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Thanks very much Chris! I said from the start that I was going to document my build, and show both the good and bad bits! I hope this approach gives confidence to people who are frightened of failing, knowing that not every modeller gets things right on their first go! All the best, Ian.

Haha! Hi Stephen! Thanks for the links to the drill bits! I only just ordered longer 6mm and 12mm drill bits earlier today, but I've just added the 2mm - 5mm set to my order as, like you say, they'll come in handy at some point! I can't wait to get one section of "live" track connected as it will be such a major milestone! I still need to work out some teething issues with my servo enclosure boxes, and where I'm going to mount the electronics to make them easy to access, otherwise all is looking good! All the best, Ian.

Thank you again! The rolling road is a great bit of kit that has come in handy on a number of occasions, but I'd wait until it comes on sale before purchasing! Cheers, Ian.

Thank you! Yes, I too had only seen servos fitted into aluminum channel with piano wire to throw the points! This design came about because I couldn't put the motors below the baseboard as with the thickness of the foam, the piano wire wouldn't throw the points correctly! I'm still working on the final design for the enclosure boxes! With the current design, the servo can easily be removed if the point rodding is kept short, but if it's longer, and goes beneath a track or two, you have to remove the hole point! However, I have a plan to circumvent this which will no doubt appear in a future update! Good luck with your implementation! All the best, Ian.

Hi Nick! Thank you! Yes, my plan is to dig out a channel of foam about half an inch wide from the bottom layer, then the servo motor wires can be run through the channel to a hole that will be big enough to accept the futaba connectors, and will avoid any baseboard framing! I'll eventually be exploring JMRI / iTrains, but not for a while yet! I don't have any problems with insulfrog points, in fact my test track uses them! I'm still undecided whether or not to power the frog on the unifrog points, although I'm wiring them just in case! I'm certainly no expert when it comes to model railway building, but by documenting what I'm doing, I thought people would see what can work, and what doesn't! I've been quite lucky so far that the majority of things I've tried have worked out well! Good luck with your layout! All the best, Ian.

Thanks Chris! I'm using 6mm holes as each hole will be for at least two wires! I'm using 20/22AWG wire for my droppers, and found that 4mm was too tight, and 6mm was my next drill bit size up! I'll be using some sort of filler to stop ballast falling down them when I get to that stage! Cheers, Ian.

Hi Terry! It certainly is! It's definitely a game of highs and lows! Mostly highs though! Cheers, Ian.

Hi Simon! Yes, fun and games indeed! I'm still trying to plan where I'm going to locate all of the electronics that the wires run to once beneath the layout - to make it easy for me to access them! Now that's even more fun! :) Cheers, Ian.

@@iansngauge I found that wiring came with many bumps to my head. Plus my knees took a hammering on the floor. Why can't we go wireless? Bluetooth points?

Good morning John! Yes, retirement is great! :) I've watched every single game up to this point! My plan is to remove a half inch wide channel of foam and route the servo motor wires along it away from the framing! It'll be interesting to see how well the glue has adhered the foam to the plywood! I agree, but I see the whole project as a puzzle, rather than a problem, otherwise I'd become disheartened!!! Good to know that the garage project is progressing - can't wait to see what you've been up to! Haha! I've not come across any cobwebs in my train room, but the odd large spider or two have popped up unexpectedly to freak me out! Oh dear, the more I watch England play the more I despair! So much talent going unfulfilled! Is it terrible tactics? Or the fact that the players are only just meeting on the pitch for the first time? Wish we played more like Spain! Hell, wish we played more like Denmark! Lol! All the best mate, Ian.

Good morning Paul! Yes, the football has been great - other than the England performances of course! Hopefully it won't be too long before the cliffhanger is resolved! Cheers, Ian.

Good morning Euan! Thank you! You know that I love a bit of meticulous planning! Lol! I'd not thought of drilling from below, but as below the baseboard is my least favourite place in the world, I'll probably stick to my original plan! This is to cut a channel into the foam that's about half an inch wide, then route the servo motor wires along the channel to avoid any framing! All the best, Ian.

