Well, I might have not made any entries on the blog recently, but I have been working on both my layouts. The progress hasn't been rapid for a variety of reasons, not least the eternal wait for supplies ordered. Two weeks lost while the layout room was occupied by guests didn't help, plus a trip to Oz with Kev Prince.
The bulk of my work has been electrical, with a control panel being built and Viessmann signals installed. While I thought I'd had an epiphany into the signalling practices a while back, somehow when I came to fitting the signals I had a lot of doubt in my mind. The only thing I was really certain about is that the headshunt at the end of the platform (not visible in the pics below) wouldn't have a signal other than a points indicator. I took the cowards way out and put full departure signals including shunt aspects on every road a train could be expected to leave from- the centre road is just for running around trains, and so a shunt signal will suffice here. Likewise the headshunt visible in in the following images.
All signals at Sh0 or Hp0 (stop) except for the centre departure signal which shows Sh1 (shunting permitted)
The centre signal now shows Hp2, restricted speed (40km/h).
And finally Hp1, full line speed permitted.
Control is by an analogue switch panel, with knobs for selecting the aspect on the departure signals. I think that the left and right departure signals in the above pictures should only show Hp0, Sh1 and Hp2, but what the heck. A faulty switch means that the one on the right can't show Hp1 anyway, so that's sort of correct. I used diodes to allow the correct aspects to display with simple switching, as Hp0 & Sh1 and Hp1 and Hp2 have common lights. When AC supply as recommended by the instructions, I got unwanted lights faintly displaying, this disappeared with DC power. Checking my circuits I wonder if I have poor quality diodes! Anyway, the control panel is illustrated below. Nice and simple, although I'd like interlocking it made my brain hurt too much. It wouldn't be so bad with computer control, but I just didn't want that. It doesn't feel right for a branch line terminus that would be controlled by a local box.
Anyway, I'm happy, it's fantastic to see all the signals lit and controlled. I don't need any trains now, I'll just imagine and signal them as they move in my head!
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