NorthHighlander

A somewhat frustrating point has been reached Here's the problem. In order to make the baseboards a) a manageable size b') have as few irregular or curved sides as possible c) fit each other precisely, I drew what I thought would be suitable shapes on the original 1:2500 OS plan. However, when I get to the actual model, I realise that, to avoid the point switches and crossings on what is a very tight track layout, the planned baseboard edges run through one or more switches or crossings, or don't provide enough clearance between tracks so that a converging pair of tracks would be touching the baseboard edge - not a clever idea. The other problem is that my original idea to use watered down PVA to stick the templates (printed on cheap 80gsm paper) was a VERY BAD IDEA. The water expanded the templates making alignment well nigh impossible. Owen's recommendation to use kiddy glue has been much more successful. Even then, laying the templates on the third board by aligning the first set to the edge of the ply sheet has resulted in misalignment further into the sheet. The lesson is simple: don't try to reinvent something that someone else (in this case Martin Wynne of Templot and other modellers who have gone before me) have already spent time inventing. Trying to save wood has been a false economy and I may well start again (fortunately I didn't spend a great deal of money on Beech ply), this time using the datum marks that Templot already provides for alignment. Here's the problem: The gaps between the boards (remember these are only the tops) allow for the 6mm end members. I already trimmed around 6cms off board 1 (on the left) and attached it (A) to board 2 to provide clearance for the converging tracks. Now I find that board 1 is around 6mm too thin, and the track plan doesn't align from board 2 to the plan for board 3. The conclusion is that this is a disaster as it stands. Get it wrong at this stage and all the problems will multiply later on, so I shall Start Again. Lastly today... Chris from the Glevum Group has been in touch and offered some excellent advice, for which I thank him.

I'm in the great position of having the space to lay out 8 x 4 sheets of plywood and also lay out completed baseboard components and the even greater position of being able to 'come up for air' from the day's labours and spend the odd few minutes on the layout. In the mid morning break, I lined up all the templates on the curve of platform 2 (and near the edge of the board to minimise wastage) and spot glued the centre of each one to the board. Just before lunch, I finished off the remaining templates and let them dry until tea time, when I glued down the edges using a 50/100 pva water mix, rather than the whole template as I did earlier. By this evening the templates had dried with very little buckling and ready for the board to be cut out of the sheet. Another decision to be considered and made regards the dividing line between this board and the board which will ultimately hold the west sidings and cliff face. Originally, I had planned to divide the boards midway between the two tracks of platforms 1 and 2, but I came to wonder how the island platform between these two tracks would cover the divide. It would be impractical to have a separate platform to be laid after the baseboards are connected. A baseboard join up the centre of the platform would be silly. So, before cutting out this board, I made the late decision that the board join would be between the east face of the platform and the edge of the platform 2 track, and the join would be hidden from public view. With the 6mm width of the side member, the top sheet cut would be right up against the edge of the sleeper line. I've done it now, no going back! (Well, that isn't true, recutting a board is not a problem). I use this rather nice Exacta circular saw set to 9mm depth and with the 6mm sheet resting on a redundant piece of 12mm ply, the resulting cut is so neat, it needs very little cleaning up afterwards. The glued edge of the template helps to prevent splintering of the top edge. Having cut the second board, I then lined up the first board, allowing the 12mm gap where the end members will go to ensure that everything lines up. Straightaway I saw a problem with a notch in the second board that I might have to fill in with a small fillet. I originally planned the notch to be in the first board (shown by the green line at the top right corner of the first board). I will have to wait until the third board is cut to see if the track aligns over the notch. An ebay purchase of a Heljan Western and a couple of SR coaches arrived at lunchtime and I now have to find an excuse to run a Western out of Brighton - ok, here's the tale...it came up from Salisbury yesterday deputising for a failed West Country and, having stopped at 75A overnight is now returning to Salisbury on the morning's Plymouth train! Even putting this on the templates is exciting as it brings back so many memories of arriving for the morning's spotting just before the Plymouth was due to depart back in the early 1960s! The curve on platform 2 is exactly right! I can't wait to complete 34019 and have it lead the 11.00 Cardiff on its way! Incidentally, the Western is two minutes late departing, so an arriving Hornby 2BIL on the West Worthing is waiting at the home signal to cross over to platform 1...... ain't imagination a wonderful thing??!

