Crewlisle

All so called modelling 'experts' look away now! 1. Track is cleaned with the good old reliable Peco track rubber. 2. After track cleaning with Peco rubber, fine grade abrasive card is folded & with light pressure on the movable point blades, pulled through the point blades from the frog end of the point. The track is then vacuumed with a specially made attachment made from two toothbrush heads attached to the vacuum cleaner hose to remove dust & particles left behind when using the track rubber. Then the surface of a specially made pad is doused in 'Track Magic' & rubbed over the track. 3. All 29 Peco points only rely on electrical continuity between the stock rail & movable blade with no polarity switches. I know, I can hear some of you now saying 'It is not reliable for DCC'. The number of failures I have had over 47 years of operation (12 years with DCC!) I can count on one hand! To ensure this after track cleaning, cotton buds are dipped in 'Track Magic' & then dragged from the frog end of the point through the stock rail/movable rail. It is surprising how much 'gunge' is removed. Point solenoids & accessory switches are squirted with 'Servisol Super 10' (a recognised switch cleaner) & activated a few times. Before exhibitions or when not used for sometime, all points, accessory switches & live diamond are also checked out for isolation/conductivity with a reliable multimeter. Peter

24/11/21 1. All my track is curved where it passes over the baseboard joints so it would have been unwise to use the standard method of soldering the ends of the track to copper clad Paxolin or screw heads at the baseboard edges due to the track having to be cut at very shallow angles ‑ especially running trains at scale speeds of up to 90mph on the WCML! The slightest misalignment would be disastrous. There are two methods which can be used to connect baseboards securely. That is with butt hinges or dowels/bolts. I prefer cast butt hinges for the reasons below. Enter 'Crewlisle' to see track plan online. 2. Perhaps the easier method is to use cast steel or brass hinges. Don't rely on these to support the weight of the boards but only for accurate alignment. In turn, push each board together making sure that the tops are level & screw each pair of hinges to edges of the two boards. The cast hinges have accurate hinge pins which when replaced with removable pins keep the boards accurately aligned. I use 25mm cast brass hinges & when the pins have been punched out I can use a short removable length of 1.5mm steel rod. The cheap ordinary pressed out hinges have too much play in them. 3. After roughly drawing my track plan on the baseboards, I glued & laid wide sections of 2mm polystyrene wall insulation secured with Evostik Resin W as the track ballast base. 2mm cork was much too expensive at the time! Templates of any points crossing baseboard joints were cut from the 2mm polystyrene, stuck to the underside of the points & pinned them in their approximate position. Lengths of track were then bent to fit over the baseboard joints &/or connected to the points with nickel silver rail joiners, pinned & adjusting track or points to provide smooth curves. Ensure the track is 'set' in position, does not try to spring back straight & that any track joints start at least 150mm before you start your curve. Cut the polystyrene to the edge of the sleepers to allow for track ballasting. The Evostik Resin W is easily scraped off the baseboard. Don't worry about laying track or points over the baseboard joints, I will deal with that next. 4. The foam was laid but not stuck 80mm either side of the baseboard joint. The track was cut approximately 80mm each side of the baseboard joint with a razor saw or small cutting disc, making sure there is no 'spring' in the track when cut and the short section lifted out and reinforced with thin card on the underside & ballasted. The rail ends of this section were carefully filed, nickel silver rail connectors soldered to one end and sleeper chairs cut at the other end to allow the fitting of sliding standard nickel silver rail joiners to adjacent track. This allowed accurate and reliable track alignment & electrical continuity every time by having the track continuously joined with normal nickel silver rail connectors. As the adverts say, "You cannot see the join!". After completing the track, the track will have additional strength when you glue your ballast down. 5. I have been exhibiting for over 30 years & have had no trouble with this method of connection when having to dismantle/assemble the layout for exhibitions. I have 1 point on the high level & a pair of crossover points on the mid level WCML fitted across baseboard joints in the same way. None of the points have had to be cut as they are joined in the same way as the normal track. See photo of underside of a point. Peco point motors are clipped to the point tie bar with electrical connections via a DIN plug.

Brian, On Page 3 of this forum, look at 'Crewlisle - From Baseboards to DCC & Overhead Catenary'. The dates of my comments are April 29 (2 posts), May 4th,19th, 20th & July 2nd. I am sure some of them will answer your query. If not ask away! Enter 'Crewlisle' on line & you will get lots of photos, plans, advice & comments. Peter

Jonny, May I suggest you look at my three comments in Iainbain1491 post 'Frustrated beginner requiring help with point wiring' dated 15/9, 24/9 & especially 29/9. As you suggested, it probably would be better having a separate bus wire, together with a CDU, to power your point motors. I have never considered powering point motors from my standard track bus which is obviously wired directly into my Lenz LZV 100 Command/Power Station & is used solely to provide control to only the locos. Peter

Iain, With reference to my previous posts, I think I may have a suggestion to help your search for a solution to your problem. Over the years, many modellers wanted Peco to improve their track/points to look more realistic. They have done this by introducing Code 75 track/points. As I have stated many times & in this post that I cannot recall ever having any shorts on my electro frog points with any locos or stock passing over them. And then I looked at your two photos. The right hand photo shows an old style electro frog point, the same as the 29 electro frog points fitted on my layout. Now look at the left hand photo of the new style electro frog point, especially the gap between the stock rail & switch blade & rail gaps at the frog. The gap on my electro frogs is 3mm; those on the 'new' design look to be about 2mm hence the reason for having to fit switches. Because of the larger gaps on my points is the reason I have not had any shorts (except by accidents) when passing over them. I don't know if Peco have reduced the gaps on their Code 100 track/points. The possible reason for your problems is dirty solenoid coils & current tracking across your switch terminals. When setting my own layout up after lengthy storage, beside physical track cleaning I also checked electrical contacts with a multimeter. I made some surprise discoveries! When checking the point motor & the Peco PL10 polarity switches that change the track polarity on my live diamond, I was getting quite a high reading. I reduced the readings to almost zero after: 1. Cleaning between the point blades, small tabs under the switch rails & the track with a Peco track rubber & 'Track Magic'. It is surprising the amount of dirt which accumulates. 2. Cleaning the solenoids, point tie bar & PL10 polarity switch with 'Servisol Super 10'. Do the same with your micro switches on your points then activate the points by hand to work the 'Servisol' into the switch/solenoid. 'Servisol Super 10' is a recognised electrical switch/solenoid cleaner & does exactly what it says on the can! It can also be used on potentiometers to avoid 'crackling/interference' on guitars & other electrical equipment. Every so often I take the back off my LH90 throttles & give the potentiometer a good squirt. Yes it is a lot of work, but if you are having problems that is what is required but never use WD40! Peter

For the past couple of days I have noticed that when I open the forum home page, it starts off filling my screen but then slowly reduces in height by about 15%, leaving a white space at the top of the page. It is a vertical reduction only and the width remains the same. This never used to happen and I am wondering whether anyone knows the cause and how to stop it? I am using Firefox on Windows 10 but it also does it in Edge. I have pop ups blocked but this still happened when I turned it off. Does anybody have any ideas on how to allow the page to fill my screen again without the white space at the top? Maximising does not do it.

Since I wrote my comments on 15/9 I expected various comments from other contributors pointing out that some of my statements were probably poor practice - I was not disappointed! That is their opinion, but these are my actual experiences since starting my 00 gauge layout 'Crewlisle' 47 years ago. As the saying goes, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!' The basic layout design has not changed because it works & has entertained at exhibitions for the last 38 years! Google 'Crewlisle' to see the track plan on line. 1. Since starting in the mid 70's, my stock has increased to 53 locos (11 with sound) including steam, diesels, HST, Midland Pullman, APT & classes 85, 86 & 87 from various manufacturers ie, Mainline, Airfix, Lima, Hornby & Bachmann & over 200 items of rolling stock. There is no fiddle yard (less points to worry about for shorts, etc.) but I have 14 space saving cassettes on a rack under the baseboard, each of which can be slotted into the reversing loop inside the operating well. The reversing loop leaves the 'down' main (inside track), opposite the coaling stage, down through the operating well, under the bottom & right hand baseboards & joins the 'up' main under the coaling stage. These cassettes are emptied/refilled from the stock boxes as required. For longer trains, 2 expresses (each consisting of 1 loco + 6 coaches) can be held on the other section of the reversing loop in addition to the cassette for shorter trains. 2. The last point I fitted was about 15 years ago, just before converting to DCC. It must have been an original 'basic' Peco Code 100 Electrofrog as this was before the design was changed with additional breaks in the switch blades & additional wiring between the frog, stock & switch rails. So all 29 of my Electrofrogs & converted Insulfrogs have been fitted with the power supply at the heel end + just nylon IRJs as required at the frog end. I cannot recall any incidents where loco wheels have shorted out on a point between the stock rail & switch rail. My only shorts on the layout have been caused by knocking over stock, not aligning wheels when putting on track or dropping a metal object across the track! I hope that Iain1491 has managed to fix his problem. 3. Fortunately after 38 years of exhibiting, both myself & the layout are in good health! Even with my other 4 helpers the stock boxes, baseboards, lights, etc have got heavier at each outing! I hope it stays that way, as in November 2022 'Crewlisle' will be exhibited at the Warley NEC show for the 6th & final time. What better high to finish exhibiting a layout than at the NEC? Peter

