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Paisley St James Spaghetti, new shoots


Ian Smeeton
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I'll be interested to see what you decide.

 

What date range are you looking at?

 

Hi pH,

 

1948-1965  is the planned date range, so that I can include the last of the pre-grouping, through BR standardisation, and creeping dieseisation, but before the elctrification.

 

I will still manage to include 303/AM3's though, as they were hauled through on delivery. I have an order in with Worsley Works for the 303's.

 

I would like to get something running soon, even if it is a quick & dirty rewheeling of a diesel, or an 0-6-0 running chassis.

 

I still have all the turnout operating tie rods to add, as well as finishing the pointwork on the main board. Not too far away now, only 2 more common crossings and a few switch blades to do, and then on to the third board.

 

Regards

 

Ian

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Fantastic service again from Shop 1, so tracklaying could continue.

 

Half a dozen lengths of Easitrack an hour or so later and....

 

post-89-0-30484900-1534604466_thumb.jpg

 

Over on to the third board we go.

 

Track just placed in position for now, except over the board joins.

 

Still got a 1:8 common crossing and points to build aling with  1:5.75 to finish off the pointwork in the goods yard and on the main line.

 

post-89-0-47420300-1534604609_thumb.jpg

 

Slightly more elevated view here showing the main lines extending towards the camera.

 

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/7/257/

 

This is the nearest equivalent viewpoint that I have been able to find. The 'V' shape of parked cars to the left of the station is the extent of the goods yard, still to be built.

 

Once all of the track is in place, I will start cutting away the plywood as most of the surrounding land was at a lower level.

 

I suppose I had better get on with it, then.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

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I have been quiet(not very)ly adding droppers bit by bit.

 

The goods yard/station board even provided a running loco last week.

 

No photos, no pack drill!

 

I did promise The Boss that she would see trains running by last Xmas, and the use of a 9V battery meant that I kept my promise.

 

This Xmas may see the main lines and a number of sidings energised, however I can only manage to run something as far as the first set of points encountered, as apart from some wagons and coaches, I have nothing with 2fs wheels.

 

The answer, of course is to do a quick and dirty diesel drop-in wheel conversion, but my hunt for a Farish 20 in Green with discs has so far been fruitless. (The only potential candidate being from a dodgy East European web shop based in Dover!)

 

Plodding on, though, bit by bit.

 

No piccies this time, but I will try extra hard for the next update.

 

Regards

 

Ian

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it looks like you're using plain PCB track for your turnouts, and Easitrack for your straight-ways - how are you handling the transition in height?

Carefully!!

 

I have forrmed a transition between the PCB and Easitrack, rather than boosting the PCB by 1/2 mm or so. Tests so far seem OK.

 

Regards

 

Ian

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Although I have been very quiet (I don't have a lot to say), I have actually been progressing things.

 

Wiring is now all but complete on the Underwood Yard board, and has been started on the Station & Goods Yard board. (The two easy ones)

 

All 3 boards are up together in the garage Railway Room at the moment to let me complete the remaining track laying.

 

post-89-0-25134600-1545862531_thumb.jpg

 

As  you can see, my photography has not improved.

 

For comparison

 

https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/SAW032171

 

I have done a quick count, and have found over 200 wagons in the Britain from above photos

 

I may be gone some time.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

 

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I havebeen gone some time, but not forgotten.

 

A seasonal lack of mojo and some rather awkward shifts at work means that there has not been as much progress as I would have liked.

 

However, wiring has been continuing, Underwood Yard and PSJ Goods Yard are alll but complete.

 

The main station throat board is being worked on, but despite many hours at work with nothing more to occupy my mind except button pushing, I had been pondering the wiring of the scissors crossover.

 

It looked insurmountable to my feeble brain, so I turned to the wonder of RMWeb, with a new topic which nearly started WW III. Needless to say, order was finally achieved, and some very helpful advice recieved. I can now crack on with that part of the job.

 

There is added impetus, as I have agreed to take PSJ station throat board to the 2mm North Mercia Area Group meeting on the 7th April, where Keith Armes, the Guru of all things track in 2mm will be showing how it SHOULD be done, probably not how I have done it.

 

Bullet proof vests will be worn (2, by me), and a peace offering of one of my wifes cakes might mean that I survive the day.

 

Looking forward to the excursion.

 

Regards

 

Ian

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No piccies tonight, but all has not been dormant on PSJ

 

It will make its first semi-publuc outing at Tutbury, the 2mm Association meet on the 8th June. Although a 2mm event, all are welcome on presentation of some folding stuff at the door, so I am told, but it is not a 'proper' exhibition.

 

Only the three scenic boards will be let out to play, and 'scenic' might be pushing the trades descriptions act just a bit.

 

I have spent this week giving the board tops a squirt of grey primer to hide some of the doodlings, spillings, and general graffiti which seems to have sprouted over the last few months.

