O-Gauge-Phil

Thanks for your kind words. Looks like I'm going to have to take some more pictures. I have a few more. Sorry I don't really know how this web thing works so it will have to be three at a time. Would you like a few of my stock as well? I was intending to string this out a bit over several weeks because I suspect some would be interested in the wiring, lighting gantry and fiddle yard. Sorry it say no only 10 MB. Will try again in a mo.

More to come but the hardest thing is to make a start. I’ve been meaning to do this for some time but it’s always after I’ve painted this or just do this or that. Hopefully will get up to date before to long and I hope people find something of interest before to long. Phil

Some pictures I got from Mr. Google In this first pic does anyone know what is the pile of stuff in front of the platform? qqq Photo from the John Mann collection. And the model. Phil

Could only fit three pictures on above, Only the part that the western run on has been used.

I wasn't sure about doing this as I'm certainly no wordsmith but have gleaned a lot of knowledge from these pages. It seems everything I do poses questions about things I hadn't even thought of. Why GWR BLT? Well, not very original but nice buildings and rolling stock. However my main reason was I liked building the Malcolm Mitchell and Martin Finney kits. Also so spoilt as just about everything is available in kit form to a good standard. I think I started in O over 30 years ago when there wasn't a massive amount available to the standard now the norm, there were some real howlers. In my 20s I started building Dymock, C & L track etc. I think all to a fairly good standard but soon realized how much stock would be required to make it interesting. Then due to life in general, (i.e. the majority of your life waiting for plans to come to fruition and opportunities when you can do what you want as opposed what you have to do to pay the mortgage), anyway no more trains for 30 years or more, but I always thought " When I retire...." So - sold the business, paid off the mortgage, got a little job, all nice, very nice. No more working 18 - 20 hour days, weekends off, mmm. Then in hospital for a year only to be told I only had a few weeks. Anyway, luckily my medical consultant tried some more surgeons and here we are. So the point I'm trying to get to is : everything has to be done in a timely manner, hence desirable and achievable. The thing is ... I like building stock, so I wanted something where I could run three coach trains and must have a cattle dock. I don't play trains much so it doesn't have to be a permanent location, it can spend most of its time packed away. Originally three four foot boards, soon to become four boards - mistake #1. Two foot wide as far as I can comfortably reach, no point in auto-couplings, 3 links, much quicker to fit and If I'm not going to be running very much does it really matter? Mistake #2. Because it's so narrow I had to make it longer to fit the cattle dock in and I always think back to if it was in oo it would be one foot wide - Not for me. Sitting in my hospital bed I hatched a plan. Someone brought me in an MRJ and the seed was sown. Searching Google I settled on Alcaster, a Midland station really but a Great Western branch terminated here. This then became my track plan but I had to move the cattle dock. Great but not very Great Western, now I really like the station building at Dymock, so hunting around for another William Clarke building I settled on Abbotsbury. So the track plan is Alcaster and the scenery is based on Abbotsbury. Google and my magic card became good friends, sitting in my bed I ordered boards, buildings etc. etc. all to be delivered when I got home. Hope you can see where I'm coming from. Anyway not sure how much you can fit in in one go, so here are a few pics of the part-built layout, taken when we exhibited the layout at our local Model Railway Club exhibition last September. Here's to the next one.

I was a regular in that shop and there was another one just up the hill. I don't think that there's two shops in London now. Phil

I think it’s a little like driving a car, you look at your instruments, keep an eye on them. Then look up at the road in front, then a quick glance to the far horizon. Every little step is a victory, an achievement, a bit of an ambition fulfilled.

And finished off the cakes from Fortnum and Mason. Actually not a bad life. Sorry no pic scoffed the lot. Phil

This is my Sunday. Point ridding., I think ballasting is much more exciting! Still must be therapeutic or something like that

Well you wouldn’t get me out there today. Done my share of D.I.Y in in the sleet and snow. Think a large tarp and wait for the spring but there again I am a soft southerner. Better to have a nice cuppa put the soldering iron on, look out the window and think glad I’m not outside in this. Good on you, nice to see a good job in 7 mm and 12” to the foot. Phil

Very neat. Also the wagons look very nice. If you keep to this standard I’ll be following you as well as Ade.. Phil

Yes, press on while you can. I expect it looks very similar to when it had just the one coat, to the untrained eye that is, .

