West Kirby Town: narrow gauge is coming to town.

[Simond]

Rod

 

One thought, maybe a bit late, but if you were to fix a lid under the baseboard, with a suitable hole through it for the "gubbins" you could then fit and easily remove the pot...

 

HTH

Simon

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

Part 2 for today.  In the last video, the 5-car left the station.  The next sequence shows it arriving as the Thumper leaves, then following splitting, the 3-car going to the siding, prior to the 115 arriving and finally the 2-car leaving.   This should have been all in one video but I had a terrible time making it - what with units going in the wrong direction, creating short circuits going over points I hadn't reset,  the 115 coming wrong line into the station as I hadn't set the fiddle yard points correctly and, finally, the 2-car derailing on the station throat which it's never done before (nor has anything else!!!), !  Oh, the joys of video production!!

 

So, the above sequence is in the next 3 videos

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy them.  Not a loco-hauled train insight!!!

 

More soon.

 

Rod

[3 link]

That just goes to prove that us men cannot multi- task.

 

Martyn.

[two tone green]

Great videos, fantastic layout and lovely signal bounce.

[Jon Fitness]

Hi Rod. Nice to see the final signals planted!. It may be worth drilling a little drain hole in each pot to allow condensation out. In reality, the servos are generall robust enough to live outside under a board. I had some signals on the old garden railway that lived out in all weathers and are still in use on the new layout.

Will the area that those 2 signals are in be scenic or left plain? You could probably still get away with having all the wiring and driver boards hidden beneath the layout without them suffering from the weather and still be able to "pretty up" the landscape.

Cheers

Jon F.

[pwr]

Superb - I love this layout

 

Paul R

[Dmudriver]

Hi Two Tone

 

"looking forward to seeing how you mount the servo's"    I assume by this comment about the servos, you meant fitting them to the signals?  If so, they are already fitted - they were built for me by Jon Fitness of this parish - see his thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11497-jon-fitness-average-7mm-signals-workbench/page__fromsearch__1

 

The DMU sound is the original SWD one - on Loksound XL v3.5 chips (one chip per unit).

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

Great videos, fantastic layout and lovely signal bounce.

The bounce is programmed into the GF Controls unit - you can choose bounce or no-bounce!!

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

Hi Rod. Nice to see the final signals planted!. It may be worth drilling a little drain hole in each pot to allow condensation out. In reality, the servos are generall robust enough to live outside under a board. I had some signals on the old garden railway that lived out in all weathers and are still in use on the new layout.

Will the area that those 2 signals are in be scenic or left plain? You could probably still get away with having all the wiring and driver boards hidden beneath the layout without them suffering from the weather and still be able to "pretty up" the landscape.

Cheers

Jon F.

Hi Jon.

 

Yes, the (long term!) plan is to scenic this area - up to the current white scenic break. The wiring will be hidden behind the scenery.   I appreciate your comments about the servos out of doors but I made the decision to keep the wiring above board following the experience on my previous layout.  On that I had Peco motors, attached to the point bases so I had to cut holes in the board for them.  Over time they got sticky due to moisture so I used WD40 to loosen them up but that then attracted dirt - basically dust blown by the wind I think.  In addition, spiders seemed to find the wiring useful for attaching webs to, and other insects found uses for it, too.  It made repairs,etc, a bit of a bind so I determined this time I'd keep it all above board and dry.  Admittedly there's a difference between the servos and Peco motorsbut the decision was made!!!

 

Rod

Edited August 9, 2014 by Dmudriver

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

Further work on the Outer signals done today.  I've fitted cork under the bases and fettled the holes in the board so that the wires come out from underneath without disturbing the lie of the signals..

 

3 photos - the first in the Up direction:

 

 

The second in the Down direction.  It looks as though the Down signal isn't properly at right angles to the track.  I'll check that when I get the covers off again:

 

 

And finally, showing how the wires from the Down signal are fed under the tracks to where the control unit will be.  The connector for the extension lead for the operating system took up the full width betwen 2 sleepers, so I cut another channel for the wiring for the lights - which I also extended to reach the back wall.  All this wiring will eventually be covered by ballast.:

 

 

The sgnals are now in place and left set up on the layout.  The wires are currently held down by some masking tape to avoid affecting any running.  When I'll be able to do the wiring I'm not sure as the bad weather is due to arrive in this part of the world tonight.  So, watch this space.

