Tyteford Halte

[SteveyDee68]

13 hours ago, MAP66 said:

Anyway, the name of the game was to come up with a flexible vacuum brake and steam hose for permanent coupling between coach and loco which could carry decoder wires within it and resemble the hoses supplied in the detailing kit, so here it is….

 

On the left, one of the hoses supplied in the kit. On the right, my flexible hose as a comparison.

 

And finally, a close up of the tricky little !!**?? 🤪

Dear Mr Barking-Hatstand

 

Thank you for the notification of your ingenious detailing part allowing decoder wires to be run via a cosmetic vacuum break/steam hose.

 

I am delighted to submit an order for 500 off, to be delivered by pogo stick by Friday week to our club premises. Thank you for donating your time, effort, expertise and any remaining sanity towards assisting us - as a registered charity, we rely upon donations from upstanding hat storage devices like yourself to keep our members in a state of perpetual rivet counting - again, thank you, sir.

 

Yours sincerely 

 

Col. Archie Pickled-Onion (retired) CMB

Secretary, The Official All English Canned Beetroot Collectors Society of England

[SteveyDee68]

And, seriously, wow 😮

 

Just, wow!

 

Ingenuity in design and craftsmanship in execution. It’s seeing such modelling that inspires me to do better myself (even if little hope of achieving what you are doing).

 

Steve S

[MAP66]

1 hour ago, SteveyDee68 said:

And, seriously, wow 😮

 

Just, wow!

 

Ingenuity in design and craftsmanship in execution. It’s seeing such modelling that inspires me to do better myself (even if little hope of achieving what you are doing).

 

Steve S

Thank you Steve,

It does help to be slightly mad to think up this stuff and a great deal of patience to see it through. I’ve found that my patience has grown over the past few years after returning to the hobby. It’s almost certain, that if I had taken on this 5 years ago, it would have ended up in the bin.

P.S Please inform Col. Archie Pickled-Onion (retired) CMB that his order of 500 vacuum hoses will be ready for collection this side of never (give or take a couple of Millenia) 🤪

 

[SteveyDee68]

13 hours ago, MAP66 said:

P.S Please inform Col. Archie Pickled-Onion (retired) CMB that his order of 500 vacuum hoses will be ready for collection this side of never (give or take a couple of Millenia) 🤪

 

Consider it done - the perfect response! 🤣

 

Steve S

[MAP66]

Apologies for the lack of posts lately, I have been taking advantage of the good weather, undertaking some 1:1 scale modelling in the garden and the patio should be finished at the weekend.

 

There has been some very slow progress on the auto coach interior and the non-smoking section is at least almost complete, all the seats are now upholstered within this section and all that remains are some vintage GWR notices and holiday posters to add. The smoking section will take much longer to complete, much more seating. Serves me right really, as I should have just painted them.

 

Below we find regular passenger Albert Cushing trying out the new seating. I think I have his vote of approval.

 

 

 

[MAP66]

Its no good staring out of the window Albert, your ticket is out of date and you're about to be found out by sharp eyed GWR ticket inspector Ernest Clipper.

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by MAP66
typo

[MAP66]

I am still here, even though my last post was over a month ago. I’ve been struggling with a solution for fitting the coach roof back on. It needs to be a fairly tight and secure fit to avoid any light bleed as I intend to add coach lighting. It also needs to be removable to provide access to the coach interior. The original method for securing the roof was provided by lugs on the side glazing panels which located into receiving slots moulded to the roof underside.  I removed the mouldings from the roof as they fouled against my partitions and the glazing is being replaced anyway which I why another method of securing the roof is required.

 

There has been some recent discussion to this end over at @Aston On Clun and I am most grateful to @MrWolf @Nick C @Limpley Stoker and @Schooner for their suggestions and contributions to get this sorted. I have since ordered magnets!!!

 

In other news, the Mrs is now well past the 12 weeks post op from heart surgery and is doing very well indeed. As a reward for us both we are going on a mini break to Welsh Wales (Just as this glorious weather decides to stop, how marvellous). So, all being well, this thread should resume normal service again shortly after we return – Mid July(ish). 

[Schooner]

Thanks for the shout - I don't spend enough time in the neighbourhood and hadn't discovered your thread. My loss. Even a cursory glance has revealed just how much excellent modelling I was missing. Following with intent!

 

Good news for 'er 'ndoors, enjoy the refreshing Welsh Liquid Sunshine (D.O.P) in the great outdoors, and I look forward to catching the next updates in a more timely fashion :)

[MAP66]

Well, the mini break to Wales done the trick, despite the weather trying its hardest to put a damper on it and us not getting to the summit of Snowdon due to 70mph gusts, we still thoroughly enjoyed the break.  Now, suitably dried out after returning to slightly less wet Somerset, it’s back to the modelling.

