LOCOMOTIVES ARE NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS

by Phil Cooper

Hello again, Let’s charge on!

MODELLER OF THE YEAR

Between now and Christmas in each blog I’m going to be posting 3 photos from our modeller-contributors for you to choose your favourite. I’ve randomly selected the photos.To vote, all you have to do is:

Send an email to me (philipgcooper@hotmail.co.uk) with the word “Contest” in the subject line or contact me through Facebook Messenger.

My Facebook profile can be found at www.facebook.com/philipgcooper. So please join in and have your say. The winning criteria is up to you. You each have 3 votes. You can vote for yourself so I already have 6 votes -thanks Mum, It’s just for fun.

The winner will be named on the 26 December blog.

Votes are coming in very quickly so it’s good to see you all having your say. I’ve received 53 eMails and 25 “Friend requests”. I’ve never been so popular!

Amazingly Sean Selley-West has received 9 votes BEFORE I’ve posted his 3 photos. Payola, corruption? No, he’s simply well respected and has his own fan club so his supporters have voted early. Sean, David, John and Neil have knocked me off the top! So I may call an early halt to the poll. It’s my ball!

Mum, get another vote in and tell dad to get off his arse too! Here’s the current scoreboard.

Last time we had Neil Stanley, David Styles, John Batley, Marcus Pike and, uh, er, uh, me! We’ve got some more for you to consider now. But first, let’s welcome 2 old friends, Neil Stanley and John Batley making late bids for stardom and a new cobber, Tim Preddey from the Former Colonies with some new photos. Now we’re going to be kind to Tim, It was just bad luck that saw him born where he was.

While I’m at it, here’s a photo of another cobber who is actually quite a pleasant bloke, if at times, a little misguided politically. This is Terry who is married to NannyBarb’s niece, Ann-Marie. Originally from Preston, Lancashire (which he fervently denies) Terry likes motorbikes!

He seems almost normal and, with that 17 days growth, could pass for a Pom!

CAN I REPEAT A REMINDER THAT NONE OF OUR CONTRIBUTOR PHOTOS CAN BE RE-USED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE CONTRIBUTOR. IF YOU WANT TO USE ANY PLEASE CONTACT ME AND I WILL CONTACT THE CONTRIBUTOR.

On with our latest photos, starting with the Australian, Tim. G’day, cobber.

These are actually pretty good. Could I be more patronising!

Here now we have a modeller making his debut. He’s not Australian!

He’s Ian Burns and this is the magnificent Kellerton Road TMD

I LOVE DCC Concepts

I have no understanding of electronics but I respect those who do understand it.

The very clever boys and girls at DCC Concepts release their new Stay-Alive range.

  Available from its website DCCConcepts.com and retail network, the manufacturer releases a new plug-and-play Stay-Alive range for its DCC decoders, compatible with those from other manufacturers.

I must also tell you that they have an excellent HELP service who won’t baffle you with technical terms!

DCC CONCEPTS STAY-ALIVE UNITS

They have a new range of Stay-Alive units, designed to provide back-up power to DCC decoders in the event of intermittent power loss, owing to faulty or dirty pick-ups or track.

It claims the units are more compact than those of its competitors, offering modellers more space inside their locomotives for other features.

Its three-wire Stay-Alive System separates the control PCB from the capacitors, affording modellers more space around their models.

Designed to be simple to install, each item from its ZEN 3-wire Stay-Alive range plugs into a Zen Black or Blue+ decoder via the integrated Control board. The 'run-on' time can be adjusted via CV65 of the decoder and can be set in 5 steps: 0 = default, which allows it to run on for the maximum time available, then 1 = 0.5, 2 = 1.0, 3 = 1.5, and 4 = 2.0 seconds.

The standard 'run-on' times are presented above, though these will vary depending on the current draw of each decoder.

Its four Stay-Alive units are also available in packs, this one (DCD-SAA-3) providing one each of its four new units.

For ESU and Lenz decoder users, whose circuit boards don’t have integrated wiring, the manufacturer is retailing a pack of connection harnesses (DCD-WH3) for its Stay-Alives.

