Byford - Trainspotting in The 50s

[richard.h]

Another addition worked on this week was this elderly Class 04.

 

It was one of the early Bachmann Split Chassis types with the motor picking up current from the two chassis sides it was trapped between.

 

 

The loco was completely stripped down and the side blocks cut back so that they no longer made contact with the motor.

New motor connections were then made, protected by heat-shrink tubing to prevent the possibility of shorting and a small decoder was hard wired to the loco.

 

So we now have a nice little Loco which performs well.

 

 

 

Ready for duty at the Station.

 

[richard.h]

The next Loco to go through the workshop was one of mine, a Dapol N2 which I must have had for over thirty years and for most of that time it has been in its box.

 

 

I was going to sell it but they fetch so little nowadays I thought I would try and convert it to DCC.

 

 

There was just enough room in the boiler front to fit a decoder and capacitor so I cut into the copper tracks connecting to the motor and hard wired these in.

 

 

The model was the wrong time period for me so it was rebranded in early British Rail livery and weathered.

 

 

And it has now been set to work as the Station Pilot which I believe a lot of these Locos were in later life.

[richard.h]

Another foreigner that turned up was this Class 45, D55 The Royal Signals.

 

 

I wasn't going to bother with it at first as it had a burnt out motor, but on seeing that it was a limited edition of 500 I thought it might be worth preserving.

 

 

A motor was ordered and fitted and as it was a weathered edition I didn't use a spray gun on it but just added to the weathering by lightly brushing roof and frame dirt down the sides and roof to give it a more work-worn look

 

 

That done it has now been put into service on the layout.

 

[richard.h]

Two more this week, firstly a little NCB Sentinal.

 

 

Not much work required just fit a decoder and away she went.

 

 

Then a Class 14 Teddy Bear.

 

 

Lots of fiddly damaged bits to repair on this one.

 

 

And although it was supposed to be DCC ready there was no room to fit anything other than a blanking plate under the engine cowling.

 

Still it wasn't a big job, just cut into the chassis block to make a route through to the Cab and fit the decoder in there.

 

 

And now we have two more nice little runners.

[richard.h]

Up to now Byford has been operated using coloured light signals, they are easy to install and integrate into the train movement system using sensors and switches, the trouble is you don't often notice them working unless they are in your line of sight as nothing moves.

I shied away from semaphores in the past as the plastic ones were prone to damage, usually by sleeves, but when I read about the control systems available now which imitate real signal movements by copying the signalman pulling off the signal and also a random bounce when the signal is released I just had to have another go at them.

So, I purchased a selection of parts and a control system based on the Megapoints board and made a start.

 

Here's the first attempt which uses a 0.5mm optical cable to feed to feed the light to the signal head.

 

 

The light here is a very realistic subdued light but I couldn't get the optic cable to feed inside the post and up to the signal head as the bend was to tight at the top and it kept snapping, but it is still hardly noticeable tucked in and running down the side.

 

For the next batch of signals I used nano-leds for lighting and these were much easier to conceal with all the wiring inside the post.

 

 

The main problem with this method is stopping light bleed from the LED so the light and the arm have to be much closer together.

 

Well, that's a learning curve and a start made, the next challenge is can I build a bracket signal, my eyesight's not that good and I seem to have the wrong size fingers.

[ROY@34F]

3 hours ago, richard.h said:

Up to now Byford has been operated using coloured light signals, they are easy to install and integrate into the train movement system using sensors and switches, the trouble is you don't often notice them working unless they are in your line of sight as nothing moves.

I shied away from semaphores in the past as the plastic ones were prone to damage, usually by sleeves, but when I read about the control systems available now which imitate real signal movements by copying the signalman pulling off the signal and also a random bounce when the signal is released I just had to have another go at them.

So, I purchased a selection of parts and a control system based on the Megapoints board and made a start.

 

Here's the first attempt which uses a 0.5mm optical cable to feed to feed the light to the signal head.

 

 

The light here is a very realistic subdued light but I couldn't get the optic cable to feed inside the post and up to the signal head as the bend was to tight at the top and it kept snapping, but it is still hardly noticeable tucked in and running down the side.

 

For the next batch of signals I used nano-leds for lighting and these were much easier to conceal with all the wiring inside the post.

 

 

The main problem with this method is stopping light bleed from the LED so the light and the arm have to be much closer together.

 

Well, that's a learning curve and a start made, the next challenge is can I build a bracket signal, my eyesight's not that good and I seem to have the wrong size fingers.

