RMweb Premium eldavo Posted June 26, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2011 (edited) After having a couple of days away from home full-scale panic mode continues. The control panel(s) are starting to take shape. Here is the fiddleyard control module slotted into an old plywood box I had kicking around in the garage. I've taken a saw to it and chopped the bottom of the box off to act as a top cover. The original lid will be used to access the underside of the control stuff and also give access to a storage area for cables when being transported (I hope). Maybe the control panel is a tad too minimal and a track schematic might help...Below decks things are a little more complicated. Hopefully all this lot (17 relays so far and a few more still needed) will allow route setting and section switching through just the 6 rotary switches with no need for individual isolating switches. The point switching logic seems to work but I have still to wire up all the power sections. That's a job for tomorrow.Onward...CheersDave Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert McGee Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Anything else happened recently with regards to laying track in the fiddle yard reccently? I'd like to see a Clip of the layout in operation if possible, Dave Cheers, Robert. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Anything else happened recently with regards to laying track in the fiddle yard reccently? I'd like to see a Clip of the layout in operation if possible, Dave The fiddleyard is now as far as it's going to get before the 2nd of July outing. Why not come along on Saturday and see it in action? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert McGee Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 O, missed that. Saturday, where is the exhibition? I'm up north you see, so if it down south, it won't a possibility, Sorry. Cheers, Robert. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Have a look at the ad at the top of every page for the Members' Day; it's not north and it's not south. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert McGee Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I feel a bit stupid now. I've been looking at it aswell, and I just didn't join them together when I asked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted June 29, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 29, 2011 That picture's just to show off how big your toy room is ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted July 3, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 3, 2011 (edited) Well the members day in Stafford is over. My that went quickly. On Monday last I managed to get a 12 hour day working on wiring (didn't work this hard when I had a job). On Tuesday I was in the workshop with the soldering iron heating up at 5.30 (am!). The first train to manage a full circuit of the layout didn't run until Wednesday evening. The control box was finally assembled and tested on Thursday and the whole lot packed into the car on Friday morning.Up until Tuesday evening I really didn't believe I would manage to get anything worthwhile running by Saturday but with a bit of a fair wind we got there. There were a couple of electrical gremlins we had to work around but we had trains running all day! Things actually worked surprisingly well even if we were only able to show off a fraction of the layouts capabilities.Rather than confuse the operators with sophisticated track schematics, labels and graphics the fiddleyard control panel was left pretty much blank! How many combinations of 6 rotary controls can there be?The layout is now back home and safely packed away in the shed. It will stay that way for a few days and I will take a break from track and wiring but actually I'm now quite keen to crack on and sort the "snag" list and finish a few more bits and pieces. It was really rather nice to see it finally up and running and great to shake down some of the operational problems in front of a friendly bunch of RMWebbers.CheersDave Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
-missy- Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Hi Dave. It was great to meet you again and have a chat. The layout is as good for real as it is in the photos, it was a worthy winner of the RMWeb competition. I just hope a certian 'driver' didnt break anything! Missy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted July 3, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 3, 2011 Enjoyed our chat - and banter with that Phil bloke - looking forward to seeing this in full operation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted July 7, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 7, 2011 (edited) Time for a bit of relaxing weathering I think. Haven't had time to wield the paintbrushes for a few weeks what with all this building fiddleyard shenanigans. I have acquired a few GBrF coal hoppers with the intent of running fulls one way and empties the other. I only have 14 so far and on Saturday we were just running one rake of 7. Didn't look too bad though I could probably squeeze another one but they were all in pristine condition!I set about making some coal loads for some of them out of... ...er, coal! Basically just some crushed coal glued to a bit of black plasticard. They are cracking models these babies.After a squirt of mucky blacky brown from the airbrush all over plus some smears of Tamiya rust brown and black weathering material they start to look a bit more lived in.I've deliberately tried to get some variation among them as the prototypes seem to vary from almost new looking to yeuk brown all over.The loaded ones are somewhat overloaded but I didn't fancy fiddling around trying to get separate loads in each of the 3 compartments. They'll do if viewed from a distance or until I change my mind and redo them. They are quite small!Not sure it was that relaxing though as 14 hoppers with 8 wheels each equates to 112 tiny wheel faces to paint rusty brown with a 000 brush!CheersDave Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted July 7, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 7, 2011 Hi Dave, I really did enjoy watching Waton on Saturday, lots of action and interesting moves! Regards, Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Dave, to my shame I've only just read the topic. Astounding work - wish I'd been following during the build, but I've caught up now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted July 17, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) Had to sort a few items from the "snag list" compiled during the Stafford outing as Waton was the the subject of an (almost) unannounced inspection by the SBSC(SEF) (SAG Beer Standards Comittee(Souther Expeditionary Force)) otherwise known as the gang of five. Hiding behind the backscene and pretending to do something in the fiddleyard didn't cut it with the leader of the band!gordon s: "It looks much bigger in the pictures. Do trains really run on this track? I can't even see the rails!"gordon s: "Did I miss one?"PhilC: "Yes mate. You need to get ya glasses on a bit quicker."Bibby Line (co-opted for the day): "If I stand like this does it look as though I know what I'm doing?"Phil H: "You're turning the wrong knob!"Somehow GMR managed to escape without being photographed!I'd like to assure people that no trains were injured during these tests! Good fun had by