RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 8, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 8, 2015 Bit more ballasting done Had to fill some of the voids so the ballast had somewhere to sit, just used some offcuts if card glued to the wall and riser Made my way up the inclines And once the offcuts were securly glued i went round the bend (literally) and upto the pointwork Thats as far as im going with the ballast for now as thats the only bit of the layout that is completly plain line, the next bit i'll do is the yard but first up i need to wire up the point motors and add detailing like the cable troughing etc The other thing i did was paint up the rest of the rail sides on the outer incline A lot more of that to do on the layout so i'll do a little section at a time as its so tedious! 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Bridge looks fine now Jim. Just might want to put some weight restriction signs up. Plus you wouldnt want me and you stood in the middle trainspotting. HaHa! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 9, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 9, 2015 Yeah, hopefully im gonna make the bridge look a bit more substantial before i fix it in place! Bit more done earlier, nothing spectacular though, painted the rest of the rail sides on the mainline so thats all done now on that side of the layout Then i filled the void over the tracks, ive used a piece of foam board which is just the right thickness, im going to lay the roadway/carpark/bus stop area (whatever it becomes) above it on card attached the foamboard so if i need to get into the tunnel if i have a derailment, track cleaning etc i can just lift out the piece and reach in I do have cut aways below the high level section so i can reach up anyway but i think an extra option of reaching in would be useful! The girder is glued to the foamboard so removes when you lift out the white section It certainly improves the look from track level You can also see where i've had a go at painting the railsides in the wooden sleeper area, im gonna need a steady hand to do that without getting any paint on the sleepers! 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Looking good as always Jim!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Looking good jim David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 10, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 10, 2015 Had a look at the bridge again this evening, sorted out the centre stantion Made a proper centre piece out of plasticard Which looks much better Clad it in stone card Then put some sides on it, made out of foamboard Ill have to add copings to it at some point Looks so much better, a far more substancial structure, the only downside is it blocks the view of the road tunnel into the yard, you can still get a car or van through the gap but a wagon wouldnt have the turning circle! 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted July 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 12, 2015 Still looks very good to me. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Your bridge looks great now jim,bet your pleased with that!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 13, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 13, 2015 Your bridge looks great now jim,bet your pleased with that!! Yes much better and really pleased with it Big job broke out tonight, something ive been umming and ahing about doing but finally took the plunge, if i didnt do it now i'd be stuck when i carry on with the scenics First part was to clear the high level station area Then It was to remove it.... So i could get to the hidden pointwork that ive not been overly happy about, i have a scissor crossing in stock i was thinking of putting in the station area but decided to use it 'below deck' as it were It is a code 83 crossing which i was told was wired for DCC so before i wire it properly i decided to see if it worked, i have temporarily joined it to the code 75 track using fishplates from the lengths of 'hachette' track that came with the coach in issue one, they are quite good as they are crimpable, i may well use them on the finished set up! So i wired it in with metal fishplates on all joints at the live end and ran a loco over the points, once it passed over the 1/2 way point it passed over an insulated joint and obviously stopped so i ran a wire from the live end to power up the insulated end and and low and behold it moved off again, so yes, wired up for DCC and wiring it in with metal fishplates at both ends it does indeed work nicely so nice and simple to install I'll have to drill 2 more point motor holes and replace the seep motors with the latching type as the points are unsprung, its a shame the low power peco motors don't latch as they work lovely in pairs (co-acting) and i could save a couple of outputs on the accessory decoder and set a route with one button This should be the final position of the points, i will then have to work out how to reattach the points indicator i made 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Looking very good indeed, it'll really look the part when the scenics go in! The levels are starting to look good now as well instead of wooden planks at different heights with track on! Keep up the great work, Jack. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 16, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2015 got the crossover fitted, just need to do the point motors and its sorted had to drill a few more holes for the point motors and take a bit of the side bracing away so i can mount them as the baton was in the way, its not had too much removed so is still strong and in place, i used the fishplates from the hachette track as they had a crimp in them already so fitted the code 83 perfectly and i used the cripmed end to attach to the code 75, the rail top is perfectly level, no step between the 75 and 83 track i have tested it with a Hornby 56 pulling a couple of coaches doing all possible moves and it works lovely, no shorts, ran across at quite a slow speed too without issue i can't work out if i can get the points indicator to work again in its current form, hopefully i can adapt it to suit but im struggling with it at the mo as there are more isolated sections on the scissor than the 4 points, so i cant get it to light up correctly for a diverging route the points motors are all wired up however im having trouble with the ESU accessory decoder, theyre just isnt enough ooomph to throw the points motor even when loose, it may be one i've tinkered with in the past and made a mess of the settings, its making the motors click but thats it so at least i know its got power if very little, i dont think its too far from the power supply, its about 25ft away from it, im using 2 core mains cable to supply it from a dedicated maplin regulated supply, the accessory decoder futher away (30ft from the supply) works better than this one so i think it may need tinkering with to up the 'kick' or resetting 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 19, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 19, 2015 Had a look at the accessory decoder earlier, i cant for the life if me get it to throw the seep motors, the decoders either side of it throw their seep motors fine but this position just wont do it, even changing the accessory decoder completly doesnt cure it! During problem solving I tried a peco low voltage pm-10 which the decoder threw without issue so i can rule out a power supply problem however they are not latching motors so i cant use them on the scissor crossing In the end after doing a bit of reading up on the web i went to trident trains and have invested in an 8 way dcc supplies cobolt CDU accessory decoder which im hoping will cure the problem it also claims to be able to throw 2 motors at once so if it does work then i can save an output and have the relevent pairs of point motors co-acting on the scissor crossing as opposed to they way they were set up as 4 individual points I'll report back tomorrow how i get on as i have a day off work (kind of!) to have a play Im also thinking of utilising some of the removed points in the station area by remodelling it slightly when i put it back in place Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
meurglys3 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Hi Jim Is it the ads8fx? I have one of those and have been wiring (Peco) point motors from it (with a lot of trial and error).My layout is DC but I can confirm each output throw two motors simultaneously. Just make sure you get the wires the right way round!I ran both sets of wires from the points through a terminal block into the "Solenoid" output on the board, then to the switch. I found that if I ran the wires from one point motor to the next then to the board, there was a delay before the points threw, and it sometimes took several attempts. You only need one power input from your controller by the way, although there are four inputs on the ads8fx. One thing I haven't been able to do is solder led wirings to the pads underneath, just too fiddly for my skill level. And there's already enough wires to contend with. I used single strand wire sold in packs from Tandy, spent ages braiding it, but I couldn't find suitable 3-core stuff anywhere. It seems OK otherwise though, you would probably pay that just for the onboard CDUs. Let us know how you get on! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 21, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Wired up the dcc concepts assessory decoder this evening and all i can say is wow! Its an 8 way unit with CDUs on each individual decoder output First up you dont need a separate power supply, it just runs off the track bus which is a bonus Programming it is a doddle, flick a switch on the decoder you want to program, activate the address on the handset and flick the switch back, job done So i tried it with the seep latching point motor that the esu decoder wouldnt throw and 'click' threw first time with a resounding click, then the big test will it throw 2 at once, wired up 2 together and....'click'....yet another resounding click so bingo problem solved The next job was to fit the point motors, i hit a slight snag but worked round it, as the points are adjacent to each other there wasn't enough room to fit them side by side so i had to take a corner off each motor So when they were fitted under the board they slotted together Once i cut the motor pins down i tested the points in all directions with the Hornby 56 which ran beautifully over them, it does spark going from the down to the up but it doesnt short out, i could probably wire the frog polarity switches in on the decoder output but i cant see the need really I then had a look at the touchcab app on the phone to change the points settings as i jo longer needed 4 separate points in the memory (only 2 needed now as they co-act instead of being individual outputs) I found a point diagram on the list called 'double crossover 4 way' which looked about right so i used that one, however this is where things got really interesting! The '4 way' obviously means 4 points however i didnt realise it meant it would throw 4 points together if required and low and behold the assessory decoder did just that without issue, all 4 points thrown together, compare that to yesterday where the ESU couldnt throw one! This is the touchcab display..... Route set normal Single pair of points thrown The other single pair of points thrown Both pairs together Very impressed indeed, to top it all i still have 6 outputs left on the decoder so im going to remove the other ESU on that side of the layout and extend the wires from the existing points to the new decoder, there are a couple of points running through that decoder that could also be co-acting and there are three point motors in the depot area ive yet to wire in to any decoder so that will take care of all the outputs on that decoder at least A few weeks back I was thinking about what i'll do with the yard side of the layout regards the points motors as i was getting frustrated with the seep motors not throwing correctly but i recon when i can afford it i'll get another dcc concepts 8 way decoder and stick with the seeps i'd already bought months back now i know i can get them to work, i was going to replace them with peco low output motors which i know work well with the ESU decoders but doing that would be around about the same cost as buying another dcc concepts unit (and i'd lose money on the seep motors) I will use a couple of the ESU units to power some colour light signals i have in stock when i get round to fitting them up Edited July 21, 2015 by big jim 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snofi Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Yeah, am using the DCC AD stuff. Love them for exactly the simplicity you highlight above. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 22, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 22, 2015 Just get on with it Jim.........you know that within a year that parts of it will be ripped up, cos you have had a new idea for this part or that part........I love that part of railway modelling, it doesnt have to forever, if you get bored with parts of the layout...change it.......you know that I do. well bob you were right, took 2 years though!! while the top level is loose i thought i'd have a look at re-arranging the station area to get a bit more operational interest, it will be nice and easy to fit any new point motors to that section before i refit it ive moved the track round a bit and gained a bay platform, (where the 150 is sat) i also ripped up some of the pointwork at fuel farm end, the points at the bottom are a new addition into the bay, the main through line is the diverging line to the right of those points moving the rear line over by a few cm has left me enough room to move the island platform road back a bit so the platform is not too narrow, i have however lost a platform road but its not an issue this is the fun bit, at the fuel farm end i've left the main points in situ but added a diamond crossover and set of points to set back into the facility i was thinking of refitting the Y point within the plant but i came up with this instead.... another set of points on the other mainline road so the 2 roads are totally separate, shunting into the plant will involve splitting the train and doing 2 shunts across the mainline now this is where i need your opinion, the more i looked at it the more i thought the Bachmann TMD building would look good over that side of the layout and move the fuel plant over to where i planned to fit the Bachmann shed, what do we think? i'm liking that set up personally, i could still fit the storage tanks on the shed side of the layout and have the pipes disappearing "underground" or even an overhead rig over the mainline maybe or even squeeze them between the unloader and mainline, or a 3rd option is move the unloading sidings closer to the mainline and fit the tanks on the base board edge side 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DRS Crewe On A Mission Posted July 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 22, 2015 Great work Jim! I really like the new set up too. The new points which have been fitted to the corner of the layout add a lot more interest and you would expect to see a lot of points near a TMD building or storage sidings for wagons so it adds a lot of realism. Regarding the TMD and two storage sidings I like the look of the TMD in the corner but I think it comes too close to the mainline. Maybe you could set the building back a bit more if there is room or you could see what it looks like where the two wagon storage sidings are. Keep up the good work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 22, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 22, 2015 it will go futher back but i've put a fuelling plant behind it just outside the shed, i will move it back tomorrow and put the fueller at the front, see how it looks 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DRS Crewe On A Mission Posted July 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 22, 2015 Yes I think that will look good. On my old layout I had the fuel point at the front of the shed/TMD and I think it looks effective because it sets the TMD back further and you can park/store locos next to the fuelling point (in front of the shed) and inside the shed itself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 More top work Jim... thanks neil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I like the loco works building at the back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 23, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 23, 2015 im liking it at the back too but as 'DRS crewe' says move it back a bit the advantage of it being over the back is there is less chance of damage to the shed or a loco dropping to the floor, also i can use my sentinal shunter to move the wagons around as it would be in a private yard as such i may however have to slightly re-model the yard to allow the tank train to arrive and depart without entering the shed building itself 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 23, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 23, 2015 why am i looking at this picture and seeing the tracks heading off outside through a trap door and into the garden? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony566 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Because you know it makes sense :sungum: 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Harvey Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 why am i looking at this picture and seeing the tracks heading off outside through a trap door and into the garden? Hi Jim Looking good. Would a single slip rather than a full crossing be more practical coming from the shed? Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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