Upper Hembury, East Devon - a GWR / SR Branch line

[St Enodoc]

1 minute ago, BWsTrains said:

weather more at home in Old Blighty than these parts

You're in VIC - what do you expect?????

[BWsTrains]

2 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

You're in VIC - what do you expect?????

 

Pot, kettle, black, calling, from what our Sydney family tell us about their 2022 so far. They've spent much of the year trying to get the house fully waterproof from the repeated deluges.

 

BOM website helpfully tells us that.. "Winter rainfall for Greater Sydney was around 1.5 to 2.5 times the average, with the wettest on record July since records began in 1900."

 

"The year-to-date rainfall total at Sydney Observatory Hill is 2010.6 mm, which despite a drier than average August, is the highest on record year-to-date total across both the current and the former site (from which full year records began in 1859)."

[BWsTrains]

Progress today on assembly of the Turnout Control Panel

 

Various key elements have been assembled onto the base board of the panel, starting with just one of the 3 CDU modules so I can test various issues with the operation

 

 

Many of the minor items have been repurposed after an earlier life.

 

A is the main 15V DC input and distribution board, cobbled together from a defunct circuit board which happened to have useful terminal blocks and a standard 5.5mm Circuit board DC socket.

B is the DCC Bus input port. I chose to use a DC Jack socket from a very old style external HDD. The socket had to be hacked out of its PC board as it was far too well soldered to undo. The old power brick supplied the plug and length of lead. Different plug so no risk of muddling up the input lines.

C / C1 DCC power distribution to the three CDU banks

D Terminals for CDU output lines to solenoids

E Connectors for individual outputs of Frog DCC power lines.
Power to the 2nd side of the DPDT switch comes from C via C1 to the two end pins of the switch (twisted pairs, Brown/ white) with the frog power out (orange) on the middle pin.

 

Excuse all the great detail but one day it'll help me remember what I actually did!

 

Based on previous experience. I've used various sources of recovered cable.

Twisted pairs are very handy for colour coding and wiring up LEDs with correct polarity.

DC power lines recovered from old USB cable are heavy enough gauge to handle DCC local power distribution for the frogs.

 

Testing to follow as I suspect there will be the odd issue getting turnout switching, direction indicators and frog polarity all aligned correctly.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by BWsTrains

[BWsTrains]

Power and some track laying

 

With the CDU ready for action I started out laying down the beginnings of the power bus, working back from the traverser towards the Control Centre. While that might seem a tad illogical, it follows the route of my track laying and also ensures the bus is where it needs to be in the peripheral areas rather than trying to anticipate an ideal route from the start.

 

Track and droppers are going down in parallel and I've reached the critical baseboard segment with several key Turnouts and the Slip.

 

 

Installing the slip was always going to be a key step for me as I've never worked with them before, let alone with live frogs and built from a kit to boot!  Hence I've been taking matters very steadily.

 

The other thing which had been lurking at the back of mind was would there be problems using solenoids on the unsprung slip switch blades? I'd had no issue with the B7 turnout kits which have long single piece blades but the slip blades are shorter / have more tension and self centre when assembled. Sure enough the solenoid by itself does not stay put once thrown and the blades slowly creep back to the centre.

 

I had an idea to fix this; PECO have a module PL-13 to supply frog power which sits under the coils. Having some of these to hand I figured that the increased rigidity conferred on the pin might discourage any return and so it proved to be. Problem solved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by BWsTrains

[Wayne Kinney]

Hi,

 

Solenoid type motors are not recommended with Finetrax turnouts. A slow action motor such as Tortoise or Servos are best.

[longchap]

Ah, all those fine components frightened out of their tiny skins!

 

Even with my Peco 75 bullhead, the Tortoise motors silently glide the blades slowly across in a most satisfying and subtle manner.

 

 

[BWsTrains]

1 hour ago, Wayne Kinney said:

Hi,

 

Solenoid type motors are not recommended with Finetrax turnouts. A slow action motor such as Tortoise or Servos are best.

