Brixington Town 2.0

[dale159]

I'm at the Sutton Coldfield Show this weekend with Peters Street and Squires is there and I noticed the attached.

 

WP_20150425_13_18_52_Pro.jpg

 

The ones in the middle 821-094 £1.99 Each Spring Centre Return.

 

Pete

 

Thanks Pete,

 

Have ordered 3 of the ones in the eBay link,

 

Did you happen to see if they had what I'd describe as a double pole push to make switch? I.E pushing one button closes 2 otherwise unconnected circuits, can't find anything of the sort on the internet.

 

Dale

Edited April 25, 2015 by dale159

[Pete Harvey]

Dale

 

I think they have I will check tomorrow for you if you would like?

 

Pete

[dale159]

Dale

 

I think they have I will check tomorrow for you if you would like?

 

Pete

Yes please that would be much appreciated.

 

Dale

[dale159]

Well the switches I ordered from eBay have arrived but unfortunately they are not the correct type, they are only momentary one way, having gone back and read the description this is actually correct so my mistake.

 

I have now found and ordered the correct ones. Serves me right for ordering at about 2 in the morning whilst trying to sleep!

 

Dale

[dale159]

My second batch of momentary switches arrived this morning, so this afternoon I have been out installing one of them, and having done that the scissor crossing was completely dead but all my other points worked fine.

 

So I have decided to try another method, I have ordered some long lever micro switches from eBay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291206177531?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=590360835845&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT- I will fit 2 under each scissors to one point from each crossover so in theory the tie bar of the motor will operate the micro switch and break the connection to the opposite crossover, hopefully!

 

Dale  

Edited April 30, 2015 by dale159

[John Boughton]

I have found Dales Garage Model Railway Project to be a very interesting and informative posting, for some time now I've been thinking of constructing a Garage Layout, not as grand as yours dale, but! having said that! You Never Know! I live near Caddington in Bedfordshire & Model Train Shops seem few & far between so most of my purchases will be made via the internet, so seeing parts etc has given me confidence to buy via the internet, once again a Big Thank You to Dale & all those members who contributed to this project

[dale159]

I have found Dales Garage Model Railway Project to be a very interesting and informative posting, for some time now I've been thinking of constructing a Garage Layout, not as grand as yours dale, but! having said that! You Never Know! I live near Caddington in Bedfordshire & Model Train Shops seem few & far between so most of my purchases will be made via the internet, so seeing parts etc has given me confidence to buy via the internet, once again a Big Thank You to Dale & all those members who contributed to this project

 

Glad that my work has inspired you to build your own layout and that some of the things I have learned in building mine are useful as well.

 

All the best with yours.

 

Dale

[dale159]

Well finally some good news!

 

First a slightly red faced job on the previous set up - it didn't work because I had disconnected the yellow common return wire across the narrow joint along the back wall, which I had obviously forgotten about - whooooops!

 

The micro switches were delivered earlier in the week but I had to wait until my rest day today before I could do anything with them.

 

Quite a simple set up, the wires through each micro switch the throw for the opposing crossing.

 

One other problem is still outstanding - the reset on the lifting section does not appear to be powerful enough to reset all 4 points, annoyingly it only throws the nearest 2 points to the switch which are not the ones the micro switches are fitted to. This may be a similar problem to the one I had before the more powerful transformer.

 

Another thing I noticed is that the entire layout appears to have walked about 2 inches towards the garage door to the extent that the 2 boards across the back wall were not resting on the baton as designed.

 

Dale

[dale159]

 

Quick test run over the scissors.

 

Dale

[dale159]

At long last I appear to have tamed the electrics.

 

First the lift-out end scissor reset - after some time spent with the multimeter and a few jump leads I concluded that the problem was a poor continuity across one of the ATX connectors, fortunately there were two spare wires within that block so I doubled up with a small loop of wire from the original one.

 

And of course the same mod to the other half of the connector, crude but it seems to work!

 

Having got that working a bit of testing revealed that throwing the facing crossover did not interlock the trailing crossover, I traced this to the newly installed micro switch under the point motor being set badly, First I tried adjusting its position with its screws but it just it just kept finding the same two holes then I realised it would be far easier to bend the arm of the micro switch a bit.

 

I now need to give the layout another run over every track with a small selection of stock to route out any further Pway issues and I need to put some sort of safety fence around the outside and inside edges.

 

Dale

Edited May 16, 2015 by dale159

[dale159]

I had a bit of brain wave last night.

