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St Columb (or how to re-write history)

 

The ideas for St Columb, a station on the Newquay & Wadebridge Railway, were formed thirty to forty years ago though despite some quite detailed plans being drawn up, never actually materialised - until now! It has varied down the years between being an extension of the North Cornwall Railway and a narrow gauge line. Now it is coming to fruition, it is the narrow gauge that has come out on top, though also including a standard gauge branch running from Padstow to St Columb.

 

The premise is that after waiting for the North Cornwall Railway to proceed on from Padstow towards Truro, and being disappointed when that wasn't going to happen, the burghers of St Columb got together and approached Sir George Newnes to ask for his help to build a narrow gauge line, the Newquay & Wadebridge, between those two towns along the lines of the recently completed Lynton & Barnstaple line, though to a gauge of 2' 3". The line was duly built after which the North Cornwall Railway, fearing loss of revenue if traffic went to and from St Columb via Newquay and the GWR, eventually built a branch from Padstow to St Columb.

 

The line, built on a shoestring by the same contractor as the L&B, J Nuttall of Manchester, opened with a motley collection of second hand locomotives and rolling stock, much to the displeasure of the local population. Upon the Grouping the Newquay & Wadebridge was absorbed into the Southern Railway, which did much to improve the permanent way and station facilities, but nothing to improve the rolling stock in use.

 

Then in 1935 the Southern closed the Lynton & Barnstaple, re-gauged a couple of the Manning Wardle tanks (Exe and Taw), plus the better items of rolling stock, and transferred them from the L&B to the N&W.  The rolling stock suffered from lack of maintenance during the war resulting in two of the engines needing to be taken out of service for heavy overhaul in 1946, so to help maintain services they bought a Baldwin 4-6-0T, 'Hummy', from the Ashover Light Railway when that line took it out of service. Come 1948 and the N&W is now a part of British Railways, Southern Region, though with an uncertain future as traffic wasn't picking up as expected in the late 1940s. Then the news of the Tall-y-llyn Railway's rescue inspired the Southern Region to re-visit the past and market the line as a tourist attraction. A pick-up in traffic, plust the age of the two "old ladies" prompted BR(S) to build a third engine to the Manning Wardle design, with the later form of cab as had been fitted to Lew.  One of the Manning Wardles was repainted in original L&B livery and another in Southern livery whilst the third, named Lyd, was in BR black, along with the Baldwin.

 

 

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Map of the area

 

 

The fainter dotted lines are the standard gauge line to Padstow above and the narrow gauge one to Wadebridge below, both in tunnels.

 

So much for fiction.........

 

The model is being constructed using three of the boards formerly used for my Boscarne Junction layout. It seems, having now finished stripping and reconstructing them, that this was a more difficult task than was building new ones from scratch!  The three boards are constructed so that they fold down into self-contained boxes which may be easily handled by one person - and will also fit in our car!

 

Anyway, that is the stage I am presently at, ready for the new build to start. This time I am going to use DCC, which is certainly a steep learning curve and nowhere near as simple as "just a couple of wires" that some like to say!

 

Some photos of the boards in their storage or transporting mode below.

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Above: The boards pack away as self-contained boxes which makes storing and transporting them a doddle. The centre board (1m x 60cm) has two pairs of legs whilst the outer ones (1.2m x 60cm) just one and attach either side of the centre board. Here they have the legs down with the front and top folded over. There is a removable board on the far side for access to the layout, and removable end boards.


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Above: The boards viewed from the top and the bottom, the latter showing the legs folded into the basic box construction. At top left of the front board in the lower photo may be seen the workings for the level crossing - the only thing that has been installed so far. Installed but not yet connected.

 

Next job will be to complete a dual gauge programming track, then to install the wiring buses, one AC bus each for the narrow gauge and standard gauge sections, and a 12v DC one for any non-AC accessories that may be required, e.g. the level crossing or platform lighting. :imsohappy:

Edited by Piskey
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WOW I've never seen such a neat Layout / Baseboard job, and stunning scenery as well, very good indeed.

 

Hi Andy,  that scenery took absolutely years!!!!! :haha:

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For New Zealand, that scenery looks remarkably like North Cornwall!

 

Brian.