 

Wayne,

 

I wish that had been made very clear before I committed so heavily in CDUs and solenoids. We're talking hundreds of dollars and lots of effort here that have been invested. I've chosen to dial back on the voltage (see my earlier post) to lessen the force on changing and can probably buffer it further with some finessing.

 

For example at the 15V I'm using there is insufficient force to throw the PL-12 type switch add on to the PECO solenoid.

 

 

[Wayne Kinney]

It is unfortunately the nature of Finescale track and the soldered joints on the tie bar. You might not get any issues but over time the solder joint may give way. An easy enough fix if it does, though.

 

[BWsTrains]

Progress on various fronts

 

With the power bus installed back as far as the station / goods yards that's far enough to get on with some serious tracklaying

 

A further couple of kit builds were required for key turnouts comprising the Goods Yard entrance. With these knocked together in not too much time I have the key components ready to be laid.

 

 

 

Here they are final position so I can insert dropper holes before the big connect.

 

The further I get into bringing my track components together, the more I'm finding the benefits and flexibility of working with and joining the Finetrax kits. The ability to lengthen / adjust the entrance and exit lanes helps avoid those annoying short interconnects I found I needed when working with rigid pre-formed turnouts. The curved to curved crossover at the far end is a great example and I'll take a closer look once they are fully installed and connected.

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by BWsTrains

[longchap]

Good progress indeed Colin and you're clearly having fun with the prospect of having trains running soon.

 

Crack on!

[checkrail]

The track is looking really good.  Looking forward to seeing more.

[BWsTrains]

Today my last but one turnout kit was put together and an earlier build pulled out for checking.

 

My early efforts at curving these kits lacked the helpful info posted later by @Martin Wynne, his approach gives a much better outcome with smoother curvatures so as each of the early turnouts is deployed, it'll get the "once over Wynne treatment".

 

Dropper holes for power and centre holes for solenoids were drilled and the entire set of track as far as the 1200mm point were positioned.

 

The photo shows the view as a loco leaves the slip by the Goods road. The track to the left leads to the station lines, a proxy for the main platform line has been put down.

 

From slightly higher the various Goods lines and the start of the run-around can be seen.

 

 

After today's progress, I've increased optimism That I'll have trains running in time for the influx of Christmas visitors.

Edited October 22, 2022 by BWsTrains

[BWsTrains]

A quick reminder why I'm so grateful for the advice I received on baseboard structure. This picture shows 5 of the 6 turnout motors which sit between 1200 and 1800mm on the layout and the relative simplicity of installation when you you use the L-Girder support.

 

 

I've temporarily joined two separate panels as much of the hardware overlaps the central cut. In this design all solenoid feeds are three wire lead so I settled on JST 3-pin plugs and sockets. They work very well, are easy to assemble and make testing and changes very easy work.

 

As ever, precise alignment of the turnout tie bar with the motor pin is the most tricky but even this was made easier with the hole alignment tool referred to earlier.

 

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, BWsTrains said:

A quick reminder why I'm so grateful for the advice I received on baseboard structure. This picture shows 5 of the 6 turnout motors which sit between 1200 and 1800mm on the layout and the relative simplicity of installation when you you use the L-Girder support.

 

 

I've temporarily joined two separate panels as much of the hardware overlaps the central cut. In this design all solenoid feeds are three wire lead so I settled on JST 3-pin plugs and sockets. They work very well, are easy to assemble and make testing and changes very easy work.

 

As ever, precise alignment of the turnout tie bar with the motor pin is the most tricky but even this was made easier with the hole alignment tool referred to earlier.

 

Nice to see someone else using KD blocks!

[BWsTrains]

2 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Nice to see someone else using KD blocks!

 

Guess where I got that idea! (thx to you are overdue)

 

Having seen them on your topic, I got a mate in the UK to get me some and I collected them last time I was there. 😎

Not all fully deployed in these shots, easy to take off and reinstate when the installation is completed, too many get in the way otherwise.

Edited October 27, 2022 by BWsTrains

[BWsTrains]

I've succumbed!

 

With ~75% of my turnout switching now installed, a much clearer picture is emerging of what is / will be possible with my solenoids as they've been installed. These have been buffered down to a gentle throw and use the PECO PL-13 (but only after a cleanup / lube with graphite powder) simply as a brake on any blade recoil.

