HO Donford Junction & Beryl Inc. Mine No.3

[innocentman]

Bit more progress on Sunday. I installed the DCC power bus down the length of the current boards using the cores of a mains flex cable. 
 

In this case it is “just 2 wires” as there are no points on this board, only tapping off the bus to feed the track. I only have temporary jumpers between the boards. I need to find a suitable high power plug and socket to use.

 

Bit more on this board with currently 4 points. The circuit boards you can see are the Gaugemaster Auto Frogs, which have a connection to the frog and power bus. I have mounted these on som 3D printed blocks.

 

For some reason I didn’t take a photo of the underside of the middle board which is the only one with a point motor fitted on the hand built point.

 

Time to put the layout back up. 
 

Also time for a test. Time to dig out a couple of locomotives that have not seen daylight for years.

 

First up a Korean brass N&W Z1-a. A favourite of mine. It’s A 2–6-6-2 Mallet.

 

Next is an out of the box Proto 2000 (manufactured by Roco) Y3 2-8-8-2 Mallet. This one is Sound fitted out of the box.

 

I did shoot some video of some of the test running. I suspect I may have to upload it to You Tube and use a link to put it in a post. One thing I did learn from the little running I did is that locos sitting in boxes for 12 years do need a little maintenance and lubrication. Time to get the rest of the fleet out of storage!

 

Andy

[Andy Ross]

Andy 

 

I found that some small video will go straight into the thread but most of mine I did using You Tube.

 

Andy 

[innocentman]

Another wet weekend in Morecambe, and so back to the garage too. On to the wire strangling.

 

I could have adopted to run all the point motors and route indication via the DCC bus and numerous interface devices. These would have kept the wire quantities to a minimum. However I opted for direct control and feedback to the control panel and the 70 odd wires that will spread out like a spiders web across the layout.

 

First up was creating the control panel. My method is to print out the design of the panel from the computer and sandwich it in between two sheets of 2mm acrylic sheet. 
 

 

What you are looking at above is the second version as when I tried to drill the switch holes I managed to crack the acrylic! 🤬 For version  2 I ditched the 6mm drill and switched to the step drill to create the holes.

 

The panel is fixed directly to the baseboard (70 less connectors required). I constructed a mounting “box” on the baseboard top. If I have my dimensions correct, this should easily be below the level of the mine branch which runs directly above it. A cut out in the back scene will provide operator access. Suitable wire way access holes were cut in the board for easy access.

 

 

The points are switched using Cobalt Analogue IP motors. I bought a pack of 12 ages ago when a vendor was selling the for a really good price. These I control with a DPDT (on-on) switch to reverse the polarity of the feed to each motor.

 

 

I only had 8 switches in my stash. Some more will arrive later this week. 
 

I had hoped to finish the connections out to the adjacent boards but time ran out and I have 20 wires to run to a D connector for the LED point indicator feedback for points 1 to 10. So final progress looks like this.

 

 

I mount the D connectors on 3D printed mounting frames of my own design. These are fixed to the board using M3 pan head screws. Of you use a 2.5 mm hole in the base board the screws do quite happily screw into the wood. 
 

 

The D connector will be secured to the mounting frame with post screws that allow the mating connector to be fixed using thumb screws in the connector hood.

 

That’s it for now.

 

Andy

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by innocentman
Spelling and grammar

[innocentman]

Quick hour in the garage tonight. Fitted the missing point control switches and connected up the wiring from them out to the connectors

 

 

Just 37 LEDs to fit and wire out to the connectors and the panel will be complete.

 

Andy

[innocentman]

My brother is over for the weekend to build a few more baseboards.

 

we managed 2 today and have a plan for 2 more tomorrow.

Temporary leg on the cross board for the moment until we build a couple more boards tomorrow

 

Andy

[Andy Ross]

Excellent progress - when is the first running session?

Edited July 29, 2023 by Andy Ross

[innocentman]

More progress today. 2 more boards constructed.

The bits we have erected in the garage now are 17 ft long x 6ft 6in wide.

 

Time to go back to wiring and point motor fitting next week on what’s been laid so far.

 

Andy

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by innocentman
Syntax

[Keith Addenbrooke]

With woodwork that good it seems almost a shame to cover it up!  Keep up the good work, Keith.

[innocentman]

On 29/07/2023 at 23:20, Andy Ross said:

Excellent progress - when is the first running session?

A little while to go, couple more visits from my baseboard contractor required!

[innocentman]

It’s been a busy week at work, but I did find time to add a couple of bits to the new baseboards in the form a socket for a simple leg on the two cross board which will aid single person erection in the garage.

 

I also added a 2 inch extension to the edge of two boards for extended scenery away from the track edges.

 

 

Onto electrics now.

 

Andy

[innocentman]

It’s been a busy week or so with the builders working in the house and a bit more progress on the layout. 
 

