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The Bognor Regis Club American Layout BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN


RonnieS
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 Bognor Regis Model Railway Club has a diverse collection of layouts. Some  go out to exhibitions and some fall into the category "Layouts that never leave home" One of the Latest Projects is  "The American Layout".

Early days still but at roughly 20 feet  x 9 it is interesting (I think ?) A rough Track plan below.

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The crossing on the right of the track plan is actually a single slip. We motorised this with 2 Guagemaster side mounted motors firing together to give the options of either a "figure of eight" or 2 separate  circuits.

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The current is carried over the lift bridge via bolts. When the bolts are "open" no current for 18 inches or so  prior to said bridge due to an isolation break. This prevents trains plunging into the abyss.

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Edited by RonnieS
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As you may notice amongst the untidiness there is in place a very temporary control panel. I am (very slowly)

building a replacement. It utilises a £12 box from "The Works " as a basis. As you can see I am about 50% there.

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The "Rockies" is the work of Project Leader and Layout coorindator Clive. Carved from Celotex type insulation board it is pretty impressive and incredibly time consuming. 

 

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Edited by RonnieS
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When I made my liftout section, I wired it for a double dead block.

 

The N rail was powered from the  east side and then powered a length of N rail on the west side.

The S rail was powered from the west side and powered a length of S rail on the east side.

This was reasonably safe if the section was removed, unless someone decided to back a 20 wagon coal train into the gap.

 

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I finished the Panel this morning. It tests out OK with the Multimeter. Fitting, connecting and trouble shooting next week (and probanly the following 2 weeks too)!

 

IMG-1349.jpg

Edited by RonnieS
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13 hours ago, BR60103 said:

When I made my liftout section, I wired it for a double dead block.

 

The N rail was powered from the  east side and then powered a length of N rail on the west side.

The S rail was powered from the west side and powered a length of S rail on the east side.

This was reasonably safe if the section was removed, unless someone decided to back a 20 wagon coal train into the gap.

 

The backing of trains should not be a possibility on our set up. Although on a club layout you can't rule anything out!

On the hinged side if the flap was up and a loco ran into it: the buffers are the same width as the track so I think we should be OK.

 

On another (unrelated) tack Layout co-ordinator (boss) Clive will shortly be posting some better photos.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 26/04/2023 at 10:07, RonnieS said:

I finished the Panel this morning. It tests out OK with the Multimeter. Fitting, connecting and trouble shooting next week (and probanly the following 2 weeks too)!

 

IMG-1349.jpg

. So last night was another working session and proved the max number of point motors that could be fired at one go with my present set up was 4. I thought I’d post my solution on the off chance that some one else ever had a similar problem.

 

As the set up only fires 4 motors at once I decided to control the left and right on separate studs just drilling 4 holes and inserting new studs on Roads 1,2,4 & 5. This works OK but is not as slick as I had hoped. Trobleshooting took far longer than I had hoped but it's not a race. I guess the 2 main factors in this hobby are:-

A It takes twice as long as expected

B It costs twice as much  as  expected

5.jpg

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 Today (Saturday morning) I did a bit more and was helped by Mark, our Exhibition secretary and Co-ordinator Clive.

Paul F has been invaluable too especially on the lift bridge. Norman is a stalwart and James is a "really usefully engine!" Today was when all the parts of the jigsaw gelled due to combined effort. The teamwork at our Club is great.

The project is going well due to the cross fertilization of ideas.

Still much remains but a milestone achieved.

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  • 3 months later...
  • RonnieS changed the title to The Bognor Regis Club American Layout BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN
  • 2 weeks later...

Obviously this is a "lash up" to show the other guys but one red bit goes under the baseboard and the other red bit inside the panel. 24 numbered wires! By cutting a small aperture in the panel the cable can be connected. I intend a "WORKS" box as previous but painted a metallic paint (maybe Hammerite?)

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On 20/09/2023 at 08:50, RonnieS said:

Obviously this is a "lash up" to show the other guys but one red bit goes under the baseboard and the other red bit inside the panel. 24 numbered wires! By cutting a small aperture in the panel the cable can be connected. I intend a "WORKS" box as previous but painted a metallic paint (maybe Hammerite?)

OH OH I got outvoted on the panel colour scheme! It has to be Black and White as per 'tother control panel.

But I got a bargain on the box! 

IMG-1427.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 02/10/2023 at 13:40, stephennicholson said:

Clive and Ron - now following!

 

I think you won some new fans last Saturday.

The date mentioned above was the Members day and the layout was dressed. One of Clive's pics

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