Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

Today I finished off all the electrical work on the last four Polperran points. I connected the DCC accessory bus wires (just the two, of course) to each motor, then programmed them. Once I'd done that, and sorted out the "Normal" and "Reverse" directions for each, I added the frog wiring harnesses (three wires for these!) and confirmed that the frog was connected to the correct stock rail in each position.

 

I then shunted the trains in each of roads 1 to 5 to the headshunt and back. All was well.

 

Next, I did a bit of measuring up for the point control panel, which I need to build now to complete Polperran operationally.

[St Enodoc]

I started Polperran point control panel today, after some sketching over the past day or so.

 

With a bit of trial and more error, I put together a basic frame, which will be screwed to the baseboard top.

 

 

The panel itself will sit on the sloping front and will be hinged so that it can be lifted up for access to the insides, which will include the Mini Panel. This is where some of the error lies, as I'm not sure that the current configuration will let the piano hinge fold back far enough for the panel to support itself when it's open. Once I've got the hinge (I thought I'd got a length left over from Paddington and Penzance but, if I have, I can't find it) I'll be able to check and amend if necessary.

 

The panel itself will be white-faced MDF with blue striping tape for the lines, as before.

Edited June 20, 2022 by St Enodoc
Images restored

[Chamby]

3 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I started Polperran point control panel today, after some sketching over the past day or so.

 

With a bit of trial and more error, I put together a basic frame, which will be screwed to the baseboard top.

 

 

The panel itself will sit on the sloping front and will be hinged so that it can be lifted up for access to the insides, which will include the Mini Panel. This is where some of the error lies, as I'm not sure that the current configuration will let the piano hinge fold back far enough for the panel to support itself when it's open. Once I've got the hinge (I thought I'd got a length left over from Paddington and Penzance but, if I have, I can't find it) I'll be able to check and amend if necessary.

 

The panel itself will be white-faced MDF with blue striping tape for the lines, as before.

 

The Duke of Cornwall will not be amused.  One does not approve of such a monstrous carbuncle towering over this AONB!  

 

But then again, Cornwall Council is renowned for its insensitive planning decisions.  Perhaps the panel could be disguised as the refuse incinerator that now stands at St Dennis?  

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Chamby
Tweak

[St Enodoc]

5 minutes ago, Chamby said:

 

The Duke of Cornwall will not be amused.  One does not approve of such a monstrous carbuncle towering over this AONB!  

 

But then again, Cornwall Council is renowned for its insensitive planning decisions.  Perhaps the panel could be disguised as the refuse incinerator that now stands at St Dennis?  

 

 

 

Fear not, Phil - the panel will be behind the backscene (and part of the reason for filling in the back of the panel is to block the view through the hole in the backscene).

[Denbridge]

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I started Polperran point control panel today, after some sketching over the past day or so.

 

With a bit of trial and more error, I put together a basic frame, which will be screwed to the baseboard top.

 

 

The panel itself will sit on the sloping front and will be hinged so that it can be lifted up for access to the insides, which will include the Mini Panel. This is where some of the error lies, as I'm not sure that the current configuration will let the piano hinge fold back far enough for the panel to support itself when it's open. Once I've got the hinge (I thought I'd got a length left over from Paddington and Penzance but, if I have, I can't find it) I'll be able to check and amend if necessary.

 

The panel itself will be white-faced MDF with blue striping tape for the lines, as before.

I've always found it easier to have the hinge at the bottom of panels, finding it better for working on the back of switches etc.

[Oldddudders]

12 minutes ago, Denbridge said:

I've always found it easier to have the hinge at the bottom of panels, finding it better for working on the back of switches etc.

Possibly with a sliding drawer under the baseboard, ready to slide out to support the upturned panel. 

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Denbridge said:

I've always found it easier to have the hinge at the bottom of panels, finding it better for working on the back of switches etc.

That's what I've done on the big panels at Paddington and Penzance, which are mounted on the wall. For this panel, which needs the sloping front to make the face easier to read, I couldn't come up with a way to do that easily. It's not too late, though, so I'll have another think.

 

6 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Possibly with a sliding drawer under the baseboard, ready to slide out to support the upturned panel. 

