Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[Chamby]

Next thing you'll be needing is a quadruple Merlin sound file...  with orchestral overtones pinched from the last night at the proms.  Plenty of room in the Lancaster for a speaker installation though!

 

Phil

[Barry O]

Griffon sounds for the shackbag....

[St Enodoc]

Anyone who is interested in signalling, especially GWR/WR (like me), and who is within reach of Didcot (unlike me) might find this interesting:

 

http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/events/galas.html#signalling

[St Enodoc]

I've been successful with another eBay auction, this time for a ready-built BSL 57' flat end non-corridor brake composite to diagram E147. It's finished in shirtbutton livery, so when it I arrives I will see whether I can dismantle it for repainting - probably in plain crimson.

[St Enodoc]

Next weekend, which is a long weekend here, also sees the Epping MRC show. It's in a new venue this year at Rosehill Racecourse http://www.eppingmodelrailway.org.au/exhibition.html. I will report back.

I went to the show this morning and was very impressed, apart from too much queuing. That was largely my own fault though, as I thought the show opened at nine. I got there at ten, thinking that the initial surge would have gone in, but in fact the doors had only just opened. Of course, once I did get in all the vultures were in the second-hand area which meant a long queue at the checkouts there too. Never mind.

 

I picked up some good second-hand bargains, notably some Airfix and other wagon kits for between $5 and $9 each. I didn't want the wagons themselves but they were all fitted with Jackson wheels, which will now go into stock. I'll put some old plastic wheels in the wagons and try to flog them off at another show...

 

I also picked up no fewer than three Ratio Open C kits - one still in its packet but the other two already built.

 

The show itself was big - very big - and blessed by good lighting, both natural and artificial. There were about 35 layouts, ranging from the tiny to the enormous, in most scales from N to 0 and representing various prototypes from Australian to British, American, European and Japanese. Although I had seen many of them before, some were new to me. Of these my favourites, in different ways, were the huge Coffs Harbour roundy-roundy, scenic on all four sides with the fiddle yards hidden in the middle; Murray River Bridge, a magnificent scale model in H0; Goulburn in H0; and an unusual British 00 layout, Whatford (Castle). This represents a single-track passing station on the still-to-be-built Croxley Link between the Met and Watford Junction. It's set in the present day (or near future?) and featured several LUL trains including the new S stock, which I hadn't seen in the flesh before. The scenic section had four-rail track and the whole thing was set off nicely by some simple but effective townscapes and countryside.

 

Overall a big well done to the Epping Club for taking this massive step in moving and enlarging their show (and to their sponsors for making it possible). I really hope it works out for them and that they will be able to do the same in future years.

Edited June 9, 2018 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

Time for an hour or so in the railway room this afternoon, so I laid Porthmellyn Road 36A points. These form the other half of the connection from the single slip towards Platform 3 and the Loop, and give access to the Chapel Sidings.

 

I also laid the trackbed for the start of the Chapel Sidings themselves, which will allow me to lay handpoints C as well.

 

After that I'll put in a temporary piece of track between 36A and the Loop, before motorising all these points. 36A will need a right-angle adapter, as it is very close to a fixed joist that supports the two pieces of different-coloured baseboard top, but otherwise standard Cobalt mountings will do the trick.

 

Before I do any more work on the half-scissors complex I've decided to make up the switches for the lever frame so that I can transfer control of the points that are already installed and remove the temporary panel.

 

That's it for today, as it's time to open a bottle of red for dinner, which we will finish off while watching the Wallabies and Ireland from Brisbane later.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Mallard60022]

Doncaster points eh? Best around.

P

[St Enodoc]

I laid handpoints C today, so all five points that I've built recently are now on the layout.

 

As you can see, I also laid the rest of the trackbed for the Chapel Sidings - and as you probably can't see, I cut the remaining gaps in the long timbers of 33B and the single slip.

 

Next I laid the temporary connection from this formation to the existing Loop track.

 

 

This will let us shunt the Down Tavy Junction goods and also run round the china clay train rather than use the station pilot for a pull-off. In turn, that will let the pilot retire until it is needed for Pentowan in due course.

