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Richard Mawer

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  1. Richard Mawer
    Following a request for a plan.
     
    The station at the top is Newton Purcell, the junction. This is on the middle level. The main lines to the left go down grade. Those to the right go gently up grade.
     
    The double track circuit, storage loops and dumbbell are on the lowest level. The points layout into the loops needs some work.
     
    The yellows blobs are where the lines go into tunnels.
     
    The double track shooting off into the centre will lead to Buckingham West: track plan to be devised. This is just a little higher than Newton Purcell.
     
    The single track branch from Newton Purcell climbs along the left and will reach Brackley Road on the highest level which will be along the bottom wall. I have just shown this as two sidings at present, but it will be a typical branch line terminus.
     
    Spot the similarities to Buckingham Great Central by the late Peter Denny. I just love the concept of that line.
     
    I hope that makes sense.
     
    Cheers
     
    Rich
  2. Richard Mawer

    Taking control

    By Richard Mawer,

    Once past the milestone of trains running for the first time on Mark 2, I have returned to the storage loops. These were laid a while ago, but not wired. To recap there are 10 storage loops approached from the Down direction, a dumbell to reverse them and a return line to get them back onto the continuous run, but in the Up direction.
     
    The entry into the loops comes off the Down continuous run. Its a straight foward ladder of electro frog points. So with a few feeds off the down bus and common return bus, plus frogs switched from micro switches, that is all normal stuff.
     
    Similarly, the exit points ladder is straight forward, but the connections are to the up bus and common return. This ladder leads onto the dumbell and then the return line, which leads onto the Up continuous run. Of course because it's effectively a reversing loop through the dumbell, the common return needs to change from the outside rail to the inside and I have chosen for this to happen just before the exit ladder (so the common return is back on the outside (furthest) rail after the line has swung round the dumbell.
     
    If you have read some of my early posts on Mk 1, you will know I originally just had one isolated section at the end of each storage loop. The loco was driven in on the Down controller and stopped as it passed into that isolated section. I then planned to have a push button or similar to connect that section to the Up controller to allow it to be driven out. The theory didn't work in practice due to back feeds through the common return, loco wheels stopping over the isolated breaks and all sorts of unexpected things. I got over it by adding a central isolated section in each loop as well. The process then involved adding 2 sprung loaded dpdt switches into the panel. One switches the central section feeds between Down and Up controllers (changing the common return as well), the other switch alternated the end sections betwwen Dead and Up controller. It worked, so the proven process was:- the switches wee held over in the Down position so the loco is driven in on the Down controller, through the central section (connected to Down), and stopped in the end section which is Dead. The switches were allowed to spring back to centre/dead position. For a train to leave, the switches were held over to Up position and both the central and end sections were then connected to the Up controller (the central section was also connected so there were no issues with wheels stuck over the opposite polarity part) and the train was then driven out on the Up controller. Once the loco is over the points, the switches were released to the centre Position.
     
    It worked before, so I have done the same with Mk 2.
     
    The only other complication is that before, I used insulfrog points at the exit and they selected which exit section was powered. The other loops remained isolated. With electrofrogs I don't have that, so I need a selector switch to choose which of the 10 loops is powered. I need that to always be in accord with the route selected by the points, so I decided to use a 3 pole rotary switch : 1 pole to select the route through a diode matrix (as with Mk 1), and the other 2 poles to power the live feed and common return for just the selected loop. I was not going to leave all the common returns connected to each other and have the ghost drivers all over again. The downside is that its 20 wires for the feeds and 10 for the routes, never mind the central sections and entry ladder.
     
    The entry points are also one a rotary, but only a single pole: just 10 wires.
     
    To operate the panel, once the route is selected by turning the rotary, the red square button below it is pressed which fires the CDU through the route selector and diode matrix. More on that later.
     
    So, with that theory worked out, I built the Control panel.
     
    Looking at the panel, the rotary on the far left selects the entry to the loops (Down). The square button below it fires the points. The two switches in the centre are then held over to the left (towards the rotary which has been used) as the train enters the loops, until the train stops in the loop.
     
    The rotary to the right of this sets the exit (Up) loop and the switches are held over to the right until the loco has run onto the dumbbell.
     

     
    Moving to the right of the rotaries, there are the switches for the points on the double junctions. These are servo operated and the dpdt switches also change the frog polarities. All fairly conventional.
     