Hi Jonathan! Thank you! Always love to follow a meticulous procedure! :) I can imagine in T Guage a 6mm drill hole would be large enough to lose rolling stock through! Lol! Yes, my plan is to remove about half an inch of foam nearest the wall to create a channel for the servo motor wires to run in! I'll then drill one or two larger 12mm holes to enable me to get the "futaba" connectors through the hole! Cheers, Ian.

Hi Luc! Haha! The hazards of drilling near walls! Yes, I'm enjoying the Euros so far - other than the England performances! The way I use the staples either side of the track, and pushed in at a slight angle over the sleeper edges means that there's no chance of the track going anywhere! All the best, Ian.

Hi Rob! It's a Peco brake van (NR-28E), but I've swapped the original white roof with a gray one from a Farish model! Cheers, Ian.

Hi Ed! Yes, the drill guide has been a revelation for me and has already been put to good use! The 128 is a fantastic runner, especially when fitted with DCC! All the best, Ian.

Hi Paul! Thanks for the confirmation of my pronunciation! You never quite know whether or not you're pronouncing words correctly when you've only ever seen them in print before - and you're from the North!! :) No problem, the servo horn flying off was quite amusing, and that section was included in the video for the entertainment value as well as to inform others what could happen when decreasing the servo position past zero! I think you're correct, I'm going to go with a much slower value that I've currently got set for the speed! I like that you can get a similar effect to the Tortoise / Cobalt motors, but at a much cheaper price with these SG90 motors! All the best, Ian.

Hi Stephen! Thank you! Yes, I never expected my model railway to attack me, but I'm glad I was up to the task of avoiding the danger when it occurred! I was definitely pleased to see the 33 tackle the section without issue! All the best, Ian.

Hi Chris! Thank you! Yes, I was similar as a kid, and it wasn't until quite late on that we motorised the points in Wellfield Shed with surface mounted Hornby solenoid motors controlled by racks of those horrible plastic Hornby lever switches! It was amazing watching the points change like magic though! Lol! As the controller uses a DCC command as its cue to switch the points, you can use all of the usual software such as iTrains, JMRI or even the Z21 app to visualise the point positions and switch them too! One day, I'm sure I'll do a video about that! :) All the best, Ian.

Thanks Mike! Haha! Yes, just channeling my inner superhero! They seem like an excellent device for controlling servos, and that little display really helps with the setup! All the best, Ian.

Hi John! Thank you! I think that reading the manual definitely helped me to make it seem simple - although not the one I showed in the video, as that was written in German! Lol! Had to download the English version in PDF format! I think the complicated bit will be in having the patience to configure all of the points on the layout, of which there are about 40, including the Sill Harbour extension! Well done with the golfing, but sorry to hear that your mum needs more support! There's no rush to keep us entertained mate, not when real life is more important! We understand, as most of us have been in similar situations! All the best, Ian.

Hi Paul! Thanks! Haha! Yes, the jigsaw has nothing on my new mortal enemy - the servo horn! Definitely, the little display is a godsend, and is something that puts this controller ahead of the Megapoints servo controller board I have, as although it can do the same things, you basically have to remember what you've done when configuring it, and follow a series of flashing lights to determine what you need to do next! All the best to Wickford and the Continental Shelf, Ian.

Hi Euan! Thank you! Gotta love a bit of jeopardy in the hobby, especially when it comes to personal safety! Lol! Yes, it has taken me a while, but I'm now in a position to start installing the first section of The Tricky Bit! in the train room Of course, it's all got to be dismantled so I can attach dropper wires, drill holes and then glue the track down - but at least I know it will all work! :) All the best, Ian.

Thank you! When I was intending to perform point control using an Arduino, I was simply going to have an array of hard coded values for things like position A, position B and Swing speed! Then it would be fairly easy to update the code to tweak the values should they need to be adjusted! Yes, this unit makes the whole process quite simple - as longs as you remember when you get to zero, taking another step sets the position to 365! It would have been nice if it had prevented that!!! I'm definitely not looking forward to the wiring - it's going to be insane under the baseboard once I've got servo decoders, block detectors, lighting looms and whatever other of things I need wiring for! Ah, yes, the 33 is probably my favourite loco! Definitely one of Dapol's best! Cheers, Ian.