Hello Brian,

 

Yes, there are lots of similarities in our neck of the woods, though very few dramatic cliffs!  We're about 30 miles north of Auckland overlooking a glaciated valley and, to the left of the photos, the Kaipara Harbour which is said to be the largest natural harbour in the Southern Hemisphere, but it's not a patch on the River Fal!

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Presto! One dual gauge DCC programming track.  Made using some recycled track from Boscarne Junction and 9mm and 16.5mm Tracksetta straights to make three 'jigs', i.e. bits of wood with three grooves carefully cut in the correct places.  The white-ish chairs of the inner rail tell that this rail was originally part of BJ's Southern Siding!

post-7431-0-63132100-1495923246.png

 

Next stop the wiring bus............

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Now the electrics are started, though I'm just putting in the basics before track-laying begins.  I'm using a Digitrax DCS 51 All-In-One Throttle/Command Station/Booster with a DC Specialties PSX-2 Solid State Circuit Breaker with two outputs.  One will be the bus for the Narrow Gauge circuit and the other the bus for the Standard Gauge branch.

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The DCS 51 clips on to the back of the middle board and has just one connection to the layout.

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The PSX-2 circuit breaker beneath the board adjacent to the DCS 51.  Each pair of bus wires will come out of the terminals on the right whilst the two wires at the bottom of the photo are intended to be for a 12v DC supply.  A couple of years ago I bought a Step Down Power Module that is supposed to provide a regulated 12v supply from an input of either AC or DC.  Less than two minutes after it had been powered up, and without any load, it simply went bang!  So, it's back to the drawing board for the DC supply. :sad_mini:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yesterday I was able to spend some more time on the boards and now have an AC Bus for both the narrow gauge circuit and the standard gauge branch, plus a 12v DC one for accessories such as the level crossing, though that needed the voltage stepped down to 5v.  On which note I wired that up and, with heart in mouth, connected the power, half expecting to have to resolve a problem or two as I'd changed the circuit from its previous installation in Boscarne Junction. But no! It worked 100% correctly first time - phew!

 

  Click here for a short video clip of the gates

   

One of the gate posts seems to have become a little drunk!  Maybe that needs sorting, or perhaps left slightly skew-whiff to add some "character"?

post-7431-0-78346300-1496814765.jpg

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Yesterday I was able to spend some more time on the boards and now have an AC Bus for both the narrow gauge circuit and the standard gauge branch, plus a 12v DC one for accessories such as the level crossing, though that needed the voltage stepped down to 5v.  On which note I wired that up and, with heart in mouth, connected the power, half expecting to have to resolve a problem or two as I'd changed the circuit from its previous installation in Boscarne Junction. But no! It worked 100% correctly first time - phew!

 

 

attachicon.gifCrossingGates.jpg  Click here for a short video ckip of the gates

   

One of the gate posts seems to have become a little drunk!  Maybe that needs sorting, or perhaps left slightly skew-whiff to add some "character"?

Leave it, Peter. It adds a certain something. The disruption to everything in digging up the post and re-seating it would not be brooked unless reliable and safe operation of the crossing were impaired. And things like gate-locks, buried in the ground in C19, were an increasingly unfamiliar piece of kit by our era.
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Leave it, Peter. It adds a certain something. The disruption to everything in digging up the post and re-seating it would not be brooked unless reliable and safe operation of the crossing were impaired. And things like gate-locks, buried in the ground in C19, were an increasingly unfamiliar piece of kit by our era.

 

You're quite right, of course, and that is what I was most probably going to do anyway.  Trying to straighten it could cause more damage and the last thing I want to do is start again from scratch!  It can be the result of the Great St Columb disaster of '35 when a charabanc hit the gates, throwing its occupants out and onto the track just as the 3:43 to Wadebridge was approaching.  Fortunately the driver was alert, and as he was slowing for the station was able to stop in time! :scared:

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It's all very well drawing things on paper (and approximating in SCARM) but will it all really fit?  That's the big question. Having laid the cork base for the hidden sidings and round to the front of the board, out came rulers and a pencil and the answer to that all imporatnt question was - yes.  Phew!  Next to see just how well it'll work I put some stock on the boards, which showed me that I could actually move the standard gauge about an inch forward, giving a little more space for the scenicing behind.  Here is where it's at at present:

