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Gough's Yard (O Gauge Module)


Jack
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On 28/01/2019 at 18:32, Turin 60 said:

Jack, as promised a piccy of the new (to me) refurbished single bolsters sat at one end of my O gauge layout, not modular I'm afraid but quite small if not "micro".

 

46855761192_c3e87d2858_z.jpgP1280443 by Turin60, on Flickr

 

Regards John.

Nice!  Looking forward to seeing the layout progress.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, the salt van is all finished and drying nicely.  When its safe to handle I'll take some pics.  next up are some stock boxes for the wagons, and repairing a Dapol 57xx which I picked up cheap.

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  • 4 months later...

Despite the heat I have some modelling mojo back this week ... and the time to induldge it.

 

I have never really liked the Marcway points ... I don't like the lack of chairs and they were a complete £$%& to set up.  However, back in 2011 the only options for me were Marcway or build my own.

 

So, now there is another option ... this week I removed the track on the narrow gauge feeder board and replaced the points with the new-ish Peco setrack.  There was a little trepidation given the reports some people had of the first batch of peco points, but they went in a treat and the design is superb, especially the electrickery.

 

Hoping to get the next board done tomorrow. 

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Thanks.  Not sure this was a good idea!  The Marcway points don't look great, but they are super robust, unlike the Peco Setrack ones.  I currently have a shorting problem caused by poor back-to-backs on a Dapol Jinty.  This was caused by removing 5 sleepers from the curve of the point to maintain a sensible (ish) 6'.

 

Much fiddling needs to be done tomorrow!!

 

Pics to follow ...

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Track re-laying and re-wiring is complete.  Just a couple of small tidy-up jobs left to do.

 

Problems with long wheel base locos & poor back to backs have been reported in the Peco Setrack thread ... need to find a solution (it shouldn't be too difficult).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Had a fun running session at the East Kent O Gauge Group today.  It was good to try the layout out with the new track.  Still a few jobs to do on the track and electrics, but nearly there.  I also need to figure out the signalling plan and where point rodding etc needs to run.

 

Some pics from EKOGG today ...

 

IMG_3671.JPG.007864862bbf2309d57c6f96fcb1cb9b.JPG

 

IMG_3672.JPG.e90e56a486a0e18bc826ff785dbf051e.JPG

IMG_3669.JPG.aeb27ed278f22e5572e4502000cc623b.JPG

 

Although there have been a few niggles (nearly resolved), I'm quite happy with the new pointwork from Peco.

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  • 1 month later...

Finally managed to get hold of a spare point and test the modification which will allow the Dapol Jinty and other longer wheelbase stock to negotiate the Peco setrack points.

 

My plan for Friday is to modify all the points on the layout, including putting extra power feeds onto the point blades so they don't rely on contact for conductivity.

 

The I really must get on with some stock kit building!

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Although today has been a little repetitve I have grinded down the straight rail approaching all 6 frogs, and filled with araldite.  I have also added a small piece of wire between the stock rail and the point blades so they arn't reliant on the blades or fishplates for electrical contact.  Hopefully these mods will be hard to spot when sprayed and the layout is now running very well.

 

IMG_3746.JPG.e8bd46dc8e535c0808468c17fcdd07f0.JPGCopy_of_IMG_3749.JPG.0e30a3449a93149b1385d2787c985dfb.JPG

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The whole loco fleet now run through the points comfortably, although there is a little bit of buffer locking on some of the longer stock.

 

Over the last couple of days my son and I have given the layout a thorough test ... something I realised I haven't done the in the past 8 years!  Everything is lots of fun, but after a while coupling and uncoupling 3 links gets to be a pain!  I'm also aware that when the buildings and bridges get put in, coupling up will be even harder.

 

I have had great results with Kadees in OO, but was considering Dinghams for this layout.  They seem to be straight forward to fit (unlike 7mm kadees) and are quite unobtrusive.  It wouldn't take much to fit magnets.

 

Has anyone got any experience of them on tight curves?  I'm assuming from everything I have read that fitting them is just a case of taking out the 3 links and putting the Dingham in?

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After lots of fiddling I have decided to replace the 4 setrack points which form the crossovers with two pairs of regular 6 foot radius peco points.  The 6'(!) is different, so it will mean a bit more work, but it should be OK.  I will need to adjust the narrow gauge feeder line slightly, but other than that it should be straight forward.

 

I had thought about building my own 4' radius points to the same geometry as Marcway (using the frogs from the redundant marcway points I first took out).  However, it would require a lot of work and be just as expensive, if not more so, as buying Peco ones ... life is too short imo.

 

it does mean I will now have to re-coup some of my costs by trying to shift 4 Marcway and 4 setrack points, but that should be OK.

 

Hopefully there will be time to do this in a couple of weeks.

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16 hours ago, Jack said:

After lots of fiddling I have decided to replace the 4 setrack points which form the crossovers with two pairs of regular 6 foot radius peco points.  The 6'(!) is different, so it will mean a bit more work, but it should be OK.  I will need to adjust the narrow gauge feeder line slightly, but other than that it should be straight forward.