 

I have also built brass etched signals Richard and use Megapoints control ... very good variable bounce , and very like they used to be as I remember . I use small SMD micro LEDs , warm white  colour ,  (can't recall where from ... sorry) .  They come ready to use , wired and fitted with a resister for 12 V dc.  I glue them in plastic channel . lay a thin .010" or .015" layer over the top , the whole thing squeezing in a 3 mm. length of 3 mm . square brass tube with a .9mm. hole drilled in the LED shining side . The white plastic covering of the LED defuses the light a bit , but I also fit a 5K or 6K resister in the positive feed of each LED to dim the light more to be more the dim brightness of the oil lamps used in steam days .

It's then a matter of sticking the lamp on to the post in the right place and packed off the post on top of a piece of copper clad sleeper or something . I think it's .050" thick to bring the lamp off the post so that the lamp lines up with the signal sense . I use epoxy glue so as to have some adjustment time to get them right .

Sorry to be so long winded , and good luck .

 

Regards , Roy .

[richard.h]

21 hours ago, ROY@34F said:

 

I have also built brass etched signals Richard and use Megapoints control ... very good variable bounce , and very like they used to be as I remember . I use small SMD micro LEDs , warm white  colour ,  (can't recall where from ... sorry) .  They come ready to use , wired and fitted with a resister for 12 V dc.  I glue them in plastic channel . lay a thin .010" or .015" layer over the top , the whole thing squeezing in a 3 mm. length of 3 mm . square brass tube with a .9mm. hole drilled in the LED shining side . The white plastic covering of the LED defuses the light a bit , but I also fit a 5K or 6K resister in the positive feed of each LED to dim the light more to be more the dim brightness of the oil lamps used in steam days .

It's then a matter of sticking the lamp on to the post in the right place and packed off the post on top of a piece of copper clad sleeper or something . I think it's .050" thick to bring the lamp off the post so that the lamp lines up with the signal sense . I use epoxy glue so as to have some adjustment time to get them right .

Sorry to be so long winded , and good luck .

 

Regards , Roy .

Thanks for that, there's a lot of useful information there for future work, I think the first thing needed is to get a selection of resistors in order to reduce the brightness to an acceptable level  as like you I am trying to recreate the oil lamps used in the steam era.

 

Richard

[richard.h]

Tried building my first Bracket Signal this week.

I glued the nano LEDS in their respective positions with regard to the arm spectacles.

 

Then made sure everything worked before continuing construction.

 

 

With everything OK I assembled the rest of the Signal.

 

 

And it is now in place on the layout but will need some tweaking once my new megapoints controller board arrives.

 

[richard.h]

I have a few of the Dapol Motorised signals on the layout which I have bought in the past, they are simple sturdy signals but I found that they didn't work reliably and tended to loose the addresses if they weren't fitted close to their respective control units.

So here is my attempt to make them work better and more realistically by converting them to servo control.

 

I first cut away the base and wiring to leave just the two LED wires attached.

 

 

Then made a new base and fixed a servo motor in place.

 

 

Finally everything was wired up with the two LED wires feeding into + and -  of the servo cable and now we have a Dapol signal with bounce and light.

 

[richard.h]

Here is a short video showing the newly built signals in action.

 

 

 

[richard.h]

Just to finish off this section on signals I realised  that an engine in Oxenholme Station would not always have a clear view of the signal due to the footbridge so I built another signal with a repeater arm.

 

 

So now where-ever a driver halted he would have a clear view of at least one of the signal arms.

 

[richard.h]

Weathering The Breakdown Crane.

 

Bachmann's model is first class but in its original state is much too clean and looks out of place on the layout so a weathering session was needed.

 

 

So firstly using my standard airbrush with a 05mm nozzle a gave it a light misting of dirty black and frame dirt to dull down the factory finish.

 

 

Previously I hadn't been able to get the fine detail spray that I needed so I have purchased  a second airbrush with a 0.2 mm nozzle in order to be able to do the fine work.

I put this purchase off for quite a while as I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a second airbrush but when I found a highly recommended one for just over £60.00 I decided to risk it

 

 

So using the new airbrush I started building up the layers of colouring using different rust colours and burnt umber.

 

 

 

Then a little smoky black

 

 

Overall I am very happy with the new airbrush, it does an excellent job and hasn't cost me a lot, I could never have done fine details such as the rust spots on the crane jib and arm before so I am now looking forward to making further use of it.

 

 

[richard.h]

Here is a short video showing some of my Eastern Region Pacifics matched up recordings of the same locos made in the 1950s, (as near as possible!)

