Piskey Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 (edited) Ten days later ...... Progress continues to be slow, but it is progress - in between all the other things that need doing! The wiring of Board 2 is now complete (which means the Standard Gauge section is now complete) and I've moved on to Board 3 where the rest of the track for the "hidden sidings" has been laid and the crossover points 7 wired up and working. Above are the works for the crossover points 7. The TrainTech DCC Controller is the black box in the middle whilst the Gaugemaster GM500 Relay Switches are the small green cards either side. The footprint for all these, and the wiring, is substantially less than for the Cobalt SS point motors that I gave up on. The white wires feed the frogs whilst the isolated sections ahead of a point when set the "right" way are fed by the black wire on the left side of the left hand GM500 This is a view of the crossover points 7 above the board. Not a pretty sight for "out in the country" but for the "hidden sidings" they are ideal and work with a nice positive click. The cork underlay tells where plans have been amended a couple of times! The two points 8 and 9 on Board 2 are similarly set up though the crossover points 10 on Board 1 are controlled by two of the analogue Cobalt point motors salvaged from Boscarne Junction, with Cobalt AD-2fx DCC decoders. Edited November 14, 2018 by Piskey 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 Hooray! The very last piece of track, the short narrow gauge siding from the station, was laid today. As can be seen, the glue beneath the track is still wet! It's going to be a real challenge fitting the point motor beneath the point on the right of this photo as there is a structural member beneath it, one that the fold-up arm of the legs is attached to. I have yet to decide whether to try moving this or being even more creative than before with a cradle for fixing the motor. I'm really cross with myself as I forgot to trim the extra long sleepers of the "Y" point before fixing it down this afternoon. I could lift it as I don't stick the points down, they are just held in place by the track adjacent, then the ballast when it goes down (though from previous experience I know that simply sliding the rail joiners along the rails is not easy), or I could try trimming them but having to be very careful around the ends of the tie bar. Whatever I try, it'll be a couple of days or so now before I can do any more work. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 (edited) Oh dear, I've just come back to this after a couple of weeks' holiday and all is not well! I don't know whether or not it is a failing of these Peco points, or whether or not I'm just unlucky, but one of the point blades in the 'Y' point has detached itself completely. In fact I had to crawl around the floor to find it after having had the board upended to wire up the last of the uncoupling electro-magnets. So, a new one of these is required as even if I could refit the rail I feel it would be a weak area and something that may well happen again. Edited December 9, 2018 by Piskey 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 (edited) Today I finally had time to come back to the layout building and for the first time have run an engine all round the boards. It wasn't quite plain sailing, though, as for some reason the crossover points 6 didn't want to work. They were fine half an hour before I set up for a test running, but ..... a job for tomorrow. Strange that it is affecting both point motors. Hummy by the recalcitrant crossover, point 6A in the view. This was working perfectly not half an hour earlier! ~ Grrrrr...... Edited December 19, 2018 by Piskey 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 There's Always Something! Yesterday I resolved the problem with the crossover points 6 - a loose wire! Anyway, having done that I then ran Hummy all round the layout a number of times, using both roads through the station area and all four loops in the fiddle yard. Ran like a dream! Phew. Next I hooked up a couple of coaches and Hummy set off as briskly (well, alright, just as slowly) as before. But .... when the consist arrived at the first of the Gaugemaster point motors the footboard of the carriage fouled the top of the motor! Grrr .... Time to put on the thinking cap! Above the Gaugemaster point motor can be seen right up against the ends of the sleepers What to do about this? And if the coaches are fouling the motors, what would be the situation with the Manning Wardles? I asked Bob Barnard what the measurements of the MW engines are and was reassured that they are a millimetre or two narrower than the coaches, so how best to fix this? I toyed with a couple of ideas then settled for the time honoured one of a brass wire connection. But, the holes in the Gaugemaster actuators are rather large, and a brass rod small enough to fit in the points' tie bars would simply flop around inside these. So, a quick cup of tea was called for, and a scratch of the head. Solution was a short length of 3/16" copper tube inserted in the Gaugemaster actuator, the brass wire inserted into that and a quick dob of solder (before the plastic started to melt) to hold it all together. The first point motor was very carefully re-positioned and manually tested OK (these can be worked by hand as well as electrically) prior to fixing with screws. Turned on the power, selected the point's decoder and phew - all works well! The new arrangement on the first point to be sorted. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share Posted December 22, 2018 Not much time to look at this today but I have managed to amend the point connection for the other half of this crossover. As it's a longer run, and goes under an adjacent track, I used a thicker length of brass wire. That was a problem in itself as it was too thick - though filing a groove in the cork underlay soon sorted that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted December 23, 2018 Author Share Posted December 23, 2018 (edited) A train has run! Today the last two point motors were moved half an inch further from the track and Hummy, with up to four coaches, made numerous circumnavigations of the whole layout. I'm getting a bit better at stopping in the correct place - something that will be quite important where uncoupling is required, at a signal or in the platform without the rear of the train out of the station. Four coaches is just about this engine's limit, though when the Manning Wardles arrive Hummy will be relegated to goods workings only. There are 11" radius curves at either end of the layout and with four on Hummy does slip slightly. Hummy and coaches on the first run. These Peco coaches (now fitted with metal wheelsets) are very light and I was thinking of adding a little weight to them but I think I'll put that on hold until I know how well they'll behave behind a Manning Wardle. Exe is on it's way, but I don't yet have a DCC decoder for it. Edited December 23, 2018 by Piskey Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted December 24, 2018 Author Share Posted December 24, 2018 (edited) A short while ago I had turned my thoughts to track cleaning. This is a very necessary task that I was quite surprised to find I needed to carry out on brand new track, albeit track that had been laid for a while but had not been run on. I'm not a fan of track cleaning rubbers as I believe they damage the rails over time, so was thinking of a track cleaning wagon, if only for the longer run of 9mm track. I was drawn to the kit made by Lanarkshire Models and Supplies, which has some good recommendations, but it is only made for OO, EM and P4 track, not OO-9. I had a word with Dave Franks at LMS and he very kindly produced one for me as a one-off special with a turned down roller and smaller frame to hold it. Next was the question of where to install it? A Peco four wheel wagon is too short and I think the overhang on a rather long Peco L&B Bogie wagon would be a problem, so after a brief Internet search I decided on an Eggerbahn four wheel long wheelbase wagon. This arrived today and I set about carving it up! Because the 'ground clearance' is less than with OO I fixed it above the floor of the wagon rather than underneath, as in the instructions. I had to glue it in (easier with above floor mounting) as where I would have put the fixing screws would have obstructed the pony trucks that carry the wheels. The whole construction worked perfectly and I now have a track cleaning wagon almost ready to go. I say 'almost' as I need to paint the underneath of the roller holder plus add a rather large packing case I'm making from some scrap balsa to hide 'the works'. Oh yes, and add a little weight. The track cleaning wagon as first turned out of the workshops! As may be see, the size is just perfect for OO-9. This seems so successful that I think I may well invest in one for the OO gauge track even though there's only a short run. Edited December 24, 2018 by Piskey 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 The Eagle has landed!Well, not quite The Eagle, but the first of my long-awaited Manning Wardles, 760 EXE arrived today. I know there have been a lot of problems with these models so unpacked it with trepidation though I have to say first impression was, "What a lovely model". However, I wasn't quite so enamoured when one of the motion covers fell off as the engine was being unpacked. Maybe a light touch of glue is required if it happens again. There doesn't seem to be any lug to hold it, so perhaps it's simply a matter of faith! I have now set up the rolling road and am giving it the recommended 30 minutes on 12v DC in each direction but the thing runs at almost full speed from the start. It does quicken a little as the controller's knob is turned up, but not by much. Hopefully this won't be a problem when a DCC decoder has been installed. Time will tell. EXE running at the "slowest setting" on the rolling road set up on my programming track. Once the 30 minutes in each direction has finished I'll try it on a piece of track. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 (edited) Some Countryside Appears! Time passes and not much gets done! There have been a lot of other things taking my time again recently, plus it's been blooming hot! Shifting a board or two is enough to break out a sweat. However, some work has been done and I've just finished fixing the back scene which now hides the 'hidden sidings' (except where you can see through the hole in the wall which gives access to the standard gauge cassette). The left side of the layout. The line here runs on the other side of the road from the town and I intend to add some houses to the shorter straight side to indicate this. The line will then enter a cutting with an overbridge before disappearing through to the hidden sidings beyond. The middle section of the back scene. This is the same as the one I used for my Boscarne Junction layout and I'm rather disappointed that in this print there is an obvious colour difference between two of the sheets, as is easily seen above. Oh well, I suppose some creative planting will be called for here! The right hand side of things. The scenery here will form a hill that completely covers the hole in the wall through which the cassettes will be put on and taken off the layout. The strips of wood on the base are guides for locating the cassettes accurately with the access road. For ease of operation the power socket shown is going to be moved to the other side of the track. The shorter side on the right has an opening door so that in case of an event inside the tunnel (that will be up to the scenery level here) things can be sorted easily. Edited February 15, 2019 by Piskey Punctuation 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neal Ball Posted February 16, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 16, 2019 I’ve just been catching up on your thread and it’s been an interesting read. having converted to DCC a few years ago, I quickly found it takes a lot more than two wires! Although your wiring is a lot neater than mine! I look forward to your next update(s) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 On 16/02/2019 at 20:27, Neal Ball said: My model railway is based on Henley on Thames in the 1930's: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/93864-henley-on-thames/ Nice photo of 1456. My first ever cab ride was in 1453 when working the 'Marlow Donkey', as here: 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 (edited) Time flies by so quickly and it really doesn't seem like six weeks since I last posted! Some progress has been made and I'm now just about to start some serious scenicing with a skeleton structure in place. Next will come cladding it which, for the first time, I shall be doing using Woodland Scenics Shaper Sheet. Sounds good but .... will it prove to be as good as the adverts for it? Time will tell. From the level crossing end the background rises steadily as a rock face with a road part way across this board. Board two has the background continuing to rise and the standard gauge line diving into a tunnel in the rock face Board three and the background is now at full height. Beneath it is the cassette bay for the standard gauge "fiddle yard". On the far right the narrow gauge line dives into its own tunnel. This tunnel mouth is actually meant for N scale, so needs to be raised a little! Edited March 28, 2019 by Piskey Word missed out! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) Hope it's not another six weeks until there's something else to post! Well, no, it's today, one day later! The Woodland Scenics Shaper Sheet cliff face cladding has now been added to the first board, as below. This was easier to do than I had feared and once anchored top and bottom it was a doddle to "adjust" the middle part. Next I have to fill in a couple of gaps where it makes a 90° turn, plus finish off by the sides of the tunnel mouths. Then progress to the next board. Edited March 29, 2019 by Piskey Added space between a couple of words 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piskey Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 Work progresses and now the Shaper Sheet has been applied all the way across the hilly section and the various gaps, corners and tunnel mouth edges have been finished with Foam Putty. This is not something I'd ever come across previously but is very easy to work with and has dried to a nice hard surface that is simple to cut, file and shape if necessary. Next will come a coating (or two) of plaster, then it'll be off to the paint shop to, I hope, completely transform it from a snowscene to a rugged rock face. Part board 2 and board 1. No matter how hard one tries there's always an annoying line in the scenery where the boards meet. The Shaper Sheet was applied across the join (as may be seen above) then cut with a sharp knife once securely fixed yet still the "join" is obvious. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium AdeMoore Posted June 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 23, 2019 Following with great interest as a standard gauge and NG L&B layout is my goal one of these years! Any updates all coming along nicely. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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