RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 28, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 28, 2021 23 hours ago, Michael Edge said: Don't worry about the P number, as far as I know they were assigned more or less at random after nationalisation. And some vehicles inevitably would have had a different number on the other side 1 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted July 28, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2021 5 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said: And some vehicles inevitably would have had a different number on the other side Some of mine did - intentionally - on a previous layout that featured reverse loops. Warship D816 Eclipse/D823 Hermes was one. Some of the coaches were different colours on each side, too. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 20 hours ago, St Enodoc said: Some of mine did - intentionally - on a previous layout that featured reverse loops. Warship D816 Eclipse/D823 Hermes was one. Some of the coaches were different colours on each side, too If I understood correctly, a Scottish friend has been known to have plain plasticard on the back side of wagons - thereby allowing two to be built from one kit. Canny. 5 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chamby Posted July 29, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2021 23 minutes ago, aardvark said: If I understood correctly, a Scottish friend has been known to have plain plasticard on the back side of wagons - thereby allowing two to be built from one kit. Canny. But they would have to buy a second kit anyway, to model both the wagon ends that are still visible... and what about the underframe and wheel sets? It sounds much more trouble than it’s worth. I’m not convinced on that one. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chamby Posted July 29, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2021 (edited) . Edited July 29, 2021 by Chamby Duplicate post - owing to excessive lag on website 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktoix Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Sensible to limit current to uncouplers. This is what happens when your push button sticks, you don't notice and wander off into the garden. Nick 2 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted July 29, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2021 16 minutes ago, Nicktoix said: Sensible to limit current to uncouplers. This is what happens when your push button sticks, you don't notice and wander off into the garden. Nick When the Rev. Peter Denny built early versions of Buckingham, he used home wound solenoid coils to work his signals. There are still some fairly large, maybe 6 inch diameter patches of charred areas of baseboard under Grandborough Junction, with what look like the remains of a cardboard or wooden mounting in the centre. The layout was, at one time, equipped with a fire extinguisher mounted on one of the legs. All the signals are now operated by mechanical methods (cord and a return spring) so hopefully the fire risk is no longer an issue, although the block bells still have the home wound coils to make the bells work. 9 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted July 29, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2021 1 hour ago, Nicktoix said: Sensible to limit current to uncouplers. This is what happens when your push button sticks, you don't notice and wander off into the garden. Nick Thanks Nick. I've stopped using push-buttons for uncouplers, mainly because of that. I now use biased off-(on) toggle switches and also freewheel diodes across the coils. 5 1 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin S-C Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 On 27/07/2021 at 12:25, Michael Edge said: Don't worry about the P number, as far as I know they were assigned more or less at random after nationalisation. They certainly are on my layout. If anyone walks up and can prove I'm wrong I'll probably buy them a pint and award them a Sad B*stard of the Year badge. 1 1 1 10 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post St Enodoc Posted July 30, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) Today I started to convert the mocked-up track alignment for the single line and Treloggan Junction into real plywood track bases. First, I fixed the second Polperran baseboard to the secondary joists and added a couple of cross-joists to support it and the Polperran - St Enodoc (loop) line trackbase, then added a further piece of trackbase at the St Enodoc end of the triangle. These are all joined by ply fishplates underneath and supported temporarily by various random pieces of 42mm x 19mm. The large triangular piece of ply might be big enough to form the Polperran - Pentowan (branch) trackbase and also support Treloggan Junction signal box, which will face the Pentowan - St Enodoc (main) line. I then moved to the St Enodoc end of the single line and added the trackbase for the rest of the transition curve and the start of the 12000mm radius curve. The missing link is just under 2m long and I should have enough odd pieces of ply to complete the trackbase for that. Once the horizontal alignment is fixed, I will sort out the continuation of the 1/100 gradient to Treloggan Junction, where it levels out. Then I can trim and fair in the edges of the trackbase before laying the cork and foam trackbed itself. My current target is to be able to run the long china-clay train all the way to Polperran in time for our September running session (if we are allowed to hold it...). Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc images restored 29 1 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted July 30, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 30, 2021 It must be good to see all your plans now starting to take shape in reality. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
