Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[Barry O]

Checked my stock of foam board. It is all 5mm. Would some of that do?

Baz

[St Enodoc]

Today I finished the Paddington stock shelf.

 

First I erected the middle shelf section, lined up between the two central brackets. I screwed it to the brackets and repeated the exercise for the other two sections. I then screwed some "fishplates" of 3 mm MDF under the joints to keep them aligned vertically.

 

This left me with the middle part of the front fence to fit. First I glued the two outer sections leaving a shorter gap in the middle, which I filled with another section trimmed to length. While the glue was setting I held the sections of fence in line with bulldog clips.

 

After the shelf was finished I moved the computer on to it at the left-hand end and then started moving the spare stock for Paddington off the baseboard and on to the shelf. I haven't sorted it all into sets yet, as I will need to get some more stock out of its boxes first.

 

I also sorted out the Penzance spare stock, although this has to stay on the baseboard until the Penzance shelf is built. I also put the St Enodoc camping coach on the shelf - it is the solitary coach on the far right

 

This left the remaining stock from the old layout, which I have put back into storage until it is needed.

 

I now have space to lay the Peco track in Penzance loops 2 to 7.

 

In other news, I assembled the Loco Lift as per the instructions. The foam sides are indeed a bit flimsy and they don't provide any torsional strength to the unit. Something more rigid is needed; whether it ends up being ply, MDF, Corflute/Tunnelcore or foamboard remains to be seen. Tomorrow I'll try ithe Loco Lift on the layout just to make sure that it works (I can't see why it shouldn't...).

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[manna]

G'day Folks

 

Stock shelf, it's a whole new layout !!

 

manna

[Barry O]

A loco lift was bought for use on Grantham. It felt safer to pick locks up to put into/take out of the "ready to use" boxes.

 

Baz

[Stubby47]

I think the foam sides are there to prevent the loco falling off, should the lift become somewhat inclined when in transit. The base & ends do seem to be strong enough as designed.

 

Though as designed, it then needs two hands to lift. A wooden stretcher bar between the ends would help, but at the loss of the stacking ability. Two stretcher bars could mean a lift listing around the longitudinal axis, with the possible result of a loco falling off, which is where we came in.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Stubby47

[St Enodoc]

I think the foam sides are there to prevent the loco falling off, should the lift become somewhat inclined when in transit. The base & ends do seem to be strong enough as designed.

 

Though as designed, it then needs two hands to lift. A wooden stretcher bar between the ends would help, but at the loss of the stacking ability. Two stretcher bars could mean a lift listing around the longitudinal axis, with the possible result of a loco falling off, which is where we came in.

A good analysis Stu. My thinking behind replacing the soft foam with something more rigid is so that I can still pick the thing up in one hand but without squeezing the loco sides in so doing. Stackability is probably not so important, as my likely solution is to use closely-spaced shelves or pigeon holes to hold the Loco Lifts with the smokebox numbers facing the operators. A "roof" would also work in this context.

 

Plenty of scope for trial and error (normally more error than trial in my case) coming up.

[Stubby47]

If you intend to use rigid sides to pick up the lift, you'll need finger space between the tracks, and the lifts are quite wide anyway. A top bar to pick up/carry might be easier, and shouldn't increase the overall height.

 

If shelving the locos end-on, you might need 'gates' of some sort to prevent locos sliding off when inserting or retrieving -a simple hinged bar ( barrier crossing style) might work.

[Denbridge]

A good analysis Stu. My thinking behind replacing the soft foam with something more rigid is so that I can still pick the thing up in one hand but without squeezing the loco sides in so doing. Stackability is probably not so important, as my likely solution is to use closely-spaced shelves or pigeon holes to hold the Loco Lifts with the smokebox numbers facing the operators. A "roof" would also work in this context.

 

Plenty of scope for trial and error (normally more error than trial in my case) coming up.

Personally, I am more comfortable using two hands to transport precious locos with my loco lifts. The thought of dropping a precious model over rides the dubious advantage of doing it with one hand. I've never once had any issues with using the product as bought.

[St Enodoc]

Checked my stock of foam board. It is all 5mm. Would some of that do?

Baz

Thanks but no thanks. Standard thicknesses here are 3 mm, 5mm and 10 mm.

[5BarVT]

I’m also a two-hander, using the end ‘gates’ as handles, but that might be because I’m not turning them end on.

Just out of interest, the instructions say glue the end posts into the aluminium extrusion: with both of mine, the fit has been so tight that I haven’t felt the need and have had no signs of looseness.

Paul.

[Martin S-C]

G'day Folks

 

Stock shelf, it's a whole new layout !!

 

manna

Must confess I'd be tempted to build a BLT up there.

[St Enodoc]

Must confess I'd be tempted to build a BLT up there.

There's a thought...

 

NO!

 

STOP IT!

[St Enodoc]

First I tried the Loco Lift in the Paddington loops. It fits neatly between parallel straight tracks at 50 mm centres and works on both Peco code 75 and SMP track, although I don't think it sits down fully on the SMP as there is a bit of a bump driving locos on and off. I'll take that as a win, though, and once I've sorted out the stronger sides (and possibly roof) I'll work out the best places to store the Loco Lifts.

