Andrew P Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I keep saying that Seep PM1 point motors are great value but a pain to fit. Well another problem has arisen because this is the first time that I have put two points facing the same way next to each other at normal 2 inch track centres (ever!). And guess what...the bl**dy point motors overlap. Anyway, a solution has been found involving card packing layers. Firstly, these are the two points in question (picture taken after all the drama). pmprob1.jpg I only discovered the overlap after I had fitted the first point motor. Fortunately the fixing screws do not foul the adjoining point motors, otherwise I don't know what I would have done - I don't think the Seep motors are strong enough to withstand drilling, filling or snipping as the main chassis seems to be some sort of PCB. So I firstly traced round the point motor and cut a piece of card with apertures for fixing screws and the point motor actuating pin and offered this up to check fit - see below. pmprob2.jpg Three layers later, the point motor seemed to fit OK overlapping but not interfering with its neighbour. pmprob3.jpg pmprob4.jpg pmprob5.jpg I can't believe I'm the first person to have this problem. It would be interesting to hear how someone else has got round this issue. Regards, Brian. Hi Brian, I've never had that problem, but looking at the packed point / lower in the last pic, be carful as the contact for the frog can be troublesome if there not flat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 Hi Brian, I've never had that problem, but looking at the packed point / lower in the last pic, be carful as the contact for the frog can be troublesome if there not flat. Yes indeed Andy. I noticed the slight curve of the pm chassis in the picture. I'll check the polarity switching once the point motor is all wired up - currently (no pun intended) it isnt. There is also a smaller screw hole in the middle of the chassis right by the sliding washer switch. I might need to find a smaller screw to fit there to straighten the chassis out if I have problems. Thanks again for your advice. Regards, Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ray H Posted January 17, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2017 Brian Can you drill a hole in the tie bar on the outside of the stock rail which allows you to move the point motor over? I've done this on a 7mm Peco point. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 Brian Can you drill a hole in the tie bar on the outside of the stock rail which allows you to move the point motor over? I've done this on a 7mm Peco point. That is a great suggestion Ray. If I have ongoing problems with my initial solution, I'll definitely give that a try. Thanks again. Regards, Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Work continues on wiring up the fiddle yard - see below. The points are all wired up, polarity switching checked and all fine and all wires transferred to below the traverser deck. All of the (black wires) common return droppers from track sections and points have all been connected up and checked. A start has been made on the live (red wires) feeds in terms of connecting up relevant sections. The fiddle yard is almost a layout in its own right as far as the wiring is concerned so it is taking an age to sort out. In the mean time I have the odd play service running (but not yet alas into the fiddle yard). A coastal service is seen below on the up line over the viaduct. In between the soldering sessions, I've made a start on a Christmas present from Mrs D (...erm, welI I bought it and said she could wrap it up for me for Christmas ). This will be the means by which locos are coaled in the loco shed area. Regards, Brian. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted January 23, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23, 2017 In between the soldering sessions, I've made a start on a Christmas present from Mrs D (...erm, welI I bought it and said she could wrap it up for me for Christmas ). My daughters gave me a Heljan Hymek for my birthday just gone using the same mechanism. It's good isn't it! Paul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Wirings coming on well Brian, glad mines not as complicated, but yours is looking more professional mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 My daughters gave me a Heljan Hymek for my birthday just gone using the same mechanism. It's good isn't it! Paul. Yes indeed Paul - that's exactly how I acquired my first Hornby Q6 last year, and many other locos over the years which magically get wrapped for other birthdays and Christmas's :) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 Wirings coming on well Brian, glad mines not as complicated, but yours is looking more professional mate. Thanks Andy but it is very boring cutting, stripping and soldering layout wire - still a bit of a way to go. I'll be glad when this aspect of the build is done and I can put the fiddle yard deck back on its runners. There are still some minor issues of "line and level" at the fiddle yard/layout interface which I am keen to get back to to ensure there are no derailments exiting or entering the fiddle yard. Today, doing a bit of "house sitting" for my daughter to receive some suff she had ordered I've made good progress on the fiddle yard panel, more cutting, stripping and soldering wire to the various switches in the panel. Getting there. Regards, Brian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Good progress Loving the V3 on an outing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 Latest progress update is as follows. I've had a very constructive 3 hours or so in the shed this afternoon. The Fiddle Yard panel is completely wired up and electrically checked to its outlet/inlet connectors and is now fixed in position over the FY deck - see below. I'm quite pleased with this set up. The panel is nice and rigid. But...there are a lot of wires I hear you thinking. I have probably overcomplicated matters but basically each fiddle yard road is electrically divided so that two short trains can be stored in each of the six roads or one long or longer one in each so there are twelve section switches. All of the red wires emanate from these various section switches and are shown in two banks of connectors on the left of the above pic. The blue and white wires top right are for the four point motors. The black and red wires control the up and down line main feeds remembering that the fiddle yard also traverses so that up and down main lines serve all six FY roads via the two FY entry/exit points. Nearly all of these wires will connect to locations under the FY deck. There will be only five wires hanging down (and with enough slack to cope with the traversing action) to the main base board below - these are up feed, down feed, common return and point motor feed and return. The next step is to remove the FY deck once again and finish off the wiring. While the