 

With the electrics seemingly behaving themselves I figured I could use some of the old code 100 Peco setrack I had in stock to complete a temporary twin track loop around the other side of the layout, this morning I went to the local model shop and bought a pack of Peco SL-113s to convert from code 75 to code 100.

 

Unfortunately I had forgotten that when my friend Simon came around to help me have a clear out I gave him all the old code 100 track but a few messages and I was able to arrange to borrow it back again.

 

Such was my delight I have made a few videos which I have posted to YouTube

 

 

 

At the time of filming I was unable to run on the inner track as the point motor pin on the scissors along the back wall was too long and derailed everything I tried to run over it. However, I have now borrowed the big pair of cutters that I used for all the other point from my other friend Keith and rectified this problem.

 

Dale

Edited May 19, 2015 by dale159

[dale159]

Another YouTube video

 

http://youtu.be/wQuiLK0apzw

For the first time I have had 2 trains running round in opposite directions on DCC, 

 

Makes a change to play trains as its not something I've been able to do for quite a while.

 

Dale

Edited May 24, 2015 by dale159

[Removed a/c]

Great to see some trains running ! 

[dale159]

Time for me to stop playing trains and get on with some more work.

 

I have finally sourced a transformer for the track feeds

 

An open case transformer with twin output 15v AC.

 

Given that the transformer has a twin output I decided to modify the connection into the layout, previously the feeds to both handhelds were jointed together for one feed.

 

Those that have worked with open case transformers will know that it is good practise to put them in some sort of case for safety reasons, I couldn't find anything to buy on the same site as the transformer so I have had to improvise.

 

Fortunately a quick rummage through the recycling box revealed this Coleslaw pot, just the job!

 

I have also found that the layout has started walking towards the door again, I think some modesty blocks on the baton across the back wall should prevent this. I also noticed there is a high point across the board joint between the back corner and main fiddle yard which had been causing some derailments. It could be that the baton is a bit low, I have wedged a bit of MDF under the board as a temporary measure to counter this.

 

Dale

[dale159]

Well I think I have just discovered the cause of the high spot in the back corner. Going around measuring the legs it seems that the one nearest the back wall is about 10mm taller than all the others down that side of the layout, not sure how that has happened, and being the board with 4 legs I'm going to have to dismantle that entire side to sort it out, so while I'm at it I may as well fit the modesty blocks along the baton on the back wall.

 

Never mind!

 

Dale

Edited June 13, 2015 by dale159

[dale159]

Another few little jobs finished off.

 

I have installed 4 blocks of wood along the baton, upon measuring up I realised that there wasn't enough room for modesty blocks - and I could only find 2!

 

I have also taken the plunge and bought a pair of Gaugemaster Model W handheld controllers which means I can now return the one I've had since I first started running trains can be returned to the local club.

 

Another change is on the temporary track, I have invested in some Peco 3rd and 4th radius curves to replace the 2nd radius I had to hand previously.

 

And with the larger radius curves meant that the track has been pushed back towards the wall and as such the mound of empty boxes was in the way.

 

A quick reshuffle and box mountain became Box Tunnel - Sorry!

 

Couldn't resist!

 

Dale

[class"66"]

More interesting work here...

[dale159]

Bit of a scare yesterday.

 

I was running my class 70 around the outside track though to one of the inside roads in the fiddle yard crossing over both scissor crossings but the rear bogie kept derailing going over the facing crossover by the door so I tried just tweaking the V rail on the diamond crossing with a pair of pliers when all of a sudden PING...........

 

'Oh dear' I may have said, or words to that effect fearing I was going to have to rip the whole thing out and chop up a new diamond crossing.

 

Fortunately I have managed to repair it by lifting that bottom left point and sliding the rail back into the diamond, luckily its wasn't the other end of the scissors where there is a board joint meaning I have cut away the last sleeper and soldered the railhead to a pair of brass screws, I really would have been pulling my hair out if that had happened.

 

Dale

[Snofi]

Sort of thing I do all of the time :-) hope it recovers...

 

 

Bit of a scare yesterday.

 

I was running my class 70 around the outside track though to one of the inside roads in the fiddle yard crossing over both scissor crossings but the rear bogie kept derailing going over the facing crossover by the door so I tried just tweaking the V rail on the diamond crossing with a pair of pliers when all of a sudden PING...........

 

300.jpg

'Oh dear' I may have said, or words to that effect fearing I was going to have to rip the whole thing out and chop up a new diamond crossing.

