Dewchurch

[Gopher]

5 minutes ago, Nevermakeit said:

What are 'CV tweaks', please? 

DCC Decoders have Configuration Variables (CVs) which govern how the loco runs, so things like acceleration rate, braking/inertia, mid speed, top speed, start voltage and many more.  All these can be changed to impact how the loco runs.   DCC sound decoders also have additional CVs which can be amended to change the sound qualities e.g. chuff rate on steam locos, volume and many more.  Luckily most sound decoders are set up to suit the model they are installed in, so there is rarely a need to change any CVs.   So when I tweak a CV I simply change the numeric value for that particular CV.  ESU and Zimo (and I'm sure other) decoders have a list of the CVs, and the values they have been set to.  I tend to buy sound decoders from some of the the main sound suppliers i.e. Digitrains, Legoman Biffo, You Choos, Locoman, Wheel Tappers, Jamie Gordon, Road and Rails.   These suppliers all set up the decoders to run well  in specific models, so I rarely have to make any changes        

 

The 94xx Pannier is a sound fitted version, so already had a sound decoder pre-installed by Bachmann.  It was  a bit of a jerky runner, hesitant when it was accelerating.  I sent it back to Bachmann via the retailer because it ran so poorly.  I thought it had some kind of mechanical problem, slight wheel wobble.  Anyway they replaced the wheelset, and this did improve things but it was still not a smooth runner.

 

Richard (Road and Rails) posted on another forum some CVs he had changed to make the model a smoother runner.  I simply copied what he had done and hey presto the running improved.   

 

I am a huge fan of DCC, but fiddling with CV values can be a bit of a minefield as there are so many of them.  Luckily all of the suppliers I mention above are incredibly helpful in  giving advice, and if all else fails you can normally re-set the Decoder back to it's original CV settings.   I have numerous sound fitted locos so my experience with the 94xx is very much a rarity.   My biggest challenge is normally fitting better speakers in enclosed spaces.     

[Gopher]

Mogul arrives at Dewchurch with an early morning  newspaper train

[Gopher]

Busy times at Dewchurch.  9f Evening Star sits at platform one with a rake of MK1 stock.  Pannier 94XX just arrived with empty cattle wagons for the weekly Dewchurch market day.  Jinty 3f has a rest from shunting the yard  

[Gopher]

The newly arrived empty cattle wagons.  There is only a small cattle dock at Dewchurch, so a busy time ahead for the shunters to get the wagons loaded  and on their way. 

[Gopher]

I've finished building the Wills Craftsman engine shed.  It has turned out reasonably O.K., and surprisingly (for me) is pretty square, and most of the bits I cut, fitted with a bit of fiddling.

 

Two roof sections were not a perfect fit, but some flashing made from painted Tamiya masking tape covered the gap and looks O.K. 

 

I have managed to mask a few other mistakes with a combination of bits of embossed plasticard, filler, and painting and weathering.  I left the doors off.  It is a bit smaller than the shed it replaced, and therefore there is a bit more room on the cobblestone apron at the front of the shed.  I think it has had the desired effect in making the loco yard look bigger, and sits well with the other yard buildings.  Although I think it does not have quite the same solid feel/look of the Townstreet plaster-cast shed. 

 

I need to tweak a couple of things, and then add a bit of ground cover around the foundations.       

[MrWolf]

If we didn't know differently, it looks like it's been there forever. The paint and weathering is always consistent, I think that you should be suitably impressed by your

[Gopher]

31 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

If we didn't know differently, it looks like it's been there forever. The paint and weathering is always consistent, I think that you should be suitably impressed by your

Thanks Rob.  Luckily I have a standard set of colours I use for buildings, and then try to weather appropriately according to location.   I think the previous engine shed had been in situ for 12 years and that was recycled from Dewchurch mark 1, so it is probably 15 years old.  Some interesting spiders webs inside it (despite my efforts to keep it clean), and also gave me the chance to properly clean the rails in the shed.  

 

I've actually started some initial baseboard planning for Dewchurch Mark 3, and even invested in some electrical bits and pieces for the (potential) new layout.  My plan is to kid myself  that once I start spending money on it - I have no option than to follow through and replace the existing layout.  If that does not work - maybe I can borrow your Stukas to wreck the existing layout.  It would need to be precision bombing as I want to recycle, buildings, signals points, trees  etc.  So no blitzkrieg  - I need at least a months notice of any attack.           

[MrWolf]

This all sounds rather interesting, sad as it might be to see the demise of Dewchurch II, Dewchurch III will allow you to create something that encompasses everything learned from the first two. That's the excuse that I am using on my layout anyway.

As for the Bus Busters, they await your orders Herr OberGruppenGopher...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by MrWolf
Spell checker nicht verstehen pigeon German

[Gopher]

Close up of Auto train leaving Dewchurch

[Gopher]

Mr Wolf's Stukas turned up and  Dewchurch is slowly being destroyed.

