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Friden - Cromford & High Peak


Middlepeak
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A different sort of conundrum, which has just occurred to me whilst testing the NLT chassis.

 

The layout will be DC controlled, partly because it's what I'm used to and partly because getting to grips with DCC would mean time and money away from the ultimate purpose - building the layout and enjoying its operation.

 

Friden yard was worked on the basis that two trains arrived from opposite directions, shunted and exchanged wagons and then left in the direction from which they had arrived.

 

Two locos in the yard at once means two operators and two controllers. Quite straightforward so far, but what happens when the two locos swap ends? Assuming that the two operators might want to follow their locos, they will need to swap places, which means that there is potential for them to get tied up in controller chords if they are not careful.

 

So what's the potential for wireless DC controllers? An internet trawl suggested that there is a UK manufacturer, but they advise that their units cannot be used where there is a common return arrangement for switching sections, as there will be at Friden.

 

So ........... answers on a postcard please. Is this feasible and how do I go about it? Please bear in mind that I border on electronic incompetence, so any solutions would have to be explained very carefully!

 

Thanks, in advance,

 

G

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1 hour ago, Middlepeak said:

A different sort of conundrum, which has just occurred to me whilst testing the NLT chassis.

 

The layout will be DC controlled, partly because it's what I'm used to and partly because getting to grips with DCC would mean time and money away from the ultimate purpose - building the layout and enjoying its operation.

 

Friden yard was worked on the basis that two trains arrived from opposite directions, shunted and exchanged wagons and then left in the direction from which they had arrived.

 

Two locos in the yard at once means two operators and two controllers. Quite straightforward so far, but what happens when the two locos swap ends? Assuming that the two operators might want to follow their locos, they will need to swap places, which means that there is potential for them to get tied up in controller chords if they are not careful.

 

So what's the potential for wireless DC controllers? An internet trawl suggested that there is a UK manufacturer, but they advise that their units cannot be used where there is a common return arrangement for switching sections, as there will be at Friden.

 

So ........... answers on a postcard please. Is this feasible and how do I go about it? Please bear in mind that I border on electronic incompetence, so any solutions would have to be explained very carefully!

 

Thanks, in advance,

 

G

Crikey two posts in as many days! 
Good to see the chassis progress and this is nudging me to crack on with mine.

So the wireless controller. This common return I assume is when you’re switching power to one rail while the other side, or the return, remains live? If that’s the case you could eliminate the return by using a DPDT switch which controls power to both rails for each section. Can you post a link to the controller and I’ll take a look and double check this would sort it. 
The caveat of course is way more wiring and solder connections. 
 

Jay

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Jay,

 

That was my assumption. Haven't got round to examining the impact on the wiring diagram yet, but it should be fairly simple, and mainly in the panel.

 

The only product that mentions a wifi facility is at www.blueRailways.co.uk, although I'm not sure I like the design of the hand held, and I'm definitely not one to be using a mobile phone!

 

Regards,

 

G

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7 hours ago, Middlepeak said:

Jay,

 

That was my assumption. Haven't got round to examining the impact on the wiring diagram yet, but it should be fairly simple, and mainly in the panel.

 

The only product that mentions a wifi facility is at www.blueRailways.co.uk, although I'm not sure I like the design of the hand held, and I'm definitely not one to be using a mobile phone!

 

Regards,

 

G

I managed to find the controller last night after a Google search. DPDT switches to control the sections will work but will double your wiring, although I don’t imagine Friden will have a lot of them. 
This is the only company I could find offering a wireless controller on DC. Prices don’t seem to bad but if you want to go down this route you’re stuck with the design of the handheld controller. Using a device as a controller just seems a bit wrong to me!  
 

Jay. 

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Jay,

 

I've posed the question to a local contact who is extremely proficient when it comes to electronics. He has built DC controllers which perform beautifully, so let's hope it will be possible to get them linked to the layout with WiFi. I know nothing of such things, but if you don't ask, you don't get!

 

G

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  • 1 month later...

A few months of on/off (mainly off) activity has finally seen the south portal of the Youlgrave Road bridge ready for the painting stage.

 

20230501_161531.jpg.fdf88163d86f1221082cddaf162e8305.jpg

 

I'm a bit nervous about what follows, because getting the various colours within the stonework looking right is not something I find particularly easy. I may do this portal first, as it will actually be out of normal sight when placed on the layout. So "why spend ages carving the stonework?" you might ask. The answer is that I enjoy doing it and I don't want to rule out the possibility of rotating this baseboard for a photo shoot at some stage.

 

With another etch due from PPD soon, I will hopefully be able to get back to the North London Tanks in the near future.

 

G

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  • 3 months later...

A wee bit off topic today, but in a strange way it has relevance to Friden, which will be a layout where shunting is the norm.

 

A hugely enjoyable day at the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, which included the usual short ride to the far end of the line in the charge of 0-6-0ST "Wissington". However, when we got there we were all invited to alight and stand at the end of the platform  to watch a shunting demonstration, as the loco swapped a couple of coal wagons over in the adjacent siding. All this to the accompaniment of a running commentary from one of the volunteer railwaymen.

 

20230806_122408.jpg.62d30b1141aab8c718d74d08257764df.jpg

 

It really emphasised just what it takes to complete a fairly simple manoeuvre, including four staff (driver, fireman, shunter and pointsman). Points unlocked by an Annetts Key, coupling up, wagon brakes off and loco reversal, all of which takes time. Something you very rarely see on a preserved railway and not very often on the average exhibition layout. It's really set me thinking about how I can make such simple operations more realistic and fulfilling for the operators on Friden.

