Modelling Mike Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 ........Harman's Cross and being excited about seeing the steam trains on the Swanage railway at the bottom of the hill................ Just booked accomodation near Corfe Castle for August Bankes Arms here we come Looked into the logistics of the Diesel Event in early May but could be a bit far in terms of commitments up here. Maybe next year? Ian Harman's Cross was the end of the line back in those days, so there was a lot more action back then with the run around ready to return to Swanage. Only one platform in play too. I remember reading all about the work to extend the line up to Corfe, then taking a look at the work taking place at Corfe station as it was slowly and painstakingly restored. It's a totally different place today. I need to pull my finger out and get my own trip planned soon. I want to avoid the big crowds so that I can explore and take plenty of reference photos, so I'm probably looking at late summer / early autumn - but I will be avoiding the galas for now. Perhaps I'll head down for one or two when I come to think about operations... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) This is what £166 looks like after a trip to the Ally Pally show! Hidden in that little lot is the answer to my question the other week of what track to lay through Talbothays. The sharp-eyed amongst you will spot some lengths of Peco Bullhead track. I went with Peco after taking a look at the DCC Concepts version on the Gaugemaster stand. To be honest, there's not a lot to choose between them, but I went for the nickel silver construction over the steel. As far as I can tell, it's only the colour of the rail that steel has over nickel silver, and mine's going to be covered in weathering paint and powder, and I'd rather have track that's more easily soldered... You'll also spot two types of turnout. I had a good chat with the friendly guys at the C&L stand who assuaged some of my fears and doubts about building my own track. I decided, despite the cost, to try one of their kit bags, choosing the smallest radius (which I later discovered to be roughly equivalent to Peco's medium radius turnouts, which is handy as I have a lot of them in my plan!). I've bought two Peco code 75 curved turnouts too, and will see how I go with the kit. If all goes well (and I don't take too long building it), I'll buy more components and go with hand-built turnouts throughout. If I'm still not convinced, I'll fall back on Peco for now and get some trains moving then make a decision how to move on at a later date. All in all, it was a successful shopping trip. I managed to get most of what I was looking for, including some loco crews and the small bridge kit to take the line over a lane near Talbothays station. The copper clad strip is for baseboard joints. The only thing I couldn't find was some woodland scenics foam risers which I want to use for the "dropped" boards. I guess the're too bulky and low-value for traders to bring, so I'll have to get them from a friendly online retailer instead. I'm now back at work with no significant time to model for another few weeks, but I'm spending the odd hour here and there trying to familiarise myself with Templot. It's a great programme once you've got your head around how it works and how different it is to the usual Windows programmes! I'm also hoping to build that kit before I crack on with laying track through Talbothays... Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Replacing lost photo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted March 31, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31, 2017 Hi Mike, You have purchased a C&L 00 gauge turnout kit. Before you build it you need to cut through the fog of conflicting information on the C&L web site and decide which 00 track standards you are going to adopt, and which standards can be built using the components in the kit. Because not all of them allow RTR models to run exactly as supplied - the traditional C&L turnout kits are/were for the DOGA-Fine standard which requires RTR models to have the wheels back-to-back to be widened. There is a relatively simple alternative to that -- BUT only if you know about it before you begin. It's not clear if the current C&L turnout kits are the same. In the next few weeks the C&L business is transferring to a new owner, so hopefully the new web site will be updated with clear explanations of the specification for the turnout kits. All this has been discussed endlessly in RMweb topics in the past, so I hesitate to raise it yet again. Perhaps you could say: 1. does the kit contain a ready-assembled crossing (frog)? That means one of these: http://www.finescale.org.uk/image/cache/data/products/4cc10xa-500x500.jpg If not, or if it contains only an assembled vee (one of these: http://www.finescale.org.uk/image/cache/data/products/4cv10xa-500x500.jpg ), you will be able to build it to any standard you wish, but you will need to learn the skills of assembling a crossing (frog). 2. if it does contain an assembled crossing, what is the flangeway gap between the wing rails and the vee? Is it 1.0mm or 1.2mm? It is very likely to be 1.0mm, because C&L say "Common crossings for 00 and EM use the same clearance between the wing rail and the vee." However that statement can only be found by following the links for EM products, not for 00. If it is 1.0mm you will NOT be able to build the kit to the commonest 00 standard ( 00-BF / DOGA-Intermediate ) which has traditionally been used by the vast majority of modellers building 00 track. Instead you will have to choose between the DOGA-Fine standard and the 00-SF standard (called 4-SF in Templot). As I mentioned, the DOGA-Fine standard requires RTR models to have the wheels back-to-back to be widened. To avoid that, the 00-SF standard uses a track gauge of 16.2mm instead of 16.5mm, allowing RTR wheels to run unmodified. 