Thanks Jonathan! Haha! Yes, always a bonus when things don't explode and work as intended! I was over the moon with how rugged the enclosure boxes seem to be! Must try harder to break them! Lol! All the best, Ian.

Thanks Luc! I'm not familiar with those switches, but whatever works for you is the way to go! Great news about getting your incline tested and installed! I'm not looking forward to doing that job, especially on curves, but I expect I'll muddle through it somehow! Lol! All the best, Ian.

Hi Andy! I'd love to, and a Deltic is on my wish-list, but I haven't managed to find one I'm happy with yet! I'm actually hoping there'll be a new Graham Farish release in the near future, maybe with a tooling update to make the model a bit more detailed! All the best, Ian.

Hi Chris! Yes, you have to factor in the price of the DCC decoder chip with any loco purchase, but I tend to grab them when they're on sale, so I always have a couple laying around, just in case I have one of those impulsive "must have" moments! To be honest, I'm just fumbling around a lot of the time when I open up a loco, and this is only the fourth time I've fitted a DCC decoder! This is why I'm always banging on about the need for manufacturers to supply better instructions than "...gently remove the bodyshell..." which is next to useless if you don't know how! Oh well! All the best, Ian.

Hi Bill! Actually, N Gauge refers to the GAUGE of the track, which is 9mm, and N SCALE refers to the ratio between the model size and the real thing. There are also way more than two gauges of track that have been used in the real world. Ian

Narrow gauge isn’t a set gauge, it is any gauge under standard gauge. So, 3ft 6in and 2ft are both narrow gauge, while 4ft 8.5in is standard. And there are also broad gauges, such as the one used in Australia and Ireland: 5ft 3in. And also, Brunel’s broad gauge, which I believe was 7ft.

@@LucaWinstanley-ox4in - Thank you! Indeed! There are also tracks that have multiple gauges that have more than two rails so that the tracks support the operation of locomotives with varying width wheelsets! Like I said above, "there are way more than two gauges of track" used in the real world! All the best, Ian.

Thank you! Yes, the body came off really easily with the help of the guitar picks! Such a useful tool! I'm pleased that your 128 crawls well on DC, but as you saw, mine had a rather annoying "pulse" that probably coincided with the rotation of the motor! I initially thought this was because it hadn't been run in, but two hours of running later and it was still there, which is what I filmed for the video! Ooh! Never thought of using a bit of wire for an exhaust! I was going to try ordering new exhausts from Revolution Trains, but may try that first! Cheers, Ian.

Hi Pete! Thank you! There'll be a much more comprehensive review of the loco coming up in a few months time! Yes, get them out on track! They're great models and fantastic runners! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how you get on with renumbering - those digits are miniscule! Good luck! Cheers, Ian.

Thanks Chris! I've got Zimo chips in all of my locos apart from a Dapol Imperium in the 57xx, which isn't the greatest of runners, and the DCC Concepts Zen decoders in the HST, which seem to be okay, but aren't RailCom compatible! I've used both the Next18 and 6-Pin variants of the Zimo, and they've all performed fantastically in whatever loco I've fitted them! I hope you have similar success! I'm glad I'm not the only one suffering from breakages, as it felt like I must be doing something blatantly wrong! I totally agree that railway manufacturers should provide much more comprehensive maintenance instructions AND a short video showing how it's done - and explain everything like they were talking to a five year old to avoid confusion! I'm going to see if I can order new exhausts from Revolution Trains as their exploded diagram has parts numbers included! All the best, Ian.

I'd love to have the skill to be able to convert older locos from the Poole Era, not that I have any to convert, but I'd definitely be scouring eBay for a few bargains! I agree that once on DCC they can crawls so slow you don't even realised they're moving! The slowest crawl I showed in this video was on speed step 10, so it will actually crawl 10 times slower than that! Amazing! Haha! I hadn't thought the lack of detail on older models! That's definitely an advantage of going old school! :) Cheers, Ian.