Yes, Owen, a good idea to use a glue stick - I didn't think of it and if I had I might have wondered if it would adhere to the plywood...in the event this is only a temporary fix just to get the shape of the baseboard top for cutting but I will try your suggestion. When I get round to building the track I will be fixing the templates to a piece of substantial flat material with dry mount. Yes, the layout is P4, you mean there are OTHER gauges in 4mm?? (lol) Regards Tony

Today's post... The first decision in constructing the baseboard using the laminate method described to me by Glevum Group's Chris, is to decide, as in the diagram, whether to put the top sheet on top of the side members ('B) or to let it sit on a recess formed by the two side members laminated together (A). Chris' method is A, and although this might be obvious, I don't think it's that clear cut (no pun!). The traditional (and awful) method of 2x1 framing is usually to screw the top to it and up to the edges. This means that, where more than one board is involved which are to be separate for storage and transport but joined together for running sessions, the top sheets are butted together. If recessing the top sheet inside the side members, this means that the side members must have very square top edges for effective alignment. Of course, one reason for recessing the top sheet is that the side members provide a cleaner edge, much less prone to damage. I suspect that Chris will tell me that this arrangement also makes the whole assembly very much stronger. Given that the sheet material is only 6mm, it's not a difficult decision, the top sheet is recessed inside the outside side members and the surfaces are to be sanded for flatness and continuity. My experience is to use sanding sealer (applied in the open air!) and rub down when dry. I shall probably apply it to the hidden inner faces too. Ok, progress today.... but before I report, some lessons learnt from the first board. Firstly, you'll note from the first set of photos that the templates buckled a lot and whilst these are only positioning templates to get an idea of the board size for cutting, the templates distorted considerably. This is because I applied a 3 to 1 mix of water to pva glue to the board and positioned the templates over it. The paper (standard 80gsm copy paper) soaked it up like a sponge with unpredictable results. Probably a poor idea but cheap! Today's activity is to draw out and cut the second board top before applying the side members to the first board. The reason for this is that I don't trust my background shapes outlining the board positions and in the event I was right, as I needed to move the boundary of the first board backa few inches to align with a track joint in the centre of a crossover rather than at the approach joint, making for a better shape of the third board (yet to be measured). I compensated on the templates for the 6mm side member by drawing the absolute outside of the assembled board with a red line and a green line 6mm inboard. I cut out the board along the green line. I laid out the templates for the second very irregularly shaped board to provide minimum wastage on the sheet and instead of soaking the templates, put down a spot of glue and dipped my finger in the water to thin it and, holding the template in place, spot glued it in place at the edge or centre only. The template dried exactly in place with no distortion. Sorry if this sounds long winded, but with a long and complex track diagram, accurate alignment even at this early stage is essential. I am sure others will comment on how wrong I have been and suggest a much better method! Please comment if I write too much unnecessary detail or if this narrative is useful. Best regards Tony

Hi Owen.. many thanks for your good wishes. Whenever one embarks on a new layout, be ready for the long haul! The layout is P4, the loco fleet so far numbering 3 locos, with another 17 kits sitting on the shelf! I should declare my commercial interest in Acc+Ess as its founder, but 75A is very much my sons' and my own personal hobby. Yes, Acc+Ess Protocab fitted locos can work on dc or DCC but have to be controlled from an Acc+Ess Protocab controller for the moment. Today's progress on the layout is to realise that I hadn't had enough time with Chris to find out from him his baseboard building plan, so I have cut out the two side inner members for the first board (the buffer stop end of East sidings). I shall cut the inner members of the ends next and then the outer members of all four sides before laminating them and joining them together. Regards Tony Hagon

