Progress Report 61

It has been quite an eventful summer - not least because the weather has been very changeable which is not good news for garden railway modelling. However, there have been a few developments since the last Progress Report (see Progress Report 60).

• In terms of infrastructure, the major development has been the completion  (after two years) of the viaduct crossing the access to the patio. In addition, the unintended incline at the end of the swing bridge on the approach to Bulkeley station has been iron-out.
• Very little has happened with the permanent way, though the siding for the cattle dock at Beeston Market has been extended a little.
• A very pleasing development has occurred in the motive power department - the last remaining track-powered locomotive (Fowler No.7 - Tollemache) has been converted to battery power
• There have been several developments in Controls - some of the Deltang receiver/controllers have been updated in the locos and a new Tx20 Deltang transmitter has been constructed to now give three separate controllers for locomotives
• Some of the little-used rolling stock has been passed on to other railway companies and there have been a number of general repairs to serving rolling stock
• Operating sessions have been sporadic - partly owing to the unpredictable weather, partly because we have been away on holiday and partly because other developments have taken priority. However, I have managed a couple of full operating sessions and played host to fellow modeller.

Infrastructure

Two years ago, I decided to replace the rather ramshackle structure which pretended to be a viaduct across the access path to the patio. This had become an experimental test-bed for construction techniques with the plywood base being covered at various times with a range of claddings such as tile cement, plaster of Paris, grout and filler. The intention was to indent and/or scribe these materials to represent stone blockwork. None had proved particularly successful and the plywood was beginning to rot.

 As the viaduct needed to be readily removable to allow access, I wanted something relatively lightweight but nonetheless reasonably realistic. I had already built structures using balsa wood to represent stonework (following ideas proposed by Peter and Kes Jones in Making Model Buildings for Garden Railways). And so a lightweight plywood substructure was made and clad in around 3500 individually cut, shaped, glued, grouted, textured and painted balsa wood blocks.

 

On a less ambitious scale, there had always been a slight drop at the end of the swing bridge at Bulkeley but I had begun to notice that the slope was becoming more severe. The trackbed at Bulkeley seemed to have dropped by around 5cm.

Previously, I had attacked the slot into which the end of the bridge fitted with a hammer and cold chisel, but this time I felt the time had come for more drastic action. The slot was deepened with an angle grinder.

The transition from bridge to terra firma is now a lot less abrupt - but as you can see, the ground level has shifted quite considerably over the past ten years.

Permanent Way

Apart from the usual ongoing maintenance of keeping the stock moving and the wheels on the track, there have been no major developments on the permanent way since the last progress report. The most significant development has then the extension of the siding serving the cattle dock at Beeston Market. When I built the cattle dock (see How I constructed a cattle dock), I was more concerned with ensuring that the dimensions of the gates and railings matched the positions of the doors on the four cattle wagons which the line possessed at that time.

What I hadn't appreciated was that the overall length of the siding would not accommodate the fifth ( Accucraft Welshpool & Llanfair) cattle wagon which the line acquired. Fortunately, there was sufficient space between the end of the siding and the adjacent tracks for it to be extended by 3cm. However, the track had been embedded in concrete and so I was unsure as to whether it would be possible to extend the siding without major engineering works. I decided that, if I could sever the track just before the rail built buffer stop, I might be able to insert a short length of track with the minimum of disruption.

The track was cut with a slitting disk attached to a mini drill and the buffer stop was prised out with a hammer and chisel. The 3cm length of track was inserted into the gap.

The siding is now just the right length to accommodate all five cattle trucks, with plenty of room for stock to pass by.

Motive Power

The biggest development here has been the conversion of my last track powered locomotive to battery power. The Fowler(ish) Loco No. 7, Tollemache, was the first loco I scratchbuilt and so has particular poignancy for me (see How I constructed an early Fowler diesel locomotive).

