jukebox Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 On 17/10/2019 at 02:11, gordon s said: Evening one and all..... *snip* Anyway, here's my version of Spaghetti Junction complete with two aerial reverse loops and umpteen storage sidings, none of which could be seen once the top went on. It even had a through station and blow me, that's Glasgow Highlander that was ceremoniously dumped on the floor yesterday. Have a good laugh..... I'm reminded of Sunday School. "Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing".....Nothing's changed.... I missed this post of yours last month, Gordon - curse the "new RMWeb" format - but I smiled at your spaghetti junction comment. I shudder to think how I would have gotten on with Stockrington in it's original thrice-round-the-room incarnation, and am even more in awe how far you actually took ET in the same vein... I'm sure we both had read "simple is better" a hundred times before we started, and yet some times you just have to head down the dead end road yourself before you learn the lesson. But what really caught my attention was something no one else commented on: the fate of Glasgow Highlander. What happened? And how bad was the outcome? Cheers Scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 4, 2019 Author Share Posted November 4, 2019 Hi Scott, the alarm has just gone off for my trip to Didcot today. We have a match we must win to keep us in contention for qualification to the knock out stages of the Winter League so apologies for the brief reply. The loco is fine now, but here’s the sorry tale. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/148315-Hornby-r2449-glasgow-highlander-disaster/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted November 4, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 4, 2019 11 hours ago, martin_wynne said: Hi Gordon, Next time: Disconnect the track supply -- connect a car battery across the tracks -- switch the lights off and wait for your eyes to accustom. After a while you will either see some sparking, glowing, or smell burning. Follow your nose. There may be a little damage to the track, but nothing you can't fix. cheers, Martin. Very similar to how I used to find Scalextric track shorts - all too common when the collector braids shed copper strands. I had an old transformer with a red cut out button on top. I simply held the button down, gave the controller full whack and looked for the smoke! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted November 4, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 4, 2019 14 hours ago, martin_wynne said: Hi Gordon, Next time: Disconnect the track supply -- connect a car battery across the tracks -- switch the lights off and wait for your eyes to accustom. After a while you will either see some sparking, glowing, or smell burning. Follow your nose. There may be a little damage to the track, but nothing you can't fix. cheers, Martin. You're a day early for that Martin. G. Fawkes 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted November 4, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 4, 2019 15 hours ago, gordon s said: I found the tiniest sliver of metal in the frog area of one turnout. It had wedged itself between an adjacent rail and the live switched section. Another common cause of mysterious shorts is rail gaps closing up due to temperature variations. Always good to have some sort of insulating material in the gap to prevent this, be it the lug on a Peco fishplate, a sliver of styrene sheet, a dab of epoxy or what have you. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted November 4, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 4, 2019 While wiring Carlisle, at least after some trains were running, I left a loco on the track with the engine noise on (usually a clattering Sulzer type 2). If and when I made a mistake in the wiring, quite frequently on a layout of this size and complexity, the short caused the engine noise to stop - go back one step and it started again. 6 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chimer Posted November 5, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 5, 2019 Those blast-from-the-past pictures don't half show you're a Master of Carpentry ….. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted November 6, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 6, 2019 Master of cock ups more likely...... Had a great day today. My dear lady went over to see her mother, so I had the whole day to myself. Shed building couldn't be done as showers kept appearing and no golf until tomorrow, so what else is a boy to do? Cleared away a few bits and bobs and set about finishing my first fix on the station approach. Managed to add a few droppers that had been missed and soldered 16 wires for turnout control on this board that will go back to the control panel. The last thing I wanted to do was solder those underneath the board. I've had far too many hot solder blobs drop on my torso whilst laying beneath ET, so I flipped the board over and spent an hour or so laying in the wires ready for the controls. To my surprise, I found I was enjoying myself, so flipped the board back over and manhandled it up to the station board. Thank God, this will never go out on the exhibition circuit. The weight and difficulty in manipulating a board 7'-8' long on one long curve would put me in an early grave if I had to do it regularly. A bit of adjustment and the alignment bolts were put in and track and cork cut away 4" either side of the join. A few minutes with an orbital sander to smooth out the joins and then new cork and track were