 

I finally managed to solve the roof problem and have held it snugly in place using mini neodymium magnets. I fitted two at the cab end, one above each of the cab doors and another two at the loco end, one in line with the luggage compartment partition and one on the end bulkhead. It done the job and there is a satisfying pull and snap when the roof fits into place.

 

It did take quite a bit of steady hand ‘squeaky bum’ concentration though at the cab end as it required me to cut away a slot in the top internal side of the cab doors to help locate the magnets and also a matching aligning slot in the coach roof. Its easy to put the scalpel in too far and come out the other side as there’s not much meat to the plastic in that area. Never mind, I’ve got plenty of filler.

 

Close up of slot cut into the top of drivers door.

 

Magnet installed.

 

View of the whole coach and roof. All the gouge and scratch marks on the roof underside are my previous failed attempts to make this work.

 

And the proof, roof held in place upside down. No magic or other such trickery used. Just magnets 👍

[MAP66]

You may have noticed from my last post that the drop lights are still in the process of being painted. Thankfully, this has now been completed. It required 3 thinned down coats in total and it took ages.

Surprisingly, not being put off by this, I did a Bob Ross and made a decision. That being to paint the internal face of the top lights above the main windows. The photo showing the interior of the preserved auto coach at Didcot shows the top lights to have a mahogany colour type finish. I wanted to try and do something similar and after some tedious masking off, the result on the first section of top lights is shown below. I quite like how it looks, so will continue and yes, it’s going to take a little while. I found out not to thin the paint too much, otherwise it has an annoying tendency to creep under the masking tape 😖

 

Preserved carriage 190 (Didcot) showing the top lights.

 

My effort! 

 

 

[MAP66]

Progressing slowly but it’s looking more how I want it to now. Just using the effect of paint to represent the drop light and top light mouldings as opposed to numerous strips of plasticard. Adding the leather window straps also helps the effect, made from masking tape painted leather brown.

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, MAP66 said:

Progressing slowly but it’s looking more how I want it to now. Just using the effect of paint to represent the drop light and top light mouldings as opposed to numerous strips of plasticard. Adding the leather window straps also helps the effect, made from masking tape painted leather brown.

 

 

 

I see I am going to have to up my game when building my carriage interiors.

 

Those seats are something else, great to see.

[MAP66]

Onwards and upwards, upwards anyway to the inside of the coach roof, as it’s time to tackle the lighting. Before you ask, no I haven’t finished painting the top lights or upholstering the seating – I got a bit bored with that so wanted something else to focus on.

 

For the coach lighting I trial fitted a strip of yellow LED’s from one of those 3v battery powered coach lighting kits. The strip has a self-adhesive backing, so that was a doddle to stick to the underside of the roof. I aligned it centrally and made sure that all LED’s were positioned within the compartment spaces. A couple of decoder wires were soldered in place to the + and – terminal pads located at the end of the strip, that end being the luggage compartment. These 2 wires will in time be connected to the decoder when purchased. For now, the supplied 3v battery does the job for testing purposes.

 

This particular LED strip can be cut to length at marked places and has resistors built in, which is why I favoured it as I can cut one LED off and use it independently for lighting the driving cab. So, one lighting function on the decoder for coach lighting and another function for directional lighting controlling the cab light and directional lamps. That’s the theory anyway.

 

I expect there to be some light bleed emitting from the mating surface of the roof edge and coach body where they meet. If, as I think, there is then I may have a solution. Need to wait till its dark to see how bad it is.

 

Quick and dirty wire up to check the LEDS - all working 👍

 

Feed wires soldered on and still working OK. Note the single LED for the cab is not fitted yet. 

 

How it looks with the roof fitted and lights on. Unable to judge the effect in day light but you can just make out a gentle glow. 

[MAP66]

I couldn't resist taking a pic of the auto coach in the dark and I was right about light bleed. Luckily though it is only really noticeable at the luggage end which is probably being exaggerated by the 2 wires slightly pushing against the roof, causing it to rise slightly. Some slight wire manipulation or magnet re-positioning should solve this. More importantly though, I'm happy with the lighting effect as shown below.

 

[BroadLeaves]

2 hours ago, MAP66 said:

 

This looks great. Love the seat coverings - makes all the difference.

 

2 hours ago, MAP66 said:

These 2 wires will in time be connected to the decoder when purchased. For now, the supplied 3v battery does the job for testing purposes.

I have, I think, the same auto-coach (if the Hornby ones use the Airfix tooling) and I'd really like to add lighting to mine. What decoder are you going to use? Is there one that outputs 3V, or will you have to drop the voltage down somehow?

You may not be there yet, but I'm very interested to see how you add the pickups to the bogies. Is that something that's been given any thought so far?