During the build, I had had a major problem with the layshaft. The only flycranks I could find (from Garden Railway Specialists - GRS), had 8mm offsets but the cranks on Tollemache's drivers had 10mm offsets. Although I solved the problem at the time by slotting the bearings in the connecting rods, I was never happy with the sloppy motion which this produced. I felt I needed to find a better way of solving the problem before I set about making the conversion to battery power. It turned out that the solution was a lot more straightforward than I had anticipated (see How I increased the offset on my GRS whitemetal flycranks)

Once this problem had been sorted out, the installation of the three 18650 li-ion batteries, protection board, switch, charge socket and the Deltang Rx65a receiver/controller was very straightforward (see How I converted my Fowler diesel to battery radio control).

She has now assumed duties and has already participated in a couple of test runs. I can't wait for some decent weather so she can once more take part in a full operating session. As you can see, I am now more than happy to video her running slowly.

Controls

There have been a few developments in the area of control technology on the railway. The most significant is the construction of a new Deltang transmitter, a Tx20 (see How I constructed a Deltang Tx20 transmitter).

As indicated above, Fowler Loco No, 7 (Tollemache) has now been converted from track power to battery power using the Deltang Rx60a receiver which was removed from Manning Wardle Loco No. 6 (Harthill).

I had re-bound this loco from my Tx22 transmitter to my Tx21 transmitter but was finding that the Tx22-enabled Rx65a was struggling to remain bound to the Tx21. Rather than re-program the Rx60a, I decided to buy another Rx65b which was already programmed for use with Tx21 (or Tx20) - an Rx65-2. 

When I constructed an IP Engineering 'Jessie' kit which became loco No. 8 (Wynford), the only suitable Deltang receivers which were available could handle only 1.5amps.  

Wynford sometimes drew more amps than this and so was unreliable with the lower power receivers. To solve the problem I installed a Deltang Rx102 receiver linked to a Brian Jones Mac5 ESC. Since the release of the Deltang Rx65, I have been meaning to install one in Wynford but, as she was functioning happily, I felt there was no urgency. An enquiry on the 16mm NGM forum from a fellow modeller, asking which Deltang Rx would be most suitable for an IP Engineering 'Jessie' with a soundcard, prompted me to replace the Rx102/Mac5 arrangement with an Rx65, to ensure my suggestion was appropriate. The Rx65 needed to be re-programmed to allow the DigiSounds soundcard to be controlled from the transmitter and  Wynford is now happily re-energised and back in service (see How I installed an Rx65 in my IP Engineering 'Jessie').

Manning Wardle Loco No. 4 (Bulkeley) has now had her Deltang Rx60 receiver replaced with an Rx65. Although Bulkeley was working satisfactorily, I have decided that I want to standardise the receivers in my locos and the Rx65 includes features which one day I might want to exploit (eg auto-station stop).

Rolling Stock

Because I have recently constructed a new gunpowder van (see How I constructed a gunpowder van), the Swift Sixteen corrugated van which had been pressed into service as an explosives van was now redundant and so was sold to a fellow modeller through eBay.

Similarly, the Accucraft Lynton & Barnstaple van which I had bought a few years ago was now surplus to requirements. The other vans on the line (converted from LGB vans) are larger and hence L&B van looked out of place. It too followed the corrugated van.

Apart from some ongoing maintenance (mainly re-fixing couplings) there have been no further developments with rolling stock since the previous Progress Report.

Operations

I have had the opportunity for a few operating sessions since the last report in July, though these have been less frequent than I would have liked as holidays, the weather and projects (such as the viaduct) have taken up time that might have been used for running trains. However, a couple of full operating sessions have been squeezed in and from time to time I have run a train or two for an hour or so.

Having constructed a second rake of coaches (see How I converted Bachmann Jackson Sharps into Leek & Manifold coaches), I felt it was about time I ran two passenger trains at the same time (assuming it was a busy market day during the summer season). Here we see Sharp Stewart Loco No. 5 (Tarporley) on an Up passenger .........

...... crossing Manning Wardle Loco No 6 (Harthill) at Bulkeley on a Down passenger service.