 

Yesterday I said that the motor for 36A will need a right-angle adaptor. In fact, this won't help as the tiebars for 36A and 27B will be so close together that by using the adaptor there wouldn't be room for 27B's motor. After a bit of head-scratching, I decided that that 36A's motor would have to be mounted below the joist with an extended operating wire. I think this will be OK but if not I'll probably need some cranks to offset the drive to one side. I'll test it tomorrow if I have time.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Chamby]

I laid handpoints C today, so all five points that I've built recently are now on the layout.

 

20180610 001 Porthmellyn Road 36A, 33A, 36B, 33B and HP C points.JPG

As you can see, I also laid the rest of the trackbed for the Chapel Sidings - and as you probably can't see, I cut the remaining gaps in the long timbers of 33B and the single slip.

 

Next I laid the temporary connection from this formation to the existing Loop track.

 

20180610 002 Porthmellyn Road Down end pointwork and temporary Loop looking Up.JPG

 

20180610 003 Porthmellyn Road Down end pointwork and temporary Loop looking Down.JPG

This will let us shunt the Down Tavy Junction goods and also run round the china clay train rather than use the station pilot for a pull-off. In turn, that will let the pilot retire until it is needed for Pentowan in due course.

 

Yesterday I said that the motor for 36A will need a right-angle adaptor. In fact, this won't help as the tiebars for 36A and 27B will be so close together that by using the adaptor there wouldn't be room for 27B's motor. After a bit of head-scratching, I decided that that 36A's motor would have to be mounted below the joist with an extended operating wire. I think this will be OK but if not I'll probably need some cranks to offset the drive to one side. I'll test it tomorrow if I have time.

An alternative solution would be to operate 36A using a modest length of wire-in-tube, with the point motor therefore able to be relocated under the boards as usual but away from the joist and well clear of 27B.

[St Enodoc]

An alternative solution would be to operate 36A using a modest length of wire-in-tube, with the point motor therefore able to be relocated under the boards as usual but away from the joist and well clear of 27B.

Yes, that's another possibility Phil.

[St Enodoc]

A public holiday today, so Veronica and I went out for lunch. Afterwards, I offered to go into the City with her but she declined as she thought I would get in the way while she was shopping. That was the answer I wanted (and expected) so back home I carried on where I left off yesterday on the layout.

 

The first job was to test 36A points. As I feared, the long operating wire was too flexible to push the blades home fully, so before stripping everything out and starting again I thought I'd try thicker wire. The next size up I had was 3/64" or 1.2 mm - quite chunky, and I needed to ease a couple of holes to let it fit. Pleasingly, all was well.

 

Here's a photo of the motor with the thicker wire, especially for Phil the Duck.

 

The other four motors went in without problems so after testing I left them all set for the main lines and the route from the Loop to No 1 Chapel Siding.

 

Droppers went in next, followed by connecting the main bus wires. In this area there are three power zones - Down, Up and Yard - so I had to take care to pick the right pair for each set of droppers. I did make one mistake but that was easy to put right. As each pair of droppers was connected I turned on the power and checked for shorts. I did find one, which appeared on the Down line after I had connected an Up line dropper. That meant that the problem could only be on 33B points, so I had a look. Sure enough, when I had soldered a dropper I had bridged out the insulating gap on the timber concerned. A quick pass with the cutting disc and everything was fine.

 

While I had the disc out, I cut the operating wires to length and then fitted temporary frog jumpers to all five vees.

 

I rounded off the long weekend by running a loco along both main lines in both directions and through the loop. That was OK too, so to finish I ran the Truro - Tavy Junction class K goods from Penzance into Platform 2, then pushed it back again. Propelling the wagons over the single slip was a lot smoother than over the double slips at the other end of the yard. How much of that is down to the 16.2 mm gauge at the elbows and how much to the sharper crossing angle I don't know, but I'll chalk it up as a win.

 

Wiring up the motors and the frogs comes next. There's a fighting chance of having all that done and even connecting the points to the lever frame before the next running session in six weeks' time.

