dale159

Still no takers then?

Hi, Very nice work. One question - what happens to the Airfix bogies? Having converted a load of mine to Kadee No'5s stuck to the underside of the chassis, I cut all the couplings off flush at the end of the bogie. This is proving a bit of a headache now I'd like to convert them to Hunt Couplings and been keeping an eye out in various places for the odd donor coach coming up for replacements with couplings original in tact, not easy when I'm looking to replace about 30-35 coaches worth! Dale

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.3946123,-2.7926641,3a,30y,104.5h,89.7t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1swDPpWO_T-yhqpLud2Bt4kw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DwDPpWO_T-yhqpLud2Bt4kw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D337.30588%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&authuser=0&entry=ttu 40 or 50mph? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.3855689,-2.6920149,3a,37.5y,101.34h,88.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1saCY-wpx_kfkTPpRYD7jRUQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&authuser=0&entry=ttu 15 foot width restriction? Dale

Waits for next round of Hornby announcements.................. Dale

18 months, it went in Feb 2022! And went back the next day due faults/unsatisfactory finish of the work that had been done to it. Dale

Pinhoe Level Crossing, Exeter Dale

Right then, A week later than planned and after watching a quick YouTube tutorial video on 3D builder I took the plunge. I found the program very easy and intuitive to use. Going off my design from post 1 with NEM opening dimension sourced online and a slight modification at the back as an attempt to correct the height miscalculation I mentioned. I'm quite pleased with it although minor adjustments are probable, possible thoughts for improvement would be something extending backwards from the top to anchor on top of the hump over the axle or a separate part that inserts underneath the block that goes through the hole in the bogie frame Dale

Have done this, will have a play over the weekend. Dale

Thank you but I was after something bogie mounted rather than chassis mounted. Dale.

Thank you Keith, Are these things I can measure myself or find online? I did a quick measurement on the Power car above and found the bottom of the Hunt coupling was 6.4mm above the top of the railhead. I'm not too fussed about it being compliant with NEM standards more getting it the same height as existing vehicles I have fitted. Comparison of full Hornby (L) and my Lima/Hornby railroad lash up (R), note also the Hornby Power Car has a slightly longer gangway than the Lima bodyshell so there will always be a slightly larger gap when any Lima body is compared. Dale

Hi, I am looking for some assistance in the design and production of a 3D printed NEM pocket for some Lima mk3 coaches. I don't own a 3D printer or have any knowledge of the software that goes into the design process. I have about 70 such coaches I'd like to fit, most of which are currently fitted with Kadee No.5s and as part of fitting those many years ago the original Lima couplings were cut right back to the bogie frame. Having done a some research I found a few possible products on eBay but most required the retention of the arm between the Bogie frame and the coupling 'D' so these were unsuitable. Most standard Lima OO coach bogies have a rectangular hole at the front of the frame and I wondered if this could be used to locate and secure a replacement coupling. All Mk3s are running on replacement Peters Spares PS34 11.5mm wheels and all Lima Power Cars have been converted to Hornby Railroad chassis' (mostly bought as spare parts) I recently managed to obtain replacement bogie frames for the PCs as the NEM arms on these were also cut off for Kadee fitment so I am only in need of a NEM pocket for the coaches. Power Car and Mk3 with Hunt Couplings in place. Bogie with rectangular hole (4.8mm wide x 2.7mm long x 2mm depth to underside). Quick sketch of what I was envisaging. I made this on MS paint but I actually think this would make the NEM coupling about 2mm too low so some slight adjustment would be required to get it to the right height. I also have several Hornby HSTs which have been converted to Hunt Couplings using standard parts and I wanted to convert my Lima sets to enable me to mix and match sets between the 2 manufactures E.G. Intercity Swallow (Lima) with Virgin (Hornby) or FGW Fag packet (Lima) with FGW 'Barbie 1' (Hornby). Any assistance much appreciated. Dale

Did I read correctly somewhere that the junction is being remodelled to take into consideration that most trains now go to/from Victoria rather than Piccadilly so this is being made the main route the reverse of the previous arrangement? Dale

Somewhere near Crediton, from a BBC News article about Potholes. Dale

Could those be HST Mk3s with Mk2/Mk1s either end acting as barrier vehicles? Dale

Another 3 TOCs for Know your train, Chiltern - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G58643/2022-10-03/detailed#allox_id=0 Grand Central - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C43373/2022-10-03/detailed#allox_id=0 Hull Trains - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C32887/2022-10-03/detailed#allox_id=0 Almost easier to list the ones that aren't participating now! Dale

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-61541224 Dale

https://units-library.weebly.com/class-170--3.html 170s did get to Exeter very infrequently and also worked with 159s, I think the 3 car platforms of Whimple and Feniton kept them away. Back on topic of 3rd rail EMUs, the first pair of Southern 455s 838 & 839 went on a one way trip to Newport today behind 47727. Dale

