Hello from Australia
 

Hello all.
Greetings from a grumpy old retiree who finally has the time, but alas not as much money as he would wish, to indulge a long-held desire to turn over large parts of his home to model railways.
I am an ex-pat of some 25 years living north of Brisbane.
I am well on my modelling way, having constructed as much baseboard as I can covering most of a fairly large room, and am trying to get to grips with the wonders of DCC. I have been buying models for the past few years in readiness, some DCC fitted, some "on board" and others analogue. It is a huge learning curve for me. Just getting the body off a Bachmann class 70 the took a good part of yesterday (I really should have read the instructions properly first) and I am now trying to figure out how to operate the lights. A complete mystery at the moment, and cannot as yet find the answer anywhere on the 'Net.
When I have sorted out all my locos, I will begin modelling proper. My planned layout is to be centred on Dawlish, so if anyone out there lives locally, I would love to hear from them. Best wishes to you all. RogerH

Welcome to the forum RogerH. I am not into model railways , but there are many on this forum who are.
I spent many a holiday in Dawlish in the 60's and remember the 'Warships' bombing through the station.
Enjoy.
Stuart

Hello RogerH and welcome to the Railway Forum. I am also into modelling, although I'm not very good at it. I use Bachmann's Dynamis DCC system which has a key switch which switches the loco lights off or on.

Hello RogerH and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

Hello RogerH and welcome to the forum,

Thanks for your warm welcomes chaps.
Syd, another Old Git eh? That's what my loving son calls me. Have you tried the red wine labelled "Old Git"? I don't know whether it is still available over there, it was a few years ago when we last visited "home" and it was quite palatable.

My problem with the lights is only in relation to the Bachmann 4-function decoder 36-557. The 'Net and various forums (fora?) are full of complaints about it, but none of them mention lights. My system is NCE PowerCab 5 amp. When I fit this decoder to my Bachmann diesels (I have tried it on Class 70 and Class 55) and I place it on the rails, the front and rear lights as well as the cabin lights all strobe. The various lighting function buttons only work when the loco is in motion and then only intermittently and seem to follow no pattern. When I put it into motion there is a delay of a few seconds before the strobe lights stop and the loco moves forward. I have no doubt this is a programming issue but it is totally beyond me at the moment.

Regards
Roger

D.O.G.F.A.N.
Hi Stuart
Yes I spent a few holidays myself there. It's funny, when I was a kid ( in the grand era of steam) and spent many happy innocent hours train-spotting - yes I did indeed wear an anorak - I loved the steam locos and absolutely hated the diesels when they came in and ruined everything for me. I still prefer them "in the flesh" as it were but when it comes to modelling, I just can't get enough of the diesels. I think the standard now being produced by the main three or four companies is exceptionally good and the later diesels especially are incredible. Incidentally one of the first locos I purchased when returning to the hobby was the Bachmann 32-050DC Warship Class 42 D809 "Champion" in maroon. It's one of my favorites.
Regards
Roger

you will love this forum. welcome.
mickey

A very warm welcome from me too RogerH. Looks like you've hit the right spot on here. Many good molders and many well informed too.
Enjoy and all the best
Phil

Gidday RogerH, there is a bloke I work with in Brisbane whos knowledge of Railway modelling is huge.
Im sure if you check out his YouTube channel and leave him a message, he should be able to give you some pointers.
His channel is called FishplateFilms. If you click on the link below it should take you to his channel. His name is Gregg.
Good Luck.

http://www.youtube.com/user/FishplateFilms