SRman's Current Layout - Newton Broadway

[SRman]

Another gratuitous photo of the two Andrew Barclays: the red one is in service hauling the preserved rake of SECR birdcage coaches, while the blue one (shorn of its "C crest R" markings) rests in the siding with the blue Peckett behind.


Andrew Barclays in Service by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


The second Wickham trolley arrived at the same time as the ABs, but was only converted to DCC yesterday, using a CT Elektronik decoder hard-wired in, Learning from the experience of converting the previous trolley, I cut the decoder wires shorter to ensure that all of the new soldered joints occurred within the base of the trolley  passenger unit. As before I added soldered wires from the pickups to the decoder black and red wires, but retained all of the Bachmann wiring from the motorised trailer this time. As before the PCB was removed altogether, but initially I retained the support arm on the chassis, until I realised it was interfering with my attempts to thread the decoder and wires back through, so it got the snip in the end!

A test on the programming track revealed all was well, and it was allocated an arbitrary number 24, to follow on from the earlier trolley which carried a number TR23 on its body; the new one has no such number, but I may add one simply to make identification easier for visitors to the layout. I tested each pair of carrying wheels for their pickup properties, and found that the leading pair weren't picking up properly to power the motor, so tweaked the pickups carefully to fix that. With the earlier conversion I managed to trap one of the pickup tags and bend it over double, and, while I fixed that at the time, there was still a similar problem with lack of pickup on the leading axle, so that also got some attention. I can report that both units now pick up electricity from all available wheels.


Wickham Trolley with Wasp Stripes by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Edited May 5, 2018 by SRman

[tender]

I may have missed this from an earlier post, but where did you put the decoder in the Wickham Trolley?

[SRman]

I may have missed this from an earlier post, but where did you put the decoder in the Wickham Trolley?

 

Under the seated area - where the original PCB was.

[SRman]

I have just done yet another video of the high level tracks, this time behind one of the Andrew Barclays. I tried to achieve lots of movement; see what you think if you do watch it.

[7APT7]

Hi SRman

 

That's a good size layout, great camera view on the back of the rake to.

 

Regards

Jamie

[SRman]

Hi SRman

 

That's a good size layout, great camera view on the back of the rake to.

 

Regards

Jamie

 

Thanks Jamie. The layout size was the maximum I could get into the available space and still leave room for access, as well as for bookshelves and storage. As always, there are compromises.

 

There was actually a 3-car birdcage set behind the camera wagon too, although you would never pick it from the impeccable performance of the AB.

 

There is one board joint that has dropped very slightly - the bump upwards at that spot in the video annoys me every time, exaggerated by the short wheelbase of the loco.

[DougN]

Which way has the board joint moved. It shouldn't be too hard to fix it up. Otherwise it is repacking the track.

 

I need to get round to fixing that joint in my hidden sidings but for some reason I am caught on building more metcalf kits to infill the middle section.

[SRman]

Which way has the board joint moved. It shouldn't be too hard to fix it up. Otherwise it is repacking the track.

 

I need to get round to fixing that joint in my hidden sidings but for some reason I am caught on building more metcalf kits to infill the middle section.

 

Thanks for the offer, Doug, but I was oversimplifying: it's really just the lifting section where it joins at the left - I did have some packing in there but I suspect it has fallen out when I opened it to wire the point frogs back in March. It should be a simple matter to glue a little cork on the plank the lifting bit rests on at that end.

[DougN]

Ahhh double sided tape is perfect for that job. The cork I still a good idea as it doesn't give too much... I have some around if you run out.

[SRman]

I have been doing various smaller jobs scenically lately, including adding more layers of static grass and a few figures. I really want to add fences but it is probably better to leave them a little longer until I finish having to lean over the layout edges to do more track laying and wiring. 

The first photo shows the results of adding some lighter grass around an area that will be fenced off.


Static Grass - Lighter Colour Added by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Next, some children with bikes playing on the public footpath that runs beside the siding. This also will gain fences on both sides (can't have the kiddies running onto the tracks or over the embankment and retaining wall on the other side!). I also intend to have some trees and bushes along the ridge, eventually.