laid back, perfectly flat. I'm in two minds to cut the track between the boards and solder up some support sleepers in case I need to take it apart, but with track across the join in one piece, the transition is perfect. If ever it needs to come apart, a razor saw will do the job. Right now, I just want to get running again. At the end of the afternoon the light had dropped considerably, but my downlights were reflecting off the track work and it reminded me of travelling home on the train on a cold and wet winter night. No excuses, I just like the look, so took some pics. Self indulgent, I know, but when you've spent 10 years messing around, it's nice to see something come together at last..... 38 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted November 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 6, 2019 Lovely. Those long sweeping curves are just so elegant. Al. 6 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Looking very good, as said lovely sweeping curves 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted November 6, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 6, 2019 Looking good Gordon, looking forward to seeing up and down trains running through ET, it's about time, given the various iterations. Will your nephew get the chance to drive a train around the layout this Christmas? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 Thanks for your kind comments. My nephew was here for his grandmother’s 90th birthday a month or so ago and he never mentioned trains once. If I’m honest I didn’t get much time with him as we had a house full of my wife’s family and I was on waiter duty most of the day.... I suspect he is growing up and other things have now taken over. I have a copy of the BRM guide on building a layout which I meant to give him at the time, so will put that in the post for him and see if he responds. He’s lucky enough to live very close to Peco, so doesn’t have to go far to see model railways. Perhaps my BIL told him not to ask, as he knows I’ve been playing around with trains for years and never had anything to show him..... 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Trackwork: A* CarpentryA* Gordon hard worked hard in the last year, his efforts have been well-rewarded. Has he any thoughts on becoming a cabinet maker? 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 Coffin maker would be nearer the mark.... Forgot to add we won at Hadden Hill and moved up to 2nd place in our group, so that possibly explains my good mood right now. Next Monday we do it all again, but this time it will be Donnington Grove at home. Mrs S is watching TV downstairs, so I’m watching Spurs winning in Belgrade. Not a patch on the Chelsea game last night. That was full of brilliant football and great to see an Ajax team full of youth and skill. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted November 8, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) It's Friday...! My dear lady was off to Teddington once again and it was far too cold and wet to work outside, so I set about some things that have been bugging me. The approach into the bay was not wrong as such, but my suppressed OCD kept nagging me that the rails weren't parallel with the platform edge and the final straw was when an old Bachmann Thompson coach was pushed into the bay and the 90 degree corner of the platform clouted the underframe battery box. 'Nuff said, up it came.... I had to take up around 2' of track and improved the curve from the entry turnout at the same time. Pain in the backside really, but it would have always niggled me, so out with my chisel and cork underlay, ballast and track were ceremoniously destroyed. New track is now in place and I can relax. Ballasting is the first task tomorrow. Starting to think a lot more about the scenic aspect for this board and I couldn't build a version of ET without retaining walls, so toying with the idea of an over bridge backing right onto the end of the platforms. A set of passenger steps can come down from the over bridge to the outside of the platform. It's possible the access road to the station building may also go out under the road bridge as the gradient down would be far too steep. The back wall will be a stone retaining wall with a road behind running from one end of the main board to the other and then curving round to follow the track bed, before disappearing off scene. These are only fleeting thoughts right now and I will do some sketches first to look at building placement so it hangs together. Looking over the back wall, would be the perfect place for trainspotting and the kid inside you never leaves.... As always the world of ET is two steps forward and one step back and I was gutted last night to find I hadn't put in the turnout bus wire and all the switch wires to go back to the control panel on the stairwell approach board. I know what happened. I was desperate to get something running, so finished the board wiring apart from the turnouts and hoisted the stairwell board into place. Connecting tracks were added in and whoopee, it all ran. A few weeks of playing trains and I thought I'd put my toys away and ballasted all the approach tracks, completely forgetting the lack of turnout wiring.... Spent yesterday evening thinking about the choices and it's a no brainer. Trying to install a bus and hooking up 16 turnouts above a stairwell would have ended in a hospital visit and possible broken bones, so tomorrow I'll rip up the connecting tracks at the other end of the platform and take that board onto my bench and do all the wiring standing up, before returning it into