Buckingham West

[Richard Mawer]

A TRIP FROM BUCKINGHAM WEST TO BANBURY

 

Ray and some others have asked for a tour. Basically when standing at the room doorway looking in, Buckingham West is at the middle level in the centre of the room. Evenley is along the far wall again on middle level. Charlton junction is at low level below the approaches to Buckingham by the front wall and finally Banbury (storage loops) is on the right on low level. So here goes!

 

 

This is Buckinham West (yet to be built), looking towards the buffers. The coaches are where platford 2 (of 3) will be. The goods yard is to the left and loco yard to the right.

 

 

 

Leaving Buckingham, over the points and swinging left around 180 degrees.

 

 

 

This is the 180 degree corner. In time, Brackley road will be positioned over this on the top level. See later.

 

 

 

The line then runs down the right hand wall above and to side of the storage loops.

 

 

 

Down the right hand wall towards Evenley.

 

 

 

This is the newly laid approaches to Evenley. The quarry line will be "off scene" adjacent to the wall.

 

 

 

Around the corner into Evenley

 

 

 

Evenley with the goods yard on the left and private sidings on the right.

 

 

 

The far end of Evenley with the double junction off to the Brackley Road branch on the right. The goods loop trails in on the left.

 

 

 

The line the swings left over the bridge over the circuits.

 

 

 

The bridge.

 

 

 

The line (left) descends the incline. This is along the left of the room.

 

 

 

Around a 90 degree to the left over the lifting flap and it dives under the approaches to Buckingham and over Charlton Junction.

 

 

 

Charlton Junction. The line now joins the continuous run.

 

 

 

Charlton Junction seen from above Buckingham West.

 

 

 

The continuous run (lowest level) runs around to the left of the storage loops. The line here will be in a cutting. The storage loops will be under the hill at the top of the cutting.

 

 

 

The storage loops are along the right side of the room. At the end, the line swings 90 degrees left in front and below Evenley.

 

 

 

In front of Evenley.

 

 

 

The line (continuous run) goes under the bridge (carrying the line from Evenley).

 

 

 

The line is now parallel to the incline along the left of the room.

 

 

 

Around the corner again and back to Charlton Junction.

 

 

 

At Charlton Junction you could go left round the continuous run again or right and into Banbury (as we will do).

 

 

 

The will go into a tunnel and through the points ladder into the 10 storage loops.

 

 

 

The loops.

 

 

 

The loops.

 

 

 

The exit ladder.

 

 

 

After the storage loops the line enters the dumbbell and dives under the right side of Evenley.

 

 

 

The low level dumbbell swings round under Evenley and back parallel to the storage loops.

 

 

 

 

 

The reversing line running back next to the loops. Note the middle level line between Buckingham and Evenley (yet to lay the track) on the left. This is the right side wall looking back towards the front wall.

 

 

 

And back to Charlton Junction going the other way, back towards Evenley.

 

 

 

Ok, lets go back to Evenley and the branch, it leaves off to the far corner.

 

 

 

The line will climb up from middle level to high level along the left wall towards the lifting flap. This has to be built. See the baseboard propped up.

 

 

 

Over the flap, it will turn left and cross here at the highest level 3" above Buckingham West and 6" above the continuous run.

 

 

 

Finally, Brackley Road will be built on the high level over the 180 degree turn from Buckingham West.

 

Thats it folks!!

Edited December 22, 2015 by Richard Mawer

[trustytrev]

Hello Richard,

                  What is the foam underlay you are using and where do you get it please?

trustytrev.

[Ray H]

Many thanks for the guided tour Richard.

 

That is sure going to need some attention during serious operating sessions!

[Richard Mawer]

Hello Richard,

                  What is the foam underlay you are using and where do you get it please?

trustytrev.

Hi

 

It is 3mm closed cell foam intended as underlay for laminate flooring. It came from Homebase and was about £30 for the roll. I'm still on the same roll.

 

Rich

[Richard Mawer]

Many thanks for the guided tour Richard.

 

That is sure going to need some attention during serious operating sessions!

Hi Ray. Yes hopefully going to be fun. Hopefully possible single handed too.

 

Rich

[Richard Mawer]

If you're spreading PVA under the track, would it not make sense to get the ballast down before the glue dries?

Hi

 

I am aware that some people do that. I'm not confident enough with either the colour mix or to be able to make sure it is neat and tidy enough whilst concentrating on the track alignment.

 

I want to spray the track before I ballast. I still need to try various spray colours. I'm thinking either sleeper grime or rust.

 

Also I want to make sure its all working correctly with no clashes of clearances, dodgy electrics etc.before I paint and ballast.

