Lockdown N Gauge Test Plank.

[itsthegman]

Hello Everyone,

 

I have been inspired to do something during the current events. 

 

I'm lucky enough to work from home so we don't leave the house much a couple of times a week if we have to.

 

I'm into 2mmfs and a member of the society but progress has been slow i've made some track but my first society chassis had not yet run and it's on the back burner things did not go well.

 

So, i've collected some N gauge stock to convert of to play with and i thought as the fine scale is not moving at the moment i'd like to have somewhere to run the trains.

 

I've not done N gauge since i was a boy in short trousers and that was decades ago.

 

I've collected some points in code 80 mostly second hand but appears to be in working order. I wanted to put something together to run the trains and use as a test bed for train running and trying out Dapol easy shunt couplings.

 

Right on to the show i have a piece of mdf 3ft x 8" and 1/4 thick i thought i would lay some tracks down and see where we go.

 

Looks like i may add a fiddle yard but that's later. I sketch out a little track plan and then added some sections for DC work just a single controller.

 

 

 

I then went the whole hog and drew it out in any rail, if you've not used it it's a great bit of software free for low usage, coloured in and everything.

 

 

I've decided to go my own way with the points and use the method i've used an every OO layout i have done electro frog points and powered frogs. Looking at a code 80 point it's smaller and initial attempts to cut the rails did not go well, i had the same issue with 2mmfs track when building. The answer came in the form of a jewellers blade bit like cheese wire sold in a metre length makes a nice fine cut.

 

Now there are a couple of problems i have found firstly once cut the rail from the blade end can creep and close the gap i guess this will be an issue if i take it somewhere warmer, i've take to using a little plastic weld against the rail or now - let's see what happens it might need a sliver of plastic in the gap. Secondly when i come to solder the wires to link the outer and next rail the heat can melt the point and the track falls off in that area - oh great.

I did take to soldering the wires whilst the point was upside down on a metal plate to sink the excess heat. So far so good.

 

This for me is a journey into the unknown. When i was younger my best mate and i used to build things kits of all types and we would modify them from the start which never went well so we learned to make and build things the way the manufacturer intended and then modify them once it was proven they work. I hope i have learned.

 

 

Hopefully in the area of the orange highlights you can see the cut's in the rails.

 

Right so moving on i laid some track down and tried some stock to see what fits what space is need etc etc i was working towards the Chris Ford Unnycoombe as my guide i have some Dapol panniers an autocoach or two a B set and some green diesels so things were moved around to see what would go where. You can even see the dropper wires for the points sticking out i used single core telephone wire as i know it just like you would see on a peco OO point.

 

 

Moving on track was pinned wagons pushed around all sections wired holes drilled everything hopefully in place. Little drops of PVA glue were used here and there to keep everything in place and i made some white track alignment pieces to keep things straight where the joins were as you can end up with a kink which looks unsightly after everything has dried.

 

 

The more i look at this the more i feel the need for a milk depot sidings somewhere to the right. Platform and station building is bottom left area.

 

Right that's it for now i will put up the latest picks later hopefully.

 

Keep smiling and play trains.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

That’s interesting - I was playing around on Anyrail last night using a 6’ x 16” space in HO / OO (basically twice the size and twice the scale, so effectively the same proportions), and I drew almost exactly the same plan - although with inspiration from a slightly different source.  Be good to see how this turns out in 2mm: should be fun!  Enjoy.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Keith Addenbrooke

[itsthegman]

Moving on i had drilled through the peco point arm hole with an appropriate size drill in both positions and then opened up from underneath.

 

Next i cut some blocks of wood marked and drilled the centre and ran an 8mm brad bit drill through.

 

To save time one positions under the board i used a hot glue gun to mount it.

 

Next step mount the point motor these were all pre-assembled i make a little production line and do a batch at a time.

 

Two scrap pieces of plastic either side of the point blades centre the point or more importantly the hole where the point motor will go.

 

I do the same on the point motor underside with the micro switch removed to give me the best chance of good alignment and reliable point operation.

 

 

The underside of the point motor is drilled and tapped with 2mm holes to take bolts to hold in place the micro switch, i've used peco accessory switches and found them to be great for about a minute before they start to play up i even had one go on a small layout just as the show opened.

 

 

I saw the micro switch idea in an old garden railway magazine which i thought was magic, i did find that in the early days when i mounted the micro switch if the throw of the point was not enough to make it click you can sleeve the shaft where it meets the switch with some wire insulation stripped from a sizable wire.

 

 

 

All the points are mounted wired in the same way so that pretty much any point can replace another on any layout of mine.

 

Right that's all done motor shaft is cut down to the appropriate height i removed it from the board before using a dremel disk to cut left them in position once cut the shaft and melted the point partly not idea.

 

Wiring commenced again colour coded keep the same orientation where possible makes it easier when things don't work if something look out of place.

 

 

There we go most of the wiring is done points will be wired later when i work out a control point or panel. I mounted the cdu under the board for testing purposes and everything seems to work with a nice click to the operation. Where the wires come through the board from the point feed and frog wires i've terminated them and soldered to an off cut of pcb single strip for the frog double strip for the feeds.

 

Now i do believe it's time to run some trains purely in the name of testing.

 

 

 

[*Desperado]

Very interesting project. I'll follow with interest.

[itsthegman]

So what have we been up to well things have been progressing between work i sprayed the track with black paint from that one pound store and then misted over some grey primer the Nevard way which looks ok so far, cleaned the rail surfaces and test ran some trains.

 

Ballasting has now commenced a small section at a time as it's one of the tasks i hate the most but made easier after i saw a video on the tube about easy ballasting where the presenter uses a sponge to wipe the ballast along the track - geneious.

 

A couple of views here part ballasted and with black matt spray.

 

 

 

Whilst one was shopping at a social distance in said one pound store i came across this travel bottle set which has become my new ballasting kit.

 

 

It looked ideal the atomiser bottle works wonder and allows you to wet the ballast, i then let it soak for a few minutes.

Another bottle is used for the PVA mixture and i have modified a top drilled out to accept the fine nozzle from super glue bottles also from the one pound store.

A little hot glue gun helps to keep it in place and is quick to do.

 

 

Once on the PVA bottle it allows you to control the drips like a baby bottle no squeeze no drip. 

 

I've used the Attwood Aggregates GQ Road Stone ballast in the end as this is fine and gave a good finish on the test piece. There will be some weathering and colour added later to break up the uniformity.

 

One complete the track was cleaned again and a train test run over it for quite some time, isn't that what this is about playing train.

 

 

[itsthegman]

It's platform time at my station that currently has no name.

 

I have used some peco brick edging and tried it for size and height against Dapol dmu purchase.

 

 

Seems ok height wise next to do some markings with a pencil held to the size of the dmu while it tries out the platform and bay area.

 

 

 

Skipping forward a little i have most of the platform together i made a card template for the curved entry into the bay by rubbing the card with a pencil while overlaid on the track then transferred to plastic card and glued to the inside of the platform edge once some razor saw cuts had been made to allow it to curve.

 

Once the general platform was in place time to run the dmu check clearance in the bay along the main platform and across the run around just in case.

 

Next job paint the platform and build the station from a peco kit.