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Horseley Fields - N Gauge layout (was Dibben Junction)


Revolution Ben

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Hi Black Sheep

Thanks for the car park comment. Regarding the parking on kerbs and yellow lines ,I am afraid further up the road

around the Horseley Fields area there is a rather keen Traffic Warden who doesn't take kindly to such practices. I do not intend to

let the cat out of the bag but we have other reasons why such practices are not be allowed, these will be revealed at a later date

but I am sure the taxis will find somewhere to park. Watch this space !

 

Cheers John

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Fair enough, you speak from experience of the area, I only speak from areas I know. I did find in Coventry outside where I worked that the traffic wardens would move the taxi's on, but they would be there again within 10 mins.

 

coming in to make a delivery in the van I'd just go spanish and hold the horn down until they moved, failing that, start reversing at them (they wouldn't move if you asked them nicely)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Blind Shunting

Hello All

 

As mentioned previously on this thread we have a steel warehouse with lifting doors and it has been our intention to reverse wagons into the whse, decouple and then close the doors. Dapol have brought out their Easi Shunts at just the right moment for us. The scenario is as follows ; a train arrives with 9/10 bogey steel wagons 5/6 of which are reversed under the gantry crane outside leaving exactly 4 to be shunted into the whse, upon the approach of the train the doors are raised causing an indicator LED on the panel and the light inside the whse to come on as well as giving the green light for movements. With its nose just inside the whse and over the track magnet a break in the track causes the loco to stop. a diode has been wired across the break and with the couplers fully open the loco can be reversed out of the way and the doors closed. In order to keep the 4 wagons stationary( important because they must not foul the doors ) a small magnet has been placed in the track at the far end of the whse and since on some modern rolling stock the axles are not attracted to magnets the plastic bogey retaining pin was removed and replaced with a steel one which protrudes to just below the axles. the magnet was placed so as to be neither too close to grab or too far away so as to be ineffective. The thinkers among you will ask,well how do you get the wagons out since there is a break in the track ? Easy! over-ride the diode with a push to make on the control panel so that the loco can be run a few more inches forwards, recouple then reverse out. We intend to have two dedicated steel trains one of which will be parked in the fiddle yard when not in use, of course both trains will need to have the one wagon fitted with a steel bogey retaining pin. After delivering its load the loco will either run round the inner loop light or pick up an engineers train from the nearby sidings.

That's all for now folks

Watch this space!

 

John Chief Engineer to Horseley Fields

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  • RMweb Gold

Hello all, A cruel close-up, and the steel terminal building is not in position to show what's happening. Normally the covered wagons would be inside the building and hidden from view. The paler grey road areas in front of the locomotive and next to it in the terminal path show where the Dapol uncoupling magnets have been positioned.

 

post-420-0-41638200-1332625888_thumb.jpg

 

Checking the various headcodes of trains using the terminal (eg 6M99) has enabled me to build up numerous prototypical examples of train formations - primarily a mix of BRA/BYA/JSA/KIA/IHA/BDA and SPA wagons, or their derivatives, of which all bar the JSAs and IHAs are available off the shelf. (And there are some pretty good continental versions of the IHAs available for hacking.)

 

We too would have preferred to use the delayed action facility to shunt post uncoupling, however we were unable to get it to work 100% of the time - occasionally the couplers would recouple. If this happens inside the terminal, where we cannot see it, then we'd be left repeatedly reversing in and out of the building with the wagons stubbornly refusing to stay inside! This we felt would not be satisfactory during an exhibition. So John devised his ingenious magnet solution.

 

Next up is a practice session for all group members to get used to the shunting manoeuvres!

 

cheers Ben A.

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Hi Black Sheep

 

Both the large magnets are out of sight anyhow, they are placed under a piece of plasticard serving as crossing etc for road vehicles

the couplings still work OK except for the delay, as Ben has already pointed out

 

I/we did extensive tests before settling for the present set up and I/we never did and still can't make the delay work properly in spite of using

the proper magnets, remember with this set up the loco will place the wagons in exactly the right spot every time ,I suppose we could

install a mini camera but at the moment the operator can not see where they are exactly, once inside the warehouse. No fouling of the

doors ! because if the door at this end does not trip the micro switch on its way down to switch itself off the thing will go berserk and rip

he building apart. I have been thinking about a putting a second micro switch on the back door as a fail safe.

We still need to install one more magnet for the Engineers Sidings (near the derelict engine shed) which will be open to the public gaze

and will be difficult to hide. Any suggestions would be most welcome, PS have read the thread dedicated to these couplers!

 

 

Thanks for the interest

 

Cheers john

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  • 2 weeks later...

post-13207-0-65497900-1333557100_thumb.jpg

 

Hello All

Perimeter Fencing on Horseley Fields

For any interested members here is a brief summary describing how the perimeter fence was made from cheap and easily obtainable materials.

Posts made from suitable wire,cut to length,tops filed flat and painted with aerosol primer then placed in predrilled holes in baseboard.

The chainlink was made from a strip of Tulle (obtainable from the family dressmaker) If close up photos are to be taken it would be better to keep

any joins confined to corner posts etc. The strip may be cut just a little wider than needed because it can be pulled taut and this will reduce the

width or what will become the height of the fence. Care must be taken to cut at least one edge (what will become the top) as straight as pos this

can be done with a very sharp knife and steel straight edge following the weave of the material.The tulle strip should now be spray painted and

when dry one end only should be fixed to an end post (super glue OK) and when dry it can be pulled out and stretched a little, cut to length and

fixed on the other end post after which it may be glued to the remaining posts. Plant shrubs and grass at base as required. Job Done !

I would like to point out that as far as I am concerned the idea was passed to me by NGS colleague Ben.

The picture is of a test piece to see how it would look

 

Cheers

John

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some people have been experimenting with sitting the magnet so the top of sleeper height is just above, skim the top of the sleeper off and stick it across the magnet, paint the gaps balast colour, sprinkle sand on and it's almost invisble after a bit of weathering.

 

if I spot which thread its in I'll chuck you the link

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  • RMweb Gold

Hello Black sheep,

 

I think I've seen the thread you mentioned about hiding the Dapol magnets below sleepers.

 

Indeed, perhaps the photo doesn't show it clearly but our magnets are hidden - the pale grey sections are actually plasticard that will be painted to match the rest of the hardstanding.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

Hello all,

 

Yesterday we had a running session to check all is well ahead of Horseley Fields appearance at the N Gauge Society exhibition and AGM at Cotgrave, Notts on May 26th.

 

We had a little bit of trouble with electrics in the fiddle yard, but luckily the electrical/engineering team (Nick and John) managed to get all sorted.

 

We also discussed what trains we would be running now we have extended the fiddle yard and have considerable extra capacity.

 

Among those likely to put in an appearance are

 

Euro Cargo Rail Class 66 (Farish model) with WBB PAA sand hoppers. These tend to run from the East of England to Humberside, but we can imagine a new flow of sand to somewhere in the Midlands! The locomotive tail lights should really be deactivated! The roof of the steel terminal has been temporarily removed to allow us to check an uncoupling feature inside.

 

post-420-0-55706400-1335217152_thumb.jpg

 

Group member Stephen Browne has built this superb model of the Network Rail Railhead Treatment train.

 

post-420-0-54946800-1335217276_thumb.jpg

 

While group leader Nick Dibben has contributed a long rake of Lafarge aggregate hoppers. These are seen heading toward the station and approaching one of the two working signals we've now installed. They aren't properly controlled as such - just a simple circuit flipping them to red as the train passes, then cycling back to green on a timer - but to me they look effective.

 

post-420-0-20566800-1335217418_thumb.jpg

 

Passenger services will be largely in the hands of Virgin, Cross Country and London Midland units, and we are hoping we may just get a Desiro in time!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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Just had a good read through the whole thread while my wife is watching Made In Chelsea and the layout looks very well indeed - a lovely portrayal of the contemporary railway!

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I have to admit that I myself am not really a modern image enthusiast (the "youngest" locomotives in my collection are representations of ones withdrawn around 1977) but I must say I am genuinely impressed with what you've achieved here, as an N gauge modeler myself, I have discovered how flexible a scale it is. I really like what you have done with your layout.

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  • RMweb Gold

Hello Kiwinewt,

 

I believe the signals were obtained from CR signals (3 aspect) and the circuitry from Heathcote electronics, see here: http://www.heathcote-electronics.co.uk/P31MASsl.htm

 

However, they were fitted by John and Nigel and they may be able to add more detailed information!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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  • RMweb Gold

Ben

We have been considering what to do about loco tail lights when they are at the front of a train.

Our best option so far, is to put some masking tape over the rear lights inside the loco. Most now have the dront coupler removed so we know which way to put them on the track.

Ian

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  • RMweb Gold

Ben

We have been considering what to do about loco tail lights when they are at the front of a train.

Our best option so far, is to put some masking tape over the rear lights inside the loco. Most now have the dront coupler removed so we know which way to put them on the track.

Ian

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It's a little more permanent but could you disconnect the power supply for the tail lamps? If they're always running the same way it should be a problem.

 

I'd stop a train like that if it went passed me!

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  • RMweb Gold

Hello all,

 

Ian, James: I agree about the loco tail lights. I think that masking tape to stop the light getting to the lenses is going to be the way to go. Like you, we detail the front ends of our locos so it should be easy to tell which way round to put them on the track!

 

Gordini5: We did not get permission to use the Hanson logos, nor do we need it. Copyright on logos etc is aimed at protecting intellectual property rights or preventing fraudulent trading. Since we generated the artwork ourselves, and are not trying to sell you aggregates, or purport to be Hanson in any other way, we are OK!!

 

Come to think of it, we have not sought permission to run London Midland trains since there is little chance anyone will mistake our 1:148 versions for the real thing and try to board them!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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  • RMweb Gold

Hello Gordini5,

 

For shunting in the yard, we are using the new Dapol Easi-shunt couplers and these fit stock with NEM pockets. This means Dapol 66s (not Farish) and Farish 60s, Dapol KIB steel wagons, Modelbahnunion IHAs and Farish BYAs, BDAs and SPAs. This is a pretty prototypical selection, with just a few of the more esoteric types (BXA, JSA, BWA) missing.

 

Under test we have found the Dapol couplers virtually 100% reliable for uncoupling. We have not had any problems with springs. The delayed action is not as reliable and I suspect it is because our trip pins are not quite at the correct angle. Dapol are producing a coupler calibrating tool to fix this.

 

Luckily we don't really need the delayed action anyway, so not an issue for us.

 

Having said that, testing on a club day, and testing under exhibition circumstances, are two different things and we will be interested to see how the Dapol couplers perform at the NGS AGM exhibition in May.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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Ben

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I worked for Hanson until 2 years ago so only pulling your chain as it were.

 

The Dapol couplings really interest me as have 2 packs and ready to install on a few loco's and stock but want the delay 100% reliable so looking for hints.

 

I look forward to getting to see the layout in the flesh.

 

Cheers

 

David S

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