RMweb Gold NHY 581 Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2020 20 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said: I should have expected nothing less from you, young man. I guess you're a straight DC man, if you know what I mean. Indeed. ( Deep voice) 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted June 12, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 12, 2020 9 hours ago, Mick Bonwick said: I should have expected nothing less from you, young man. I guess you're a straight DC man, if you know what I mean. Wot, as opposed to ABCD (if you know what I mean). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 12, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 12, 2020 Now that most of the track is working and not too many things fall off, I've cleared the decks and put boxes back under the baseboards. I've sorted them into a better order than they were in before, so now I'll spend much more time searching for things. More testing has been going on today, and I've discovered two points (turnouts) where the common crossing is not getting juice in a particular direction. This came about because I was running an 0-6-0T, deliberately, with a short wheelbase so that I would find the very problem that I did. One of them is being caused by the point motor (Cobalt) not quite reaching the end of its travel, so the contacts are not being made internally at one extremity, and the other is because there must be a break in the wire from the common crossing to the polarity switch on the Cobalt. The first will be corrected by removing and repositioning the Cobalt, and the other by soldering a new wire from the inside of the common crossing V (above the board) to the existing wiring loom connection under the board. JMRI has been put to the test today, as well (Sorry, Rob, the computer program that controls the track power), and seems to be doing all that it should and nothing that it shouldn't. I am using the 'portable' Digitrax system (smaller, lighter, fewer wires) for this testing because I still need to be moving around the layout while checking the progress of trains. I'm quite getting to like the control handle as a way of controlling the speed. What you can't see is the Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale sound emanating from the speakers. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted June 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 Very nice! Excellent progress - I seem to have spent most of this week searching for my lost mojo - but I think I may have found it crouching in the corner - we shall see! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted June 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 Would CCTV help with the deciphering of what is where in the obscured fiddle yard? I've just installed such a system, with another going in shortly. Cost? Rather less than £30 for two sets of camera and small screen, including postage to France! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Tony Teague said: I seem to have spent most of this week searching for my lost mojo - but I think I may have found it crouching in the corner - we shall see! I have a spare one if you'd like me to donate it. You could keep it in reserve, between the Shiraz and the Malbec. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted June 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 How very kind! Although personally, I prefer a Pinot Noir or a Viognier! Just off to find out whether this one is really working or not! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Oldddudders said: Would CCTV help with the deciphering of what is where in the obscured fiddle yard? I've just installed such a system, with another going in shortly. Cost? Rather less than £30 for two sets of camera and small screen, including postage to France! That is a splendid idea! I love gadgets, especially the ones that are actually useful. Just to avoid me having to go on the Internet and search for one myself, thus taking up more time than I have to spare (ahem!), would you be willing to share your source? I'd appreciate your views on the end result, too, so that I've got somebody to blame if it all goes wrong. Seriously, though, the fiddle yard is just behind where I will sit and operate once everything is finished. By the time that has happened I expect I will recognise locomotive numbers from the train content that is easily visible. Maybe. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 4 minutes ago, Tony Teague said: Just off to find out whether this one is really working or not! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Gilbert Posted June 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Tony Teague said: Very nice! Excellent progress - I seem to have spent most of this week searching for my lost mojo - but I think I may have found it crouching in the corner - we shall see! At least you'll know where it is when you need it! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted June 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 (Clapton - Mojo Working) A classic clip Mick, of a song that I remember hearing often in the clubs in the late 60's when I used to see groups like the Graham Bond Organisation (incl. Ginger Baker & Jack Bruce), John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (incl. Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and either Peter Green or Eric Clapton) & the Steam Packet (incl. Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, Julie Driscoll and The Brian Auger Trinity). The music they played has shaped my eclectic musical taste ever since! {I will refrain from cluttering your thread with clips!]. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Mick Bonwick said: Didn't realise Andy York could play the drums ! 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted June 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 4 hours ago, Oldddudders said: Would CCTV help with the deciphering of what is where in the obscured fiddle yard? I've just installed such a system, with another going in shortly. Cost? Rather less than £30 for two sets of camera and small screen, including postage to France! This could be handy for spotting wagons over uncouplers, if the cameras are pointed vertically downwards. As Mick said, I too would be interested in the details. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 The other half of the lifting flap protection electrickery has been completed today. If the flap is lifted there is now a 2' section either side of the hole that has no electricity to it. I stood in the gap and waited for it to fail, just in case, but it didn't. A lot of movement of heavy boxes was required to achieve the work under the boards, and I was expecting the vertical alignment of the track join at the flap edges to be affected. It was! The first time the flap was lowered after wiring completion I found that there was a 1mm drop off the flap onto the main board. Leaning on the flap solved that, but it does show that things still move about a bit. One solution would be to use a bolt between flap and main board to locate the flap, but it would need to be totally accurate and I don't think drilling holes into wood can achieve that. I have some gizmos somewhere that were created by a fellow member of the East Hants Area Group of the Scalefour Society a long time ago, so when I find them I'll install them. 9 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted June 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) That's a shame about the movement, you might find a change of ambient temperature affects the wood as well. It might help to have metal to metal location alignment, such as extended pins on the flap landing in V shaped receivers on the main board. Edited June 13, 2020 by Stubby47 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted June 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 All looks extremely neat & tidy! Would a small lump of lead fixed under the end of the flap ensure that it settled in place properly? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 14, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 4 minutes ago, Tony Teague said: Would a small lump of lead fixed under the end of the flap ensure that it settled in place properly? Not a small lump, no, Tony. When I said that I fixed it by leaning on it, I meant leaning on it. The fit of the right-angled flap end is an interference fit, deliberately. It always fits just right in the horizontal plane, it's only the vertical alignment that's not yet quite right every time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted June 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) How about one of those toggle-catch things as used to connect boards together, to pull the flap down? Edited June 14, 2020 by Stubby47 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted June 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 The cctv item I bought on ebay is '4.3" LCD Monitor + 1 x Rear View Reversing Camera Kits For Car Bus Truck' sold by seller uniquepoint2014, who has sold more than 300k items. Arrived in a few days. Price has gone up a bit since I bought mine. Works fine, with a 12v dc input needed. The screen has markings on it intended to help reversing, but I don't find they intrude on the simple info I need, telling me what is where in the fiddle yard. Incidentally it was RMwebber TEAMYAKIMA who originally recommended the item. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted June 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 22 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said: Not a small lump, no, Tony. When I said that I fixed it by leaning on it, I meant leaning on it. The fit of the right-angled flap end is an interference fit, deliberately. It always fits just right in the horizontal plane, it's only the vertical alignment that's not yet quite right every time. I have a large roll of lead..... ....but then you'd need some machinery to lift it! (I'll shut up now!) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 14, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 18 minutes ago, Stubby47 said: How about one of those toggle-catch things as used to connect boards together, to pull the flap down? I had thought about those and concluded that there is nowhere that the fixing screws for them would be able to grip well enough without adding even more woodwork to the join. I haven't discarded the idea completely, though, and thank you for mentioning it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Tony Teague said: I have a large roll of lead..... Does the vicar know ! 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted June 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) I always understood that the outer mating edge of a pub bar flap (or similar when used on layouts etc) should be angled with the top moving edge wider than the lower. All to do with the arc taken by the moving parts based on the radius from the hinge point. That of the bottom being marginally greater if the outer edge is vertical, hence the need for angling the mating faces. It may just be an optical illusion in the photos but yours looks like a vertical, rather than angled/chamfered edge. If so I suspect it is that the lower edge is marginally jamming in the gap as it it tries to lift and/or close. Edited June 14, 2020 by john new Minor tweak for clarity 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 14, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 2 hours ago, john new said: I always understood that the outer mating edge of a pub bar flap (or similar when used on layouts etc) should be angled with the top moving edge wider than the lower. All to do with the arc taken by the moving parts based on the radius from the hinge point. That of the bottom being marginally greater if the outer edge is vertical, hence the need for angling the mating faces. It may just be an optical illusion in the photos but yours looks like a vertical, rather than angled/chamfered edge. If so I suspect it is that the lower edge is marginally jamming in the gap as it it tries to lift and/or close. You're absolutely right, John, there needs to be a chamfer, and there is one. A closer view should demonstrate that: 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted June 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mick Bonwick said: You're absolutely right, John, there needs to be a chamfer, and there is one. A closer view should demonstrate that: Nice work, far better than the outdoor woodwork bodging I'm doing today. Now the wet weather has gone over I am trying to finish off the new raised viewing deck by adding some basic safety rails. The bonus, when it is finished we will have an easier view of the Olympic rings, the crane where the main line section of the Merchants Railway* used to terminate and out to sea. *The various southern quarry spurs heading of it from there didn't quite reach into the centre of Easton but it was Portland based. Edited June 14, 2020 by john new Added extra footnote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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