[MAP66]

8 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

I have, I think, the same auto-coach (if the Hornby ones use the Airfix tooling) and I'd really like to add lighting to mine. What decoder are you going to use? Is there one that outputs 3V, or will you have to drop the voltage down somehow?

You may not be there yet, but I'm very interested to see how you add the pickups to the bogies. Is that something that's been given any thought so far?

To answer your question, it’s probably best to first provide a re-cap of the master plan which still lives in my head, here goes…

The auto coach is the first of two projects, the second which will run after completion of the auto coach will be the upgrading of the Airfix 14XX loco. The auto coach and 14XX will then be run together as an auto train and will always be permanently coupled together.

 

Due to this configuration, it should be possible to house the sound decoder and possibly speaker within the luggage compartment of the auto coach if space is limited in the loco itself. In any case, I have provided two location options to house decoder and speaker.

 

So, power for the decoder will still be via pick ups from the loco itself and not from the coach bogies. Various concealed decoder wires will be routed from the loco to the coach which will be dependant on final location of sound decoder and speaker. That decision will be made once the chassis has been built for the loco and is offered up to the body shell to see how much space is available.

 

With that bit out of the way, I’m looking into sound decoders which have the 14XX sound file and enough function capability for the lighting control I'm after. Not sure about the voltage output as yet, this is one of many questions I need to put to possibly YouChoos as they have a Zimo sound decoder that on paper, seems to fit the bill. More on this to come when I know more.

 

Unfortunately, that’s no use to your question on how to get power from the coach bogie wheels. Maybe instead, use a simple 3v battery coach lighting kit, there is room in the luggage compartment to house the battery and holder, with the on/off switch located under the coach. The one in the photo is from Railway Scenics (usual disclaimers etc). It fits the auto coach very well and it states that the battery gives about 60hrs of continuous use.  

[Neal Ball]

An easy way to get electrical pick-ups onto the bogies is to use the little springs that DCC Concepts sell.

 

Take one wheel off the axle, but the spring on, add some conductive (silver) paint on one side, connect cables to the spring and it's all done. 

 

Ensure you have two wheels, with power being collected from opposite sides.

 

If the decoder is in the luggage van for the loco and carriage, that would be a great way of boosting the power supply to the loco.... You would need a 4 way micro-connector from the carriage to the loco.

[MAP66]

49 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

An easy way to get electrical pick-ups onto the bogies is to use the little springs that DCC Concepts sell.

Thanks Neal, I agree and although I've never tried them they look a good solution. However, in my case I am relying entirely on electrical pick up from the loco. Although it's short wheelbase the decoders have built in stay alive capacity so this should overcome those annoying stalls over turnouts and dirty track. 

[BroadLeaves]

15 hours ago, MAP66 said:

The auto coach and 14XX will then be run together as an auto train and will always be permanently coupled together.

Ah... yes, that would make life a bit easier! I hadn't err... picked up on that part of the scheme.

My reason for the interest in a decoder-based solution is so that the lights can be turned on/off/dimmed via DCC. I've seen the "magic wand" approach, but it's a bit too manual for me, and it still means you have to change the batteries every so often.

The pickup springs approach limits the wheelset selection as I understand it - if the axle isn't metal and electrically connected to one wheel rim, they won't work, will they? I'm wondering if the DCC Concepts wiper pickups would be better; there looks to be plenty of room under the bogie, and at the cost of increasing friction, you could get four pickups per side.

[MAP66]

22 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

My reason for the interest in a decoder-based solution is so that the lights can be turned on/off/dimmed via DCC. I've seen the "magic wand" approach, but it's a bit too manual for me, and it still means you have to change the batteries every so often.

There are LED coach lighting kits on the market now with integrated decoders, here's one example;

https://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/esu-50708-digital-led-lighting-integrated-decoder.html

I wish I could offer some helpful advice regarding best way/method for electrical pickup from the coach wheels. I have zero experience on that topic and the first time I will need to dabble in that area is when I eventually build the High Level chassis kit for the Airfix14XX and add the pick ups for that. I'm a person who hardly ever thinks ahead, too much info hurts my brain. Causes me no end of problems, but I normally end up dealing with such things when I actually get to that stage.

I hope your able to work something out, keep us all posted 🙂

[BroadLeaves]

20 hours ago, MAP66 said:

There are LED coach lighting kits on the market now with integrated decoders, here's one example;

https://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/esu-50708-digital-led-lighting-integrated-decoder.html

That's very useful - thank you. I didn't realise those existed.

[MAP66]

Just posting another interior shot of the auto coach, as I’ve had a second wind and am progressing well. All the upholstery to the bench type seating is now completed and It’s just the twin seats in the larger smoking section which remain left to do, they are a little trickier. A number of posters of various holiday resorts within the GWR network have also been added. Once the interior is completed, it will be time for me to start looking at routing all that wiring.