 

When it comes to ballasting, I will be trying out copydex or vinyl glue as recommended by Ray of this parish. Although the track is glued to the foam with PVA it still has some flexibility due to the foam. When I tried some ballast with PVA, it seemed to lock the track hard onto the foam. It took out all the flex. I don't want that.

 

Rich

[Richard Mawer]

Actually chaps, I changed my planregarding the backing signal at Buckingham West. No one is going to be able to see the indicator. Only the back will be visible. So I'm going to build a more standard GWR backing signal and mechanical indicator.

 

 

 

The indicator will not work, but the signal will be operated by any one of 6 levers/switches. Each one will pull off the signal and delivery power to the correct route, so the right lever will still need to be pulled.

 

Rich

Edited December 22, 2015 by Richard Mawer

[Richard Mawer]

RUNNING IN

 

Today I glued down the foam over the majority of the Buckingham West baseboard and laid out the two key sets of points and a couple of yards of track just to ensure I'd got the angles right for the station throat. In this photo taken from the buffers, platforms 2 and 3 stretch towards us down the middle. The ladder of points for the loco yard are on the left. The turntable will be at the far left just beyond the light blue weight.

 

 

 

I also tested some of the older locos (with larger flanges) on the code 83 track on the Heljan turntable and I am relieved that they run ok. I was not looking forward to having to relay it in code 100.

 

I also started running in some of the old locos that haven't been run in years - some never!

 

This is a Hornby Saint. Yes I know its a dreadful model, wrong dimensions and lacking in detail (who nicked the lamp irons for example?), but as my line is a secondary route in the mid 1930s I am avoiding Halls and Granges. For my expresses I have a City (presuming their scrapping was delayed a few years), a Star, a Saint and the most modern (for the era) loco on the line, a Castle (albeit an old Airfix version).

 

The Saint was bought second hand off Ebay. I've been lucky (I think), but its not something I would recommend. After a while she loosened up and ran quite well. The main issue is insufficient pick ups. Does anyone know why Hornby used to use the loco wheels for one rail only, and the tender for the other? It's obvious why the tender couldn't pick up both rails: the traction tyres, but what's wrong with using both sets of loco driving wheels? I need to modify it.

 

 

In this photo you can see a Mainline mogul in Evenley on the level above. Its only 3" higher but it looks miles up. This loco also ran ok after the first few minutes. It needed some Track Magic on the wheels first. Again there is a scarcity of pick ups. I will add some to the tender. It sparks a bit which makes some of the servos twitch. Hopefully that will lessen when its got more pick ups and I've cleaned the motor brushes.

 

I also got one of the Dean Goods out. This is the Hornby version that I've had for about 10 or more years but has never turned a wheel. It ran perfectly straight from the box.

 

[Richard Mawer]

Happy New Year everyone!

 

I have had a couple of fun afternoons with guests trying out the line, particularly whether my controls are intuitive. I am pleased to say my guests picked it all up very quickly, so all is looking good.

 

I only have a few locos and items of rolling stock out, so yes this is a Director tender first on a goods. Behind it, just out of shot is the Dukedog with 2 coaches.

 

 

 

Even though trains had to run round at Evenley, my guests still enjoyed sending and receiving trains. It did however show up the need for extra pickups on the Saint and 43xx. The poor pickups meant there is sparking which makes the servos chatter. The Dean Goods, Director and Dukedog behaved very well. While the Director and Dukedog are new, the Dean Goods is old, but clearly has better pickups.

 

The coaches I rewheeled run well, but some of the others with older wheels don't like some of the points and crossings. This is presumably due to coarser wheel standards. More work required on the rolling stock too, but first track work.

[Neal Ball]

...... The poor pickups meant there is sparking which makes the servos chatter. .....

 

Could it be that there is oil inside the wheel and pick-up area? - Not sure you would usually expect sparking...

[Richard Mawer]

...... The poor pickups meant there is sparking which makes the servos chatter. .....

 

Could it be that there is oil inside the wheel and pick-up area? - Not sure you would usually expect sparking...

Hi Neal,

 

Thanks for the thoughts. I don't mean big, visible sparks like lightning flashes. Sorry, I should have been more specific. I mean sparks in an electric/electronics fashion: poor contacts causing emf interferance. I think its just general crud built up over the years. These locos haven't turned a wheel for about 10 years or more. A damn good clean of the wheels, pick ups and motor brushes should do the trick, but I still need more pick ups, eg on the tenders. For example the moguls have pickups on the front and centre drivers only. Thats hardly a long wheel base.