Hi Pete..Yes, we're in discussions with a potential distributor State-side... Tony Hagon Acc+Ess Ltd protocab.com

Stimulated by seeing the layout by Robin Whittle and the Glevum group at Scalefour North, I came home and dusted off the papers, maps, plans and photos built up over 30 years for the time when '75A' would come to life... that time, I have decided, has come! I was impressed by Chris' (??) baseboards. He took the time and trouble to describe to me the construction of the baseboards which he produced. He uses 6mm beech ply in two laminated layers to construct the edges of the board, the inner layer being recessed to take a single 6mm sheet for the trackbed. The resulting box is strengthened by intermediate members but no diagonals. Up to now I have used a geodesic plan based on 9mm plywood, but I have decided to give Chris' method a go for 75A. OK, so what's the plot? Well, Templot, actually. There's no way I could achieve the required diagram without it. Yes, it's a devil of a learning curve and I still only know about 1% of it, but for anything approaching realism, I can't imagine a simpler and more reliable way of planning such a complex track layout. I still think that Martin Wynne studied at Hogwarts! Unfortunately, copyright laws prevent me from showing the Ordnance Survey map (which I bought!!) at 1:2500 which shows the 1956 track plan in enough detail for effective use. I used it in Templot as a background image and am midway through version 3.0. Why version 3? Because I'm still learning! Templot is very flexible and you can go back and revise, correct and amend and that's what I've done. The templates are still far from perfect but they will be refined over time. I have attached the current track plan from Templot to show the extent of the layout. The baseboards (as currently envisaged) are shown in red outline. I say "currently envisaged" as these are very irregular shaped boards and joining them together is an important consideration for e.g. exhibitions. The location of track, point motors etc will have a dependency that results in the final shape. Not being a carpenter my results won't be nearly as neat as Chris'. As with Barrow Road, I hope to have the first two boards in place very soon and these (the East sidings) can provide some running without the other boards being finished. I have plenty of photos of 75A as it was. The problem is that I only have one of my own (I don't own the copyright for the others) and it isn't very good, having been taken in the snows of January 1963. However, to conclude this introductory, I attach photos of the first board top cut out from 6mm Far Eastern ply this weekend. The templates were only stuck on temporarily to determine the shape of the board and will be soaked off shortly. Using the templates to map out the shape of the board is better, I find, that relying on the background shapes that you can add to Templot. (btw I don't have any commercial connection to 85A!) Wiring? Not on 75A. It is being built not only as my own layout but also to demonstrate Acc+Ess Protocab in action. Visitors will be able to control locos from their own handsets at exhibitions so we hopefully won't be short of 'demonstrators'! Referring to my photo and the plot, the viewing position will be from the curved edge on the south west side of the plan. This is actually a very high roadway (Howard Place) from where the photo was taken looking down on the site. Brighton station was constructed on a shelf cut into the chalk hill and there is a sheer cliff face between the road and the railway. in 4mm this is around 350mm at its highest point so dictates the layout datum height for reasonable viewing. On the other hand, I might omit the cliff altogether! Viewing from the other (i.e. north east) side is less attractive as I plan to build the main line at some time in the future. You can see from the plan that the whole site as modelled is not that huge, and two fiddle yards (one disappearing under a bridge to the left of the layout and the other disappearing under the station canopy ) the overall length is around 30 feet and 6 feet at maximum width. Hopefully this will be an Exhibition Manager's delight to fill that awkward corner! When will it be finished, ready for display? There are very few buildings, except for the engine shed itself and the iconic water tower and three softening tanks that seem to appear in every photo ever taken of 75A! With no wiring and thus no need to insulate any of the points and crossings, a lot of time will be saved compared to my experiences with dc and DCC. There is a considerable quantity of track and some fiendish pointwork (scissors, 3 ways and several irregular slips). I'm planning to be ready to lay the underlay at around the time we have the induction charging mats ready for Acc+Ess Protocab, so that these will be incorporated in the layout, preferably within the underlay itself. I'll keep the forum updated on progress and welcome any comments, criticisms and suggestions!

Hello Robin I'm sorry that the Acc+Ess name has caused a search problem. I think that the name is now too well established but we'll certainly consider what you have said for the future and continue to review how much of a problem for us it might be. We're keen to release products as soon as possible, Robin, but we won't release anything until they have undertaken full testing to our satisfaction. The Protocab system is very detailed and each part of the system has to be tested by itself and in use with other components. Whenever we introduce a design enhancement or fix, we undergo detailed regression testing which is where we are currently. However, the light is getting bigger at the end of the tunnel, but, as they say, I hope it isn't another train going the other way! Meanwhile we're very interested in your experiences reported on here. Best regards Tony

Hello again Stuart and others on the forum To answer specific questions re Acc+Ess Protocab made here: We have selected the Android (version 4.0 and later) to run on smartphones and tablets to provide us with the sort of functions that provide for a range of driving capabilities from speed and direction through to full cab simulation. Version 4.0 provides for a number of networking features that simplifies set up/installation and security. The initial Locomotive Control Unit (0501) has been designed for a medium to large 4mm loco or small 7mm loco with a 1amp current limit driving a motor to the full 12volts. Although we've managed to take around 30% out of the footprint during development this would still be too large for 2mm, hence my apologies for posting here in error. The initial Protocab products will support speed and direction, with developments following to support lighting, sound and other auxiliary functions. The reduced power demands of 2mm over 4mm and certainly 7mm enables us to use a different set of components with a smaller footprint which we want to develop as soon as we can. The Acc+Ess Protocab architecture provides for up and down scaling (both in terms of the range of scales that we will support and upscaling in the number of locos that can be controlled) from our starting position. At the other end of the scale we also have the garden railway fans asking for a solution for their 10amps and more locomotives! At the moment we are testing the system to ensure reliability, electromagnetic compatibility (required for a commercial radio transmitting equipment) and robustness. We will be updating the website as we approach product availability, and this will cover all these development as well as the range of products and supporting products such as the component interconnections system so do please visit soon or let me know if you'd like us to email you with progress updates. Best regards Tony Hagon Acc+Ess Ltd

Hi everyone.. We've just come back from a very successful ExpoEM - our first time at that show and the response from the visitors to Acc+Ess Protocab was great. We were showing 1 x O gauge 'Terrier' (on and off hauling a wagon with a half kilogram weight in it!), a Hornby Dublo 3 rail 'Duchess' hauling 4 very rusty three rail coaches, a Mainline 'Warship' hauling four Mainline BR Mk1 coaches, a Heljan 'Hymek' and 'Crompton' both converted to P4, all operated without any wiring to the track and from three independent controllers. A number of young kiddies with their parents were taking the controls! All the locos ran for the whole day on each day with the exception of the Duchess which, with its beefy motor tended to drain the battery after around 90 minutes of constant running. The only calamity was that a length of rail on one of the Hornby Setrack circuits had come adrift in transit to Bracknell (it's a long way from Caithness!). Apart from that nothing untoward except at least two visitors begging us to have the system available for sale! Well, our answer had to be it won't be long, but we won't release anything until fully tested and emc compatible which is our next step. We're just in the throes of finalising and testing the security routines to make sure that one loco can't be controlled from an unauthorised controller and making some design changes to the LCU Interface Unit to simplify charging and on/off switching. There are still some throughput problems to iron out but they won't be too hard. We had quite a few new members to Club Protocab, so there is lots of interest out there. Next newsletter coming out in a couple of weeks. Also the new website should be up and running before the end of the month. Best regards Tony Hagon Acc+Ess Ltd Developers of the Protocab wireless model railway control system protocab.com

..not to mention Bill Bedford looking on (extreme left, position, not politics (AFAIK)

Hi everyone... We're demonstrating at Scalefour North on 20 April. Currently finalising the various components prior to getting conformance testing. We'll be updating the website in the next few weeks, and we're always grateful for comments. Best regards Tony Hagon Acc+Ess Ltd protocab.com