railwayrod Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Sorry I accidentally pressed the post button before I had finished. Here are a couple of pictures that I wanted to post above. The first is Howard in the Shark brake van and he certainly looks as though he is enjoying himself! The second is Paul operating his class 37 on Ramchester while Peter (right) and Howard (centre) look on. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 (edited) That was a lovely treat Howard. +1! Howard that last photo gives a better idea of the fiddle yard and general layout set-up, I can see the challenges of a new fiddle yard and all it presents. Could the fiddle yard be widened? Or would it be possible to break down the running sessions into era specific times thus reducing the numbers of stock on the fiddle-yard? (if you have room to store locos and stock elsewhere)? It would be a shame to loose the centre - or too much centre - space within the room. Kind regards, CME Edited May 27, 2014 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 The fiddleyard could be widened and is something under consideration. With regards to the middle of the room we are just tossing ideas around at present. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 (edited) The fiddleyard could be widened and is something under consideration. With regards to the middle of the room we are just tossing ideas around at present. It would be a shame to loose the space in the middle of the room and I am not sure if it's telephotoing with the camera lens but the current Fiddle Yard looks like it could take up a little more room - width wise :-) The comments on Ramchester's FY has got me thinking about our own needs - I have also been keeping a look out at shows too - FY's can be a challenge that's for sure! Edited May 27, 2014 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I took the photo with a standard lens so no telephotoing was present. I have mixed feelings regarding the space in the centre of the room as it is useful when visitors come to see the layout. It would be a relatively simple matter to widen the fiddle yard to give some extra storage space and this is an option that I am considering at present. I do not want to restrict my access to the bookshelves under the FY too much however. I think that my best plan is still to relay the yard - perhaps with one/two 3 way points together with some widening of the baseboard. I like CME's suggestion that the stock could be broken down into era specific areas but most of my current stock fits into a time window circa 1955 to 1965 and I am quite happy with this. If stock does increase much more I may have to reconsider this time frame and act accordingly. In the meantime I still have lots to do in the way of kits to make, details to add to the layout and signals. Add to this my desire to convert to DCC...... Railwayrod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Well I have made the decision! The baseboard at the fiddle yard end is going to be widened and the ladder formation of the pointwork is to be relaid. This involves the use of a 3 way point and will give me 8 sidings in all plus a kick back to hold spare locos. I have ordered a 3 way point from Marcway which should arrive next week and have begun to modify the FY base board. Exciting times! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Well I have made the decision! The baseboard at the fiddle yard end is going to be widened and the ladder formation of the pointwork is to be relaid. This involves the use of a 3 way point and will give me 8 sidings in all plus a kick back to hold spare locos. I have ordered a 3 way point from Marcway which should arrive next week and have begun to modify the FY base board. Exciting times! You can't have too many storage sidings! Trouble is, if it's anything like our layout you'll soon amass more stock to fill them, then you'll need more sidings............ . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 This is the scheme I've drawn up for the fiddleyard although the spacing between the tracks will be increased to allow easier access for uncoupling, etc. While Rod has started work on widening the fiddleyard baseboard I have done a little more work on the station building. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Hi Jon. You are quite right! I think a variant on the old adage would be "stock increases according to the sidings available" Only yesterday I inherited some 18 wagon and coach kits which WHEN they get built will need to go somewhere! . So far the only modification that I have carried out on the FY baseboard is to remove the front bearer. This 2 x1 length of timber acts purely as a stiffener and is not load bearing so its removal will not create any problems. I can then screw longer bits of 2 x 1 to the existing cross beams to widen the board before replacing the front strip - "simples". All I will have to do then is to cut a piece of 12mm ply and screw it on top and the board will be widened. This is one of the benefits of using L - girder construction for the foundations. I do not want to lift the track in the FY yet as I prefer to see just how it will all fit in once the 3 way point has arrived. As mentioned in my last post this has been ordered late this afternoon from Marcway so it probably will not get here before next week. Once this has been placed in position over the existing track it should become clear if Howard's plan will fulfil my requirements. Also today I have started to fit Bachmann couplings to the wagon which has featured recently on this thread. It is nearing completion but this will have to fit in with the baseboard widening work. Railwayrod 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Had a great day out yesterday at the Exeter MRC's 50th anniversary exhibition. Met several members of EXG0G as well as one or two members of the local S7 group. 7mm was represented by a number of layouts plus the EXG0G stand and there were also layouts in 7mm narrow gauge. So all in all the larger scale was well to the fore. The show appears to have been well attended on the Saturday and there were a lot on the Sunday. The catering was excellent, the show good and everyone was very friendly. What more could you ask for? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Howard and I had a great time yesterday lifting the track in the fiddle yard. The only track that remains is the leading point plus the rear track which we have left in place. My 3 way point arrived yesterday and Howard has mounted this on a piece of card to bring the rail height up to match the Peco track being used. The are is now clear and on our next session the 3 way point will be laid and hopefully the remainder of the FY can be completed subject to me getting cracking on widening the baseboard. This will significantly increase storage capacity in the FY and should be OK for some time to come (unless I win the lottery!). 