Jon Fitness

Hope his 7mm signal ladders remain available . Still the best etched siggy ladders in my book.

Hi Missy, Good to know you're having success with the MERG stuff B) I may be asking for advice soon . I've come to a temporary stop on this project due to other jobs taking preference but I'm getting "itchy signal fingers" so I'll be back into it shortly Cheers Jon F.

Hi John, 4mm scale? Way too small for me I'm afraid. My "sausage fingers" can only just manage 7mm scale Jon F.

Decided to stick at 5 trusses, which I think gives a full enough look without being too crowded. I've included an internal picture of Waverton goods shed (LNW wooden built, near Chester) as a comparison. I think Steve likes a few lights in the buildings so some level of internal details is necessary. Hopefully it's now time to start the "pretty" bits. Slaters stone walling and embossed slates. I'll probably need some detaily bits from Invertrain(windows, doors, chimneys gutters etc., Duncan Models (wall mounted crane, people etc.) and 10 Commandments (sacks boxes pallets etc)to finish it off. I'll be taking it round to the layout to see if it fits where it's meant to so watch out for more pics soon.

Nice little demo there John. Hope to get back to this project when I've finished the goods shed for the layout. JF

I wish! Even epoxy doesn't stick too well . The only other stuff that works is Evo-stick but that is always a bit "boingy" even when it's set. Might try "Gripfil" or No-Nails if things get too bad. As far as superglue and windows are concerned--"Never the twain shall meet" is the golden rule I think. Evo-stick for a strong joint on windows or double sided sticky tape if you have a nice flat surface behind the window. JF

Zap CA or Zap-A-gap superglue. Seems to be holding firm at the moment. I have previously had some Foamex material that took Plastic Weld but this stuff won't have it! Jon F

Seems a bit busy for a Sunday here in Chester PSB Interfering with my modelling time Had a huge T3 block that had to be shortened and re-written then when the trains started running along come a load of diversions. tsk.tsk. Still... managed to cut out a roof truss from foamex sheet for the goods shed. I reckon I'll need 6 or 7 so being a lazy b+++++r I'll draw round the first one a few times rather than mark them all up. They won't be part of the structure as such, just there to create a bit of atmsphere in the goods shed, especially as I have cut skylights in the roof. I did all of the cutting and left the loose cut outs in position until all of them were loose to keep the strength in it while I was hacking away. The strange notch at the top is to clear the wooden spar that runs between the end walls and acts as the main support for the roof. First trial fit doesn't look too crap bad.

Making a bit of progress with the goods shed for Slugworth. It's not a model of any particular goods shed but a conglomeration of odd pictures I've seen and a major influence is the 4mm scale Townstreet LNW style goods shed that "Coachman" has made in his Buildings blog (thanks for the inspiration Larry ) I'll be using some resin window frames from Invertrain and yes I know it has different styles on each side. Couldn't decide which window shape I preferred so I used both. As this Foamex material I'm using won't accept "Plastic Weld" (a bit odd as the last offcuts Steve gave me would ) I'm using superglue to bond this lot together. Must remember not to drop it as it will probably drop to it's component parts. I've done the inner loading platform and the "shoulders" round the base of the walls (whatever the name for them is and cut some skylights in the roof. I'll be doing a little office to go on the end next.

As Steve had started the water tower building for the loco shed (Made from some parts of a Kittle Hobby engine shed and some Foamex with rivet details added from a sheet) I thought it was time I had a go. Heres a few Work In Progress pics This is Steves tank And the startings of my goods shed for Slugworth. Its made from 3mm foamex and will be clad in Slaters stone plasticard.

Not if Chester S&T are looking after it......

As suggested, a new little station has appeared by the loco shed along with a signal that has mysteriously sprung up . Must be the time of year. . As Steve has named the GW high level station Upper Mill, me and Kenny reckon the new station is called Lower Mill. I think Steve will get back to me on that one... A nice Marcway curved point has also appeared near the junction. I think it was one of those "I've got one of these going spare/free if you can make any use of it Steve" things. Rude not to really Once the ballast is tidied up it will be toned down to match.

Right-oh..... Had a big session with the soldering iron and after lots of muttering, burnt fingers, reversing 10 wires and repairing pcb tracks, I was sort of ready for a test. This lash up, believe it or not, when connected to a 9v battery actually worked I had a play with all the buttons and the servo did pretty much what it was told to do so after disconnecting everything, I boxed it up and away we go on the next stage. Which is mounting 4 servos under the signal

I may well have to! Jon F.