magpac Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 Well it's taken a couple of weeks, but that was an informative, amusing and enlightening meander through 205 pages A fantastic layout and I'm looking forward to watching it develop further. 3 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted July 30, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 30, 2021 58 minutes ago, Stubby47 said: It must be good to see all your plans now starting to take shape in reality. Yes it is, Stu. Although the double track main line is fun, the really interesting part of the layout to operate will be the branch. I'm looking forward to that very much. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted July 30, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 30, 2021 22 minutes ago, magpac said: Well it's taken a couple of weeks, but that was an informative, amusing and enlightening meander through 205 pages A fantastic layout and I'm looking forward to watching it develop further. Thanks, and thanks for all the 'likes' you've been dropping in along the way. Informative, amusing and enlightening is encouraging - that's just the way I like my railway modelling. 6 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
magpac Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 On 10/04/2020 at 11:13, St Enodoc said: Then I took the van out to the railway to check that it would run, before applying the transfers. Some of you might be getting ahead of me here... Well, this is a 70 ft van with 12-wheeled bogies. The bogie wheelbase is 48mm and the bogie pivot centres are 193mm. So... . . . ...on 30" radius curves, the outermost wheels foul the insides of the solebars. One comment that did make me laugh out loud (from April last year, so I feel a bit 'delayed' bringing it up) was the above: I was thinking "Well, what else would you expect!!" That's a nice looking coach, BTW. 3 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted July 30, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 30, 2021 7 minutes ago, magpac said: One comment that did make me laugh out loud (from April last year, so I feel a bit 'delayed' bringing it up) was the above: I was thinking "Well, what else would you expect!!" That's a nice looking coach, BTW. Well, well - I don't think anyone else spotted that - including me! Yes, it is a nice looking coach. I have no idea who built it originally but they knew what they were about. The very few odd distortions and misalignments are, I suspect, a result of old age (the model's, not mine). Thanks. 4 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post St Enodoc Posted July 31, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 31, 2021 (edited) There is now a complete run of plywood trackbase from St Enodoc to Treloggan Junction and Polperran. To make the most of the offcuts of 9mm ply, I made the trackbase in shortish sections and joined them with fishplates in the usual way. Although the horizontal alignment is now finalised, the vertical still isn't so all of this length is still resting on temporary lengths of timber. From the St Enodoc end, the transition curve ends roughly halfway along the pale piece of board, after which the 12000mm curve extends to about halfway along the next, darker, piece. The track is then straight until just on the Treloggan Junction side of the label, where the 12000mm curve of opposite flexure takes it to Treloggan Junction itself. The wider sections near the middle are to support the platform and pagoda hut at Indian Queens Halt. This will be based on some of those on the Newquay-Chacewater line, with a sloping path down from a nearby overbridge. I need to make a short infill section at the St Enodoc end, as a result of changing the location of the tangent point on the curve round to the station. Trimming the Treloggan Junction boards can wait until I've set out the other two sides of the triangle. In other news, today was much milder and less windy that of late, so I sprayed a coat of matt black on the ECC wagon's underframe and a coat of matt polyurethane varnish on the body, to seal the transfers. The wagon is now all ready for weathering. Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc images restored 27 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted July 31, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 31, 2021 A question, for those in the know - are Cobalts supposed to make such a loud humming noise at the end of the throw? I know they are a stall-motor device, but the noise is quite a bit louder than I thought it would be and I fear for the longevity of the motor. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TrevorP1 Posted July 31, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2021 1 hour ago, Stubby47 said: A question, for those in the know - are Cobalts supposed to make such a loud humming noise at the end of the throw? I know they are a stall-motor device, but the noise is quite a bit louder than I thought it would be and I fear for the longevity of the motor. Never heard that from mine… 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Stubby47 said: A question, for those in the know - are Cobalts supposed to make such a loud humming noise at the end of the throw? I know they are a stall-motor device, but the noise is quite a bit louder than I thought it would be and I fear for the longevity of the motor. Hi Stu In my experience some are noisy & some aren't...... I've not used many but a couple have been very noisy while some are as quiet as Tortoise motors...... The noisy ones have lasted as long as the quiet ones so the noise has not yet affected the life of the motor yet..... I personally prefer Tortoise motors as I've had less issues with them....