First up was the cross board DCC power pus connectors. After a bit of deliberation I opted for a Wago 5 way power connector rated at 13A a capable of accepting the 1 sq mm flex cable. 

I think these will do the job just nicely. 
 

Then I moved on to finishing off the control panel and all out going connections. I used a bit of heat shrink in the legs of the LEDs to eradicate the chance of contact with other connections. 

So this meant the wiring on the panel board was now complete from a track and point control perspective (there are a couple of push buttons for Kadee electromagnets down near points 16 &17 to add).

Onto the fitting of point motors & wiring for the next board I thought. But I realised I still had a few points to lay. Out with the track laying tools and cork to get the last three points on this board laid.

 

Then it was onto the point motors and wiring which I installed over a day and half while the builders prevented access to the home office. I knew that would be the case so I used a couple of holiday days up.

 

That was finished Tuesday evening. Onward connections to the next board have also been completed so there should be no need to go under this board again.

 

 

I put the boards back up and tested the points and feedback LEDs. I would like to say everything worked first time but I did have wires for the LEDs for points 1-5 crossed with 6-10! 🤬. Any way all is right now as you can see above. 
 

The builders have also finished and it wasn’t long before my cat Ziggy was trying to find the optimum position in front of the new log burner ready for winter (even though it wasn’t on)

 

Time to progress the track laying and wiring the other direction.

 

Andy

Edited August 18, 2023 by innocentman
Typo

[innocentman]

No to much done over the weekend due to DIY and the England match. So it was only Sunday afternoon. After a bit of marking out I laid points 13, 14 and 15. Points 16 and 17 were also marked out but not laid.

The track was also laid from point 13 to 12.

 

Back in there tonight and I managed to lay the adjacent track and the cork roadbed for the next one.

 

Might I I need to relocate boards a bit to give access down the front of the layout after laying the third loop so that I can reach the tracks at the front and lay them to points 16 and 17.

 

That may have to wait until next week as my baseboard builder is over this bank holiday weekend so we will concentrate on board construction for a few days.

 

Andy

Edited August 22, 2023 by innocentman
Spelling + clarification

[innocentman]

You may notice in the section above that we have the tracks crossing the baseboard joints at angles. These crossing points need to be strengthened and then cut. Below is a series of photos of how this is achieved.

 

First up mark the section of sleeper that need to be removed and slice through the chairs

 

Using a snap of blade craft knife carefully separate the sleeper from the cork.

 

having gut through the webbing between adjacent sleeper sections push the section of sleeper out from under the rails. You will see the chairs have been left behind, these will be removed.

 

I inserted a section of 40 thou black plasticised into the space left by the plastic sleepers. This is secured to the cork using superglue. The plasticard leaves a suitable gap for copper clad sleepers to be inserted

 

The rest of the sleepers are inserted and spaced to match the original plastic ones. These are then secured using drops of thin penetrating superglue which wick under the sleepers.

 

The rails are then soldered to the sleepers and gapped

 

using a mini drill and slitting disk, the rails re cut in line with the baseboard joint.

 

The sleepers and plasticard are then cut using a razor saw

 

And we end up with the joint as follows

 

When it’s ballasted you won’t see the plasticard

 

Andy

 

 

 

[innocentman]

Two more boards made so far this weekend.

 

After a bit of discussion with my brother it was decided to add another three feet into the layout. So now it will be 28ft long. The reason was to improve the transition from the lower level to exit scene at the mine to start at 8 inch above the lower level.

 

The exit now looks much better and has a nice curve with a bit of super elevation. A few pictures below. 
 

 

As the layout progresses further out of the garage, the ground falls away and currently we are using bricks lift the boards. Eventually we will construct bespoke blocks for each set of legs.

 

 

You can just see the cant in the track in the picture below. This is achieved using strips of 10 and 20 thou plasticard under the outer edge of the track through the curve. This is a trick my brother has used before on his N gauge layout Headingley.

Another thing we tried was the use of a captive nuts to join baseboards together. In the case below we anticipated that joining the two new boards together would be an issue once the scenery has been applied.

 

Hopefully a bit more progress and another mine board tomorrow 

 

Andy

[innocentman]

A progress update from last weekend, well BH Monday.

 

We have all the mine boards constructed and on Monday evening after our customary BBQ we erected the full 28 ft.

 
Difficult to get a shot of the full length. 17 ft is inside the garage.

 

A few more pictures of the Mine boards with the bricks and blocks used to support the legs on the falling ground.

More work behind the scenes with the electrics having been carried out including the operation of the first two points in the fiddle yard in the picture above. These are operated by MTB MP1 point motors instead of Cobalts. Very easy to fit. All working from the main panel once I corrected a polarity issue. 
 

Andy

Edited September 2, 2023 by innocentman
Spelling

[innocentman]

I have finally gotten around to give the track around the triangle area a bit of attention. I fixed point 16 and 17 in position first and then laid the link round to point 13.

