Castle Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 (edited) "Where has Castle been of late?" Hi All, Well, a lot has happened since I last started a thread. The main modelling activity of myself and my fellow Fawley Flyers has been this: So, how do we get to this? Well, its a long story... All the best, Castle Edited October 17, 2019 by Castle 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 (edited) Operation Phoenix – Part 1 Hi All, Fawley Flier/Flyer Definition: An idiot that thinks that 3’ long track spanner = model making equipment. To be fair, if you were told to walk along holding your tools and you had access to silly size tools such as these, wouldn’t you do this? Its all about how specific you make your instructions people. It should be noted that ALL Flyers hold a degree level qualification in malarkey, will talk the hind legs off an alpaca and will only co-operate through the liberal application of cups of tea. You have been warned… Out of the mists of the Thames valley, somewhere near Henley strode forth 6 bold adventurers carrying track maintenance equipment, ready to compete in a great labour in the fashion of the mighty Hercules. A great challenge if you will. It involved model railways… The Fawley Fliers (the spelling was later retconned with the creation of the Cheltenham Flyer style logo to Flyers!) were formed as the home team of the Fawley Museum Society when it was announced that a new program called The Great Model Railway Challenge was to be filmed at our home base near Henley, the home of Lady Judy McAlpine and the late, great Sir William McAlpine. The museum was set up by Sir William as a private collection and (full size) garden railway and Lady Judy and the team have been determined to keep it going in his memory ever since his untimely passing in March 2018. The GMRC was a perfect fit for Fawley and a local team had to be the order of the day. The original team was comprised of just 6 members, but we have since been joined by several more, all with similar modelling interests and a wide range of ages, creating a skilled base of both constructors and operators. We are also lucky indeed to be allowed a small corner of Fawley to call our own and indeed access the workshop facilities. This has enhanced operating days at the Museum as we can do our turns on the full-size machines and then come across to the layout and operate that too. Are we spoilt or what? The two layouts built during the show – 81M - William Street Shed and Fawley Junction - have since been dismantled. The baseboards they were on really weren’t up to constantly being moved around the museum and MDF (in our humble opinions at least) is not a stable enough foundation on which to build a model railway. All is not lost however as they will live on in a much-modified form. The components and track from 81M - William Street Shed and the leftovers from Fawley junction will be combined into a new, much larger, Fawley Junction which is to be built when the show layout I will describe next and our storage / layout room have been completed. Which leaves the marshalling yard that comprised the upper layer of the original Fawley junction. As we were about to dismantle it, we looked at it and somebody piped up and said, “You know, that’s almost a show layout in and of itself. It’s built on plywood too…” And that’s when the fun started. The Phoenix flew into the fire and was burned to ashes such that nothing remained… …and yet, in those ashes, something stirred. Somehow, something had survived. To be re-born anew. The phoenix it seems, will rise again! All the best, Castle Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! Edited October 17, 2019 by Castle 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 14, 2019 Author Share Posted October 14, 2019 (edited) Operation Phoenix – Part 2 Hi All, Devil’s Curve Definition: The curve that leads from the fiddle yard to the scenic section of William Street Yard. Full explanation for the name is below. Get your kicks on route 666… So, the marshaling yard has survived. We always thought of this as William Street Yard and indeed that was what was (sort of) written in the control panel, but it was now going to take on a life of its own. The origin of the name is sort of obvious but has a somewhat convoluted path. The layout operated by Fawley’s O Gauge group has been known for a long time as William Street. However, this layout wasn’t named after Sir William, rather than for one of its builders. Our layouts on the other hand were definitely named in Sir William’s honour but we also felt that it was a nice link between the two Fawley model groups as well. So it is William Street Yard but it’s not the same William as the other William in the other, larger one called just William Street. Got it? Good. I guess the only punchline to that is “Send me the Bill…” I’ll get my coat… Rather pleasingly, there is a real William Street in Windsor, not too far away from the GWR’s Royal Station. Life imitating art perhaps? Proof is available in the picture below, if it were required, that William Street Yard was always called William Street. 81M - William Street Shed used the Peco Smart Switch method of operating servos for the points and signals but I was able to go with Dave Fenton’s excellent Megapoints system second time around. This was handy as the pre-bought pair of these units together ran all the needs for the whole of the original Fawley Junction layout and were, slaved together, enough to run the rebuilt and upgraded William Street Yard. It also has the advantage that upgrades and additions like DCC control are trivial. More of that later. What is kind of obvious (ish) from the photographs is the fact that the baseboard has been massively reinforced with 19mm MDF. Now, having said that MDF was no good, we went and used it. Why? There are 2 really good reasons. Firstly, it isn’t the only structural element here. There is a 2”x2” timber batten behind this forming a join running around the entire outside edge of the layout, between the 9mm ply baseboard and the 19mm MDF. It really is only acting as a spacer and buffer for the next layer of the construction. The second reason was that there was a huge stack of this stuff bunging up the workshop that nobody wanted and was headed for the skip. Free, as always, is the best possible price… The next job was to make plans as to what we were going to do with it. It had been designed to take advantage of