    Next along to the right we come to communication area of two switches and a tapper. The bell tapper rings the bell at Evenley (next station Up) and if the switch to the left of the tapper is pointing towards the tapper, Evenley will take control the Up line and drive trains out of the loops and onto the Up continuous run and then up the incline to the station. That is the process for trains stopping at Evenley. If the switch points left, then Buckingham West will take control the Up line for non-stop trains. The notification to Buckingham West that he should start a train, is given by the other switch there. Operating it will simply sound a buzzer telling Buckingham to turn his controller. Buckingham cancels the buzzer with a switch on his panel and turns up his controller. In due course, when ready to leave the continuous run, the Fiddle Yard (Banbury) operator rings the non-stopper through to Evenley in the normal manner using the tapper on this panel. Evenley then rings it on to Buckingham West and when accepted, points are set and signals pulled off. When Line Clear comes back to Banbury / Fiddle Yard man, he directs the train off the continuous run at the double junctions and it goes up the incline, through Evenly and on to Buckingham West, all under the control of Buckingham West.
     
    Finally, on the right is the Down controller : a Gaugemaster simulator controller. This is used to bring trains down from Evenley or through Evenley from Buckingham West if non-stop.
     
    Although quite compact with only a few controls, the panel has over 60 connections on the rear.
     

     
    The majority of the wires are off the 2 rotaries. The blue wires are the entry / down route selector wires going to the diode matrix. The orange wires are the route selectors for the exit / up ladder. In between them on the choc block are the 20 green and black feeds to each isolated end sections.
     

     
    When the sprung polarity switches for the end and central sections, double junction points, frogs, up line power selector, buzzer, bell tap, feeds to the other panels (yellow), controller power and main bus feeds are added, it looks rather more complex.
     
    Anyway, it works on the test meter. Now to fix it to the baseboard, wire it in, power it up and see for sure!
     
    Now what's next? Track laying up the incline or diode matrix construction?
     
    Rich
  3. Richard Mawer

    Full circle

    By Richard Mawer,

    Its a few days less than a year since we moved house. That anniversary was my deadline for have trains running again - and I've hit it with just a few days spare. The continuous run is fully laid out, wired and running.
     

     

     
    Not only that but I have the junction station (Evenley) in place (the two halfs never got joined on MK1), the incline to it is built, ready for track laying (that never existed on MK1), a lifting flap has been built and I now have 10 storage loops instead of 6. Ok, I haven't wired the loops, fitted the point motors, built the diode matrices or control panel (the MK1 version cannot be used), but trains are running again. What is more, the layout is feasible, in a better location and with better baseboards.
     
    So why a continuous run?
     
    Many modelers run a mile from continuous runs, unless its a roundy roundy with through station and fiddleyard. In my case I like to see my models moving for a bit longer than just round 2 or 3 sides of the room from A to B. It is also useful for running in or testing. However, I can't abide seeing the same loco going through the same station time and time again. So my rationale is:-
    - the circuit has to be through countryside only, no stations
    - has to be level so trains can be left running
    - is to be used to add time to a journey from A to B
    - is to be mostly visible so I can see the trains running, but broken up by bridges etc to avoid the train set oval look
    - is to have the largest radius curves I can get away with.
     
    Most of my layout owes its design to Peter Denny, but this aspect was squarely nicked from the Gainsborough Model Railway, which originally had two continuous runs in its route from Kings Cross to Leeds. These days it only has one, but it is still effective in keeping trains running and buying the operators time.
     
    For me, i will be able to watch my favourite trains roll by through countryside while indulging in a bit of shunting or whatever.
     
    The wiring is DC common return, so there are just 3 bus wires running in a circle below the tracks. These are quite thick (24/0.2) to reduce voltage drop. Droppers are of thinner wire (7/0.2), soldered in the traditional fashion to the outside of the rail, but connected to the bus wires with scotch locks. Droppers are about every 2 yards. I rely on the fishplates for the rest of the connections. Time will tell, but it won't be hard to add more droppers if needs be. Its fine at present.
     
    Common return means that the outer rails of both tracks are wired onto just one bus wire. This is connected to one terminal of each controller. Each inner rail has its own, discrete wire back to the other terminal of its own controller. So for each track one rail has its own wire, whilst the other rail shares a wire:the common return. I have no idea why the two controllers do not get confused, or how they can both work in opposite directions without problems, but they do. There are plenty of clever people on here and the wider web, who can explain. All I know is that it works and saves wire and bother.
     
