DCC and Electrical System12 Comments

z21 Review: Settings and Programming

traiNmaster

Hello 2015! A good start for 2015 with my further review of the z21 controller. In my last post for 2014, I gave a quick run through of the setting up and running the trains. In this post, I would like to explain more about the Z21 settings and how to read and program decoder values. z21 Settings As mentioned in my last post, you need to change the default settings in z21 controller to suit your scale. The Output and Programming Voltages allow a value between 12V and 22V. The default settings are per the first photo. Track-Voltage settings … Continue reading z21 Review: Settings and Programming

DCC and Electrical System12 Comments

A Review of Surprised Birthday Gift – Fleischmann z21 Digitial Starterset ÖBB Rh1116 Taurus

traiNmaster

This is my 100th post on germaN160 thus far and so I would like to end the year by showing off my surprised birthday gift – a Fleischmann z21 Digital Startset with ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railway) Rh1116 Taurus and passenger coaches (Art. no. 931383) I wanted this set for quite some time. Guess, I was a good boy this year and thus, my Santa(rina) decided to reward me. If you have been following this blog, you would by now that I am modelling the German railways in Epoch 5/6. This era is marked by a few key characteristics, among other, … Continue reading A Review of Surprised Birthday Gift – Fleischmann z21 Digitial Starterset ÖBB Rh1116 Taurus

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trai-N-master is Taking A Short Break

traiNmaster

Just a short notice to my readers and followers that I am taking a short break from my model railroading activities. The last few months have been a peak period for me, too many projects running in parallel and one after another. I am also moving on to a new role in the organisation in the next 3 months. There would be a lot of handovers of existing projects, which take priority over model railroading. However, I am not abandoning my germaN160 layout nor this hobby. See you again next year!   Jimmy Continue reading trai-N-master is Taking A Short Break

DCC and Electrical System, Layout Construction, Planning Book6 Comments

Build #16: Wiring and Weathering (Part 1)

traiNmaster

Last weekend I installed the track bus on all 3 modules (Segments F to H). This week, I added the feeders from the terminal points to the rails using AWG20 (0.5 sq.mm) wires. Each wire was connected to the respective points on the terminal strips. The DCC buzzer was helpful to detect any shorts while wiring. For such wiring, you would not normally make mistakes but as the layout gets larger and more tracks need to be wired, it is always good to have such buzzer. Thus, I started getting use to the habit of using DCC buzzer now. As … Continue reading Build #16: Wiring and Weathering (Part 1)

DCC and Electrical System, Layout Construction, Planning Book4 Comments

Build #15: Good Wiring is An Essential Lifeline to A Model Railway

traiNmaster

It was a nasty Saturday this weekend but it was a good time to spend indoor. I corresponded with Jason Reis about DCC wiring my modules some 3 months back and in between, I let the notes of our discussions set for awhile. A recap of those notes: The bottom level (pic below) will be divided into 5 small power districts. For circuit breakers, Jason recommended auto tail-light bulbs. Cheap and effective. The top level (pic below) will have 4 small power districts. I started with the bottom level wiring first: the track 2 (dark blue marking). I have read … Continue reading Build #15: Good Wiring is An Essential Lifeline to A Model Railway

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Build #14: Turnouts Turned Out ….

traiNmaster

I am satisfied so far with the flex tracks that I have laid so far on Segments G, H and A as you can see in Build #12 and Build #13. Since then, I have spent about 10 minutes per day running my ICE 2 (Fleischmann) and ICE 3 (Arnold) models up and down the double tracks. The idea was to make sure that the track work does not cause any derailment. The track work was perfect. There was an “unintended” derailment, but not due to track work (see my Facebook report in germaN160 by traiNmaster on 25 June) Over … Continue reading Build #14: Turnouts Turned Out ….

Education, German Railways, Layout PlanningLeave a comment

Guide to German Railways Operation and Signalling Principles

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For those who are looking for German railways operation and signalling principles especially in English, I highly recommended the following: Source: Mark Vogel (Flickr.com) Dr. Joern Pachl wrote an excellent document on the German railway operation principles (PDF), explaining in detail how the German system works compared to Anglo-Saxon’s. Wolfgang Meyenberg did an excellent job on documenting and explaining the various German railways signal principles from last 2 centuries as well as the latest practices. I hope both references will be useful to you in building a close to prototype railway operations on your model layout. Continue reading Guide to German Railways Operation and Signalling Principles

Benchwork, DCC and Electrical System, Layout Construction, Planning BookLeave a comment

Build #13: Maiden Power Test Run on First 3 Km

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The first stretch 1.8m (or 3km in real-life) (each track) is ready although not ballasted. While waiting for the World Cup games to start, I spent some time cleaning the excess glues of the tracks and tested the pickup connection. At full throttle, it registered 17V (I am using Fleischmann analog DC transformer for tests) This time, Kato E8/9A volunteered to make the maiden trip, to and fro. I am happy with the result. It is a baby step but an important step for me. It is a sign that I am progressing rather than procrastinating. Continue reading Build #13: Maiden Power Test Run on First 3 Km

Benchwork, Layout Construction, Planning Book5 Comments

Build #12: Track-laying Begins

traiNmaster

In the rest of the world is today Father’s Day. Here in Germany, the Father’s Day is celebrated on 29th May each year, which is the ascension of Jesus to Heaven. I guess it is the Holy Father that we are celebrating then. Anyway, the German Father Day is a day where fathers (those of us who are on Earth) took out the beer cart and enjoy a full-day drinking. As for me, I continued working on my layout. It was time to lay some tracks. Sometime back, I bought a pack of 3mm cork wall tiles from Hornbach. For … Continue reading Build #12: Track-laying Begins