 

 

In preparation for the automatic polarity reverser, I created staggered insulated joints at both ends of the link. I also realised that the use of frog juicers at each end of the reversing section would probably not work with the auto reverser, a battle of polarity switching would likely occur. So it looks like for points 13 and 16 we go back to using a switch on the point motor to control the frog.

 

And finally this evening, I moved the layout away from the wall and after a bit of marking out laid the cork to complete the main running lines to points 16 & 17.

 

Hopefully I will get the links laid this week and wired up.

 

Andy

[innocentman]

It’s been a while since I posted an update. Work trips and exhibitions have been the limiting factor. 
 

when I did get chance I have been out in the garage. Cork has been laid for the main lines. 

 

And I remembered to install the Kadee electro magnets (just!).

 

 

Having finished laying the track, I turned my attention to the underside of the board and completed the wiring.

 

The two circuit boards you can see are timer boards that operate the magnets. A push button on the panel activates the timer and switches on the magnet for a pre programmed time. It’s currently set for 6 seconds. I will see how we get on with this and adjust if necessary.

 

And finally a test run of the “Donford Triangle”

 

 

Andy

[St Enodoc]

30 minutes ago, innocentman said:

It’s been a while since I posted an update. Work trips and exhibitions have been the limiting factor. 
 

when I did get chance I have been out in the garage. Cork has been laid for the main lines. 

 

And I remembered to install the Kadee electro magnets (just!).

 

 

Having finished laying the track, I turned my attention to the underside of the board and completed the wiring.

 

The two circuit boards you can see are timer boards that operate the magnets. A push button on the panel activates the timer and switches on the magnet for a pre programmed time. It’s currently set for 6 seconds. I will see how we get on with this and adjust if necessary.

 

And finally a test run of the “Donford Triangle”

 

 

Andy

Were the two engines on Mallets always "in sync" like that or was it random?

[innocentman]

49 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Were the two engines on Mallets always "in sync" like that or was it random?

I’m not sure to be honest John.

 

Given the way the front engine used the exhaust steam from the rear engine I think think they may have stayed in sync due to steam supply.

 

If anyone knows the inner workings of articulated compounds and staying in sync or not I would be interested to hear.

 

Andy

 

[St Enodoc]

27 minutes ago, innocentman said:

I’m not sure to be honest John.

 

Given the way the front engine used the exhaust steam from the rear engine I think think they may have stayed in sync due to steam supply.

 

If anyone knows the inner workings of articulated compounds and staying in sync or not I would be interested to hear.

 

Andy

 

That probably makes sense, as long as one engine doesn't slip.

 

We do know a man who knows about Mallets of course...

[innocentman]

It’s been a busy couple of weeks with work including a trip to Roskilde, Denmark where this NOHAB MY (GM 567 powered, same as an F7) diesel dating from the 1954 was lurking.

 

DIY also last weekend so not much has happened. I have progressed as far as I can on the boards for the main yard, so it was time to have a look at the mine.

 

After dropping the boards, I moved the master board towards the back of the garage and the erected the mine boards within the garage.

 

I will transfer the track plan onto the boards and then I can start laying track again.

 

Andy

[innocentman]

Thinking I could crack on a lay the mine track was a bit premature. I realised that I needed to install a section of board above the lower level to accommodate the mine yard throat.

 

Having cut a bit of board, I planned out the point work across the baseboard joint so as to not have awkward joints.

 

Once I was happy with the positioning it was time to secure the first two points. At this stage the board was only secured or the other boards by a couple of clamps, so it was easier to remove the board to do the work on the bench.

 

And then wire it all up…

 

This was then secured to the baseboard, no glue at the moment, in case I need to remove it for access below. The 15 way D connector was fitted into the baseboard end below the level of the adjoining board.

 

A total of 5 points laid today. Only 1 more at the other end of the loop to go in the mine area.

 

I will have to sketch the mine loading building onto the board next so I don’t mis my marks as the tracck sweeps around the corner.

 

Andy

Edited October 8, 2023 by innocentman
Correcting predictive text!

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, innocentman said:

I planned out the point work across the baseboard joint so as to not have awkward joints.

Coward! Mr Edge never worries about that...

[Keith Addenbrooke]

I really like the flowing curves you’ve planned in for this layout - I hope they won’t affect coupling up.  Could I just ask what track you’re using for the layout for the non handlaid parts (if it’s mentioned anywhere I missed it, sorry)?  Thanks, Keith.

[innocentman]

32 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

I really like the flowing curves you’ve planned in for this layout - I hope they won’t affect coupling up.  Could I just ask what track you’re using for the layout for the non handlaid parts (if it’s mentioned anywhere I missed it, sorry)?  Thanks, Keith.

Hi Keith,

 

not sure if I did mention it earlier.

 

All the track is Peco code 75. All the points are electro frog and modified so the the blades are live to the stock rails.

 

Andy

Edited October 9, 2023 by innocentman
Spelling