Jump to content
 
  • entries
    66
  • comments
    43
  • views
    19,852

About this blog

When ignorance is not always bliss and improvisation has its cost

Entries in this blog

Filling the blanks

I have been doing some card modelling in recent times. I have decided that I must fill in the blank spaces on the layout soon. Like Maggie Smith in that Hotel film who did not buy green bananas because she didn't know whether she was going to live long enough to see them ripen, I have got the same feeling about the layout. So, I purchased several Metcalfe card kits: subway accesses, wooden pavilion, platform benches (two packs) and park benches. I have already assembled all the kits except one
petertg

petertg

0

Feeling a bit like a fool

I have done a bit more work on my layout. I finally obtained the new tips for my soldering iron, together with some decent solder. I managed successfully to solder some droppers direct to the track without making a mess of it and fixed the loose track back again to the base. I also replaced some previously installed droppers (which were relatively thick cable and connected to an elevated portion of the track) with some thinner wires which adapt themselves much better to the contour and in fact h
petertg

petertg

0

Christmas Greetings

Nothing new on the modelling front. Just to send my best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all members and particularly to those who have the patience and good will to respond to my questions on the Forums. I hope to be able to make some positive progress in the New Year.
petertg

petertg

2

Ballasting

Since I relaid the whole track using cork underlay instead of the previous foam underlay I have been faced with the problem of decent ballasting. Since, for reasons explained in previous posts, I used a 5 mm thick cork, I now have the problem of how to disguise this steep step. I tried gluing 7 mm wide cardboard strips at an angle to form a hypotenuse and, in some places it seems o.k. but in others not because I did not get the ballast to stick properly. Finally, I decided to glue a twine in the
petertg

petertg

0

Ballasting

Since I relaid the whole track using cork underlay instead of the previous foam underlay I have been faced with the problem of decent ballasting. Since, for reasons explained in previous posts, I used a 5 mm thick cork, I now have the problem of how to disguise this steep step. I tried gluing 7 mm wide cardboard strips at an angle to form a hypotenuse and, in some places it seems o.k. but in others not because I did not get the ballast to stick properly. Finally, I decided to glue a twine in the
petertg

petertg

2

Assessing the "earthquake" damage

In my last post I said that my layout had suffered something comparable to an earthquake. Yesterday I managed to have it lifted off the floor and placed on its trestles and set about assessing the damage. One street lamp damaged, the station platform illumination does not come on, one station building had lost a chimney pot, some of the columns supporting the ramp up to the bridge had broken away from their bases, two under floor point motors had become disengaged from the track and one track jo
petertg

petertg

2

Another type of modelling

It has been over three weeks since I have been able to lower the layout from the garage ceiling since the floor has been, and still is, occupied with Christmas material. Firstly, it was the boxes containing the Christmas decorations, then it was the boxes containing 37 5-litre bottles of olive oil (we buy first press virgin olive oil for all the family and friends for the whole year direct from the mill) and, after the oil had been delivered to its destinations, the floor was filled with boxes o
petertg

petertg

3

Another one rewiring

Since my last post I have been renovating elements of infrastructure and reorganizing the wiring under the baseboard. As indicated in previous posts I have had problems with my point motor control. The Hornby passing lever switches worked O.K, but were not suitable for the present state of my fingers. The pushbutton switches used in their place were not designed for working with Hornby motors and both LEDs remained alight, whereby there was no indication of point direction. Finally, as I browse
petertg

petertg

0

An update

Just an update on my circumstances. I can’t get my point control desk to work properly. When mounted for the first time, after everything appeared to work O.K, I discovered that one turnout wasn’t working. This was due to a faulty contact between the capacitor and the point motor, easily solved by tightening up the screw. Then I discovered that another two motors weren’t working. Here it turned out that the fault was inside the box and there was no alternative than to undo all the connections, o
petertg

petertg

0

An update

Good evening all!. I have just seen that it is nearly 4 months since my last post. Since then there have been events such as I got the Fowler tank to run but, as mentioned on the Forum, I cannot get it to run well through the points. In November I purchased a new Hornby R3553 and in December part of the crank mechanism fell apart. Since sending it back from here for repair under guarantee would have cost me more than twice what it cost me to have it sent out, I used devious means to have it take
petertg

petertg

0

Adventure with Kadees

Recently I have had some success. I had commented on the Forum that I had a runaway problem with one locomotive which the recommended solutions did not solve. I had also had a problem with the lights of another locomotive, i.e., the front headlight came on at power-up and did not go out irrespective of the direction in which the locomotive was running. Both had Zimo MX632 chips which I had bought on-line from the U.K. I took the matter up directly with Zimo and, after an exchange of e-mail corre
petertg

petertg

0

A short update

Good evening fellow members and guests:   As the sixth anniversary of the start of my layout is fast approaching and the seventh may even come before it is finally finished, I have decided to show some photographs, namely:         In them you can see my two DMU's. After exchanging information and advice elsewhere on this web. I came to the conclusion that, from the DCC angle, my layout was at least acceptable and so I had a go at playing trains with these DMU's running simultaneous
petertg

petertg

3

A short holiday

Just got back from a fortnight's holiday in the Department du Lot (France) where, among other great sites, we visited a Heritage Railway (if that's what they are called) that runs on a disused line from Martel to St. Denis. Among their items there is a locomotive built way back in 1887 and which was in service until the 1970's. There are a few photos below. The coaches (?) were open, unsprung I believe, the flooring seemed to be old sleepers and the seating was wooden, recovered from old French
petertg

petertg

1

A decorative defensive wall

While I am still pondering on the best way to set about finishing the ballasting, as a diversion it occurred to me that I should protect the last unprotected side of the layout, where the track hovers over a precipice and, fortunately, in nine years only one locomotive has fallen to the floor. For a time, I had a programming track fixed along the edge but I decided to remove this and set up a portable programming track so I could work on the dining room or kitchen table when it was cold in the
petertg

petertg

0

A bit more

Below there is a number of photos showing different stages of construction.         A modification to the layout not mentioned above was to lengthen two of the sidings. The two straight sidings at the top station (looking at the plan as reproduced above) were too short to accommodate a locomotive and three coaches, either the locomotive or the end coach remained over the points, so I made them curved and made a curved platform for them from balsa wood.   As said above, I had i
petertg

petertg

4

A bit more

In spite of what I said in my last contribution, I have spent more time and money, albeit only about ?5, on the layout. I bought some cork 3 mm thick and balsa wood 1 mm thick to equal the core thickness of the foam underlay (because I could not find cork 4 mm thick and didn't want to go traipsing round the whole area) and re-laid three turnouts. Since I than had problems to settle a long straight in the grooves of the foam underlay, I finally removed about one yard of foam and replaced it with
petertg

petertg

4
×
×
  • Create New...