 

On the majority of my kits, viz. B7 turnouts, all works well and reliably, rather less so on the slip with its more strongly curved and highly tensioned switch blades. They work OK with a solenoid but I'm not compelled that such a central / critical piece of infrastructure should be anything but operationally 100%. 

 

So, to the succumbing bit! Faced with a choice between an endangered species and a toxic heavy metal, in the end it came down to local availability. Perhaps fitting in Australia that with its reputation as the World's quarry, the metal option won out. For anyone remotely confused I refer of course to favouring DCC Concepts Cobalt over the Tortoise.

 

Armed with help and guidance kindly provided by @St Enodoc, I passed by the local model store today and collected two analogue Cobalt "Classic"s, now on the bench awaiting installation. The feeling that support and supply are just a few km down the road is a great comfort and with hindsight..............

 

All the main turnouts are nearing fully installed but another pic of the same zone really is not that much different from those already posted. A loco has run a fair distance all the way to and onto the traverser and this in turn highlighted a few minor issues to fix up. More to follow when I've done those little jobs.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by BWsTrains

[Harlequin]

Hi Colin,

 

Can you get MTB point motors in Oz? They may be worth considering if you can.

 

They are smaller than both Tortoise and Cobalt point motors and produce a purely linear motion whereas the others create rotation. They are not stall motors (unlike the other two) and they can be operated by simple SPDT switches or computer control (with extra devices).

 

Lots of people on here have used them and will sing their praises, including me.

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Harlequin

[BWsTrains]

2 hours ago, Harlequin said:

Can you get MTB point motors in Oz?

 

A quick search suggests "no".

 

The biggest store in Melbourne has very thin range of most model railway supplies, let alone smaller companies products. DCC Concepts is well represented due, no doubt, to it's Australian origins and established customer support.

Edited November 2, 2022 by BWsTrains
typo

[BWsTrains]

Today's post is a simple update; how to moderate the action of an overly forceful solenoid in three easy steps.

 

1) regulate the voltage; in my case I dialed down to the voltage which worked fine over my longest line.
Ceramic Resistors inserted in line have been used by others when there are significantly different needs at different solenoids in a set up.
 

2) add a PL-13 beneath (Its normal purpose is to enable frog power switching but here purely acts as a resistance brake preventing blade recoil)
thanks to helpful input from @LNER4479 I've taken to pulling the PL-13 apart and lubricating the contact surfaces with graphite powder to give me consistent operation

 

3) add a shock absorber inside the PL-9 mounting Plate

This is shown in the photo below.

 

It is a strip of the second toughest material (after Kryptonite) known to man, viz, an old credit card!

Cut into a strip with a narrow slot about 2.5mm -3mm long in the centre. This to restrict the solenoid wire travel too far to each side.

Shock absorbance comes from a pea sized blob of Black tack at each side under the plastic card. The strip absorbs the shock of excess power from the solenoid remarkably well and quickly self- centres for continuing effective action.

 

 

I thought about adding a video but it turned out pretty dull; a turnout going "plop, plop, plop" rather than "CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK". You get the idea I hope.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by BWsTrains
additions

[BWsTrains]

Finally I've some useful amount of progress to update.

 

I've been working thru the various installs involved in the busy section between 1200 and 2400mm of the station approaches. This included final additions of exit rails to turnouts, finding best locations for their droppers etc. etc.. In addition the two Cobalt stall motors have been fitted to the slip, resolving the issue of firmly locking switch blades.

 

Droppers for all components and associated track are now in place, and not trusting that some gremlin won't pop up, I've used choc blocks to consolidate 2 or 3 sets of leads so that any necessary raising of the top boards will only involve a few main connections. Beginner's caution, no hard soldering here!

 

This shows how busy / central these 1200mm of board are to the whole, seven solenoids and 1 Cobalt (half the Single Slip). The benefits of consolidating the droppers are clearly visible WRT tidiness. Leads are not labelled but the sources are, that might be something to come back to do later.

 

 

The topside view is little changed except that all the relevant track is here together.