During another operating session, a few photos were taken of trains in action ....

Barclay Loco No. 2 Beeston about to depart Beeston Market

Freelance diesel, Wynford, passing the engine shed at Beeston Market

No. 2 (Beeston) passing an Up ore train at Bulkeley

Peckett Loco No. 1 on a Down pickup goods passing an Up ore train at Beeston Castle

No. 1 on an Up goods approaching Bulkeley while No. 2 approaches Beeston Castle on a Down passenger

In addition, the railway hosted a visitor, Derek, who brought two locos with him - a Peckett and a Hunslet built from GRS kits

Derek's Peckett leaving Peckforton, crossing the viaduct

Approaching Bulkeley on Gallantry Bank

Peckett and Hunslet (Linda) storming up Gallantry Bank

Double header approaching Bulkeley

Autumn is upon us. As you can see from the above photo, the apple tree is starting to shed its leaves and there is a definite nip in the air. My railway todo list seems as long as ever and so, over the winter season, I hope to clear some items off it, such as:

• installing interiors and lighting in the Leek & Manifold coaches
• installing solar lighting at the stations
• adding more detail to goods wagons
• exploring auto station stop for locos equipped with Rx65b receivers
• constructing a couple of horse drawn wagons
• constructing buildings for the approach to Beeston Market station
• etc etc etc

As I said in one of my first blog posts made in 2006, I doubt my railway will ever be finished.

How I installed a Deltang Rx65b receiver/controller in my IP Engineering 'Jessie'

Preamble

My IP Engineering 'Jessie' locomotive has had a somewhat chequered history (see How I constructed an IP Engineering Jessie loco). She got through three mechanisms before I finally fitted her with a USA Trains motor block (see How I improved the mechanism for my IP Engineering 'Jessie'). She has now also been through three radio control systems. The first was quite successful - using a transmitter from one of those small r/c helicopters, a receiver and a Brian Jones Mac5 ESC (see Progress Report 43). However, after some further experimentation, I decided to standardise on Deltang radio control equipment on all my battery r/c locos and so, for a while, she had an early Deltang Rx60 receiver/controller fitted. However, this provided unreliable as her third mechanism drew more current than this receiver/controller could handle. So I replaced the Rx60 with an Rx102 receiver connected to the Brian Jones Mac5 ESC.

Since that installation (about two years ago), David T at Deltang has developed and released the Rx65, which can handle up to 3 amps - more than sufficient for 'Jessie'. I have been meaning to replace the Rx102/Mac5 combination for some time (in a bid for standardisation of kit), but it has only been recently that funds have become available to make the change.

Ordering the receiver

One of the most daunting aspects of starting out with Deltang equipment is the range of receivers which are available on the Deltang website. Even when you are familiar with the receivers which are more appropriate for garden railway locos, there are several variations on the basic receiver which need to be specified when ordering.

I knew I wanted the Rx65b to operated with my Tx22, I also decided that I did not want any wiring attached (N) and that I wanted the version with the extended aerial (U) as the metal body of the loco shields the aerial which cuts down the range of the receiver, so I ordered an:

Rx65-22-NU

For more information about the variations of receivers and ordering see Getting started with Deltang radio control in the garden

UPDATE (December 2015) Please note: Since writing this blog post, the default functions of the output pads on the Rx65b have changed and there is now no need to re-program the pads (see below)

Soldering leads to the pads

After ordering directly from David T via email (see Getting started with Deltang radio control in the garden), the receiver arrived the following morning by first class mail, My first task was to solder on the leads.

I use an Antex XS 25w soldering iron (Maplin Code FR12N) with a 0.5mm No. 55 replacement bit (Maplin Coce N85DS). I always makes sure the bit is well tinned. I've discovered the secret to tinning is to apply the solder while the iron is heating up - once the bit has reached its full operating temperature the solder tends to oxidise rather than coat the bit.

