Chuffnell Regis

[Gedward]

2 minutes ago, Graham T said:

But looking on the bright side

 

And there is a bright side despite how daunting it is having to take two steps back.

[Graham T]

Just now, Gedward said:

 

And there is a bright side 

 

Always!

[Graham T]

Ah, if only laying track was half as easy as ripping it up!

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[clachnaharry]

You could just sell all your stock and buy a blue bubblecar - 1970's  rationalisation, with the loop retained for weekend excursions, or go the whole hog and rip that up as well?

 

Stationmaster would approve

[Graham T]

Sell it all?  I've only just bought it all!

[Graham T]

A busy spell playing about with track - and some spare points that I'd ended up with - resulted in this.  I added an extra turnout, the new one you can see closest to the camera, and by reversing the direction of the original point leading into the goods yard I've been able to add a short headshunt, without losing anything much in the length of the original sidings.  There's also a bit more open space between the goods shed and the next siding now.  I think this will add to the layout, but would really appreciate any opinions on it before I (re)start laying track.  Thanks

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

In the long quest for a GW-style 55 foot turntable, I came across this one from SE Finecast.  the 10.25 inch model scales out to about 65 feet, so perhaps a little on the long side.  I was thinking of using the kit and then bashing it about to look more like the example at Fairford.  Has anybody here tried one?

 

[Graham T]

So, hopefully this will have put Chuffnell Regis back on even keel.  We'll soon see when I start relaying the track.  The critical point (haha) will be the section of track leading over the transition onto the newly corked area.

 

[37Oban]

Hi, 

 

it's looking good!  The best advice I can give is keep trying the track over the transition, making adjustments, testing using some rolling stock, until happy with it then repeat when fixing the track down, making more adjustments  if necessary.  Seems like a bit of a hassle but it pays dividends in the long run.

 

Roja

[Graham T]

Thanks for the advice Roja, that's pretty much what I had in mind anyway.  Once bitten, twice shy, and all that!  It will be time well spent I'm sure.

[Graham T]

Right then, here's a question for anyone out there who knows more than I do about layout wiring (so that could probably be just about anyone).  But it's aimed particularly @Alister_G (sorry Al, you shouldn't have been so helpful before.  You know that no good deed goes unpunished).

 

Here's the question.  I know that I need to put insulating joiners on the vee of the points.  But what should I do in the case of the two points shown here?  I haven't used a formation like this before.  My gut feeling is that both rails joining the two points should be insulated - but that's based on nothing more than utter guesswork I'm afraid.

 

Oh, and please ignore the spirit level in the photo.  Don't know what that's doing there, as I never use one...

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[Alister_G]

Hi Graham,

 

Yes, your gut feeling is correct, both rails at that intersection should have insulated joiners, so long as each point has its own droppers to power it.

 

Al.

[Graham T]

Thanks Al, much appreciated.  Every section of track and point will indeed have its own dropper.  Hopefully I can remember how to solder

[Graham T]

I think I might have finally cracked it, fingers crossed.  I've pushed and pulled wagons through al the new tracks, and they all seem to be happy - even the more skittish ones.  It all seems to be quite smooth and level.  And none of the point motors are sitting over baseboard cross-members, remarkably (I did have to curve the new point at the entrance to the goods yard just a touch to make sure there was enough clearance for that one).  

 

I was pleased to be able to fit the headshunt in as well.  Not sure if it's prototypical though?  The next step will be to drill for the point motors, and then solder on all the droppers

 

 

  

Now I should probably re-lay the rest of the track as well...

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

Chuffnell Regis goods yard has now been completely relaid and rewired - and everything works!  Stock runs smoothly over it at last.  A lot of work over the last couple of days, but I think it's been worth it.  I still need to add a few cosmetic sleepers at the rail joints, and then I will paint the sleepers and the sides of the rails (a lot more carefully than last time!)

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

For a change of effort I got the pelmet in place today.  It was a bit of a b*gger to fit, to be honest, and I was lucky that the boss was around to lend a hand, without which it would have been impossible.  Anyway, I got it bodged into position, and then fitted the LED light strips.  I'm not sure if they're really bright enough, perhaps I'll look at getting some more heavy duty ones.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[Alister_G]

Great to hear that everything is all relaid and working properly.

 

I like the pelmet as well, it looks good. From the look of it, you seem to be using 5600K "Daylight" lighting, which appears to add rather a blue cast to photographs. You might want to look at getting some 4000K "Cool White" lighting, which tends to give a more balanced light for photographs.

 

Al.

[Graham T]

You're right Al, there's definitely a blue cast to the LEDs, so I will replace them in due course.  But right now I'm just pleased that I can actually see what I'm doing in the evenings!  I'll be giving the pelmet a coat of white paint too, which will look better I think.

[Graham T]

I need to re-fix the ground levers now (and also make another one for the extra point, of course).  So I'm wondering where to put a couple of them, I'm not sure which position looks better, or is more prototypical.  Any thoughts on the two options below please?

 

Option A:

 

 

 

Option B:

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[chuffinghell]

I haven’t a clue but I would have thought they would both be on the outside so the levers could be operated from the same side away from the other lines…..maybe?

[Graham T]

I actually preferred option A Chris, based on nothing more than how it looks.  But what you've said makes absolute sense, so that's the option I'm going with.  Thanks!

[chuffinghell]

9 minutes ago, Graham T said:

I actually preferred option A Chris, based on nothing more than how it looks.  But what you've said makes absolute sense, so that's the option I'm going with.  Thanks!

I wouldn’t take my word for it, probably best waiting for an answer from someone ‘in the know’

 

I wouldn’t want to be responsible for steering you in the wrong direction

[Graham T]

I've also been having a fiddle about with some modular baseboards I got from Scale Model Scenery - no affiliation, just a satisfied customer.  This will be the fiddle yard; well the first part of it anyway.  This section measures 800 x 150 mm, so large enough for a pair of two coach trains and locos.  I might add another 400 mm section, but then it would clearly overhang the end of the chest of drawers that it's standing on, so I need to do some experimenting with tipping points (before I put any stock on there!)  

 

I plan to add dowels through the end of the fiddle yard section to locate into holes in the end of the scenic section, and then use male/female plug in choc blocks for the power connection to the tracks.  If anyone can see any glaring problems with any of this then please let me know!  I also need to rig up a removable barrier for the near end of the section, to prevent any runaways from getting (briefly) airborne.

 

Interestingly, this picture clearly shows up how blue the LED lights are.  You can see a distinct band of colour shift on the backscene, where there is a shadow cast by the pelmet.  Definitely need to get some warmer bulbs.  That's another one for the list of jobs to do...

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

3 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I wouldn’t take my word for it, probably best waiting for an answer from someone ‘in the know’

 

I wouldn’t want to be responsible for steering you in the wrong direction

 

Well it makes sense and it looks ok, so ...

 

And if in doubt I will invoke Rule 1

[Graham T]

I should probably try to get at least something finished at Chuffnell R, so I've turned my thoughts to the leading off bed for the signal box.  Please excuse the shoddy diagram, but here are my thoughts on how it should look.

 

So that it might just make some sense (!), D is a double signal cable pulley, and S is a single.  They need to serve two signals at the end of the platforms (so to the left of the signal box in this view), a single ground disc at the far end of the platform run-round loop, and a pair of ground discs in the station throat.  The two pulleys to the right of the signal box will be feeding a three-doll distant signal on the other side of the river.

 

Does this look even remotely like how it should actually be?