 

[MAP66]

Here’s the end of week round up;

All the seat coverings are now complete at long last and I’m pretty chuffed at how they turned out. The interior of the auto coach is now pretty much completed. The only tasks remaining from the inside are glazing and routing the wires for the lighting and lamp. I’ll leave the glazing till last as I don’t want to scratch or damage it while installing the wiring.

 

I also temporarily screwed the coach body back onto the underframe using just the two remaining screws, as I had removed the one from the drivers cab and the passenger entrance vestibule. The good news is that in my opinion, the two remaining screws do the job and its all quite secure.

 

So, I’ve now bitten the bullet and have started to look at how to wire this thing up. I’ve never installed a decoder of any sort  before so a little research was necessary and it soon became apparant that the best configuration for concealing wires from auto coach to loco would be to house the sound decoder in the bunker of the 14XX. Therefore, I will need to source one that can fit within the limited space available. The speaker and enclosure can then fit inside the luggage compartment of the auto coach.

 

The next thing to get my head around was how all the lighting functions should be connected to the sound decoder!!?? I put together a wiring diagram and table to assist my limited brain power, some of it is guess work but I think it’s almost correct. With the sound decoder in the loco bunker it allows the normal 32 gauge decoder wires, red and black for the wheel pick ups and orange and grey for the motor to all stay contained within the loco body shell. Also, within the loco body shell will be 4 x enamelled copper 0.1mm wires from the dual function directional loco lamp and if there’s room to house flame flicker, another 2 x of the same type wire. The rest of the wiring will be for lighting of the coach and for the speaker, they will be contained in the brake and steam vacuum hoses. The twin brown speaker wires may need to be 32 gauge? Not sure on that, I’m hoping that I can get away with something much thinner?

 

If you’re able to, please let me know if I’ve made any mistakes with the wiring and If you know how thin I can go with wiring to the speaker, I’m guessing it will be 8ohm impedance rating as that seems to be the standard.

 

For those of you missing Tyteford Halte - Auto coach temporarily re-assembled, still without glazing fitted and coach lighting on.

 

What I have to work with for accommodating the sound decoder, I will need to squeeze it into the bunker of the Airfix 14XX.

 

Auto coach wiring diagram.docx 

How I think it should function - Waiting for those comments 🙂

 

 

.

[MAP66]

I was hoping to report that I had sussed the wiring and all is working as it should. However, after speaking to someone who knows more about this stuff than me, it was a case of a re-think. So, I have now gone for a decoder driven LED lighting strip for the auto coach which also has the capability of directionally controlling the cab light. This reduces wiring between the loco and coach but requires powering from the track through the coach wheels.

 

That is something which I wanted to avoid at all costs, as I did not want to interfere with the coach bogies and remove wheels to fit pick up springs on the axles. To do this would involve removing the rodding and I didn’t want that!!

 

I was recommended wheel pick ups which could be fitted without removing the wheels or bogies, that’s the answer I thought and the images below show them fitted to the auto coach.

 

For the wiring route from each coach bogie to the lighting strip, I had planned to route it on the top side of the underframe sandwiched between the coach body but that wasn’t working out, so the route will now be on the underside of the underframe and then up through the floor of the luggage compartment.

 

Hopefully, my next post will have it all wired up and working 🙂

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik! Luckily, there were only 4 pieces to identify and fit, as my German is 'nicht gut'

 

First one fitted, a little tricky. Soldering the wire to the tag first helps to hold everything in line when inserting the screw.

 

All 4 pick ups fitted, just the drivers end shown. The lighting wires will eventually be routed on the underside of the underframe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MAP66]

Continuing with the wiring, I managed to successfully tuck the wiring out of sight under the coach, hard up against the inner edge of the sole bar, secured with blobs of superglue. I left the wiring loose at the luggage compartment end as I still need to fit the passenger steps which fit to the underside of the undercarriage. After the steps are fitted the wiring can be routed around them.

I will be looking at fitting the new coach lighting strip next. It doesn’t line up with the compartment sections as well as the battery version and it’s also a bit longer and thicker in depth. Luckily though, it’s also designed to be cut at designated places. Which just means a bit more measuring, cutting and soldering link wires.

Before all that, I fancied a change and started to paint the rest of the coach passengers. Results so far below…

 

Albert, now has a Mrs. Her feet are a little off the ground so a little of the derriere please. I can say that but Albert might get a slapped face if he dared to mention it.

 

 

These two are still in the paint shop. I use a wet palate to avoid the acrylics drying too quick. The flesh coloured paints are prone to drying too fast and clumping up the paint. After adding the flesh tones, I always paint the inner layers of clothing first as pin point precision is not required this way. Then cut in with the outer layers using my 'Optiviser' and a steady hand.