 

 

At present there are just a few essential rail joiners fitted, the rest is held in place by screwed down strips at the various joins. It'll all stay that way until fully tested and I'm happy nothing further will be needed. Slow but steady progress (but not a tortoise in sight!)

Edited November 10, 2022 by BWsTrains
spelling

[BWsTrains]

Slight delay to proceedings here due to an over weekend visit from our local granddaughters.

 

Young S (8) who previously had provided excellent input to Westown-Heathfield, took great interest in the underside of the middle boards which happened to be standing up. She was keen to know how many of our 6 grandchildren remain interested in trains and then in turn was rather pleased that she discovered is the only local one!

 

Next we moved on to operating a solenoid and a stall motor before finally the big reveal when the boards were turned right way up and a wagon was rolled seamlessly from one end to the other. I think I have a keen follower here if her delighted reactions were any measure.

 

 

[Dragonboy]

10 hours ago, BWsTrains said:

Slight delay to proceedings here due to an over weekend visit from our local granddaughters.

 

Young S (8) who previously had provided excellent input to Westown-Heathfield, took great interest in the underside of the middle boards which happened to be standing up. She was keen to know how many of our 6 grandchildren remain interested in trains and then in turn was rather pleased that she discovered is the only local one!

 

Next we moved on to operating a solenoid and a stall motor before finally the big reveal when the boards were turned right way up and a wagon was rolled seamlessly from one end to the other. I think I have a keen follower here if her delighted reactions were any measure.

 

 

Excellent. It won’t be long before you’ll be saying “Is it grandads turn yet?”

 

Brian

[5BarVT]

Now I know why they have to go to school.  To give Grandad a shot at the trains!

Paul.

[BWsTrains]

The last week or so has been spent getting all the various sets of connections finalised and checked. This shows the end result for the three boards spanning 1200mm to 3200mm. Switching directions and frog polarities all checked as correct.

 

 

In this post the original base-plate to the Control panel is shown. More of this later, for now suffice to say that my 4 Cobalts have been installed on the most critical turnouts, Slip *2 + one on the approach road to the traverser and another on the Goods Yard / Runaround main entrance. All work very well.

 

What you see is mostly recycled wiring.

 

The cobalts require three lines, I chose 15V DC +/-( to match my Solenoid feed) and a line bisecting this voltage, designated for feedback / LEDs on the Control panel. There is a minor point to note here; DCC Concepts helpful guide shows you how can insert opposed LEDs directly in the DC feed to provide direction indication back at the switch. This is true and would avoid the need for a third line; there is a BIG however lurking in this for the unaware!

 

The Cobalt Omega Classic has a maximum operating current of 20mA, this (I believe) regulating the flow thru the LEDs. I powered up the Cobalt and recoiled from the "Chernobyl" like flash of light surging from my indicator LED. Outshining my other tailored LED indicators like a Supernova over a Red Dwarf, I needed plan B. Here the feedback line is useful, unlike the power supply lines, this can have a resistor in line so popping in a 1KOhm my paired LEDs shone at the desired level.

 

For the connections I needed 3 line cable and here some recovered 4 stand Comms. cable, 16m of it which I'd carefully kept for that rainy day came handy. You can see the bundled cream cables that keep wiring very tidy. A combination of alternatively using the yellow and green as the feedback line and choice of 4 pin JST connector endings gave me unique wiring connections for each Cobalt back to Control.

 

Most of the other short dropper and connection leads were recovered from my final desktop PC. The various PS feeds there are a productive source of suitable lengths in Red, Black, Yellow and Orange cable of good weight. A test run has not yet been tried as other matters drew me away, again. The Control Panel work will follow soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by BWsTrains
typos and additions

[5BarVT]

19 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

For the connections I needed 3 line cable and here some recovered 4 stand Comms. cable, 16m of it which I'd carefully kept for that rainy day came handy. You can see the bundled cream cables that keep wiring very tidy. A combination of alternatively using the yellow and green as the feedback line and choice of 4 pin JST connector endings gave me unique wiring connections for each Cobalt back to Control.

Clever that.  The approach appeals to me.

Paul.