    At the lifting flap, the bus wires go down the legs across the door threshold and up the other side. The track feed droppers come over the hinge. The common return is treated differently. There is a length of track on each approach to the flap where the return rail (outer) is isolated. The return feed to each of these sections and for both tracks on the flap are connected through two small shoot bolts on the closing edge of the flap. If either of these are open, then the approach roads are dead. Hopefully this feature will never have to be used, but I couldn't bare the thought of a train taking the plunge.
     

     
    Anyway, on with the construction....
  4. Richard Mawer

    Gone loopy

    By Richard Mawer,

    I have now laid the track for the hidden storage loops that represent the rest of my line to the west, joining up with the Oxford to Banbury line somewhere near Kings Sutton.
     
     

     
    The gradient down from Newton Purcell comes in near left (yet to have the track laid). The continuous run goes off to the far left. It then goes round the room and comes in near right. The lines to and from the storage loops are off to the far right.
     
     

     
    With the continuous run in the bottom of the shot, this is the entrance pointwork. For reason to do with angles and lenses, the curves look mighty sharp, but they are not. The ones at the bottom are the first superelevated ones from my last posting.
     
    Please note that there are a maximum of 4 points for any line. I know my CDU will fire 4 peco surface mount motors at once. These will be operated via a diode matrix just like on MK1. The motors and micro switches for frog power have to go in.
     
     

     
    On MK1 I only had 6 loops. I have increased that to 10. I've bought more locos and stock! The line on the far left is the return line after the dumbell. The two on the right are the continuous run. The loops and return will be hidden under a hill with a deep sided cutting down to the continuous run lines which are on show. The scenery above the loops will be lightweight and hinged to allow emergency access.
     
    The loops will be wired as (finally) worked out on MK1. There are early blog entries detailing that.
     
     

     
    The exit points for the loops, leading into the dumbell and then back out. The return line is clear at the top of the photo and the continous run at the bottom. Again there are a maximum of 4 points per route. Route select both in and out will be by rotary switch with a push button to fire the CDU.
     
    Rich
  5. Richard Mawer
    Early in the New Year i cut out the trackbeds for the open framed sections. The continuous run has been screwed down on the level for some time now, but I've had to wait until the double junctions were in so that the start of the incline was fixed. So now I had to tackle the incline.
     
     

    The start of the incline.
     
    Because the baseboard section for the junctions and the start of the incline are one board, raising the incline route by bending the ply up means that there is a transistion into the incline.
     
    One of my aims on this layout was to have the inclines no steeper than 1:60. When I laid out the trackbeds and measured the distance to the base of the junctions it was 180". Given that the required uplift (already built, so no way back) is 3", I am very lucky that it worked out at 1:60. Or maybe I just worked it out well!
     
    Soon after the start of the incline it has to pass over the lifting flap. There are 2 cuts, one straight over and one on the curve. Note that it passes through the open bracket on the inside of the flap. The inside hinged pillar sits between the continous run and the incline.
     
     

     
     

     
     

     
    I will need to pack up the trackbeds on the curved cut because they are slightly out of true, but overal I am happy with the outcome.
     
     
     
    The incline leaves the continous run and climbs up to Newton Purcell.
     
    To set the supports for the incline I started with the junctions and then fixed the top onto the Newton Purcell board. I then fixed the 1" high position and 2" high position and made supports which I screwed in. Using a steel yard length on its edge to help avoid dips and bumps, I screwed T pieces below the trackbed and onto each cross member of the baseboard.
     
    Upon advice from my club members and Ray of Sixties Snapshots on RM Web I made sure that none of the supporting cross members were more than 11" apart. It seems that 9mm ply can bridge that gap with very little risk of sagging. I have to say that so far that seems to be correct. The downside is that 11" is too small a gap to get my driver in to tighten the screws!!!! What a pain!!!
     

     
     

     
    Using the steel length and lining up by eye along the surface, I adjusted the heights of the T pieces and as far as I can currently tell I have a pretty even incline with transistions at the top and bottom.
     
    At the top of the incline it passes over the continuous run on an S bend before running into Newton Purcell. This makes for a rather long and diagonal bridge. Apart from working out how best to deal with that scenically (I will no doubt have to trim the width of the trackbed once the track is laid), it was tricky to get the supports for the upper trackbed.
     