Children Playing Beside the Siding by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


On a different subject (probably more suited to the workbench blog, but who cares?), I fitted YouChoos sound into one of my Bachmann E4 0-6-2 tanks. There is a bit of a saga attached: I started by consulting with John from YouChoos as to the best decoder choice, and we decided that a Zimo MX648 with harness and 6-pin connector would be the way to go, with the proviso that it still may not fit the available space with the decoder socket and PCB in place. I found that while the decoder would just shoehorn in below the socket, there was no room for a speaker doing it that way. I had in mind fitting the speaker at the front in the smokebox, so had bought an extra sugar cube speaker with a rounded top at the same time. I had already drilled out the chimney to allow sound to come out that way. After juggling things and even removing the rather bulky chokes to give more space below the decoder socket, I eventually pulled the pCB and socket out, cut and ground the mounting spigot off of the chassis to give a flatter area, cut the 6-pin plug off and trimmed the harness back to allow hard-wiring to take place. I found that I could fit the decoder flat at the bottom, with the curved top speaker on top of that, and it would *just* squeeze in to the boiler of the E4. I added a layer of Kapton tape to ensure no short-circuits would occur from that source.

I always test these installations on the programming track with my NCE Power Cab at every stage: having tested the decoder with the speaker loosely perched on the chassis and found all was well, I then squeezed it all into the body, but left the body loose and tested again. Once again, all was well. I added the body screws, and carefully sat it all down properly, then retested on the programming track. This time it was a failure, with the Power Cab reporting a dead short and cutting the power to the track.

Off came the body again, to discover that I had done the same thing as happened to one of the Pecketts, that is I had managed to trap and sever a wire - perhaps 'guillotined' would be a better word to describe it! So it was out with the soldering iron and heat-shrink tubing again to repair the damaged wire, then tuck everything much more carefully out of the way. I used a few lumps of black mastic to secure the decoder to the chassis, and the speaker to the decoder, plus a few of the wires to tidy them out of the way, and I went through the testing processes again, this time culminating in the body being secured to the chassis and the sound and motion working perfectly. 

The volume from this small speaker was actually too loud for my ears, so I duly turned it down a bit, and was happy with that. I had considered putting the speaker in the cab but that would have involved flying leads and possibly a way of separating the speaker from the decoder using 2-pin connectors; I think the way I have done it is neater and completely self-contained.

Anyway, being pleased with myself, I took it to DougN's place to show it off. It acquitted itself well on Doug's layout too, until I caught it with my sleeve and sent it crashing to the wooden floor. Electrically it survived well, but the unexpected meeting with the floor cracked the chimney off, and sent the dome flying (no damage to the latter, it just clipped back in), dislodged the crew fro the cab, bent the whistle, and dislodged and bent the handrail along the left-hand side of the boiler. Fortunately all buffers, lamp irons and couplings remained undamaged. I have repaired most of the damage, although there is still a crack evident at the base of the chimney and 579 now sports a Markits' LSWR whistle. I also discovered that the left-hand cabside handrails had gone missing so replaced them with some brass wire, which had only had a single coat of black paint at the time of the photo, hence the scrappy appearance. 

She doesn't look to bad on the SECR birdcage stock, and sounds really good now. I'll try to post a video of 579 in action in the near future.


Bachmann LBSC E4 - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Edited May 13, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

I have two Wickham trolleys from Bachmann, and both are a little light-footed, particularly noticeable on gradients such as they encountered on DougN's layout. I decided to experiment a bit with some thin sheet lead. The first test uses slightly thicker lead than I had intended, but I may panel-beat it out a bit further to do the job properly.

Anyway, what I have done is to glue a couple of rectangles of the lead into the roof of the trolley, to add weight over the unpowered wheels to improve electrical pickup a little. Then, I used a larger rectangle bent to represent a tarpaulin over the rather unconvincing fake ballast load. First impressions are good, although it does need some refinement, and I definitely need to use thinner lead for the future. The photos show the unpainted result, as it is now. Painting it once I am happy with the final shape will improve the look even more. The main thing is that it has vastly improved the traction of the powered wheels.