3. does the kit contain a set of track gauges? If so, which standard are they for? If they look like this http://www.finescale.org.uk/image/cache/data/products/4tgoo-500x500.jpg it is very likely that they are for DOGA-Fine. C&L can also supply sets of gauges for 00-SF, from two different sources, their own (with separate check gauges -- preferred) and from DCC Concepts (with integral check gauge). But they are more expensive and you would need to ask to swap them. I'm sorry if that is a can of worms you wish you hadn't opened. Generally it is easily solved if you adopt the approach of many 00 trackbuilders these days: 1. discard the C&L template and print a 4-SF (00-SF) template from Templot. 2. discard the DOGA-Fine track gauges, or use them only for plain track. 3. obtain a set of 00-SF track gauges, preferably C&L's own make. A set means: track gauges, check rail gauges, a 1.0mm crossing flangeway gauge shim (not needed if the crossing is ready assembled). regards, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 1, 2017 Author Share Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) On 01/04/2017 at 00:53, martin_wynne said: Hi Mike, You have purchased a C&L 00 gauge turnout kit. (snip) regards, Martin. Hi Martin, That is one large can of worms duly prised open! But these are all important points you make and I do appreciate you taking further time out to help a newbie in need! To answer the questions you raise, it might be easier to illustrate with a photo. Here's the contents of the kit laid out... So, we have the pre-built common crossing rather than just the vee. I believe the flangeway gap is 1.0mm. I was asured this wouldn't be a problem. I'm happy to build to 00-SF standards, and was told I would need a different set of gauges to do this (the supplied gauges are indeed 16.5mm, rather than 16.2mm). I meant to pick up the replacements but annoyingly I forgot to. Because of the transfer of ownership at C&L, they're no longer taking orders on the website, so I may have to source the DCC Concepts gauges or wait until at least June to be able to order C&L's...you say C&L's are preferred, but will I be hopelessly lost if I order DCC Concepts' in haste? I'm working my way through the tutorials on Templot at the moment - grabbing an hour or so here and there where I can, and slowly getting the hang of the programme. It's a great piece of kit once you get the hang of it! I'm looking forward to being able to do more with it soon... All the best, and thanks again, Martin. Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Replacing lost photo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted April 8, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2017 Because of the transfer of ownership at C&L, they're no longer taking orders on the website, so I may have to source the DCC Concepts gauges or wait until at least June to be able to order C&L's...you say C&L's are preferred, but will I be hopelessly lost if I order DCC Concepts' in haste? Hi Mike, DCC Concepts track gauges now at stock-clearance prices on the C&L web site today: http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=1108_1107 I would always very much prefer a "proper" set of gauges, which means the C&L own design with separate check rail gauges. But at these prices the difference is significant, so you may want the DCC Concepts multi-slot designs if only as spares or backup. The C&L own brand products can be ordered up until 9am April 28th according to the web site. The 00-SF gauges are showing "in stock", for example here is the check gauges (pair): http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=346_375_376&product_id=8776 Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Hi Mike, DCC Concepts track gauges now at stock-clearance prices on the C&L web site today: http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=1108_1107 I would always very much prefer a "proper" set of gauges, which means the C&L own design with separate check rail gauges. But at these prices the difference is significant, so you may want the DCC Concepts multi-slot designs if only as spares or backup. The C&L own brand products can be ordered up until 9am April 28th according to the web site. The 00-SF gauges are showing "in stock", for example here is the check gauges (pair): http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=346_375_376&product_id=8776 Martin. Hi Martin, I have spent the last week or so doing a lot of forum lurking, reading and thinking about track building, as well as getting more familiar with Templot. I had thought that the C&L website had suspended trading for now, so decided to buy the DCC Concepts gauges from their website. Only when a bit of internet research led me back to the C&L website did I see they were still trading till the end of the month, but they also had the DCC gauges on sale! Ho hum, we live and learn, and it's not a great expense. I've ended up buying both the DCC Concepts (roller and 3-point) and C&L gauges (including 15.2 check gauge) and see how I get on with both... While I'm waiting for them to arrive, I'll be spending the odd morning before work continuing to familiarise myself with Templot and when I've next got a full morning or afternoon to myself, I'll start the turnout build. As long as the build goes well and I'm confident, I'll then start re-building my track plan in Templot before tackling some more involved turnouts... There are still a few baseboard building jobs to finish off, too. The next few weeks are pretty non-stop work-wise, so I'll be concentrating on the turnout build in between shifts. Then I'll be finishing the boards and cracking on with laying the track and wiring up the fiddleyard over my next week of rest days at the beginning of next month. Here's hoping that by the end of April I'll have built a useable turnout and I'll still be on track to have trains running on the Talbothays oval by the end of the summer... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) Apologies for the lack of updates recently. To be honest, there's not a lot to report as work and home commitments have kept me away from the hobby room recently and work has slowed down considerably. A run of five rest days two weeks ago ended up hurtling passed without a single hour of modelling time which was very frustrating... However, I have managed to grab the odd hour here and there and have managed to build this: My very first hand-built turnout looks vaguely like a turnout! It's still not finished - check rails and electrical connections need adding, and I'm currently investigating the best way to do the tie bar - but it doesn't look too bad. I suspect I've used far too much butanone on the chairs, so will dial that back on future builds, but the wagon (a special edition Bachmann item bought from the National Railway Museum in 2012) runs through quite happily, so all good so far. With C&L closed for business online until at least next month, I'm panicking a bit about getting hold of supplies for the three turnouts I'll need to complete the main running lines through Talbothays before the end of the summer. The plan over the next two weeks is to continue to familiarise myself with Templot so that I can follow Martin's advice and create some templates, and then head to Railex in Aylesbury on the 27th armed with a list of components I'll need to buy. (C&L will be there, according to Railex's website...) My next rest day week is at the beginning of June and I'm determined to spend at least a few days cracking on with jobs in the hobby room. There are a lot of fiddly, annoying jobs to do, including fitting the connections and alignment dowels to the last board, building a small corner piece to fill the gap by the door and painting the fiddle yard boards. At least when they're all done, track laying in the fiddle yard can finally begin. My aim is to have the fiddle yard track all cut to size and laid by the end of June. There, I've said it...now I've got to make it happen! Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Replacing lost photos 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Rail Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Good effort - far beyond my time and patience. Corfe Castle is fast approaching - added interest of the Wareham run with T&T West Coast Traction. Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted August 26, 2017 Author Share Posted August 26, 2017 Tick tock, tick tock...crickey, doesn't time fly! Sorry for the lack of updates over the last three months. Sadly, with work, holidays, family and household commitments, there has been precious little opportunity to get into the hobby room and crack on with the build. I have managed to grab an hour or two here and there over the summer, but it literally is only a few hours, with very little to show for the effort. Track laying in the fiddle yard has been the name of the game, and I have made quite a bit of progress on that front, wiring up track sections and point work. I won't bore you with pictures, as I'm sure you've all seen a fan of sidings made from Peco code 100 track before! I have a much needed week of rest days coming up this week, and I plan on spending at least a couple of days cracking on with the wiring of the fiddle yard. The soldering iron had better not pack up on me! I also have two more C&L turnouts to build so that I can get the first circuit completed through Talbothays. After my first successful build, I'm eager to crack on with these. Although I won't be making my deadline of "the end of the summer" for the first trains to run, with next week's rest days and a week of annual leave next month, an early autumn run around the loop is a possibility barring any unforeseen problems. Here's hoping it all goes well! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 (edited) Another month down, and with a week of rest days and a week of annual leave under my belt do I have any progress to report? Thankfully, yes! Although both weeks off inevitably got filled with other household tasks and duties, I did manage to grab quite a few hours in the hobby room and made some inroads. Firstly, I concentrated on track laying and wiring in the fiddleyard. With so many turnouts and tracks straddling the baseboard joint, this task seemed to go on forever and took up all my modelling time on the first week off...and a lot of the second. It really was a long, arduous and seemingly never-ending process, but I got there in the end! The layout will be DCC, so I have soldered a dropper feed to every piece of rail. I've tried to keep work tidy, but being a non-scenic area, I haven't been particularly worried about it looking pretty - I'm more concerned with making strong soldered joints and making sure everything will work! All the track in the fiddleyard is trusty old re-used Peco code 100. Turnouts are insulfrog to keep wiring simple (and because I had plenty left over from old projects!) I have wired a single dropper across the stock and switch rails so that I'm not relying on the blades for electrical contact. The frogs are already insulated, so no need for further mods or microswitches here. At baseboard joints, I have used copperclad strip and soldered the rails either side (not forgetting the all-important cut through the copper to isolate each side). The rails still need cutting through, which will be done before the boards are lifted one-by-one to connect all the droppers to the power bus...another arduous job for another day. Wanting a power connection to every individual rail section meant some improvisation around the small (approx 1 inch) lengths between the turnouts in the storage roads. I decided to utilise the copperclad again to act as a sleeper base and soldering point for the wiring. The gauge is held by the adjoining turnouts, and its made for an efficient if not pretty solution. After so much soldering and wiring, I was desperate to move on to something else, so one morning set about building my second C&L turnout, and my first curved one. It all went without a hitch, and by the end of the day, I had a finished turnout ready for its tie bar to be fitted (a subject for another post, me thinks). All in all, a successful few days' work, I think. Although it still feels like I have a long way to go before trains can run...but progress is progress! Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Replacing lost photos 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted October 4, 2017 Author Share Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) After all the shenanigans wiring up the fiddle yard, I finally had a chance the other day to start thinking about the scenic side of things on the St Aldhelm branch. After clearing the Talbothays boards, which had become a makeshift workbench-stroke-storage-area-stroke-rubbish-dump, I laid out the printed 1:1 track plan from XTrackCad to find, to my amazement, the majority of the plan would actually fit in the allotted space. Then out came one of my longest tender locos and 4x Mk1s and a fairly major problem reared its head. The passing loop is just about long enough for a loco+4 to be passed, but the rear of an “up” train will hang over the edge of the platform, which is shorter due to the entrance to the goods yard. This wasn’t obvious when planning the layout on the computer, so I was a bit miffed with myself. 4 carriage trains are a bit of a must for me. It’s probably just me, but a loco+3 in model form feels too much like train set territory. A loco+4 feels more lifelike for a preserved railway. Of course I’ll be running 3- and 2-carriage formations too, but I want the option to run 4. Extending the loop as much as I dare at the opposite end helps, but doesn’t solve the issue, and I don’t want the loop extending too far towards the fiddleyard. Much head scratching followed before I stumbled on a possible solution which might actually improve the model in other ways too. Currently, the track plan is based on Corfe Castle with the goods yard / head shunt leading off the up platform loop. If I make Talbothays a mirror image of Corfe, with the head shunt leading off the down loop, the loco on a 4-carriage train can pull up over the point work, with the carriages fully platformed. The goods yard and station building then move to the back of the layout, possibly creating a more open vista. But would it work? I fired up XTrackCad and had a play, and this is what I came up with... If I shove the loops closer to the outer (left hand) edge of the board and lose the second goods yard siding (shame, but not the end of the world) it just about fits. The head shunt is on a bit of a tight radius, so I won’t be able to store anything larger than a small tank or wagon in there without it looking odd, and I will need to shove the point work around a bit to avoid baseboard joins, but I think it’s workable. Note, the above photos were taken without shoving the tracks towards the outer edge, so there is more space for the goods yard than that shown in the photos. What do you guys think? I’ve roughly sketched in the platforms, buildings and roads/lanes to give a better impression of how it will look. The back scene will now look towards the village rather than open(ish) countryside, which might be a challenge to pull off. But I like a challenge! I have a rest day this Saturday, and I’m planning to print out the new plan and have a play. I do hope this works, because the more I look at the plan, the more I like it. Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Restoring lost photos 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 (edited) The best word to describe progress at Talbothays over the past few months is glacial. Family, household, work and other commitments have meant precious little time has been spent laying track in the scenic section, plus what little time I have been able to steal has been spent on trying to get my head around the intricacies of Templot! What has been vexing me in particular, has been the pointwork at the St Aldhelm end of Talbothays station. My decision to use handbuilt pointwork has meant undertaking quite a steep learning curve. To complicate matters, the three turnouts that comprise the station entrance are on a curve, and straddle a baseboard joint. To start with, I learned just enough of Templot to create individual turnout templates and created my first curved turnout as described in the last post. When I offered the point up to the baseboard, it became apparent just how complicated the build was going to be taking the baseboard joint into account. So it was back to Templot to draw the station entrance with its three turnouts in full. I managed to work out how to import the XTrackCAD plan and scale it, then drew the point work over the top. Then printed it all out. Then found out I had scaled the drawing incorrectly and it was too large! So it was back to Templot again, re-scaling the plan correctly and another print out, and hey presto, everything seemed to fit... After all that, and a few hours here and there over Christmas and New Year, I have managed to get to this point: The original curved point has been offered up to the new plan and adapted to fit around the baseboard joint. Where the tracks cross the boards, copperclad strips are being used and the rail ends will be soldered to this. Because of the angle of the tracks, the strips don’t run parallel to the sleepers. It’s not ideal, but I think this is the most robust solution, and once the track is ballasted, painted and weathered, I’m hoping the copper won’t be too obvious. I have endeavoured to maintain the structural integrity of the turnouts as much as possible, slewing the track work to ensure there are at least two chairs between the crossing V and the baseboard edge on all turnouts. There is only 1 place where this hasn’t been possible, and