 

Fortunately I have managed to repair it by lifting that bottom left point and sliding the rail back into the diamond, luckily its wasn't the other end of the scissors where there is a board joint meaning I have cut away the last sleeper and soldered the railhead to a pair of brass screws, I really would have been pulling my hair out if that had happened.

 

Dale

[dale159]

No progress to report of late but as the revised thread title implies - 

 

Couldn't resist, an absolute bargain off eBay, not boxed and the powered car exhaust baffle is a bit dented but its not that noticeable.

 

I do also have some Mk3s which will go between them when suitably modified.

 

Dale

[dale159]

Well I have done absolutely nothing to the layout since the last post 4 weeks ago.

 

Although most of the empty boxes that made up box tunnel now find themselves for sale on eBay (yes there is a market for such a thing apparently) and a few have gone already to a friend.

 

One job I have done today -

I had been meaning to sort out a way of hanging the control panel up rather than resting it on the track (I got told off for leaving it in place!)

I looked at hanging it between the two sets of shelves that my stock lives on but one is about 2 inches higher than the other so I decided that hanging it under the right hand pair would be better. and whilst rummaging around in the garage I unearthed some small hooks and eyes which looked ideal. The eye the screwed into the bottom of the panel as not to interfere with the hinge hence the reason it leans back towards the bottom.

 

So once I've shifted the all the boxes there should hopefully be some progress. I suspect I've fallen into the same trap as many others of getting a completed loop and just wanting to play trains!

 

Dale 

[dale159]

Hanging my control panel up this week has spurred me on to get my backside into gear with the rest of the layout.

 

First I've moved all the stuff on that side of the layout over onto the fiddle yard side and lifted the temporary track completing the loop - that ought to stop me playing trains for a bit!

 

Unfortunately none of the pictures I've taken today are all that good upon uploading them onto my computer

 

Using the 4th radius curves from the outer loop as a guide I offered them up to the ends of the scissor crossings on the inner loop. Having used 4th radius curves for the first time I am quite satisfied that they of a large enough radius to offer decent running whist being tight enough to do the job off scene, the outer loop will use what I suppose would be 5th radius, obviously all this will be done in code 75 flexi track once I'm sure I've got it right.

 

The scene will be an urban scene with a half relief station so not much green - unless it says 'Freightliner' on the side!

 

Currently drawn out in pencil on a piece of surplus wallpaper I found, featuring 5 platforms - 2 through platforms and 3 bays. 2 of the bays will be electrified 3rd rail running into a separate small fiddle yard with 2 cassettes which should be long enough for a 5 car EMU (My friend Simon duly reminded to get on with that 442 he started about 5 years ago!) The electrified lines will also be able to run into a pair of carriage sidings directly in front of their fiddle yard. The third bay on the opposite side of the main running lines is long enough for a 3 car DMU such as a 158 or a 4 car Pacer. The 2 main through platforms will feature a very slight reverse curve in order to make clearance for this bay, Hopefully I will get a track plan up tomorrow at some point in the afternoon.

 

Dale

[class"66"]

Some very nice work Dale

 

 

 

thanks neil.

[dale159]

Track plan time (again!)

 

Sorry its a week later than intended!

 

I had tried to draw in on the computer using XtrkCad but I'm still not that good on it.

 

So here goes

Drawn using good old fashioned pen and paper.

 

Having been working on it from the operators perspective inside the layout looking out I decided to look at it the other way up from the outside. Lines in blue ink will be 3rd rail electrified.

 

Top left in the box behind some sort of retaining wall is a two road cassette fiddle yard for electric trains leading into a pair of terminus platforms, electric trains can then go into a pair of carriage sidings situated in front of the wall, both electric fiddle yard roads, platforms and the inner carriage siding will be long enough for a 5 car EMU such as a 442 in the event the I decide to build one or my friend Simon finishes his as mentioned previously! The outer carriage siding will only hold 4 cars.

 

The towards the front of the public viewing side is a simple twin track main line with 2 through platforms and a single bay platform long enough for a 3 car DMU along with a spur giving access to the electric side.

 

Dale

[dale159]

Track plan time (again!)

 

303.jpg

Drawn using good old fashioned pen and paper.

 

Further to yesterdays post a subtle variation

 

Exactly the same plan but a mirrored - putting the electric fiddle yard towards the back wall rather than the door.

 

Also on the original plan a home signal protecting the station would have had 2 feathers in each direction which will look a bit odd, yes I know such signals do exist in reality, whereas the mirrored version would see it have one left and 3 right feathers which I think would look much better.

 

Dale