 

If I can't stop the production of fm/emf from the pickups or motor brushes I will fit small capacitors to the locos or accross the track.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

Edited January 4, 2016 by Richard Mawer

[Neal Ball]

Good luck with that then

[Richard Mawer]

Running in is still underway. Today my Bulldog has been out and about. This is an old K's kit with a Mashima motor and gearbox, Romford wheels and rods. The old motor was rough and the wheels coarse. It was finished and painted for me by Stan Chandler at my club, HWDMRS. I have plates to name it Pershore Plum.

 

 

 

Over the last few nights I have made the Ratio signals I need for Evenley and Charlton. I still have to add the baseplates and servos. I also made the fixed Distants for the branch.

 

 

I have also made the Ratio cattle dock for Evenley.

 

 

Tonight I painted it. I'm quite impressed even if I do say so myself.

 

 

This afternoon I managed to finish the track laying around the curve to join Buckingham West to Evenley. I added the headshunt too. I still have the electrics to do. I have put an isolated section at the end of the headshunt. This will have a diode across it so that locos stop when heading towards the buffers, but can drive back to the yard. Once across the Charlton Junctions on the bridge, all three tracks will enter a tunnel which will be under Brackley Road. The end of the headshunt will therefore be out of sight.

 

 

[Richard Mawer]

A trip to the Kidlington exhibition today led to me buying 3 Ratio 4 wheelers. They are better finished and painted than I think I could do. They run reasonably well too. They just needed the couplings sorting which I have done. They will form part of the Workman's and branch sets. During the week, there will be an auto train with either a 48xx or 64xx shuttling between Brackley Road and Evenley, meeting the mainline stoppers. On Saturday there are fewer branch trains. Of course they meet fewer stoppers, but they also continue onto Buckingham West, so are formed of more coaches. Of course the stock is more antiquated.

 

 

 

I spent the rest of this evening attaching the operating wires and servos to one of the bracket signals. This is SO fiddly I nearly binned the whole thing. Thank goodness just one more to do....apart from the three arm plus Backing signal gantry over Buckingham West. Heaven knows how I am going to do that. I take my hat off to you guys who make all these complicated signals!!!

 

[Neal Ball]

Great update Rich.

 

Seeing the servo on that signal.... would you like to wire a few more up :-)

[Richard Mawer]

Ha ha Neal, I've got plenty more to do myself! Luckily only one more bracket, but then I need to make a gantry with 3 brackets and a Backing signal.

 

Right now I need to readjust the settings for the facing points at Charlton Junc. They have either drifted or I never set the switch blades hard enough over. I'm derailing too many things.

 

More work is happening on loco pickups at the mo as well.

[Richard Mawer]

A TALE OF TWO MOGULS

 

Many moons ago, with Buckingham West MK1, I got my 2 Mainline Moguls out. The first one went round the circuit a few times and then threw the conrods. It turns out that older Mainline Chassis have a habit of the driver axles splitting, throwing the quartering. With a Bachmann chassis purchased, that Mogul was fixed and rather better off.

 

My second Mogul is of the same vintage. However, before the axles could split I glued them. Problem solved (fingers crossed). They were then packed away for the move.

 

Now on Buckingham West MK2, they were running, but didn't like the points. The pick up base was too short. I needed to add some more pick ups. I have glued two copper clad strips under the tender and soldered phospher bronze wire to gently rub on the front and rear tender wheels. I then soldered wires to the motor, passing through the front of the tender and up under the body.

 

Last night they were both happily running round the layout, not stalling on the points.

 

I do still have a problem. The mainline chassis has stopped. I need to investigate, but perhaps I've dislodged the motor alignment. I'm not sure, but there's no spare room under the loco body!

 

I also need to add the replacement number plates and change the bufferbeam number. We can't have 2 identical locos!

 

 

 

[Richard Mawer]

Ok, so I need help. Yes its been said before!

 

My Mianline Mogul (43xx) is playing up. At first after extra pick ups, it was fine. Then it stopped. For ages it just sat on the rails, effectively dead. No buzzing or anything when power was applied. So I took the body off, just the same. If I handled it though I could feel some electricty through the metal of the split chassis, but no motion or sign of life from the motor. When stripped down further - no body shell or tender (I disconnected the extra pick up wires), it was still dead. I pushed it, wiggled it, pulled it and no life. Then when just about to hit it, it started. It now runs round the circuit good as gold.

 

Anyone got any views before I start to put it back together - no doubt to find it won't work again?

[Silver Sidelines]

Might just be that the brushes are not in electrical contact with the commutator.   Has oil seeped onto the face of the commutator or perhaps the brushes are sticking in their guide tubes - again old oil?

 

Some nice work

 

Regards

 

Ray

Edited January 20, 2016 by Silver Sidelines

[Richard Mawer]

MOGULS, SERVOS AND PLATFORMS

 

Last post I was talking about adding pick ups to the tenders of the 43xxs. This is the first one with the tender wires soldered onto the motor.

