Dockside Timesaver

[Oncomin5torm]

Morning all

 

I have a 54 inch by 20 inch baseboard which has had two iterations of designs on it this year, I had an inglenook with added passenger workings which never got used so I altered it a week ago to remove the passenger platforms and lines, this has then gone on to what I have now which I am not happy with so I did a fair bit more research and discovered the timesaver shunting puzzle.
The space I have is a little too large I find for a standard inglenook so I have decided to design the plan I have attached to the thread.

I have annotated it in paint to show places for things such as buildings and roads, I am still unsure of final positions but it is all ideas at the moment.
The travelling crane on the lower right might be too big for such a small scene and block too much of the view.
After some discussions on facebook the engine shed might change slightly or the position.

I would not be running this as per the original timesaver rules as I do not like the idea of running against the clock, I would probably go for the modified rules and shunt to places based on card picks or possibly dice roll.

 

where the track goes beyond the baseboard boundary would be connected onto a fiddle stick for stock changing, with the possibility of moving the engine shed so allow it to have locos move off scene when in the shed, and then another comes onto the layout instead.

 

This is intended for my personal use at home but I would also like to try and get into exhibiting so I am thinking about operating it from front or rear or both, the fiddle yard access to the left is actually up against a wall at home but would be accessible when used away from home.
I run a DCC system with the NCE power cab, currently points are controlled by a DCCConcepts ADSF8X unit but I find it a bit of a chore to change the points digitally, I use solenoid motors for point control but with this redesign I am wanting to change how I control them to something more manual, not even CDU powered solenoids, I have been thinking of using wooden dowel, with a metal rod going up to the point bar and this controls the point, a more home spun version of wire in tube, it may not work but I'd like to try first. I would control the frog polarity using microswitches which I have a bunch of leftover from a previous layout.

 

When designing this layout I have utilised all the pointwork I have currently on the layout which I will remove from the baseboard and save so I can reuse, this will be a cost effective rebuild, I run with code 75 track.

 

The layout will be run loosely in the late 70's as that is an era I have fallen in love with despite it being 10 years before I was born, but that being said I have a thing for steam shunters such as the peckett and andrew barclay so I may run this as an independant dock at times and I would also like to be able to change eras and run big 4 and BR stock also.

 

Hope you like and I will try and update this as best as I can as the build progresses.

[Ray H]

That look interesting. I wonder (from my own perspective) what it would look like in 7mm!

 

Thinking about control . . .  The PowerCab requires a PTP. Would you have this mounted vertically on one side - or at one end - or would you have a PTP on each side of the layout. I don't think that you can have a PTP on one side and a UTP on the other because I believe only the PTP can transfer track power from the PowerCab to the track.

 

You have the ADSF8X so you could use an NCE Mini-Panel which would enable you to have push buttons to control the points. The downside of that option - other than purchase of the Mini-Panel - is that if you have the push buttons on a track plan mounted on the layout you'd either need to duplicate it so there's one on each side or, possibly , have it so that you could mount it one way up on one side of the layout and the other way up on the other side so the track plan isn't the wrong way round on one side.

 

Along the same lines, any manual form of point control would need to be usable from both sides of the layout. A colleague of mine uses the metal screw terminals removed from choc-block style connector strips. He uses bicycle spokes that protrude at one end through holes drilled into the operator's side of the baseboard frame. The spokes and joined together with the terminal blocks as necessary and there is one terminal block under the tie bar of the point with a vertical rod soldered to the terminal block and passing through a hole in the tie bar. You could adapt this idea so that the controlling rods (i.e. spokes) protrude through the frame on both sides of the layout. You could also replace the soldered wire with a short piece of wire shaped like an "L" with the short leg secured an a terminal block that was also secured to the horizontal control rod(s) and the long leg passing through the tie bar. What's more I'm sure that you could modify the arrangement so that the control rod(s) could also operate a micro switch secured adjacent to the rod's run under the baseboard. You would need to have a means to support the horizontal rods under the layout.

[Oncomin5torm]

17 minutes ago, Ray H said:

That look interesting. I wonder (from my own perspective) what it would look like in 7mm!

 

Thinking about control . . .  The PowerCab requires a PTP. Would you have this mounted vertically on one side - or at one end - or would you have a PTP on each side of the layout. I don't think that you can have a PTP on one side and a UTP on the other because I believe only the PTP can transfer track power from the PowerCab to the track.

 

You have the ADSF8X so you could use an NCE Mini-Panel which would enable you to have push buttons to control the points. The downside of that option - other than purchase of the Mini-Panel - is that if you have the push buttons on a track plan mounted on the layout you'd either need to duplicate it so there's one on each side or, possibly , have it so that you could mount it one way up on one side of the layout and the other way up on the other side so the track plan isn't the wrong way round on one side.

 

Along the same lines, any manual form of point control would need to be usable from both sides of the layout. A colleague of mine uses the metal screw terminals removed from choc-block style connector strips. He uses bicycle spokes that protrude at one end through holes drilled into the operator's side of the baseboard frame. The spokes and joined together with the terminal blocks as necessary and there is one terminal block under the tie bar of the point with a vertical rod soldered to the terminal block and passing through a hole in the tie bar. You could adapt this idea so that the controlling rods (i.e. spokes) protrude through the frame on both sides of the layout. You could also replace the soldered wire with a short piece of wire shaped like an "L" with the short leg secured an a terminal block that was also secured to the horizontal control rod(s) and the long leg passing through the tie bar. What's more I'm sure that you could modify the arrangement so that the control rod(s) could also operate a micro switch secured adjacent to the rod's run under the baseboard. You would need to have a means to support the horizontal rods under the layout.

 

 

Thanks for the reply.
I am thinking of the PTP (if its the thing I think it is where I plug the handset into which has wires to the track - apologises I am terrible with names of things) at one end, probably the right hand of the plan, that way I can use it at home with ease and still control from the front or back without major issue.
I have done a traditional mimic board before using center biased (on)off(on) switches which worked well but unless firmly grounded I found it quite wobbly and requires a little too much force to move. The idea I had was to have the wooden dowels protruding out of the front and the back and using some stuff wire or tubing to move the point itself, holding the dowels in place using those cable clips which are readily available. I've heard about points being done the way you say as well.
The AD-8sx has the ability already to use manual switches to activate the point motors, but if I was to go down that route I would save myself a lot of money and sell the AD-8sx unit on as I have all the parts for doing it that way already, I would like to try something new, if it fails I've got no problem going back to something a bit more electrical.

[sb67]

I like the sound of this Oncomin5torm, the plan looks good although have you checked the run round loop to make sure you can run round the amount of wagons you want? Having just built a dockside layout myself  I'm looking forward to seeing this being built.

Steve.