FY deck was back in position I have been adjusting the entry/exit level to eliminate derailments and also experimenting with fixing the traverser positions - see below. You might be just able to see the coffee stirrer packing to raise the level slightly. The screw driver measures exactly 5 mm diameter so I drilled three corresponding holes through the traverser runner at the three possible alignments. The jury is still out on the best means of fixing the traverser though. You will also see a lot of messy wiring adjacent to the two entry/exit points. Because of the presence of the traverser runner at this location, the point and point motor wiring had to come up over and down underneath the FY deck again here because of the presence of said runner. Meanwhile, the coaling tower kit nears completion so I couldn't resist posing it on the layout thus. The vertical coal conveyor at the back is meant to be rail served but mine will be served by road vehicles coming through gates in the rear wall of the loco yard wall (not yet modelled) - not probably prototypical but all part of quart/pint pot compromises. I am pleased with how it looks though. It has presence which a platform type coal depot does not have. Regards, Brian. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 The "Solder-athon" that was wiring up the fiddle yard panel to the fiddle yard deck is now complete - yippee - see below. Care was taken to ensure that all of the various wires under the deck were taped out of the way so that (a) they wouldn't catch on anything when traversing the deck and (b) to avoid the transverse bearers as can be seen in the last pic. The deck was then reattached to the bearers - see below. But none of this track is live yet although all the switches do what they are supposed to do (I've checked with the multimeter) hence the dmu only gets as far as this before stopping dead due to lack of juice (the power car is furthest from the camera phone). Five connections are required to make the deck totally live, including point motors, shown diagramatically below... ...and this is the location for the connection to the main board below. I am tantalisingly close to having a fully functioning fiddle yard. Regards, Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Coal Tower looks fine to me Brian, and that control panel looks excellent mate, well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 The station looks a bit empty today... ...so I better have a look in the fiddle yard. Another major milestone has been passed - the fiddle yard is now fully operational, thank goodness. I can now (in between finishing off the scenics, the branch off a branch, the signalling, etc, etc) run some trains in and out of the main terminus to some sort of semblance of prototypical working. I have made a conscious effort to "north easternise" the locos currently on the layout. As a start, I could not resist running two Q6s at once - here passing trains are on the main viaduct... ...and it's about time I had a proper ex-NER shunter, the venerable Bachmann J72. Getting there! Regards, Brian. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted February 1, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 1, 2017 Great milestone passed, just the branch then? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Nice work Brian, that Fiddle Yard in now paying dividends and will make working the Layout a pleasure I hope. Nice pic of the Q6's as well mate. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two_sugars Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 PHILTH! ! ! PHILTH! ! ! YOU NEED MORE PHILTH!!!! Just taking the mick! . . . I saw the real one at Shildon last year, and said the same to the driver. . . . . . They don't look right when clean. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Great milestone passed, just the branch then? ...erm, not exactly. certainly in terms of track laying that is all to be done but loads of other stuff, mainly scenic, to be done. Nice work Brian, that Fiddle Yard in now paying dividends and will make working the Layout a pleasure I hope. Nice pic of the Q6's as well mate. Thanks Andy. The fiddle yard seems to have been going on forever, well...all of January. It will be nice to get on with something else. PHILTH! ! ! PHILTH! ! ! YOU NEED MORE PHILTH!!!! Just taking the mick! . . . I saw the real one at Shildon last year, and said the same to the driver. . . . . . They don't look right when clean. John Ah, weathering - a skill I have yet to master. Something for the future. Regards to all and thanks for looking in. Regards, Brian. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 This afternoon I dug out a couple of shunters that I hadn't yet tried out on this layout. Firstly, the weathered J72 which is one of my oldest locos. It ran reasonably well but was no match for the (Hornby) J94. Meanwhile the coaling tower construction is complete. Not an easy build due to somewhat vague instructions so one or two "adjustments" were required along the way. Here we see another of my old locos, a Bachmann J39, taking advantage of the new facility. So, the J94 was pressed into service to assemble an outgoing goods train. The J39 suitably refreshed backed down onto the partly fitted freight... ...and duly departed. Regards, Brian. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Nice pics and story line Brian, it's getting better by the Day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Nice pics and story line Brian, it's getting better by the Day. Thanks, Andy. It's great now the fiddle yard is finished and I can operate the layout properly, albeit severly unfinished. Only one fly in the ointment at the moment - one of the fiddle yard point motors needs a bit of work because it is not reliably switching the frog polarity. So the FY deck has got to come off again so I can get at it. I'll probably do this tomorrow afternoon (family stuff in the morning). Regards, Brian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Looking good! Lots of progress Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Looking good! Lots of progress Thanks mate. I've had the FY deck off this afternoon and repositioned the point motor only very slighly - probably only a millimetre or so. The point now seems to be reliably switching frog polarity, for now anyway. Regards, Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Yes the coal stage has somewhat interesting instructions....lol The J39 looks good Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Now the FY seems to be fully sorted I couldn't resist playing running some services. Firstly, a local passenger train in the charge of a V3 tank engine arrives. The engine runs round... and backs down onto its train. The train awaits its departure slot... ...and evetually departs bunker first. Regards, Brian. PS Apologies for the quality of the camera phone pics. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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