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Hi Rod and Howard, I have sent you guys a PM about, amongst other things, a height gauge for Bachmann TL couplings. :-) ;-) Kindest, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Hi CME. Our Bachmann couplings are mounted on a block of plastic which is then screwed to the wagon floor. We have come to the conclusion that the top of the Bachmann loop needs to be 16.5mm above the top of the rail to allow the hook to clear the lower end of corridor connections on coaches. We use a simple height gauge which sits on top of the rails with a projection sitting on top of a block glued to the base of the gauge. This fixes the height which the couplings have to be set to and it is a fairly simple matter to pack the coupling on the wagon so that it coincides with the top of the height gauge. On my next post I will attach a photo. Railwayrod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Hi CME. Our Bachmann couplings are mounted on a block of plastic which is then screwed to the wagon floor. We have come to the conclusion that the top of the Bachmann loop needs to be 16.5mm above the top of the rail to allow the hook to clear the lower end of corridor connections on coaches. We use a simple height gauge which sits on top of the rails with a projection sitting on top of a block glued to the base of the gauge. This fixes the height which the couplings have to be set to and it is a fairly simple matter to pack the coupling on the wagon so that it coincides with the top of the height gauge. On my next post I will attach a photo. Railwayrod Hi Rod, As always I am indebted - it's not worth me reinventing the wheel as you guys have already blazed a path, so a photo of the jig will be most useful - many thanks. Kindest, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 Further to Rod's description of our coupler height gauges here are a couple of pics I took earlier in response to a PM from CME. This is for setting the height of the top of the loop of the Bachmann couplers. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 We started relaying the track in the fiddleyard today although Rod hasn't yet widened the baseboard as he wanted to double-check the amount of extra width needed first. The three-way point has gone in and things are looking good so far! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 In my article within the current GOG Gazette on Ramchester I indicated that I had a desire to go DCC but that the work involved in rewiring the layout might be problematic. Well My desire has come to fruition in that I have just recently inherited my late Best Man's ZTC 601 unit which is still unused in its box. Clearly I am going to have to get my head around this system in the very near future and will have to have a loco fitted with a sound decoder. Once I have this I will experiment (with a little help from my friends - I hope) to see what needs to be done in order to make it all work. I like the idea of sound in locos but all of my Peco points are self isolating which means that if a point is set against a loco whilst it is in a siding the sound will be cut off. Not a good idea!. Still it all looks very exciting and I am looking forward to getting it all installed and working. Will keep you all up to date with progress on this development. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I like the idea of sound in locos but all of my Peco points are self isolating which means that if a point is set against a loco whilst it is in a siding the sound will be cut off. Not a good idea!. I faced a similar problem when I changed all my DCC decoders to sound. It didn't prove to be too big a problem, I just cut any rail connected to a crossing (frog) and run a wire directly to it from the bus. Worth doing to get the sound working properly. Chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Thanks Chaz for the encouragement. I had this plan in mind - its just getting around to doing it. I am sure the doing will be a lot easier than I think it will be - we shall see in due course. At the end of this month I have another group from EXG0G coming to "play trains on Ramchester" so today I have been working on widening the baseboard in the fiddle yard. Fortunately I found a piece of ½ inch ply in the garage which was about the right width so this will be pressed into service. As I have used L girder for the baseboards it will be an easy matter to screw lengths of timber to the existing beams to bring out the front edge to the correct size for the ply. These "extensions" have been cut and are ready to be screwed into place so the job should be completed fairly quickly Will keep you all posted. Railwayrod 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted June 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 13, 2014 I like the idea of sound in locos but all of my Peco points are self isolating which means that if a point is set against a loco whilst it is in a siding the sound will be cut off. Not a good idea!. Actually Rod, thats not such a bad idea! It depends on how many sound fitted locos you have got standing on the layout; You want to be able to hear the sound coming from the loco that you are operating at the time, but do you really want all the rest chuntering away continuously? Maybe adjust the wiring in the station so that locos on the layout are always "live", but keep the fiddle yard points self-isolating so locos are silent when offstage. Cheers, Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Actually Rod, thats not such a bad idea! It depends on how many sound fitted locos you have got standing on the layout; You want to be able to hear the sound coming from the loco that you are operating at the time, but do you really want all the rest chuntering away continuously? Maybe adjust the wiring in the station so that locos on the layout are always "live", but keep the fiddle yard points self-isolating so locos are silent when offstage. Cheers, Dave. I have to say that having half a dozen diesels on tick-over gets very, very irritating! However having a shedful of kettles all simmering away (gentle hissing, not lifting safety valves!) is quite restful. I certainly agree that any locos standing in a FY should be silent - after all they are not really there, are they? Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks guys for this. Howard and I have been thinking along the same lines as clearly the fiddle yard should be silent.. Today Howard has laid the next two tracks in the FY and I have cleared the Junk from the far end so that the track goes all the way to the wall. While he was doing that I have been working on the baseboard widening and I have posted a picture of the "extensions" These have now been screwed into place and just need the ply top screwing to them with a beam along the front. Howard will post a picture of the FY later on this evening. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 Here is a picture of our progress to date with the four rearmost tracks now in place. We have yet to decide how we are going to operate the points in the fiddleyard - whether to keep the previous point motors or go for some kind of manual control incorporating micro-switches. We haven't been entirely happy with the reliability of the PECO solenoids and accessory switches we have been using. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 We have yet to decide how we are going to operate the points in the fiddleyard - whether to keep the previous point motors or go for some kind of manual control incorporating micro-switches. We haven't been entirely happy with the reliability of the PECO solenoids and accessory switches we have been using. I abandoned solenoid point motors some time ago, moving to Tortoises. To make Peco solenoids work reliably I use to run them on 24V - to prevent them burning out I used CDUs to limit the current to a short pulse. It worked fine but on 24V the noise is excessive and the movement a bit brutal. On my On30 project the points in my fiddleyard (admittedly just Peco OO electrofrogs) are thrown directly by hand and the crossing polarity is switched with a microswitch.... ....very basic, but reliable. With your rather nice pointwork you will need something mechanical to hold the point blades firmly against the stock rails. Chaz. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I am trialing the use of Minx Microdrives (for above board use at this time) and the Controllers have so many features, everything is thought of, the Actuators (PM's) are also better to calibrate than eg. Servos - stronger too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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