position and making good the 6" or so of each approach track. What a pain.... Tidy wiring is not one of my strongpoints, but it appears to work.... A particularly relevant emoticon as I finished a course of anti biotics yesterday and will be able to raise a glass tomorrow.....Cheers! Edited November 8, 2019 by gordon s 21 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Smeeton Posted November 8, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 8, 2019 Can you cut through the rails with a slitting disc or Razor saw? Might save a lot of work & heartache. Regards Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 Thanks Ian. I did consider that option, but there are several factors why I’m not going down that route. It would mean 28 droppers rather than 14 and then my personal obsession with running quality means I’ll always go for a solid piece of track across a join. Experience has shown me this is the better option and takes away the possibility of slight misalignment across the seven tracks where they bridge the join. I can also add the fourteen droppers to one end of the bridge track with the board upside down on my work trestles, so a lot easier than dropping solder on myself as I struggle beneath the boards. The location of this board over the stairs just further complicates the issue. I have to wear glasses and the distance to the underside of the board from the floor is the worst possible dimension. Laying on the floor, and reaching up to make a solder joint is just outside the focal length of my glasses and I find I have to partly sit up to bring things in sharp focus. That’s the totally wrong thing to do, particularly as I had back surgery a few years ago I agree it would be a viable alternative if I were 40 years younger..... It should take more than a day or two to sort out and the weather forecast tomorrow is not that great, so I should get stuck into it providing my dear lady doesn’t have other ideas... 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted November 8, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 8, 2019 53 minutes ago, gordon s said: I have to wear glasses and the distance to the underside of the board from the floor is the worst possible dimension. Laying on the floor, and reaching up to make a solder joint is just outside the focal length of my glasses and I find I have to partly sit up to bring things in sharp focus. Hi Gordon, Doing wiring from underneath a board is a cruel and unusual punishment within the meaning of the Geneva Convention. Are you trying to save on dropper wire? Why not have a wiring tray along the front of the layout and bring all the dropper wires back up into that to make the bus connections from the top? You can get plastic trunking with a lid which can be hidden within the scenery, under buildings, etc., along the front of the layout. It needs to be only 2" wide. cheers, Martin. 2 1 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 Thanks Martin, certainly food for thought on the next version.... The problem I have on this one is that 95% of the wiring is already in place, but I could do that on the new sections such as the shed area etc which have yet to be built. Is there a problem with curved front baseboards? I'm assuming plastic trunking with its U shape won't be flexible enough to go around the curved fascias without buckling. Once I get my head round the principle, I'm sure I can fabricate something from strip wood and 2mm mdf sheet. Anything has to be better than the acrobatics under a board that is nearly a metre from the floor.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted November 9, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 9, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, gordon s said: Is there a problem with curved front baseboards? I'm assuming plastic trunking with its U shape won't be flexible enough to go around the curved fascias without buckling Hi Gordon, It's flexible if you fix it sideways. The lid then goes on the front for a neat result and easy access if needed. The droppers come back up through the bottom slots. You might need to cut the tops off some of the slots to get round a very sharp bend. Most users would have it inset into the scenery or below the facia, so that only the lid is visible and painted a dark colour. For many layouts the 25mm square would be big enough (especially as DCC is supposed to need only 2 wires ), or 50mm square for industrial-sized layouts. Several pages of designs and sizes, not all square: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/cables-wires/cable-conduit-trunking-routing/cable-trunkings/ (other suppliers are available) cheers, Martin. Edited November 9, 2019 by martin_wynne 1 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Hi Gordon, So glad to see trains running and progress being made (albeit sometimes of the two-minus-one variety). Dare I say that this configuration is the closest to perfection that you're going to get? Hope you can keep the OCD in check - perfection can be the enemy of the good (or, in your case, very VERY good). For the sake of all our collective sanities KEEP GOING! Ever greater rewards are massing just around the corner... Looking forward to more instalments. 