railwayrod Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Ah! Some progress while I have been away. Rod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Not a lot of progress, Rod, but now I've got that short sorted I have finished cutting out and assembling the prellbock (buffer stop) for the front siding. I don't have any suitable timber strip so I have made a new buffer beam using a couple of thin plywood sleepers glued together and cut to length. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 I am now working on the third PECO point which is the one off the rear loop into the goods yard. I have removed some of the webbing under the rails so I can curve it slightly. This will allow me to move the point slightly to the right and should, hopefully, improve the flow of this section of track. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 The point has now been temporarily pinned in position so I can mark out the position for the slot under the tie-bar. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 The point is now pinned down and just needs a microswitch to be wired up and stuck in place under the baseboard. Having successfully curved this point I have now modified the final point into a 'Y'. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 29, 2017 Author Share Posted April 29, 2017 I now have the final station point pinned down along with the short rear siding in the yard. There will eventually be an end-loading ramp on the end of this siding. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 I now have the final siding laid! I still have to make up another buffer stop and complete the wiring along with fitting the push rod for the last point and a couple of microswitches but the basic trackwork for the station is now all down!! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 I now have the final siding laid! I still have to make up another buffer stop and complete the wiring along with fitting the push rod for the last point and a couple of microswitches but the basic trackwork for the station is now all down!! DSCF1665.JPG Howard, How much longer before you can pause to play drive trains? Chris 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 1, 2017 Author Share Posted May 1, 2017 Chris, Rod is impatient for me to demolish the Sn3.5 layout at the other side of the room so I can start on the fiddleyard and complete the cicuit. He has a load of German stuff he wants to run but I would like to get on with a bit more scenery first. It will be possible to have a shunt around the station in a couple of weeks anyway. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 6, 2017 Author Share Posted May 6, 2017 (edited) I haven't done any more to the layout over the past week as I have been on holiday in the Netherlands. While I saw quite a few Dutch trains whilst travelling in the coach the only shots I took were in Amsterdam and I found it impossible to get an unobstructed view there. These are the best I could get:- Here's a pic of Centraal Station with a tram in the foreground. Here's the other side of the station with the bus station along side. And another picture of an Amsterdam tram. Finally, this old tram was outside our hotel. Edited May 6, 2017 by HSB 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 I haven't done any more to the layout over the past week as I have been on holiday in the Netherlands. While I saw quite a few Dutch trains whilst travelling in the coach the only shots I took were in Amsterdam and I found it impossible to get an unobstructed view there. These are the best I could get:- DSCF1769.JPG DSCF1761.JPG Here's a pic of Centraal Station with a tram in the foreground. DSCF1774.JPG Here's the other side of the station with the bus station along side. DSCF1734.JPG And another picture of an Amsterdam tram. DSCF1755.JPG Finally, this old tram was outside our hotel. DSCF1775.JPG DSCF1776.JPG I like the old trams. Another agreeable feature of European railways is that a decent number of passenger trains are still hauled by locomotives rather than the endless processions of multiple units we have in the UK. Regards, Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 I photographed this house in Edam. I think if you built a model like this everybody would think you were a really crap modeller! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 12, 2017 Author Share Posted May 12, 2017 I've done a little bit of work on the layout since returning from holiday. I have put in the rodding for that last PECO point although it still needs a bit of adjustment and I am in the process of cutting away the sprues from the second buffer stop kit. I also want to get hold of a miniature DPDT switch so I can use the front siding as my programming track. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 I've now got the second buffer stop kit assembled. This time I went back to plan A and replaced the white metal beam with plastic strip. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I've now got the second buffer stop kit assembled. This time I went back to plan A and replaced the white metal beam with plastic strip. DSCF1872 (800x479).jpg Howard, Here is the latest bufferstop for Tonfanau Camp. It is a balsa wood beam mounted on Peco sides. I also added a tie rod from 0.9mm brass wire behind the beam. I have since weathered the beam, which has brought out the grain. Regards, Chris 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 I've now given my buffer stops a first coat of paint and also painted a few more sleepers. I find painting the track a rather tedious job but if I do a bit at a time it will get finished eventually! 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 I'm happy to report I've now finished painting the sleepers. Rod asked me why I didn't spray them like we did on Ramchester but that's in a shed while Brückenheim is in my back bedroom and I'd probably end up with the whole house smelling of paint for a week afterwards! I'd also have the extra hassle of cleaning off the tops of the rails afterwards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 I've done a little bit of work on the layout over the last few days - but not a lot! I decided it was time to remove the excess underlay now all the track is pinned down in it's final position and I've also been drilling a few holes in the baseboard ready for wiring up the sidings. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Looking good Howard. I like the way the trackwork flows. Great stuff. Rod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 5, 2017 Author Share Posted June 5, 2017 I bought some lengths of stripwood last week to make the fronts of the platforms. These have now been cut to length and glued in position. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 I now have the three sidings wired up and the DPDT switch installed to allow me to use the front siding as the programming track although it will probably never get used as such but it's there just in case! I still have to wire up and install the microswitches feeding the frogs on the two points at the rear of the station and then connect everything up to the controller but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or is it a train coming the other way?!!) 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 12, 2017 Author Share Posted June 12, 2017 I've been doing a bit more work on the wiring but it seems I misunderstood the purpose of the DPDT switch as I had assumed it was to switch the programming track between the main output and a second programming output. Unfortunately, after rereading the manual I find there isn't a separate programming output on my NCE Power Cab and the switch is supposed to go on the track output to switch current between the programming track and the main line which would mean that siding would normally be dead! I have now decided to just have that front track as an ordinary siding. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 I have now rewired the front siding conventionally. The DPDT switch would make sense if I was switching between the layout and a separate programming track but having a length of dead track on the layout just seems daft to me! It would have made more sense to have that siding permanently live with an on/off switch to kill the power to the rest of the layout! The programming track was very much an afterthought anyway and I would probably never have used it but when I get around to building the fiddleyard I may put in a couple of switches to isolate that part of the layout. I've been doing a bit more wiring and I now have just one frog left to wire to a microswitch. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 17, 2017 Author Share Posted June 17, 2017 I have now got that last frog wired up and everything appears to working as it should. The next thing will be to mount the socket board for the controller in the hole I have already made for it, clean the track and connect up the controller so I can have a test run. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 I have moved the platform fronts back a couple of millimetres or so following a comment on another forum. Many prototype photos show these quite close to the track and there is no problem with clearances as the footsteps on rolling stock are above the level of these low platforms. I have also been doing a little fettling of the track with files to try and make sure everything runs smoothly through the points before I plug in the controller for a test run. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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