Mike Storey Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Great to see another third rail BR/SR layout being developed. I have read through the thread, but I am not clear whether the low level freight yard is connected to the low level main line which descends behind it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted May 9, 2019 Author Share Posted May 9, 2019 Hi Mike, Yes, there is a crossover that links the non-electrified spur that uses the incline to the reception road for the goods yard (see attached photo). It doesn't get much use at club open days at present as since when the layout was designed we have gained new members who are more interested in block trains which they run on the mainline and are also reluctant to fit Spratt and Winkle Couplings for which magnets were fitted in the goods yard. The plan was that freight trains arriving down the non-electrified incline would go into the reception road and a shunter from the goods yard would take the train into the goods yard, releasing the train loco to go into a short goods yard siding or go to the refuelling siding There are four* routes allocated on the layouts NCE Power Pro 5 DCC system that use this crossover (*two reception sidings and two tracks on the mainline- clockwise and anticlockwise). There is going to be a signal on the incline so that trains including freights leaving the goods yard can be held if the mainline is not yet clear. Regards Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Thanks Nick - that makes a lot more sense to me now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Morgan Posted May 10, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 10, 2019 What will the signalling be for that crossing to the warehouse on the spur to the West London Line? It would probably need trap points, or the points at each end might need to be controlled (or at least unlocked) by the box. I like the way Lance Mindheim has real padlocks protecting switches to operate points and gates on his US layouts to emulate the prototypical operations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 (edited) Hi Ian, I thought there should be trap points and a sand drag facing down the incline in case a conflicting movement was taking place across the crossing. I will have to consult Rob and Peter about how we can represent the safety features that would be present. I don't know of a flat crossing of this particular type on the Southern Region. There is going to be a signal on the incline to stop trains going down the incline before the crossing and a working ground signal in the goods yard protecting the crossing (see attached diagram - which was drawn before siding was added). The NCE Power Pro 5 Command Station we are using doesn't support interlocking but maybe we can locally interlock the points leading to the crossing to the appropriate signals and NCE routes. We are trying not to use JMRI for signalling/interlocking in order to keep things modular and because we are not sure of the reliability of the Raspberry Pi 3B - we have had a few times when the Pi 3B has not started into JMRI and has reported a PID error - I haven't been able to replicate the fault at home so far but I think it started after updating JMRI to the latest production version. Regards Nick Edited May 12, 2019 by NIK change of tense Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted May 12, 2019 Share Posted May 12, 2019 2 hours ago, NIK said: Hi Ian, I thought there should be trap points and a sand drag facing down the incline in case a conflicting movement was taking place across the crossing. I will have to consult Rob and Peter about how we can represent the safety features that would be present. I don't know of a flat crossing of this particular type on the Southern Region. There is going to be a signal on the incline to stop trains going down the incline before the crossing and a working ground signal in the goods yard protecting the crossing (see attached diagram - which was drawn before siding was added). It would have been unusual to provide trap or catch protection on freight only lines (except where they approach a passenger line), which I presume these are? But as the incline appears to be part of a through route to the WLL, I guess you could assume that it is fully signalled, and so such a crossover would need to be protected. Tricky, like you I cannot think of a similar example on the SR! If the yard is not controlled by a signal box, but just by a shunter, then you need to show a ground frame somewhere near the crossover, which allows the signaller and shunter to exchange electrical release permission, preventing conflict. But then likewise, you would need to signal the crossover link with the freight reception siding, in a similar way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 21 minutes ago, Mike Storey said: It would have been unusual to provide trap or catch protection on freight only lines (except where they approach a passenger line), which I presume these are? But as the incline appears to be part of a through route to the WLL, I guess you could assume that it is fully signalled, and so such a crossover would need to be protected. Tricky, like you I cannot think of a similar example on the SR! If the yard is not controlled by a signal box, but just by a shunter, then you need to show a ground frame somewhere near the crossover, which allows the signaller and shunter to exchange electrical release permission, preventing conflict. But then likewise, you would need to signal the crossover link with the freight reception siding, in a