As I was using a Peter Spoerer / MTroniks DigiSounds sound card and also required a front light on the Jessie, I tinned the following pads on the receiver:

• The power input pads (+ and -)
• The motor output pads (between the input pads)
• Output pad 2 (for LED directional lighting) - I wire my receivers in reverse (I mistake I made with my first couple of receivers and so now wire them all in reverse for consistency with the Tx22 transmitter). Normally, the front directional light is pad 1 (or Pad A)
• One of the negative (-) pads (for the other lead from the LED)
• The C output pad (for the horn input on the soundcard - pad C is programmed to respond to channel 5 from the transmitter (ie the bind button)
• Pad 3 (for the start/stop function on the soundcard - pad 3 needed to be re-programmed to respond to the direction switch on Tx22 (see below))

To ensure I could apply the solder quickly and cleanly, I fixed the receiver board to the bench with a small blob of BluTak (saves having to hold it down with a finger), tinned the iron with a small blob of solder, touched the end of the solder to the pad and then touched the pad and the solder with the tip of the iron. Almost immediately the solder flowed on to the pad and the iron was removed. So far I've not cooked any of the 15 or so receivers that I've soldered in this way including the much smaller Rx60s and Rx61s (famous last words??).

I then stripped, tinned and snipped the ends of the wires and soldered them to the pads using the same approach - lightly tinned the iron, touched the wire to the pad, touched the wire and pad with the end of the solder and then touched the wire and pad with the tip of the iron until the solder flowed.

First I soldered the power and motor leads, and the LED lead to pad C (this would be the basic requirement for an rx connected to a simple sound card needing just a horn or whistle trigger).

I then soldered the leads to one f the negative pads (beside the negative input lead) and to pads 2 and 3

Finally, I soldered the power input and motor input leads to the soundcard to the power and motor leads on the rx. I could have soldered these directly to the motor contacts and to the power contacts on the switch and battery or patched them into the leads, but the rx was the most easily accessible point of contact and, while I had the iron handy ......

 Once the wiring had been connected, I bound the receiver to the Tx22 (see An overview of Deltang radio control) and checked all was working as it should - ie the motor working properly, the direction light functioning as expected and the whistle sounding when the bind button was pressed.

At this point, the soundcard was not responding to the direction switch on the Tx22 as it had not been re-programmed to send the right signal to the Rx65. So the next step was to re-program the receiver.

Here's a diagram showing the wiring for the loco in total.

Click to enlarge

Re-programming the Rx65 receiver/controller

As indicated above, the output from Pad 3 needed to be re-programmed to go 'low' (ie 0v) when the direction switch was operated on the Tx22. Consulting the programming information for the Rx65b on the Deltang website.

This indicated that the program coding which I needed to send to the receiver was:

3,3,1,3,4

 ie Menu 3, Pad 3, 1=on/off LED (momentary), Channel 3 (ie direction switch output), Idle High, Ch low (=4)

In effect, when the direction switch on Tx22 is in the off position, then 3v is being sent from pad 3 on the receiver (ie 'Idle High'), but as soon as the direction switch is turned on, the output from the pad drops to 0v. In other words, the output from pad 3 goes 'low'. (I hope that makes sense - not sure how else I can explain it).

I now use the Deltang Prog4 to re-program all my receivers, as it is by far the easiest way of programming them (once it has been set up - see How I reprogrammed a Deltang Rx65 with a Deltang Prog4.)

 The text file which I sent from the Prog4 to the Rx65 was, in this case,

type3
3,3,1,3,4
end

The programming took me no more than ten minutes including plugging the Prog4 into the computer, binding it with the rx, writing and saving the text file, sending the file to the rx and then testing with the Tx22 to make sure it had worked.

I was then  ready to re-assemble the loco and give her a test run.

UPDATE (December 2015)

After some discussions with David at Deltang, the default outputs from the pads on the Rx65b have been changed. There is now no longer a need to re-program pad 3. Pad9 or Pad10 now provide 0v output when the direction switch is moved on the transmitter. Simply wire the soundcard trigger to either P9 or P10 and the card will start and stop when the direction switch is flicked momentarily one way or the other (dependent on which pad is used).