Yes, perhaps not a complete drawer but just a bar (piece of timber), although fitting that in with the joists and front fence might be a challenge.

[ian]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Yes, perhaps not a complete drawer but just a bar (piece of timber), although fitting that in with the joists and front fence might be a challenge.

 

Or perhaps cords on each side to hold it when open and just drop inside when closed?

[Regularity]

Just a couple of hinged paddles, or even a couple of holes in the font, matching a pair of dowels in the bar?

(Plug and play?)

[St Enodoc]

Australia Day today, so with warm (but not too hot) weather and very little breeze I decided to spray paint the levers for St Enodoc lever frame. After masking and a coat of etching primer, I sprayed the colours using epoxy enamel, as I did at Porthmellyn Road. This gives a nice glossy and hard-wearing finish.

 

The eight black and three blue levers are finished but the 19 red ones will need another coat. That leaves three spares, which I plan to cut down to act as collars at one end of the lever spindle rather than install them complete and paint them white.

 

I'm actually off work tomorrow and Friday too, so (weather permitting) I should finish the spraying over the weekend.

[Barry O]

54 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Australia Day today, so with warm (but not too hot) weather and very little breeze I decided to spray paint the levers for St Enodoc lever frame. After masking and a coat of etching primer, I sprayed the colours using epoxy enamel, as I did at Porthmellyn Road. This gives a nice glossy and hard-wearing finish.

 

The eight black and three blue levers are finished but the 19 red ones will need another coat. That leaves three spares, which I plan to cut down to act as collars at one end of the lever spindle rather than install them complete and paint them white.

 

I'm actually off work tomorrow and Friday too, so (weather permitting) I should finish the spraying over the weekend.

They let you have holidays too??

 

Lots of Kaizen going on.. great!

 

Baz

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

They let you have holidays too??

 

Lots of Kaizen going on.. great!

 

Baz

Well, today's a public holiday and I don't work on Fridays, so I decided to take Thursday off too; as our company's new French owners would say, to "faire le pont".

[Chamby]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Well, today's a public holiday and I don't work on Fridays, so I decided to take Thursday off too; as our company's new French owners would say, to "faire le pont".

 

So will we see locomotives 102-104 heading up your Cornish Riviera Express?

[St Enodoc]

Today was warm and dry again and once the wind had dropped after lunch it was once more ideal for spraying, so I added the second coat to the red levers for St Enodoc.

 

Here they all are, laid out for drying. They're all the same way up, as shown by the black pen marks on the left, so that any runs in the paint won't be on the front, visible, face.

 

While the paint was drying I made a start on the Pentowan baseboards...

 

...or, to be precise, I just erected the shelf at Polperran that will support one end of the Pentowan L-girder frames. There'll be two sets of L-girders, one about 1700mm x 600mm (at the throat end) and the other about 2000mm x 800mm (at the buffer stops end).

 

I also dismantled the Polperran point control panel frame ready for another go, taking into account your comments above, once I can pick up a length of piano hinge (this weekend if it's in stock). If I can get the last of the timber for Pentowan too, then I will so that I can get on with the new L-girders whenever I feel like it.

Edited June 20, 2022 by St Enodoc
Images restored

[St Enodoc]

I got the rest of the wood for the Pentowan L-girders today and also a piano hinge for the Polperran point control panel.

 

Back home, I removed the masking tape from all the St Enodoc levers and stood them up in the polystyrene foam block for the paint to harden off. I set them out in the order that they will be fitted to the frame.

 

Of course, this order can be read both ways and here is the array set out in "Modratec" order, that is to say with the lever frame assembled according to the instructions with the levers at the back and the locking in front. In this picture, lever 1 is back left and lever 30 is front right. The three spare levers are 1, 2 and 3 in this configuration.

 

The order is reversed when the frame is built with the levers in front and the locking behind, which I prefer. Here, in "signal box" order, the spares are 28, 29 and 30. This means that I will be able to squeeze the frame hard over to the right, saving a bit of space at the Up end of St Enodoc.

 

On the way home earlier, I dropped into the local model shop to buy some Humbrol thinners. They had just received some of the new Peco Loco Lift Flexi kits, so I bought one on impulse to try it out.

 

I think it's rather good - certainly better-engineered and sturdier than the older foam-sided version.