 

Edited to punish an errant apostrophe.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Last night, after a delayed trip back from Melbourne (why do storms and gales always have to roll in on Fridays?) I finished assembling the auxiliary switch units that will fit under the lever frame and actually operate the points and signals.

 

These are made up in sets of six, corresponding to the bays of levers. The signals only need one switch per lever, activated in the reverse position, while the points need two switches per lever - one each for normal and reverse - so that the polarity of the voltage applied to the motors can be changed.

 

Some levers don't need a switch at all - namely the off-stage Up and Down Main Distants, the dummy FPLs and the dummy trap points.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Yesterday I wired up the five point motors at the Down end of Porthmellyn Road. I have connected these to the temporary panel for the time being, although rather than fit a new switch for handpoints C I used the switch that I had labelled for 41 points, the facing crossover on the Branch, as I now expect the lever frame to be in full use well before those points are laid. Testing with a light engine was fine, so I ran the china-clay train into the loop, used the new connections to run round via the Up Main and sent the train back to Tregissey. Good fun.

 

I finished all that in time to go out for a very enjoyable birthday dinner.

 

Today I mounted the auxiliary switch units (ASUs) on the lever frame.

 

The ASUs are screwed in place through a long perspex bar that runs across the full width of the front of the frame. You can see how the signals only have one switch while the points have two. You can also see the gaps for the dummy levers I mentioned yesterday.

 

This picture gives a clearer view of the switches for the Normal position of the points. The blue switch actuators are biased to the vertical Off position and are moved to the On position by the lower part of the levers themselves.

 

Here is a switch in the Reverse position, in this case for 49 signal, the Up Main Advanced Starter.

 

The lever frame is now complete except for the three Eemecks, which I will fit later.

 

Finally, I looped together the positive, negative and common terminals on the nine ASUs, ready to transfer control from the temporary lever frame. Before I do that, though, I need to decide what connectors to use between the frame and the baseboards. I have bought some choc-block style plugs and sockets but these are rather stiff so I might use something else instead, possibly the 25-way D connectors that are now redundant from the old St Enodoc layout. I'll have a little play around with this next weekend.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[NHY 581]

Can't seem to find the 'bloody hell fire'button..........

 

 

Rob.

[Barry O]

Belated birthday wishes!

[bgman]

That is definitely a lovely piece of work that you've produced, and knowing that it works, you should be very proud of yourself.

 

Belated Happy Birthday wishes too.

 

Grahame

[Stubby47]

I've built a layout smaller than that lever frame...

[St Enodoc]

That is definitely a lovely piece of work that you've produced, and knowing that it works, you should be very proud of yourself.

 

Belated Happy Birthday wishes too.

 

Grahame

Thanks Grahame on both counts!

 

Yes, I'm very pleased with the lever frame. Once I've connected up the electrickery it will add a whole new dimension to playing trains.

[treggyman]

Hi

 

That frame is a fantastic bit of workmanship......

Not enough superlatives to describe the end result......

 

It will certainly add a whole new dimension to the layout operation.......

Brilliant....

 

Cheers Bill

[Chamby]

Loving the lever frame. It is a big commitment though, I wonder though whether I would have the time or patience to do something similar. If you don’t mind me asking, have you kept a record of the build cost at all - financial outlay, and man-hours?

 

Phil.

[St Enodoc]

Loving the lever frame. It is a big commitment though, I wonder though whether I would have the time or patience to do something similar. If you don’t mind me asking, have you kept a record of the build cost at all - financial outlay, and man-hours?

 

Phil.

Thanks Phil.

 

The costs are all on the Modratec website if you were to work out the quantities of everything but to give you an idea the complete kit plus all the extras for the electrics was about AUD 1500 in round figures.

 

I didn't count the man-hours but the job took me four months of spare time work - let's say about 5 or 6 hours a week on average, so probably somewhere in the region of 100 hours. Modratec say that an interlocked frame should take roughly one hour per lever. I took longer as a) it was my first time and I was finding my way - the next one should be quicker - and b) I built it back to front, with the levers at the front not the back, so I had to check and recheck every step to make sure I had done the "inverse" of what the instructions said to do. This excludes the time I took to work out the signalling diagram and the corresponding SigScribe files, which involved several people's voluntary input as well as my own.

