Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.

[BoD]

It's great to see something running Gordon.

 

Isn't it about now that the trips to the skip start?

[martin_wynne]

Youtube question. At the end of my short video it finishes on a thumb nail page with a stack of other videos, over half of which are nothing to do with me. Thankfully there's nothing smutty there, but I am curious where they have come from and how they've ended up against my account as I've not seen them before. Any ideas? How do I get rid of them?

 

Hi Gordon,

 

You can prevent the unwanted "related videos" by adding &rel=0 to the end of the source URL.

 

Unfortunately this won't work on RMweb where you have no control over the embedding code -- IPB uses the original YouTube page link.

 

It works fine on YMR -- I have posted your video in your Eastwood topic there and the related videos don't show at the end:

 

http://yourmodelrail...=178249#p178249

 

regards,

 

Martin.

[Trevellan]

After years and years of despair and frustration something is actually running.

 

I feel as though we should be cutting a ribbon or opening some bubbly!

 

Great stuff Gordon. Looking forward to further progress.

[martin_wynne]

I'm a little uneasy about IDC's and their supposed gas tight joints.

 

Hi Gordon,

 

Forget IDC and use Crimp, using the proper crimping tool.

 

Crimp these onto the bus wire: http://uk.rs-online....minals/4881279/

 

Bend them away slightly so that you can fit these on the dropper wire: http://uk.rs-online....minals/4881235/

 

It doesn't need much of a bend if you have the crimps on opposite sides.

 

Then, no soldering underneath, and you can disconnect them any time when fault-finding.

 

A lot cheaper than suitcase connectors, once you have bought the crimping tool: http://uk.rs-online....minals/0531093/

 

regards,

 

Martin.

 

edit: crimp tool link added.

Edited March 31, 2012 by martin_wynne

[gordon s]

Thanks Martin. The use of 6.3mm spades has set me thinking. When we used to make 19" racks, we had a commoning earth bar that was one metal strip, stamped to shape with 6.3mm male spade outputs, so that it was easy to take several wires to one common point using 6.3mm females. I'm sure I've seen something similar, say a flat terminal block with 12 or so male spades all commoned together. That would be ideal for connecting dropper wires. One 1.5mm wire from the bus to the commoning block and then 6.3mm spades on each dropper.

 

I've done various searches on earth blocks, commoning connectors and terminal blocks, but so far drawn a complete blank. The nearest I can find are barrier blocks with screws to take tongue terminals, but nothing along the lines I'm describing.

 

Any ideas?

Edited March 31, 2012 by gordon s

[gordon s]

Tried another tack using 'Faston' and found this which is moving in the right direction. I like your idea of crimping the male spade onto the bus. Only drawback I can see is stripping back the insulation and the space needed to take 10 wires to one common area. I guess you need 20mm or so per contact.

 

http://www.rapidonli...nnector-21-0712

 

 

......and nearer still...

 

http://www.hylec-apl.com/Products/ElectroMechanical/Tab/Tabtotab/tabid/2158/Default.aspx

Edited March 31, 2012 by gordon s

[martin_wynne]

we had a commoning earth bar that was one metal strip, stamped to shape with 6.3mm male spade outputs, so that it was easy to take several wires to one common point using 6.3mm females.

 

Hi Gordon,

 

Make your own with these riveted or soldered to a strip of copper-clad (made-up/soldered on the bench):

 

http://uk.rs-online....minals/0534840/

 

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-terminals/0534929/

 

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-terminals/0534834/

 

Link to the system with a female connector crimped on the bus.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

Edited March 31, 2012 by martin_wynne

[skipepsi]

Well done Gordon put it in place and then play/test it some more and film the results. It might also displace some of the weird links

[ianwales]

Morning all.....So what's new?

 

Seems I've spent hour after hour on my back soldering the two wires required for DCC control. Funny I believed that too, but in all fairness the bulk of the wiring is for the Tortoise motors and the rest droppers to every piece of rail. Some may argue it's not necessary, but I'm one of those guys that believes prevention is better than cure and no matter how good your fishplates are, they are no competition for a hard soldered joint. I vowed last time that I would always invert boards and solder standing up, but somehow I must have forgotten that rule and ended up on my back again.

 

Hi Gordon

 

I am doing it slightly different in that I just drop a feed where needed, but, rather than rely on just the fishplate to transmit current I bond each joint with a small loop of wire. I can do that on the top of the basebord and avoid dripping solder!!