3 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 (edited) Thanks Graham, much appreciated. It's a standing joke between my wife and I when she catches me lining up things on the table or putting mugs in the cupboard in the 'right' order and yes I do find myself in traffic queues looking for symmetry in everything. I have taken various on line tests and I'm right on the border, so don't worry about it at all. Starting out my working life as a draughtsman didn't help..... I often think of it as a plus when making things although she does step in every so often to stop me ripping things down and starting again. It was good to see some of Iain's stock running on Shap. He and I are only a few miles apart, so if you ever come down to this patch, it goes without saying, you'd both be more than welcome. Ian and I both love golf and railways and we have the occasionally get together to swap ideas. I'm more than happy with this one right now and enjoying pottering around most days. Just spent an hour or so soldering up droppers on the new track, followed by painting and ballasting. With any luck the good end of ET station will be back together tomorrow and then I can start on t'other end. That may take a few days, but it's peeing down today and Monday's forecast is not great, so I suspect my Winter League match will be cancelled. I won't take much persuading to stay home in the warm... One day we'll both have something running although I suspect that even with a head start, he'll 'steam' past me sooner or later. Edited November 9, 2019 by gordon s 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) Had a reasonable day ballasting one end and that's now finished, so I set about cutting away tracks to separate the boards the other end. No problems on that score either, so the board can be lifted away and all the turnout bus and connections added to go back to the control panel and that's when the grey matter started ticking again.... Whilst this board is off, it's the perfect time to revisit storage and look again at building a large 15 road traverser for stock storage of complete trains. I touched on this a few pages back and for those new to ET, I did build a large traverser with some success, but there were faults, so I thought, let's have another go..... Apologies if I'm repeating myself, but here is the first attempt from all those years ago. There were problems with alignment and the weight of the table, but I think I have a solution.....Either way, I fancy a diversion, if nothing else to prove to myself it can be done. Here's a quick sketch. The main frames will be built from 4" x 2" as I have a fair number of bits left over from my shed build. The key here is weight and rigidity plus the main one of getting the runners etc exactly parallel. The first one had the runners mounted vertically, but the new design will hopefully allow me to mount them flat. I'm still checking with the manufacturer to see if that's an issue, but can't see a problem just yet. The weight of the base should be quite substantial which is essential to prevent everything moving about. The storage shelves will be there to hold stock when not in use and I'll probably use Peco loco lifts to move engines about. The traverser itself will sit behind the shed area with a backscene to hide it from view as you come up the stairs. I'm even thinking about a hinged lid to cover the whole thing, but haven't explored the pro's and con's of that yet. There are three access roads, each covering five storage roads, so the maximum movement of the whole bed will only be 200mm on 50mm spacing. One of the concerns I had originally was the space between the traverser and ET station, so a fair bit of time was spent measuring today and I can move it back around a foot and still get the approach lines in, albeit further back under the eaves. The shed road will be a 1:50 down slope for light engines with a 1:100 gradient for full length trains to leave and join ET. I am also toying with the idea of a spur off scene linked into the shed, so locos can be taken off the front of a train and re appear into the shed for coaling etc. Here's the modified plan which moves the shed/traverser turnout much further up towards ET. With that board on my workbench it will be the perfect opportunity to change the track layout. Happy days.... Edited November 12, 2019 by gordon s 18 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted November 12, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 12, 2019 I'm sure Gordon said he was never going to build a layout with gradients and definitely never going to build a full train traverser again. Who are you and what have you done with Gordon? Mad. Cheers Dave 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted November 12, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, gordon s said: Here's a quick sketch. The main frames will be built from 4" x 2" as I have a fair number of bits left over from my shed build. The key here is weight and rigidity plus the main one of getting the runners etc exactly parallel. The first one had the runners mounted vertically, but the new design will hopefully allow me to mount them flat. Hi Gordon, A good idea with traversers is to copy old-fashioned drawing boards -- corner pulleys and tensioned cords (or a single long cord) crossing over underneath. Getting the tension set up right is a bit fiddly, but once set up there is nothing to go wrong, and the traverser can't get skewed out of line. No batteries needed: A practical design would need two pulleys at each corner, the first one to drop the cord vertically a few inches below the sub-frame. Or alternatively, here is an all-level version which requires only two extra pulleys and doesn't complicate the sub-frame design: Here you go for the cords: https://jimmygreen.com/1007-Standing-Rigging cheers, Martin. Edited November 12, 2019 by martin_wynne link added 1 5 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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