Wickham Trolley with Lead Load Cover - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Wickham Trolley with Lead Load Cover - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

[St Enodoc]

I have two Wickham trolleys from Bachmann, and both are a little light-footed, particularly noticeable on gradients such as they encountered on DougN's layout. I decided to experiment a bit with some thin sheet lead. The first test uses slightly thicker lead than I had intended, but I may panel-beat it out a bit further to do the job properly.

 

Anyway, what I have done is to glue a couple of rectangles of the lead into the roof of the trolley, to add weight over the unpowered wheels to improve electrical pickup a little. Then, I used a larger rectangle bent to represent a tarpaulin over the rather unconvincing fake ballast load. First impressions are good, although it does need some refinement, and I definitely need to use thinner lead for the future. The photos show the unpainted result, as it is now. Painting it once I am happy with the final shape will improve the look even more. The main thing is that it has vastly improved the traction of the powered wheels.

Buy some decent wine that has a cork sealed with a lead capsule. Remove the capsule and flatten it out. It's very thin and ideal for all sorts of modelling jobs.

 

Once you've made the tarpaulin you can celebrate by drinking the wine.

[SRman]

Could be the way to go, John! I do have some thinner lead somewhere, I just can't find it right now - typical, really.

Mind you, can you imagine how sloppy the job will be after a bottle or two of the wine?

[St Enodoc]

Could be the way to go, John! I do have some thinner lead somewhere, I just can't find it right now - typical, really.

 

Mind you, can you imagine how sloppy the job will be after a bottle or two of the wine?

Maybe so, but you'll be happy!

[Gwiwer]

Buy some decent wine that has a cork sealed with a lead capsule. Remove the capsule and flatten it out. It's very thin and ideal for all sorts of modelling jobs.

 

Once you've made the tarpaulin you can celebrate by drinking the wine.

That would be a pretty decent drop of wine these days

 

And can you imagine Jeff after a couple of glasses of Red Laughing Water? I saw him once trying to wrangle the Powercab after his second cup of tea

[SRman]

That would be a pretty decent drop of wine these days

 

And can you imagine Jeff after a couple of glasses of Red Laughing Water? I saw him once trying to wrangle the Powercab after his second cup of tea  

.

Oi. Stop giving away my secrets, Rick!

 

p.s. For the record, the Power Cab won!  

[SRman]

A few more new items have arrived tonight, in the shape of a Dapol LSWR B4 0-4-0T No. 96, Normandy, a Hatton's Beilhack snowplough, and (from a couple of days ago) a Hatton's P class 753 in SECR livery, together with two of Hornby's 3-plank wagons in SECR livery.

I took a short video on my mobile phone to show all of these items off in one go.

 

The B4 does have a slight tight spot, going forwards only. I have investigated and freed it up a bit, but there does still remain a slight hesitation at crawling speed. As can be seen in the video, it is fine at more normal speeds.

IMG_20180612_185945 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Edited June 12, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

Having lost most of the school holidays with a virus and lung infection, I have finally done a little more  on Newton Broadway ... not much, but it's a (re)start.

I drilled holes for the working Dapol Semaphore signals and planted two of them. Both are upper quadrant Southern Railway types, with one having a lattice post and the other a rail-built post. I may have to get another lattice post one as the location looks to require a taller signal because of the curvature and buildings in the way. I also have a couple of distant signals but I need to consider their positions carefully. One should be on the viaducts but I haven't figured out a way to fit it there, yet. Neither signal is wired up yet, so they are permanently at danger at present.


P_20180713_160536_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161017_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161244_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161251_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161301_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

The weeping willow tree was only loosely planted, but fell over while I was trying to take the photos! This was also a good test of my new phone camera (an Asus zenfone 3 zoom - camera seems good and the battery life is remarkably good).

Edited July 13, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

I have also received some new etched plates from Narrow Planet. I named and numbered two more industrials into my private series: red Andrew Barclay 16" 0-4-0ST is now No. 15, Abigail, and blue Janus 0-6-0 diesel electric is No. 16, Amadine.


P_20180713_183515_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


P_20180713_183503_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

[St Enodoc]

Having lost most of the school holidays with a virus and lung infection, I have finally done a little more  on Newton Broadway ... not much, but it's a (re)start.

