Waton

[Jon Gwinnett]

The colour coding system works well on RS Tower, so should do the trick!

[sixoh8sixoh]

Must need my eyes testing Dave. At first I only noticed the red, not the blue, yellow or green, and thought you'd decided to go for Scottish pink ballast...

[eldavo]

It's Grrrrrrrid time!

It was probably long out of service by 2010 when the layout is supposed to be set but there was never really any doubt I would have to have one.



Runs rather nicely too. Time for the dirty brush I think...

Cheers
Dave

Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo

[eldavo]

Manky cameraphone shot but 56018 is now available in grubby!



Pretty impressed with this model. Still running nicely and hauling reasonable sized trains without the slightest problem right down to crawling speed and it's quiet.

Cheers
Dave

Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo

[trisonic]

Crikey! Looks more detailed than a OO model!

 

Best, Pete.

[PhilH]

Pretty impressed with this model. Still running nicely and hauling reasonable sized trains without the slightest problem right down to crawling speed and it's quiet.

 

That's put the kibosh on it for next weekend....

[eldavo]

Waton has been packed up and stuffed in a corner of the workshop since its last outing in August last year.  After an exhibition I tend to have a serious lack of motivation to do anything with the trainset so this is all parr for the course.  As the layout is due to be at the Epson and Ewell show towards the end of next month I thought I better unpack it and set to on the "snagging" list.

 

I have had more problems with the cheapo Conrad point motors not throwing fully on several of the fiddleyard points so the first job was to change the actuator wires to something a bit thinner. As the points are all Peco with the over-centre springs removed having thinner wires shouldn't be a problem and the motors should throw all the way over more consistently.

 

After doing this I spent (too much) time faffing around looking for a short circuit and a resolving a dead section. The dead section turned out to be a poor connection to a D shell socket and the short was due to the naff switch in a Conrad motor. I should never have used these cheapo things!  It's been repaired now and all seems to be OK. If I was doing this again I would use cheapo servos instead.  I may yet replace them all.

 

One big issue that has been a constant source of grief is the double flat crossing in the fiddleyard.  This is built using cut down Atlas code 55 crossovers.

 

 

 

 

There are two major issues with this scheme, the crossings are fairly course and stock bumps through them and the lead in curve is too sharp.  It probably gets down to 9 inches or less radius on the inside and I am running an HST with the power car propelling a dummy power car and 7 coaches.  We probably get a 75% success rate with the HST running this route.  I've even had to modify the Farish 170s I run to get round the curve.  All in all not good enough.

 

After a bit of tape measure work I think I can modify the set-up to get an outside curve radius of 14 inches with an inside radius of over 12 inches. I will need to do a bit of baseboard tweaking which is simple enough but the real challenge is that it will need a double flat crossover on a curve i.e. custom trackwork.

 

Oh well what the heck.  How difficult can it be?

 

I've sketched out a crude template suing Traxx and stuck it to a bit of ply then whacked down some copperclad sleepers.  What's the chances of me getting the gapping right on this first time?

 

 

I'm going to have insulated/dead frogs to save having to switch things as most of my stock is long enough and has enough wheels to bridge the gaps (I hope). Some arbitrary lengths of Peco code 55 rail have been added. I could have used code 40 bullhead of which I have loads but I thought it might be easier to connect to the rest of the fiddleyard if I used code 55.

 

 

Long way to go yet.

 

Cheers

Dave

Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo

[Gloucester Road]

Oh my that looks like some complicated track to build. Best of luck.

[PhilH]

He's just trying to confuse the hired help more than usual......

 

 

 

 

 

...which isn't hard.

Edited March 15, 2013 by PhilH

[eldavo]

Those of a nervous disposition or an engineering bent might want to look away at this point. A bunch of code 55 rail has been soldered into positions similar to those on the template. A couple of wagons seem to run OK(ish) through the complex and there don't seem to be any short circuits. It might just work (with quite a bit of tweaking).







There are as yet no check rails so I need to do some work with plasticard to rectify that. The 2mm association copperclad sleepers are pretty flimsy and the insulated frogs are pretty tiny so to reinforce things I've squidged 5 minute epoxy around the place. With this done the whole lot has had a bath to neutralise the flux and soak the sleepers off the paper template.