 

It has taken a couple of days to strip the layout of figures, trees, buildings, platforms, gas works, vehicles and numerous small details.  All now packed away.  A few more buildings to remove, and bridges, retaining walls etc.  Then the signals, and point motors and working lamps.  Then hope to salvage some of the vegetation (hedges, bushes etc).   Then I will try to salvage all the points for the new Dewchurch 3.

 

It has only taken me a couple of years to get in the right frame of mind to break up the layout.   It will be strange not having a layout to run when I feel like it.   Plus I get pleasure from just looking at it.      

 

Dewchurch 3 will have much the same station and loco shed track plan as Dewchurch 2.  I have a couple of ideas for track plan improvements, really tweaks - possibly additional loco yard siding off the turntable, and a longer coal/ash road.  The current track plan has been very interesting to operate and kept me interested for the past 14 years.  So no desire to change it dramatically. 

 

I hope to totally remodel the countryside board leading into Harewood Halt which may also look a bit different.  

 

Anyway that is all for the future, just got to finish the current demolition.  Then get the room sorted, new window, decorating etc  (reason the layout is being dismantled).  Then hopefully build a better layout, on new baseboards.  

 

               

[Nevermakeit]

34 minutes ago, Gopher said:

Mr Wolf's Stukas turned up and  Dewchurch is slowly being destroyed.

 

It has taken a couple of days to strip the layout of figures, trees, buildings, platforms, gas works, vehicles and numerous small details.  All now packed away.  A few more buildings to remove, and bridges, retaining walls etc.  Then the signals, and point motors and working lamps.  Then hope to salvage some of the vegetation (hedges, bushes etc).   Then I will try to salvage all the points for the new Dewchurch 3.

 

It has only taken me a couple of years to get in the right frame of mind to break up the layout.   It will be strange not having a layout to run when I feel like it.   Plus I get pleasure from just looking at it.      

 

Dewchurch 3 will have much the same station and loco shed track plan as Dewchurch 2.  I have a couple of ideas for track plan improvements, really tweaks - possibly additional loco yard siding off the turntable, and a longer coal/ash road.  The current track plan has been very interesting to operate and kept me interested for the past 14 years.  So no desire to change it dramatically. 

 

I hope to totally remodel the countryside board leading into Harewood Halt which may also look a bit different.  

 

Anyway that is all for the future, just got to finish the current demolition.  Then get the room sorted, new window, decorating etc  (reason the layout is being dismantled).  Then hopefully build a better layout, on new baseboards.  

 

               

Deva-station! 

[Gopher]

Building a layout can be challenging, demolishing the bloody thing is worse in my view. Especially when you want to salvage bits, and not damage them when you remove them (easier said than done).  It has also been a voyage of discovery, in the "why the hell did I do that" when I built the layout sort of way.   Anyway onwards and upwards.  The Harewood Halt board has gone, and the other boards have the scenic items removed, and stored. Boxes are piling up.  Hope to get all the signals, remaining lights and point motors salvaged in the next few days.   Then start to carefully remove the points and salvage some of the under board electrical connectors.   Then finally the four remaining baseboards can be dismantled. 

 

Hopefully start work on Dewchurch 3 in the New Year.   Once I start I get very focused and generally enjoy most of the build - O.K maybe not the wiring, and mounting point motors.

 

I have ordered new bespoke baseboards, and new SMP track.  I think the boards will be delivered before the room renovation is finished, so have to store them somewhere.               

[Graham T]

It's a shame to see Dewchurch go, but I'm sure the next version will be fun to build - and better!

[Gopher]

12 hours ago, Graham T said:

It's a shame to see Dewchurch go, but I'm sure the next version will be fun to build - and better!

Thanks Graham - I live in hope, Law of Sod dictates that whilst the new layout will hopefully rectify  the problems with the current one.  I will also create some brand new ones to keep me occupied in the future  The joys of railway modelling.  

[Nevermakeit]

Will there be a new thread for the new layout, and, if so, please could you put a link to it in here? I would like to keep up with developments, and don't always find it easy to find things! Thanks. 

[Gopher]

56 minutes ago, Nevermakeit said:

Will there be a new thread for the new layout, and, if so, please could you put a link to it in here? I would like to keep up with developments, and don't always find it easy to find things! Thanks. 

Yes will definitely do that - thanks so much for your interest in my ramblings.   

[Gopher]

 I have spent a long afternoon trying to salvage a couple of curved points.  One of them has been a bit problematic over the past few years, some steam engines used to derail there for no apparent reason. Other steam locos and diesels never had a problem.  I have spent many hours trying to find out what the problem was without much success.  

 

Anyway today I salvaged said point and on closer examination there was a very small blob of solder on the inside of one of the running rails, pretty much where the engines used to jump ship.  I think the solder ran slightly when I was soldering track feeds and I did not notice, and some loco wheel flanges hit it and jumped off.