 

I have also built some legs.

 

Very useful, as they stop the layout landing on the floor.

 

Also, a couple of ends so that everything can be crated up neatly when I am sent home in disgrace.

 

In the next couple of weeks, I plan to spend some time drawing up some basic buildings to give an idea of the overall scene. Thes will only be mockups, but should help bring it to 'life'

 

If time, weather and work permit, there might be a photie or two in the near future.

 

Regards

 

Ian

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Well, for all those who  missed it, it was the 2mm Supermeet today at Tutbury.

 

Where?

 

Yep., that's what I said as I rapidly approached Stoke On Trent at 8 o'clock this morning.

 

Stop.

 

Look at the Map.

 

Curse loudly, Drive another 5 miles further down the road before reversing direction at the first roundabout, and head back 20 miles down the A50 to where I should have turned off.

 

Time to buy a Sat Nav. Possibly

 

A very timid (please don't say yes) response to a call for layouts, finished or otherwise meant that I had committed myself. Or was that I should have had myself committed.

 

I though that 4' would have been more than sufficient for our Events Officers' appetite, but, no, he wanted the full 12' (Four Yards, not nine, thank goodness)

 

So, to work.....

 

First, build some legs, otherwise it would have been very embarrasing to watch the whole layout hit the floor. No Anti-gravity in Tutbury, no matter what the locals say!


Next, build some end plates, to hold it all together in transit.

 

Then,  take a cold critical look at the layout. Coffee stains, beer stains, flux & glue spillages, and various bits of grafiti scrawled aides memoire. Messy was an understatement.

 

Some Wilko rattle can primer gave all the non track areas at least a semblance of tidiness, which i then spoiled by taking a black marker to the finished article to mark on some of the features, roughly placed from the OS Maps.

 

A couple of (very) rough building mock ups, and time had run out.

 

2019_0604GranthamSteamFair2010001.JPG.d6ff504d8eb7539982667cd55da70ffe.JPG

 

So, here it, warts & all.

 

Still two sidings to finish off, and a couple of others to complete to their full length.

 

2019_0604GranthamSteamFair2010002.JPG.3c243cd0094f80b0d3c82b2abb15f2ab.JPG

 

ots of people looking far to closely at my pointwork for comforrt, but at least they were nice about it. Some great conversations, and i hope that I managed to persuade at least a couple of them to take the plunge in point building

 

Electrically, most of the layout is still dead, although wiring is progressing slowly. I did connect up my old Duette to one line, just to give a little bit of occasional movement, but at the rate that I am working, I think it will be at least another year before all the scenic side can be energised.

 

2019_0604GranthamSteamFair2010003.JPG.a244c87f9281abea38f3e95ac020ae70.JPG

 

Underwood Yard, with a  very quick & dirty mock-up of the Craneworks building.

 

One night while bored, I counted all the wagons present in aerial shots of PSJ & Underwood yards. The total was North of 200, and as you can see virtually every bit of stock that I own in this shot, you can tell that I have a fair old way to go.

 

I blew my budget mostly on the Central Shop, but only came away with one full wagon kit, and one chassis kit, so it might be a while before the layout starts to look fully stocked.

 

Then, there is the fiddle yard......

 

Ah, well, Onward & Upwards.

 

Many thanks to John Aldrick for inviting PSJ out to play, I can only hope that I didn't disappoint too much.

 

And many more thanks to all those who run the 2mm Assoc, and organised this event

 

Best Regards

 

Ian

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Hi Ian,

 

I didn't get chance to talk as I was operating Glencruitten but I did snatch a view of the layout whilst on a raiding trip to the central shop.

 

It is great to observe progress, I can't wait to see more of the model as it emerges.

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34 minutes ago, Argos said:

Hi Ian,

 

I didn't get chance to talk as I was operating Glencruitten but I did snatch a view of the layout whilst on a raiding trip to the central shop.

 

It is great to observe progress, I can't wait to see more of the model as it emerges.

 

No breath holding, it is not good for you!!!

 

Regards, & thanks,

 

Ian

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More than 6 months since my last update, and what, may you ask, has been happening.

 

Nothing.

 

Nada.

 

Not a lot.

 

The get up & go got up & went.

 

However, having 10 days or so off for the christmas break, I thought that I had better extract a digit.

 

I thought about it......, and then thought some more.

 

Electrickery,

 

Not my favourite job, but I had better get on with it. I am not even very good at it, or at least, I am not terribly sure what I am doing.

 

However, I have been doing some reading up, on here and elsewhere, so made a start.

 

I have actually wired, pretty much, two of the three scenic boards, but as they are 4' X 3', they are a little ubwieldy, and more to the point, were still crated up froom the trip to Tutbury back in June.

 

So, the fiddle yards.