 

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The view from the Wadebridge end of the layout

 

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The view from the Newquay end

 

The controls on the left are for the level crossing.  The blue switch is the gate lock that allows current to flow to the servo controllers whilst at the same time cutting off the current to the track, hopefully avoiding any accidents through trains hitting closed gates!  The white switch operates the servos which move in sequence, first the one nearest the camera which controls the gate on the 'outside' of the track, then the other which controls the gate on the 'inside'.  The box in front of them is to step down the voltage from 12v DC to 5v DC.  These will, of course, all be hidden once the scenery has been built.

 

post-7431-0-39090900-1497325411_thumb.jpg

 

This is a panoramic view front the front.  I took this (several times!) using my 'phone and just could not get a dead straight result, hence the little hiccup on the left side of the middle board.

 

The wood at the rear of boards one and three is removed for operating.  I've left it there in its 'travelling' mode to make sure that I have sufficient room to place them there after the track has been laid.  Somewhat important!

 

The connections between the boards are on their tops as they'll be hidden behind the backscene, and I felt that they'd be less likely to suffer any damage than they would beneath the boards.

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I concur that laying out a few turnouts is the supremely reliable way to discover just how long an S&C configuration can be. I used to do a bit of layout planning for 1:1 railways, but then I had the Regional Civil Engineer's P Way Design Office to tell me what was and wasn't possible!

 

Laying out the points also enables you to accurately measure the available length of sidings etc, which have otherwise been known to shrink dismally once the turnouts were laid, making the whole idea impracticable......

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Laying out the points also enables you to accurately measure the available length of sidings etc, which have otherwise been known to shrink dismally once the turnouts were laid, making the whole idea impracticable......

 

Hello Ian,

 

Not laying out before hand was one of the things dismally wrong with my Boscarne Junction.  Built 'straight off plan' the fiddle yard at the Bodmin end was simply too short which made life somewhat difficult as any engine and a couple of coaches were too long for the cassette.  Taking the engine off was easy enough but not so easy putting it back on the far track if a bogie or pony truck were involved, which of course they were!

 

Laying things out to try them has also demonstrated just how much smaller the narrow gauge is, despite being the same scale.  It will be interesting building a platform for narrow gauge on one side and standard gauge the other.  I have thought about doubling up (or trebling) the cork under the narrow gauge tracks, but that may well create further problems.

 

I just investigated and the difference in height is 10mm - 2' 6" in real life.  Or five thicknesses of cork to the standard gauge's one!

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I've now finished laying the cork underlay but it'll be a while before I lay any track as there are a few things to sort out first, such as magnets for uncoupling and, more importantly, how and where to place the point motors.  Unfortunately the siting of several of the standard gauge points is over a structural support beneath the baseboard, so some creative installation will be required.  Just another disadvantage of re-using boards, I suppose!  I shall be re-using six old Cobalt Classic point motors for the SG and using the new Cobalt SS above-board point motors for the NG, suitably hidden where on view.

 

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The view once again from the Newquay end of the layout.  On the left is the narrow gauge "fiddle yard" which will basically be four roads plus a couple of spurs where engines/brake vans or etc. can be stored when not in use.  With no plans for more than four engines this will be quite sufficient.  The "road to nowhere" just to the right of the NG tracks on the far board will connect to a cassette to handle the standard gauge stock. All this will, of course, be hidden from the front view behind the backscene.

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  • 1 month later...

Progress may be slow, but it is progress - and there's no deadline. Both boards one and two have their track laid, with half the track laid on board three.  Board one is also now fully wired, which involves a lot more than the "just two wires" that people like to trot out when promoting DCC! There are two AC buses, one for the for the standard gauge and one for the narrow gauge, plus a 12vDC bus for accessories such as the level crossing (though the voltage for that need s to be stepped down to 5v), magnets for uncoupling and lighting.  Then there are the wires to connect the droppers to the buses, to the point motors, to the switches for providing the correct feed to the point frogs, wires to the magnets and etc.

 

As it was a lovely afternoon I was able to nip outside just before sunset and take a couple of photos without the constrictions of indoors.

 

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Above is the view of the top of board 1 with track laid.

