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Great Southern Railway (Fictitious) - Signalling the changes...


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Maybe not a Saxby & Farmer one strictly, but the intention is very much to have the layout operable from an interlocked lever frame! I've produced a basic lever prototype which is representative rather than dead scale but allows for electrical locking and operates microswitches to work signals and points. The intention is to have the lever frame work all points and signals, even those off scene, to allow a signaller and a driver to be separate roles. 

 

Incidentally, ground signals for the GSR will be of the rotating body type rather than miniature arms or rotating discs. This has nothing at all to do with the fact that these are easier to motorise! 

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If the signals allowing access back from the up line are all for non-passenger use, there's no need for separate calling-on arms, just have them all shunting signals - a single dummy would probably suffice for all routes. You'd only need calling-on arms to allow a train to pass a running signal that can't be cleared due to the section being occupied.

 

Edit - see Seaford (https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/srh/R1049.htm) for a suitably local example - ground signal 14 controlling all inbound access from the up line.

Edited by Nick C
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2 hours ago, Nick C said:

If the signals allowing access back from the up line are all for non-passenger use, there's no need for separate calling-on arms, just have them all shunting signals - a single dummy would probably suffice for all routes. You'd only need calling-on arms to allow a train to pass a running signal that can't be cleared due to the section being occupied.


Oh, that's interesting to know, and would certainly save me some complex signal-building! Would this be true even for a loco buffering up to stock in, say platform 2 after running around?

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24 minutes ago, Skinnylinny said:


Oh, that's interesting to know, and would certainly save me some complex signal-building! Would this be true even for a loco buffering up to stock in, say platform 2 after running around?

Yes. The section beyond the signal is occupied, although it is possible that this requirement pist-dated the most recent alterations to the track layout.

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Yep. The key difference between a running signal (i.e. a normal full size arm) and a shunt signal is that a running signal tells the driver that the line is clear to the next running signal (in this case, the buffer stops), and thus the train can proceed at line speed, whereas a shunt signal merely tells him that he can proceed as far as he can see the line to be clear, i.e. the line may already be occupied. Passenger trains are only allowed to use running signals, non-passenger movements can use either. A loco running round would use a shunt signal to get back onto it's stock.

 

Calling on signals are effectively a special case of shunt signals that passenger trains can use.

 

Having looked at a few double track SR termini for another thread,it seems the usual practice was to use the outbound line for run-round and shunting moves, as they all seemed to have a shunt signal allowing inbound movements from there.

Edited by Nick C
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Thank you, that is a huge amount off my mind. Now I just need to work out what GSR ground signals looked like! 

The bracket starter is coming along nicely. A parcel arrived with some tiny (and I mean tiny) LEDs. Pre-wired 0402 warm white (i.e. 0.5mm x 1mm, on 0.1mm diameter wire). What this means is that these LEDs can fit inside a 0.3mm hole drilled through a 4mm scale signal lamp, neatly, and illuminate it.

20201001_184249.jpg?width=845&height=475

And that lamp has been fitted to the signal, which has received some paint and is still running smoothly:

20201001_210238.jpg
 

 

Edited by Skinnylinny
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Thank you, Corbs. I might have to re-cut this signal again with one small modification - unfortunately the right arm moves but its spectacle sometimes doesn't - it seems that the glue holding the arm to its pivot has failed so the arm is rotating about the axle, and there isn't space to get in there to fix it! Fortunately with these signals the cost of materials is fairly negligible, it just means I'll need to get back to the lab at some point. My thought is to slightly enlarge the hole in the post (by ~0.05-0.1mm in diameter) and to reduce the hole in the arm to a very snug friction fit, then reinforce this with some thin superglue before assembling further.

I've also been distracted by something I've spotted on eBay - a set of three Norwegian (?) vans for a rather reasonable £34 delivered. I'm wondering if it would take much work to anglicise these into covered carriage trucks - I'm thinking new buffers, some etched strapping on the ends and some scoring to suggest end doors (and modifying those end stanchions!)... and possibly some brake levers from the bits box.

H098c4d01290e475fb93275b7e19a13afB.jpg

Dimensions given below.

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Oh, of course, as a carriage truck it'd be coaching stock, so would need to, at the very least, be through piped, would it not? That being said, fitting a vac cylinder is hardly the hardest thing in the world...

Edited by Skinnylinny
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  • Skinnylinny changed the title to Great Southern Railway (Fictitious) - Signalling and Carriage Trucks

Apologies for the lack of updates, I'm writing this in the dark. On Wednesday evening, my bedroom light fitting started making crackling and popping noises, and the lights started flickering, then flashed a few times and went out. I called the letting agent on Thursday to alert them, and heard nothing more than them until I called this morning to point out that my flat is just a two-room (plus bathroom) flat, and the other room is the kitchen, with no heating. In Scotland. In October. Spending the evening in there isn't really an option.

So an electrician was sent around today. He has replaced the multi-bulb fitting on my bedroom ceiling (with four 120W-equivalent bulbs) with a single dangling 30W-equivalent bulb. Which still flickers. So I'm going to be calling them again in the morning. I may be somewhat grumpy about this. In the dark.

However! I received in the post today a load of transfers from Mr @Corbs - a large number of white "G S" transfers for my wagons, plenty of red-shaded "gold" lettering for my locos, and some chalked-on destinations. The first wagon so treated can be seen here (by lamp light!):

20201012_190217.jpg

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Thanks all for the support - one of the joys of renting...

 

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

the Cambrian Gloucester underframe really does breath new life into the old Triang van body.


