Hello,
Next Saturday is Small Business Saturday. What is means is that all long stay car parks in Sandown will be free from 12pm on Saturday 5th of December.
So if you want to spend the afternoon with us, parking is not going to cost you anything!
As you probably know, this weekend was the Warley show. If you follow our Facebook page you have already seen several announcements from Hornby and other manufacturers, with more to come. If you do not yet follow us on Facebook, now is the right time to do it as we are going to post pictures and information from there over the next few days. This is obviously in addition to all the regular features you enjoy, such as the inspiration layouts.
Most model railway are powered using electricity. Power comes from the wall, goes through a black box to be converted to something less dangerous and then to the controller where you can tell it what to do: go this way or that way and be this strong or that weak. This is magic but based on experience we know that there are a few things you can do to make sure the magic works every time.
Power goes from your controller to the track. Traditionally, you would solder power feeds on both sides of the track however soldering is not for everyone. Obviously a good alternative to soldering is Wire Glue, but what if you do not want wires to be permanently attached to your track?
There a few alternatives. The first one is to use a power track. In OO gauge, they come in two flavours courtesy of Hornby: digital and standard. If you are on DCC, you must use the digital one.
If you are on analogue, either one will work but the standard one will
work better. In case you are wondering what the difference is apart from
the colour of the little bits on top of the track, the standard
(analogue) version contains a capacitor that ensures continuity in case
of power fluctuations. With DCC, the capacitor will interfere with the
signal and as such must be removed.
If you are using N gauge, you can find power tracks from Kato or from Peco. Click on the image below for more details.
Rather than using a power track, you can use power clips. They are available in OO gauge and N gauge and from various manufacturers. Peco power clips are slightly less intrusive than those from Hornby. They are also available in G scale for garden railways.
A modern alternative to the above is to use already soldered power feed joiners. Basically they are fishplates on which wires have been soldered. No soldering to do and a perfect result. They are available in OO, N and also Finescale OO.
Finally, when you have fitted your power clips, power tracks and power joiners, do not forget to check the track all over using a track tester.
This nifty will display a light showing you whether there is the right
voltage on your track. It is compatible with N gauge and OO gauge and
works on analogue and DCC. If you realise there is not enough voltage on
a section of track, the answer is usually to simply add more power
feeds to that section. Once again, click on the image for more details.
If you need more advice on powering your layout, simply ask and we will be happy to help.
Send us an email or give us a call to check availability or to reserve anything, whatever scale you model in. As usual, if we do not have in stock what you are looking for, we will order it for you and you will get it fast (usually within a week if the manufacturer has it in stock). We place weekly orders with most suppliers.
Remember, you can park for free for one hour on the High Street. So no excuse not to come and visit us!
Upstairs Downstairs is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4.30pm, Sunday from 1pm till 4pm. We are closed only on Monday.
Carole & Max
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Upstairs Downstairs
3 Pier Street
Sandown, PO36 8JR
Isle of Wight
Tel: 01983 406 616
http://www.trainshop.co.uk or find us on Facebook
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