George Hudson Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 Getting down to the nitty gritty... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 (edited) .....all points working, I was worried that some were quite stiff but a little vaseline on the motors and a hearty thump from the CDU seems to have done the trick. That's enough for today, next is getting all the electro frogs working. I have never been able to work out the three way point from first principles so just use trial and error! Edited January 6, 2018 by George Hudson 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 You don't have to be prettiest on the fleet to get first dabs at testing 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 tidied up the spaghetti too! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 Couldn't resist buying this reproduction on eBay to sign to garden room. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 Looking good. Nice point layout coming in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 6, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 6, 2018 If you get stuck, with wiring the 3 way, I think I have a photo or a diagram with how to wire up a Peco 3 way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) I am using the foam laminate flooring underlay from DIY shops. It's excellent and a good place to hide wires with a simple cut. You could say just drill closer to the tracks! BTW, I don't know if other people do this but I solder the feeder wires on the track before I lay it. I cut some of the plastic away between the sleeper under the rails and solder then to the underside of the rail. Makes for neat job especially if your soldering skills are better than mine (that would br most people!) Andrew ps not I haven't finished with the sleepers, they need to be lined up properly at the breaks Edited January 13, 2018 by George Hudson 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 So I have all the feeds working and need to wire up the frogs and crossings. As you can see I tend to wire everything up unsoldered and ensure it all works and then go round again neatening it all up. Another thing I do is to have two bulbs connected and the power on whilst I am working so I know immediately if Ive done something daft and created a short. With apologies if I am teaching any grandmothers to suck eggs! I have picked up a lot of tips here over the years. Andrew 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Great progress How do you plan to handle the merge from both sides as it goes around the corner? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Great progress How do you plan to handle the merge from both sides as it goes around the corner? Er, you caught me out on that. It's going to be one great cheat. From the start of the curve, the whole of the track to the right is hidden by the streets of the City/Clerkenwell, this means that the tracks will find their way onto the the sector plate with simply the help of a couple of hidden points. All very unprototypical! I am intending to have a hidden turntable too, purely functional, to turn the engines so no hand intervention required off scene. Andrew Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Er, you caught me out on that. It's going to be one great cheat. From the start of the curve, the whole of the track to the right is hidden by the streets of the City/Clerkenwell, this means that the tracks will find their way onto the the sector plate with simply the help of a couple of hidden points. All very unprototypical! I am intending to have a hidden turntable too, purely functional, to turn the engines so no hand intervention required off scene. Andrew No that makes sense. I am finding that when you start adding the throat needed for a big station it all adds to space and creates no end of issues with down up Lines etc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 No that makes sense. I am finding that when you start adding the throat needed for a big station it all adds to space and creates no end of issues with down up Lines etc If you are going to do a terminus properly, you need a LOT of space. There are some great examples here of good sized termini but I am happy with doing a corner of something much bigger in the area that I have available. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 All wired up and working although I am sure some people with be horrified with my wiring! Tracks fixed down with some strategic drops of wood glue and weighted to ensure everything is flat when set. As the say in cookery programmes "leave to set for 24hours". For those who have been following, thank your for your interest! It certainly helps me to keep motivated to get the more boring bits done. Andrew 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 (edited) Just an update post. My garden room has had two failed aircon/heater units so I agreed that the second just be taken away with a full refund (and a simple heater left for the trouble caused). This is boring since it requires a large part of the layout to be removed but does give the opportunity to show some shots of my sector plate arrangement which some might find useful. Fortunately I had built this section on casters since obviously the aircon unit would have needed servicing at some point in its life, I just didn't figure so soon! this box is the N gauge layout Stratham which lives under the main boards I find this the best method to get tracks really straight when laying: a long piece of aluminium profile and wood glue drops. In a terminus like this where the platform follows the track this heightens any kinks and hence the need to have everything straight. The alternative is to have a gently curving platform which I really like but unfortunately I have already made the main buildings to work with a straight set up. Edited January 22, 2018 by George Hudson 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 Quite good progress, hoping to get all main track down by the weekend. Some might be amused by this second run just out of the box, apologies for those who would rather watch paint dry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JGXF2fZafA 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Here's a film showing a run along the length of the layout plus some short footage of the high tech traverser in operation! All in DC for now. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 31, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31, 2018 Some satisfaction, when the first loco runs and that looked good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted February 18, 2018 Author Share Posted February 18, 2018 Here's the latest state of play. First an overview The sector plate Then the corner which will be hidden under street scenes Lines emerge into station throat Main station section Closer view of exit from sector plate Some shots showing the storage lines. Some are directly off the sector plate, others run parallel to the main station and ar hidden below street scenes behind station The area inside the curve in the corner of the layout will have a turntable to reverse locos. Probably a home made job since it's hidden Well that's it for today, well just a video to finish 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 Boring and frustrating morning today. To make life simple I had decided to mount the point motors on the surface of the boards where they are hidden under the street section. I thought this would be easier and more accessible for maintenance. After an hour or so with the Peco adapter plates for surface mounting, I gave up. I just couldn't get them in exactly the right position. In the end I took up the points and mounted the motors underneath, this way they are solidly attached and not subject to the vagueries of screwing small plates into wooden baseboards. This was quite boring since I had laid all the points and siding so had to dig them out again and then had to cut holes in the board for the motors with the tracks in situ and standing on a stool. Thankfully my method of pinning track down with dots of wood glue worked well since you can just pull off the glue without damage to the track. Still, its done now and I can wire up tomorrow (yes I did test them before laying them back down, I've learnt that lesson many points ago). Onwards and upwards 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 Glad to see it progressing and nice and tidy work on the fiddle yard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 My trustee old Fleischmann DC controller gave up the ghost so I switched to my new gaugemaster digital job. I followed the instructions brought my only DCC fitted loco on the layout and hurrah we're digital! Took out DCC ready J15 and fitted Hatton's decoder replacing what I took to be a blank in the tender. Reconnected loco with tender, programme track read address and .........horrible buzzing sound. Take out decoder put back "blank" return to track (programme or layout) ..........horrible buzzing sound. Detach loco from tender no buzzing from decoder or blank. Spend 10 mins swearing. Original DCC fitted loco returned to track and working fine, phew. Is this a short? Loco was working perfectly on DC and has only been out of the box a couple of times. Any ideas or links to other discussion threads? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 Despite teething problems with one loco, DCC is an absolute revelation delivering super smooth slow running! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 Looking great Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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