& I generally find them quieter...... All the tortoise motors I've used....Probably about 50 on various layouts....Have been second hand & so far I have had one that clicks & one with a faulty internal switch.... I started using brand new Cobalts with mixed success & have thus reverted to Tortoises..... I know some swear by them as being the Bees Knees .....I also swore but at some of them.... The three second hand Cobalt's I bought all ended up burnt out....I never found out why even though they were wired up correctly....... As I say.....Some people love them.......I personally don't.....Just my experience & I am sure others have the opposite experience to me..... Cheers Bill Edited July 31, 2021 by treggyman To add sentence 2 1 6 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TrevorP1 Posted July 31, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2021 4 hours ago, Stubby47 said: A question, for those in the know - are Cobalts supposed to make such a loud humming noise at the end of the throw? I know they are a stall-motor device, but the noise is quite a bit louder than I thought it would be and I fear for the longevity of the motor. Sorry to have been brief in my first reply - I was being urged that it was time to go out… I haven’t any humming noises as you suggest. Most of mine are fairly noisy but in a satisfying mechanical way. In fact a railwayman friend suggested they were like the real thing in that respect! Reliability has been good so far once the adjustment has been secured. It’s a shame there isn’t better provision for this. I’ve resorted to glue, tiny self tappers, even a cable tie - horrible bodges! 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted July 31, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2021 5 hours ago, Stubby47 said: A question, for those in the know - are Cobalts supposed to make such a loud humming noise at the end of the throw? I know they are a stall-motor device, but the noise is quite a bit louder than I thought it would be and I fear for the longevity of the motor. I suggest that you try a different power supply. I once installed some Cobalts on a layout and they were buzzing slightly and it turned out to be that the power supply was not a very smooth DC. Also, it is worth checking the output of your supply with a voltmeter. Some give out quite a bit more than you might expect under a low loading. We checked a unit the other day (an old H & M Clipper) as we wanted a 12v DC supply and with a small load on the output the voltage was 19v. That was on the track output. Too many unsmooth volts going into Cobalts isn't a good idea and a smooth regulated supply is better. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted July 31, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 31, 2021 I was using the 12v dc output from an H&M Clipper... So I'll find a new supply & re-try. Many thanks. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted August 1, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 1, 2021 9 hours ago, Stubby47 said: A question, for those in the know - are Cobalts supposed to make such a loud humming noise at the end of the throw? I know they are a stall-motor device, but the noise is quite a bit louder than I thought it would be and I fear for the longevity of the motor. No. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted August 1, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 1, 2021 5 hours ago, treggyman said: Hi Stu In my experience some are noisy & some aren't...... I've not used many but a couple have been very noisy while some are as quiet as Tortoise motors...... The noisy ones have lasted as long as the quiet ones so the noise has not yet affected the life of the motor yet..... I personally prefer Tortoise motors as I've had less issues with them....& I generally find them quieter...... All the tortoise motors I've used....Probably about 50 on various layouts....Have been second hand & so far I have had one that clicks & one with a faulty internal switch.... I started using brand new Cobalts with mixed success & have thus reverted to Tortoises..... I know some swear by them as being the Bees Knees .....I also swore but at some of them.... The three second hand Cobalt's I bought all ended up burnt out....I never found out why even though they were wired up correctly....... As I say.....Some people love them.......I personally don't.....Just my experience & I am sure others have the opposite experience to me..... Cheers Bill 5 hours ago, TrevorP1 said: Sorry to have been brief in my first reply - I was being urged that it was time to go out… I haven’t any humming noises as you suggest. Most of mine are fairly noisy but in a satisfying mechanical way. In fact a railwayman friend suggested they were like the real thing in that respect! Reliability has been good so far once the adjustment has been secured. It’s a shame there isn’t better provision for this. I’ve resorted to glue, tiny self tappers, even a cable tie - horrible bodges! In my experience you can hear them whirring away quite loudly when in operation but once they have thrown completely they are silent. 2 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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