 

It all clips together firmly and you can assemble it for any of five different gauges from N/009 to EM, by adjusting the spacers between the sides and then securing them with small screws.

 

Once you have driven your loco in you slide in a plastic end stop at each end to stop the loco sliding out.

 

The device worked well on both Peco Code 75 flat-bottomed and SMP bullhead track.

 

They're not cheap though, so unless I win the lottery I think I'll just get a few - this single length one, to change the panniers tanks round on the short clay trains; a double length version (which is just two singles joined end-to-end) for Polperran to simplify moving locos from one end of their trains to the other and turning them where required; and possibly another double to de-risk the operation of transferring locos between Paddington and Penzance when the sequence requires it.

Edited June 20, 2022 by St Enodoc
Images restored

[Mikkel]

Thanks for a couple of useful tips there. I assume, the foam block is home made?  The new loco lift does look sturdier, am getting ideas now...

[St Enodoc]

11 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

Thanks for a couple of useful tips there. I assume, the foam block is home made?  The new loco lift does look sturdier, am getting ideas now...

Yes, the foam block is just an off-cut with the holes pressed in.

[The Fatadder]

You’ve now got me wondering if the double length version will be long enough to take the Bachmann crane and solve my storage issues….

[St Enodoc]

28 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

You’ve now got me wondering if the double length version will be long enough to take the Bachmann crane and solve my storage issues….

I don't think it will, Rich, but the system is modular, so you can join as many units together as you like (within reason...). I didn't measure the overall length today - I can do that tomorrow - but the single unit will hold a pannier but not a small Prairie, if that's any help.

[acg5324]

43 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

You’ve now got me wondering if the double length version will be long enough to take the Bachmann crane and solve my storage issues….

Each segment is 150mm long.

[Neal Ball]

47 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

You’ve now got me wondering if the double length version will be long enough to take the Bachmann crane and solve my storage issues….

On the Peco YouTube channel it says you can connect a maximum of 4 together.

 

The double unit is ref PT61 at 300mm £16.50 at Hattons. https://www.hattons.co.uk/658736/peco_products_pt_61_multi_scale_loco_lift_and_storage_unit_double_for_oo_n_oo9_ho_and_hom_scales/stockdetail

[Keith Addenbrooke]

37 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

I don't think it will, Rich, but the system is modular, so you can join as many units together as you like (within reason...). I didn't measure the overall length today - I can do that tomorrow - but the single unit will hold a pannier but not a small Prairie, if that's any help.

 

19 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

On the Peco YouTube channel it says you can connect a maximum of 4 together.

 

The double unit is ref PT61 at 300mm £16.50 at Hattons. https://www.hattons.co.uk/658736/peco_products_pt_61_multi_scale_loco_lift_and_storage_unit_double_for_oo_n_oo9_ho_and_hom_scales/stockdetail

With apologies for the thread hijack, is it possible to ask what the dimensions of t(e loading gauge are - neither the Peco website nor YouTube video specify.  Hattons confirm the 150mm / 300mm (double) length and gives a width of 80mm but not sure if that’s the external size of the product.  I note the video shows American H0, but my specific question is with overhead electrics in mind?  Just wondered - good to see the current rate of progresss on baseboard building, Keith.

[St Enodoc]

47 minutes ago, acg5324 said:

Each segment is 150mm long.

The sliding stops are set back from the ends so it's not as simple as 150 x the number of modules. I'll check tomorrow.

 

43 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

On the Peco YouTube channel it says you can connect a maximum of 4 together.

That might be tight for the crane (or a Garratt...).

[St Enodoc]

23 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

 

With apologies for the thread hijack, is it possible to ask what the dimensions of t(e loading gauge are - neither the Peco website nor YouTube video specify.  Hattons confirm the 150mm / 300mm (double) length and gives a width of 80mm but not sure if that’s the external size of the product.  I note the video shows American H0, but my specific question is with overhead electrics in mind?  Just wondered - good to see the current rate of progresss on baseboard building, Keith.

I think the 80mm will be the external width, Keith. Again, I'll check tomorrow.

[checkrail]

New Peco loco lifts look good. Thanks for showing us.  Now, if only I had some straight track on the layout .....