 

When the point was in situ it was pretty inaccessible so would have been very difficult to spot the solder.

 

So moral of the story - I must take more care with my track laying.  Amazing how something so small can cause problems.    

[Gopher]

The deed is nearly done, just one remaining base board to dismantle.  It has been hard work.  The good news is I managed to salvage (undamaged) all bar two of the points,  the bad news is the two I did not salvage are a three way point and a double slip.   I will need to replace the three way point but not the double slip (new layout track plan only needs two double slips not three).  Luckily I managed to retrieve the other two double slips.  I have checked all the salvaged points.  Some minor repairs needed, but as far as I can see they have not been twisted, or distorted by my efforts to retrieve them.  They sit flat on our granite kitchen worktop, still in gauge, switch blades work and, a truck runs over them quite smoothly.  I'm a bit worried about laying used points, but hopefully these will be O.K           

 

Dismantling the layout was an "interesting" experience.  Disconnecting and removing the baseboards was hard work, they are made from MDF so not the lightest material.  Some of my ballast was set like concrete.  I originally ballasted using a PVA/water/washing up liquid mixture.  This ballast was reasonably easy to dislodge to recover the points.  Over the years I renewed some ballast and used ready mixed Ballast Bond.  This stuff sets like concrete.  I soaked it in water - which had little impact.   

 

It will be a few months before the new baseboards are up, so will keep myself busy pre-wiring point motors, cleaning up DPDT, SPDT switches and soldering new power feeds to the points.  I also want to build a new analogue point, signal control panel using the recovered switches.  I am no electrician, but there must be a better way of wiring 28 Tortoise point motors, to minimise the wiring from the control panel switches.   My current panel had two wires from each DPDT switch to each point motor (crossovers had one switch working two motors) , plus more wiring for signals, turntable control etc.  So there was a lot of wiring.            

 

       

[5BarVT]

3 hours ago, Gopher said:

I am no electrician, but there must be a better way of wiring 28 Tortoise point motors, to minimise the wiring from the control panel switches.

28 wires plus one common is possible with two power supplies one positive to common the other negative to common.  An SPST switch connects the ‘feed’ to one supply the ‘return’ from the tortoise connects to the common.  (Think cab control for tortoises!)

I think there’s a diagram of how to do it on the tortoise instruction sheet.

Paul.

[Fishplate]

On 12/09/2020 at 17:40, Gopher said:

More drone eye views of the loco yard

 

Thank you for sharing Dewchurch Mk2 with us. some of the pictures you've posted of the layout being dismantled look so like the real thing that perhaps some close ups of a lone goods shed amongst lifted track would be a candidate for a parting shot for the How Realistic are your Models thread.

 

I'm sure many will have favourite places in Dewchurch. My own is shown in your picture of the canal bridge with longitudinal timbers and plated steelwork with complicated permanent way on the approach. Very atmospheric and very prototypical. 

 

Looking forward to seeing Dewchurch Mk3..

 

Good luck with the new build.

[Gopher]

10 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

28 wires plus one common is possible with two power supplies one positive to common the other negative to common.  An SPST switch connects the ‘feed’ to one supply the ‘return’ from the tortoise connects to the common.  (Think cab control for tortoises!)

I think there’s a diagram of how to do it on the tortoise instruction sheet.

Paul.

Thanks Paul - that sounds like a better solution. I'll dig out my tortoise instruction sheet 

[Gopher]

9 hours ago, Fishplate said:

 

Thank you for sharing Dewchurch Mk2 with us. some of the pictures you've posted of the layout being dismantled look so like the real thing that perhaps some close ups of a lone goods shed amongst lifted track would be a candidate for a parting shot for the How Realistic are your Models thread.

 

I'm sure many will have favourite places in Dewchurch. My own is shown in your picture of the canal bridge with longitudinal timbers and plated steelwork with complicated permanent way on the approach. Very atmospheric and very prototypical. 

 

Looking forward to seeing Dewchurch Mk3..

 

Good luck with the new build.

Thanks John.  I should have taken more photos of the demise of Dewchurch (No doubt due to the Beeching report).  Possibly with track lifting gangs in operation.

 

Thanks also to you (and others) for following this thread and commenting on my photos and ramblings.   

 

With Dewchurch 3  - I hope to replicate the scene (certainly the bridge and trackwork) in the photo above.  The track plan was lifted from a David Jenkinson book for a town terminus station in a limited space.  It appealed to me because of the complexity of trackwork at the station throat.  

Edited September 1, 2021 by Gopher

[Gopher]

I've started a new topic for Dewchurch mark 3 - so will no longer post on this thread.  Thanks to all of you who have viewed/commented/advised on this thread.   I have been flattered by your many kind comments on my modelling efforts

 

Link to new thread is below

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/167165-dewchurch-3/

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Gopher