 

After that I had a tracklaying blitz. I now know exactly how long it takes to lay 18 yards of Peco track - the same time that it takes to listen to Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" on ABC Classic FM. Very soothing and seasonal. Another half-hour saw the extra 5 inches or so on each new loop laid, to bring the track to the point where the cork thickness changes and the transition to SMP takes place.

 

 

Here are the new loops, first looking Down and then Up. In the background of the first picture are the extra Penzance starters that I had already got out of their boxes. In the second picture you can see the two sets (the two coaches at the Up end form set 508, which becomes part of the 1920 Penzance - Plymouth class B, and the single non-corridor second at the Down end, set 544, makes its way as empty stock to Plymouth on the front of the 1220 Penzance - Kensington milk - I've no idea why) that are attached at Penzance to other trains during the course of the current sequence.

 

Droppers are next, then I can move the eight trains in the current sequence back to their Penzance starting positions and get some more stock out of its boxes.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Barry O]

Good bit of work there.

 

Layout building here has stopped for the festive break so I spent a bit of time yesterday finishing a couple of coach kits and settling some locks (strange how locks are ok when you out them in a stock box but bits have come off when you get them out again!

Just wish Classic FM was as good here as it is in Oz.

 

Baz

[St Enodoc]

Good bit of work there.

 

Layout building here has stopped for the festive break so I spent a bit of time yesterday finishing a couple of coach kits and settling some locks (strange how locks are ok when you out them in a stock box but bits have come off when you get them out again!

Just wish Classic FM was as good here as it is in Oz.

 

Baz

Thanks Baz. It's part of the ABC which is the public service broadcaster, like the BBC, so there are no adverts. It exhibits many of the other characteristics as the BBC but fortunately ABC Classic FM plays a lot of good music and ABC Grandstand broadcasts the ball-by-ball Test commentary - so come Boxing Day morning I'll be re-tuning.

[Barry O]

Result!

Can listen to it here ..the wonders of the internet!

Baz

[Killybegs]

Just wish Classic FM was as good here as it is in Oz.

 

Baz

 

You could always listen to Radio 3

[Martin S-C]

There's a thought...

 

NO!

 

STOP IT!

There IS room for another stock shelf above it....

 

EDIT: Your fiddle yards are superb and you're extremely fortunate to have so much space. I've seen numerous wonderful layouts built entirely WITHIN the confines of each of your FYs!

Edited December 23, 2018 by Martin S-C

[Barry O]

You could always listen to Radio 3

for some reason ABC Classic FM seems more friendly to me...

 

Baz

[St Enodoc]

Early Christmas present to self (although in truth it won't be early by the time it arrives)...

 

For some time, as regular readers will know, I've been mulling over the long-term future of the H&M point motors in the Paddington and Penzance loops and whether to replace them with Cobalts. Today I made my decision, which is that the H&Ms indeed have no long-term future.

 

There are several reasons for this, including (but not limited to):

 

- despite my best efforts, a few of the H&Ms are still sticky, needing more than one press of the relevant route button to make sure they operate. This calls into question the long-term reliability of the H&Ms.

- I haven't got enough decent H&Ms to finish the loop pointwork anyway.

- H&Ms definitely put more stress on the tiebars than do Cobalts.

- it seems perverse to encode a DCC signal with the Mini Panels, only to decode it again to activate the point motors.

- the DCC Concepts ADS-8fx decoders are fine, but by their very nature they draw a large inrush current when powered up, which means I have to switch on each group separately to avoid overloading the SB5.

- the H&Ms need three separate power wires from the decoder to each motor, whereas the Cobalts can be powered by daisy-chaining a pair of accessory bus cables.

 

Taking all this together, I decided to take advantage of DCC Concepts' "baker's dozen" offer of 13 Cobalt iP Digital motors for the price of 12 and ordered enough for all the points in the loops.

 

A teeny-weeny bit sad really, as H&M point motors have been part of my life for over 50 years and I shall miss their characteristic "thunk". However, as Lord Falkland is reputed to have said "When it is necessary to change, it is necessary to change" (he is also reputed to have said - which is the part that most people conveniently forget - "when it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change").

Edited December 24, 2018 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

I soldered the droppers to the new track at Penzance this afternoon, then emptied two more storage boxes of stock. All the coaches and vans that are ready for use, and which start their diagrams at Paddington or Penzance, are now on the layout (although I haven't yet taken the RTR ones out of their red, blue or, in some cases, very ancient different-coloured boxes). I will need to make sure that they all have the right combination of couplings - DGs at the outer ends of each set and tension-lock, Roco-style close-couplers or home-made close-couplers in the middle. I can feel some bogie-swapping coming on.

 

Penzance stock shelf is next.

[Barry O]

All this stock needs a thorough testing!!

 

Baz

 

PS Happy Christmas down in Oz!

[brianusa]

for some reason ABC Classic FM seems more friendly to me...

 

Baz

 

There appears to be Classic FMs all over.  The UK version is plagued by a commercial that gets in the way during start up so we listen to Classic FM in Pretoria.  They all seem to have the same format.

 

Brian.

[St Enodoc]

Merry Christmas to:

 

- my real friends;

- my virtual friends;

- my imaginary friends;

- my non-friends;

- persons who identify neither as friends or non-friends;

- persons who consider that they do not fall into any of the above categories;

- Stubby47;

- and anyone else who knows me.

[brianusa]

From a virtual friend, a Merry Christmas to you too.

 

Brian, the one in the US.  Sometimes there's too many Brians!