[Doug]

I'm busy putting together a new layout.

This is the basic structure of the mainlines. Yards still to come.

I can have 6 locos and trains running together with no problem. The outer line is on the flat and the inner is an up and over figure-of-eight.

The kids are joining in and running their Thomas locos and Hogwarts Express.

The whole layout is wired for DCC using a track BUS under the boards. Control is by Arnold 86201, 86210 (x2) & 86220 (x2). Arnold S4 86250 point decoders switch the Peco points. Rail is Peco Code 100 flex-track and all points are Peco Code 100 large radius electrofrog.

This is a fun layout for running the trains. Scenery will be basic and minimal.

 

[Doug]

It seems most chips are in short supply. Very difficult to get any sort of discount for a bulk deal. I've asked a dozen shops for a deal on a bag of chips and none can come down below the unit RRP.

The kids and I have spent the school holiday building and painting some kits that I've had lying around for years. Great fun.

We have built some 40-year old Faller kits that have just been gathering dust. These are amazing with really bad instructions and badly fitting pieces, but what wonderful kits. I'll take some more photos this week.

 

[Doug]

QUOTE (Dennis David @ 18 Sep 2005, 02:56)... Can you tell me the reason behind each of those control units? Seems like a bit of an overkill ...<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, it gets better. I've just added some more.

I have two cab stations - so that I can run the trains with two people or by myself from different vantage points.

Each station has two controllers that can switch with one button between two locos - so that's 4 locos per station (without calling up the loco by its number).

Each station has a keyboard for points (switchers) and the main station has two so that it can control all the points on the layout without haveing to switch between point groups (each keyboard can handle 16 groups of 16 points).

These units are Arnold DCC units. Arnold was part of Lima S.p.A in 2001 and the whole group went into liquidation in 2003 due to the high cost overheads associated with its European based manufacturing. In 2004 Hornby PLC bought what was left of Lima S.p.A for 8 million Euros.

The Arnlod DCC units are great. They are relatively easy to find on eBay at interesting prices. More info here.

Arnold Digital System uses two BUS types: the XBUS (LMAB) and the IIC-BUS (+XBUS).

Using the IIC-BUS, you can connect the Digital Central Control (86200/1/2) to Control 80f devices and Märklin Interfaces (6050/6051, 6020, 6021 and 6027).

Using the XBUS, you can connect To the Lenz LZ 100 system and systems that can interface to that such as the ZTC boosters. Basically any device using the XPressNet connection (developed by Lenz) should be able to be connected: Atlas, Lenz, ZTC Controls, and Roco. Note: The compatibility was tested using the XBUS/XPressNet Version 2.3 of the Lenz LZ100. Later versions of XPressNet may not work.

 

[Doug]

I am just about to put together a super-duper power supply.

I have a toroidal transformer with 2 x 16V/10A. The total power it can supply adds up to 320W and that is well enough to run 32 locos at once - if I really wanted to. Practically, I can have two locos on each mainline and then a couple shunting in each of the two shunting yards. So a max of 8. Then there are points, signals, lights and a couple of other gizmos to power.

I'll take some photos of the construction this week.