Freshwater, Isle of Wight, in 2FS

Good to see FW back Ian - I always liked this layout and would be a shame not to see it finished.

 

How is the new arrangement working now - did you get a test one done to your satisfaction first before tackling them all?

Ian

Good to see the Servos have not been ditched altogether. I am now a strong advocate of these, and will certainly use them again.

 

Looking at the underside of DCC layouts, it seems to me that there is always a mass of conductive tape, with soldered leads flying off to all the track work. Do you find this useful? Do you feel that it saves time, or is more effective than conventional wiring?

 

Richard

bcnPete, the layout will be completed - I have accepted an invitation to the Basingstoke show next March, so it needs to be presentable for then. Hopefully, now the rewiring is complete I can now make a start on the scenery. The layout has spent most if its life upside-down so I could work on the wiring. That is why I did not want to start scenic work just yet. Once I start on the scenic side it should not take long as there are only about 5 buildings to make. I am also experimenting with 3D printing for part of the station platforms, but more of that later.

 

RichardW1, 2mm finescale track does not use rail joiners, and the rail has a small cross section, so it is good practice to have lots of power feeds to each length of rail. This is not a DCC thing, but it is beneficial for DCC wiring too. On previous layouts I have used twin-and-earth mains cable, stripped to just the copper, soldered to small brass screws forming bus-bars beneath the tracks, then soldered fine dropper wires from the rail down through the baseboard to the nearest bit of bus-bar. Although effective, it took effort and a large soldering iron to work with the thick copper wire. Using the copper tape has proved a quicker and easier method, and so far has worked OK. It is still there after 3 years, although soldering near the end of a length of tape does upset the glue.

I had been thinking of trying servos but it does seem a bit troublesome. When I first used Tortoise motors they were so easy to fit and need no adjustment. We need a servo control that would do the same. Your solution of allowing the servos full travel seems to be a possible. Could you then operate them with a simple changeover switch? I am planning a mini layout that I will be able to take in the motorhome and room for tortoise motors will just not be there so I am considering what approach to use.

I will be nice if you get round to scenery. There is a lovely scene just down the line where the road bridge from Freshwater crosses the river. The one with the tidal doors and the church in the background. The old line is a lovely walk.

Don

Tortoises are very nice, but they are also very big and expensive. Cobalt motors operate the same way, and are smaller and, I think, cheaper, but still larger than a mini-servo. I might try them on my next layout (if I every get around to doing one).

 

Servos are controlled by varying width pulses, so you do need some electronics between an on/off switch and the servo. Merg do a simple Servo4 kit which can be used to control up to 4 servos from on/off switches. You will also need a set-up box (another Merg kit) or a computer with a serial port and modem cable to use some free software to set up (configure) the Servo4 initially. You have to set the throw and the speed for each servo during this configuration. Once set, you no longer need the set-up box or computer. For some reason, the Servo4 comes configured with zero throw, so until it is configured it looks like it is not working as the servos will not move when the switches are thrown.