog polarity switches. I can only put this down to working in semi-darkness when I was getting tired. I have now successfully run a Hornby Peckett through all of the pointwork; if that can make it, anything can!

 

I have taken a quick video of one of my Hornby Pecketts running around the inner circuit. this shows off several features, including:

• The Hatton's crew intended for their P class looking perfectly at home in the Peckett cab;
• The Smoothness of the Peckett itself, which is fitted with a TCS M1 decoder;
• The smooth operation of the Gaugemaster auto-frog-polarity switching modules, and;
• The latest little bit of scenic work on either side of the new siding.

The Peckett, No 5, Alice, was renumbered and named using plates from Narrow Planet.

The video itself was taken on my mobile phone and edited using Microsoft's Movie Maker, which works well in Windows 10, in spite of what Microsoft say.

 

I decided to try out the Bachmann Wickham trolley, which ran quite nicely in spite of the fact I know one of the electrical pickups is not working properly (something I need to investigate when I am inclined). Then I thought, "This is worth capturing on video.", so here is another quick vid of trains running on Newton Broadway high level.

The Wickham was sharing the track with the Hatton's P class 0-6-0T, Bluebell and its train of 'birdcage' coaches. The Wickham has a TCS Z2 decoder hard-wired into it, and the P has a standard Bachmann 36-568 6-pin decoder.

I have been doing a little more static grass and other scenery around the new siding, but the glue was still wet at the time of the video, so the effect is hidden by surplus grass.

 

Running the little Wickham trolley has had an added benefit: my other half came in to watch it going around, and I said I had plans to replace the false ballast load with a sleeper load, something like what has been described in a recent magazine and in a topic here on RMweb. She said I should leave this one untouched, and buy another Wickham to do the operation on! I have not just permission, but an instruction to buy another!!

While I like the idea of a green or maroon one, both Kernow Model Railway Centre and Rails of Sheffield have the yellow one with wasp stripes going at reduced prices, so I think that may be the way to go (I already have a few expenses coming through, including two Andrew Barclay locos which have just been deducted from the plastic.). Fortunately, I bought a very small CT Elektronics decoder at the recent exhibition at Sandown, and that may just fit in in a similar fashion to the TCS decoder I used on the one above.

 

I have been fiddling with a few different small jobs on Newton Broadway and its stock.

Two of the Hornby Pecketts, No 5 Alice and No 6 Alexandria in my fictional industrial fleet are pictured in the next three photos: No 5 has minimal weathering added at present and has a Hatton's P class crew added, and they look as if they were designed to fit in the Peckett cab; No 6 has been more heavily weathered with a mix of powders, but has not, as yet, gained a crew.

Some of the newer scenery can also be seen.


IMG_20180422_233401 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


IMG_20180422_233349 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


IMG_20180422_233332 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


At last Saturday's BRMA meeting, Standard 4MT 2-6-4T 80032 disgraced itself by refusing to move. I had it on the programming track to sort it out (she has had a bit of oil and a good wheel clean) and it now works again, although I think I need to open her up and put in a different decoder. While I have the lid off, I will clean and oil the motor bearings and gears.


BR 4MT 2-6-4T 80032 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


And a slightly 'dated' version of the same photo:


BR 4MT 2-6-4T 80032 BW halftone by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


While I still have the SECR birdcage set on the layout, I thought it was a good idea to run the Hornby H class 0-4-4T 308 for a while, now the re is a good long continuous run available. I still find this loco a little 'tail' heavy, and it really needs a small spring over the rear bogie to force the balance forward slightly.


SECR H class 308 on High Level - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


SECR H class 308 on High Level - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

 

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

 

They are brilliant little locos. I have all three of the originals. The price is quite reasonable, I think; Hatton's Andrew Barclays also compare well at £99 each (less VAT but add postage to here in Oz). I think the ABs are slightly larger than the Pecketts, but not by much. I'll know for sure when mine arrive in the next couple of days.

 

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.

 

CT Elektronik decoders were difficult to get here in Oz, and once you got one, the manual was all in German so they were also difficult to fine-tune.

However, that has now changed, with a small 'cottage industry' firm in New South Wales, selling on eBay or direct to public. DCX74 and DCX76 decoders are $AUS55 post free in Australia, so quite reasonable. They have also done an English translation of the manuals.

Buckambool Model Trains is on Facebook and trades on eBay as langjarr, but my first encounter with Jarryd was at the Sandown Model Railway Exhibition in March. I hope no one minds the free plug, but I have purchased several of the CT Elektronik decoders off them already.

 

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

 

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