July Update

The activities during July did not go to plan, I was unable to complete the planning for the ops session so it has to be deferred. I conducted some more maintenance, continued with the planning for the operating changes in main yard, renamed the tracks in the classification area, reset the operations strategy, developed Session 1 Version 4, had my Granddaughters stay and hosted a Trainmasters TV session.

           

Maintenance

QSI V7 decoders seem to be playing up.....    Two sets of locos had issues.

Ore Consist

The consist decided not to run properly resulting in cancellation of an ore train.  The Proto 2000 F7A 6315, F7B 8215 & F7A 6320 consist all with QSi V7 Decoders decided that they would only move very slowly even at speed step 28 and pull virtually no load! 

After removal from the layout and being taken to the workshop for attention one of them had to be factory reset before any CV changes would be accepted.  They all initially would not respond to being "programmed on the main" so I resorted my Sprog III and the programming track to implement changes.

One by one they were put on the dyno and speed steps reset using DecoderPro to get matched performance again.   Both forward and reverse were matched as the set operates in both directions between the mine and steelworks.

The acceleration & braking adjustment was completed on the layout, and then the fun of tweaking each loco began.  

SP Passenger Consist

I have a consist of two Atlas Fairbanks Morse Train Master Phase 1b's.  One Atlas with QSI V7 Sound Decoder and the other is non sound with a ESU LokPilot V3 DCC Decoder.  During testing they would be running then suddenly stop after throwing the circuit breaker then restart after a second or two.  This was a mystery and was happening in more than one power district.  I took them to the workshop and put them on the dyno and they worked flawlessly and were both within tolerance of the speed curve.

Given other QSI V7 decoders have been "giving issues" I factory reset the decoder and did a total rewrite of all CV's using Decoderpro,  Now the cut out problem seems to have disappeared and despite an hour or so of test running the glitch seems to have gone.

Not sure why these QSI decoders over time keep playing up!

Troublesome Coaches

For some reason the SP passenger coaches have been troublesome ever since purchased.  I have encountered our of gauge wheel sets, fouling bogies and incorrect coupler alignment.  I thought I would try using some draw bars in lieu of couplers firstly in evergreen plastic as a proof of concept then fashioned from brass strip.

The plastic ones worked well.

The brass ones are still to be "finessed" but the biggest issue seems to be sticky swivelling of the bogies.  Well, I've been tinkering with these for a few years but haven't cracked great operation yet!

Control Panel Update

The Classification Tracks and car card boxes have been renamed consistent with the current changes to the way the Hornertown Yard operates.

Hornertown Yard Ops

I produced some more process maps and shared them with the current operators.

There full set can be seen on my website here

See the examples below:

Yardmaster Through Train Arr E Dep W On-Offs

Yardmaster Transfer Caboose Arr & Dep West

Express Goods West Shunt

Assistant Yardmaster

Yardmaster

Hornertown Coal or Oil Shunt

Assistant Yardmaster

Yardmaster

New Session 1 - Version 4

I reported last month that things didn’t go how I expected so I have made a division of duties in the main yard whereby the assistant yardmaster, still being under control of the yardmaster, but operating independently, should now eventuate.

A new strategy has been devised for my next session.

More details can be found here

Now I will have to start planning for Session 2 V4!

Granddaughters Visit

During the school holidays our two granddaughters came to stay for a few days and wanted to run some trains...

Ops Sessions 

My Ops Session was cancelled, Wayne decided to address a problem area resulting in changes to his layout which will return to service in September.  I had family commitments and medical stuff that caused me to miss Chris's sessions, so I didn't get to any ops sessions this month.

Trainmasters TV 

In lieu of my cancelled Ops Session I offered a session and Peter S and Dennis attended.  We had a pleasant afternoon with some nice Shiraz, soft drinks and nibbles.

That's it for now so until next time.....

-ooOOOoo-