[Greyvoices]

Some years ago I bought a Gaugemaster rolling road test controller, the Model LT:

A really nice piece of kit but over the years the rollers just wore out and performance became woeful. The rollers would "roll" in fits and starts so it became impossible to determine what was faulty, the loco or the rolling road. Unfortunately Gaugemaster could not supply replacement rollers so the LT was consigned to the useless cupboard.

I subsequently bought this:

I bought it off Wealistic Models at a show in Newark last year. I forget the name of it but I know that it is manufactured by a German lady whose name also escapes me. This works well but my mind kept drifting back to the LT in the cupboard. So .............. last week I retrieved the LT and placed it on my desk beside the newer purchase ................ was it possible to combine them?

It turned out to be very easy:

I first laid the new rolling road on the LT but at first it did not sit well ............... but then I dismantled the cradle on top of the LT, made from two "L" shaped channels .............. I then swapped the metal channels over so that they now faced inwards (as it were) rather than outwards as they originally did.

From this _I I_ to this I_ _I. This produced a cradle perfect for the dimensions of the new rolling road:

I then had the problem of providing power to the rollers, the plastic cross members effectively insulating the assembly from the LT cradle.

This photo shows the plastic cross member and my solution to the power problem. I disassembled the rolling road then used copper tape to make an electrical connection between the LT cradle and the longitudinal steel rods upon which the new rollers sit.

The Model LT is once again a perfect way of testing a DC locomotive. The added bonus is that I can still lift out the new rolling road unit and attach it to a DCC controller via 2 wires and crocodile clips. So, first run in the loco on Model LT then, lift out the rolling road complete with loco and connect to the DCC controller for decoder programming etc.

WARNING The important thing is to never attach DCC wires to the rolling road whilst it sits in the Model LT cradle. Goodness knows what might happen.

Best regards .................. Greyvoices (alias John)

 

[16A]

Very ingenious John, might pop over and test a few of my locos.....

 

[Greyvoices]

You are welcome any time Mike.

I have found out what the new rolling road is .................. a product from: Marion Zeller Website

I also found a reference to it on the DCCSupplies website.

I have been using my new setup quite lot today to see how it stands up to heavy use. I have noticed that the Zeller element has a tendency of the loco and the rollers underneath it gradually and imperceptibly moving towards the end opposite the direction of travel. It should not be too difficult to stop that slow drift.

I have also discovered that the terminals on the rear of the Model LT are not powered. There is a switch on the front "Test <>Track" enabling the unit to double up as a normal controller, wires from the track feeding in via the terminal on the back. The problem with this unit could just be a faulty switch. Although I have no need to use this as a controller I am tempted to get it repaired just for completeness. I will contact Gaugemaster.

Best regards .............. Greyvoices (alias John)

 

[Greyvoices]

I did indeed contact Gaugemaster regarding the lack of output on the track and auxiliary feeds on the back of the controller. Their technical department was only too happy to honour the lifetime guarantee so I planned to visit them at the Gaugemaster complex at Ford near Arundel.

A suitable opportunity presented itself last Friday as my wife showed an interest in Chichester; admittedly a long train journey from Derbyshire but a sunny day looking at the English countryside from a train window is always a pleasure for me and my wife enjoys it so long as it's not too often. We set off from our local station at 06:40 and traveled via Derby, Birmingham, Oxford, Reading (the new station looks amazing), and then on to Southampton (the Nottingham <> Bournemouth service). A short wait on a very shoddy Southampton Central station (no information, no ticket windows staffed, South West Trains trying to save money) and then a ride eastwards on a Southern service along the coast with an eventual destination of London Bridge.

The repair to the Model LT only took 20 minutes -- an over sensitive thermal cutout was the culprit. The chap who made the repair could not have been more friendly. Gaugemaster is located right beside Ford station and I stepped out of their shop, across the level crossing to catch a train back to Chichester. A spot of lunch in a pub then, re-united with my wife caught the train up to Gatwick where we changed to a Thameslink service to St.Pancras and then an East Midlands train to Derby. All in all a grand day out.

So, well done Gaugemaster for honouring the lifetime guarantee.

Best regards ................. Greyvoices (alias John)

 

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Alway nice to hear of a happy outcome...

Gaugemaster's Gaurantee is really good.....

 

[Greyvoices]

Interesting news on the Gaugemaster LT front.

I noticed this morning that Gaugemaster are offering a limited edition LT loco tester: link to the relevant Gaugemaster website page.

Now named: Gaugemaster GMC-LT Multi Scale Locomotive Tester - Limited Edition

Gaugemaster are showing a price of £299 though it's listed by Hattons at £270 ............. but now it is apparently made with stainless steel with the addition of DCC Concepts rollers. The achilles heel of the original was of course the rollers for which, when worn out, no replacements could be sourced. If I didn't already have one I would baulk at these prices but for the modeller who has everything ............................ !!!

Best regards .................. Greyvoices (alias John)

 

[Graeme Wilsonf4]

I just received one from hattons.co.uk. I think it is good value as you also get 8 dccconcepts rolling road rollers with it. I also modified it so I can use it for dcc as well.great unit.

 

[rangeroverman]

What have you done to modify the unit so that it can be used with DCC Graeme

 

[Graeme Wilsonf4]

I disconnected the wires from the track/tray on the top., I then connected wires from the power feed to a dpdt switch. Then connect wires from the dpdt switch to the track/tray. The other connection to the dpdt is from the dcc source. So the dpdt changes the power to the track/tray on the top either from the original dc from the gaugemaster or from the dcc from my nce.