Iain, I have started a history of my 47 year old layout called 'Crewlisle - From Baseboards to DCC & Overhead Catenary' as I have contravened many of the accepted 'taboos' in layout construction, wiring & DCC. These have appeared in the 'Layout & Track Design' & 'Modelling Help & Questions' forums. I will be soon starting one in this forum. There are photos & track plan on line to show that 'Crewlisle' is not just a basic simple layout! Many things in DCC are made over complicated by many contributors to answer modellers questions. Many are put off DCC because all the 'gizmos' that are quoted as 'necessary' to run a DCC layout. I think this has happened to you. My layout was started 47 years ago & I converted to DCC 12 years ago using the Lenz LZV100 Command/Power Station together with a LH90 Throttle set. It has worked perfectly with very few minor problems. DCC can be as complicated or simple as you want it to be & I cannot add to any of the suggestions to solve your problem. I have a total of 29 Peco old style Electrofrog points. About half are converted from Insulfrogs. 7 of them are mechanically operated from under the baseboard at the edge of the inside of the operating well by simple operating arms made from 1.5 mm steel wire. The remaining 22 are controlled by simple old style Peco small cylindrical solenoids & a handful of the newer PL10 solenoids via a CDU. None are fitted with polarity switches, frog juicers, accessory decoders, uni-frogs, rail-bonding or any other DCC 'gizmos'. The only polarity switch on the whole of my layout is for my converted Peco Insulfrog diamond to 'live frog', polarity of which is switched by the point motor.' And how are the electrical points operated? By the simple use of that basic method of using Dymo tape as the diagrammatic track plan & Peco bifurcated rivets for each route. The bifurcated rivets are pushed through the track plan & trap the relevant solenoid wire on the underside by opening them out. I have three of these small panels inside one end of the operating well. As you look at the diagram, the actual track is in front of you! To set a route, all you do is touch the head of the route rivets with the other wire of the solenoid circuit & the points change instantly or use the Peco rivets & probe (PL17 & PL18). Some of the point motors are linked mechanically to PL10 Peco accessory switches to operate colour light feathers or the lights themselves. Peter

I always ask myself why do modellers waste money on things that just cost a little time & very little money to make? Whilst the Ratio signal or point control kit 'does what it says on the tin', if you have a lot of polnts or signals to control, the £4.15 per unit soon adds up. On my DCC layout 'Crewlisle' I have 29 live frog points (25 operated by standard Peco solenoids with no polarity switches or frog juicers) the other 4 operated by the method described below along with 5 multi-arm Ratio semaphore signals from the inside of the operating well. All I use are lengths of 1.5mm steel rods bent as cranks to operate the individual arms or points from the underside of baseboards. Pull/Push for the points as the ends go through the point tie bar; turn for the signals as there are small cranks soldered to the ends under the signals. Wooden blocks or pieces of ply are glued to underside of baseboard as supports. I also have a 7 doll gantry at the entrance to the terminus, but operated by 'big hand from the sky'! I will be at Warley in November (fingers crossed). Come across & have a close look how effective & simple it is. And cheap! Peter