the length achieved by laying it at an angle across the lower baseboards of Fawley Junction. This also meant that one end was a funny shape and needed filling in. Firstly, all the RTP (Ready To Plonk) buildings and yard lights had to go. We wanted the layout to reflect our skills as model makers and showcase the rolling stock. RTP Buildings just weren’t going to cut it. The other consideration was storage. Prior to us getting the storage space at Fawley, it was envisioned that the layout might have to live in the layout room of one of our team members. This is a 10’ x 8’ box room and the one stipulation on that as a venue was that, quite rightly, it should be able to be assembled to allow playing of trains, err, I mean serious model railway operations. This meant that a light trim of the loco head shunt with the water crane at the far end was required, as was an almost total fiddleyardectomy. To be fair, for filming it was only a straight piece of track… Corners were what this situation needed! The other ruling factor was the need to have the stock (all fitted with scale couplings) go around the corner. It is recommended that the lowest you go with scale couplings in OO is about 720-750mm radius. We had nothing like that kind of room. The compromise was reached by getting the curve down to 666mm. This of course meant it was immediately dubbed Devil’s Curve and we are hoping that a track of the same name will appear on the next Iron Maiden album. There are 2 restrictions this placed on train movements. Tender first trains with big locos is out. The sort of Dean / Collett Goods sort of stuff is fine, as are (strangely) the GWR 8-coupled tank engines, but anything more needs turning to face the direction of travel. Fine, as this is something that was basically prototypical and turning the locos in the cassette-based fiddle yard is easy. The second is that long bogie vehicles such as my model of the CROCODILE F couldn’t get into the middle yard straight from the fiddle yard. Buffer locking from propelling round the resultant ‘S’ curve occurred. The rest of the stock, including my reasonably long ASMO and MACAW G were fine. Happy Days! The fact that Devil’s Curve exits close to the rear edge of the fiddle yard and that the exit from the yard is in the middle of the scenic baseboard means that the was little to no room for points in the fiddle yard. A cassette system is far more flexible for doing what we are doing, and it was therefore agreed to follow this path. The resulting layout is therefore 10’ along the scenic edge, takes a 90 degree turn and then marches off down to the end of 8’. This will also supply some display space on the flat outer side of the fiddle yard too. That ballast needs attention – call in the P-Way team! All the best, Castle Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! Edited October 17, 2019 by Castle 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 (edited) The Life and Times of an Electro-troll Hi All, Electro-troll Definition: Term of endearment / aggravation (in equal and simultaneous measure) bestowed on any Fawley Flyer engaged in the mainly under-baseboard activity of wires and wiring. It has its derivation from the main antagonist of the nursery rhyme ‘The Billy Goats Gruff’ to which an Electro-troll is very similar in many ways. Especially if you bang your hand down hard enough on the baseboard when their head is very close to the underside of said item. The phrase “who’s that going over MY bridge” is not used subsequently but the application of coarse grade Anglo Saxon of a very descriptive / instructive / physically impossible nature is more likely. The wiring, like everything else on the original layout, was done very quickly. It is a testament to Captain Phil (who undertook the vast majority of this work) that we suffered from very few electrical issues. The way this was done was simple. Every piece of track – no matter how small – got its own track feed. The lot. Everything. This meant a lot of wire went through our hands very quickly, but it did mean that stalling did not occur. The way to deal with this under the baseboards was to have all the wires that were fitted well over length were just looped up out of the way and the ends fed into chock block connectors. Simple! The new purpose of the layout means that it will have to be far easier to trace errors and malfunctions as well as not dangling in such a way as to get caught whilst being moved. The first move was to undo everything. Absolutely everything. This included the frog juicers (doesn’t that name bring up a WONDERFUL mental image?). This work was carried out in the Museum’s mess room because: 1. Access to 240v supplies for tools. 2. Comfy seats to sit in. 3. Access to heaters. 4. Access to the tea making facilities. This gives you a perfect insight into the thought processes of the average Flyer as does the empty popcorn packet in the picture... Then, the repetitive task of laying the cables into nice, tight straight runs that followed a bit of logic began. The aluminium channel is the holder for each of the point operating servos and these will be replaced with a custom mount later. You can see the basic process here for the yard throat... ...this is somewhere in the middle... ...and finally, at the far end. The larger gauge cable at the bottom is the main bus and everything else is a branch off from that. It is easy to say but was a solid day’s work to get to this stage. Still, we see it as an investment for the future as the easier it is to follow, the easier it is to fix. Hopefully. Maybe. A bit. It’s still going to be an utter swine when it doesn’t work isn’t it? Can’t say we didn’t try though! All the best, Castle Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! Edited October 17, 2019 by Castle 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted October 17, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 17, 2019 On 11/10/2019 at 20:26, Castle said: "Where has Castle been of late?" Hi All, Well, a lot has happened since I last started a thread. The main modelling activity of myself and my fellow Fawley Flyers has been this: So, how do we get to this? Well, its a long story... All the best, Castle Loving the glow from the fire devil, a superb effect and very subtle 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 1 minute ago, chuffinghell said: Loving the glow from the fire devil, a superb effect and very subtle Cheers Chris! Both the crane