50031Hood

66787 and 789 in Tonbridge Yard 7th May 2020. I don't care too much about these locos but the large logo livery took me back 30+ years and looked good!

87001 waiting to depart from Milton Keynes. Second image shows 370002 and 005 passing Rugby on 3/4/85.

47579 James Nightall GC arrives at Liverpool St 17/8/85 with 47587 to the left.

50 heading north from Princes Risborough

25251 in the company of 87031 & 86224 Euston 6/1/84

36 years and one day ago, 50039 on the only loco-hauled train to Wolverhampton from Paddington via High Wycombe, pictured here at Princes Risborough. It had headed this service for 4 consecutive days and on this day, it failed briefly at Princes Risborough only to splutter into life 10 minutes later. It then returned on the 8.23 morning service back up to Paddington the next day.

Video for the above: http://youtu.be/mel9rxFgwpo

6V DC power supply; you might even get away with using a mobile phone charger. The current draw is pretty minimal compared to DC motors so you should be able link several of them. I've purchased a Y-lead that sends a single output to two servos at the same time for cross-overs which the PICAXE handles without complaint.

Hah! Well spotted. At the moment friction is all that is stopping the wire from dropping out but I was thinking of substituing the wire for a pin of the correct diameter. Alternatively I might shamelessly copy your heat shrink idea!

This is the servo kit: http://www.rapidonline.com/design-technology/picaxe-08m2-servo-driver-kit-13-5054 and to program it you will need to hook it up to a computer with one of these: http://www.rapidonline.com/Design-Technology/Electronic-Components/Integrated-Circuits/PICAXE/PICAXE-Cables The software that I used is called Logicator. I prefer it to writing basic because it is visual - drag-and-drop - plus the download includes a manual which tells you how you can control servos. Good luck!

I know this forum has been quiet of late but I thought I'd add the results of my experimentations. I initially experimented with 5V DC motor/gearboxes to create a point motor but despite making several working prototypes, there were still far too many components involved and far too much soldering. Following the advice on this forum I took the plunge and ordered 6 Tower Pro SG90 servos. By chance I came across Rob Fryers excellent Bath Spa blog in which he described making a mounting bracket for the self-same servos to control points. Rabs kindly sent me his CAD drawings and I used the dimensions of these to make my own pared down version described below. This shows the holes drilled through the 4mm baseboard that I will be using. There are two countersunk 2.5mm holes and a 3mm hole for the wire to switch the point. This shows the laser-cut mounting plate located with two M2.5 machine screws. Incidentally, the mounting plate is used as a template to mark the holes in the first instance. The machine screws pass through the servo and are secured using nuts and a 1mm steel wire passed through the servo arm and a hole in the mounting plate. And this is what it looks like from above, ready for the point. For me the interesting part is controlling the servo which is done using a PICAXE kit, specifically to drive servos. These are reasonably priced (approx. £5 to connect up to 4 servos) and the software to control them is a free download. The movement of the servo is determined by the software which means that altering the throw of the point is a quick software update. How cool is that?

If you know someone with an iPhone, you can now take a 'panorama' style picture that will allow you to do a 240 degree sweep with the built-in camera.

Hi David, Check your PM. As a Princes Risborough boy, I'd be glad to help! 50031Hood

Hi David, You might want to consider using a laser cutter to cut the windows from a sheet of self-adhesive paper. I've tried this with my laser cutter and the results are pretty good. I've attached an image of Aynho Junction signal box that I have modelled in N gauge. Everything has been laser cut or scored with card used for the brickwork. Good luck, 50031Hood