A free newsletter for model railway enthusiasts
Wiring, DCC & yarns from the age of steam
Track Side Times is Bill’s workbench notebook in your inbox: practical railway electrics, DCC tips, layout know-how and tales from the golden age of steam. Written by a retired electrical engineer who’d sooner fix a point motor than write a sales pitch.
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What lands in your inbox
Repair tips and wiring help you can actually use
No fluff, no filler. Just the sort of hard-won advice you’d get leaning over Bill’s workbench on a Sunday afternoon.
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Practical railway electrics
Clear wiring you can follow: feeder drops, point motors, isolating sections and taming dodgy connections, explained by an engineer.
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DCC tips that work
Decoder set-up, CV tweaks, bus wiring and fault-finding: the settings and shortcuts that actually get your locos running sweetly.
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Layout know-how
Baseboards, track-laying, scenery and wiring plans: the practical layout craft that turns a tabletop into a believable railway.
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Yarns from the golden age of steam
Stories, prototypes and a bit of history: the romance of steam that got us all hooked in the first place.
Retired electrical engineer, lifelong railway enthusiast, and the man behind every article on Track Side Times.
Bill
Retired electrical engineer · Lifelong railway enthusiast
The fellow behind it
Written at the workbench, not a marketing desk
Bill spent a working life in electrical engineering and the rest of it under the baseboard. Track Side Times is where he passes on the tricks, the fixes and the odd tall tale, in plain English, with photos from the workbench.
Every issue is something he’d actually use himself: a wiring problem solved, a DCC setting demystified, or a story worth retelling. If it won’t help you run a better railway, it doesn’t go in.
All aboard
Get a heads-up when Bill publishes
Pop your email in below and you’ll get Track Side Times whenever there’s a new article, roughly every few weeks. Wiring help, DCC tips and a good yarn, straight to your inbox.
No spam, ever. Just Bill’s newsletter every few weeks. Unsubscribe any time with one click.