Good morning Jonathan! Yes, the more DCC fitting videos available, the better, as far as I'm concerned! I liked the way that with the 158's you didn't need to remove the bodyshell! This is definitely the way forward! The problem is that you never know how strong these tiny details are! Some bits withstand loads of abuse, while others are simply too flimsy to do the job! I'm beginning to think that maybe the foam cradle is actually a bad idea! The wooden trays in my storage boxes seem like a better way to hold the locos upside down while working on them! A baby changing mat? Now that's lateral thinking! Lol! All the best, Ian.

Good morning John! Yes, the DC/DCC difference in performance is huge at slow speeds, but very similar at higher speeds! I've also been getting my locos DCC fitted where possible, but it wasn't a cost effective way of doing it this time - although by the time I've purchased new exhausts, maybe it would have been! Yes, you've mentioned the calamity of dropping a loco, which must have been heartbreaking! It's reassuring to know I'm not the only clumsy one though! :) I'm not convinced it makes any difference whether to run them in on DC or DCC! The only possible reason would be that if the motor was seized, the higher voltages of DCC could perhaps fry the motor or the circuit board? The other reason for fitting your own decoder is that you get the one you want! I'm trying to ensure that all of my decoders support RailCom, for instance! Great to know that Project Garage is almost complete! Can't wait to see the results! Good luck with the golf mate, and have a good weekend! All the best, Ian.

Hi Alan! Yes, they were suggested to me by one of my viewers, Peter at Cheadle Heath, so I can't take credit for the idea! If you get the thinnest ones available you won't go far wrong with them! All the best, Ian.

Good morning Paul! No problem! The more information there is about DCC fitting, the better! Yes, the plectrums are great for the job! Much better than cocktail sticks and credit cards! I went for the thinnest available, which occasionally snap, but you get a fair few for your money! I may still upgrade to a sound decoder when more funds are available! I believe that the wiring for the speaker is all there, and that all you need to do is pop in a sound decoder, but please do further research before taking my word! I'm not totally familiar with the HM7000, other than knowing it is a non-standard size! There's quite a lot of space around the DCC socket towards the motor side, but not so much towards the PCB side! So I guess it all depends on which way round the HM7000 needs to be fitted! Sorry I can't be any more help! All the best, Ian.

@@iansngauge Thanks, Ian.

Hi John! Yes, I think that the more videos there are of how to DCC fit locos, the better people will be informed, until the manufacturers get their act together! Glad to know I'm not alone in my clumsiness! :) All the best, Ian.

Hi Peter! Oh that must be annoying! It's one thing to accidentally knock a detail and break it, but you don't expect fittings to part company with a loco voluntarily! I hope it doesn't detract from the model too much! Wish I could get away without touching my stock, but it's always going from storage to test track then back to storage! Can't wait until I've got a proper layout that I can leave some stock on permanently! All the best, Ian.

Good morning Euan! I'm glad I'm not alone! Obviously, I always try my best to be careful, but sometimes these things just happen! I do wonder why a lot of these parts are made from extremely brittle plastic though! All the best, Ian.

Thanks Tony! Ah, yes, loco numbering! You're right, it's a bit of a minefield isn't it? I think with my 101, I've numbered it 1011, and a second would be 1012! However, with my HST, I went with the motor car running number, although was tempted to go with the set number of 2541, 2542 etc... For steamers I use a similar method to the diesels with first two and last two digits! However, as the method is so haphazard with possibilities of clashes, I had been wondering about a more arbitrary numbering scheme! Something involving the year of purchase seems sensible! So a loco bought this year would start 24, and the second number would represent the order in which they were bought! So 2403 would be the third loco bought in 2024! This would allow me to buy 100 locos a year without getting clashes! Lol! All the best, Ian.

Good morning Wickford, and hello Paul! It's nice to know I'm not the only clumsy animal in the hobby! You're right though, I hadn't even noticed the exhaust departure until I reviewed the footage! I may have noticed the whole front of a Voyager going missing though, although only with my glasses on! :) All the best, Ian.