and the water valve move automatically, as well as there being a display on the front of the layout to tell people how it works. All Arduino powered. All on one touch of a single button. More of that later on... I've been enjoying your Warren Branch thread by the way. I've been away from RMWEB for a while so I'm just catching up with it. Fantastic stuff! All the best, Castle 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted October 17, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 17, 2019 19 minutes ago, Castle said: ........Both the crane and the water valve move automatically What a great idea 20 minutes ago, Castle said: .............I've been enjoying your Warren Branch thread by the way. I've been away from RMWEB for a while so I'm just catching up with it. Fantastic stuff! Thank you 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 “All the world’s a Stage...” Hi All, Instructions Definition: What can only be described, at best, as the manufacturers opinion on how their product should be used. Flyers of course know better as to how best to use anything unless it doesn’t work. Then instructions can be re-defined as variously ‘last resort’ or ‘that which I was going to try next – obviously’. “...and all the Hornby and Bachmann stock in it merely players.” Well, that was a bit deep... We really prescribe to the wonderful writings of Iain Rice on the subject of layout design. He has produced several treatises on this subject and his ‘stagecraft’ approach is one that really resonates with us. The use of ‘wings’, visual blocks and composition of thirds really gives a layout presence and one of the key things for us was that it should feel that the layout is not bound within its 4 walls. That there really is a world that goes beyond that and we have tried (not always successfully) to design by these guiding principles. The first thing we did was to build a stage around the layout. The wings, ends and back are done in 6mm ply to keep the weight down and to provide a measure of protection against the inevitable bumps and scrapes, aluminium angle was employed to ensure rigidity and protection. The other good thing about this look is that it does have the feel of packing crates which for a goods / marshaling yard, can’t be a bad thing! The colour is yet to be decided but we are thinking that one of the GWR colours (Loco Green, Coach Chocolate and / or Cream, Freight Grey, Light or Dark Stone, etc) will be the way of the future. Here is another view with the lighting perfectly illustrating the entrance / exit from the layout. This will be surmounted by a bridge when time allows. Full marks to the people that have noticed that the rear of the layout is lower than the sides – the reason for this apparent anomaly will become apparent later. We has done planning you know... A final view for this installment showing the overview of the layout as it stands. The two wires are the important end of the DCC bus and will get a removable attachment to the controller at a later date. Yes, the ballast is still 'not good' and needs sorting. Those resin lamps have got to go too. They won’t ever light up like that... It also needs some accurate Lanarkshire Model Supplies GWR buffer stops. The list goes on and on! Still, the areas around the track, with the removal of all the buildings, really has opened a bit of very enticing real estate for Miss Tress to do some of her amazing scenic work. Should be good! All the best, Castle PS: Bonus Picture of No. 31 doing her stuff on the hill... Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 20, 2019 Author Share Posted October 20, 2019 (edited) Signalling the Changes Hi All, “Where are the biscuits?” Definition: A war cry often heard in the vicinity of the Fawley Flyers. Although a Flyer can be cajoled into action using tea in both mug / pot form, the application of a good quality choccy biccy really helps things along. Chocolate Hob Nob? NOW you are talking... The way that the yard was originally set up saw it from the simple control panel shown before. This was based on a signal box style diagram (I know it’s shunted on hand levers but we like the way it looks!). The big issue with this is that a single control panel won’t allow for multiple locomotives working and shunting in the yard as we want to see to keep onlookers entertained. The first thing to do was to redraw the signal box drawing and it ends up looking like this. The number will relate to points and some points will be operated as pairs. If you look at points 1, 2 and 6, they are crossovers and there is no point at all in operating them individually. There is also the inclusion of a signal that won’t actually exist as it will be at the end of the head shunt which will be on the fiddle yard board and therefore off scene. There are a few other details that I included when I drew it. Firstly, a drawing of the usual cast iron ‘don’t go in the signal box’ sign that is usually on or adjacent to the entrance to a real GWR signal box (again, because we like it!) is in the top corner. The ‘signature’ of Reading Signal Works is included as it was on many real diagrams and adds local flavour. Finally, as the Megapoints board is a 12 servo system and we are using just ten control points, I couldn’t resist adding that there were 2 spare levers in the frame! There will be a number of these posted up around the layout. The drawing is a combination of a modified version of the original Anyrail file that was used to build the layout. This was imported into my favourite (archaic!) piece of 2D drawing software. 