Done some work on the programming box for the servos. The case has to be prepared to accept the switches, buttons and 9way D connector. Overlays are provided to help you do this and also for the mounting board that holds all the "gubbins" inside. 3 resistors have to be soldered to each rotary switch and a bit of pre-wiring done to the pot. After struggling to understand most of the simplest instructions, all thoughts of neatness went out the window and I just wired it up literally using the diagram....which (as I see it) doesn't quite agree with the markings on the circuit board. Some re-wiring to do then More Soon JF

Well not exactly all change, but Steve's Station (reputedly going to be called Upper Mill; doesn't sound very ex GW to me..) has already been changed before it's even reached the serious tracklaying stage. The original wide board which spanned all 4 storage roads and the hidden lines leading to the LM station is now only half it's original width and the retaining wall will be moved back to suit. This has now exposed the inbound and outbound lines to the LM station which run round the back of the loco shed. These have been moved apart wide enough for a small island platform to be installed, just below where the GW station will start to "fan out". Kenny is just suggesting he calls the station Lower Mill....... At least it's a change from painting stone walls...

Fingers and eyes crossed! I'll be starting the programming box tomorrow but theres a lot of prep work to do before I get to the circuit boards.

Hi Mike and Richard, As this electronics lark will be a steep learning curve, I'll try not to mislead everyone with my relative incompetence! I think I've already fried the capacitors by putting them the wrong way round

Ta Richard, Tetley's Mills was definately a bit of inspiration but my fave layouts for nicking getting ideas from are Heyside (7mm) and Wibdenshaw (EM gauge I think) both industrial masterpieces. Jon F.

Well........this is my first attempt at assembling a circuit board. It is the driver board for the servos for the signal. made one mistake which has probably totalled the big capacitors (got them the wrong way round then tested the board..they got a little warm ) It still went through the circuit tests as per instructions but I won't know for sure whether it works until I've made the programming box and can couple up a servo. Still, if I have knackered it, £4 for a learning curve isn't too bad

Finally got round to painting the retaining walls along the edge of the LM yard. About 9 foot of it.. It was all painted in a concrete colour, allowed to dry then a colour mixed about 50/50 matt black and Humbrol 26 ("matt dark earth" I think) brushed diagonally over the raised bits. took about 3 and a half hours including brew breaks. I think it looks ok. Steve's now started the GW station track laying. The station throat board is removeable at the moment, so it can taken down for wiring and fixing up the point motors. It will then be fastened down permanently in the hope that nothing fails below the basebord

Wasn't sure whether to blog or thread this, but I'll start with a thread and see how we go. I've built a few 7mm signals for a mates (sadly now defunct) garden railway and they were mostly operated by solenoid point motors. As we've moved the signals to the new indoor layout I've thought about maybe powering them with micro servos and to this end I've got some bits from MERG http://www.merg.org.uk/ and I'm giving it a go. So...this is the first signal. It's a scratchbuilt ex LMS upper quadrant 3 doll bracket thats now a gantry (er...don't ask..yet.) This is one of the servos (digital prodder thing to show size) This is the kit of bits that will be a driver unit for up to 4 servos (If I can fathom it out) And this is a box of bits that will program the servo driver to do as it's told. (How much travel and how fast or slow etc) If I don't fry the contents with the soldering iron that is... I'll update with words and pics as I progress. Feel free to comment/help/laugh as required. More Soon JF

Cheers John, Not looking forward to linking it up though. Big job. JF

Thanks, I think it's somewhere between Dolgelly and Barmouth, before it reaches the Mawddach estuary, but don't quote me on that. It was from a pile of photo backscene "seconds" found by one of Steve's mates on a stall at a Dolls House swapmeet!

In our banker siding, Steve has provided a little coaling facility to feed the bunkers and tenders of the busy bank engines. Another ex Talacre signal has been re-furbed and positioned at the LM jc; this is now the home signal coming off the incline from the GW station. More retaining wall has had its lumpy stone added ready for painting and the yard at the LM station now has a cobbled area. Steve has left a space that might as well have a big arrow with flashing lights that says "The goods shed goes here.....Jon...when you're ready....in your own time..." An old signal from Talacre (Which I was never really happy with) has been re-built with some new dolls, extended, turned round and generally bashed into shape to suit it's new role as the LM jc main diverging signal. It will now be a gantry (of sorts) and have 4 working arms which hopefully will be worked by servos. This will of course be subject to me being able to successfully assemble the required control kit from MERG! More of this signal is shown further down Mike Evans brought his Bachmann 03 for a run out and very nice it looks too. (well I thought so..) . Yes I know its a diseasle Steve but at least it has a chimney and coupling rods............. The gantry was then tried in position and (thankfully) fitted and there is a nice clear area under the baseboards to fit the working "gubbins". As the use of servos is new technology to me, when I eventually start on the mechanics and electrical side of this I'll start a thread rather than a blog so you can all watch and probably laugh as I struggle. Meanwhile, a number of trains were run underneath it to check for clearance on the curves. Among them, Les's visiting standard 4 2-6-0 looked grand as it trundled a fitted freight round.