The World of Port Dinllaen
The rest of the world has a bearing on the timetable of PD – here is a schematic of the entire scheme with distances and timings for express and freight trains. Note that a passenger at PLJ for Afon Wen or…
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Author Archive: tynewydd
The start of a terminus
First board at PD is being laid out while I wait for the SE Finecast small turntable. The aim is to be able to completely wire up the boards when they are complete from the underneath (invert them with the…
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Point Preparation – Giving it your awl
The points/switches are Peco code 75 Electrofrog. To prepare them for my used as DCC using stall motor (Cobalt) there are some details to be attended to. First place the point on a flat surface – you will be using…
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I had it by the throat!
Pont Llyfni Junction (PLJ) – Up Side has started. The branch to Nantlle is on the right, while the line to points north (Caernarfon, Bangor, Liverpool and manchester) are left. We are standing adjacent to the island platform with a…
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Why Cobalt Digital IP?
It is a matter of economics and simplicity. Cobalt Digital IP has its decoder built-in and provides switching for the electrofrog points on board. Plus it uses standard DCC power to run. If you compare its price to having to…
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DCC Wiring essentials
One of the misconceptions about DCC is the single pair wiring theory – that you should use just one pair of wires and you can run everything. Just so simple and in fact, it will work in strictly technical terms….
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Absolute Power
First up DCC vs DC? No contest. When creating a new layout today, I think the advantages of DCC are clear. Less (but not just one pair) of wiring. Locomotives that are intelligent. Double Heading and/or banking. Lots of stationary…
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Spencer’s Hill
A new chapter opens as there is now a single track rising from Pont Llyfni Junction towards Nantlle! This is at the maximum running grade for the overall scheme at 2.3% – and so I have used DCC Concepts PowerBase. You can…
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How close can you get?
In order to maximize the space for trains, we need to minimize the space between tracks. The operating separation is 1 3/4″ rather than 2″. This allows for an extra siding.
Is anybody there? – Block Detection
Using BlocD8 from Team Digital. It directly plugs into LocoNet and signals track status onto the Bus for use by computer.