A good eye! The Cambrian chassis has been modified slightly (single-shoe brakes on each side) but that straight V hanger really does give the game away somewhat, doesn't it? To say nothing of the axleboxes! The van body itself is fairly sound though, and I think is nicely generically pre-grouping-esque.

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On 07/10/2020 at 10:36, Skinnylinny said:

I'm wondering if it would take much work to anglicise these into covered carriage trucks

These are a not a million miles off the G&SWR's  CCTs/ milk vans, albeit that they have a typically continental shallow roof.

Edited by CKPR
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12 minutes ago, Skinnylinny said:

nicely generically pre-grouping-esque.

 

Whether by accident or design, they have the look of the older L&YR vans and the Cambrian chassis really makes them  - not bad for a near 70 year old moulding !

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13 hours ago, Skinnylinny said:

Apologies for the lack of updates, I'm writing this in the dark. On Wednesday evening, my bedroom light fitting started making crackling and popping noises, and the lights started flickering, then flashed a few times and went out. I called the letting agent on Thursday to alert them, and heard nothing more than them until I called this morning to point out that my flat is just a two-room (plus bathroom) flat, and the other room is the kitchen, with no heating. In Scotland. In October. Spending the evening in there isn't really an option.

So an electrician was sent around today. He has replaced the multi-bulb fitting on my bedroom ceiling (with four 120W-equivalent bulbs) with a single dangling 30W-equivalent bulb. Which still flickers. So I'm going to be calling them again in the morning. I may be somewhat grumpy about this. In the dark.

However! I received in the post today a load of transfers from Mr @Corbs - a large number of white "G S" transfers for my wagons, plenty of red-shaded "gold" lettering for my locos, and some chalked-on destinations. The first wagon so treated can be seen here (by lamp light!):

20201012_190217.jpg

 

Sorry to hear of your woes, Linny. My first year here (renting) the boiler, which looks older than I am, broke down repeatedly over a rather cold winter, with long gaps between attendances.  On the plus side, I didn't have to pay to fix it!  I hope it gets properly sorted soon.

 

Keep warm and carry on!

 

Love that covered wagon. I wonder if I should copy it to represent it's arrival at its destination, or perhaps you need a WN van as there is clearly traffic between?

 

A really nice touch. that chalked destination. 

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55 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Love that covered wagon. I wonder if I should copy it to represent it's arrival at its destination, or perhaps you need a WN van as there is clearly traffic between?

 

A really nice touch. that chalked destination. 


Glad you approve! Should you wish to replicate it, I'd be happy to provide transfers from my sheet, or even if you wanted, to do a swap for a WN van! There are other stations on the sheet of destinations, including Kelsby, Oak Hill, Blackstone, Tidmouth, as well as more local destinations to Linton. 

The real question is what traffic is travelling between the two destinations? Linton's two main industries thus far are beer (E & M Walker do a rather nice range of ales) and bricks, plus military traffic for Bisley, and a chemical works outside of town.

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13 minutes ago, Skinnylinny said:

a chemical works outside of town.

There you are.

Dung from West Norfolk to the chemicals factory, returning empty to CA.

As for the other traffic, who knows what is under the tarpaulin/in the box van...

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Just now, Skinnylinny said:

It does seem quite a long way to ship night soil/manure, especially with London being in the middle; must be high quality product from Castle Aching!

First class BS!

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Well, I have lighting now, in the form of a single 120W equivalent LED bulb, plus another in a floor-standing lamp. Not as bright as originally, but much better. 

I had a long weekend, as I was off work on Friday (the joys of not having a full-time contract) and got a bit of an urge to dive back into some CAD work, so I continued work on my LSWR 4-carriage block train.

Ekpb6c3WkAAjdUA.png.6ad37f188442d31b76163bd04eda2ec4.png

Friday was spent drawing up an underframe to go with the already-completed bodywork of the 6-wheel full-third, before going for a nice amble to the hacklab and cutting out a prototype kit. This got taken home, and assembled on Saturday... mostly. Several of the bits didn't quite fit! So I redrew the bits over the evening, then popped back to the lab and cut a complete new carriage kit for the full-third, along with the brake third. The brake third was mostly completed while watching the @BlueLightning's YouTube stream, along with a fair bit of work on the full-third. 

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These are to be fitted with lighting (hence the cutouts in the compartment dividers) - I found a lighting kit with strip PCB to allow the fitting of surface-mount LEDs in whatever position is needed, which works out to a shade under 30' in scale length, thus fitting perfectly inside the carriages. The idea is to fit wiring between the carriages (I've tested this and it works nicely over complex trackwork) along with the scale couplings, and a button cell battery with a floor-mounted switch in the full-brake. A section of the floor of the full-brake will be removable (held on with magnets) to access the battery holder.

 20201017_181933.jpg.6ba708ff37766a5cdf07ec049f8d715d.jpg

 

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Also visible are two lumps on the bufferbeams. These are magnets, temporarily stuck to magnets behind the bufferbeams, which I intend to use for side/safety chains within the rake. The idea is to keep fixed-rake trains semi-permanently coupled on the layout and in storage, to avoid having to fiddle with scale couplings, wiring and side chains too often. I'm planning a cassette system that will fit into a wrapping-paper-sized Really Useful Box, which should, theoretically, allow me to pick up my 6-carriage LB&SCR set train in one go as well.

And finally... a nice pile of parcels was awaiting me when I arrived at the office this morning - those Chinese Norwegian wagons, a Hornby Acho SNCF goods wagon, and a Hornby LMS pug, ripe for bashing...

20201019_083733.jpg

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