    Before that though, I had my fingers crossed that there would be enough clearance to allow stock to pass below once track and the 3mm foam underlay was in place. Was my maths good enough? I could not increase the height of the top track as it connects with Newton Purcell. I could not lower the continous run because it is the base level of all the baseboards. As you can see, it all worked out ok.
     
     

     
     

     
    I am really happy with how this has turned out. I just hope 1:60 will not be too steep for the locos to pull the trains. The maximum rake of coaches is 5, but one of the locos needed to haul that is a Bachmann City. I have a Hornby County that will need to pull 4. The few 4-6-0s should be fine. Time will tell, but I guess I may have to alter the timetable and roster that I already worked out.
     
    Next, onto some more track laying.
     
    Rich
  6. Richard Mawer
    As a boy, watching Deltics storm south out of Newark Northgate, one of the spectacles was the cant as they roared round the bend aproaching Barnby Lane Crossing. I used to love standing there and watch these beasts leaning round the bend and then straighten up to accelerate even more, up towards Grantham.
     
    Not many model layouts seem to employ this. There are a few exceptions, mainly in O gauge. I think it always looks impressive. With many OO layouts having unprotypical sharp curves, some superelevation (or cant), could improve the look of corners and the trains on them.
     
    I intend Buckingham West to be my last and only home layout (who knows for sure), so I want to try my best. That includes superelevation on the main curves. I use 3mm foam as an underlay. I didn't fancy cork, not being convinced of any gain. My club tends to use it, but once the track is glued and ballasted (another topic completely) its solid like concrete. I want a bit of suspension in there, some way of smoothing out the small differences in baseboards (nothing is a substitute for poor carpentry), a bit of sound deadening and a way of making a shoulder for the ballast. The laminate underlay is closed cell, so smooth finished.
     
    I reasoned that I just needed something under the outside edge of the track on a corner. After some research on RMWEB and elsewhere, it seemed I needed no more than 1mm. 5 - 10% of the track gauge would be max. I didn't want it to look silly, or be instantly noticeable with no trains running. This is not the Wall of Death! But if someone looks down the line as a train comes round a corner, I want them to see the cant and the straightening up. I figured subltety was needed. So I needed something narrow that could be bent and was about 1mm thick.
     
    I thought of plastistrut, but would have to heat it to bend it. Would I get the right radius? Too complicated. It was going to have to be card. But then I fell upon a stash of thin sheet metal plates about 15mm wide and 30mm long. They are about 0.8 or 0.9mm thick. They were meant for fixing on stuff as a warning its alarmed. The company logo and "Warning - Alarmed" type thing is printed on one side. Where I got them from, I have no idea now. It's always useful to keep useless stuff! Ha Ha.
     

     
    Next I had to decide whether to put these plates under the foam, or between the track and the foam. I decided on the former option. I think the foam will form round the plates, sealing them below the foam. I should still be able to ballast. The other way, I would have gaps below the sleepers in places and that would make ballasting hard work.
     
    I normally glue the foam down, then glue the track on that. For the curves though, I needed to be able to turn the whole unit over to fix the plates in the right place. I would never be able to prejudge the position. So I temporarily fixed the foam in place with screws and laid the outer track. I hold my track in place with screws on each side in various places so it makes the required curve, and glue it with PVA. When dry I
    added the inner line the same way.
     

     

     
     
    When that was dry, I removed the screws and cut the inside of the foam to fit.
     

     

     
     
     
    On the back I glued two lines of the plates. There is no real need to have them touching but I didn't want large gaps. Also they mustn't start as soon as the curve does. There has to be a transistion. How far is yet to be seen. There are various views on that. In the end it will look right or it won't. Until I glue it down, I can always pull one or two off. Because the plates are quite thin and I am not going for 10%, I think the track will manage the transistion supported by the foam.
     
    Once the plates were dry, I turned it upright. Nearly right, but not quite. By being conscious that the "6 foot" in between the tracks needed to be glued to the board quite well to achieve the cant on the outside track, I had put the plates for the inside track too far under it. Instead of just raising the outer edge of the sleepers and the outer rail, I was effectively raising about half the sleeper width. So the whole track lifted - both rails - leaving no cant. The plates peel off the foam quite easily, so I moved them out a bit and reglued.
     

     

     
     
     
    When turned over, the track looks fine.
     

     
     
     
    Although not yet glued in place and hence the foam is not held hard down onto the baseboard, the cant can just be detected on these coaches. Compare their lines with the vertical side of the glue bottle in the background. When I pressed the track down in place, a little more cant can be seen.
     

     
     
    I am really pleased with the look of this. Just enough I think.
     
    Once I have more track laid I will be able to test it and glue it? I will update.
     
    Rich
  7. Richard Mawer
    I could put it off no more. The second difficult bit of engineering - difficult for me anyway- had to be tackled.
     
    For me, the enjoyment of a model railway is running it. I want to be transported back in time and to re-live what I imagine a country railway line in a corner of the GWR to have been like in the 1930's: what seems a golden era for British steam and a time modern enough to have some comforts, but still hanging onto solid principals of hard work and pride in that work being good and right, on time and clean. The country had survived The Great War but hadn't yet gone through the massive changes and austerity brought on by WW2: a war that changed our way of life forever. Part of that illusion for me is to model not just one station, but a small section of my fictional line: 3 stations. This means traffic will have a reason. However, even 3 stations isn't enough. The line needs to link to the rest of the network. For that I need a fiddle yard. But a traditional fiddle yard needs you to ...er.... fiddle to a greater or lesser degree. And that shatters my illusion.
     
    So early on I came up with a solution: a set of hidden storage loops with a dumbbell return loop.
     
    After leaving Newton Purcell, Down trains would join a continuous circuit for a time. A double junction off that would take the train into a tunnel. Inside, out of sight, a ladder of points would direct the train into the correct loop. I designed auto stops and reversing polarity etc so that when needed again the train would leave the loop, go over another points ladder, round the dumbbell reversing loop, back past the loops, out of the tunnel, over the double junction and back onto the circuits as an Up train. The key had to be that it would all happen out of sight and out of mind. So no point control in the normal sense. I would have to have route setting. So when the timetable says D, I press button D and don't have to give a thought to what actually happens. I would just drive the train to ....Banbury, Oxford, Birmingham, wherever!
     
    On Mk1 in the loft, the storage loops were going to be below Newton Purcell. I actually made them and they worked. The mistakes were to design Newton Purcell to sit over the top, and to have too great a height difference between the two levels.
     
    On Mk2, lessons have been learnt, but I still need to have the dumbbell going under the right hand end of Newton Purcell. It's a bit Chicken and Egg whether I should have built the dumbbell section and then put the station over it, but I did it the other way. The problems were that I needed a fairly large radius, so the reach across the baseboard would be very wide. Cutting an access hole in the baseboard solved that. Also the height difference between levels is now 3" instead of 5" which I was (stupidly) trying to use on Mk1. The framing around the Newton Purcell baseboards filled most of that 3" gap. Therefore the framing had to be cut to allow the dumbbell line to pass through. To prevent the station board sagging I have added small feet to the sides of the cuts so the vulnerable parts of the station board are supported off the dumbbell baseboard below. A bit tricky under the station, but I managed it.
     
    There was no way I would be able to lay flexitrack in such a small gap, so I have used Peco Settack 4th radius curves and soldered them together. The almost 4 foot diameter semi-circle is glued onto foam underlay with pva. I then fed the line in through the gap and around the curve. Hey presto!
     
    I ran a test coach through the first opening. All ok. Then bump. It wouldn't pass through the next opening. Peering in, I realised the gap at the rear was noticeably less than 3". The dumbbell board was dead level, I had made sure of that. But right at the start of Mk2 I hadn't been so careful to ensure Newton Purcell was level front to rear. It was only out by 4mm, but that was just enough. The easy answer would be to raise the rear of the station and make it level, but that board is screwed into the wall and I can no longer get to the screws!!! How dumb?????
     
    So in the end I had to shorten the dumbbell board legs by 4mm increasing the height of the gap. All the small feet then had to be reset. But finally I have the track in place and whilst the lower board is now slightly off level, it is not enough to affect the trains.
     
    I will delay gluing the track in place until I have the circuits and loops all laid out.
     
     

     

     

     

     

     
    The carpentry isn't exactly cabinet maker quality, but it works and is stable.
     
    There's too much clutter there, but work in progress. Note the MERG Servo 4 board wired in at the right hand end of the station, but not yet fixed in place
     
    Back to the rest of the baseboards now.
     
    Rich
  8. Richard Mawer

    A bridge too far?

    By Richard Mawer,

    At the opposite end of my railway room from Newton Purcell there is the door.
     

     
    I have 3 sets of lines to get across the door: the main circuits on base level, the descending line from Newton Purcell to those circuits and the branch from Newton Purcell climbing up to Brackley Road. So that's 3 different levels, on curves. The easiest way would be a simple duck-under. I have set the boards reasonably high, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. However the railway room is also the house store. Most people would call it a garage!! So I have to be able to get stuff in and out easily. The only answer is a lifting bridge.
     
    I couldn't hinge it at the base level (which would be easiest) because the track beds for the upper levels would prevent it from lifting. The hinges have to be at the level of the highest track so there are two posts with the hinges at the top. The bridge has to close at the lowest level meaning the flap is L shaped. To take pressure off the right angle joint at the bottom of the posts I thought of adding two triangles of MDF. I decided to make the one nearest the door into a rectangle to also prevent any stock falling and dropping off the edge. It still holds the right angle firm. I was not able to use such a bracket on the other hinged post because I had to set it inboard from the edge of the baseboard to allow the curves. Originally I had planned it to be outboard to make it as stable as possible. The hinged post now sits between the circuit and falling gradient.
     

     

     

     
    I have screwed a sheet of MDF below the framework of the flap to keep it square and present a nicer finish when the bridge is up.
     

     
    I have put two brass pattern makers dowels onto the fixed closing edge support and sockets on the bottom closing edge of the bridge to securely locate that end in the horizontal plane. The vertical plane will be secured by two small shoot bolts. I will use them to make/break the common return to all tracks on the bridge and a couple of feet each side. This means that unless the two bolts are locking the bridge in place no train can run on or towards the bridge. I would hate to see a train run headlong into the void. Tracks will be soldered to copper clad strips on each side of the gaps at both ends of the bridge.
     

     

     
    The outside trackbed is the branch and will be at the top level. The middle lines are the circuits at the base level. The inside lines are the lines from Newton Purcell to the right, falling down to the left.
     
    I still have the rest of the boards from here round to the dumbbell board to build, but that should be straight forward. At last one of the hardest construction projects is built.
     
    Rich
  9. Richard Mawer
    It's been a slow start in the new railway room, due to getting the new house ship shape. Christmas was very busy with all the family around. However, in the New Year, new progress has been made.
     
    It turns out the builder is a slight railway enthusiast. His Grandfather worked on the GWR. He volunteered his services with woodworking. I took advantage and he came over and sawed up loads of timber including lots of curved sections of ply.
     
    As followers will know, the junction station, Newton Purcell was recovered from the loft version and erected here. The downside is that the baseboard is MDF and I have been advised by my club to stick to ply. It has taken me too long to get to this stage to change it and start again. I hope I will never have to.
     
    Along the left side, there will be two gradients, so I opted for open top boards. I decided to try the "L" section beams with top cross pieces. Thanks to Ray for the info on this technique. They are made from two pieces of 47 x 22mm timber glued and screwed. I still have to screw the cross sections in place and then fix the track beds to them allowing for the gradients, which look like 1:70 for the mainline and 1:60/65 for the branch. I still have the maths to do.
     
    I have recycled one of the old loft baseboards for the wall opposite Newton Purcell, but I have taken the MDF off it and will replace it with 9mm ply. It was a sad day when I ripped up the track and points. This was the board with the storage loops on it. See previous entries. At least I can recycle most of the track, have a decent framework, and I learnt a lot about using common return and a reversing loop.
     
    Along the right hand side (where the new storage loops and reversing loop will be) I have made the larger of the two boards. This is flat topped with 9mm ply on 47 x 22mm framing.
     