 

I drilled holes for the working Dapol Semaphore signals and planted two of them. Both are upper quadrant Southern Railway types, with one having a lattice post and the other a rail-built post. I may have to get another lattice post one as the location looks to require a taller signal because of the curvature and buildings in the way. I also have a couple of distant signals but I need to consider their positions carefully. One should be on the viaducts but I haven't figured out a way to fit it there, yet. Neither signal is wired up yet, so they are permanently at danger at present.

 

P_20180713_160536_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161017_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161244_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161251_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

P_20180713_161301_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

The weeping willow tree was only loosely planted, but fell over while I was trying to take the photos! This was also a good test of my new phone camera (an Asus zenfone 3 zoom - camera seems good and the battery life is remarkably good).

Jeff, if it's not too late I'd be inclined to move the lattice one the other side of the level crossing.

[SRman]

Jeff, if it's not too late I'd be inclined to move the lattice one the other side of the level crossing.

 

I was tossing up between the location I chose and the other side of the level crossing - logically, the trains then don't block the crossing. However, that then leaves me less room for the distant signal before it. Even so, I am also considering whether I should put an additional signal before the crossing, one acting as a repeater for the other. Always a bit of a dilemma with model railways because we simply don't have the distances to really signal things accurately.

 

Nothing is wired in yet, so it is quite easy to haul the signal out again and cover the hole.

 

My cogitations will continue!

 

One other consideration in that, though, is the accessibility and clearances for the working signal; the side of level crossing is almost directly over the Underground tracks where they go into their tunnel.

Edited July 13, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

I did two more name/number/works plate fittings today with the Narrow Planet etched plates. Featured this time are Hatton's Andrew Barclay 14" 0-4-0ST No. 14, 'Avril' (ex-Caledonian Railway livery), with large works plates added, and Hornby Sentinel 0-4-0 diesel No 12, 'Alberta'. I have added a little weathering to both, and managed to dislodge a little of the lining on the other side of the Sentinel, which I'll have to fix again before varnishing it.
 

The 16" Andrew Barclay No. 15, and Janus No. 16 from yesterday are also in the pics.
 

P_20180714_190705_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
 

P_20180714_190613_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
 

P_20180714_190629_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
 

P_20180714_190644_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
 

P_20180714_190808_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
 

P_20180714_190726_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

[SRman]

The Dapol working semaphore signals are now working! I have temporarily wired them to a 12V DC power supply, although for the future I really want to step the voltage down a bit. I have some momentary on push button switches to work the semaphore arm motors, while the LEDs remain lit (one of the reasons for stepping down the voltage, to dim them a bit).
 

The Ivatt diesel electric 10001 has just had extra lamp irons fitted , made from a staple inserted into drilled holes, with extra dummy marker lights added beside them (actually just holes drilled into the front, filled with Krystal Klear). They barely show against the black paintwork. I also glued the discs on, just two per end - remember, while on the Southern Region, these were for route indication, not the type of train.
 

Dapol Working Semaphore Signals Wired Up - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Dapol Working Semaphore Signals Wired Up - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Edited July 18, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

I have slowly been switching over to modern image with Network South East stock predominating on Newton Broadway's high level tracks.

This video is the result of around 10 - 15 minutes of videoing, followed by a lot more time editing the footage. Filming would have taken a lot less time if the Hornby Pullman coaches had behaved properly!

[SRman]

In trying to run two Hornby 4 VEP units in multiple (i.e. a DCC 'consist') I ran into difficulties with the speed matching - they clashed rather badly and didn't want to work together at all. On checking, 7830 had a Lenz Standard decoder fitted (my usual standard for these) but 3588 still had a Hornby decoder in it - I forgot I had bought this one at a greatly reduced price already DCC fitted, and had never got around to putting a decent decoder in. Anyway, now I have worked that out, 3588 has a Lenz decoder fitted and is working reasonably comfortably with 7830.

My usual settings with these decoders are starting voltage (CV2) = 0, acceleration (CV3) = 25, and deceleration (CV4) = 18. Kadee couplers are used between units. At some stage I'll modify the consist settings so that the headcode. tail red headcode and interior lights are all operated by the consist address.


4 VEPs 3588 and 7830 - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

4 VEPs 3588 and 7830 - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr