AJon30

Well at last the wiring is complete enough to put power to the layout (at 0300 Monday morning!). A few tweaks here and there, a little bit of extra wiring and she does run! Commissioning the Fulgurex points has been interesting. I have a variable DC supply in the power box and tried running the point motors at lower voltage to try and combat the noise. However all that happened was that there was a different noise that lasted longer and the action did not seem as positive. If anyone has any idea's on how to quieten these motors down I would be interested to hear. Started putting a few of the mock-ups on the layout to see what needs to be done. Cut out the basic platform shape from 4mm ply (thanks floor). I had planned to have a loading / possible cattle dock at the end of one siding, but when I came to measure the distance between the siding and the engine release road, it was obvious that the dock would be far too narrow. The only way to get a wider dock would have been to straighten the siding, but I did not want to have rows of parallel sidings, so that idea has been binned. However, never look a gift horse in the mouth, but with a gentle adjustment to the line of the engine release road, it potentially now could link up with track on another board. Oh I feel a pit of planning coming on! The difference from the original is small but does allow more options Before Now The engine shed was roughly based on Stamford but is probably a little big, the signal box is the Kimbolton mock up but that needs to be a little bigger for windows on 3 sides. Still to come is the works/carriage shed and the garage(?) to cover the control panel. Rgds Andrew

A couple of photos from the Newbury show yesterday, to remind myself what its all about, while I go back to the never-ending wiring on Great Barford! Rgds Andrew

Hello all. Well the wiring is nearly complete (just takes an age) with only the control panels to add and 1 point motor to fit on top. So at long last a little "above ground" action. The back-scene boards have been fitted, holes cut for the control panels and the support structure's are being glued together. I separated the control panel (to try and cut down the number of wires crossing the baseboard joint) so there is a small panel for the Works and the larger panel for the main station. The main station building and platform will cover one, while I am thinking of possibly a small garage or similar to cover the other. Out at Newbury with the SHLR on Saturday, then Syston the weekend after (Sat & Sun) with Questa. Regards Andrew

Very effective water. Re gauge/scale - its only a problem if you want it to be. I assume that your railway is a representation not an actual prototype, so there are plenty of 30 inch gauge railways around to base it on, perhaps just not that many in the US, although maybe more than you think http://www.bigindoortrains.com/primer/narrow_gauge_railroads/30in_rwys/30in_rwys.htm Rgds Andrew

Well, while the rest of the guys were enjoying themselves at the Bristol GOG show, I have been slaving over hot baseboards! As I mentioned earlier, I am using Fulgurex point motors for Great Barford, but have devised my own mounting arrangement, as I felt the suggested fitting was not suitable and did not allow easy set up or adjustment. I have modified the mechanism with 2 bolts to the mounting plate and having the motor on a separate mounting plate. The single piece arrangement was a little too unwieldy to set up, and would not fit in some locations. Single piece fitting Various fittings, showing flexibility in motor positioning (to make up for my poor planning!) One problem I found was trying to set the points up for a smooth operation. I am using Marcway points, but I have modified them with a switchable frog and bonded the switch blades to the stock rail for good electrical contact. The points are constructed so that the switch blade is isolated when not fully over by grooving the PCB sleeper, That leaves a slot that the switch blade can stick in. I have been replacing the sleepers and tie bar, where necessary, with new PCB sleepers which are just gapped at the center. My hint of the day is,to stop all the rails being soldered together, I wrap kitchen foil round the stock blade, then I can solder the switch blade to the tie bar without worry that it is all going to end up as one solid lump! Rgds Andrew

Thanks. Should see me out! One job I have been completing, which is all woodworking, has been the additional legs for the Great Barford extension. One problem with having small sections of baseboard is that they require more legs. I took the opportunity to "re-engineer" the first batch of legs, as the construction was overly complicated and they were not as rigid as I would have liked. so a new design was fabricated and hopefully will be more stable. I took the opportunity as well to reduce the height of the legs by 1 inch, mainly so that they are easier to get into the car! Rgds Andrew

Hello and a belated happy New Year My New Years resolution was to post more on this thread. The end of last year was quite busy (Stodden has its 20th outing at Letchworth in November 2014) and then work has been (slowly) progressing on the new wiring on the Great Barford boards. However disaster struck when the floor in my conservatory/modelling room decided to give way! That's now been repaired so its a case of sorting out all the material, projects etc that had to be boxed up to get them out of the way and back to work Rgds Andrew

Chaz I think the key is battery technology, once that catches up then RC will be the way to go. At the weekend we had a running session at Gifford Street and one of our members had a RC O gauge 2P 4-4-0 which operated nicely with a heavy rake of whitemetal milk tanks. However the tender was crammed full of batteries, which would make it difficult to fit into smaller loco's and still give the same amount of power / running time. I like your new project and will watch with interest (as you can see from my picture I am into Colorado NG) Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Thank you John for your kind comments I use Evergreen Strip Stryrene No. 179 which is 2.5mm X 6.3mm to match Peco plain track. Some people use 169 which is 2.0mm but i find that a little thin. To economise I only glue the strips (evostick) to alternate sleepers, making sure there is 1 either side of the point tie bar and 1 at the end of each point road. When the points are ballasted material goes under the aternate sleepers and keep them level. Good day at Daventry show yesterday, out at TAD-Rail at Wing next week and Colchester on the 25th.

Yes I agree a slight curve seems to make such a difference Rgds Andrew

Hello Don Yes it does seem a lot but is basically a run-round, with a couple of sidings and a small bay, and then a couple of lines into the Locomotive works. Hopefully once it is all ballasted in with building etc it will not appear to be so crowded. It is a similar amount of track to Kimbolton and that turned out OK Rgds Andrew

That's my sort of dog - dosen't require food or walkies (unlike some peoples!) Rgds Andrew

At last! All the track has been laid (just a few isolating sections to cut once the track power is all connected) The wiring, on the other hand, has some way to go! Busy month coming up, SHLR will be at Daventry Show 04 October Tad-Rail, Wing on 11 October Colchester Shpw 25 October Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Wow where did that month go? Have been a tied up with other things, but have managed to get the basic trackwork cut and laid out. Now will start the wiring (droppers etc) and replacement sleepers at isolating sections/baseboard joins. Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Yes diagonal bracing makes all the difference. Here's a baseboard I have made for the Slim Gauge Circle On30 modular group. While it is a simple concept - a trestle bridge across a creek, because the top surface is in 2 pieces it needs an "underboard" to give it rigidity It was quite flimsy until the diagonals were added then it stiffen right up. Rgds Andrew

Hello Don. Unfortunately my "workshop" is a covered car port area and last thing it is is flat or horizontal! My workbench is a piece of 25mm thick ply, supported on a couple of saw horses, which i, naively, thought would not warp. Wrong! The good thing with my battleship style of construction is that, once built, it will not warp further, so any irregularities can be overcome with some packing or the use of a surform to get it to line up. Rgds Andrew

Hi. Building the final Great Barford baseboard. One concern I have is trying to make sure everything is straight and level, especially when dealing with longer boards (the Great Barford boards are 5 ft long). I managed to find a 2 metre steel rectangular section tube from B&Q that I use as a level when clamping parts of the build together. While it will flex if you really try and bend it, it is ideal for a bit of gentle "clamping" Here we can see the central "spine" clamped up while the glue sets. Here is the whole structure loosely assembled with clamps prior to glue/screws to make sure everthing fits Rgds Andrew

Added the basic scenery to the embankment behind the works. Tried adding sifted sawdust to the Sculpamold mix to give a more textured surface. The usual mix is 2 units of Sculptamold to 1 of water. I added 1 of sawdust and increased the water to 1.5 (I use the tops off spray cans as a measure, seems to work out about right to apply the mix while it is still workable). Natural Sculpamold can give too smooth a surface, which is fine in certain circumstances but otherwise needs covering with some form of textured finish (scatter, stacic grass etc) Once this dries we shall see what it looks like Rgds Andrew Jones luton MRC

Work continues on the first of the Great Barford boards. The back plate has been added and a contour board to try and disguise the entrance from the sector plate Hopefully with the buildings and details added the eye will be drawn to that rather than the train. I mark out all the track positions etc full size on the board. Howevere once you have laid cork sheet the details disappear, so I make a tracing on greaseproof paper that I can then lay over the cork and mark out the positions of buildings, points etc The contour board has been built up to represent a small bank, with insulation foam. Once the glue has dried it will be covered in Sculptamold to give the final surface. It will have a brick retaining wall at the bottom. a hedge along the top and bushes etc to help hide the trains. I have used a piece of flexible plywood to to cover the right angle corner. Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

After a good show at Basildon with Questa, its back to the SHLR this week as I have agreed to display at the CMRA Modellers Day in Watford this Saturday and waffle on about layout design etc. I have been working on the first of the Great Barford boards which will link with the existing layout via a connection off the end of the sector plate. I have a removebale stop fitted to the sector plate when it is not being used as a through road. The first piece of track is now laid so the Great Barford boards can eb worked on without having to be link to the existing layout. Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Ah yes, I saw that for sale at Kettering - I really like micro layouts, which SHLR sort of started out as before its growth spurts! I do like your Planet conversion of the Atlas switcher - I have one in my "to do" box. I though the GCR show was good, bigger than I expected - the only thing that, in opinion, was jarring was the racket from the 2 tinplate terrors in the corner of the tent - I felt sorry for Netherwood Sidings - they faced the noise and that drowned out their DCC loco's. Rgds Andrew

Thanks Dava. Which layout were you on? Rgds Andrew

Hello, not a lot of progress on the SHLR, as I have been working on QUESTA after its 3 day show at Quorn on the GCR (did you go, what did you think?) ready to go to Basildon for 2 days this weekend. The layout performed well running for 3 days, with only 1 point motor playing up (it was very hot in the tent!). One problem I did encounter was that my method of storing and transporting locomotives was not really acceptable, as I had a lot of minor repairs to undertake (broken steps etc) when I got back. The On30 loco's have a lot of detail that is quite delicate (even on the brass loco's) so I have tried to cut down the amount of handling that happens during operating by the use of separate engine cassettes. Also, because of the overhang it is sometimes difficult to ensure that all the wheels are on the track, which is compounded as virtually all the loco's have tenders. To reduce the handling to a minimum I have come up with the following storage boxes (I am sure these are not original but I have not seen anything similar). It is common to see the nice folding top boxes, but they suffer the same problem in that you have to lift the loco out to place it on the track and v.v. The idea is that the loco can be driven straight off the engine cassette into its storage box. Here is a general view of one of the boxes with the foam insulation which stops the loco moving around (if anyone has a better way of cutting foam I would be interested to hear it). Here is the loco on the engine cassette ready to go into the box. It is driven in until the tender meets the end piece. Then the "door" is inserted which holds the front of the loco in place. Then the top is added, with foam blocks that hold everything in place. The cassettes are made for a particular locomotive type, and labelled up so that I know which is which. They have been relatively cheap to make, the only thing I had to buy was the aluminimum strip which worked out about 1.50 per storage box and the bolt and wing nut to hold the top on, which will be another 60p or so. The wood is bits of ply offcuts from the layout construction (I never throw anything away!). I will see how they go this weekend, and will probably do something similar for the O gauge loco's on the SHLR Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Here's a quick shot with the backscene painted and the track ballasted. There is a cardboard mock-up of the cow shed and a couple of the excellent Duncan Model cows. Next up will be, once I have built the cow shed and got it into position, an application of static grass, then the trees etc. Also managed to get the first of the Great Barford boards ready for final assembly Away from tomorrow at the Chatham show and then the Great Central/SVMRC show the following weekend, so not a lot will be done! Rgds Andrew

Hello Don. Yes that sounds similar to the result we are working towards on the Club layout for the Tortoises mounted underneath. We have a wizz carpenter and he has made some very neat brackets to hold the Tortoise under the layout, then we are using a drive from the black wire mount to operate a wire in tube - much as you have. Only theory though at the moment, track laying has not quite got to that bit yet. Rgds Andrew