West Kirby Town: narrow gauge is coming to town.

[Dmudriver]

I've used all the ballast I had - here's a pic of the work I've been able to do:

 

 

It's still drying out and I've got my fingers crossed that the mixture is strong enough: rather than 50/50 water and PVA I've gone 2 to 1 water to PVA (possibly even 2.5 to 1).  Time will tell!!

 

I also found some shiny bits on the rail sides that I missed yesterday so these have been touched up, too.

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[Hroth]

On 28/10/2021 at 18:43, Dmudriver said:

Sleepers and rail sides ** now painted. 

 

 

Ballasting to start tomorrow though I've not got much left.  I put an order into Geoscenics yesterday (late) so I'll have to wait for that to come: I'll be able to get some done, however.

 

Watch this space.

 

 

Rod

 

PS  **  Only the sides of the rails you can see!!!

 

 

Ok until an O gauge cleverclogs comes and stands by the fence with a mirror.... 

[47606odin]

Ballast looks good. Leave it unweathered. Makes a really contrast after a ballast job

[Simond]

I like the un-weathered ballast, but the timbers would also be “fresh” from the works, and therefore need a touch of creosote, perhaps?

 

 

[Dmudriver]

4 hours ago, Simond said:

I like the un-weathered ballast, but the timbers would also be “fresh” from the works, and therefore need a touch of creosote, perhaps?

 

 

That's a very fair point, Simon.  Mine don't look dark enough, particularly as the ballast is drying out, partly because the stain I've got isn't really dark enough and, mainly, because the dust from the ballast and some glue is now lying on top of them.

 

So I accept I'd need to stain them again if I leave the ballast unweathered.  However, that will require some patience and a steady hand to avoid also staining the ballast.  My patience is pretty good, but the steady hand not so much so!!!

 

I am minded, at the moment, to go for a reasonably light weathering but I'll make a definite decision once the ballasting is complete.

 

The discussion has made me look at the new points in the stabling point near the fuelling point.  The sleepers there look too pale for new ones so I can see some black weathering being applied there!!

 

More food for thought!!

 

 

Rod

[Regularity]

3 hours ago, Dmudriver said:

So I accept I'd need to stain them again if I leave the ballast unweathered.  However, that will require some patience and a steady hand to avoid also staining the ballast.

The change in colour of the ballast might be dramatic, rather then blended gradually. Assuming new ballast was used.

[Dmudriver]

This is now what the driver sees as he(/she?) approaches the Down Inner Home signal.

 

 

Apologies for the slight blurriness - it was a bit cold in the shed (even with a heater on) and I had difficulty holding the camera still!!

 

So we're now ready for operations.  Well, once the weather eases off a bit and I can get the covers off to clean the outside tracks, we are.  I've "lost" one train already out there on the dirty track so I don't fancy losing any more yet!!

 

Over the weekend I also added the frogs of the other 3 points in the sidings to the big frog juicer but no pic as it's just red or green LEDs and it was like that before I fitted them anyway.  Now there are 5 that change colour when a train goes over them but it happens so fast that I miss it unless I'm looking closely!!

 

The new ballast order has been processed so it is now, I assume, somewhere in the Royal Mail network.  I just hope it's a little bit warmer when it does arrive and I start laying the missing ballast.

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

 

PS   I've got the repaired Down Inner Home signal back from Jon Fitness but I'm not fitting it until I've done all the ballasting and (probable) spraying just in case it gets damaged again!!

[bluestag]

On 26/10/2021 at 11:48, Dmudriver said:

The electrics are finished!!  I've added the bus bar wires to the 2-pot frog juicer and fitted and wired up the 6-potter.  ("Pots" are my own expression as I'm not sure what the correct term is!!).  Pics here:

 

 

 

I've wired in the 2 hand operated points in the stabling point.  The other 3 points will be added to the frog juicer later as they are working OK at the moment, fed from the Tortoise motors.  Looking at the pic it's a bit cockeyed but you can't notice that from the normal operating position!

 

Finally, I've bonded the switch blades on both points to the relevant stock rails.  Pics here:

 

 

 

 

 

PS  Have had a couple of days of aircraft related activities, just to mix things up a bit.  Son and grandson took me to the Air Museum at Duxford (the final part of my significant birthday celebrations!) and, after an overnight stay in Thetford, plane spotting at Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Coningsby.  2 long but very enjoyable days - and completely different from railway modelling!!  And no, I'm not going to add an airfield to the layout!!

I used to live on Lakenheath....late 60's.

[Dmudriver]

In between showers I've managed to get some things done today.  First, I was able to get the outside covers off and clean the track - and clear out a few spiders too!!  I was really pleased that under the covers everything is nice and dry (well, so far!!)   The removable plywood covers that fit on the front are looking a bit worse for their age and will need replacing next year but should, all being well, last the winter (my fingers are tightly crossed!!)

