RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 24, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 24, 2016 I think they did have a version of the passable disc. I believe the red aspect was replaced by a white. I'm pretty sure there was one at a box between Wrexham and Shrewsbury. I'll have a squint through the signalling thread an see what's there.. JF Ah, now that is something completely different. GWR 'white light' ground discs could be passed at danger under the instruction of a Guard or shunter who had obtained permission to do so from the signalman. BUT they were used in running lines and not at the exit from sidings and they always read to a disc showing a red light. Thus you could have, say, 3 successive trailing connections each with its own ground signal and in every case the signal would only be pulled off (in fact in many cases with earlier locking could only be pulled off) with the points standing reverse. So in order to avoid passing a signal at danger from the 18909s onwards such signals were converted from red light to white light but always the final one in any succession would show a red light when standing at danger. They were quite common well into the 1960s and some have lasted much longer. Hi Jon So, "pass at danger only when shunting into headshunt", sums it up? And what did the GW do? Presumably a stacked dummy with one of the discs reading into the headshunt, and one reading onto the main - or would it have been a proper (starter?) signal for the latter and a shunt arm for the headshunt? Cheers Simon The simple answer is 'tell me a date for it' and I will tell you (hopefully) how many variants on different themes were in use for that purpose at that time. It all got much simpler from 1950 when yellow discs arrived on the WR for the first time (and of course later one ground position light signals with a yellow light instead of a red but i suspect that's rather too modern for you ). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Thanks Mike, The date of my layout will be 1930 - 34, but as I had no idea that this "could be done", I don't know if my track plan would need it, and I'm about a million years from signalling anything, please don't lose any sleep over it! Really only of intellectual curiosity. Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 (edited) Although I've done quite a few of these LMS ground signals, I've never done a triple one. Thankfully there's no lamps to fit on these ones but I am using some really small servos from Hobbyking. The single ground signal is an old one I found in my stocks of bits and the triple is a new build and both are MSE kits.First up with the single one was to strip the rather thick paint off the disc and prepare the base strip ready for fitting to a bigger plate.The 2 structures were then soldered to baseplates so that the servos have somewhere to fit.The single on then got masked off and a new coat of white sprayed on the disc.The tiny servos are just the job for ground signals and are in fact more than sufficiently powerful for probably any O gauge semaphore signal. The only reason I haven't standardised on them is that each one needs modifying to couple to any of the standard available driver boards. The tiny little plug needs to be snipped off and replaced with a larger one compatible with the pins on the board.It's a bit of a faff but this is how I do it...Here's the two sizes shown. I'm using some wire that I had in stock and I've treated myself to a crimp tool and some plugs/pins to make up my own extension leads for servos. Of course, the wires are of a different colour convention. So.. the little plugs pins are held in the plug by 3 little plastic teeth. Run a craft knife over them and ping them off. This will release the 3 wires which can be pulled out. Leave the metal pins on the end as they are easy to solder to and save you having to bare the wires.It then helps to hold down the wires from the servo to stop them moving about while you solder the extension wires to them.I prepared a shortish length of new servo wire with a plug...The joints will have to be insulated so 2 sizes of heatshrink tube are used . Cut 3 bits large enough to go over the small wire joints and one piece wide enough to cover all 3 of the other joints. Set them out as shown in the picture remembering to keep them well enough back from where you will be soldering so they don't start shrinking before you are ready to slide them over!Solder the wires on, keeping the joints as neat as possible to allow the heatshrink to be slid over when the joints are cool. In this case the wire colour conventions areWhite-YellowRed-OrangeBlack-BrownSlide over the smaller shrinks and warm them with the iron until they shrinkThen slide over the larger piece and warm that up too...Test the servo to make sure it still works then it's ready for use!As very little effort is exerted by the servo, it's sufficient just to secure it with some trim tape to the base of the signal..Here's the triple one almost finishedI've also finished some shunt signals too. Nothing that hasn't already been done on here but here they are... Just a few odd blobs of paint here and there and that will be Ramnchesters signals completed! Now, where's me tray of GWR signal bits More soonJFhttp://youtu.be/B7GCBtiNmRM As usual, nothing I can do will make it embed Edited March 27, 2016 by Jon Fitness 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted March 27, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 27, 2016 Jon, Truly inspirational work as usual Those minute servos look very good. I was put off the 3.5gram ones I used on the first set of Lime Street Signals because of the high failure rate. Have you experienced any failures with these? They are even smaller! Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Jon, Truly inspirational work as usual Those minute servos look very good. I was put off the 3.5gram ones I used on the first set of Lime Street Signals because of the high failure rate. Have you experienced any failures with these? They are even smaller! Steve. None as yet Steve. They seem very quiet and smooth. I think these are only something like 1.7 grams power but they do the trick.. It's this one but they are on back order according to the website. Cheers JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted April 5, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2016 None as yet Steve. They seem very quiet and smooth. I think these are only something like 1.7 grams power but they do the trick.. It's this one but they are on back order according to the website. Cheers JF Hi Jon, Guess what - I ordered four of these to try out and they came yesterday. One of the four failed! Went to one extreme position on first power up, and wouldn't respond to anything on the GF controller. After a short period it got very hot indeed. I'm now waiting to see how good Hobby King's returns system is. So far so good, I can use a free postal label. Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 Hi Jon, Guess what - I ordered four of these to try out and they came yesterday. One of the four failed! Went to one extreme position on first power up, and wouldn't respond to anything on the GF controller. After a short period it got very hot indeed. I'm now waiting to see how good Hobby King's returns system is. So far so good, I can use a free postal label. Steve. Aw no! I've tried all the ones I've used on 3 different drivers and they all seem ok, BUT!.. I'm away from home at the moment and I've had a delivery of 20 of them. Once I'm back home I'll test all this new batch and report my findings Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 Just back from a bit of R&R on the Isle of Wight and Cornwall so it's back to the bench again. I have a couple of GW signals to build and this is one of them... A bit of a mix with a later steel pattern arm over a wooden armed distant all on an early style wooden bracket structure. A centre balanced signal for the loop line tops it all off. The extra arm and sight board are for a straight post stop signal. More soon JF 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted April 7, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 7, 2016 Hi Jon, Welcome back. What a co-incidence that we are both modelling GWR signals with Sighting Boards. Steve. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Steve How high is that? Looks like about 50 feet? Glad I didn't have to scurry up that to do the lamp on a wet and windy winter's morning... Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Hi Jon, Welcome back. What a co-incidence that we are both modelling GWR signals with Sighting Boards. RIMG2426.jpg Steve. What a beautiful beast of a signal. I've clocked it on your pages and it's still a biggy in 4mm scale! Not sure if I could avoid the dreaded post twist if I tried my usual planed wooden stick method. As usual, looking forward to seeing this one finished! Our 2 current signals have another similarity in that they both have different types of GW arm too! JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted April 8, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2016 (edited) Jon, That distant arm looks like the early pressed steel type to me - seems to have distinct corrugated top & bottom edges although that might be a trick of the light. Edit to correct a slight ambiguity Edited April 8, 2016 by The Stationmaster Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Jon, That distant arm looks like the early pressed steel type to me - seems to have distinct corrugated top & bottom edges although that might be a trick of the light. Edit to correct a slight ambiguity Looking at it you're probably right. I may be able to represent that by either soldering a bit of 0.3mm wire top and bottom or a sneaky bit of careful painting/shading! JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted April 8, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2016 What a beautiful beast of a signal. I've clocked it on your pages and it's still a biggy in 4mm scale! Not sure if I could avoid the dreaded post twist if I tried my usual planed wooden stick method. As usual, looking forward to seeing this one finished! Our 2 current signals have another similarity in that they both have different types of GW arm too! JF Hi Jon, I'm expecting to be demonstrating at Leigh for the 0 Gauge show on 23rd of this month. Will you make it? I'll bring that signal with me. (My wife's just had a new knee but she's making good progress, so I hope to be able to get the day away.) Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted April 8, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2016 Steve How high is that? Looks like about 50 feet? Glad I didn't have to scurry up that to do the lamp on a wet and windy winter's morning... Best Simon Hi Simon, It works out at just over 50 feet to the top of the finial from ground level. Steve. p.s. More details on my Topic: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/59687-semaphore-signals-4mm-scale-mainly/page-23&do=findComment&comment=2257508 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Western Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Just back from a bit of R&R on the Isle of Wight and Cornwall so it's back to the bench again. I have a couple of GW signals to build and this is one of them... ST1 (2).jpg A bit of a mix with a later steel pattern arm over a wooden armed distant all on an early style wooden bracket structure. A centre balanced signal for the loop line tops it all off. The extra arm and sight board are for a straight post stop signal. IMG_3003 (1000x750).jpg IMG_3004 (1000x750).jpg More soon JF I don't know what's worse, Mr Fay posting mouth watering pictures of the progress on Severn Tunnel - East or yours of the mastepeices signals for said project ! Great Western Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 (edited) Hi Jon, I'm expecting to be demonstrating at Leigh for the 0 Gauge show on 23rd of this month. Will you make it? I'll bring that signal with me. (My wife's just had a new knee but she's making good progress, so I hope to be able to get the day away.) Steve. I'll see you there! Just wish scale signal supply was going to be there too. They're only about 5 miles away and never attend...All the best to your good lady too!! JF Edited April 9, 2016 by Jon Fitness Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted April 9, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 9, 2016 I'll see you there! Just wish scale signal supply was going to be there too. They're only about 5 miles away and never attend... All the best to your good lady too!! JF Hi Jon, Just checked the website, and SSS are shown as attending. Last year I believe Pete had just retired from the big railway last year, and they were enjoying a well earned holiday. I've bought from them at the show in previous years. Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Hi Jon, Just checked the website, and SSS are shown as attending. Last year I believe Pete had just retired from the big railway last year, and they were enjoying a well earned holiday. I've bought from them at the show in previous years. Steve. I had the pleasure of working with Peter for a year or so. Could you pass on my regards please? I will find a way to catch up with him one day! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 Hi Jon, Just checked the website, and SSS are shown as attending. Last year I believe Pete had just retired from the big railway last year, and they were enjoying a well earned holiday. I've bought from them at the show in previous years. Steve. Good news indeed! I'm sure I've never seen them at Leigh but my powers of observation are questionable at best! I'll start the shopping list. I had the pleasure of working with Peter for a year or so. Could you pass on my regards please? I will find a way to catch up with him one day! I certainly will. Although I worked around the north Manchester area for a few years I never caught up with him in the S&T gangs around there. I remember him at Bury Transport Museum in the early 1970's but only through the bus side of things. I've heard many tales of his European Tram chasing escapades!! JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 I've made a good start on the single post stop signal rather than the bracket. Both signals are being fitted with servos and lamps so there's a bit of wood butchery to do. The post is a nice ready planed example from Scale Signal Supply and just needs cutting to length. I started by nipping off the top at a point where the section of the post matches that of the square section of the finial and taking off the lower section to length. Next job is the base plate. I usually pass a short section of the post through the base and support it in a short piece of square tube. This also means the servo has to sit on a little extension clear of the base of the post. I've made up the arm pivot and pinned it through the post. The negative tag of the LED for the lamp is soldered directly to an extension of the lower pin and the positive tag soldered to a thin wire buried in a recess in the post. Once fitted into the slot the wire was flooded with superglue and will be filled with white squadron putty to hide it. More soon JF 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Good news indeed! I'm sure I've never seen them at Leigh but my powers of observation are questionable at best! I'll start the shopping list. I certainly will. Although I worked around the north Manchester area for a few years I never caught up with him in the S&T gangs around there. I remember him at Bury Transport Museum in the early 1970's but only through the bus side of things. I've heard many tales of his European Tram chasing escapades!! JF I was hired in to lead his gang while he was off sick. I was a bit worried when he was due back being a 'youngster', southerner and firmly Eastern Region trained. Our first meeting was lineside where i had just renewed a rodding run and crossover. The guys stood there in awe while Peter and I, to quote the team leader, 'talked a different language' for a good hour. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 A good session at the bench rendered the stop signal ready for cleaning up and painting. The little block at the back of the post top is a representation of the switch box for the signal repeater. The repeater would probably (I think) need batteries so a little box was made for that. It fits on the post at a convenient height for maintenance but I'll leave it off until the signal is painted just to make the masking off easier. After about 4 coats of white, a lot of awkward masking off, and a session with the matt black spray, this is what the bits looked like immediately after taking off the tape.. The LED being soldered directly to a metal bit on the post, is self supporting but obviously needs a lamp case. This was made from a short length of brass tube, drilled for front and back lens holes and a cap added from a butchered solid lamp casting. This just slips over the LED and can be removed should the LED need changing. and here we are all assembled, painted and sat ready for testing.... Just the weathering to do then I'll do a quick vid...Now to start on the bracket signal!! More soon 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fay Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Fantastic Jon, thank you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 Bracket time! It may be a bit picture heavy this time as I got stuck in. Post and doll were first, fitted with arm bearings and also slotted for lamp wires.. First little problem was there is no correct pattern etch for the bracket. The nearest I can find is the scale signal supply one but this will need a bit of surgery.. To add a little "texture" to the brackets a few rivets were added.. And some 1.5mm L section angle added to the top and bottom. The lower section was carefully rolled on my GW models roller. These were added using the RSU. A quick test assembly shows that I'm sort of on the right track! The wiring for the LEDs was next up. The positive wires were all crammed in the machined slots and the negatives will take path via all the ironwork down to the baseplate which will have a neg wire going off to the layout supply. And here's the (very) basic structure pictured outside. I'll need some more dimensions from Steve before I can finalise the height and fit the baseplate. Sorry about the number of pictures! More soon JF 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now