Richard Johnson of DCC Concepts commented, "our focus is on usability and ease of connection – and we pay attention to this in every design, making sure that while performance satisfies everyone, the average modeller can also install, operate and use anything we create, with a smile. We use only the best parts available and test in depth, analysing long-term life potential properly. We test to 20V+, where most actually top out at 16V, but claim higher. Many claim great performance and even deliver it day one, but average lower-cost super capacitors some brands use are gradually damaged by heavy loads and rapid discharge, so as time passes, they stop being so effective, as their ability to charge and discharge weakens."

Manuals for the location and recommended installation of connection harness wires on ESU and Lenz decoders which must be soldered to the chips can be downloaded from the manufacturers’ website. To see the full range, visit the DCC Concepts website.

DCC Concepts Rolling Road

The clever designers in Settle have released another valuable series of tools for the more serious railway modeller, suitable for 9mm, 16.5mm and 32mm gauge models.

The rolling road is often misunderstood by modellers, dismissed by some as something of a luxury. If you only have a small handful of locomotives, perhaps this is true, but for modellers who have more than a few, their use can’t be ignored. A rolling road is very useful if building locomotives from kits, allowing faults such as wheel or axle wobbles to be corrected. It is also useful for letting a locomotive ‘run in’ so that bearings can be checked for tolerances, and gears can mesh, as intended.

Where a locomotive is in perfect running order, a rolling road still has its uses, particularly if it is being converted from DCC to DC, or vice-versa. A new sound decoder installation can be checked against a sound file to see if acceleration or deceleration and the sounds emerging from the locomotive correspond, for instance, all from the workbench. If looking to purchase a second-hand locomotive, a rolling road will also help check that all functionalities work as intended, including the performance of the locomotive at its top speed, without requiring a large test track.

DCC Concepts new rolling road range is wonderfully-crafted, each unit housed within precision-cut sturdy foam packaging. Kindly provided for review was a sample of its 32mm gauge six-axle unit. Each axle unit consists of two gold-plated sides, secured to a plastic carrier spacer set to the required gauge, which contains a strong neodymium magnet. Supplied inside the packaging are three pre-painted metal strips, etched to represent four sleepers, placed side-by-side. If glued between rails, as intended, each axle cradle will be secured into place, allowing adjustment fore and aft to suit your model’s wheelbase.

When tested, the units performed admirably, the larger diameter rollers handling the weight of large Heljan locomotives with ease. Furthermore, because of the size of these, they didn’t sound ‘tinny’. Owing to the separation of rollers – necessary to prevent a locomotive from potentially ‘riding up’ them under heavy acceleration – I had to adjust the wire sand pipes on a kit-built Class 08, to prevent them from shorting on the unit. On most RTR locomotives, these are plastic items, anyway.

Regarding price, the 10-axle 9mm and 16.5mm gauge units, and six-axle 32mm gauge units are priced comparatively close to small RTR locomotives in their respective scales. While this might put some off, these are quality items designed to last a lifetime.

Surely, it’s better to have 14 locomotives that run beautifully, than 15 that are rough runners? For the space-starved modeller with more than a handful of locomotives, or a model railway club, this new range is worthy of the investment. You’ll only ever need the one, but I can almost guarantee that as soon as it leaves the box, everyone will be standing around it, examining what’s running on it, and how it performs!

DCC CONCEPTS LEGACY TRACK

DCC Concepts has launched its own 16.5mm gauge track to finescale standards. We were kindly sent enough to build a small layout, for review. The levels of detail on track have improved over the years, slowly. At initial glance, I’d argue that DCC Concepts’ Legacy bullhead track is the finest of its type we’ve seen to date.

Granted, British-outline OO gauge track with its wider sleeper spacing is never going to be perfect – we chose 4mm:1ft scale over 3.5mm:1ft, after all, the compromise of running 4mm:1ft scale models on 16.5mm gauge track remains. You can read a brief history on why OO gauge track is to the incorrect gauge for 4mm:1ft scale here.

