Brew Lane - going on a diet - An N gauge shunting puzzle on a Billy bookcase

[Black Sheep]

No, the turntables will be decorative and there purely as a way of explaining how wagons get to the loading platform in the ginnel

 

The entire layout will at some point gain perspex sides to stop small fingers of our friend's daughter from poking things that don't want to be poked so the entire layout needs to be hands free operation,

 

hence planning to use DG's

[devondynosoar118]

Very few people even model wagon turntables and they were very common! DG's are still the best 2mm coupling IMO. You can also get the BB, which works with them but is pre blackened, I think from either the NGS or 2mmSA shop, can't remember which.

[richbrummitt]

My wagon turntable doesn't work. I do have one though

[Black Sheep]

You'd taken it apart last time I saw it.

 

what diameter should an n gauge wagon turntable be?

[richbrummitt]

Long enough for the longest wheelbase wagon it was designed to turn. 

[Black Sheep]

Long enough for the longest wheelbase wagon it was designed to turn. 

Really?

 

on a serious note, diameter about the length of the wagon or diameter just longer than the wheelbase?

[Black Sheep]

In other news, wiring has been kind of completed.

 

A loco has done a full run of the track through each line of the passing loop, both of which happily isolate, the loco also made a stop off into the sidings, running into the rear siding without any issues, however, the point for access to the two sidings in front of the brewery buildings is a dead spot but the two running lines beyond it are fine.

 

I've forgotten to put a power feed to the point furthest into the yard, it's isolated from the one before it to prevent short circuits and so is un-powered!

 

I'll sort it tomorrow / later. Deciding if I need a Relco in there or not at the moment (I have a couple kicking about)- anyone any experience with them in N gauge?

 

Or would they be better e-bayed so that I can spend the money on other things?

 

 

 

 

Richard, I know you used to have a gaugemaster one, I remember it used to zap me when I was operating the fiddle yard on your bedroom layout despite your assurances that you'd turned the power to the line off!

[richbrummitt]

I wouldn't bother with a Relco or any similar item. Cleanliness and a decent controller are all that should be needed. 

[MichaelW]

If you are keeping the layout closed up inside the table, then you should be ok - it won't collect dust to be turned into dirt on the railhead.  Maybe

[Grafarman]

I used a Gaugemaster unit on my previous layout and will re-use it on the current one too; found it an absolute necessity even with an overall plastic cover; saved loads of time scraping and wiping off grease and dirt which seemed to materialise from nowhere...!

 

I did read somewhere that the old Relco ones weren't suitable for N which is why I went for the Gaugemaster, but I can't confirm that.

 

David

 

Edited for spelling!

[devondynosoar118]

I am DCC on my table and it has never needed more than a wipe with track cleaner each time I run it, about once a month. It stays pretty dust free as it is sealed inside when the lid is on. Not over oiling mechanisms and using a wheel cleaner on locos has helped too, but I am sure you knew that already!

Looking forward to seeing the turntable, the one we have on the SDR is about long enough for our smallest 0-6-0 loco to be turned and it fitted our Toad too, it came from a goods yard somewhere, there are pics on SDRonline in old news pages.

[Black Sheep]

So, wiring completed (more to be done later for the magnets for auto uncoupling)

 

I should probably be trying to get on with fitting DGs before moving on much beyond gluing track down although I could probably use permenant magnets?

[richbrummitt]

Permanent magnets will uncouple every item of stock that passes over them when the coupling is not taught unless you can move the magnet away. I have seen various ways to achieve this from a basic slide operated by hand to cranks with servos attached. The slide could allow one magnet to move between different tracks.

[Black Sheep]

yeh, I realised that after I'd asked the question.

 

The layout is wired and back in the table and the yard has been kind of shunted.

 

Think the rails need a clean and so do the loco's wheels, apologies for the video looking like it was filmed using a potato.

 

[richbrummitt]

The great thing about the lack of contrast is that you barely notice the hand!

[Black Sheep]

After weeks, or even months of inactivity (been building house, getting employed and fixing motorbikes) the second structure has been built, the bridge leading onto the main street.

 

 

I had thought about scratch building a bridge but decided, as I want to get the bridges in place and the track ballasted soon so that I can fit the MER control it might be best to just go with the scalescenes bridge.

 

Debating building the wider one but think i'll leave it as the narrow one.

Need to build a wider span one for the other end of the road, then, after balasting I can fit the road-bed and start building the town.

[richbrummitt]

Did you run out of track pins?

[Black Sheep]

holding it in place with screws and then gluing it seems to be the done thing these days.

 

Not sure what you 2mm lot do these days.

[Black Sheep]

I'm part way through the second bridge, built as the double width double span (it crosses the approach to the brewery so needs the extra width) I am thinking I might build the wider bridge for the single span and replace the first attempt as I think it's going to look aa bit narrow for what is meant to be a main-ish road.

[richbrummitt]

Glue.

 

Roads vary. Most mid size cars are now 2.2m over the door mirrors. Roads start around 6m in width but they are usually in the region of 10m wide with the addition of footpaths, perhaps a little less in housing estates and a bit more on 'the open road'.

[Black Sheep]

Think I can get away with whatever width of road I pick as this is intended to be a bit of Victorian redbrick terraced suburb, although I'm thinking of going for the wider bridge so that it looks the part of a main road on the edge of a city centre and toying with the idea of (static) trams.

 

 

In other news I've got some Dapol Ez-Shunt couplings to try out and see how they get on for being able to shunt the yard 'hands free'

[Black Sheep]

Been having a little bit of trouble with the couplings http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/71917-Dapol-easi-shunt-couplings-what-am-i-doing-wrong/

 

To keep this thread on track, I'll keep questions about them in there.

[devondynosoar118]

Good luck with those couplings, any overall shots of progress? Bridge looks good.

[Black Sheep]

no overall shots, nothing much to show, the coffee table has too much stuff piled on it and is also being used as a modelling table.

 

our house has only two rooms that are actually decorated at the moment, the lounge is one, the other is the bedroom.

The dining room that joins onto the lounge is almost empty as it's having the wallpaper stripped ready for re-plastering and then it's the turn of the modeling room which will play home to Milliedale and, in the long term, Milliedale-on-Sea.

 

As such lots of stuff piles up easily around here!

It doesn't help that my wife is unable to do as much on the house as she had been doing as she's now 20 weeks pregnant and I'm back in full time work.

 

Hopefully have the dining room done in a month or so making the lounge a bit clearer and so making it easier to get the top off the coffee table, fit the MER Control, balast and fit the raised ground level for the town.

[Black Sheep]

Still playing with the Dapol couplings and have converted a peco wagon to NEM pockets figuring that if i decide against the Dapol couplings i can clip an NEM rapido in to make it usable with other N gauge stock.

 

in other news, felt our baby kick, could even see it!

 

better think about the perspex sides!