Hello again, Some pics from the last week I realised I couldn't actually start on the diode matrix until all the point work for it had been laid. The track plan had a small right point but I changed it for a left curve as it flowed better into roads 11 and 12 bottom left of above photo Fiddle Yard (tidied as well!) Over to the station I said previously I was going to use Hornby platforms re-clad with brick plasticard sides and card or plastic top, one island needed the platform sections to be narrowed by about 5mm to fit between the front 2 tracks Having tried to cut a platform piece down on my desk with a steel rule, Stanley knife and razor saw I decided a jig was required for a production run of 9 more. Completed platform in place, I will use Peco end ramps which are straight rather than the curved Hornby equivalents. Not perfect but only there as a basic structure, glued back together underneath and up the join at each end with a hot glue gun. Some track has also been laid round the final corner so I now have 2 complete circuits the next job will be to work these into the other end of the liftout board. Dale

I've had a think about this and I think by just reversing the polarity of the diodes which set these points straight ahead onto a separate button I shall refer to as E2 will do the trick without having any effect on any of the other routes. Dale

I've come up with a logic table for the diode matrix Each column represents each point motor in normal and reverse and each row all the entry in the top half and exits in the bottom half. I went across all possible routes using the track plan in the post above and entered a "1" in each cell where a diode would be needed to work the point in that direction to set a route. Numbers along the bottom of the tables are total diodes into each motor and those up the side of each table are total diodes on each wire. Its a bit easier to read from the Excel actual spreadsheet rather than this screenshot of it, so I'll attach that as well. To read the table I found it easiest to highlight a row from entry and exit halves and then work across the columns and where a 1 appears in the column against both rows you've highlighted then that point will throw You will see a few 1s have been highlighted in red, initially I had been concerned that when setting a route from E straight down the middle to either P,Q or R the system would fall apart and certain points would be requested to be worked in both directions a once. As it turns out that concern has proven to be unfounded but what has happened is setting the route from E to P,Q or R will throw the 3 way point at 10 & 11 as well as 21 both off the central route which isn't a problem in itself unless another route is set either side of the central road. I wondered if wiring all the 3 way points into their own mini-matrixes giving left, right and centre outputs, another thought was to fit the diodes to 13/14 the opposite way round to the rest, essentially moving button E inside the centre exit of the point, but I've not sat down to properly work out how that would affect the other routes to roads L,M,N,S,T&U. More head scratching required! Dale Diode Logic Table.xlsx

I've had time this morning to come up with a table of what each individual route will need N= Normal/straight ahead and R = reverse with the exception of point 6, the right hand turnout on the 3 way points is in front of the left hand turnout looking from the toe end. At first I thought each N or R in the table above represented 1 diode (195 according to Excel) but I suspect that is actually 1 per point per direction in and out so probably wont be quite so many. I did start doing the same for the other end before I realised the track plan I was working from was missing a crossover so need to start that one again! Dale

Thank you John, certainly some food for thought. Dale

Hello again, I've had a very good weekend with the layout. First I glued the last bits of foam down and laid all the remaining track through the station and around the curve up to the lighter foam where code 75 track will give way to code 100. Had Simon visit again last night and he started to lay tracks across onto the liftout piece and the throat of the fiddle yard that will sit upon it, copperclad sleepers are still only placed down for now. I've been thinking about how I'd like to control all these points, the interface I would like on my control panel would be similar to how a real world panel signal box operates i.e. press buttons at entry and exit tracks of the route and let the interlocking take care of all the points in between. I was all set to tackle that with lots of diodes but a problem arises on the liftout piece above for example going from tracks 4, 5 or 6 at the 3-way at the top of the board out to the centre road at the toe of the 3-way at the bottom. the problem being there are technically 3 valid routes, the logical one straight down the middle but also crossing over either left or right and then back again and I struggle to see how I could get this right just with diodes short of having a row of three buttons across the middle of the junction to select which of the 3 tracks the route should go via. I don't really want to go down the road of computer or DCC control. I had a quick look at MegaPoint controllers which we have been using on 2 layouts at the Exeter club they do offer a route setting board but it is only 1 button per route and can only handle 24 routes, a quick tally up of my layout reveals a total of 88 possible routes - 35 by the door and 53 at the other end! Dale

Thanks Rich, I tried a thin slither of 6mm MDF but that was a little too thick so I bought a length of fine wood 25x4mm an that seems to have worked out OK. Dale

Hello again, Here are a few photos of progress since the last post in mid October Fiddle Yard mostly complete Brain hurts just looking at it never mind thinking about how I'm going to wire it up! I'm going for a pair of thick Copperclad strips (marketed for O gauge point building) at both ends of the lifting board, I'm thinking about cutting the foam back at the edges and mounting them on some MDF or ply for extra rigidity. Over to the other side of the layout Throat for the 3 Southern platforms laid, I wanted the main up and down to be either side of a single island. More foam going down. Hornby platform needs narrowing on this island. Off scene throat from the station back round to the fiddle yard laid out for a rouge idea where to glue the last bits of foam. Dale