 

2017_0809Workshop0012.JPG.2a112d10d90dbd79bb88b3c050609b82.JPG

 

They were built a couple of years ago, now, and had no work done on them since.

 

So lets have a go

 

The Recipe:

 

Take one end board, a modicum of knowledge, a bucket or two of enthusiasm, three spoools of wire, one soldering iron, obligatory Partridge in a pear tree and set to.

 

2020_0101GranthamSteamFair2010005.JPG.360cb21a863e1f20212bf289abc2751a.JPG

 

Approxiamtely 160 holes drilled for droppers, 160 soldered joints on the top side, and about a hundred more underneath.

 

And half way through, I found a small number of drilled holes with no wires through.

 

Too late now, finish this part, then go topside and see if I can find them.

 

I am pretty sure that they are all on one road, plus the one that I thought had been hot glued, but pulled out by brute force before discovering that it was glued at the other end!!.....DOH

 

New Years Resolution

 

CRACK ON. I hope to have most of the fiddle yards wired by the end of January

 

Thanks for Reading this twaddle,

 

Have a happy and productive New Year

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

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Hope you are continuing to make progress Ian.  Very jealous of the trackwork on the fiddle yard, looks superb and very neat. Was there any particular reason for the change from copper clad to plastic sleepers on the middle section?

 

Rich

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2 hours ago, MarshLane said:

Hope you are continuing to make progress Ian.  Very jealous of the trackwork on the fiddle yard, looks superb and very neat. Was there any particular reason for the change from copper clad to plastic sleepers on the middle section?

 

Rich

 

Slow  progress on the wiring, about to go and tackle another three or four roads.

 

The reason for the Easitrack was purely for speed.

 

It does mean that there is a slight height change, but I think that I have built in enough transition.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

I kept to copperclad at the board ends for strength.

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More spaghetti at Paisley St James.

 

Not really. This is actually the underside of one of the fiddle yard boards.

 

After a fairly productive couple of weeks soldering droppers to the rails & passing them through the baseboard, this is what we get when the board is reversed:

 

2020_0221GranthamSteamFair2010001.JPG.278f57b6faad9829d453e0ebbe2597c8.JPG

 

Black wires will be led to the common return, Reds will run lengthways so that each road can be separately switched.

 

2020_0221GranthamSteamFair2010002.JPG.4d3c40e749ff13feab602eda262e18f7.JPG

 

Slightly different view

 

2020_0221GranthamSteamFair2010003.JPG.90a595d712b35c5a2909d374c7e306ab.JPG

 

After laying a solid copper Bus raided from some redundant Mains Cable, the Black wires were gathered btogether where possible, and soldered in place.

 

Reasonably happy with this, there were only two Black droppers cut too short, needing extending.

 

As I have a couple of enforced days off following a Cataract Op on Friday, I may just manage a bit more progress.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

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I have been pondering the wiring of the fiddle yard.

 

At some stage in the distant future, the longer roads will be split to allow the storage of two (or more) trains.

 

2017_0809Workshop0012.JPG.4826135cdb9d4140d3b6d36b4ce14d57.JPG

 

However, as I still have no motive power in 2mmfs, and I still have to build the end boards anyway, it is a moot point.

 

Scan0016.jpg.3bacc6362bc9e1c5fcc5bd0376cf433d.jpg

 

Schematic, greatly simplified (there are actually 8 roads up & 8 Down, and I have left out the station & yards. Ignore feeds as drawn

 

My thinking is to leave the arrival side live to all roads up to the first board join, and then treat each road as a switchable isolated section, at least for now.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Regards

 

Ian

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1 hour ago, Ian Smeeton said:

My thinking is to leave the arrival side live to all roads up to the first board join, and then treat each road as a switchable isolated section, at least for now.

Assuming the layout is analogue DC, I would agree with that.  If each road is divided into 2 sections, switchable to a controller, then you will be able to move trains up as the one in front has left.  if you're adopting DCC, then there is no need for any of that!  Just feeds at each end of each set of roads!

 

Jim

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3 hours ago, Ian Smeeton said:

The prospect of using DCC and reading a loco number from 10' away is just too much for my eyesight.

You just need a list of your locos, with their identifying features and their codes, pinned up beside your control panel.

 

Jim

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59 minutes ago, Caley Jim said:

You just need a list of your locos, with their identifying features and their codes, pinned up beside your control panel.

These days, when it is so easy to incorporate photos into a word-processed text file, I would suggest that a "list" comprising photos of your locos along with their codes might be better than a list of identifying features. Only if two or more locos look alike do you need to do more - and the best way would probably be to make them look dissimilar.

 

Not my original idea incidentally as I have seen at least one layout at a show with such a photographic list alongside its DCC controller (and I have a feeling that that controller had selection buttons so even the codes didn't have to be given).

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