Jump to content
 
  • entries
    66
  • comments
    43
  • views
    19,858

Just plodding along

petertg

Entry posted by petertg

308 views

 Share

I sometimes wonder if what I post is of interest to anybody but me. Some people are building kits, others are making attractive dioramas, etc. but I am doing nothing of that. When I think I am getting somewhere another hitch occurs. At the beginning of summer, after a couple of weeks of hectic work to install the new operating system for my point motors I found that one of them did not switch, Since prior to doing the final wiring I had tested the motors one by one and they had worked, my conclusion was that one of the soldered joints within the switch panel box had come adrift and since this meant undoing around 40 connections to gain access to the inside of the box, I left it for a future occasion because all the other motors (14) worked well and it was not too much to move one turnout by hand.

A good while back I had observed that four of the pulleys in the hoisting system for my layout were not rotating. Since I used Kevlar cord (mountaineering grade) there were no signs of frictional wear, so I did nothing about it. However, since I have made arrangements with my son-in-law to come and help me this coming weekend to change the pulleys I decided that the time had come to look into the point motor fault and set about it. I released the 40-odd connections working from underneath (without having to tip the baseboard edge on) and then found that there was no loose wire. I checked the corresponding switch and it was O.K. So, what was wrong? I finally found that it was the point motor that had failed but I have no idea why. Fortunately I had a spare motor which was quickly fitted and proved to work. However, to redo the undone connections I shall have to tip the baseboard edge on this time because one thing is to loosen a connection and pull the wire out but another thing is to get it back in again.

Apart from that certain items are now in need of repair, I have three locomotives awaiting decoders (two have to be hard-wired) and one needs the couplings changed, not all the scenic work is finished and I am in doubts as to how to do it. The Faller station, bought right at the very beginning, has not yet been properly installed and there is the problem of discovering why different locomotives derail at different places, while others do not, or come loose from their coaches. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for when I started (see my very first post).

The above was written two days ago and to-day I upturned my baseboard and set about restoring the connections and I got through 21 in just over an hour before having to leave it. It was a fiddly job with tweezers, a light from above and a torch to see from below the terminal strip. I’ve still got another dozen to reconnect and then tests the lot before returning the layout to the horiozontal position. I have also asked a question in the Modifying RTR stock forum but haven’t got any information yet.

  • Like 1
 Share

3 Comments

Recommended Comments

  • RMweb Gold
wenlock
  • RMweb Gold

Keep at it! It's easy to get bogged down by a series of set backs, but it'll be worth it in the end :-)

Link to comment
petertg

I can't really say which is my main concern. It is perhaps to have all the infrastructure settled, no material derailing at certain places for certain individual items as happens now. Trackwise the layout is finished, there is not much space left for scenic development. I just want to get to the point where I can place things on the tracks and they run without too much problem because except for small four wheel wagons, with my fingers as they are now, I cannot rerail items and there is only one place where I can use my rerailer device, so I have to start from scratch so to speak every time something needs rerailing.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...