 

The white plug is to provide the power to the cassettes, one of which may be seen in situ.

 

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What two wires?  Above is the underneath of board 1.

 

The numbers refer to the points, 1 and 10 are crossovers so the motor for each end is labelled with the appropriate alpha suffix.  The AC buses are the black and red wires whilst the DC bus the green and yellow ones.  To hopefully avoid confusion with the main black and red bus wires I've used brown and yellow to connect to the droppers.  The magnets have red and white ones though as I've just about finished the red wire the next few will have to be orange and white! :yes:

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Oh dear, is it really more than a year since the last posting?  Seems so.  Not much has progressed for a number of reasons, very few model-related.  Two big problems did make themselves apparent though, both now sorted.  The first of which concerned a short circuit.  The track on board one was wired up, tested and working satisfactorily but then suddenly started creating a short circuit.  But where?  Try as I might I couldn't pin it down, I even undid much of the wiring, then replaced it one connection at a time until the short circuit re-appeared.  The culprit turned out to be one of the points where a tiny piece of metal chaff had lodged between one point blade and the frog section, though this could not be seen until I had gone so far as to lift the point having decided to replace it!  Problem number two was to do with point motors.  Due to the track plan not being optimised for the re-used boards it is not possible to have precisely placed under the baseboard motors in several locations so I opted for some above board ones on boards two and three.  This was about the time that Cobalt released the Cobalt-SS above board point motors and as I'd been very pleased with the traditional analogue Cobalts I'd used previously, plus having a pretty small, quite easy to disguise, footprint, I decided to use them.  Installation was not that difficult but the first problem to rear its ugly head was that unlike the previous Cobalt motors these only have one SPDT built in, which means that without additional relays I couldn't switch power to the frog area and also to the isolated sections leading up wrong road to the points.  So I invested in some Cobalt REX relay extension boards.  Boy, did this require a lot of wiring - so much for "DCC only needs two wires"!   However, they did the trick with the SS control board sending the signal to the REX which in turn switched the power as required.  Next thing, though, was the SS motors themselves are not as robust as I would like and infuriatingly had a habit of re-setting themselves.  Setting them up in the first place wasn't too difficult but it is a real pain to have to go back under the board to set them up again.  And again.  Apparently I was very unlucky here as they are supposed to be very reliable, but mine certainly caused me a problem or two so I decided to change tack.  I have now purchased six Cobalt iP Digital motors to replace six of the SS ones where the under-board motor can be located close to, though not exactly under, a point's tie bar.  For the other four points (in the fiddle yard) I have bought Gaugemaster BPPM20 point motors to be controlled by Train-Tech PC2 controllers with Gaugemaster GM500D relay switches to switch the power for frogs and isolated sections.  The first two Gaugemaster point motors are in situ and about to be wired after which the first four of the new Cobalts need to be installed.  Once that has been done, and the electrics proved to be working correctly, I'll be able to move on to board three.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Progress has been made!  Everything on board one is now as it should be with the new point replacing the one that had been shorting and board two has seen considerable progress.  The Gaugemaster point motors are installed and working for the fiddle yard points, and the siting of the Cobalts resolved.  Two have fitted under the board, though have to act on the side of the tie bars rather than in the middle, and I had to carve up the crossbar on the legs so that the legs would fold flat.  For the other two points on this board I have realised that by fitting the point motors at 90° they will work under the points in the correct manner.  To do this I have ordered some Cobalt right-angle adapters which will hopefully turn up shortly.  Then after fitting these to board two it will be all systems go for board three, which hasn't seen the light of day for a long time now!  Whilst waiting I have given the rails a thorough cleaning - it is surprising how dirty they had become despite nothing running on them.

 

In the meantime I am given to understand that the release of the next batch of Heljan Manning Wardles may happen sooner rather than later so it will be good to be able to run them.  First, though, I'll need to source some correct DCC sound decoders.  I have had the Bachmann Baldwin "Hummy" for some time and have fitted it with the Digitrains decoder designed for this engine.  The Manning Wardles do not yet, as far as I am aware, have a dedicated sound decoder though with the Ffestiniog built Lyd available for sound to be recorded I would hope one will soon be marketed.  Alternatively, I understand that the Adams Radial sound decoder is a suitable choice.  My original order was for three engines though I have now increased this to four - one in L&B livery, two in Southern and one in BR black.  This latter was a welcome addition to the range as I had been thinking of repainting a green one - which may be thought of as sacrilege!