Edited June 18, 2018 by St Enodoc

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Don't know much about lever frames, not my side of the railway, but it looks very impressive.

 

manna 

[St Enodoc]

I've been successful with another eBay auction, this time for a ready-built BSL 57' flat end non-corridor brake composite to diagram E147. It's finished in shirtbutton livery, so when it I arrives I will see whether I can dismantle it for repainting - probably in plain crimson.

The coach has arrived and it looks to be very well put together. The underframe is held in place by the turned buffer stems and the interior is fixed to the floor, so the sides, ends and roof form a single unit that will be quite easy to repaint. The joints between the roof and the ends will need a bit of filling but otherwise a very nice model. It has Jackson wheels. One interesting feature is that the droplights are painted on to the glazing. I will probably keep them that way rather than replace them with etched ones.

[St Enodoc]

As I had a free afternoon today, I decided to fit the Eemecks, so that I could check for clearances and also how much space I have for the electrical connectors.

 

The Eemecks are mounted on the underside of the lever frame, so I took the frame off the layout and inverted it on the bench. The Eemecks are screwed to the aluminium support bar, which also acts as a common return when they are wired up.

 

This is a close-up of the Eemeck for 49 signal, the Down Main Advanced Starter. The vertical tube contains a slow-acting solenoid. When it is not energised, as here, the armature of the solenoid projects from the tube slightly and engages with the hole in the tappet. This prevents the lever being reversed. You can just see the clearance between the tube and the tappet. When the solenoid is energised, the armature is pulled into the tube freeing the lever to move. Once it's reversed, the solenoid can be de-energised. The armature then rests against the tappet, ready to engage with the hole again when the lever is put back in the frame.

 

The actual operation is a two-stage process. First, the Eemeck is powered up from the signal box in advance. This lights an LED in the built-in push button, showing the local signalman that the lever can be released. Pushing the push button then energises the solenoid itself and releases the lever.

 

The built-in push button is on the opposite side of the frame from the levers, which is fine for the "standard" Modratec configuration with the levers at the back, but I ordered the optional flying leads so that I can fit separate push buttons and LEDs at the front (lever side) of the frame.

 

When I put the frame back on the layout I found that there was plenty of space between the Eemecks and the L-girder, so I measured the space between the Eemecks for signals 9 and 49. This was wide enough to fit four choc-block connectors. I fitted two further connectors to the L-girder, one on the right and one on the left. If I've done my sums right I need 56 connections between the lever frame and the layout. I'll use the right-hand connector for the Eemeck connections and the four middle connectors for the wires to the ASUs. That will leave the left-hand connector spare for the time being.

 

The next job is to transfer the wires from the temporary panel to the lever frame.

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

A big milestone today - I've now transferred control of all the points laid so far at Porthmellyn Road - except the handpoints of course - to the lever frame.

 

The first job was to connect all the relevant terminals on the ASUs to the corresponding plug terminals. This was a simple although repetitive jobs, with 44 separate wires to be connected - 41 for the worked points and signals plus 3 for the +9/0/-9 V dc split potential supply. I loomed up the wires for each ASU, and for each terminal block, and also secured them loosely to one of the lever frame support bars so that when they are unplugged they don't flop around everywhere.

 

After that I transferred the wires from the temporary panel to the socket terminals. As part of this task I had to separate the connections to 18 and 31 points at the Up and Down ends respectively of the Down Goods Loop, which up to now had been joined so that both points operated together for convenience.

 

The split potential power inputs are temporary at this stage, which is why I didn't label them.They will remain temporary until the first stages of the Branch are built, when I will move all the power units to a permanent shelf instead of them sitting on top of one of the magazine shelves.

 

I haven't done anything with the Eemecks yet either. I will probably connect these to the plug terminals so that the work on the lever frame itself is complete even though there is still work to do on the connections to Paddington and Penzance (and, in the future, to St Enodoc). None of that matters in any case until I have built and installed some signals, which won't be until I've done some ballasting, which won't be until I've finished 27 and 29 points (the three-quarter scissors).

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored