End to end layout

[Y Me]

I recently bought this layout on eBay with a view to copying it and make improvements along the way. As part of a "new to railway modelling exercise" I have used electro-frog points and followed DCC concepts guide on wiring but am baffled as to what they mean by wire the frog to the SPDT switch common return - I assumed they mean the switch centre position which I have done but my frogs remain dead. I have no shorts on the layout but no power to my frogs - help please. It is DC and I only have one loco an Airfix Prairie. I have used insulating rail joiners on the back track but am unsure about the front track as powering the long straight will power the points from the wrong end so I have fitted insulated rail joiners to the both routes from the left hand points.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Y Me

[Pete the Elaner]

It is good practise to isolate & re-feed after pointwork. You can get away without doing this on a small layout but once weathered & ballasted, rail joiners can become weak electrical connections & Nickel Silver rail is a poor conductor when compared to copper wire.

If you get into the habit of isolating & re-feeding now, you will not have to change your wiring methods if & when you build bigger, more complex layouts.

 

The frog needs to take power from the correct rail (or supply to the rail). This needs to be switched when the point is switched. This can be done manually but if your points are motorised anyway, it makes sense to get them to switch the power too.

The common pole from the switch needs to be connected to the frog. Each of the other 2 connections are for the rails.

 

The most common motors are Gaugemaster/Seep & Peco. Peco produce switches to fit & Gaugemaster produce a motor with an integral switch. I have had reliability issues with both so I use microswitches now. These can take a little time to align correctly but once done, I have found them much more reliable & cheaper too.

Tortoise motors have 2 reliable internal switches. I have never worked with a DCC Concepts Cobalt motor but I understand they are good.

[Jeff Smith]

I used Blue Point manual switch machines on my On30 layout. They are reasonably priced and available in the UK. They allow you to operate the point with a push-pull from the edge of the baseboard (I used aluminium knitting needles) and contain a switch to change the frog polarity.

 

Here's an explanatory link https://www.micromark.com/Blue-Point-Switch-MachineTurnout-Controller

Edited April 11, 2018 by Jeff Smith

[Harlequin]

Electrofrog points will switch the power to the frog themselves of course, through the point blades, unless you have snipped the bonding wires underneath.

 

So, off the shelf, no extra switch should be required to power the frogs.

[DCB]

The Airfix Prairie has to be one of the worst RTR locos ever.  The Motor is very good but someone decided square axle holes in the chassis were a good idea as was gearing to give 150 mph max then they fitted traction tyres and incredibly flimsy slide bars.   The plastic they used for the body is remarkably fragile, I have one in bits at present but I don't hold out much hope of it ever running properly.

 

For such a simple layout a three feeds and a couple of isolators should be sufficient. see pic.

[The Johnster]

The Airfix Prairie has to be one of the worst RTR locos ever.  The Motor is very good but someone decided square axle holes in the chassis were a good idea as was gearing to give 150 mph max then they fitted traction tyres and incredibly flimsy slide bars.   The plastic they used for the body is remarkably fragile, I have one in bits at present but I don't hold out much hope of it ever running properly.

 

For such a simple layout a three feeds and a couple of isolators should be sufficient. see pic.

 

Don't agree with 'worst ever', and I suspect anyone who ever had anything to do Lima's cheap and nasty 94xx,4575 or J50 would agree.  It is not up to modern standards out of the box, but can be tamed to run smoothly and controllably down to a very low speed.  I replaced the pony and radial wheels on mine with Jackson's, and removed the traction tyre (Satan's snot) and replaced that driving wheel with one from a friend's scrap loco that he'd given up on.  The tyre ruins pickup performance and lifts the loco off the rails; it must go!!!  Replacement cast whitemetal buffers, cab windows, a crew posed to hide the emptiness of the cab, real coal and a set of Springside fire iron, a repaint and some etched number plates, and she doesn't look anything like as toy like.

 

Crude by modern RTR standards certainly, but not as bad as, say, the contemporaneous panniers from Triang Hornby, of which one is still being knocked out.  The main thing you notice is the motor noise, but I grew rather fond of mine's class 37 growl...  I have been expecting her to succumb to carbon brush wear and be unable to replace them, which would have ended her career, but she died 3 weeks ago from broken slide bars, which proved resistant to superglueing back together in a way which was able to withstand the stresses of operation.  She was my oldest working loco.

 

But if you are 'new to model railways' I would strongly suggest buying a current production loco of recent tooling; you need something reliable, controllable, and dependable to attack the learning curve with.  If you encounter pick up faults, for example, then at least you will be certain that the loco is not to blame and that the trouble lies with tracklaying or wiring; being able to diagnose faults of this sort by process of elimination is vital,  When you've got everything running properly, have a look at the Airfix prarie and analyse it's problems one by one; it is not a bad loco with a bit of fettling!

[Corbs]

I recently remotored an Airfix prairie with a modern Hornby motor, a plastic gear and some styrene strip.

 

£5.15 for the motor

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-TYPE-7-MABUCHI-MOTOR-00-GAUGE-NEW-SH-030-SA-08240-NEW/222816906945?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

£2.80 for the worm gear

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S9574-Hornby-TRIANG-WORM-GEAR-FITS-0-4-0-H2D/152315256845?epid=2133135130&hash=item2376b2600d:g:LnIAAOSwB09YJv3x

 

About £1 for the shaft adapter plus postage (I bought a few in different sizes and it was £3.50 for P & P)

http://www.nigellawton009.com/PayPalMotors.html#Pulleys

 

The hardest bit was drilling into the chassis block to fit the top brace.

 

Since then I also fitted Airfix wheels with flanged centre drivers (Think a spare set was about £5) and it's improved it a lot.

Hope that helps! If you want to see some easy ways to add detail to the body then have a look:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/132180-corbs-chris-clinic-spare-parts-patriot-royal-scot-refresh-hornfix-class-3-hornmann-pannier-airfix-prairies/

 

 

[DCB]

I recently remotored an Airfix prairie with a modern Hornby motor, a plastic gear and some styrene strip.

 

£5.15 for the motor

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-TYPE-7-MABUCHI-MOTOR-00-GAUGE-NEW-SH-030-SA-08240-NEW/222816906945?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

£2.80 for the worm gear

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S9574-Hornby-TRIANG-WORM-GEAR-FITS-0-4-0-H2D/152315256845?epid=2133135130&hash=item2376b2600d:g:LnIAAOSwB09YJv3x

 

About £1 for the shaft adapter plus postage (I bought a few in different sizes and it was £3.50 for P & P)

http://www.nigellawton009.com/PayPalMotors.html#Pulleys

 

The hardest bit was drilling into the chassis block to fit the top brace.

 

Since then I also fitted Airfix wheels with flanged centre drivers (Think a spare set was about £5) and it's improved it a lot.

Hope that helps! If you want to see some easy ways to add detail to the body then have a look:

 

 That's a great idea, I could fit a fit a Hornby Motor to the 61XX, sell it on eBay and keep the nice big smooth reliable 5 pole motor to fit to something else!  Wouldn't even cost anything as I have all the bits in my scrap box.