 

I ran a couple of DMUs around - not everything as I've still got stock in the house and I've not brought them back out yet.  Here's 3 pics of the 115.  First, in the fiddle yard ready to set off to the station:

 

 

Then stopped at the Stop board outside the station:

 

 

And finally, safely arrived in platform 2:

 

 

It was nice to actually get something running at long last!!  Now I've some maintenance to do: for some reason, 2 vehicles on the 3-car 108 are tilting over on points which curve in the opposite direction to the big curve on the main lines.  I suspect it's the Kadee couplings but it could be the through wiring for sound and lights in the rear power car, the corridor connections catching or the bogies might not be swivelling properly.   I'll report back when I have an answer.

 

All for now.

 

 

Rod

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Dmudriver said:

The removable plywood covers that fit on the front are looking a bit worse for their age and will need replacing next year but should, all being well, last the winter (my fingers are tightly crossed!!)

 

Given the way the weather seems to be trending, it might be a good idea to slop on a coat of creosote-type stuff during a dry period to encourage the covers to stay "waterpoof" until they get replaced!

 

Nice to see that the rail-replacement bus has been sent back to its depot... 

 

[Dmudriver]

17 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Given the way the weather seems to be trending, it might be a good idea to slop on a coat of creosote-type stuff during a dry period to encourage the covers to stay "waterpoof" until they get replaced!

 

 

That's a good thought - I'll see what I've got in store (if anything).

 

[Dmudriver]

The problem with the 108 turned out to be one of the Kadee couplings being a bit stiff and not moving sideways too easily:  I've put a thin film of thin oil on it.   Added to that, the screws on the bogies of all the vehicles had worked loose somewhat, allowing the bodies to rock very easily.  They are all now tightened up and the vehicles are nice and stable as they ride over the pointwork.

 

Also, the ballast on the new crossover has now dried out and the sleepers are not that dark - as I suspect they would be if they were new even with ballast dust on them.  As I've said before, I'll leave a decision until all the ballasting is finished but I'm leaning even more towards fairly hard weathering.  Pic below:

 

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

The new ballast arrived today so I've laid what needs to be done.  Not done the gluing yet - just fancied a rest tonight!!  It's on the agenda for tomorrow. 

 

Here's what it looks like so far:

 

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

I've glued the remainder of the ballast, so now I'm waiting for the Railmatch Sleeper Grime aerosols I've ordered from Howes.

 

It's not been the best drying weather recently so I've had a heater on in the shed to speed the process up.  It has worked!

 

The picture isn't that much different from previous ones, except that the ballast now looks a bit darker!!

 

 

I think if I do any more ballasting in future, I'll wash the ballast first as this stuff is rather dusty: it leaves the sleepers looking rather pale and it's difficult to get off once the gluing is done.

 

I've pretty much decided that the crossover will be reasonably heavily weathered: maybe not quite as heavily as the track on each side - just to show it's new - but certainly to show the track was relaid some time ago.

 

So, once again, watch this space!!  More soon.

 

 

Rod

[47606odin]

I personally think it looks great as it is. Natural with variation on the sleepers from recently being laid. The dust you mention is also dust in the real world

 

perhaps a wash on the sleepers and down the 4ft but I’d leave it as that, variation is good and unfortunately I couldn’t do that on my depot layout as it was oily crushed clinker and ash everywhere as ballast and ground cover

[Dmudriver]

On 09/11/2021 at 05:45, 47606odin said:

I personally think it looks great as it is. Natural with variation on the sleepers from recently being laid. The dust you mention is also dust in the real world

 

perhaps a wash on the sleepers and down the 4ft but I’d leave it as that, variation is good and unfortunately I couldn’t do that on my depot layout as it was oily crushed clinker and ash everywhere as ballast and ground cover

 

Hi all.  Having given 476odin's comments some thought and, after seeing some pictures of newly laid track in Llangollen station, I've decided to leave the newly laid track and ballast as it is.  Those pictures in Llan show differing shades to the ballast and dust on the concrete sleepers.

 

So now there's little excuse for not doing a video EXCEPT 1) the video on my camera has stopped working for some reason I can't fathom - whether it's repairable or not I don't know but as I now take pictures on my mobile phone most of the time, I'm not sure it would be worth it.  I could do the video on my phone EXCEPT 2) I'm getting a new phone on Wednesday with a better camera so I'll wait 'til I've got that up and running.

 

Also I think it would be wiser to finish the fence on the far side of the tracks before I put the signal back in, just to avoid the possibility of it getting damaged again.  That will also allow me to film operations with the Stop board in use.

 

I've not been on here for a while as life has got in the way recently so these pics are a reminder of how the tracks look:

 

 

 

And I've just seen the blue feed wire in the foreground of the 2nd pic!!  Doh!!  It's not painted as I can't see it from the normal operating position!  However, if I'm going to do a cab view video (plans are afoot) I'd better make sure this and any others aren't so obvious!!

 

It's a bit unfortunate there are some nail heads visible but I need them 1) to hold the point in position when the Tortoise throws the blades as I've found it's strong enough to move them, 2) to hold the flexi track in position and 3) to maintain the level here and there.   The set ballast should now do 2) but I'm not convinced it would hold it for 1) and 3).

 

So that's all for now.  More soon.