I'm fitting some now but I have already ballasted my track. Have you tested one yet? It would be interesting to see if you will have enough magnetism to overcome the air gap. If you have to fit a larger dropper it will upset the balance of the coupling.. I'm using an 8 amp power supply but it also does the servos. Phil

I'm using Dinghams elecro-magnets. What I do is drill a hole from the top about 0.8 mm, leave the drill in place, then from the bottom mark it, open it out the hole , in my case I use a wood drill not a metal drill because it is much flatter. In your case I would use a spade drill. Alternatively you could drill and tap the iron and fit a stud made from a bolt. I pass my bolt through an aluminium angle then fit this under the bb. Before doing anything I would try the coil on a coupling as it may not be strong enough. Dinghams use an 8 ohms winding about 1 1/2 amps, your coils would be about a quarter of that. Phil

Dinghams tend to be very susceptible to changes in height so I store my wagons with bits of toilet roll tubes over the buffers and couplings. I have one wagon that is the master and all stock is set against this. Phil

I make no excuses for repeating this picture, it's just marvelous. If the siding branched to the right would the ground signal be in the same position or would it be to the right of the post?

I think I saw two kits on ebay last week. Unusual.

Well that was really interesting, I wondered what someone with your engineering prowess would make of the problem. Of coarse this being the first is going to take a lot longer, I tend to faff when I'm unsure of what I'm doing, always takes ten times longer than when you are confident. Building a batch and with hindsight you can plan your day so bits can be left overnight drying. I personally dislike rigid as they tend to rattle but as you said sprung with some weight they just glide. Strange how you can just tell they are heavy. With a project as big as yours time management must be critical and in a large rake I doubt if you could tell much difference between rocking and sprung. Shunting a single sprung wagon however is just sooo nice. love the build most enjoyable. Phil

Hi you can get little coil springs from slaters or Eileens can't remember which, drill holes as above to take them. Whatever you do add some weight. Something marvelous seeing an O gauge wagon majestically moving down the track. They move much differently with some weight, without it they just rattle. No ifs, once you start building in the senior scale - no turning back. Enjoy.

Take your time, follow the instructions, everything is in order. If you do get a problem use the web site or go to an area meeting, someone will help. accessories are straight forwards , you should be okay. When you have done your first one you will be knocking them out. Clean the board before you start.. Also check out cbus takes a little while to understand but it might be more in line with your requirements. Phil

I should know the maximum distance of this type of data transmission as I used to design systems like this before I retired but I think it is one or two kilometres. However that is using the correct data cable. One common mistake is to use a large diameter cable(to reduce the resistance, this is done on DC circuits) , this increase in capacitance increases the electrical reactance (= 1/2 pi f c). When dealing with high frequency the electrical resistance is negligible compared to the reactance caused by the frequency x capacitance. Phil

I don't know if this is a stupid idea but could you take the motor out or de-mesh then try pushing it , to ensure everything is free running including the motor . If okay connect a battery 1.5 volts make sure motor runs okay. If it's new and never run could be something a bit tight, not installed correctly. Do they test them before they leave the factory?

Yes that's what I did and it was the one I made a mistake on (57), I did not multiply by 10 or it was just a typo. You should see this thing go, with the high speed box and the large wheels, Tri-ang would be proud of it., lucky it didn't fly straight out the window never to be seen again! Thanks again for keeping an eye on me Phil

Had another go today . I found that I had set the maximum volts to one instead of ten. Once this had been rectifier much more realistic settings. However I had to reduce top speed to 25% as it just raced away, even at 25% it's twice as fast as I would want. I suspect the gear ratio so so and the large drivers don't help the setting of chuffs. I will have to replace the motor gearbox but not until after the next exhibition. When that is done I suspected everything will fall into place. Phil

Unfortunately my EM2 was faulty ( it blow two decoders before tracking it down to the speaker ) so I wouldn't know, I'll have to get another one or perhaps an EM3, is it worth the£35? It's all about balance and I wouldn't think a tweeter would go with an EM2 as it already has a complementary pair of speakers. I used to know someone who worked for a high end hifi firm designing and testing speakers, wish I was still in contact with him. Very complex subject. Perhaps someone should have a sound modelling competition say at Telford or someware could be interesting. Thanks Phil