 

I had thought about building my own 4' radius points to the same geometry as Marcway (using the frogs from the redundant marcway points I first took out).  However, it would require a lot of work and be just as expensive, if not more so, as buying Peco ones ... life is too short imo.

 

it does mean I will now have to re-coup some of my costs by trying to shift 4 Marcway and 4 setrack points, but that should be OK.

 

Hopefully there will be time to do this in a couple of weeks.

Would Peco STD. 'Y' points be more helpful?

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2 hours ago, CME and Bottlewasher said:

Would Peco STD. 'Y' points be more helpful?

 

I did try the I templates, but the geometry didn't quite work.  I've ordered some new 6 footers and we'll see how it goes ... just as well I like playing with bits of track and wire!

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On 01/10/2019 at 23:17, Jack said:

The whole loco fleet now run through the points comfortably, although there is a little bit of buffer locking on some of the longer stock.

 

Over the last couple of days my son and I have given the layout a thorough test ... something I realised I haven't done the in the past 8 years!  Everything is lots of fun, but after a while coupling and uncoupling 3 links gets to be a pain!  I'm also aware that when the buildings and bridges get put in, coupling up will be even harder.

 

I have had great results with Kadees in OO, but was considering Dinghams for this layout.  They seem to be straight forward to fit (unlike 7mm kadees) and are quite unobtrusive.  It wouldn't take much to fit magnets.

 

Has anyone got any experience of them on tight curves?  I'm assuming from everything I have read that fitting them is just a case of taking out the 3 links and putting the Dingham in?

Dinghams are very neat, but on smaller, tighter layouts, haven't always been reliable in operation . It might be possible to overcome such issues though.

Edited by CME and Bottlewasher
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  • 3 weeks later...

The crossovers are nearly removed and replaced with standard 6' streamline points.  Putting them next to the set track points it became clear the reverse curve with the latter was causing the buffer locking on pretty much everything that wasn't a 4 wheel wagon or pecket.

 

Piccies to follow once I have realigned the narrow gauge feeder and finished the wiring ...

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IMG_4110.JPG.496f44e98f1aba7e55e5fce3e933fcdf.JPG

 

The crossovers have been replaced with Peco 6' streamline points.  It reduces the size of the headshunt by a few inches, but everything still works in terms of operation.  No buffer locking and everything is good to go for some scenery, once I've returned to a few rolling stock projects.

 

I left the point covers on the two points which are effectively the 'mainline', but removed them from the two sidings, filling the holes with some black milliput.

 

Having closed the track centres by over 0.6 inches there is a bit more room for the low-relief buildings at the back.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello Jack, I was wondering myself about the use of something other than the standard 3 link couplings on my little O gauge layout and was half wondering if a 7mm version of Iain Rices "imprecise Jackson" coupling would work. Yes you would still need to un-couple manually but coupling would be automatic.

 

John.

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  • 3 weeks later...

On reflection I thin I might try a key type coupling rod first, before I start modding stock.  Whilst I'm quite happy with Kadees in OO, there is something satisfying about having realistic coupling in O.  I'd be interested to know about the "imprecise jacksons"?

 

Ta

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  • 11 months later...

Just in the process of planning the scennery for this.

 

However, I noted in the Railway Modeller's December issue, in the article about getting started in O Gauge, it suggests using screws to anchor track at board joints (p939).  What are everyones thoughts on this?  I have previously done so in OO and N, but the track is much more fragile in the smaller scales.  I hadn't put screws in Nell's Bridge because a) it is a folding layout and b) the track is so much bigger and stronger ...

 

However, should I retro fit them before going further?

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When I was doing 00, soldering rail to brass screws at board joins was the conventional wisdom.  The integrity of rail in plastic chairs is pretty low and having track unzip at a show is a disaster.

 

As I build my 0 gauge layout, I find the rail and chair fixing to be pretty robust so I am not using screw anchors.

 

Basic precautions should be taken to ensure that rail ends are filed smooth with no or minimal overhang.  For transport, I plan to use the same method I used for 00 which was end plates left in place until the last moment during layout erection.

 

John

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  • 1 year later...

Ahh, yet more glaciers go galloping past ... but there has been some progress this week.

 

Construction and modification laser cut buildings to create the low relief structures ...

 

... still not sure about the 3-links, they are quite fiddly, and Im concerned that wagons are going to disappear into that goods shed never to be seen again!

 

None of the buildings are fixed, they'll be coming off the layout for painting in due course.  I'm also working my way through the kit box and finishing the wagons, including the two grounded ones.

 

IMG_6114.JPG.1e97098b508130b79d61a8e31f874c59.JPG

 

... and yes, Duck is in use as the test engine.  All my other stick is fitted with Lenz gold decoders and stay alive.  Duck is still only fitted with a Lenz silver as I have a custom sound project to go in there eventually.

 

IMG_6120.JPG.bc0fae804c39b3507823393d8a9b678e.JPG

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