all.CheersDave Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted July 17, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2011 Been gradually working through Waton's fault list and managed to nail a couple of major items today. I was having nasty interactions between the two controller I am using for East and West bound operations. I have the layout wired for common return and after changing round the connections to one of the controllers I can now run trains in both directions at the same time. I've also spent an hour or two fettling trackwork on the Eastbound routes and things are starting to run much smoother. More of this to do but one of the acid tests was whether I could run the 2+7 HST set both East and West bound. Doesn't sound a big deal but bear in mind this is a Farish unit so in one direction the motorised power car has to propel the 7 coaches and the dummy power car all the way round the layout across all manner of whacky point work. It does! Thought I would put together a little video of stuff moving just for the heck of it. Apologies for the quality of the video but this was just shot using the room lights and my crossover/superzoom camera. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=molemPGx4fI Cheers Dave 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Goldfish Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Most accurate end credits I've ever seen! Looking good Dave, great video. Any plans to resolve the Derby branch? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I can still see it but here's the manual link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=molemPGx4fI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 25, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Time for a bit more work on Waton and it involves more whacky trackwork. The layout is due out to its first show with paying punters in a months time so there is quite a bit to do. There's also quite a lot that won't get done!On its first outing to the RMWeb members day I only had the routes from Leicester to Birmingham and Walsall running and the fiddleyard track for the Derby route had not been laid. Initially I thought I would have to re-align the exit tracks from the scenic section and move the double crossing in the fiddleyard to get a useable curve that the HST could negotiate. With a bit of fiddling I've found I can get things working with very little change.I have shortened the Atlas 60 degree diamond crossing lead-in tracks even further and slightly tweaked the exit angle of the tracks from the scenic section and lo and behold I can get a better curve. The minimum radius is still down to 9inches (or slightly less!) but tests seem to show that I can get the Farish HST, 170 and Voyager round safely. The Dapol Voyager probably won't make it round as it is far less tolerant of sharp curves but my Dapol class 66s are quite happy so freight is a possibility as well.Here's a couple of views of the scary curves...In the second shot you can see that I am playing with converging the two tracks into a single line to enter the Derby fiddleyard proper. I am experimenting with some custom pointwork for this and have knocked together a couple of skeletal A5 turnouts back to back. These have only one sprung switchblade so I am hoping that trains will trail the sprung blade successfully and I won't have to fit point motors.These points are rigged with insulated frogs. In fact if you look closely you can see the frog is incomplete and is missing a bit of plasticard to finish it off. This shot also shows how crude these are. There's some fettling to be done but hopefully they will work.As to why I need two sprung points back to back will be revealed in due course (probably).CheersDave Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted October 25, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 25, 2011 I think a rehearsal could be in order.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 26, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 26, 2011 I think a rehearsal could be in order.... At the moment that would be a' la' Brio as I haven't wired things up! It isn't the only thing that isn't working though. Sent my favourite loco back to the manufacturer under warrantly just over a month ago. The fault is clearly with the circuit board in the tender causing a short going forwards as it works fine in reverse. Today I am told I am to get a refund as it's "unrepairable". Not a happy bunny at all. What price outsourcing manufacturing to China and holding no spare parts? Financial suicide me thinks. Grrr, grumble mumble. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold bcnPete Posted October 27, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 27, 2011 How are you getting on with the Morley Controller Dave? Does that one come with the walkabouts too? Curious to see how those sprung turnouts evolve... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 27, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 27, 2011 How are you getting on with the Morley Controller Dave? Does that one come with the walkabouts too? The Morley works fine. It's an older one I acquired secondhand so it doesn't have walkabouts. As Waton is pretty much a one man operating thing it's fine. It has 12vDC, 16vAC and a CDU so it covers most bases. Curious to see how those sprung turnouts evolve... Me too! Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 29, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 29, 2011 (edited) More progress on the Derby end fiddleyard following a prompt delivery of some code 55 flexitrack from those chaps in Liverpool. A 4th road has been added to the Westbound fiddleyard roads and this has a link through to one of the 4 new Derby yard roads. In the following pic the HST, Voyager and 170 can be seen sitting in the shared East/West roads then to the right of these are the 4 Westbound only roads then the 4 Derby roads. A hopper wagon can just be made out in the Derby road that links to the Westbound yard.The back to back sprung points provide the main entry and exit to the Derby yard. An Eastbound (Derby) train arrives by the left line at the foot of the picture and trails the first sprung point and then is switched by the 2nd to one of the 3 rightmost roads. A quick change of direction and it will leave the yard and be switched onto the Westbound (righthand) line without any need for point switching or handling.There are 3 switchable lines in the Derby yard designed to work this way so more than one passenger multiple unit can be accomodated. The 4th road is designed to work only in the Westbound direction allowing a freight train to travel from Derby to Birmingham. A train on this road exits the yard by trailing the 2nd of the sprung points and then being switched to the outbound line by the first. Simples!Looking from the other end the 3 bidirectional lines are a bit short. These will be extended to curve around and the one nearest the baseboard edge will (hopefully!) accomodate the HST set.Sounds far more complicated when I try to explain it than it seemed as an idea in my head!Lots more to do.CheersDave Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted October 29, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 29, 2011 Yep, got that...um....ah....hmmm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Harvey Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Looking good Dave. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now