Easton, Isle of Portland

[Mick Bonwick]

8 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

Right. Rattled through the thread start to finish. Up to speed.

 

I've just read this again. Rattled? Rattled? Are you saying there's something loose? At speed?

[mullie]

Up to speed? Still slow on this branch, has he seen the gradient round the cliffs!

 

Martyn

[Mick Bonwick]

5 minutes ago, mullie said:

Up to speed? Still slow on this branch, has he seen the gradient round the cliffs?

 

One of the reasons for deciding to model this line. Steep inclines, slow speeds, short trains. Apart from rule 1 interpretations, of course.

[nickwood]

13 hours ago, Mick Bonwick said:

replacement is easy in the event of a fractured wire or clumsy visitor.

Obviously in preparation for my visit 

[NHY 581]

If it's anything like me this morning then best of luck. Fingers pinched with pliers, head banged on corner of layout and eye poked with uncoupler which I had forgotten I was holding.....

 

Rob. 

[Mick Bonwick]

1 minute ago, NHY 581 said:

Fingers pinched with pliers, head banged on corner of layout and eye poked with uncoupler which I had forgotten I was holding.....

 

Ouch, ouch and ouch! Never mind, it seems that you have achieved your objective and that is important. We can't win battles without a few casualties. Unless we're the A Team , that is.

[Mick Bonwick]

As mentioned, a little while ago (hmph!), there would be a problem with the rails catching on each other when the flap is lifted, because they would be about 7mm higher than the board top once installed. The cure for this is to raise the hinges above board level, but you already know that. I simply cut some pieces of baseboard scrap leftovers (10mm ply) and inserted then twixt baseboard and hinge. This meant that a little bit of material had to be sanded from the face of the lower contact edge, easily done with a piece of sandpaper.

 

Underlay in place, hinges repositioned, droppers soldered to rail and track stuck down with Copydex. Oh, and rails soldered to brass screw heads as well.

 

[Stubby47]

It's like you know what you're doing...

[bgman]

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

If it's anything like me this morning then best of luck. Fingers pinched with pliers, head banged on corner of layout and eye poked with uncoupler which I had forgotten I was holding.....

 

Rob. 

 

Shouldn't drink so much Sheep Dip for breakfast then ! 

 

[nickwood]

5 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

It's like you know what you're doing...

 

Now don't get carried away, he taught me all I know and I still know nowt!

[Mick Bonwick]

End of play position today:

 

1. Rails across flap cut with a razor saw in line with the baseboard joins.
2. Power supplied to rails on the flap.
3. Flap now electrically connected to only one side of the layout.
4. Trains tested in both directions across the flap, but only when it's down.

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/oSsw_Gu-38I

 

Next task (for those who can't wait until tomorrow) will be to try and find the microswitches that will be used to automatically cut power to the flap and a section either side of it when it is raised. I know they are somewhere safe. A bit like some pigs I know of.

[Stubby47]

15 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said:

Trains tested in both directions across the flap, but only when it's down

 

 

Good thinking, but when the flap is up, is the power to the track on the non-flap side cut off?

[KNP]

17 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said:

End of play position today:

 

1. Rails across flap cut with a razor saw in line with the baseboard joins.
2. Power supplied to rails on the flap.
3. Flap now electrically connected to only one side of the layout.
4. Trains tested in both directions across the flap, but only when it's down.

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/oSsw_Gu-38I

 

Next task (for those who can't wait until tomorrow) will be to try and find the microswitches that will be used to automatically cut power to the flap and a section either side of it when it is raised. I know they are somewhere safe. A bit like some pigs I know of.

And I found the pigs so the omens are good for a safe deliverance.......

[Mick Bonwick]

1 minute ago, Stubby47 said:

 

 

Good thinking, but when the flap is up, is the power to the track on the non-flap side cut off?

 

Not yet. I can't find the microswitches.

 

The plan is to cut off power to a section of track at least 18" long either side of the flap. I know I'll have to be careful about the capacity of any stay-alives that I use, but there won't be many of those.

[Tony Teague]

Those "capacity to stay alive" things sound like they might be useful in a pandemic situation????

[KNP]

7 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

Those "capacity to stay alive" things sound like they might be useful in a pandemic situation????

Just be aware that if the loco coughs and wheezes then it will need to self isolate in a siding until it’s tubes are clear and aren’t hot.......

[teaky]

1 hour ago, KNP said:

Just be aware that if the loco coughs and wheezes then it will need to self isolate in a siding until it’s tubes are clear and aren’t hot.......

Yes, but it's OK to travel from Portland to Manchester whilst isolating so several laps of Mick's shed should be fine.

[Ramblin Rich]

4 hours ago, Mick Bonwick said:

The plan is to cut off power to a section of track at least 18" long either side of the flap. I know I'll have to be careful about the capacity of any stay-alives that I use, but there won't be many of those.

This is a good idea, but falls down if any trains are propelled, or if any DMUs are operating with the powered car at the rear. If you only use locos at the front, you'll be ok. Otherwise a complete power off switch might be better...

Should say I'm enjoying the thread, especially the scenic works.

[Mick Bonwick]

1 hour ago, Ramblin Rich said:

This is a good idea, but falls down if any trains are propelled,

 

 

 

It'll be the trains that fall down.

 

1 hour ago, Ramblin Rich said:

 if any DMUs are operating with the powered car at the rear.

 

 

There's only 1 DEMU, and that's only 2 carriages.

 

There are many ways to avoid disaster, but the only perfect way is not to run any trains at all. Where's the fun in that? I think that by the time trains are running on a regular basis there will be an established safe routine.

 

If it fails I've only got myself to blame.

 

Unless it's somebody else's fault.

[Tony Teague]

Have you considered installing a safety net?

[Stubby47]

11 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

Have you considered installing a safety net?

He'd probably trip over it leaving the shed. 

[KNP]

2 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

He'd probably trip over it leaving the shed. 

 

Then you need to install another one, and so on and so on!

[Stubby47]

Have you got any physical locating device or mechanism to keep the non-hinge end of the board in its correct place?

[Mick Bonwick]

28 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

Have you considered installing a safety net?

 

Never crossed my mind. Can't think why.

 

12 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

Have you got any physical locating device or mechanism to keep the non-hinge end of the board in its correct place?

 

Yes.

[Mick Bonwick]

10 hours ago, Ramblin Rich said:

Should say I'm enjoying the thread, especially the scenic works.

 

That's nice to know, Rich.

 

Here's a bit of bramble.

 

I have some rubberised horsehair that is red-brown in colour. It came from friends who used it to pack a birthday present for me many years ago, when they found out that it could be used for scenery. The horsehair, that is, not the birthday present.

 

For a while I was part of the team that worked on Kimble, the Leamington and Warwick Model Railway Society's O Gauge layout. There is a large grassy scenic area at the viaduct end of this layout that needed to have some scrubby growth added, so I thought I'd add some brambles.

 

Using the red-brown horsehair and some Green Scenes Little Leaf Company material I did this:

 

 

MATERIALS TO BE USED

 

 

 

NEAT PVA ADDED RANDOMLY WITH A PAINTBRUSH

 

 

LEAF MATERIAL SCATTERED ALL OVER

 

 

NEAT PVA ADDED TO THE GROUND

 

 

BRAMBLE PATCH PLONKED ON THE GLUE

 

 

The dead grass to the left was made using Woodland Scenics Field Grass and some fine brown scatter that was hiding anonymously in a box until I rediscovered it.

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by Mick Bonwick