NOTE: To protect the Rx65b from excess voltage being transferred back along the trigger wire (because the soundcard uses 5v and the Rx65b uses 3.1v), it is advisable to wire a 1k resistor in series with the sound trigger lead.

Locomotive update

It has now been nearly two years since I started building and converting locomotives to battery power and radio control and in that time, a lot has happened. I feel it is now about time I presented updated and collated information about developments in the motive power on the railway.

Locomotive No. 1 - "Peckforton" - Peckett 0-4-0

This was constructed from a Garden Railway Specialists kit in 2008 (see How I constructed a Peckett loco). Seven years ago, GRS kits were largely made from preformed Plasticard plus whitemetal fittings. The kits have now improved with fewer cast resin parts in place of the plasticard pieces.

The body was mounted on an LGB 0-4-0 Toytrain chassis which, considering it was secondhand when I bought it, served me well until the start of this year. After converting it to battery power (see below) and radio control, I gave it a load test which it handled well, until it ran into an obstacle on the track. This proved too much for the nylon worm wheels which admitted defeat and stripped themselves of teeth. Fortunately, I had a brand new ToyTrain motor block to hand and this was pressed into service.

She is now powered by three 18650 lithium-ion batteries which are housed in the cab (see Converting a track powered loco to battery power). There would have been sufficient room for them in the saddle tank, but opening-up the tank and removing the lead weights which are firmly glued inside would have required a substantial rebuild.

Control is via a Deltang Rx65b combined receiver/controller, which is the latest innovation from the Deltang stable (for more information see An evaluation of Deltang radio control and Getting started with Deltang r/c in the garden).

As Peckforton was my first purpose-built loco for the railway, I am delighted she is now back in service. However, as you can see from the photos, she lacks refinement. I really need to spend some time adding details and I'd like to replace the ToyTrain cylinders and motion with something more prototypical. At present, she does not have a soundcard and, without freeing-up space in the saddle tank, there is very little room left to instal one. However, she runs well and is very responsive to radio control.

I consider her a mixed traffic loco and so hauls passenger and goods trains. In a test run to answer an enquiry on the Garden Rails forum, she ran continuously for five hours and 20 minutes on one charge of the batteries.

Locomotive No. 2 - "Beeston" - Barclay 2-4-0T

This loco was bought secondhand from GRS in 2010 (see Progress Report 26), having been constructed from one of their very early kits (now no longer available). It is based loosely La Moye, a loco which ran on the Jersey Railway and is now preserved in South Africa.

She has an LGB motor block and Walschaerts valve gear presumably from another LGB locomotive (such as the Zillertalbahn U class loco). It was converted from track power to battery radio control in 2014 using a Deltang Rx60 receiver/controller (see Progress Report 51).

Other than a coat of paint and Trimline tape lining, she has not been modified or detailed since she arrived on the line, apart from the addition of some cosmetic buffers. I tend use her mostly for passenger duties. She will happily shunt wagons but as the driving wheels are quite large her crawling speed is less controllable than other locos.

Locomotive No. 3 - "Bickerton" - Hunslet 0-4-0T

I constructed this loco from a GRS resin kit and an LGB ToyTrain 0-4-0 motor block in 2010 (see How I constructed a Hunslet loco from a GRS kit). At present, she is still track-powered and so, as I have now sold off all my DCC gear, she is out of action.

The only place to install the batteries would appear to be inside the saddle tank. This will entail some substantial dismantling and rebuilding as the saddle tank is presently crammed full of lead. However, it will be good to see her back in action on the line.

She is in need of detailing and some light weathering.