 

 

 

[richard.h]

I have had a Number/Nameplate set for A2 Velocity for quite some time now but no suitable donor loco to put them on.

So, when I saw this model on the internet I was able to buy it at a reasonable price due to the scratches and scuff marks.

 

 

The damage didn't bother me as it was going to be weathered anyway so the name and number plates were fitted.

Then I started by putting frame dirt on the running gear  and weathered black on the loco and tender which was streaked in a downward motion with brush and thinners before it had chance to dry, the aim was to try and create the effect of rain marking as a base before secondary weathering.

 

 

 

The loco body and tender were given a coat of dirty black, again applied vertically and burnt umber on parts of the chassis and cylinders.

 

 

Then a final coat of soot black along the top of the boiler, leakage stains on the cylinders, oil stains on the bearings,real coal in the tender and crew onboard.

 

 

Ready for Duty!

 

[richard.h]

Here a WD waits for a clear signal.

 

 

Before moving off with a heavy train.

 

 

 

 

And accelerates away through Byford Station

 

 

[richard.h]

A few photos as a 3F makes it's way slowly out into the country.

 

 

With a mixed goods train.

 

 

Heading for the Dales.

 

[richard.h]

This is a short video showing some afternoon traffic running through Byford.

 

 

 

[richard.h]

Things seem to have come to a standstill here postwise, I think Royal Mail have problems in the UK and we have Zealous officials checking every parcel here in Spain. I have a Roadroller/Tarspreader lost in the system for two months now.

Anyway using materials on hand I completed this little cameo.

 

 

The figures are painted and then given a final coat with thinned 'smoke' colour which settles in all the crevices and gives more depth to finish.

 

[richard.h]

Here is a short video showing Locos running through Oxenholme heading for Shap with sounds matched as closely as possible to the originals.

 

 

 

[richard.h]

I was quite taken with the new Salmon Wagons being developed but was put off sightly by the price ( plus the fact that they now seem to be unavailable) so I decided to build a couple from Cambrian kits instead.

 

 

So here is a B12 hauling them.

 

 

Complete with Rail Loads.

 

I was a little worried that such a long vehicle might be a poor runner but once you got the bogies running true on brass bearings and the added weight from loads to steady them they proved to be very reliable.

 

 

I just need transfers to complete them but that will have to wait until I have a bigger order otherwise the post exceeds the product.

[richard.h]

To operate this layout I have always used the NCE system, I didn't have room for a mimic panel (would have needed two anyway) so I stuck with NCEs macro system where routes are pre-programmed into it and just had strategically placed boards around the layout to help me recall the routes.

 

 

As the layout progressed and the number of possible routes increased I needed a better way of control and eventually opted for the JMRI system

The system was built up gradually but it needed a central control point so I finally ended up with this:-

 

 

Here we have old Laptop as the control center and below it a touchscreen TV.

On both screens I can show either route options.

 

 

 

Or decoder options and/or throttle control.

 

 

I can also connect in any phone or tablet to act as a cable free handset.

 

 

So now my preferred method of operation which suits me best as a lone operator is to use the Touchscreen for setting routes when in Signalman mode (the signal are also programmed into route setting)

 

And then in Driver mode I am free to walk around the layout controlling  the trains with a portable handset.

 

Job done!

[richard.h]

I have been testing running double headers this week to see how practical it is for everyday use.

 

 

The answer is it is surprisingly easy to set up a loco "consist" using the NCE controller.

In theory the locos decoders CVs should be paired to give equal performance but in practise as long as the locos are fairly evenly matched in performance ( and I use a lot of the same decoders which helps) any slight differences are cancelled out once the two locos are coupled together.

 

 

So here is a Brittania Class with a heavy passenger train being piloted by a Class 5.

 

Edited March 13, 2021 by richard.h
grammer

[richard.h]

Here is another pair of locos that performed well together.

 

This is a 3F and Jubilee, I shall have to keep a note of the pairings for future use.

 

 

One of the problems with double heading is headlamps, I generally fix the the lamps on permanently to suit the locos usual allocation, I've lost to many lamps using temporary fixings,where they go to is a mystery?

 

[richard.h]

This is the last pair of locos I set up as a Double Header.

 

Its a J11 assisting an Ivatt 4MT with a long coal train.

 

 

Again the performance was well matched as long as the speed was kept to a realistic level

 

[richard.h]

Just to show that the Double Heading works quite well here is a short video featuring the Locos concerned.