ColinW

I have now managed to get the majority of the wiring to the boards finished in the panel, the next stage will be to get the trackplan fixed to the control panel lid, position the section and isolation switches and the push buttons to operate the points and get them wired in. Then it will be look at the wiring on the boards themselves Colin

Some more work done on the control panel, including putting a wood stain on the exterior, and getting half of the wiring soldered onto the 25 way D sockets in the panel. Will be looking to get the wiring inside the panel completed soon. Colin

Have now fitted all of the main wiring in the control panel, next stage to fit them to the 25 way D sockets. Colin

Whilst things are still quiet in progressing with the layout, I have been able to make a start with the wiring inside the control panel. As can be seen, I have marked out what connecting block goes to which section or isolation switch, while the 2 sets of connecting blocks in the middle are for the points. As the lid to the control panel has to be lifted off to allow us to work inside it, the plan is to use 25way D sockets between each two rows of connecting blocks, and the lid, and then connect them using computer ribbons, which we had originally used on Avon Junction. Colin

Great news about the warehouse. Good to see the company continuing to expand , even during the lock down of the past year. Colin

I went to the Basingstoke show on the Saturday, lock down began on the Monday. Colin

Some impressive work there (not a surprise) Will be good to see these in place on the layout, with locos in the vacinity. Colin

Sanity? Missing.... For some people that has been happening a lot in the past year!!! Colin

Its good to see this thread being revived. I enjoyed seeing DITD when it appeared at exhibitions in the South East. Colin

Having a catch up with what has been said on here, first of all sorry to hear about your redundancy, but good luck with your decision to go self employed. I shall look forward to seeing your station building build. Colin

Having managed to get hold of the turntable board, work was able to progress on the deck, although work was still needing to be done before being fully fastened down. The well was also sprayed with primer, and the tracks leading from the turntable fitted but the track pins need to be tapped into the baseboard. Colin

As I need the board with the turntable well, to progress with the deck, that has been put on the sidelines for the time being, another job to be done was to get the control panel started. We decided to use a laser cut carcass kit from Model Railway Solutions, a nice simple kit that went together very easily. As can be seen the board cable connections have been fitted, the 15 pin D way socket will be used for the power supplies into the panel. We had been hoping to continue working on the boards this weekend, but unfortunately Kent has been put into Tier 3 for Covid restrictions for at least 2 weeks, so we are now unlikely to be able to do anymore work on them this year. Colin

As we are still in lock down, and unable to work on the boards, a job that was able to be started was the turntable deck. This came from South Eastern Finecast, same as the well, but can be purchased separately if you only wanted the well. The frames are vacuum formed, so having cut them from the sheet, the first thing was to fit plasticard to strengthen. Then fit them altogether The deck hasn't been fixed in position yet. South Eastern Finecast say that the sides from a Dapol/Airfix turntable deck, turned upside down, can be used in place of the Vac formed sides. Work will continue on this. With the news that the lock down is likely to be eased next week, we hope to be back working on the boards as soon as possible. Colin

Had a morning finishing off the majority of the track laying today, with the bay platform and 2 sidings put in place. The tracks were also soldered to copperclad sleepers. As I mentioned on my post on 26th October, the main platforms should be able to hold 4 coaches and a main line loco at each end, so we took the opportunity to prove it. The 2 locos are Merchant Navies 21C3 Royal Mail (nearest the camera/ left side) and 21C1 Channel Packet and 4 Maunsell coaches. Unfortunately this morning is likely to be the last one for at least a month, with the lock down coming back into effect. There are some other jobs that we will be looking to do during this time, so that the layout doesn't stall. Colin

Another morning done track laying. The final point was put in place, and we were able to lay track onto the final board as well, with both of the main platform lines fitted, the piece of cardboard showing where the tracks end. The end of the bay track and the end of the two sidings will be finished off on our next working morning, and then we only have to work around the turntable to finish off track laying. Colin

Another morning's work on Saturday morning allowed us to start laying the tracks for the station. The track with the loco and coach will be long enough to hold 4 coaches and a loco at each end. Colin

Another morning working on the layout allowed us to completely fix the goods yard area in place, as well as the main line past the turntable and towards the fiddle yard. The rolling stock was used to give us the size of the sidings. Colin

We did some more track laying this morning, around the goods yard area. We also had a discussion and have now agreed to name the layout Tyneham Bay. The reason for this name is that while being a fictitious place, the village of Tyneham was the village evacuated in the Second World War to allow the American's to practice for D-Day. We wanted to make the setting for the layout a coastal holiday destination to allow for a variety of rolling stock to be used. Colin

During the past week we received the sad news that the gentleman that built Avon Junction, Denis Pidgeon passed away. We wish to thank Denis, not only for building the layout, but allowing us to assist him with it at exhibitions, and then allowing us to buy the layout from him and continuing to loan some rolling stock from time to time. We would also like to remember him for taking several of us under his wing on club nights, when doing scenic works on club OO layouts. RIP Denis Colin

Hi Rich, I have now had a chance to look at the boards, but unfortunately there are absolutely no manufacturers markings on any of the boards, so what KCL put up the other day would be the best solution in finding something similar. Colin

Thanks for showing this KCL Colin

Having finished off fitting the engine shed roads and inspection pits, we did some more track laying (!) but the tracks weren't pinned in position fully, to allow us to position them correctly when the other boards are added. The siding from the turntable hasn't been pinned at all. The next working morning will mean we move onto a third board either way. Colin

Hi Rich, Thanks for the comment. As for the 25 way connection board, we had these from Avon Junction, a layout we had bought from a former club member, and we decided to retire the layout before building this one. All of the boards were fitted on Avon Junction when we got it. Unfortunately I have never seen these available at exhibitions I have attended in the past, which I find strange as they are ideal for dealing with the wiring. I will have a look at one, to see if there are any manufacturers markings on them, the next time we are working on the layout, probably in the next week or so. Colin

I have been asked to put this statement from the Tonbridge Exhibition manager on here, regarding our exhibition. It is with great regret that we have to advise you of the cancellation of our exhibition in February 2021, owing to the ongoing restrictions and uncertainty around Covid 19. It is not possible to take the financial risk, nor the risk to safety of all involved. We are pleased to announce however that most of the layouts that were booked for 2021 have agreed to come to our 2022 exhibition, which is proposed to be held on Saturday 19th February, at the Angel Centre, Tonbridge, assuming of course, that things have returned to something like normal by then. I shall start a thread for the 2022 exhibition nearer to the date to confirm everything. Colin

Another working morning allowed us to finish off track laying in the engine shed. This included fitting inspection pits on both tracks. We are using the Peco inspection pit kit which contains 6 pieces of 2 inches in length, to allow for whatever size inspection pit people require. We went with using equal amounts for each inspection pit. Having marked out the positions for each inspection pit, the first one having been cut out. Two photos showing both inspection pits fitted. Using a loco to show the length of the shed roads. Colin