Update Sept 2015 - She has now been converted to battery power with three 18650 li-ion batteries and a Deltang Rx65 receiver controller

Locomotive No. 4 - "Bulkeley" - Manning Wardle 0-6-2T

This was my first scratchbuilt steam loco (see How I constructed a Manning Wardle 0-6-2T loco) and joined the line in 2013. She is based on the Southwold Railway No. 4 loco, Wenhaston. I found that the driving wheel sizes of the LGB U-class 0-6-2T locomotive were the correct size, though the wheel spacings are incorrect - the trailing driving wheels being too close to the centre pair. However, as the motor block included Walschaerts valve gear, I decided I could live with the slight inaccuracy.

 She is controlled by a Deltang Rx60 receiver/controller and powered by a 12v li-ion battery which is intended for use in CCTV cameras. These batteries include protection circuits which monitor charging and discharging.

I decided to leave her unlined, as a homage to the Southwold livery which she wore for most of her working life. As my railway is set in 1932, I argue that they bought the loco from the SR when it closed in 1929. I will probably add some finer details at some point in the future, but for now she will happily pull passenger or goods stock.

Locomotive No. 5 - "Tarporley" - Sharp Stewart 2-4-2T

My second scratchbuilt steam loco was somewhat more ambitious as, not only did she have leading and trailing pony trucks, I also had to construct her motion (see How I constructed a Sharp Stewart 2-4-2T loco). She was constructed during 2013 and is based on the second Southwold Railway No. 1 loco, Southwold.

 Motive power comes from a PlayMobil 0-4-0 motor block as I found the wheel sizes and spacing were approximately correct for 16mm:1foot scale. She is powered by a 12v li-ion CCTV camera battery and controlled by a Deltang Rx60 receiver/controller.

Once the loco was finished, I spent a while adding smaller details, such as the oiling pots. She also has works plates which I feel add an extra touch of realism.

Locomotive No. 6 - "Harthill" - Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST

My third scratchbuilt steam loco was completed in 2014 (see How I constructed a Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST loco). She is based on the Manning Wardle locos which ran on the 3'6" gauge railway at Davington. These were shipped to Brazil when the railway closed at the end of World War I. I found this loco to be the most challenging of the three to construct, owing to the saddle tank and making sure there was sufficient space inside the body to accommodate three 18650 lithium-ion batteries. She also has a fair amount of external pipework which proved to be more complicated to construct than it might appear.

 Motive power is provided by a Piko 0-6-0 motor block, which I've found to be a delight. It is extremely smooth running, especially at low speed, and is very responsive to the Deltang Rx65a receiver/controller.

She is in unlined livery and has recently been given appropriately number works plates. She has become the stalwart of the line, handling goods and passenger traffic with alacrity. Out of curiosity, I gave her a haulage test and found she could pull 24 wagons up a 1:40 gradient with ease.

Locomotive No.7 - "Tollemache" - Fowler 0-4-0DM

 This was my first foray into scratchbuilding in 2011 (see How I constructed a Fowler diesel loco). Based on an LGB ToyTrain 0-4-0 motor block, she is based loosely on the early Fowler diesel mechanical locomotives which ran on standard gauge and narrow gauge railways. Whilst I could find photos of standard gauge and 2' narrow gauge locos, I couldn't find an image of a 3' gauge Fowler and so imagined how it might look.

At present, she is still track-powered, but will be the next loco to be converted to battery operation. The flycranks on the layshaft are, at present, somewhat loosely connected to the driving wheels, as I was unable to source flycranks of the correct size and so overcame this by slotting the holes in the connecting rod. When converted, I will improve this aspect and also add some finer detailing.

Locomotive No.8 - "Wynford" - Freelance 0-4-0DM

This was my second venture into battery power and, like my first battery model (see below), has had a long and chequered history. After three failed attempts to construct a reliable mechanism, I eventually found success by inserting a USA Trains motor block into the chassis. This lengthened the wheelbase, but has proved to be a lot more reliable than any of the previous mechanisms.

