robrailltd Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Hi guys. just a question about the baseboard foot print. How long is it and how wide? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 18, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 18, 2012 Hi guys. just a question about the baseboard foot print. How long is it and how wide? This is the plan of the layout, copied from Page 1 of this topic: The total length is 45ft, and the widest boards, where the tram tracks run are 8ft. Steve. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 18, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 18, 2012 The turntables and sector plate use "Stepper Motor" technology. Some details have been posted earlier in the topic. You might find them if you use the Search facility at the top of each page. The turntable mechanism was built by team member Geoff, and is now commercially available from GF Controls http://www.gfcontrols.co.uk/. I'll try to get some video of it this weekend, both above and below ground. Steve. I've seen one of Geoff's turntables - I was highly impressed by the engineering of the project - both mechanical and electronic. I can't remember the exact details, but IIRC it indexes to fractions of a degree. Simply the Rolls Royce of turntables. Cheers, Mick Thanks Mick, for your comments. Here's a short viddeo I took at John's place today: http://youtu.be/JB_ygsKzDdg I'll try to get some more shots of the mechanism, and also the versions used on the Sector Plate and its own high-speed turntable. Steve. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 Looks like it needs interlocking with the signalling? Super work. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted August 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2012 Looks like it needs interlocking with the signalling? Super work. Not sure it was interlocked, there is plenty of room between the pit and the trap point for an engine - there were shunters stationed around the layout who probably dealt with such things and communicated with the bobbies by gongs or phone, letting the bobby know it was ok for the engine to go onto the turntable road. I suspect the other turntable which once existed on the opposite side did have a bolt lock though 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2012 Looks like it needs interlocking with the signalling? Super work. It is, like the prototype. Access to the turntable area is from either platform 10 or 11. Setting either of these routes ensures the turntable is aligned with the entry road before clearing the appropriate signal. Leaving the turntable to either platform is controlled by the two arm ground signal. Upper arm for Platform 11 and the lower one for Platform 10. These routes can also only be set when the turntable is in line with the exit road. There were no other signals provided for movements around the turntable. Steve. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2012 Here's another short video, this time of the Sector Plate Turntable. This one is purely functional and is relatively high speed. It is designed to handle locos as efficiently as possible. http://youtu.be/X65MXSJfS5E It also uses Stepper Motor technology, like the Station turntable. Steve. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robrailltd Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 This is the plan of the layout, copied from Page 1 of this topic: The total length is 45ft, and the widest boards, where the tram tracks run are 8ft. Steve. Thanks mate. for some reason reading the front page the dimensions didn't twig with the picture. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 20, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 20, 2012 John has continued to make progress and has just completed detailing the main turntable. Still needs painting and weathering, but these photos show its currect condition: Steve. Latest from John, he's got the basic painting and wood staining done. Ready for Rob to work his magic ......... Steve. 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Steve Hewitt Posted August 22, 2012 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted August 22, 2012 The population of Liverpool have so far been noticable by their absence from Lime Street Station! A lot of detailing work has been done on the buildings and street surfaces in front of the station entrance, and at last the locals are coming out to have a look. John has just sent me these photos which he took a week or two ago: Steve. 32 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 23, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 23, 2012 The turntables and sector plate use "Stepper Motor" technology. Some details have been posted earlier in the topic. You might find them if you use the Search facility at the top of each page. The turntable mechanism was built by team member Geoff, and is now commercially available from GF Controls http://www.gfcontrols.co.uk/. I'll try to get some video of it this weekend, both above and below ground. Steve. Thanks Mick, for your comments. Here's a short viddeo I took at John's place today: http://youtu.be/JB_ygsKzDdg I'll try to get some more shots of the mechanism, and also the versions used on the Sector Plate and its own high-speed turntable. Steve. And here is a very low quality video clip of the mechanism from below: http://youtu.be/iAsX2dIwU6E If you look carefuly at the close-up you can see the double reduction Toothed Belt drive from the stepper motor itself to the turntable's drive. This gives a resolution of 7200 steps per revolution of the turntable deck. In other words, to move the deck as far as the minute hand of your watch moves in one minute, there are 120 separate addressable steps. Alternatively, its 20 steps per degree of angle. Steve. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hi Steve Are the platforms scale length. 45 feet overall seems very short for such a large station? Also out of curiosity where were the larger locomotives turned? Cheers Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robrailltd Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 The current 2012 platform lengths the current platform 8 is the longest at 307 yards.just over 12 foot. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Thanks - I didnt realise the platforms were so short. I always thought BNS was short at 350 yards (p1 - P4 was longer) Cheers Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 23, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hi Steve Are the platforms scale length. 45 feet overall seems very short for such a large station? Also out of curiosity where were the larger locomotives turned? Cheers Jim Hi Jim, I believe the platforms are scale length for the period we are modelling, which is 1947-ish, post War and immediately prior to Nationalisation. There is much very relevant information in the article by Reg Instone and Graham Warburton in LMS Journal no. 36 about Lime Street re-signalling. The LMS were very concerned about the problems at Lime Street before the War with LMS minutes of 1938 referring "considerable inconvenience was caused in working traffic due to the station platforms not being long enough to accommodate the trains requiring to use them". The solution, extension of some platforms, took place in the period immediately following that modelled, when the signal box was replaced with a new power box located adjacent to the turntable. This was brought into service on 25th January 1948, and the old signal box (the one on our model) was demolished and the track re-laid over its site and in use from 29th February, 1948. At the time of our model, larger locomotives had to travel up to Edge Hill to be turned. Adjacent to the turntable on our model is the outline of the new larger installation, which we will show as a development site. Steve. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Green Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 The platforms are the correct scale length. The only difference between the prototype and the model is the curvature of the station. The prototype has quite a curve along the station length. On the model we have reduced the curvature significantly so that it will fit on our baseboards 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 25, 2012 (edited) A bit more on the use of a Stepper Motor to drive the Sector Plate. This short video - very wobbly and shaky - shows: First the sector plate on the move. A captive nut beneath the deck is pulled along the revolving screwed bar. Next you can see the drive train, the large motor with toothed belt and the casing for the processor which controls the motor. The shot ends with Sector Plate Road 3 aligned with Fiddle Yard Road 5. Ease of operation is shown with shots of the Control Panel. The illuminated LEDs in the track plan show the previous route set (Roads 3 to 5 above). This also indicates that traction power is connected to those tracks. The large illuminated button is pressed to cancel the previous route, and Sector Plate Road 4 and Down Fast are selected. The shot concludes with the sector plate aligning as required and a close up indicates the accuracy of alignment. Steve. Edited August 25, 2012 by SteveAtBax 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted August 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 30, 2012 (edited) Sorry if this a bit Off Topic.... Although you'll have to wait another year to see Liverpool Lime Street at the Lancashire Show, many of the team will be there all this coming weekend: John and Brian will be demonstrating; Les is the Exhibition Manager, John R. is the Treasurer and Rob and I will be around most of the time, and Spike will be operating on Blackmill. So there will be 7 of the Lime Street team at the show, all willing to chat to you about the layout and answer any questions you might have. Interested? Come along to Accrington and visit the 47th Lancashire Show http://www.rmweb.co....september-2012/ Steve. Edited August 30, 2012 by SteveAtBax 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 this loco is too modern for the layout period but worth a look.. Liverpool Lime Street by Kerry Parker (KP), on Flickr 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted September 5, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 5, 2012 Latest from John, he's got the basic painting and wood staining done. Ready for Rob to work his magic ......... Steve. And here we are. Rob returned the turntable deck to John at the Lancashire show last weekend, and John has sent me these few shots of it back in place on the layout: Steve. 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
7APT7 Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Hi Steve, Must say, you have some pretty impressive kit here, the YouTube clips are great, a lot of hard work and time and effort not to mention the wiring involved... Love the Old photos of the Liverpool Lime Street to... And the Layout that you have... Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrigo Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Beautiful model, trully inspirational. I'm building a model of Lime Street station following discovery of your Lime Street. I would never have been able to reproduce what I have done without reference to the photos that have been produced in relation to your model- trully inspirational in this respect. One thing I'd like to know if anyone can help. What buildings existed in Skelhorne Street from the Ribble bus station up to Copperas Hill in the early 60's - the period of my model. I have some photos trawled from the net but it would be useful to know exactly what buildings existed at the time. Any help would be very much appreciated Derrigo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted September 22, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 22, 2012 (edited) John and I spent the whole of yesterday trying out a new operating sequence for Lime Street. I had drafted out the operations for the station controllers, and these were corrected as necessary as we progressed. The strategy (if its not too grand a title) was to make all the sector plate operations sub-servient to the needs of the station. (Obvious, really!) Each operation at that end of the layout was documented on pre-prepared sheets as we progressed through the sequence. I'm now in the process of transcribing these to a MS Excel spreadhseet, where an operation (each of up to six distinct moves) is represented in one Row. These can then be printed onto the required Instruction Cards (roughly 6" x 4") using a Mail Merge in MS Word. We intend to check all the documentation out next week, after which we should be able to start Operator Training ready for our appearance at the Warley show at the NEC. We all hope to see many of you there, so please drop by and make yourselves known. Steve. Edited September 22, 2012 by SteveAtBax 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Steve Hewitt Posted September 26, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 26, 2012 The operation sequence for both the Station and the Sector Plate have been stored in the spreadsheets and printed out for checking. John and I spent today operating the whole sequence to check its accuracy. A few corrections were of course necessary, and a couple of additions where one train hadn't arrived back in its starting position by the time we'd performed all the instructions! At its busiest, there were some seven trains in the station simultaneously, occupying six platforms and one siding. These snaps might give an impression: Looking over the "Back Road" to trains in Platforms 1, 2, 3 and 4. Looking the other way at Platforms 9, 8 (empty), 7 and Siding D adjacent to the Roof Pillars. Platforms 10 and 11 are off-scene to the lower right. Next step is to print out the instructions on the correct index cards. This will then allow two operators to control the station at the same time, and we'll see how well balanced the workload is for the operators. Fingers crossed we don't have to make too many alterations before we can "freeze" the schedule and start proper training sessions for the Warley show. Steve. 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danemouth Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Steve, You are going to need a hell of a lot of "little people" on those platforms when the time comes. Seriously impressive! Regards, Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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