2D Design from Techsoft is actually a piece of educational software but as I have been trained to use it and I have bought my own home licence for it, I use that. It is also used for driving the laser cutter that I have access to... As I said before - laser cutter! So, a nice black acrylic panel was devised and the components began to be fitted. The vast majority of them are recycled from the original layout. The white is done by engraving in the stuff you want to be white with the laser, then spraying the thing white. I mask a few bits off to save work on the next step, mainly the holes as I don’t want white paint in them. The paint is just Halfords rattle can white primer. I then used a plastic polish and a buffing wheel (you could easily do it slower by hand or possibly with a buffing wheel in a mini drill) to remove the paint from the surface but leave the paint in the grooves. Simple really... The new piece of equipment here is the small board on the left. This is the Megapoints DCC module. This will be being used in simple mode. This means that it will only drive one Megapoints servo board. You need to use the processor board to run multiple panels. “But” I hear your cry - “there are two servo boards in there. How does that work?” One of the many great things about the Megapoints panels is that you can run two together as a master and slave pair. The instructions going into the master board will trigger the same channel on the slave board. This is also true if you drive the master board with a DCC module. Very useful for long roads in fiddle yards OR crossovers! As we already had two boards from the original layout, buying the DCC module was a no-brainer frankly. The rest of the physical controls are for two reasons. Firstly, if we ever need to go to manual reversion due to a DCC module failure (highly unlikely I know) or secondly for programming the thing in the first place. I haven’t run a show layout before but I imagine that options like this and redundant systems are a good idea... Just a quick note to thank Dave at Megapoints. I have had some really terrible customer service from some fairly large and supposedly respectable model railway suppliers who I won’t mention. None of this applies to Dave. His customer support for prospective purchasers and continuing aftercare for his customers I argue is unmatched and long may it continue. A superb product and a real gentleman. I have no connection with the company - I am just a very satisfied customer! The reasoning for taking the step to the DCC control of the points is to make it more realistic. Each of the loco / shunter crews would pull their own points. Now, anyone with a smart phone controller can do that - great stuff! The case was made from off cuts of acrylic and laser ply. The back is open and the idea is that is will be fixed in the centre of the back of the main layout so that if it has to go back to manual mode or when programming is underway, it is in the most ergonomic position possible. The wiring is mostly completed here. It could not really be much simpler! Most of it is just plug and play. The most difficult bit is soldering on the switches really. It is currently missing the servo connections and 3 of the push to make switches for the memory function. This is because the original ones on the layout were cheap and nasty and needed replacing. I did an eBay order for some more but it turns out that I can’t remember to push the button to order TWO packs of 5 instead of one... What a twit! The clear front panel slides up and out to access the controls and wiring connections. The fact it is clear means that the little LED ‘heartbeat’ of the boards can be monitored. There has also been the mandatory application of the “don’t go in the signal box’ sign. Hopefully this will disparage the interaction between the inner workings and any operators not in the knowing of the ways of electro - troll... I really should have wiped the fingerprints off the clear acrylic first. The final stage was to arrange the screen in the Z21 set up to show the operations of the points. I tried to use the signal box diagram but frankly, the point controls ended up so small that it was really easy to trigger the wrong one and to not trigger the one you wanted to use when using a smart phone. The best solution we found was to have a number of the diagrams up around the layout and then to use a heavily modified version of the signal box diagram as the background to the controls page. We certainly think it is at least in the spirit of a lever frame and diagram combination and that’s good enough for us! The boards all still need programming and I would like to do a full bench test on the system using DCC before it is installed to verify it’s operation before we go getting excited! Then we will need to get stuck in to reconnect the servos to the points and set system up. I guess the elephant in the room now is the fiddle yard. We’re coming Jumbo! All the best, Castle PS; Another bonus picture on No. 31 - its on holiday at Didcot at the moment you know... It went through its first ever test with passenger coaches today and passed with flying colours! Its in steam for a number of days until the end of February next year when she returns to Fawley. Its the only time she has EVER been allowed to steam for the public at a heritage rail site. See it while you can! Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! Edited October 22, 2019 by Castle 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted October 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) Nice work Castle et al. I like those down to earth everyday railway buildings. PS: You can come up with all the fancy names you want, but I'm going to think of you as the Faulty Flies Edited October 23, 2019 by Mikkel 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 Hi Mikel, Theres always one isn’t there? Nice work though - I hadn’t thought of that! It brings up a wonderful mental image. I’m sure there is a potential cartoon in my head that illustrates the Faulty Flies! Perhaps that’s a T Shirt for shows? Drawing one with a beard, long hair and a cowboy hat might be a challenge though. Not much room on a fly... Lovely work over on your blog as always - fantastic to catch up with it! Thanks and all the best, Castle 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 26, 2019 Author Share Posted October 26, 2019 Fiddly Business. HI All, Sasquatch Definition: The nickname of yours truly bestowed by his fellow Flyers and preservation volunteers. It is said that due to my general hairiness and black livery for camouflage, that I would have absolutely no trouble at all in maintaining the outstanding record that the afore-mentioned speculative creature has in the sport of extreme hide and seek in a forest environment. Additionally, my size 12 (oily) footprints are occasionally spotted, and I may or may not be ‘for real’... Well, the time has come, we must face, the final curtain... Well, the final bit of major construction at least! The fiddle yard was always going to be tricky - it had a few almost self defeating constraints. I hope this gives an insight into the process we needed to go through in order to come to the design we did. Firstly, it needed to fit in the layout room fully assembled and the limitation this places on ‘Devil’s Curve’ entering the layout has already been discussed (Part 3). The other limitation is the length of the sidings beyond the curve. Although we have a total length of 2.5m, we have to take into account the fact that the curve has to start half way into the width of the yard board. That puts the track centre at 325mm and then we add on 666mm. The end of the curve then is now 991mm from the end. As the largest section of plywood that takes us to a total possible length of 2440 and if we take our previous total away we get to 1449mm. The controlling factor now is the maximum length in the fiddle yard reception road. Without counting the brake van (We figured that the average length of a UK brake van in 4mm scale is about 150mm maximum. I don’t know about a SR bogie version but the rest should be ok.) and train loco (we figure that 300mm in 4mm scale will cover most eventualities), that gives us a total length of wagons in a train of about 1200mm. As the remaining fiddle yard space is only 1449mm this means that fiddle yard point work becomes a real thief of valuable space. The only conclusion therefore is that cassettes must be used. This isn’t a bad thing - the minimising of stock handling is paramount with the weathering style I use and details are almost magically attracted to fingers rather than the body of the vehicle they are supposed to be attached to so this can only be a bonus... The basic construction of the fiddle yard has to be the same of type as the main board for consistency’s sake if nothing else! Here we can see the underside and the way it matches the design of the main layout itself. A 2” x 2” softwood frame backed up with a 19mm MDF wall. The view blockers are all the same 9mm ply as used elsewhere. The big difference is in the top surface. The edges of the MDF sides were used as the level. The ply top was offset to the time of 1 thickness in order to drop it down far enough to allow a second layer to be added on top. Here we can see Leigh and Ali sizing it all up... T’is the curve of the devil I tell ye! This gives you the basic idea... The second layer is only put in the areas where the curve is required. The rest is at the lower level. There will then be aluminium angle and track attached to this and the angle will be used along with bulldog clips to align the tracks. More of this later... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 26, 2019 Author Share Posted October 26, 2019 In order to give a little flexibility in operation and allow for the cassettes to be slid about without too much lifting, the final section of the curve area is on a thin peninsular as shown here. The cassettes will be provided in three flavours. loco length, brake van length and train length and these will all fit in the space at the back of the fiddle yard board and leave space for their trains to be assembled in the rest of the lowered area. This makes the reversal of trains rally easy to do. Lift loco and brake can out, put brake van at far end and then turn and replace the loco. Job done! The crocodile clips here might be a bit large... The other great thing about the way this is arranged is that the wiring is really simple. No bus required! Effectively the fiddle yard is just a long siding. The bus wires from the layout and the controller supplies are just connected through a pair of banana plug style connections. As a man who teaches physics and electronics on occasion, this school laboratory type of connection seems somewhat logical to me at least... The connection between the two boards was to have been done via a pair of brass alignment dowels as used in the past by pattern makers. However, Ali’s experience with show layouts has lead him to believe that this causes more trouble than its worth. The thinking behind this is that it is only the dowels that line up every time. He has experience with a famous and much admired O gauge layout on the exhibition circuit and they have found that any slight movement in the wood or track may cause misalignments in the track - even if the dowels are lined up. As a result, the rather counter intuitive solution is to use a pair of bolts int a hole 1mm bigger than the bolt being employed. The theory being that the human finger is a very good judge of whether the track is aligned or not and if you do the bolts up to the point whereby a firm tap with move it slightly, minuscule adjustments can be made. This allows for precision alignment every time and even if the joint alignment degraded during a show due to movement in the materials (highly unlikely it has to be said!) adjustments can be made. The boards are held together with M8 bolts and large penny style washers to maintain a close and accurate mating surface and yet allow a large amount of force to be asserted on the joint without damaging the timbers. Each of the boards is supplied with six adjustable feet so that the whole enterprise can be leveled. The final issue is that of the curved track. We need to get the maximum amount of curvature so this means that the less than desirable eventuality of a baseboard joint on a curve is a reality. The way we dealt with it was to lay the track as usual. Then, a few of the sleepers were removed and a section of plain copper coated PCB put in their place. The track was then laid over the top of the PCB board and the track was soldered in place. Only after this was the track cut. As a result, there was no springing or bending out of line noticed. Well, the fiddle yard is now substantially complete and the layout can now operate and have purpose again. Yay! The little matter of wiring up the point servos I guess is next. I hope I don’t get sidetracked... All the best, Castle Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 27, 2019 Author Share Posted October 27, 2019 How to Sidetrack a Sasquatch in 1 Easy Lesson. Hi All, Static Grass Applicator Definition: You might think you know what this is. You are wrong. The commercial ones, according to our flocking (phew – glad I spelled that right...) expert Alan*, are simply not powerful enough. This meant he built his own – we think from parts salvaged from the crashed wreckage of some top-secret military drone. The resultant machine is quite capable of blasting the feathers off a chicken at some 500 yards and leaving it with a nice crispy skin. Be afraid people, be very afraid... *Serious expert, he did this sort of thing commercially. Ask him about making a full-size model horse for the film Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves hairy! Darn it - sidetracked! We have always liked the idea of operating our layout as prototypically as reasonably possible. Being volunteers at both Fawley and (some of us) with the Great Western Society, we have experience of at least the preservation era version of steam era operations. Not the same but close enough. Much like our attitude to railway modelling... The fact that a real yard really wouldn’t have a signal box diagram didn’t stop us doing one and therefore, why not have a signal telegraph machine too? The original layout had an LED based system where the system could show whether the line was clear or blocked and there was a bell but the bell wasn’t connected to anything. The time constraints really couldn’t allow any more in depth a system but we got it done and working. This new system was designed to be as close as reasonable in operation at least to the sort of permissive block instrument shown here (although this is a slightly different twin example in Didcot Railway Centre’s Signalling Museum) with a line status indicator, switch a bell and a telegraph button. The first thing to do was to replicate the dial effectively, using simple technology. The use of a voltmeter to detect a voltage seemed logical. I didn’t ask how the originals work but I assume it’s similar? 2 different voltages and no voltage gives three different readings and one of them is fail to safe so that is what I went with! I obviously had to convert them to the indicator shown in the picture above so a pair of eBay voltmeters were duly purchased, the stop point adjusted, the needle coloured black and new backing pieces fitted. I drew this on CAD and printed it out on stuff photo paper. Here is the before and after... I then needed to control the needle. A three position switch - 2 on and off was needed. A little discovery I made was that this particular switch can be set up to limit or expand the amount of positions that can be had. When I ordered them, I ordered them as 3 position switches. When the turned up, they had 3 positions AND off. No good... I did order some more but while I was waiting I decided to investigate these. I took the nut and washer off and it was then I discovered that the washer has a small tab that goes down into the body of the switch. Depending upon where the switch is when you put the tab into the hole determines how many positions there are on the switch! This might be old news to some but it’s new news to me... With a bit of trial and error the correct 3 position set up was chosen. You can see the holes here. The wiring is a bit of a cheat as it’s all done with servo cables and chock blocks. This gives it a plug and play feel and means it is easy to adapt and repair as required. Four 2m long servo extension wires go in each direction making a total of 12 wires. The great thing about this is that if we want to use this on another layout or if we were to extend this one then you can just add more extension wires! Here is the whole thing in prototype mode, is on a large cutting mat and some blue tack to hold the components in place. This is prior to the adjustable buck converters I used to give the various voltages being delivered. And here it is now live and kicking. In order to have enough space, this was spread all across a bed and it gave me enough space to visualise where each of the wires were going but I didn’t have to crawl all over the floor to do so! Comfort first... In order to test it, I turned it all on and left it running for a few hours, coming back to turn the knobs to change the needle positions and click the solenoids about a bit. Nothing broke I’m pleased to say. The push buttons for the bells are on floor mounted PTM switches that are used for guitars I think. This activates a solenoid that hits the button on top of the desk bell. The 3 cases are all laser cut plywood and acrylic where required. This produced a small pile of bits... I use scrap material to make stuff so wherever possible. While it may take a while, it is the responsible thing to do. I do occasionally by a sheet of new material for the larger bits. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 27, 2019 Author Share Posted October 27, 2019 There are three sections to the system. A centre power control hub and the two instruments. This is the centre hub. It has also had two protective aluminium corners have fitted to the edges and the clear front panel. The two instruments are also now ready for fitting out. The idea is to give the feel of the original without slavishly copying it. The dials are acrylic and have had the etching enhanced with black spray paint and a polish to remove the excess. I guess we have a wire or three to put in now... This is the final look! The two brass screws on the knob are purely decorative but were prominent on the real thing so I replicated it. The whole arrow thing was bonded in place with a trusty glob of superglue. After a few minor adjustments to ensure that the bells were clear and one minor rewiring mishap (I can’t tell black and red apart apparently!), all systems are go! The fitting up of the power box was simple enough, screw chock block in place, take out 1 end of each wire at a time, feed it through the various tidying slots, then trim to length and screw back into the choc block. Test system. Rinse and repeat as needed. In this picture, look at the 3 power on indicator LEDs. You can see from this that they are all running on a slightly different voltage as they are showing varying degrees of brightness. Here is the system finished (but without the cable covers in place)... Well, hopefully, the next time H.M. Railways Inspectorate look at our layout we have at least a chance of arguing a convincing safety case... No more being sidetracked I hope... All the best, Castle Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted October 27, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 27, 2019 Very nice. Too late for you now but it can be made simpler by following the prototype! Each Block goes over a single wire (plus common return usually) using + - and nothing where nothing is Line Blocked. TOL and LC are opposite polarities (can’t remember which way, but SR and GWR were opposite!). My intention is to use a centre zero meter then I can do pole changing for TOL and LC. Still like what you have done, cos you’ve actually done it not just thought about doing it. And I really like the proper (G)WR instrument too. Paul. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 27, 2019 Author Share Posted October 27, 2019 HI Paul, Yep - that is a more simple way of doing it! Ahhhh well - I didn't ask. I just went with my inner electronics knowledge. Its not like I don't have access to people at both Didcot and Fawley that know how this works is it? It wouldn't be too hard to fix given my construction methods and a pair of centre zero meters but I have one or two other things to look at on both William Street Yard and elsewhere before I get there. I might look at this again but it is at the bottom of a very long list... Thanks for the information though - never too late to learn as they say. I'm surprised that TOL isn't the default for the off position though - seems like the 'safest' position to try and work back from if there is a fault? I'm no signaler it has to be said however - locos are more my department. Thanks for the compliments and for stopping by! All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted October 27, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 27, 2019 Very clever! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted October 27, 2019 Author Share Posted October 27, 2019 1 minute ago, chuffinghell said: Very clever! Cheers Chris! All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted October 27, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 27, 2019 4 hours ago, Castle said: It’s not like I don't have access to people at both Didcot and Fawley that know how this works is it? The Swindon Panel people will keep you right. I suspect I would know, or at least know of, quite a number of them. Paul. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted November 4, 2019 Author Share Posted November 4, 2019 Points of Control Hi All, TEA!!! Definition: The automatic warning signal that work on the layout is about to come to a halt due to lack of lubrication. Think of it as a bit like the Flyer version of the little light-up oil can on your car’s dashboard. It is easy to remedy however... Well, no getting away from it - we are going to have to make those points work... The bench test of the system went very well and the insertion of the DCC module was fairly simple although as a note to unwary users of the Z21, especially if you haven’t done it in a while, update your box by coupling it up to your computer. It’s easy to do and prevents some confusing idiosyncrasies of the earlier boxes in the numbering of DCC controlled accessories. ‘Nuff said! So, the first move is to fit the panel itself. It requires two suppliers in. The first is a smooth 12v to drive the whole lot. This is temporarily my 12v supply as prescribed by Megapoints Dave. There will however be a more permanent solution for the low voltage supplies on the whole layout. More of that later as they say... There is also a need to connect the DCC controller in too. Threaded inserts were used to attach the box and some spare black plastic conduit was used to house the wires going to and fro. The incoming wires were terminated on the fiddle yard end of the layout and a temporary 12v line was added too. Having seen various solutions as to how to hold a servo, not being shy of a challenge, I had a go at one myself. This is Mk. 1. I put in six holes, three either side. The centre ones are larger and are used to initially hold the unit in place. Given that they are a fair bit larger than the shank of the screw used, it then enables you to wiggle it into he right place and test it. Once happy, you then use the four outer holes and you are fitted! The rear of the Mk. 1 looked like this and I felt there was and improvement to be had here. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted November 4, 2019 Author Share Posted November 4, 2019 So Mk. 2 occurred! This has a ledge to hold a point number on it and a cable tidy of sorts on the back. Mass production ahoy! Then it was just a case of fitting them up to the layout. Lots to do here... short sections of conduit provide a method of tidying the servo extension cables. Each one was fitted, tested and tidied as we went along. Laborious but it worked - yay us! The programming of the system is fairly straightforward and given Dave’s excellent videos on the subject, don’t really need retelling here. Suffice to say it works! So, we now have a working signalling system, all the track required and a fiddle yard. We can now forge ahead as long as I don’t get sidetracked again... All the best, Castle Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 (edited) Water, Water Everywhere But Not a Drop to Drink... Or How to Sidetrack a Sasquatch, Take 2 Hi All, Miss Trees Definition: Rachel – the very talented red-haired lady that does the green stuff on the Flyer layouts. Prior to the original competition, she hadn’t tried any of this. The swift application of a set of books by Gordon and Maggie Gravett lead to a literal flowering (pun intended) of skills. There isn’t much she won’t turn into model flora of some sort, but I have been fast moving enough up to this point to avoid my hair / beard being added to the list. The chase continues. Ok, I admit it. At times my attention span can, when I get ideas, especially (what I think are) really good ones, get a little side tracked. A lot sidetracked. Really sidetracked. Very sidetracked. Ok you lot - leave me alone - I’m hopeless! So, one of the features of note on 81M William Street Shed was the moving water cranes. We wanted to continue with this and I was going to fit an Arduino with a servo, variable resistor and that was that. But then I remembered that I made the valve handle work. And that might need a different control. But then I thought that not everyone is going to want to operate that. Someone might make a mistake and swing the crane out too far, wrecking both crane and loco. So then I thought ‘this needs an automatic solution’. Can you hear me falling down this particular rabbit hole? The single water crane on William Street Yard was built the same way as the pair on 81M but had never been fitted up due to lack of time. The valve rotated and the crane arm could swing. That was as far as it went. First, not being a well practiced user of Arduinos, I wanted to prove to myself that I could not only make the servo go forward and back, but also do controlled movements on the water valve. Many sketches in my notebook resulted in many more watching of YouTube videos. Which resulted in more internet research, more videos and more sketches. Obsessive? Moi? I eventually cobbled together the following components.The motor chosen was a stepper motor. These can be very precisely driven to fractions of a degree and therefore perfect to represent the valve opening and shutting. The servo proved trickier. I found that the thing jittered if left. Not very prototypical and again dangerous if it jitters its way into a train. The solution came when I was watching one of Dave Fenton’s videos where he said he ‘turns off’ the servo with his board to prevent this happening. He turns off the PWM signal to the servos. I cheated and bought a relay, and this turns on the 5v supply to the servo just before it moved and turns it off just after it finishes. It isn’t ALLOWED to move without being told to! Having gone this far, I thought in for a penny, in for a pound and decided that people needed telling about what was going on and then added the LCD screen for good measure. If it’s of any comfort to anyone, I thought that this sort of action was the work of a lunatic and way beyond my skill set to start with. However, it’s really not that difficult! All of it is pieced together using example code from the internet. An actual programmer would have a heart attack if he saw what I had done but it is robust and it works. Enough said! A housing for all the working parts was conceived. Servo to the bottom right and stepper motor (not connected here) on the bottom left. The layers of ply under the crane model itself represents the thickness of the baseboard. A corresponding slot was cut in the baseboard to accept the unit. You can see that it was originally fitted further down the siding but the siding had to be cut back in order to be fitted into the new structure. Terrible ballast still there, we KNOW! Can’t you see that we are busy down a rabbit hole here? So, all the circuitry was fitted to a sheet of plywood. The two glowing bits at the bottom are off the shelf (£1.50!) eBay buck converters to regulate the 12v in down to something usable by various bits of the system. An acrylic case for the display and then we were ready to fit! Or so I thought... I couldn’t help feeling that there was one more trick to do with this. I was right! There was one bit of unfinished business to be dealt with. 81M was supposed to have a number of flickering fire LEDs on it until a momentary slip with the voltages very late in the day plus a big dose of very tired, ended that permanently... In an act of “we will not be beaten”(!), I added one to the fire devil. I know it’s not likely to have been lit in the spring setting of the layout but there we are... I used two of the LED legs and a third leg from a scrap resistor to form the legs of the fire devil. The body was remade from the barrel of a felt tip pen that happened to be the correct diameter and the unit was fixed in place on the model with the heat shrink insulation tubing being forced into holes not quite the right size for it! And a splash of paint later... A little real coal and ash at the base of it as a supply to keep it going and evidence of use and the model was complete. I guess the morals of the story are: 1) Arduino isn’t that hard to do. It’s intimidating when you first look at it but even on a ‘borrowing pre-made lumps of code off the internet’ fashion, things can be made to look pretty good. 2) eBay may not be the sensible choice to buy some things but as a supplier of electronics, it’s is unmatched if you are careful. The full set up there cost less than £35. 3) Don’t let a Sasquatch or a Castle near a rabbit hole. 4) Point 3 is impossible to enforce. Lots of fitting and fettling to do next time! All the best, Castle PS: Thanks for all the likes and positive comments! Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of William Street Yard! Edited November 5, 2019 by Castle 3 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) Odds and Ends* *Some are definitely odder than most... Hi All, Vegetable Definition: The Flyers are keenly aware of your need for 5-a-day to remain healthy and active railway modellers. In an effort to achieve this in a succinct and timely manner, the Flyers have done a simple bit of reclassification. The calculations go like this. Cow + grass = more cow / dairy products, therefore cow / dairy products = vegetable. This means that all cow-based products are reclassified as vegetables too. Burgers, steaks, dairy, double cream and even chocolate can be included as one of your 5-a-day. Other vegetable eating animals can be added to the list including the pig and the chicken. This means that a Flyer will sometimes amass as many as 25 to 30 a day and additionally, will never attempt to eat a tiger. Tigers get really QUITE angry if you try and cook them. Jokes about them producing a ‘rare’ steak as well will NOT be tolerated. The mission to prepare William Street Yard for its first show continues. The continuing use of my Z21 and it getting lumped around was causing me a little concern. It’s not a cheap piece of equipment and needs a bit of respect so, using a bit of plywood that I quite literally pulled from the bin as it had spilled paint all over one side(!), I made this. The Mk. 1 Controller Caddy. The great thing about the Mk. 1 is that Mk. 2 hasn’t been needed yet... Being of a long haired persuasion, the natural choice of soft straps for the components was hair bands. Why not? Three main areas of work continued here. Firstly, the distracting lump of the water crane display was first to go in. An acrylic surround was found to be a good move. You can also see the fantastic back scene painted on canvas by Miss Trees herself was also added. It’s really nice isn’t it?! The ballast was finally sorted out with Harry biting the bullet and taking on the frankly mind numbing job of tidying up all the ballast. Needless to say this job sucked (pun intended) and well done to him for taking it on. The results of his hard work are easy to see... Continued in my next post... Edited November 8, 2019 by Castle 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) Having got rid of the old non-operational lights, a replacement working LED version was sourced on eBay and fitted. First trials with an independent power source (9v battery!) went well. Continued in my next post... Edited November 8, 2019 by Castle 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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