Thanks John! Yeah, it's just a bit annoying that these things break off so easily! I think I'm going to have to purchase replacement exhausts as I can only find one small piece of plastic, and both of them have snapped off! These things have a way of completely disappearing from the face of the universe once detached, don't they? Lol! Cheers, Ian.

Hi Luc! Yes, not opening up the locos seems like the best way to go! I've started to get my locos pre-fitted with decoders where possible, but it would have cost too much in this instance - although now I'll have to purchase replacement exhausts, maybe it was a false economy! Do you mean the staples I'm using to pin the track down? They're Type 90 Staples, and a link can be found to them in the description (it's the last link)! The only other pins I use are the long Gaugemaster track pins, which work better than the Peco ones in the foam! Hope that helps! All the best, Ian.

@@iansngauge thanks Ian, found the link. Have a great weekend.

Good morning Jonathan! Thank you! I've been monetised for about a year now, so I'm quite happy with a loco (and nearly two) every twelve months! You shouldn't be paying US tax as there's a treaty between the US and UK, but you have to fill in the appropriate forms correctly! I also had to apply for a tax residency certificate and submit it before Google would pay me at the correct rates! Sorry you've had problems with the equipment you've purchased! I know from experience that there's a lot of poor quality products out there! Thankfully I already had a raft of tripods, microphones, cameras and other gadgets from my photography endeavours - although I now shoot mostly on my iPhone! Let me know if you need any help with the tax forms and I'll help as best I can! All the best, Ian.

@@iansngauge Oh, that's worth knowing - I'll look into that, thanks! It's very kind of you to offer to help - thank you - I'll see how I get on and will be in touch if I can't make any sense of it. No US tax would save enough for a wagon every-so-often :)

@@endoorrailway - No problem, just give me a shout and we can work it out via email if required. I think the US tax takeaway is something like 30%, so it's definitely worth submitting the forms!

Thanks Stephen! You're right, it's very therapeutic to watch the rake of little wagons pootle on past, but as you say, probably not for those involved in moving the real thing around! Aha, storage boxes! I've only just had to start using my second cardboard storage box, but at the rate I'm going, it'll probably be full of private owner wagons by the end of the year! Lol! All the best, Ian.

Hello Paul, and welcome Wickford! Thank you! Yes, it's quite amazing really that I've been able to purchase a whole new loco from YT revenue! It'll probably take another year before I can get another one though! I'm hoping to run it in next week, then I'm sure you'll see it pootling around the test track on a regular basis! Thanks for watching, and for your continued support! All the best, Ian.

Hi Simon! I don't envy you having to kit out your loft with insulation, new baseboards and other sundry devices such as heaters for the winter! Yeah, the private owner wagons have grown on me to the extent that I can't stop purchasing them! The only way they'll make a comeback in reality though is when they become a cheaper option to road haulage companies! All the best, Ian.

@@iansngauge I'm looking forward to it. Far better than being sat in front of the tv through the winter. No heating. Insulation should be enough to keep out the extreme lows and highs. I hope!

Hi Allan! Yeah, the drill guide, if only I'd known about them sooner! Oh well! I'm very pleased with the private owner wagons and think I'll be sampling some Peco ones next month to feed my addiction to them! Lol! Cheers, Ian.

That's brilliant! They're quite addictive to collect aren't they? I've been wondering about changing the couplings to the Dapol Easi-fit type, at least for the two end wagons, but need to build up the courage to cut out the existing coupling housing to fit NEM pockets! Any tips? Cheers, Ian.

Good morning John! I've been looking at the 128's for a while now! The one I went for is a bit out of era for Shelfington, and they're all out of region, but I really like the look of them, and once I'd seen one in the flesh at Ally Pally, I had to have one! You'll have to sneak one in under the radar so Mrs Exehaven doesn't know about it - and step up that hoovering campaign as a further distraction! Good to know you've got stuff to kit the garage out! Like you say, those little coal wagons are an addiction! I think I'm going to try some more Peco ones for June! Lol! Thanks for your kind words about the channel! Video production has become a hobby in itself, and takes up more time than actually building Shelfington some weeks! Lol! Looking forward to seeing the new improved garage and to see what progress you've made in the cabin! All the best mate, Ian.