 

Thanks to the "Middy" for a thought provoking 20 minutes and a thoroughly enjoyable day!

 

G

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  • 2 months later...

It seems like an age since I posted here, with most of the modelling activity in recent weeks being on the Danish side of things.

 

However, the big news this week is that after about 10 days of building work, the new room for Friden is almost complete. Still a matter of decoration and a floor to be laid, but I couldn't resist the temptation of bringing the boards out of storage this morning and laying them out on the floor, just to see if they still fitted - and they do!

 

I'm hopeful therefore that I will have some of the boards erected by Christmas, and that it will be full steam ahead on electrics and the remainder of the tracklaying in the new year. For the first time in my life, I can look forward to a permanently erected layout in a purpose built location. Something special!

 

G

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  • 1 month later...

Just to show that there has been a small amount of recent progress, I finally summed up the courage to paint the underbridge.

 

20231222_105901.jpg.252244e0eaf05863ac23ab847441ea75.jpg

 

The base coat is Humbrol grey acrylic primer, with the various stone colours from a variety of Vallejo paints. Maybe one or two delicate washes required to bring out the mortar courses a little more, but that I'm afraid demands even more courage, which is now almost totally exhausted!

 

Hopefully the bridge can be installed in a couple of months, once the track has been painted, wired and tested.

 

Happy Christmas!

 

G

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5 hours ago, Middlepeak said:

Just to show that there has been a small amount of recent progress, I finally summed up the courage to paint the underbridge.

 

20231222_105901.jpg.252244e0eaf05863ac23ab847441ea75.jpg

 

The base coat is Humbrol grey acrylic primer, with the various stone colours from a variety of Vallejo paints. Maybe one or two delicate washes required to bring out the mortar courses a little more, but that I'm afraid demands even more courage, which is now almost totally exhausted!

 

Hopefully the bridge can be installed in a couple of months, once the track has been painted, wired and tested.

 

Happy Christmas!

 

G

Looking great mate!

 

Jay

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  • 1 month later...

Just proving that you can never have too much information to make a model accurate, a recent purchase from those nice chaps at The Transport Library yielded a view into the brickwork building in the very corner of a shot taken on a rail tour. It convinced me that the point leading into the coal siding that ran through to the back of the works could been seen through the doorway, so I needed to include it.

 

FB_IMG_1706545359563.jpg.c55d917d55befee5f39bd4cfa5a32ee5.jpg

 

The track in the works was inset into the concrete floor, so this piece of trackwork can be soldered up on PCB sleepers, with the concrete panels being formed of DAS or similar.

 

One advantage of this is that it will generate another traffic movement for the layout, with a pair of loaded coal wagons being shunted onto this siding by the works Peckett.

 

It requires a reliable coupling and uncoupling system though, and a removable building to retrieve any strays!

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Not a spot to be using 3-links then!

Any thoughts on what you may use? I had considered Dinghams and an electromagnet for uncoupling on Middleton Top. Still undecided and will try out 3-links first. 
 

Jay

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Working assumption at the moment is Alex Jacksons, and the magnet locations have already been built in on that basis. That was the original intention with Middlepeak, until I found that the change of gradient at the foot of the incline uncoupled the ascending wagons with unerring regularity! 

 

G

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally a bit progress to report, with builders having completed the conversion of the new railway room before Christmas, leaving the decorator (me) to do the painting before the carpet layer arrived in late January.

 

Since then I've been reconfiguring the IKEA shelving units which will provide the supporting structure for Friden, and today I brought the boards into the room to check on best fit in the reconfigured space. It would appear, from frantic activity with the tape measure and CAD package, that the new pipe boxes will necessitate a slight alteration to one if the boards, but nothing too drastic.

 

20240226_234617.jpg.816158b3d57e90fecd505cf5af6653dd.jpg

 

Laying them out on the floor like this (not in their final position, I hasten to add) shows the full sweep of the yard from the Middleton end at the bottom to a point part way along the works at the top. The Middleton end will have a scenic fiddle yard, which will be erected for operating sessions, and the line will be extended in the other direction beyond the works, with a run of about 8 feet to another fiddle yard representing Parsley Hay and the 'main line'. The east portal of Newhaven Tunnel will probably provide the necessary scenic break.

 

I've also finished the pointwork for the internal siding in the brickwork referred to in a previous post.

 

If I can get these boards erected in the next few weeks, I can begin to think about wiring and maybe the start of testing!

 

G

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For the first time this evening I was able erect the first two Friden boards on their frames on top of the Ivar units.

 

20240303_225352.jpg.089d00ffb9725df9ad979aaf30e40042.jpg

 

There was an initial great sigh of relief when I found my calculations and drawings had worked - that's not always the case!

 

20240303_231129.jpg.cf8eab4bba852013d66d4fc3f2b3f566.jpg

 

One or two points emerged for further consideration. Firstly, the third board that is supposed to fit behind the second one and carries the extension of loading bank siding needs the corner removing to fit round the pipe box on the wall. Not too much of a problem.

 

Secondly, there's a larger than designed gap between the rear of the boards and the wall. Perhaps one option is to extend them to provide more background scenery.

 

Thirdly, the next set of Ivar supports project out in front of the layout. This unit is designed to carry the power box and control panel. I will probably extend the boards at the front by about 60mm to compensate. Again just scenery.

 

All in all I feel more confident of progress now.

 

G

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  • 2 weeks later...

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