 The bodywork is from an IP Engineering Jessie kit (now no longer available) which, being constructed principally from steel, provides plenty of inherent weight. As a consequence, I have not had to add any additional weight and yet she will happily haul twenty skips up the 1:40 gradients on my railway. She was originally powered by ten NiMh batteries but these have just been replaced by three 18650 li-ion batteries with a protection board. She is controlled via a Deltang Rx102 receiver feeding into a Brian Jones Mac5 ESC. Because the original mechanisms were so unreliable, I found that trying to control her with a Deltang Rx60 receiver/controller was somewhat erratic. I assume this is because this particular receiver was limited to 1 amp loading and the mechanisms might have been drawing more current (and were probably creating all manner of electromagnetic interference). One day, I will try controlling her with the more recent Deltang Rx65b - which can handle up to 3 amps.

She has a Peter Spoerer DigiSounds narrow gauge diesel sound module (developed by Mktroniks) which, as the name suggests, uses digitised recordings of a real diesel engine, and so sounds rather impressive.

Locomotive No. 9 - "Lolly"- Freelance 'Lollypop' railcar

 Constructed from an IP Engineering kit (see How I constructed a small railcar from an IP Engineering kit),

...... this diminutive railcar was constructed as an experiment to find out how responsive Deltang receivers would be with a low voltage supply - three NiMh Low Self Discharge (LSD) batteries = 3.6v (see Evaluation of Deltang with low voltages). In fact, as Deltang receivers actually step down input voltages to 3v, they will happily manage with these low voltage supplies. This model uses a Deltang Rx60 receiver.

 I added additional detailing (ie planking and bracing) during construction and she has red/white bi-colour LEDs which change colour dependent on direction of travel. She acts as the railway's permanent way vehicle and has a small trailer wagon which is often attached for the workers' tools (see How I constructed a small PW flat wagon).

'Locomotive' No. 10/10a - "Samantha" & "Josephine" - Freelance Ford(ish) railmotors

This was my first major investigation into the feasibility of battery power and radio control and as with No. 8 the railmotors went through various control systems and mechanisms before reaching their present state. They were 'bashed' from two freelance Andel resin coach kits (see How I bashed two Andel coaches into a 'Ford' railmotor) and the power car is now powered by a 12v CCTV li-ion battery, controlled by a Deltang Rx60 receiver/controller and motorised with a MFA Como gearbox motor and bevel gears.

For a while, they were extremely unreliable, becoming derailed when encountering any slight undulation in the track. Eventually, I created a very simple form of compensation on the leading axle of each car and since then have had very few derailments even though they are somewhat top-heavy.

  Both cars have operating directional headlights and internal lighting.

At present they do not have a sound card but I am experimenting with various methods of digitising the sound effects of a Model T Ford starting, stopping and running at speed using a small sound recording board controlled by a Picaxe chip.

Locomotive No. 11 - "Linda" - Freelance 0-4-0DM

This was my first venture into 32mm gauge and was bought for a relatively modest sum on eBay. She has an IP Engineering body on an HGLW chassis. She was originally manually controlled and powered by two AA alkaline non-rechargeable batteries. These were replaced by a single 185650 li-ion battery and a Deltang Rx65b receiver/controller was installed.

The receiver has been programmed to operate in shuttle mode as I decided it would be useful to have her pottering backwards and forwards with a train of Binnie skip wagons while I operated the main railway.

At present, she is more or less in the condition I bought her, but I have added more a little more detailing and given her some light weathering. It is doubtful I will add a sound card as space is limited, however, I am experimenting with a couple of small sound modules which are used in greetings cards to see if something could be squeezed in somewhere.

Locomotive No. 12 - "Emma" - Plate frame Simplex

 Constructed from an IP Engineering kit, at present she is powered by two 14500 li-ion batteries and manually controlled with a Deltang Rx65b receiver controller (see How I constructed a plate frame Simplex from an IP Engineering kit)

She has also been fitted with a small soundboard which has been modified from a cheap (£1.29) module designed to be used in musical greetings cards. While the sound isn't quite hi-fi, it is quite adequate for this little loco.

She is dual gauge - with interchangeable 32mm and 45mm gauge chassis. Both chassis have been fitted with chain drive which makes her quite a powerful little loco for her size