Next up will be a bit of cleaning up then electrical bodgery and some testing. If things actually run across this lot then it will be time to modify the baseboard and look at installing it.

Cheers
Dave

Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo

[eldavo]

The wrecking crew have been at it so there is no going back...




There was definitely something I was going to do before lifting the existing track. What was it? Oh yes, test the crossings. Oops.

Cheers
Dave

Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo

[Orinoco]

Very nice work, but I notice there are no check rails at all. They might help a little with smooth running? Just a suggestion

[trisonic]

See Dave's post #413 above.

 

Best, Pete.

[eldavo]

Surprise surprise when I came to test the crossing complex there was a short! Not at all surprised I have to say. It took me a day or two of head scratching before I spotted it but I found it eventually. Having ripped up all the old track there was nothing for it but to stick the new crossing down and sort out the approach tracks.

All four approaches and four exits have now been laid and wired in. Not a pretty sight.



Amazing how much internal wiring was hidden on those Atlas crossings. There are also a bunch of wires in place as I don't want to rely on fishplates for electrical continuity. The radii are better than they were but not quite as large as I would have liked. A couple of multiple units, a Farrish 170 and a Dapol Voyager, that wouldn't negotiate the old curves will manage these so they are probably good enough.







There are still no check rails on most of the crossing but things seem to run reasonably well. More fettling to do then the acid test, will the full HST rake propel through it at a scale 90mph.

Cheers
Dave

Edited September 5, 2017 by eldavo

[PhilH]

Tell me when I can uncross my fingers, legs, eyes, etc.....

[eldavo]

Tell me when I can uncross my fingers, legs, eyes, etc.....

Not yet!

[Stubby47]

You could have moved the two points (circled in green), to the two positions in red, then you would have only had to make one crossing track...

 

[eldavo]

I'll admit I had thought of that approach Stu but as ever over-confidence led me to the "how hard can it be" 4 crossing approach. Of course I may end up ripping it up and redoing it yet!

 

Cheers

Dave

[Orinoco]

Proper check rails ought to make a noticeable difference to the running - especially in something like N gauge, where the relationship between wheel and track standards is rather vague. Testing the track without them is unlikely to give a true impression of what it will be like when finished.

 

I agree with Stu though - a single crossing with curved turnouts either side would be a far more elegant solution. The best result would probably be to make hand-built, curved turnouts designed in Templot to suit the site. Peco code 55 rail is not very nice to work with, so you would find it easier with bullhead rail. If you find that check rails don't improve matters much, then do give the alternative idea serious consideration. If you need any help, I (or others, I am sure) would be only too pleased to assist.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Orinoco

[Highlandman]

I saw the layout at Epsom this weekend and the crossing appeared to be working very well. It certainly made the exit curves look a lot easier. A wonderful model. Many thanks for taking the time to chat Dave.

 

Here are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2013 by Highlandman

[roundhouse]

Dave

 

I saw the layout for the first time yesterday at NESCOT.

 

Very nice. The track looks superb.

 

 

Ian

[eldavo]

Thanks for the comments chaps. Yup, Waton survived the Epsom show, just. Amazingly the thing that didn't give problems was the new 4 diamond flat crossing. We had very few derailments or other problems due to it. There are a couple of bumps that need smoothing out but it's close.

 

The Conrad point motors continue to be a source of problems. They randomly decide they are tired and stop throwing reliably for half an hour then start working again! Very frustrating. I guess you get what you pay for and maybe it's time to replace them.

 

One or two items of stock were consigned to the "naughty stock box" and will be dealt with but generally the trains kept running despite the efforts of the operators. Generally we had a laugh and interesting conversations with a number of folks.

 

Lots of things to do to improve the trainset before it's next outing.

 

Cheers

Dave

[roundhouse]

Dave

 

 

Your road markings especially the STOP markings and disabled markings are very good. How did you do them?

 

Ian

[bbishop]

Best N gauge layout at Nescot.

 

Bill

[eldavo]

DaveYour road markings especially the STOP markings and disabled markings are very good. How did you do them?Ian

The road surfaces and markings are all Scalescenes printouts cut about and stuck down with Pritt stick. Joins are disguised with weathering powders.

 

Cheers

Dave