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Tyneham Bay


ColinW
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Towards the end of last year, I made the announcement that Avon Junction was going to be retired permanently, and that there was a possibility that the people involved with it may start a new layout.  Having spent some time during December, and over the Christmas & New Year period salvaging what we could from Avon Junction's boards, before disposing of them, We had a meeting to decide as to what we wanted to do.

 

We agreed that we would like to work on a new layout.  The size of the layout was going to be determined by its ability of being transported in 2 cars, along with its equipment.  After a discussion, we decided that we would order baseboard kits from Tim Horn, these being easy to put together, rather than building our own!  The only question would be how many and what sizes.  The layout would be DC controlled, as we had Gaugemaster D twin controller from Avon Junction and due to the amount of stock we had between us, it was going to be steam based, running as either Southern/GWR (1930/40's) or BR (S)/(W) (1948-mid 60's).  Having agreed to this we went away to have a think as to what trackplan(s) we wanted to consider,

 

Colin

Edited by ColinW
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Having had a chance to think about trackplans, and what type of layout we wanted, a roundy-roundy ruled out due to space, we met up a couple of times to discuss what we wanted and try and work out, using Any Rail, a trackplan that suited us.  In the end we felt that a terminal station would suit us better, and at the second meeting a 1970's 60 trackplans booklet from Railway Modeller, written by CJ Freezer was produced, and as trackplan was pointed out as something we could adapt for ourselves.  

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Rather than have the track curve round to the fiddleyard, we extended the length of the layout to 15', but are still going to have the fiddle yard behind the layout.  At this time we were approaching the club's exhibition, so we agreed to not do anything more until after the show.

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Having gotten the club's exhibition out of the way, we were in a position to progress with the layout.  The original plan was to put the order into Tim Horn for the baseboards, to be collected at RailEx at the end of May!  So the order was put in for 5 3ft x 18" boards to be collected then.  As we all know that idea went out of the window about a week later as Covid 19 caused the lockdown.  It was agreed to continue with the same timetable for the boards, although this time we would have them delivered to us.

 

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Although there was little to be done, one job was to break the trackplan into sections, using colours making it easier to see.  Each section is to have a DPDT centre off toggle switch to control it, with only one controller being able to operate that section at one time.  We are planning on having two hand held controllers operating the layout, so should be able to run 2 trains on different parts of the layout at the same time.

 

Colin

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  • 2 weeks later...

A quick fast forward to the end of May, and the boards have arrived from Tim Horn.  Whilst we were still unable to progress any further due to social distancing, I was able to set the position of the turntable well, and cut the hole for it.  We agreed to use the 12" well and deck from South Eastern Finecast, as the well comes in one piece and is very rigid.

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The well sat in place on the board.

 

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The view from underneath.

 

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The view showing the depth of the well.  As can be seen the size of the well meant that one bracing piece had to be cut to allow the well to sit properly in the hole.  The well isn't fixed onto the board at this time.

 

Colin

 

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As we moved into July, the lockdown had eased enough to allow us to get together, and put the 5 boards together.  As said the boards went together very well and easily.  As can be seen in the pictures below, the turntable has been trimmed down.  South Eastern Finecast say you don't need to remove the excess moulding, but it was just excess, that wasn't going to help us on the layout.IMG_3117a.jpg.2cd48d7736060a9ad79cfe7693d5c9fd.jpg

 

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Colin

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Having made the boards up, a job that could be done away from the group of us meeting up, was making a start on the electrics!!  What you see in the picture below is a connection board that we used on Avon Junction (those words may become familiar as we go along).  Each board will have 1 one of these, the central board (due to the number of points and track circuits on it) and the entrance to the station board due to being a feeder to the station building board) will have 2.

 

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These will be fed from the control panel by an umbilical cord cable.  We used this system on Avon Junction, but this time as it meant that we could work on/operate a board without having to put the layout up.  However one problem we had was that the cables were hard wired into the control panel, and this made the panel bulky (with 5 cables wrapped around it) and hard to store.  Having saved the cables from that control panel, 25 way D plug's were soldered to the cable (as below) and they are all wired the same way meaning that a cable can be used on each board and not cause a problem, and also easier to store both cables and control panel.

 

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Colin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having put the boards together, we focused on the small jobs on the boards to be done before track laying could commence.  This would include adapting and fitting the legs to be used.  These were the legs that we had used on Avon Junction, although they did require a small amount of adapting as the boards for Avon Junction were slightly wider, so we had to cut roughly an 1/8" of the outside of each upright for them to fit inside the boards.

 

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When fitted inside the boards, we found that the crossbeams provided a lip in which we could rest the adjoining boards, which should allow the boards to remain level and not just rely on bolts and dowels.

 

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As this work was being done, the order for the track was put in.  We are using Peco code 75 track, and because of the lockdown, we were expecting there to be some items to be delayed, but there were still other jobs to continue with.

 

Colin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having got the track, we took advantage of a hot morning to put two boards (the central & turntable boards) together to use the points to check how the track plan would look.

 

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One thing we did find was that the point we had put in leading into the loco shed was not going to allow us to move squarely onto the turntable, so we took it out to give us a straight run onto the station throat, and the only entrance to the engine shed being the second double slip.  I have re-done the trackplan to show this, also lettering as well as colour for track sections, and numbering for each point, to help us when we start the wiring.

 

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Colin

 

 

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Having finished off the smaller jobs we needed to do on the boards, we are in a position to start track laying.  We started with the station throat, so that we could look at where the tracks would go from it.

 

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Colin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another sunny morning working on the layout allowed us to put the central board and the turntable board up on their legs, and carry on working on the engine shed area.  As can be seen, we have changed the position of a set of points, from being of the toe of the first point  on the head shunt, to being at the head of the point, making both lines into the engine shed straight.  The line nearer the rear of the layout should hold 2 main line locos, while the other line will hold a main line loco and tank loco.

 

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Colin

Edited by ColinW
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Another working morning allowed us to finish off track laying in the engine shed.  This included fitting inspection pits on both tracks.  We are using the Peco inspection pit kit which contains 6 pieces of 2 inches in length, to allow for whatever size inspection pit people require.  We went with using equal amounts for each inspection pit.

 

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Having marked out the positions for each inspection pit, the first one having been cut out.

 

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Two photos showing both inspection pits fitted.

 

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Using a loco to show the length of the shed roads.

 

Colin

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53 minutes ago, B1uejay said:

Hi Colin, 

 

Coming along nicely! 

 

Where did you get the 25 way connection board shown earlier?

 

Rich. 

 

Hi Rich,

 

Thanks for the comment.  As for the 25 way connection board, we had these from  Avon Junction, a layout we had bought from a former club member, and we decided to retire the layout before building this one.  All of the boards were fitted on Avon Junction when we got it.  Unfortunately I have never seen these available at exhibitions I have attended in the past, which I find strange as they are ideal for dealing with the wiring.  I will have a look at one, to see if there are any manufacturers markings on them, the next time we are working on the layout, probably in the next week or so.

 

Colin

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Having finished off fitting the engine shed roads and inspection pits, we did some more track laying (!) but the tracks weren't pinned in position fully, to allow us to position them correctly when the other boards are added.  The siding from the turntable hasn't been pinned at all.  The next working morning will mean we move onto a third board either way.

 

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Colin

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These 25 pin connectors are available on Amazon. Available in male version , and also 9, 15, and 37 pin versions available.

 

SIENOC D-SUB DB25-M2 Female 25Pin Plug Breakout To PCB Board Terminals Connectors

 

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Edited by KCL
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18 minutes ago, KCL said:

These 25 pin connectors are available on Amazon. Available in male version , and also 9, 15, and 37 pin versions available.

 

SIENOC D-SUB DB25-M2 Female 25Pin Plug Breakout To PCB Board Terminals Connectors

 

image.png.be0a6e769e2f537f23384e4628f3bdc5.png

 

 

Thanks for showing this KCL

 

Colin 

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On 29/09/2020 at 18:59, B1uejay said:

Hi Colin, 

 

Coming along nicely! 

 

Where did you get the 25 way connection board shown earlier?

 

Rich. 

 

Hi Rich,

 

I have now had a chance to look at the boards, but unfortunately there are absolutely no manufacturers markings on any of the boards, so what KCL put up the other day would be the best solution in finding something similar.

 

Colin

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We did some more track laying this morning, around the goods yard area.  

 

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We also had a discussion and have now agreed to name the layout Tyneham Bay.  The reason for this name is that while being a fictitious place, the village of Tyneham was the village evacuated in the Second World War to allow the American's to practice for D-Day.  We wanted to make the setting for the layout a coastal holiday destination to allow for a variety of rolling stock to be used.

 

Colin

Edited by ColinW
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  • ColinW changed the title to A new project- now called Tyneham Bay
On 06/10/2020 at 14:48, ColinW said:

Hi Rich,

 

I have now had a chance to look at the boards, but unfortunately there are absolutely no manufacturers markings on any of the boards, so what KCL put up the other day would be the best solution in finding something similar.

 

Colin

Thanks for taking the trouble to look Colin, much obliged (KCL too! :)).

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Another morning working on the layout allowed us to completely fix the goods yard area in place, as well as the main line past the turntable and towards the fiddle yard.  The rolling stock was used to give us the size of the sidings.

 

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Colin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another morning's work on Saturday morning allowed us to start laying the tracks for the station.  The track with the loco and coach will be long enough to hold  4 coaches and a loco at each end.

 

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Colin

 

 

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Another morning done track laying.  The final point was put in place, and we were able to lay track onto the final board as well, with both of the main platform lines fitted, the piece of cardboard showing where the tracks end.  The end of the bay track and the end of the two sidings will be finished off on our next working morning, and then we only have to work around the turntable to finish off track laying.

 

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Colin

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Had a morning finishing off the majority of the track laying today, with the bay platform and 2 sidings put in place.  The tracks were also soldered to copperclad sleepers.   As I mentioned on my post on 26th October, the main platforms should be able to hold 4 coaches and a main line loco at each end, so we took the opportunity to prove it.  The 2 locos are Merchant Navies 21C3 Royal Mail (nearest the camera/ left side) and 21C1 Channel Packet and 4 Maunsell coaches.

 

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Unfortunately this morning is likely to be the last one for at least a month, with the lock down coming back into effect.  There are some other jobs that we will be looking to do during this time, so that the layout doesn't stall.

 

Colin

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