 

More soon.

 

Rod

[bobster]

Great videos Rod, Nice sounds on those DMUs.

 

Cheers, Bob.

[two tone green]

Thanks Rod, will have a read of the link and about GF Controls.

[leopardml2341]

That just goes to prove that us men cannot multi- task.

 

Martyn.

When SWMBO said that to me, I replied with:

 

"oh yes we can, it's just that we choose to do one job properly"

 

I instinctively cowered...............

[3 link]

When SWMBO said that to me, I replied with:

 

"oh yes we can, it's just that we choose to do one job properly"

 

I instinctively cowered...............

 

Brave man.... .

 

Martyn.

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

With the weather being bad the last couple of days, I've not been able to wire the new signals yet so I thought I'd do some inside work.

 

I saw a picture of a metal walkway, with a non-slip surface, in an EMU stabling point.  It was only the same height as the top of the rails so I thought I could do that in tarmac or asphalt.  I couldn't find any tarmac material, so I bought some Woodland Scenics Fine Cinders ballast which is at least black!  To fill up the space between the cork and the railtop I thought I'd use up the C&L ground cork ballast that I bought ages ago, on the basis it might help to deaden the sound.  I don't know if it does or not, because I tried it on a bit of a test track and it's much too coarse and so I didn't use it on the layout.

 

I thought I'd lay it between the roads in the stabling point and then cover/fill up with the Fine Cinders.  It was not one of my better ideas!!  Or maybe it was that I tried to level it off before the glue had dried hard, but when I came to lay and then smooth the cinders, pieces of cork kept coming up.  I've had to spend a few hours picking up bits of cork with tweezers!!  I've tried spraying the cinders that are down and the spray leaves no marks provided it's a very fine spray and there are no water droplets in it - if there are, they leave little craters!!!  Glueing should be OK if I dribble the glue on slowly and gently.

 

Here are 3 pics of where I've got to so far:

 

The first is a general view from the headshunt end.  The craters and skid marks are where I've picked out bits of cork and where the ruler I'm using to level the cinders has dragged a piece of cork.

 

 

The second is a closer view.  You can see the coarseness of the cork ballast.:

 

 

The third is the view from the bufferstops.  I'll aim to get the surface level alongside the 2 tracks where staff will walk but behind the bufferstop it can be a bit rougher.  Again, craters and skid marks are evident - testament to my impatience, I'm afraid!!   Mind you, I could say it's the local kids who've got in and messed about on the tarmac before it's set!!!!

 

 

More soon.  Hopefully it won't take too long now.  Then I think it's a single sided fuelling point and a portacabin for train crew.  Both to be sited alongside the pointwork and behind the signal lever frame.  (In a position where it's not easy to catch them when I'm coupling up at the platform).

 

Rod

 

PS    I've not been able to get onto RMweb for a day or so as, for some reason, BT Parental Control decided to block my access to the site - and I don't even have Parental Control installed on my puter!!  Has anyone else had this?  I got it sorted through BT Technical Help.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Dmudriver

[Dmudriver]

HI all.

 

I've finished the tarmacing inbetween the roads of the DMU stabling point.  Here's a general picture of the effect:

 

 

It looks much better than it did in my previous post!!  I laid and levelled all the cinders, then picked out the big pieces of cork with tweezers - very tedious but it worked.  I then topped up the holes with more cinders.  Once level, I sprayed it with water, as I said previously, making sure the fine spray went over it, not any big droplets.  Then I dribbled dilute PVA, with some washing up liquid, onto it and left it to dry.  Even then, there were bits of cork painfully obvious so having done some paint tests, I settled on diluted Railmatch Weathered Black as the best match to the tarmac and painted every bit of cork that I could see.  I'm really pleased with the result.  This is a close-up of the tarmac:

 

 

Finally, a pic of how it looks with some DMUs at home.  It will be much easier for train crew and cleaners to get into the vehicles now as well as easier walking than on ballast, ash, mud, or a mixture of all 3!!

 

 

This has made me think that this may be the answer to the platform surface.  I'll do a trial on a short stretch of the surface and see what the result is like.  First, though I need a walkway across the tracks to get to the paths - tomorrow's job, I think.