With reference to the track plan of my 00 gauge layout Crewlisle below, the gradients are as follows: Terminus up/down to mainline. 1:38. Most larger locos can stop & start 6 coach expresses on their way up to the terminus. Mainline down to reversing loop/cartridge exchange system (my fiddle yard) in operating well. 1.28 No problem as most traffic goes down but with the occasional 'up' it requires a gentle 'big hand from the sky' banker. Reversing loop up to up-mainline from under right hand baseboard. 1:33 Joins the up mainline under the coaling stage. All trains have no problem going up as I have removed most of the weights from the coaches. My trains are usually 6 coach expresses, APT or Blue Pullman or about 1400mm long freight trains (the length of my cartridges in the operating well}. Many of the locos have added lead weight to improve traction. I tried DCC Concepts 'Power Base' but when the magnets were added under the loco (no lead weights!) I found trouble when trying to test the locos on their rolling road. The magnets kept pulling the rollers off the track! Track radius does not seem to be a problem. My track radius varies from 450mm to 800mm. May I suggest you forget about a fiddle yard, use the cassette system like mine. You can fit it If you have an operating well or edge of your baseboard & dispense with any gradients. If you want a copy of the construction of my cassettes, let me know. Peter

There are a total of 14 removable pieces of track where the track crosses baseboard joints. These range from short sections of plain straight track to a curved section of plain track approximately 450mm long. They are joined as described in the penultimate paragraphs of my May 19 post. Three of these have points. One of these is the main line trailing cross over across the right hand baseboard/bottom baseboard joint. The photo shows the underside & how it is wired with a single DIN plug. On all my cross-baseboard electrical connections I use a mixture of DIN plugs for points, single & double pole phono plugs or various size single jack plugs for other electrical connections.

Kevin, After I started the post on the planning, baseboards & laying the track in 'Track & Layout Design' I started to realise that if someone is looking for answers on any aspect of the layout that it would be better under the relevant forum as quoted in the first paragraph of this post. It was a question of damned if did or damned if I didn't. Still, I hope it will answer some modeller's questions, even if some are contrary to current thinking! Peter,

Crewlisle is due to appear at Warley this year (hopefully) for its last show so I thought I could pass on some tips on how to build a DCC layout that works without spending a fortune on all the new gadgets you can buy for DCC. I have started doing it all under the 'Track & Layout Design' forum but have since decided it would be more informative under the three main forums, ie 'Track & Layout Design', 'Modelling Questions, Help & Tips' & 'DCC Help & Questions' but under the same title as this post. The 'Crewlisle' track diagram is at the head of my first post in 'Track Layout & Design' with a smaller one at the end of my first post showing hidden tracks & points in the top left hand corner. 1. Pointwork Installation: The layout was started 47 years ago so the majority of my points are a mixture of old style Peco Insulfrog & Electrofrogs clipped to the underside of the point. After a while it was noticed that the plastic frog on the Insulfrog points & short diamond crossing were wearing down so the old Insulfrogs have been converted to old style live frogs. The plastic frogs were carefully dug out & replaced with a hand crafted brass one, secured in position with a blob of superglue & carefully filed to the profile of the frog/rails. See below about the short Insulfrog diamond. See photo of modified point at end of post. 2. Pointwork Control: There are a total of 29 points. 7 of them are mechanically operated from under the baseboard inside the operating well by simple operating arms made from 1.5 mm steel wire. The remaining 22 are controlled by simple old style Peco small cylindrical solenoids & a handful of the newer PL10 solenoids via a CDU. None are fitted with polarity switches, frog juicers, accessory decoders, uni-frogs or any other DCC 'gizmos'. And how are they operated? By the simple use of that basic method of using Dymo tape as the diagrammatic track plan & Peco bifurcated rivets for each route. The bifurcated rivets are pushed through the track plan & trap the relevant solenoid wire on the underside by opening them out. I have three of these small panels inside one end of the operating well. As you look at the diagram, the actual track is in front of you! The one in the photo below is looking at the terminus. To set a route, all you do is touch the head of the route rivets with the other wire of the solenoid circuit & the points change instantly or use the Peco rivets & probe (PL17 & PL18). Some of the point motors are linked mechanically to PL10 Peco accessory switches to operate colour light feathers or the lights themselves. 3. Live Diamond on Down Line From Terminus: This is the only polarity switch on the whole layout which automatically changes the polarity of the diamond when the point is selected for the line down from the terminus to join the double track main line at right hand side of track plan. Also, the point motor automatically activates a colour light signal to double orange on the down line from the terminus. It controls the polarity switching for this diamond & is converted from an Insulfrog Diamond. Quite a bit of work was required. Live frog short diamond crossings were not available at the time. The modification was made about 25 years ago when the layout was simple DC analogue control & after many years of use the frogs were being damaged with heavy Wrenn type locos. Remove the diamond, turn it over & remove all the embedded wires to make all the rails isolated from each other. Then remove the plastic frogs & small insulating plastic insulators from the rails & replace them with solder or hand made brass pieces as described above under 'Pointwork Installation'. Solder new wires to each rail & wire them up as shown in the diagram below. The dotted green line shows which wires to join together. When wired up it is surprising how much simpler it is in DCC than analogue! The two Peco PL13 accessory switches are mounted together as shown in the wiring diagram. In the diagram the switches are mounted as shown with the operating pin vertically through the middle. The pin moves sideways when the point motor is activated changing the polarity as required You can easily follow how the current flows in the photo & are operated by a 1.5mm steel wire mechanical connection to the point motor. When replacing the diamond, ensure that all 8 rails are isolated from the adjacent tracks with insulated rail joiners. 4. Cleaning Track & Maintenance on Point Motors: All so called modelling 'experts' look away now! Track is cleaned with the good old reliable Peco track rubber. After track cleaning, fine grade abrasive card is folded & with light pressure on the movable blade, pulled through the point blades from the frog end of the point. The track is vacuumed with a specially made attachment made from two toothbrush heads attached to the vacuum cleaner hose to remove dust & particles left behind when using the track rubber. Then a specially made pad is doused in meths & rubbed over the track. All points only rely on electrical continuity between the stock rail & movable blade. I know, I can hear some of you now saying 'It is not reliable for DCC'. The number of failures I have had over many years I can count on one hand! To ensure this after track cleaning, cotton buds are dipped in 'Track Magic' & then dragged from the frog end of the point through the stock rail/movable rail. It is surprising how much 'gunge' is removed. Point solenoids & accessory switches are squirted with 'Servisol Super 10' & activated a few times. Before exhibitions or when not used for sometime, all points, accessory switches & live diamond are also checked out for isolation/conductivity with a reliable multimeter.

Robin, My apologies. I was also thinking about something else at the time! I meant the standard Peco nickel silver rail joiners. Just use a small screwdriver to push them on or off the adjacent rail. Peter

Laying the Track I decided on Peco Code 100 track as it is robust, realistic & ideal for the average layout/model. The first thing I did was to send away for a set of Peco polnt paper templates. Now you can download them. I roughly sketched the layout on the baseboard, ignoring the baseboard joints as I had worked out how to lay track & points over the joints. Today, many modellers use the 'Any Rail' or 'Templot' track designing aid. When I did mine all those years ago 'Any Rail' was not around & then it literally meant any old rail! All my track is curved where it passes over the baseboard joints so it would have been unwise to use the standard method of soldering the ends of the track to copper clad Paxolin or screw heads at the baseboard edges due to the track having to be cut at very shallow angles ‑ especially running trains at realistic speeds on the WCML! The slightest misalignment would be disastrous. Now I had an idea where the track would go, I glued & laid wide sections of 2mm polystyrene wall insulation as the track ballast base. 2mm cork was much too expensive at the time! After making numerous copies of the templates, i pinned them in their approximate position. Lengths of track were then bent to fit between them, pinned & adjusting track or points as required. Ensure the track is 'set' in position & does not try to spring back straight. Ensure that any track joints start at least 150mm before you start your curve. Don't worry about laying track or points over the baseboard joints, i will deal with that next. The foam was not stuck 80mm either side of the baseboard joint. The track was cut 80mm each side of the baseboard joint with a razor saw or small cutting disc and the short section lifted out and reinforced with thin card on the underside & ballasted. The rail ends of this section were carefully filed, rail connectors soldered to one end and sleeper chairs cut at the other end to allow the fitting of sliding fish plates. This allowed accurate and reliable track alignment & electrical continuity every time by having the track continuously joined with normal rail connectors. As the adverts say, "You cannot see the join!". After completing your lengths of track, the track will have additional strength when you glue your ballast down. I have been exhibiting for over 30 years & have had no trouble with this method of connection when having to dismantle/assemble the layout for exhibitions. I even have three points on the high level & a pair of crossover points on the mid level WCML fitted across baseboard joints in the same way. None of the points have had to be cut as they are joined in the same way as the normal track. When I started this post I was going to put all the different features I used on the layout in this forum. Contrary to the last paragraph of my last post, I have now decided to keep specific track problems in this forum but put the electrics, points & catenary under 'Modelling Questions, Help & Tips' & DCC under 'DCC Help & Questions'. It will help any modellers to find out how I did things which to the 'experts' should not work! For example, there is only one polarity switch on the whole layout & none on any of my 29 points, with some of them converted to electrofrogs from insulfrogs. Peter

Planning the Layout When I decided on the space I had for a layout the next problem was how to fit in all the features I wanted. I did my train spotting in the 1950's when I lived at Market Harborough on the Midland Mainline with regular visits to Rugby for the WCML or Peterborough for the ECML. No contest; I settled for the WCML with locos seen from the 1950s & finishing with the APT, hence the name combination. I wanted the following: 1. Terminus (Crewlisle Midland) for 6 coach expresses. 2. Double track main line with through station (Crewlisle Exchange). Down is anti-clockwise; Up is clockwise 3. Steam & diesel sheds with turntable. 4. Coach & wagon sidings. 5. With a small space & wanting a lot of stock & locos, a fiddle yard is a must but where to put it? I decided on a series of cassettes inside the operating well regularly replenished from stock boxes. Details of my cassette storage system & how to build it appeared in the forum 'Preferred Cassette Construction' (currently on Page 2 of the 'Layout & Track Design' section). All this would be impossible on a single level so I had to make a high level with acceptable gradients. Many locos have added weight & most coaches have had weight removed to manage the gradients. The relevant gradients are: Terminus down to mainline. 1:38. Mainline down to reversing loop/cartridge exchange system. 1.28 (No problem as most traffic goes down but with the occasional 'up' it requires a gentle 'big hand from the sky banker). Reversing loop up to up-mainline. 1:33 The reversing loop/cartridge exchange system leaves the down-main (see part section of top left hand corner of plan below), goes down the inside of the operating well, under the right hand baseboard, rising up under the bottom baseboard to join the up-main under the coaling plant. To support the reversing loop under the right hand baseboard, 5 in number U shaped 12mm thick plywood supports were made & glued & screwed to the baseboard framework. When dry, the baseboard stiffeners were cut away in way of the brackets & a 6mm thick plywood track support fit a narrow 6mm plywood strip supported to the main boards by aluminium brackets. In my next post I will describe how I laid the track & points, even across baseboard joints without soldering with up to100 mph running & no derailments! Also, even with DCC & 29 points I only have one polarity switch (nothing on any of my point motors!) & no other DCC ‘gizmos’ on the whole of the layout. Peter Note: The single line joining at the top is the relief line from 'Crewlisle Exchange' on the mainline. The single line on the left is the top of the reversing loop joining the up-mainline,

One thing I forgot was actually aligning & connecting the baseboards together. There are two methods used either with butt hinges or dowels/bolts. When using nuts & bolts, metal dowels in tubes are used for the accurate alignment & the nuts/bolts hold the boards together. Perhaps the easier method is to use cast steel or brass hinges. In turn, push each board together making sure that the tops are level & screw each pair of hinges to the edges of the two boards. The cast hinges have accurate hinge pins which when replaced with removable pins keep the boards accurately aligned. The cheap ordinary pressed out hinges have too much play in them. Don't rely on these to support the weight of the boards but only for accurate alignment. Peter

My 00 gauge DCC layout Crewlisle has been stored in my spare bedroom for the last 18 months & I am just starting to get it ready for its last exhibition at Warley this November (hopefully!). I am the first to admit that Crewlisle is not the most detailed layout but it works & entertains at exhibitions. According to many modelling experts, my layout should not be running at all due to the way I have done things or not fitted this or that! I thought now is the time to start a forum & discussion as I start checking things out for Warley, together with photos where appropriate & why I have done things a certain way starting with the baseboards. The overall size of the layout is 2.6M x 2.3M. As you can see from the track plan, I have 5 different sized baseboards. With reference to the bottom 'short' board, I did not make a mistake in my measurements. It is so the bedroom door can open! This is hinged & is a single piece of suitably stiffened12mm chipboard to allow access to the airing cupboard & built in wardrobe. Each board framework is made up of 50 x 25 planed softwood. The outside framework of each board was constructed first with each corner dovetail jointed & screwed. All other stiffeners are at 300mm centres at right angles to each other. On the longitudinal centre stiffeners on the two 600mm (approx) wide boards, the transverse intermediate stiffeners have cross halving joints but are only butted & screwed to the inside of the outside framework to avoid weakening the boards main strength. They were dry assembled on my garage floor by just screwing & using loose battens checked for twist in both planes. After rectifying a couple of minor problems they were disassembled, then all joints were glued & screwed & checked again for twist. Any problems, a light tap with a hammer on the still-wet joints ensured that when they dried they would be strong & square. If you are worried about your woodworking skills, you can always add small wooden blocks at the joints to strengthen them. Now for the surface. I wanted a soft material to easily accept track pins & for cutting holes. What did I use? Experts look away now, but none other than the oft derided 'no-no' material 15mm Sundela Softboard glued & secured to the frameworks with 30mm clout nails. The wood glue I used for the surface & framework was the good old reliable Evostik Resin W. I can hear the experts saying, "That won't last long before it all distorts or sags!" How about 47 years! They are still as flat & strong as when they were built all those years ago & have been dismantled/transported to 24 exhibitions. As I progress the checking of 'Crewlisle', I will give you details of what & why I did things some of you will be horrified at. But in the words of the great singer & railway modeller Frank Sinatra himself 'I Did It My Way' & it works! Peter

Some decoder manufacturers include 'sleeves' to fit over the decoders. Others say to ensure that there is nothing covering the decoder to ensure that there is 'movement of air' across the decoder to keep it cool. Which advice is best? Peter

Al, First photo shows the general arrangement of the cassette rack. This photo was taken about 30 years ago. I have since moved it to under the removable section of the reversing loop in the operating well. Second photo is a general view of one end. Most of the racks are reversible. Remember, if you make them reversible with a plug at each end check you reverse the wiring at each end as well. Last photo shows the underside of each end. If you look at the hole you will notice that the hole in the nut is off centre because the captive nut can move about 4mm each side to align the track before tightening the screw. See cross section of end of cassette in my original post.

As you probably all realise is that you can get a lot of trains in a small space using removable cassettes but many of them in this forum seem to be over engineered & use aluminium angle which easily tarnishes. If you look at the track plan of my 8'6" x 7'6" DCC layout 'Crewlisle' on Google & associated photos, you will notice in the operating well is the 'Reversing Loop & Cartridge Exchange System'. My cassettes/cartridges are 4'6" long each holding, for example, a Class 47 or Black 5 with 10 wagons or 4 coaches. Their construction is detailed in the attachments below. There are 14 complete trains on a rack immediately below the reversing loop track & lifted into position as required. All my additional locos/stock are kept in their storage boxes & swapped around as required. In addition to the racks, the reversing loop can hold two 6 coach expresses. I have made two additional 6ft long cassettes using plastic cable trunking to hold a Pacific or Class 50 with 6 coaches, Blue Pullman or HST. They are not connected electrically or have track in them but are aligned at the left hand end only with the excess length resting on the reversing loop & poking under the right hand baseboard. They are gently pushed onto/off the rails before gaining electrical control. Obviously they are removed/replaced & stored as required. The article appeared in one of the railway modelling magazines about 10 years ago. Since the article was written, I now have a total of 53 locos, Bachmann Blue Pullman, APT, HST, 126 wagons & 72 passenger/parcel coaches. The electrical & mechanical alignment at the ends might appear basic & archaic but it has worked faultlessly since built. Peter CASSETTE - DCC.doc

Thanks for your replies. There's not a problem, but the layout has not been used for some time so I am slowly getting the layout ready for Warley in November. Hopefully! I remember squirting the potentiometer some years ago & it never did any harm! Peter

Is it OK to open up the handset & spray the inside & central potentiometer with Servisol 10? Peter

Thankyou both for your replies which confirmed what I was thinking.