mark_s

Although I usually agree with Rayman, in this case, I would disagree. We (Bridgewerks) ship almost everything via UPS, and we do have the occasional issue, but far fewer than we have with USPS. We pack our stuff in such a way that it is pretty well protected (we spend ~$20 per power controller for the packaging that we ship in), and it doesn't care if it is turned upside down. The primary reason that I prefer UPS is that their tracking system works. If a package shipped via USPS disappears, they cannot track it, whereas with UPS they are able to figure out where it was last seen. We have also had more issues with USPS with them leaving packages on doorsteps in the rain and other issues like that. UPS tends to be better that way. We have had issues with UPS, but not many, and we ship a lot of packages with them. Mark Bridgewerks

This is Mark, with Bridgewerks - and I thought that I'd chime in with some comments on the 'Morrison'. This is intended as an entry level controller - 3A should be enough to run any ONE locomotive, but if you want to run more than one locomotive, you will be pushing it. The Morrison does not have any accessory power outputs or some of the other features that you would find on one of the bigger controllers. The Morrison was designed with several new features in it - mostly to make it more friendly for kids to run: As with all bridgewerks controllers, there is a manual speed limiter. On the Morrison, if you switch the direction from Forward to Reverse while the train is running, it pauses for a couple of seconds in between so that it is more gentle on the locomotive. If you just toggle the F/R switch back and forth, it will stop and wait until you stop messing with it, and then accelerate using the selected momentum setting. The very early designs, including the 60T had the T- handle throttle, and Bridgewerks migrated to slide controls like on Larry's 220RM - one of the weaknesses of that design is when kids spill soda on the unit, and it goes into the slot on the slide control. The 'T' handle throttle connects to a potentiometer with a horizontal shaft, so it is less susceptible to dirt, soda or other beverages getting into the throttle.

We (Bridgewerks) signed up for, and paid for the show last year. When we signed up, it was listed as being on March 29 and 30th. We made arrangements to ship our booth, air and hotel reservatons etc, and found out that the date had been changed when we got the latest issue of Garden Railways Magazine. We assumed that the date was a misprint, and called to find out what was going on, and were told that the date had been moved, and that they were attempting to call all of the vendors. The organizers told us that they had been trying to get a hold of all of the vendors, but we had heard nothing. We will not be at the show this year - we hope that we will see our payment for booth space refunded. The ECLSTS is one of the last Large Scale train shows that is still active - it is a huge benefit to the hobby, but they need to be better organized for those of us for whom it is more than a hobby. Mark Sauerwald Bridgewerks

Larry You can also check out information on the Bridgewerks stuff on our site: www.bridgewerks.com About a year ago, we updated the design for the MAG-15 so that they all have regulated DC outputs which makes them more friendly when operating with DCS systems. If you are going to be in Tulsa in July for the National show - We will be there and you can check out our power supplies in person, as well as getting some good ideas for your layout from the other folk who will be there. Mark Bridgewerks

You can get them direct from Jerry at www,railclamp.com Reindeer Pass also usually have them in stock.

There is some risk, the seller has an option of setting a reserve price, in which case he is not obligated to sell below the reserve, but e-bay charges extra for this. By setting a low starting bid, when the price is low as it is now, lots of people will see the item, and tend to click on the 'Add to Watchlist' button, in which case they will get e-mails when the auction is getting near the end to remind them to look in on the item, so it can help to stir up the bidding. I personally am not a fan of the way e-bay does their auctions with a fixed, hard end time. It encourages people to wait until the last moment before putting in their bid, which results in lower prices to sellers, and more disappointed buyers who are sniped out at the last moment. I have sold through an auction site where there was an end date/time for the auction, but if a bid came in just before the end, the deadline was extended by a few hours to give the previous high bidder a chance to reconsider his bid.

Bridgewerks will have a vendor booth in Santa Clara at the 2016 NGRC. If any of you are going to be there, please stop by to say hello - it would be great to put some faces with the names that I see in here! Mark

Would any of these parts work for you? http://www.accucraftestore.com/index.php?categoryID=93&offset=36

RGKing I think that MicroEngineering make code 205 in nickel silver, you may be able to purchase a couple of pieces either directly from them or from a dealer. Their track comes in 6' sections. Mark

The ECLSTS in York PA will be on March 25 and 26 this year. I am wondering how many of the GSTF denizens will be there. I will be there with Bridgewerks, along with my Dad, and my wife Sharon. Stop by and say hello!

You might try this: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/30-00419/T1309-5-ND/5638246

Hello I can't comment for the others, but I can for Bridgewerks - we were planning on attending, and we plan on attending in Santa Clara next year, but a personal conflict is keeping us away from Denver. We will be in Ontario at the Big Train Show (https://bigtrainshow.com/) and we will be in Portland for the NMRA convention. Mark

Although EBay is probably less expensive, a good source for meters is Digikey (www.digikey.com) - they have almost 400 different volt meters available there. http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?pv183=7018&FV=fff4002d%2Cfff80344&k=Meter&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25 will take you to a page where they have their voltmeters, you can sort by LED or LCD, number of digits, size etc... Meters are always a good idea!

The show went very well for us - for the past few months, we have seen a big increase in our business level. The only new (sort of) product that we brought with us to the ECLSTS was the new version of our Mag 15 power supply. It looks identical to the old version, except that there is a '-R' after the MAG 15 name. The difference is that the output voltage is now regulated - on the old version, the output voltage could be quite high when there was no load, but once the unit was loaded, the voltage would drop to ~24V, now the output voltage is set at 20V where it remains regardless of load. You can also request that the output voltage be set to 18V. The other change was a current limit set on the output so that the supply will not be damaged by short circuiting the output. - There is probably not enough new exciting stuff to warrant a new thread.

I was there with Bridgewerks - Polksgenerationnext had booth space across from us, Scott was there on Friday, with a few things, but folded his tent Friday afternoon and wasn't seen afterwards. I found the show to be well attended and well worth our time and cost to attend.

I believe that all of the current Bridgewerks controllers have a current limiter which shuts off power to the track and can be reset manually. The two most common causes for this being tripped are a short circuit across the track - often caused by laying a tool or something on the track, or in a system with block switching, managing to get two power controllers switched onto the same block of track. One of the challenges that we face is walking the line between making the controllers simple enough for an inexperienced user to take out of the box and have a good experience, and flexible enough to meet the demands of the more experienced users. The issues with shorts across the tracks are one of the reasons that Dave no longer offers some of the really high power units. When you short a 25 Amp or bigger supply things can get really exciting.

Hello Chuck, Rayman Bridgewerks is my dad's company, and I am starting to become familiar with it and it's products with the thought of taking a more active role in the company. I am also an electronic engineer, and will probably be designing many of the products moving forward. I would not consider myself to be an expert of G-Scale, although I do have a simple layout in my back yard that the grand-kids and neighborhood kids like to play with so I know a little bit - I just joined this forum to get a better idea of the hobby and what is going on. Chuck mentions regulated supplies with adjustable current and voltage - many bench power supplies have adjustable voltage and also allow you to set a current limit. The bridgewerks controllers have a built in current limit which is pre-set, and you (the user) doesn't have control over it. Would it be a valuable feature to add a current limit to the controllers? - The major place where I could see it having value is on the multi-track units which share one power transformer - this way you could allow for less interruption of one track if disaster (a short or something) struck the other track. On bench supplies, the current limit is generally used to protect the device under test from damage - if I expect my circuit to draw 1A, I might set the current limit to 1.5A, that way if there is a short or something, the power available to do damage is limited. Mark