 

Ian

Edited April 2, 2012 by ianwales

[gordon s]

Still plodding on, but decided to fit the goods loops into place and see how the low relief industrials looked. As it stands now, I'm likely to retain an access road to the right hand building. It has a set of double doors and an overhead hoist, so a small access road wouldn't go amiss here. Each end of this loop will be a road over bridge, which is why the factories are set 60-70mm above the running lines. The right hand one will have a T off to provide the access road to the right hand building. The left hand end is likely to disappear at an acute angle behind the left hand factories. These have no access requirements, other than a foot access for maintenance and painting etc. The ground will slope away from the buildings to a low retaining wall and then fall away from the other side of the lines. I had thought of adding a water ditch but think the space isn't really sufficient. I'm still undecided about alignment as visually I need to retain some interest, so the factory buildings may well be staggered in either or both planes.

 

I think it does what it is supposed to do and provide a scenic break between the running lines and the storage roads behind. There's still sufficient space and I can reach over the buildings, no problem. Of course I can always make them removable and will look at sitting them in a small well to disguise the join and stop that floating building image that is often seen.

 

16.40pm. Enough for one day. In any case, it must be Stella time....

 

 

[gordon s]

Been thinking a lot about these industrial buildings and tried several mock ups with access roads and every type of bridge known to mankind, but few really looked right. These buildings are OK but somewhat shabby, so could pass as urban buildings where little or no maintenance is done or even with a bit more weathering and a few broken windows, could pass as empty, although security guards on site have managed to stop them being total wrecked.

 

The width of the board is just 130mm, so options are limited. It was a throw away comment from Pete (Trisonic) about street running that started me off and memories of Andy's Keyhaven, gave me the idea of either a combined road/rail section or even a completely disused rail access that has been long defunct. As yet I'm still undecided, but I have hooked up the power so this section does work. It is unlikely to be connected to the main layout, so will act as a working diorama with the line disappearing behind some bushes at the left hand end.

 

Here's a few pics to show what has happened so far...

 

First task was to lay the goods loops and provide some support structure for the industrials. All the gaps will be filled in with scenic stuff, so expect a lot of questions from me when I get to that stage.

 

 

I wanted the track to be completely flat with the roadway, so tried tried routing a channel 3.5mm deep x 40mm wide. It wasn't that successful and the risks of damaging my hands or legs were high, so I took Plan B. Using some 3mm balsa, I carefully marked out the base of the building and cut the shape with a scalpel. This will provide the flat road surface and also disguise the road/building join.

 

 

Next stage was to solder up some rail on pcb sleepers.

 

 

I wasn't sure about this, but used an inner rail to provide a clear gap for stock to run down. I used a 00 track gauge with 1mm flange gaps to set the inner rail and soldered them onto a second set of sleepers so as not to disturb the original solder joint. Cut off the excess with a disc cutter and job done.

 

 

The rest of the roadway was cut from 3mm balsa on the outside and 1.5mm for the centre channel to clear the sleepers and wiring.

 

All it needs now is some finishing and weathering, but overall I'm pleased with the result. A big improvement on my my first thoughts and I still have the option to make it appear completely disused.

 

[trisonic]

Or keep it disused and have the AC 4400 pop out occasionally.....looks very good though, so far!

 

Best, Pete.

[artizen]

Nice touch. Remember to paint under the centre bit of balsa before weathering though! (Don't ask me how I know the white bits under the rails will show later!)

[skipepsi]

Make a punch out of square section brass and you can print worn granite setts into the balsa, more paint and weeds job done! Overgrown but used sometimes would be my preferred option, a weekly collection of wagons?

[45156]

Great to see the progress, Gordon. Looking good, and no encouragement to visit the skip from this quarter.

[Siberian Snooper]

Hi Gordon

 

The buildings look good, are they scratch built or kit built?

 

Cheers SS

[gordon s]

They are scratch built by Alan Downes for Great Northern of this parish and were originally on his Peterborough layout, the forerunner to Peterborough North. I bought all of Gilbert's buildings for ET when he broke up the original layout.

[gordon s]

Just over a week has gone and some progress has been made and this side of the room is starting to take shape. Sadly my soldering skills were not up to scratch when laying the sunken tracks as capilliary action took the solder up between the two rails and resulted in a very bumpy ride along the track itself, as flanges bottomed out in several places. The 1mm gap was probably a little ambitious as well over a continuous check rail length of 12', so up it came and I took the easier route of laying plain track and cutting 3mm balsa as an infill panel. It's OK but not great, as you can see the chairs if you look down the gap, but from normal viewing angles it's not so obvious. No doubt if it really bugs me I will have another go at soldering all the rails, but right now I want to keep moving forward.

 

Building a layout is a bit like working with a stack of dominoes and if you are not careful, it can all come tumbling down. I finished off the lower level loop and was about to start ballasting when I realised hadn't painted the track. More than that, I hadn't put in the dummy pcb sleeper for track feeds and therefore the wiring hadn't been done on that section. Of course you guessed it, went to the wire store (a cardboard box on the floor) and no 16/0.2 in black, so that stopped play.

 

I didn't want to sit around doing nothing or worse still, be grabbed for DIY tasks or gardening, so lashed up some low walls to act as retaining structures between the lower loop and the industrial siding and then added a 6mm mdf front sheet that will give some idea of the landscape in this area. Each end will see bridges over the main lines before they disappear into the storage area, hence the rising ground either end, but I didn't want the whole if this loop being in a cutting, so have dropped it below track level to create an embankment of sorts.

 

Any ideas what to use to fill the gaps between the front board and the track bed and then the retaining wall and the industrial track bed?

 

Chicken wire, polystyrene, crunched up paper? I have some Mod Roc bandage to create the ground level with, it's the supporting structure that's a bit of a black art for me.

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2012 by gordon s

[Trevellan]

It's purely a personal preference Gordon, but I feel that chicken wire has had its day, at least in terms of model railway scenery. The (admittedly limited) efforts I've been involved with in recent years have centred on recycling polystyrene from electrical goods. It's amazing how much embankment a new fridge yields! The downside is, of course, the bl**dy mess you make when carving it to shape.

[chris p bacon]

Same here, I have been using offcuts of Celotex/Kingspan which can be carved with a breadknife or plasterboard saw and then covered with plaster bandage, or the white expanded polystyrene that comes as packaging, again covered with bandage. I do have a cheapo Wickes £30 vacuum that I have running when cutting it to avoid the inevitable "snowstorm"

 

I probably shouldn't have started reading this and the Peterboro North thread as before, I was quite happy with my Peco code 75 (which was better than anything else I have done) but find that as I add to the layout my eye is drawn back to the Pway and the thoughts of ..........what if............ Oh lord what do I do.

[martin_wynne]

Hi Gordon,

 

Instead of chicken wire netting, try expanded aluminium mesh. Much easier to work with, and far less mess than expanded polystyrene. Can be cut with scissors and fixed with a hot glue gun. Google found several places on the net, such as this one:

 

http://www.meshdirec...creen-c-32.html

 

or try pet shops and garden centres (used for pet cages, etc.).

 

regards,

 

Martin.

[The Stationmaster]

I have a large stock of packaging expanded polystyrene but have recently ditched all the Kingspan offcuts as they gave off an strange smell when cut (they've been hanging around for about 5 years stored indoors) and I also have a fair stock of corrugated vcardboard from boxes and packaging and Stubby has shown how good the latter can be. One previous effort for the offspring's 'TTTE' oval used expanded polystyrene as the basis and old towels soaked in polyfilla making the top covering then treated with scatter material; it is still in one piece as a portable layout corner tunnel getting on for 25 years later and with very little damage so expanded polystyrene will last and wear well.

 

Another method I tried on the last portable(ish) layout was using offcuts of ply to make the formers and old sheets used as the covering - the formers were great, old sheets are nowhere near as good as old towels - and Modroc type stuff is probably far better than either!

[daveblueozzie]

I have used a different method, i didnt want to fill the the space with paper and i hate chicken wire, i used a product called gutter guard cost me a quid from a pound shop and you get five metres of plastic mesh, easily cut. i tried a test piece on the layout.

 

[chris p bacon]

I have a large stock of packaging expanded polystyrene but have recently ditched all the Kingspan offcuts as they gave off an strange smell when cut (they've been hanging around for about 5 years stored indoors)

 

A Rep explained that part of the smell came from the fireproofing of the foam, whether that is true or not ??, I do know that it is supposed to be safe for a domestic/ habitable rooms, mind you my wife moans about the smell of the Gripfill I stick it down with ! (the railway room is off the living room).

[Debs.]

.........but have recently ditched all the Kingspan offcuts as they gave off an strange smell when cut (they've been hanging around for about 5 years stored indoors).......

 

Please be careful folks: Kingspan foams are Polyisocyanurate and heating/melting/burning (>200 C.) will release toxic fumes.