that’s on the little used goods yard turnout, and I’m hoping the soldered joint will provide enough strength. Although I have prepared the boards to be freestanding and capable of being moved, it’s worth remembering that they won’t be moved on a regular basis, if at all. So I’m being overly cautious here, but you never know what might happen in the future and I don’t want to regret any corner cutting later down the road. I have a much needed annual leave day today, and as its my birthday, and I’m recovering from a cold, and I think I deserve it, I’ll be spending all day in the hobby room. I might not spend time on the turnouts (butanone fumes + sore throat = not pleasant!), instead turning my attention back to the fiddle yard and cutting the tracks at the baseboard joints and wiring up some track. Who knows, I may even be able to run a test train if all goes well! ...but lets not get too carried away... Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Restoring lost photos 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 Crikey, doesn’t time fly?! Although I have been woefully bad at updating this thread, I’m pleased to report that progress has been made at Talbothays, although the speed of development remains only a notch up from static. Since mid-January, I’ve had a few opportunities to head into the hobby room and although trains aren’t yet running, I have been able to achieve at least some movement! January’s work involved tackling the wiring under the fiddle yard. It was really quite therapeutic, and satisfying bringing order to the tangle of wires. The layout will be DCC, so all droppers are attached to a power bus that will run the length of the baseboards. I came across DCC Concepts’ power bus connectors on their website and thought I’d give them a go. Although pricy, they’ve turned out to be an excellent way of connecting large numbers of feeds to one bus. They come in packs of two, so one pack is needed for each board, with only two wires then needed to connect each board. I’ll definitely be using them for the other boards. Next, it was time to install the turnout motors. I’ve invested in the Megapoints system and have to say that so far, I am very impressed. I followed Dave’s videos on the Megapoints website and in one evening managed to install nine servos. Even with a nasty cold, it was plain sailing, the most difficult part being cutting the aluminium tube to size and drilling the holes for the screws and armatures. A control board was fixed to the underside of the main fiddleyard board, and all the servos plugged in easily. I did come a cropper with one turnout which was a little too close to the baseboard edge to allow the full swing of the servo arm, but this was easily fixed by chiselling a chunk out of the woodwork. They’re so well glued and screwed together that I doubt it has weakened the structure at all! Having connected everything up to a multi panel and a few switches, I have to say it was very satisfying to find everything working first time. A few minutes configuring the throw for each turnout and it was all up and running. All that’s missing now is the mimic panel, which I may get made for me, or bodge together myself, depending on my budget. After playing with the turnouts, I couldn’t resist plugging the two fiddleyard boards together and hooking up a Hornby controller and running a loco back and forth. Finally, movement! (But sadly, no camera to capture the moment!) Unfortunately, the test run showed up a potential problem with my turnout installations. I tested a class 08, an M7 tank and Bachmann Tornado. The 08, with its 6 coupled wheels, ran perfectly. Sadly, both the M7 and A1 didn’t oblige so readily, both stalling on the curved points and short circuiting. It looks like the bogies are riding up on the points and coming into contact with the adjacent rail. With my modifications to the insulfrog points, all rails are live, whichever position the switch blades are in, and it looks like this might be causing more problems than I was aiming to solve. A job for the to do list is to try and cut the connection and see if I can rely on the switch rail making contact with the live stock rail. I’m hoping that using springy piano wire for the linkage from the servo means that, with regular cleaning, I’ll be able to rely on the electrical connection. Fingers crossed... Stolen moments in February and March have seen me return to the top-side and finish building my complicated point work straddling the baseboard joint. The third turnout was built and it all seems to work fine with a wagon and carriage pushed through the crossovers. Just the plain track needs to be added now, and then it should be plain sailing to lay the rest of the track through this part of the scenic section. Now we’re reaching the end of March, and still I haven’t completed that darned oval of track! I’m now half way through a fortnight’s break from work, and after some family business and household chores, I’m now looking forward to a few days dedicated to the layout. A trip to Ally Pally last weekend saw me gather a few supplies and I’m looking forward to cracking on again. The oval through boards 3 and 6 is nearly complete, and wiring should be a doddle compared to the never-ending task of wiring the fiddle yard! Then it’s on to boards 4 and 5. These have the added complication of being “dropped”, with the track elevated which should be a challenge! Not only do I have to make sure the track bed is stable, I’m also incorporating a bridge and I’ll need to install a turnout motor in the elevated section. I don’t seem to like taking the easy option, do I?! Hopefully more progress reports will be forthcoming soon! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 (edited) Two weeks later, with loads of time available in the hobby room, here’s where we’re at... At last, I have a complete oval of track! But as ever, there remains a lot to do before it is ready to run trains... Who would have thought that a raised track section would be so complicated to get right?! This really has been a frustrating part of the build, and I’m glad its over (until I do the same again for the viaduct section leading in to St Aldhelm...but that’s a long way into the future!) The “dropped” boards (4 and 5 on the plan above) are just over 4 inches lower than the other boards to allow for some below-track-level modelling. The track is raised up on Woodland Scenics 4 inch risers, with the track bed itself being formed of 5mm plywood and a layer of cork. The risers have proven to be a great purchase, as they are strong, flexible and can be cut to shape easily (usual disclaimer). As you can see from the pictures, this hasn’t been a simple build, with the raised section also incorporating the platforms, space for the station building, a turnout that needs motorising, a curve towards the fiddle yard and a rail-over-road bridge. All of this has lead to plenty of head scratching, measuring, questioning my measurements, remeasuring, cutting, gluing, re-cutting and questioning my sanity. It has also meant that despite plenty of modelling time over the past two weeks, progress has been frustratingly slow (but what’s new?!) But all the hard work and patience is finally paying off and by the end of play yesterday, it all looked a bit like this, with all the risers and track bed in place and the track cut to size. The track is only loosely laid out, but is shown in its final position. The IET and MkIII carriages have been used to check clearances as my longest items of rolling stock and won’t be a regular visitor to Talbothays! The cut out section of riser near the bridge is for the turnout servo. I’ve cut it much deeper than it needs to be so that I can get my hands in there to work on/replace the servo in future. It’ll eventually be accessed via a lift-out section of scenery. The bridge itself has caused me no end of head scratching, and I’ll cover its development in a separate post. Although there is still a long way to go, I’m finally feeling tantalisingly close to having a working model railway, and all this work is finally starting to pay off. It was back to work today, so progress will slow again now, but the next part of the build is lots of little fiddly jobs which I’m hoping to get done before/after shifts and on rest days, so hopefully work won’t grind to a halt. First job on the list is...clean up the hobby room! I hadn’t realised just how messy it had got until I looked at the photos! Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Restoring lost photos 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted April 14, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) Nice work Mike and your point building looks superb! Daves’s kit is really good and works very well and the only reason I didn’t use it on Oak Road was simply down to the fact of not having to connect up the servo leads across 20’ of baseboards. I used the original version on our club layout to operate 70 points and it works perfectly (18x9 N Gauge) and my mate has the newer version on his layout too. Keep up the good work Mike Edited April 14, 2018 by scoobyra Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 16, 2018 Author Share Posted April 16, 2018 Nice work Mike and your point building looks superb! Daves’s kit is really good and works very well and the only reason I didn’t use it on Oak Road was simply down to the fact of not having to connect up the servo leads across 20’ of baseboards. I used the original version on our club layout to operate 70 points and it works perfectly (18x9 N Gauge) and my mate has the newer version on his layout too. Keep up the good work Mike Thanks for the kind words Mike. I’ve been following Oak Road with much interest! As for running servo leads long distances, I doubt there would be a problem with signal drop, but you do end up with a lot of wiring! Even in the fiddleyard, I have ended up using quite a few extention leads to connect everything up. I’m going to have to add labels to make sure I don’t lose track of what’s plugged in where. The longest run I will eventually have is about 15-20’ - to the loco release at St Aldhelm when it gets built - with extension leads jumping three board joints. At least St Aldhelm & Talbothays are semi-permanent, unlike Oak Road...! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 16, 2018 Author Share Posted April 16, 2018 (edited) Over the past week or so, attention has turned from the layout itself to what will run on it. During the armchair years of my recent modelling life, I kept my hand in by buying stock that I fancied the look of and that may or may not suit the layout I was planning. Aside from the mad purchases (like the IET pictured above and a full 2+8 HST - neither of which fit on the layout!) I have also been adding to St Aldhelm’s resident loco roster. With the decision to go DCC being very recent, I’m obviously now facing the daunting prospect of fitting a large number of locos with a large number of decoders, so I have been painstakingly unboxing everything to find out what will fit where. A lot of locos look very easy to convert, but a surprising number look like they will be more tricky. The more recent purchases will be fairly easy. The Kernow O2 and Bachmann E4 are simple 6-pin plug ins. My oldest of the new generation purchases (made way back in 2008 when I first got back into the hobby), the Hornby M7 looks like it will be a simple conversion with a direct plug DCC Concepts Zen Nano chip, which was a nice surprise. In fact, it was surprising just how many older purchases were DCC Ready. But there were some disappointing finds. Although it’s away from its natural territory, St Aldhelm will be home to GWR Hall Class “Saint Edmund Hall” (bought for sentimental reasons - and why can’t a Western loco run on Southern metals in preservation, eh?!). It’s great that Bachmann saw fit to equip it with an 8-pin socket, but the socket is tucked right underneath the footplate, and there is absolutely nowhere inside the bodywork nearby to pop the decoder itself. I’m not even sure if a wired plug will fit the space provided...that is going to be a head scratcher, unless anyone out there has a solution?! I also bought the Bachmann Class 220 “Dorset Voyager” - the set which ventured from the main line into Purbeck and was named at a special ceremony in Swanage just after the connection at Motala was commissioned. I had hoped to run it down the branch in honour of that occasion, forgetting that the Voyager model pre-dates the time when DCC was pretty much mandatory. No socket, and the motor is in a centre car, so I’ll need three decoders if I want the lights to work too... Another big disappointment was finding that my Bachmann N Class, a stalwart of my previous layout, isn’t DCC ready at all. Looks like I’ll be doing some research into hard-wiring decoders into older locos soon if I want some of my favourites to run. Away from decoder problems, I may have an even bigger one to deal with on my Hornby King Arthur class “Pendragon”. A while back, I gave all my existing locos a run on a rolling road to keep them all ticking over. I remember putting Pendragon on the road, turning up the power on the controller, hearing the motor whir, but seeing the wheels stay adamantly static. Today, when I took a look inside at the DCC socket, I remembered the problem and decided to investigate further. It turns out that a cog connecting the motor worm to the driving wheel has cracked and come loose from its spindle. Has anyone else come across this problem? Sadly, I think unless I can get a spare cog from Hornby, this could be a terminal issue, as the crack on the cog spreads when it is placed back on the spindle, and I doubt it would mesh with the driving wheel cog properly even if it is glued back into place. I’d love to know if any of you guys can think of a solution, as this is one of my favourite locos, and I’d hate for it to be reduced to a static exhibit. Edited July 31, 2022 by Modelling Mike Restoring lost photos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold lezz01 Posted April 17, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 17, 2018 Hi Mike. If you have no joy with Hornby give Peters spares a go they might have what you need for the King Arthur class. They are on ebay but advertise in the press as well. Regards Lez.Z Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 17, 2018 Author Share Posted April 17, 2018 (edited) Hi Mike. If you have no joy with Hornby give Peters spares a go they might have what you need for the King Arthur class. They are on ebay but advertise in the press as well. Regards Lez.Z I had completely forgotten about Peters Spares. Thanks for jogging my memory, Lez! I’ll take a look at them now... EDIT: What a treasure trove Peter’s Spares is. A few minutes of searching and there are two replacement parts I could order. Only issue is they’re out of stock, but hopefully not for long and it looks like Pendragon won’t be consigned to the cripple siding after all! Edited April 17, 2018 by Modelling Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westerner Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Do I understand correctly that most trains will only run in one direction looking at the layout of the fiddle yard which seems more set up for an end to end terminus type layout rather than a through station. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 17, 2018 Author Share Posted April 17, 2018 Do I understand correctly that most trains will only run in one direction looking at the layout of the fiddle yard which seems more set up for an end to end terminus type layout rather than a through station. Hi Alan, I explained how the whole layout will work back in post 12. If you’re looking at the most recent track diagram I posted, it only shows Talbothays, which is essentially phase 1 of construction, and therefore the fiddleyard won’t make much sense. What I am building is essentially an end to end layout with a sneaky roundy-roundy built in. I took the decision early on to build Talbothays first, as I thought at the time it would be an easier build and get me up and running quicker (don’t laugh at the back there!). When St Aldhelm (i.e. phase 2) is built, the fiddleyard will represent Combe Hardy station and the line’s loco and stock storage area, both of which will remain unmodelled for now, sadly. Combe Hardy is a mainline station where the preservationists have re-instated a disused platform. There are no run around facilities there, only a spur where a loco can couple up to the rear of an up train to take it back to St Aldhelm. My intention is to get Talbothays up and running, and make a start on scenics before even contemplating building St Aldhelm. Therefore I have built in a loop at the back of the fiddleyard which will mimic a platform line and loop so that locos can run around as they will at St Aldhelm. So, a typical operating sequence for a round trip from Combe Hardy to St Aldhelm will go like this: The train will leave one of the fan of sidings towards Talbothays, pause in the platform then head back to the rearmost line in the fiddleyard. The loco will uncouple and use the loop to run around its train, then proceed back to Talbothays, before returning to the fan of sidings. A second loco will then couple up to the train and repeat the sequence, releasing the first loco which will shunt into the spur. I hope that clears things up a bit! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westerner Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Thanks for that Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Vecchio Posted April 18, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 18, 2018 Over the past week or so, attention has turned from the layout itself to what will run on it. During the armchair years of my recent modelling life, I kept my hand in by buying stock that I fancied the look of and that may or may not suit the layout I was planning. Aside from the mad purchases (like the IET pictured above and a full 2+8 HST - neither of which fit on the layout!) I have also been adding to St Aldhelm’s resident loco roster. With the decision to go DCC being very recent, I’m obviously now facing the daunting prospect of fitting a large number of locos with a large number of decoders, so I have been painstakingly unboxing everything to find out what will fit where. A lot of locos look very easy to convert, but a surprising number look like they will be more tricky. The more recent purchases will be fairly easy. The Kernow O2 and Bachmann E4 are simple 6-pin plug ins. My oldest of the new generation purchases (made way back in 2008 when I first got back into the hobby), the Hornby M7 looks like it will be a simple conversion with a direct plug DCC Concepts Zen Nano chip, which was a nice surprise. In fact, it was surprising just how many older purchases were DCC Ready. But there were some disappointing finds. Although it’s away from its natural territory, St Aldhelm will be home to GWR Hall Class “Saint Edmund Hall” (bought for sentimental reasons - and why can’t a Western loco run on Southern metals in preservation, eh?!). It’s great that Bachmann saw fit to equip it with an 8-pin socket, but the socket is tucked right underneath the footplate, and there is absolutely nowhere inside the bodywork nearby to pop the decoder itself. I’m not even sure if a wired plug will fit the space provided...that is going to be a head scratcher, unless anyone out there has a solution?! I also bought the Bachmann Class 220 “Dorset Voyager” - the set which ventured from the main line into Purbeck and was named at a special ceremony in Swanage just after the connection at Motala was commissioned. I had hoped to run it down the branch in honour of that occasion, forgetting that the Voyager model pre-dates the time when DCC was pretty much mandatory. No socket, and the motor is in a centre car, so I’ll need three decoders if I want the lights to work too... Another big disappointment was finding that my Bachmann N Class, a stalwart of my previous layout, isn’t DCC ready at all. Looks like I’ll be doing some research into hard-wiring decoders into older locos soon if I want some of my favourites to run. Away from decoder problems, I may have an even bigger one to deal with on my Hornby King Arthur class “Pendragon”. A while back, I gave all my existing locos a run on a rolling road to keep them all ticking over. I remember putting Pendragon on the road, turning up the power on the controller, hearing the motor whir, but seeing the wheels stay adamantly static. Today, when I took a look inside at the DCC socket, I remembered the problem and decided to investigate further. It turns out that a cog connecting the motor worm to the driving wheel has cracked and come loose from its spindle. Has anyone else come across this problem? Sadly, I think unless I can get a spare cog from Hornby, this could be a terminal issue, as the crack on the cog spreads when it is placed back on the spindle, and I doubt it would mesh with the driving wheel cog properly even if it is glued back into place. I’d love to know if any of you guys can think of a solution, as this is one of my favourite locos, and I’d hate for it to be reduced to a static exhibit. 6E6AC9C9-30CA-405D-A14B-0E9615137C5E.jpeg 624AD276-DF28-4D3E-95A2-5B68C825FB39.jpeg 582CEA51-E760-4511-9FB3-3F02A7B21B25.jpeg Hard wiring a decoder is a walk in the park. If you can handle a small soldering iron I do not see any problems. Happy to help if necessary. I upgraded my whole fleet (well - the old ones as the new ones were DCC ready ) to DCC. No problem at all. By the way - I own a N15 Pendragon from Hornby - a nice model which I can see right now as it is on display above my computer - the space for the decoder is terribly small. I struggled to get a zimo MX600 (basic and small) into the available space. best regards Vecchio Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelling Mike Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 Hard wiring a decoder is a walk in the park. If you can handle a small soldering iron I do not see any problems. Happy to help if necessary. I upgraded my whole fleet (well - the old ones as the new ones were DCC ready ) to DCC. No problem at all. By the way - I own a N15 Pendragon from Hornby - a nice model which I can see right now as it is on display above my computer - the space for the decoder is terribly small. I struggled to get a zimo MX600 (basic and small) into the available space. best regards Vecchio Hi Vecchio, Although my soldering skills still leave a lot to be desired, they are improving, and after reading a few how-to guides over the last couple of days, I’m feeling less daunted by the task now. It’s one of those jobs that strikes fear into the uninitiated modeller, but like most tasks, it’s more a case of fear of the unknown. As for Pendragon, I did note the small decoder space - not as small as some other spaces, it has to be said, but not helped by the odd, jaunty angle of the socket. To be honest, with the drive train woes, I didn’t get as far as measuring the available space. As the spare part seems to be out of stock/production everywhere, I won’t be having to worry about it for a while... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BlueLightning Posted April 19, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2018 As the spare part seems to be out of stock/production everywhere, I won’t be having to worry about it for a while... Hi Mike, I don't suppose you know if the cog is the same as the one Hornby use on the 0-4-0s?? If so I think I have a few so could always send you one. Gary Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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