 

 

Rod

[Simond]

Rod,

 

at risk of granny & eggs, have you adjusted the fulcrum thingy on the tortoise as you can soften the push a bit, if it’s trying to move the whole point?

 

hth

Simon

[Dmudriver]

23 hours ago, Simond said:

Rod,

 

at risk of granny & eggs, have you adjusted the fulcrum thingy on the tortoise as you can soften the push a bit, if it’s trying to move the whole point?

 

hth

Simon

Hi Simon.

 

Yes, I have tried that - to no avail!  I think the cause is the thickness of the operating wire from the Tortoise: when I built the C&L point kits I used JLTRT tie bars - 2 of them to be precise - and the joints to the blades do not swivel like the pins in the Greenwood kits (and there's only one tie bar).  The result was that they were pretty hard to move so I had to strengthen the operating wire.

 

Now that the blades move so much easier, I should really change the wires but I know I would find it physically impossible to do - varifocal glasses looking upwards, shaky hands, having to thread the wire through a hole in the tie bar, etc.  I could take the Tortoises off but I'd still have the same problems!! 

 

I think the answer is to make the nail heads less obvious!!

 

 

Rod

[Hal Nail]

7 hours ago, Dmudriver said:

varifocal glasses looking upwards, shaky hands

 

I think the answer is to make the nail heads less obvious!!

I suppose that's one solution but three beers and a handstand could sort the shaky hands and angle of view - then get someone else to thread the wire. Simple!

Edited December 1, 2021 by Hal Nail

[Simond]

8 hours ago, Dmudriver said:

Hi Simon.

 

Yes, I have tried that - to no avail!  I think the cause is the thickness of the operating wire from the Tortoise: when I built the C&L point kits I used JLTRT tie bars - 2 of them to be precise - and the joints to the blades do not swivel like the pins in the Greenwood kits (and there's only one tie bar).  The result was that they were pretty hard to move so I had to strengthen the operating wire.

 

Now that the blades move so much easier, I should really change the wires but I know I would find it physically impossible to do - varifocal glasses looking upwards, shaky hands, having to thread the wire through a hole in the tie bar, etc.  I could take the Tortoises off but I'd still have the same problems!! 

 

I think the answer is to make the nail heads less obvious!!

 

 

Rod

 

hi Rod,

 

what you’ve done won’t hurt the motor (it stalls, wherever it stops) but using a thicker wire will, perhaps, increase the load on the rail fixings and the point blade attachments/pivots at the tie bar, witness the need to nail it down.

 

I guess there are two approaches to address this, you could find a way to change the wire (and I can imagine how challenging that could be, I’ve done a few) or possibly put a resistor in series with the motor.  This will limit the current, therefore the torque & force.  Some experimentation may be required, and there may not be a good value that reduces the force, whilst still allowing the motor to operate.

 

or you could leave it alone & hope for the best.

 

I’ll try to suggest a resistor value.  Need to look at a Tortoise instruction sheet first!

 

atb

Simon

[Dmudriver]

On 01/12/2021 at 07:22, Simond said:

This will limit the current, therefore the torque & force

 

Or reduce the operating voltage, Simon?  I'll have to check what voltage they're operating on now. I suspect it may be 6 but I can't remember as it's that long ago that I set them up!!!

 

 

Rod

[Simond]

Rod, yes, that will also work, but you don’t want to have a specific power supply for these points, so my thought was that a resistor would reduce the force these motors deliver, whilst not affecting the others on the same supply.

as I had a minute, I looked up the instructions

 

http://www.circuitron.com/index_files/ins/800-6000ins.pdf

 

there is a scheme that I’d forgotten, a pair of back-to-back LEDs will drop the voltage to the motor.  I suggest you try that and see if it still gets full throw.  If it does, it will have reduced the voltage, hence current, hence stall force, so probably better for your track.

 

if you already have the LEDs, add another pair!

 

Atb

Simon

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Simond
Spelling, and missing words…

[gismorail]

Hi Rod

I think a thinner wire will be the way to go as it will give more flexibility. I say this as I have used the megacontrol system with servo’s on my 7mm layout in the past and it reduces the resistance that you are having with a thicker wire.

[Dmudriver]

There's another new kid on the block!!   This one:

 

 

 

It's an Easybuild Class 122, with an ABC Gears bogie and ESU sound chip with SWD sound file.  He (she?) is on loan with an option to buy.  It does run rather nicely but I've yet to involve it in a full operating session - what with the weather and Christmas preparations!!

 

Also back home is my blue/grey 2-car Class 108 which, now that it's got 4 driving wheels of the same diameter, runs very nicely.  It's also had the paintwork touched up (thanks, Dave!!) - it was showing it's age after many years of use - and not all on my layout.  

 

My new phone camera seems quite good so I'll try and do a video soon - tho' it's very likely to be after Christmas.

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[pwr]

Rod

 

Looks a well finished model.

 

I don't  want to put you off but that front does not look right and the roof looks too tall.  Depends on the price of course but it would be interesting to see a photo of your 131 and 122 side by side.

 

Paul R