similar way. Hi, The bidirectional spur is non electrified but it is intended that interregional passenger services could also use it including Brighton to Manchester and Clapham Junction to Kensington Olympia. There is going to be a position light (shunt signal?) on the post of the three aspect signal protecting the diamond (flat crossing) to allow entry into the freight reception siding. Thanks for the reminder about the interlocked ground frame near the flat crossing. Regards Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscleveland Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 The pub for beggarwood taking shape 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscleveland Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 I hope to have more photos to follow soon on the progress being made on the layout. Ropley is also taking a lot of my time too as can be found On layout forums too lots of scratch building for both projects Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 Hi, Beggarwood Lane performed reasonably well at our latest club open day on Saturday. I thought that was pretty good as most of it had been in store since the last open day and hadn't been tested. I didn't see the carriage sidings or the electrified branch get used and the incline didn't get much use. I still managed to write down a page of observations of things that need to be looked at before its next outing. The first photo shows a Hornby Brighton Belle traversing the junction between the mainline and the spur that leads on a gradient to the lower level. The second photo shows part of Stuart's goods shed (which isn't finished but looks as though it is to me) with a 13 car boat train speeding past in the background. The two right end scenic boards have not been put back up the club room so the wiring for the industrial sidings can be finished. Regards Nick (on behalf of Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for new members). 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 Hi, Another structure for Beggarwood is on the way to completion. Rob has taken a number of footbridge kits and come up with a footbridge between the lower and higher parts of the area. On the high level is the football stadium so the bridge would probably get a lot of use and abuse. On the lower level will go a load of houses. Its been checked that a Mk1 sized coach will fit underneath it. It shouldn't spoil the sight lines for the signals at the right hand end of the mainline and its just beyond a signal that will go on the incline in the foreground. The bridge is away from the end of the board so hopefully should avoid damage during storage or transit. Regards Nick (on behalf of Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for new members). 12 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 Hi, I missed this weeks working night on Beggarwood so instead I've attached a photo from our clubs open day on the 7th September. Beggarwood or a bit of it is on the right of the photo. In the middle of the layout was some tables for stock and a loco programming track. A dog came into the hut and we thought it belonged to one of the visitors. It went under the stock table, extracted my sandwiches and scoffed them and then had a pee. Luckily there was a concrete floor but some of the pee went on one of my stock boxes. The dogs owner turned up shortly afterwards (the open day is in a park that a lot of dog walkers use). She was suitable embarrassed and cleaned the floor. Before the open day an LED strip to fit inside the roof of the football stadium was tried out. Its intended to represent the glow in the sky when a match is going on and the lights are on. The LED strip was designed for 12V and the consensus was that 9V gave the right effect. Nine volts might be handy as its one of the standard output voltages for fixed electronic voltage regulators. The strip I bought was 5 metres for £2.50 and we've only used about 3 feet for the stadium so there lots to spare. The strip is only 5mm wide to suit the ledge on a reinforcing wood strip inside the structure, the LEDs shine upwards onto the backscene. The LEDs are about and inch apart and an inch from the 5mm gap in the stadium roof and the light that gets out is nice and uniform. The current consumption of the three foot of LEDs at 9V was under 100ma so its not going to load the 300 Watt auxiliary power supply too much providing the 19V to 9V regulation is efficient enough. Regards Nick (on behalf of Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for new members). 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscleveland Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Another project starting to take shape is the town scene. This is located below the mainline and next to the goods yard on board B. There are 2 shops, 1 pub, and 25 houses, on this one board alone. It’s starting to finally take shape as this went on hold due to the layout you can see behind in a few photos. Board A has a car garage on only as it’s a tiny area, and board C is where you can see the goods shed, the footbridge, football stadium, and more buildings to follow once B town scene is done. Surprisingly the gardens are what take the most time to do on this making them all unique and different from one another. The town scene is deliberately angled to give some better views and to make it look more natural. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 Hi, Now the truncated industrial branch has gained a siding Beggarwood is due to have an extra working point (possibly its 56th -we've never counted). Its important that this point is reliable as its going covered over as part of a tramway section. At the moment the point blades don't move at all possibly due to paint. Another MERG 3D printed servo mount has been assembled (not the latest design). The piano wire has not been added as its down the club as is the servo tester. The SG90 clone servo motor bought off E-bay doesn't have any end stops so it hasn't been possible to roughly set up the servo spindle position prior to test. The micro switch is for the switching the polarity of the point frog. Connection to the frog and DCC bus is via the 3 pin terminal block shown at the top of the picture. On the baseboard where the point is there should be a spare DCC accessory decoder output spare as well as a spare Servo4 driver output (both MERG modules). The point will probably have its own DCC accessory number but might also be operated by the existing goods yard macro used to access the industrial branch from the goods. Originally the industrial branch was going to be wired to the clockwise mainline DCC power district as it shared a diamond crossing with that district but now its gained a point the possibility of short circuits has increased due to wrongly set points and higher risk of derailments. The branch and siding is now wired to the goods yard DCC power district so if there is a short the mainlines will be unaffected. Regards Nick (on behalf of Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for new members). 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted December 8, 2019 Author Share Posted December 8, 2019 Hi, Its been confirmed that Beggarwood Lane is going to our club's exhibition on the 14th & 15th March 2020. So I guess the emphasis for the next few months is to get the layout as reliable and operator friendly as possible. I could see more buildings being completed and stuck on the layout. DCCing more stock is likely to occur and we might even get the EMU sidings filled up (there are plans to extend some a bit further off scene to allow more EMUs to be accommodated). Regards Nick Murphy (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members) 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscleveland Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 8 hours ago, NIK said: Hi, Its been confirmed that Beggarwood Lane is going to our club's exhibition on the 14th & 15th March 2020. So I guess the emphasis for the next few months is to get the layout as reliable and operator friendly as possible. I could see more buildings being completed and stuck on the layout. DCCing more stock is likely to occur and we might even get the EMU sidings filled up (there are plans to extend some a bit further off scene to allow more EMUs to be accommodated). Regards Nick Murphy (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members) Sounds like I’m going to have to get a move on with the town scene... no pressure ayy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscleveland Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 Some more progress with B board on Beggarwood Lane. With our own exhibition coming up soon the town scene is pushing forward away from the layout. B board will house the most buildings on the layout and until it is ready will mean c board has to wait for it’s work to be started. We can only do building in the yard on c board and no roads as the road comes from b board. Won’t be long until we get to a stage we’re both can run alongside each other. The town scene on b board alone holds 2 shops, 1 pub, and 24 houses. Only just under 200 windows/doors have had to be cut out. I’m hoping to have the town with b board and A board completed to a basic standard before March as a minimum. Hopefully Ropley doesn’t eat up too much time as this layout also has a lot coming up in the pipeline. All front garden walls/ fences are complete and grass pavement etc still needs adding. Every garden has been made to look different. A common look on many streets. i will post some photos of it on the layout soon to give an idea of how it will be viewed. Chris 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 (edited) Hi, Chris was showing the town scene on board B last week and Rob had the crew hut temporarily placed on board C (part of the interregional goods yard). Apologies for the wide angle shot of the some of the town scene buildings but I didn't want to disturb the workers too much by moving backwards away from the layout for a narrower angle shot. The lead dangling down is for the power supply to a fish and chip shop sign. Chris asked whether it would be possible to make turning on the sign interactive. We discussed having a lead going to a push button located on the layout barrier. However wires between the layout and the barrier are an extra job to fit in before a show opens and are a pain when track cleaning before a show opens each day. EDIT Maybe there is a wireless solution so that people can control the sign via their mobile phones but how to do it without them having to download extra software to their phones first?. Or maybe have some sort of proximity sensor so that when somebody waves their hand the sign turns on. END EDIT Regards Nick Murphy (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members) Edited December 16, 2019 by NIK MORE RESEARCH DONE 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) Hi, Its less than five weeks until Beggarwood Lane goes to our club's exhibition on the 14th & 15th March 2020. Rob's looking for some brown poster paint to cover over what bare cork is left. The scenic board with the least scenery on it is the right hand most board and the biggest building to go near the front is the back half of a cinema (formerly a small theatre). The cinema (photo attached) is being assembled with a ply core. Its 3.5 to 4 stories high to block as much of the hole in the backscene where the tracks pass through. The cinema has to be wide enough for the 7 inch HDMI video monitor to fit inside. The Raspberry Pi that also will do the station sound effects plays a silent movie on a continuous loop. The sloped board at the front is where the rows of seats start. The Wifi link to Beggarwood's DCC system had become increasingly unreliable but now hopefully has been fixed. Regards Nick Murphy (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members) Edited February 4, 2020 by NIK spelling correction 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Morgan Posted February 5, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 5, 2020 I hope it will have a Wurlitzer coming up through the floor Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 Just now, Ian Morgan said: I hope it will have a Wurlitzer coming up through the floor Hi Ian, Its lucky you mentioned that. I had said to some of the Beggarwood team that at a later date I'd like to add a Wurlitzer with the organists arms controlled by servos and following the music. Now I've got a milling machine it should be easier to make the vertical mechanism. Looks like I've got 30mm left between the front row of seats and the former stage where the screen is to be located. I may take out a row of seats to make more room. Luckily there are no baseboard supports nearby. Just have to make a model Reg Dixon or Carlo Curley. Regards Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 Hi, Its less than a month until Beggarwood Lane goes to our club's own 2 day exhibition at Basingstoke. Stuart has been adding a higher wall behind the pub on Board B to stop the customers taking a short cut across the railway. Robs been working on the town scene and has also been adding buildings and scenery to the right most scenic board (see photo). The scatter at the front was still being glued by PVA so the white should disappear. Where possible a weight is placed on a building while the glue is setting (see attached photo). The island platform being glued down. A retired battery is being used as a weight. Only the very end of the platform is visible, a more extreme version of what we had on our previous layout SE28. A disadvantage is that even if a clockwise train stops at the very end of the platform it wont be very obvious especially when buildings are added in front of the platform to disguise the hole in the backscene. Perhaps we could add a visitor information monitor to highlight a train has arrived - there is a Raspberry Pi 3B under this baseboard driving the cinema screen and the station sound effects so maybe it could be swapped for a Pi 4B with its two video outputs. Might have to add another track circuit and connect to the MERG CBUS so the info display can be triggered automatically. If we add RFID tags to the trains in the future that might help with displaying accurate info on the train. Regards Nick Murphy (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 Hi, Its just over three weeks until Beggarwood Lane goes to our club show at Basingstoke. A problem is that we have lots of Hornby 4 VEPs but we can't run them due to the flanges being too deep for the track. One second hand 4 VEP has just had the flanges on the power car reduced in height by spinning the wheels in a chuck and applying a swiss file. The VEP now awaits testing. However a faster and more precise method of reducing the flanges is needed. The team have access to a milling machine but the collet holder leaves the collet recessed so a lathe tool can't get in to reach the flange. Perhaps a custom collet will do the job but that will probably have to be made on the mill which currently has a 16mm as the biggest collet that goes in the holder. The idea is to use a jubilee clip to tighten up the collet (which will have thin slots in it to allow it to be tightened). As the wheel tyre is about 13.5 mm diameter that leaves only 1mm for the wall thickness at the business end of the collet. That might be enough as the wall only has to be that thin for a few mm so that the wheel can sit in a recess with a bit of the tyre proud so the lathe tool (clamped in a machine vice on the mills compound table) can take about 0.3mm off the depth of the flange. The jubilee clip might also be able to grip the thin section to stop it flexing too much. Regards Nick Murphy (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 (edited) Hi, Its only two weeks to go until Beggarwood Lane goes to our clubs exhibition in Basingstoke. The two left hand boards have the main scenery done: Also the other two end boards have more scenic sections roughed in: The industrial siding top right can't be seen from the front of the layout and the tramway style infill has not been added yet. Marks made by dirty footprints on the backscene have been painted over. Regards Nick Murphy (on behalf of the Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society - still looking for members) Edited February 28, 2020 by NIK spelling correction 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscleveland Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 My town doesn’t look too bad in that photo but still lots to do but all coming together well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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