Legacy track offers the modeller lengths of flexible track in 970mm lengths.

Joining the new flexible track are insulated and conductive rail joiners, both featuring bolt detail. These are certainly the best I’ve seen in the scale, and fit to the ends of rail smoothly, provided it has been cut accurately with Xuron shears – or those from DCC Concepts – from top to bottom, never side to side!

This track has a high nickel content, for a ‘closer to polished steel’ appearance.

Rails sit inside detailed three-bolt chairs with a central camber, to better match the conical profile of wheels, as per the prototype.

Sleepers are wider than those of Peco or Hornby proprietary track, to be closer to prototypical appearance. And, sleeper spacing is wider than that of Peco and Hornby points.

Visit the DCC Concepts and Rails of Sheffield websites for current pricing and availability of the full range.

We’ve got 2 late bids for “Modeller of The Year” firstly from John Batley

Now I’ve got 4 more contestants hoping to win the prestigious Modeller of The Year award. First up we have.

Sean Selley-West

Les Bryant

Ian Paton

Ian Mundy

4 Great sets of photos there to keep up the very high standard

LET’S TRY TO FIND SOME BARGANS IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS  

There’s always some great bargains on Hatton’s website - hattons.co.uk

And this wee beauty is still on their shelves:

RRP £206.99 Hattons  Last month it was available for JUST £99! Now it’s down to £89 Come on, give it a home.

LOCOMOTIVES ARE NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS

Let’s have a look at Bure Valley who’ve always got some great deals but they go quickly. Check in regularly on their website www,burevalleymodels.com

If you look in now you might find these:

RRP £193.49

BVR £99

RRP £154.99

BVR £80

eBay will always have some bargains but read my eBay Special blog

https://tracksidesigns.co.uk/blog/ebay-is-it-worth-it-by-phil-cooper

ONE MORE BIT OF NEWS

Who wouldn’t want this?

Kernow Model Rail Centre's latest commission sees 37401 ‘The Royal Scotsman’ in Royal Claret EWS selected for new tooling.

Kernow Model Rail Centre has revealed its latest commission from Bachmann – 37401 The Royal Scotsman in Pristine Royal Claret EWS livery, with central headcode panels. The locomotive has the following features: plated headcode panels fitted with sealed beam marker lights, top centre lamp brackets, NRN ariels, nose-mounted ETH, high-intensity headlights, removed bufferbeam valances, coupling bash plates, oval buffers, original windscreens, English Electric cantrail grilles, welded boiler roof, plated boiler port and safety valves, sealed water filler door and plated access steps, fabricated bogies, slow speed control, twin fuel tanks with ex-water tank gauges plated over, plus electronic fuel gauge and tank joining pipe.

The KMRC exclusive is available in three formats, with standard DCC-ready versions at £244.95 with a Plux22 DCC decoder (The recommended decoder is Bachmann item 36-570). Meanwhile sound-fitted models are to be priced at £344.95, are pre-fitted with a Zimo MS450P22 decoder, while sound-fitted deluxe models are to be priced at £374.95, featuring the new motorised fan system.

The sound-fitted deluxe specification includes windscreen glazing that has been treated with a specialist technique to replicate the tinting seen on the prototype.

The versions available now are as below:

• 35-335Y Bachmann Class 37/4 Diesel 37 401 The Royal Scotsman in Royal Claret EWS livery. DCC Ready.
• 35-335YASF Bachmann Class 37/4 Diesel 37 401 The Royal Scotsman in Royal Claret EWS livery. DCC SOUND FITTED.
• 35-335YSFX Bachmann Class 37/4 Diesel 37 401 The Royal Scotsman in Royal Claret EWS livery. DCC SOUND FITTED DELUXE

Chris Trerise, Managing Director, said, “We are pleased to announce the next in our growing range of Exclusive Class 37s based on the all-new tooling, high specification Bachmann models. The Royal Claret EWS livery is especially striking.”

If you would like to read more blog posts from Phil check back every two weeks or sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date on site news or when the blog posts go live.

The views and opinions expressed within the content are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Trackside Signs or its affiliates.