 

 

 

I got the second one, a Mainline Version, to work occasionally, but by no means reliably. It had a habit of playing dead more often than not. I couldn't fathom what the problem was at all. So in the spirit of "If at first you don't suceed....." I binned it! And bought a replacement Bachmann chassis off ebay. I still have the tender with the extra pickups, so just need to solder the wires to the motor.

 

Now I have two Bachmann chassis'd Mainline bodied 43xxs. I have replacement number plates from 247 Developments so will change the identity soon - and will remove the orange lines off the cylinders!

 

 

 

I've also been sorting my servo power supplies. I was getting chatter and twitch at power up, which puts undue stress on the points and signals. With help from contacts in MERG, I found out that each servo can pull 0.5 amp at power up. If the power supply doesn't have enough current rating it can cause the voltage to drop on the processor on the Servo4 board and then the servos twitch.

 

I have done two things to prevent it. Firstly I have bought a 12 volt 10 amp Switch Mode Power Supply (the sort used for laptops or plasma screens) from Maplin. That should allow 20 servos to power up at once without twitch. Secondly, as I already have 25 servos and loads more to fit, I have divided the Servo4 boards into 2 districts and put an on/off switch into the second district. Now when I plug the layout in, half the servos power up, then I flick the switch and the second half power up. No twitch!

 

Once powered up, the servos take very little current.

 

My final bit of work has been to build the platforms for Evenley. These are my first Metcalfe kits. They were easy, but I should have trimmed the white edge off first. I did on the rear platform. The front one has white lines across it in places at the joins. I still have the spear fence to add to the nearest edge. The line on the near side of the platform is the goods loop. I am going to use Ratio Spear fencing. Should this be black?

 

 

 

I need to make the station buildings now.

 

I also need to colour wash the platform walls to give them an ironstone look. I have no idea how to do that yet. Putting a very wet wash on cardboard doesn't sound like a good idea unless you want wiggly cardboard! Any ideas how to do it?

 

 

 

I'm going to have to get the paints out. Not only for the footbridge and to finish off the cattle dock, but I think the signal box is wrong for 1930s GWR isn't it? The water column arm is a bit pink too!

 

[Neal Ball]

For toning down the platform walls you could use the weathering powders made I think by Tamiya. Or it might easier to scan a piece of wall into the computer, colour it and print out. Or of course dry brush using some acrylic.

 

The signal box should be light and dark stone for the 30's don't worry too much, mine is also chocolate and cream!

 

Good to see the progress Richard.

[Richard Mawer]

Thanks Neal.

 

Progress is annoyingly slow at present. I may be running too many lines of development at once.

 

Thanks for the colour advice. I will have a stab at dry brushing the platform walls. Starting on the rear face!

 

Rich

[Silver Sidelines]

Hi Richard, Good progress -  two steps forward and one back etc.  Good move to source some Bachmann mechanisms.  I still have three Mainline shells with Bachmann mechanisms.  The central black lining might be missing but since the overall width is smaller - I think still looks good.  How we were ever persuaded to buy Mainline mechanisms is a mystery.  I suppose there wasn't an alernative.

 

I was interested in your ex GWR footbridge.  I am guessing the Hornby Skaledale variant?  I have a couple of the earlier (R481) ex Pola footbridges (made and unmade) which I need to cobble together to fit my platform spacing.  I am thinking that the plastic variety might be more delicate looking?

 

Keep posting.

 

Regards

 

Ray

Edited February 11, 2016 by Silver Sidelines

[Richard Mawer]

Hi Ray,

 

Thank you for your kind words.

 

The footbridge is indeed Hornby, but it's their Hagley Footbridge. The box doesn't say Skaledale. Its resin.

 

I think I got it from Rails of Sheffield, but it could have been ebay. It was hard to track down though. Shame about the colour scheme. Its going to be a challenge to paint correctly.

 

Kind regards

 

Rich

[Richard Mawer]

SIGNALLING

 

Today I mounted the 2 brackets at Charlton Junction and connected the servos to the MERG Servo4s. The arms are linked to the 4 route switches. They show the chosen routes. The main and branch arms perform the ohvious task of mimicing the facing points, but when a route is set to cross the othe line, both arms go to danger. Its a very effective way of visually checking the point settings from afar.

 

 

The up line bracket. I need to adjust "Danger".

 

 

 

 

The down lines. The single home at the foot of the incline will be slightly up a cutting side, hence slightly elevated. It has yet to be connected.

 

I have also built an Airfix gantry for the entrance to Buckingham West.