 

More soon.

 

Rod

[bobster]

Very nice Rod - That looks great, would be suitable for the platform + similar areas.

 

Cheers, Bob.

[81A Oldoak]

The tarmac looks very effective and suggests that  sticky feel of newly laid material.

[DanielB]

That tarmac is outstanding, it looks exactly like the real thing. Well done!

[Simond]

Rod

 

Given that it looks great, it's a good solution, but you had all sorts of problems with getting to that point.

 

Do you have more to do, and how would / will you do more of it?

 

Let the cork dry hard before doing the cinders? Other ideas?

 

Best

Simon

[Dmudriver]

Rod

 

Given that it looks great, it's a good solution, but you had all sorts of problems with getting to that point.

 

Do you have more to do, and how would / will you do more of it?

 

Let the cork dry hard before doing the cinders? Other ideas?

 

Best

Simon

Hi Simon.

 

I've the platform to experiment with but I won't be using any sort of underfill for that - the cinders will go straight onto the base.

 

With hindsight what I should have done is use the cork but not try to get it to the level of the railheads.  Then not be so impatient and let it dry thoroughly - again making sure no cork protruded above the rails.  Once the cinders were down, I'd have looked for a better spray - one that didn't shoot out drops of water at times!!**

 

If I hadn't had the cork already, I'd have used coarser granite ballast as the underfill.  

 

This was an interesting exercise - I'd not done anything like it before - and I've learned a lot.  I hope others have, too, by seeing what I've done.

 

Rod

 

**    There's a bit more to come yet!!!!

[Dmudriver]

As with other things in life, what looks good the evening before in artificial light doesn't look quite as good by the cold light of day next morning!!  These 2 pics show what greeted me when I went in the shed the morning after the last pics:

 

 

 

Not quite a disaster - the situation was pretty easily retrieved - but enough to turn the air a bit blue!!!  I just filled up the craters (water droplets) and the scratches (being impatient again!!) and reglued them then, this time, left it all until it was dry.  It's much better now!!

 

I've done the walkways across the tracks.  Pic here:

 

 

Slightly annoyed with myself that they're different lengths, but they'll do the job.

 

As it happens, I've found a photo of the shed at Birkenhead Central with what looks like a tarmac floor, so I think it is very feasible that outside sidings could have been done that way.  The link is here:

 

 http://railphotoprints.zenfolio.com/p444385336/h6D619AFB#h6d619afb

 

I thought at first the walkways were timber, but they're actually the timbers across the pits.  No, I'm not doing outside pit roads!!

 

Finally, I couldn't resist putting this picture on:

 

 

It shows virtually all my stock in the station area ready for an operating session.  The Mark 1 and parcels rakes both have a loco at the far end and will be reversed into the fiddle yard.  As will the 3-car 108 which has the observation saloon attached to it.  The 37 and the 50 (far end, back siding) will follow and then the first move will  be the 115 into platform 1.

 

More soon.

 

Rod

 

Edit:  I've just looked at the photo in the link a bit more closely and the sign above the units say "Danger Overhead LIve Rail".  Obviously the third rail couldn't be at ground level in a shed but how did the overhead one work?  I assumed the units would be shunted in by a diesel.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Dmudriver

[Simond]

Rod

 

I never went in the sheds at B'head, but I did do some work on the steerable bogie project for LUL. I was a weekly visitor to Golders Green depot, to inspect my company's disc brakes.

 

They had a high level live rail with dangly plugs on wires, so you could connect up and move units without the third & fourth rails. I think, but am not sure (we are talking 1987) that the wires were attached to a bogie that ran along the overhead rails.

 

I do recall that when plugged in, the collector shoes were reported to be live. As I was in the pit under the train as it was nudged fore and aft to do my inspection, I kept my head well away from them!

 

Best

Simon

[Dmudriver]

Thanks for that, Simon.  That does explain it.  Something else I've learned today!!!

 

Rod

[Simond]

Rod

 

This appears to be the thing - but I can't see if it's fixed or runs on a trolley

 

http://www.tubeprune.com/ohl%20general%2073%20TS.jpg

 

But reading on...

 

http://www.tubeprune.com/tractioncurr.html#inDepots

 

 

Best

Simon

Edited August 20, 2014 by Simond