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Progress has been made!  Everything on board one is now as it should be with the new point replacing the one that had been shorting and board two has seen considerable progress.  The Gaugemaster point motors are installed and working for the fiddle yard points, and the siting of the Cobalts resolved.  Two have fitted under the board, though have to act on the side of the tie bars rather than in the middle, and I had to carve up the crossbar on the legs so that the legs would fold flat.  For the other two points on this board I have realised that by fitting the point motors at 90° they will work under the points in the correct manner.  To do this I have ordered some Cobalt right-angle adapters which will hopefully turn up shortly.  Then after fitting these to board two it will be all systems go for board three, which hasn't seen the light of day for a long time now!  Whilst waiting I have given the rails a thorough cleaning - it is surprising how dirty they had become despite nothing running on them.

 

In the meantime I am given to understand that the release of the next batch of Heljan Manning Wardles may happen sooner rather than later so it will be good to be able to run them.  First, though, I'll need to source some correct DCC sound decoders.  I have had the Bachmann Baldwin "Hummy" for some time and have fitted it with the Digitrains decoder designed for this engine.  The Manning Wardles do not yet, as far as I am aware, have a dedicated sound decoder though with the Ffestiniog built Lyd available for sound to be recorded I would hope one will soon be marketed.  Alternatively, I understand that the Adams Radial sound decoder is a suitable choice.  My original order was for three engines though I have now increased this to four - one in L&B livery, two in Southern and one in BR black.  This latter was a welcome addition to the range as I had been thinking of repainting a green one - which may be thought of as sacrilege!

I have used the Cobalt right-angle adapters. They work very well.

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I have used the Cobalt right-angle adapters. They work very well.

 

Thanks, I look forward to their arrival.  In the meantime here are a few photos of the revised point arrangements that have been installed.

 

post-7431-0-15920500-1539923106_thumb.jpg

 

Above is point 3A and below point 3B which (as do many of the points) work as a crossover.  The offset working is plain to see though I hope to disguise it to a certain extent.  One of the points on Boscarne Junction had to be like this to a lesser degree (and still is on this layout) but it was never really noticeable.  The small holes around 3A are where the previous point motor was fixed and the larger one where the wiring for it came through the baseboard, all to be filled in due course.  These were all to be cunningly disguised, though I hadn't decided just how!  Probably would have had it under the end of a platform.  Under this hole may be seen the piece of wood that the point motor is fixed to, with the screw one of two holding it in place.  This (hopefully) means it would be easy to remove and replace should that become necessary.

 

post-7431-0-13306600-1539923415_thumb.jpg

 

As may be seen I had a bit of a 'mare fixing this point motor for 3B because a longitudinal support runs directly beneath this point so I had to make a new throw arm which has a 90° bend, then about an inch across to the tie bar, then work out how to install it.  It was a case of second time lucky.  I need to keep the slot which is at right angles to the track so that the point motor will be removable so am now thinking of how best to disguise it - maybe with a dummy Ground Frame over it?  The lower road is just a short siding that goes end-on to the station platform.

 

The hole in the trackbed above the point was for an uncoupling electro-magnet that has been moved six sleepers to the left.

 

This point is not my finest piece of work!  On Boscarne Junction the wiring demanded that the point be literally cut in two but for St Columb I have soldered it back together again.  As may be seen there is a slightly larger than necessary gap between the upper switch rail and the frog but it never caused any problems and hopefully will continue not to.

 

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Above are the motors for points 8 and 9, single points in the narrow gauge "fiddle yard".  The Gaugemaster motors with the TrainTech decoders work really well and the Gaugemaster GM500D relays switch the power perfectly.  A far smaller footprint with vastly less wiring required than with the Cobalt REX relays too!  Now I have put the surplus REX and Cobalt SS up for sale on Trade Me.

 

The red socket is where the power is plugged in and the bolt heads are the fixings for the circuit breakers under the board.

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Hooray!  The 90° adapters arrived this morning and two have now been used for the crossover points 5A and 5B, though these are just installed and await wiring up.  The others won't be used until I move on to the next board.

 

post-7431-0-62820600-1540443982.jpg

 

The motor for crossover point 5A (above) and for point 5B (below) awaiting their wires.  The 3A refers to the point on the right, it looked more logical when points 5 were to be above board!

 

post-7431-0-51240500-1540444027.jpg

 

I just hope these are not going to require much adjusting as the Set/Run switch is at the top, up against the bottom of the baseboard, though there is a gap of about 3/4 inch for my finger to squeeze in to!  This would be far better had it been on the bottom of the terminal block, but presumably the terminal block was designed before the 90° adapters were thought of.

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This crossover now wired - but it wasn't an easy job!  The plug-in terminals are almost impossible to reach so I had to take the point motors off the board, wire them up and then replace them.  Hindsight being the wonderful thing it is I now wish I'd thought to wire the point motors to a terminal block, then take the wiring on from there to the relevant places.  Life would have been a lot easier, though as for reaching the Set/Run switch .........  Nothing short of removing the point motor will allow my fingers to move it from Run to Set.  No problem going the other way, though.  Fortunately I only needed to use the Set/Run switch on one of the motors (to reverse its direction of throw), and only the once for that.  I dread the thought of needing to revisit one. :sad_mini2:

 

The really good news (well, 75% good) was that out of four possible connections to have been the wrong way round (two frogs and two isolated sections beyond the points) three of them were correct!  One frog had the incorrect polarity but that is fixed by simply swapping over the two power input leads.  Well ... once you can get to them, that is!

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Life is  never easy!  The day after installing the new point motors for the crossovers on the middle board I found that they had "forgotten" their addresses. :fie:

 

No problem to reset these on points 3A, 3B and 5B but the one I was dreading the need to revisit, 5A, is the big problem.  I haven't yet been able to access the Set/Run switch so will have to create some sort of tool to do this as I really don't want to remove the point motor to do this, the problem being that it is up against the side member of the baseboard and due to the construction of the motor, completely out of sight.  Maybe I'll be able to fashion something that I can use, perhaps with the aid of a mirror, or I'll just have to think how the thing might be re-positioned by 180°.  There's not enough room for the wires unless the actuator wire is stepped so that the motor can be mounted further away from a cross member of the frame.  Three of the existing point motors have "creative" actuator wires, so why not another?  :)

 

In the meantime I've been working on a track diagram to show the positions of the various points and signals with the route set being indicated by green LEDs.  Points 1 to 4 are standard gauge, 5 to 10 narrow gauge with 7 to 10 being the "hidden sidings"..  I did consider adding LED displays for the signals but decided just showing these for the points is all that is required as the aspect of the signals themselves will be more than obvious, so I've just noted their places and numbers, 11 to 13 being 'up' signals, 14 to 16 'down' ones, the distant being a fixed signal.

 

post-7431-0-01874500-1544670492_thumb.jpg

 

It may seem a bit pretentious showing a Signalbox at the foot of the diagram but ..... that's where the Controls and Mimic board will be.

Edited by Piskey
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Ha!  Had some time today to look at the problematic point motor for 5A and now all is sweet.  I have turned the 90° bracket round so that it works on the "other side" of the point motor, which was easy peasy.   Then I turned the point motor through 180° so that the previously inaccessible Set/Run switch is to the fore.  What wasn't so easy, though, was mounting it under the board.  It wasn't practical to use the side now up against the bottom of the baseboard for fixing the point motor so I have made up a wooden Heath Robinson-ish cradle to hold it which has resolved the problem.

 

post-7431-0-20667500-1541301732.jpg

 

The black Set/Run switch can be easily seen in the above photo, against the green of the terminal block.  The edge of the baseboard is at the bottom of the photo and it can be seen that with the Set/Run switch end of the point motor tight up against the timber, and the green terminal block against the bottom of the baseboard, moving the switch was well nigh impossible.  I tried various combinations of bent wires etc. and did move it from Run to Set but couldn't then move it back again.

 

The filled holes are from the fittings of the now-discarded Cobalt S point motors whilst the coil top left of this photo is an uncoupling magnet.

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