Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 A bit more progress... none of the scenery is fixed yet, it's all in a state of flux to gauge the best effect. The track is fixed and the electrics in. All two wires of it. The rest of the layout is still a plywood desert! 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: The track is fixed Surely such a milestone in the history of this layout's many incarnations deserves some celebration!!! Edited August 24, 2021 by F-UnitMad 1 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 16 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said: Surely such a milestone in the history of this layout's many incarnations deserves some celebration!!! I had a nice cup of tea and a M&S Double Chocolate Mini Bite. 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted August 24, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 24, 2021 (edited) Edited August 24, 2021 by Northroader 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 To go back many years in your interests, Athearn have announced a Copper Basin SD39 - just saying! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 On 27/08/2021 at 21:20, pH said: To go back many years in your interests, Athearn have announced a Copper Basin SD39 - just saying! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 Bahnhof Strasse taking shape... lots to do. I'm going to have to find a way to polarise the Rocoline turnout frogs as the steam fleet are not happy. There's an unacceptable amount of stalling going on. A bit surprising, especially with the Br50s... got enough bloomin wheels, electrical pick up shouldn't be a problem. 4 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 A bit more work on Bahnhof Strasse... And some research seems to suggest Frog Juicers might be the way to combat the dead frog stall syndrome. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacathedrale Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Wonderful, wonderful. I can't express how satisfying it is to see the buildings come down - great stuff! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 1 hour ago, Lacathedrale said: Wonderful, wonderful. I can't express how satisfying it is to see the buildings come down - great stuff! come down? I've only just put them up! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 All very reminiscent of: This place! (apart from the slight gauge issue-ette) But just to prove it's not JUST Harz I've been to ... Trier 2010. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 1 hour ago, LNER4479 said: All very reminiscent of: That's pleasing... A chum has taken away the Station Kiosk to build so there will be a small station square for HO railfans to sit and eat sausage and drink beer in. A few more houses, and at least one largish building to fit into the corner. The actual railway bit seems to have taken a back seat lately! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Hope this one is 'ticking all the right boxes' for you? It certainly looks that way ... although we have been here before of course 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 10 minutes ago, LNER4479 said: Hope this one is 'ticking all the right boxes' for you? It certainly looks that way ... although we have been here before of course So far so good... I've not got as far as actual buildings and trees before! The only fly in the ointment is the disappointing stalling on the frogs. I don't want to use powered switches - why would I, on a small BLT? - and that suggests I need frog juicers. Also I didn't plan for switch motors, so the track sits mostly over the framework. Of course it does. I've watched a half dozen videos and read all the bumpf but tbh I am none the wiser. All I want is stall free movement of engines, not bothered about point motors or block detection or blah blah blah. Can I find a single simple before and after where somebody films an engine stalling on the frogs, and then slaps in a juicer and voila - no stalling. I suppose I could also look at the pick ups in my engines, but having frightened myself enough by fitting decoders in them, I never want to take them apart again! Too many bits fall off. Same thing for Stay-Alives, they seem not that useful compared to eliminating dead bits of track. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Hmm ... Trouble is, you're inviting loads of well-meaning 'have you tried...'? responses. I'm not familiar with the type of pointwork you're using - it looks perfectly OK from the pics you've posted. I would be tempted to at least elimnate pick-up / wheel cleanliness from your enquiries before committing to electrics. Not least because I think you've told us that your locos are quite old. Lovely ... but quite old. I can see deep flanges on the 4-6-4T for starters. Not sure how easy it is on DCC but, before each Grantham show, I religiously put each of my locos in the servicing cradle and check pick-up effectiveness. No need to take anything apart - just use flying leads and systematically place on each wheel tread in turn (that you're expecting to be live) and see which wheel/pick up is actually working. Wheel treads, pickup surfaces and the part of the wheel they're picking up from all need to be free from dirt or other contamination. Here endeth my well-meaning response (for now?) 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 3 hours ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: Can I find a single simple before and after where somebody films an engine stalling on the frogs, and then slaps in a juicer and voila - no stalling. I can't show you a film, as it didn't occur to me at the time, but I can confirm that on this handbuilt O scale point of mine, the isolated frog (common crossing, whatever...) is very long and my Atlas Plymouths used to stall on it without fail. I fitted a Tam Valley Mono frog juicer, as I have to the other switches on my layout, and as you say, voila; no more stalling. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 (edited) I'm still enjoying building buildings, and not really getting on with the railway side of things. Here's a selection of recent shots. Nothing is fixed yet, I am 'composing' as I go. A quick look down Bahnhoff Strasse. All is quiet on this Sunday afternoon. The station kiosk is open though, so beer and sausages later... It's a lovely autumn afternoon, and we start with a quick visit to the shed, where 78 246 is in light steam, awaiting the Monday rush. The trees are dappling the sunlight on the shed doors. No one is around, the shed staff will arrive later this evening. There's some work being done on the station platforms... and all is quiet at the goods shed. The first freight of the week will arrive early on Monday morning, hopefully behind one of the line's Br50s. While we're exploring the goods shed, the last train of the day arrives - a push pull set with 114 203-3 in charge. Once the few passengers have dispersed, all is quiet again. Continuing along the yard, there are the workshops and coal merchant, and beyond those the railway workers cottages. Looking back from the laderampe, The 114 has run round its train, and propelled the coaches into a siding ready for the Monday departure. It's now down at the shed with the 78. I'm not sure why it didn't just leave them in the platform road - must be to keep a road clear for the first train of the day, which will be an early morning freight arrival. The sun is sinking now, so it's time to check into the Gasthaus - having first partaken of a smashing Ketwurst, Swabian Kartoffelsalat and a Schwarzbier.* * I have no idea if these would ever exist in the same place and time. I once ordered a 'meatloaf' in Munich and was surprised at what actually arrived. It was very nice, but not what I expected. Smashing country, I do hope I can visit again. Edited September 27, 2021 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 9 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 A trackplan, for those that like that kind of thing. (like me!) The staging area is entirely notional at the moment. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacathedrale Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Quite a stark difference to the complexity of the Sunny South layout earlier. A prototype shift obviously can impact your design choices but this is a stark difference for sure. You seemed (?) so very confident and satisfied with the operational complexity of the BR(S) layout, and this couldn't be more opposed. The new layout is wonderful too, but I am curious how you feel overall of the shift in location, layout style, era, etc. ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted September 28, 2021 Author Share Posted September 28, 2021 A good question, young Wilhelm. The change of direction came about from a number of issues that arose when I constructed the BR(S) layout. Negative factors: My shed was about 2 feet too small in each direction to comfortably fit the plan - cramming it in minus those extra inches meant losing the intermediate stations. The design resulted in a 'cockpit' from which to operate the whole layout - this would work if there were two or three operators, so each sat at their specific station and handed trains on to the next station operator. Access via two duckunders was really pushing my luck, and I really missed the walk around with a handheld DCC controller. Also, I was never going to find two other operators, even if the stations had been built. I couldn't fit enough staging tracks to feed the terminus. And even if I could, I wouldn't have been able to operate it without help (or an Automatic Crispin/DCC magic computer programme thing) I couldn't work in an adequate freight yard or system for running freight traffic. The scenery was always going to be uninspiring. I really don't like OO - the proportions are all off, and its surprising how much better the smaller volume of HO models fits more comfortably into my small shed. Finally, the Hornby steamers were, frankly, really disappointing. I also had issues with some of the IR rolling stock that was also disappointing, especially considering the price. However, they did raise enough on the Bay of E which has entirely funded my entire new layout. Positive factors: I've always liked German Railways, and finally could afford the models. With careful selection, everything works together - locos, stock, buildings, accessories. Much more so than trying to mix n match UK models. The buildings are a joy to assemble. UK model building kits are generally abysmal. In my view... It fits the space better - a liveable amount of compression, rather than aggravating cramming. Interesting track and operations, much more so than I could ever get away with with the US HO layout. I'm back to walk-along operations, which I enjoy more than 'signalman' ops. Big steam on a small layout. You can't really run a 9F on a UK BLT, but you can run a BR50 on a DB/DR BLT one. Fewer hang ups - I ended up knowing too much about the US scene to enjoy modelling it. With this, I seem to be more relaxed and not so bothered about being prototypical. The models are blooming brilliant. See my note on valve gear on the Bachmann V2 thread... 1 2 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted October 7, 2021 Author Share Posted October 7, 2021 Until today, my layout was powered by two wires - a red one and a black one. Today I have been installing a third wire - a yellow one. The other end of the yellow wire goes here... 6 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 Hi Dr G-F, Hooray! I hope you’ve sorted the dead frogs out with this. Kind of useful that Roco allow you to fit a frog feed after you’ve laid the track. My apologies for not knowing that, this is because most of my track is the ballasted stuff. My unballasted stuff is still brand new in its boxes! Keep up the really good work, John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Morgan Posted October 8, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 8, 2021 I'm not sure that yellow sticky tape is recommended for fixing woodwork .... 1 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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