    The main issues for the boards on both sides have been leg length. The floor slopes up from Newton Purcell and is uneven as well! It has been a bit of trial and error, with much use of a saw and spirit level. The new board is now in place though, but I still have to sort out the dumbbell trackwork. In the loft version, I built the boards with about 5.5" height difference. This allowed trains on the lower level to clear the bottom of the framing on the higher board. However, it would have meant gradients which were far too steep. If we hadn't moved house, I would have needed to replan the whole layout, so there is a silver lining!. This time I have allowed clearance of just 3" from top of one board to the top of the next and by using 9mm ply I can do without framing on the open top sections, just as long as the supports are no more than 12" apart. I am making the supports a max of 11" apart. This height difference is just enough to allow clearance whilst keeping the linking gradients to acceptable levels. The problem around the dumbbell is that the framing from the MK1 design of boards remains on the Newton Purcell boards and is in the way of the trains on the dumbbell below. The framing will have to be cut away in places and extra support put in to keep the MDF board in place and rigid. I have a plan!!
     
    The dumbbell itself is just less than 4 feet diameter. I didn't want to go tighter, but couldn't afford greater diameter either. I can't reach across 4 feet, so there is an access hole to get the stock that will no doubt fall off furthest away from normal reach. To avoid trying to get a perfect circle in a difficult position using flexitrack, I have opted for settrack - 4th radius. It will be out of sight anyway.
     
    The railway room also serves as house storage, so I now have to stow loads of stuff away below the boards before I have room to build the rest of the boards. And then there's the simple matter of the multi level lifting flap...........
     
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  10. Richard Mawer
    Nearly two months after the move to the Oxfordshire countryside, the sorting out and housely matters have got to the stage that I can start thinking of reconstructing the railway. The only part of MK1 that fully survived was Newton Purcell, the junction. It was built in two halves, but never made it back into a whole. So achieving that goal would be a milestone.
     
    I have spent a good few evenings designing the layout on AnyRail. The junction fits nicely across the end of the new railway room (what some folks would call a garage). That allows the double track circuit around the outside, the terminus of Buckingham West down the middle and Brackley Road at a higher level along one edge.
     
    I learned some lessons from MK1:-
     
    Less height difference between the levels,
    Easier gradients
    More support to baseboards
    Don't use MDF
    Don't have a complicated piece of trackwork above another complicated piece.
    Use more electro frog points.
     
    My main aims remain the same, but I have added a few more. They are:-
     
    Line to run from Buckingham West, through Newton Purcell to the rest of the GWR system.
    The junction with the rest of the GWR to be storage loops off scene.
    The line is supposed to join the Oxford to Banbury line just north of Aynho, heading north.
    Double track throughout the main route.
    Single track branch from Newton Purcell to Brackley Road (Middle of a field miles from Brackley).
    GWR 1930s.
    Keep 4-6-0s to a minimum.
    Allow the odd ex GCR loco to run in from Banbury
    To be operated by 1 to 3 or possibly 4 people.
    Bell codes to connect operators - so they take the primary role of signalmen.
    DC.
    Gaugemaster simulator controllers.
    Receiving signalman controls the train via cab control.
    All main signals to work.
    Signals to alter cab control permissions.
    Run to a timetable, not just a sequence.
    Speeded up Time to run on a PC via FastClock.
    Mainline to be 43 inches off the ground.
    Different levels to be 3 inches apart.
    Gradients to be no greater than 1:75.
    Control panels for points and signals to resemble signal box lever frames.
    Open frame/L girder baseboards.
    Lifting flap across doorway - no duck-under.
    Turntable at Buckingham West.
    Increase storage loops to 9 or 10.
    Dumbbell reversing out of loops.
    Route selection on loops.
    Loops to be hidden under scenery.
    Quarry off scene near Newton Purcell.
    Stick to steam days rules of as few facing points as possible:-
    Trailing entrance to goods yards.
    Double junctions not single and facing crossover.
    Have lots of private sidings.
    Movements of goods stock not to be random.
    Curves no sharper than settrack 4th radius.
    Curves to be larger radius where seen.
    Medium and large radius points on running lines.
    Signals and points to operated by servos using MERG electronics.
    Space in goods yards.
    Carriage sidings at Buckingham West.
    Code 100. (I have some older stock).
    Stock to be lightly weathered.
     
    Only one or two aims to build in!!!!!!!
     
    And so the fun begins.
     
    Here are some photos showing the coming together of the two halves of Newton Purcell, and the station in its rightful place, ready for further expansion.
     
     
     

     

     

     

     
    I have idea why the first two are on their side, but I can't change them.
     
    Thanks for reading and I'll keep you posted.
     
    Rich
  11. Richard Mawer

    Recycling part 3

    By Richard Mawer,

    We have been in the new house for about a month and are still sorting house things, but the railway room is becoming less crowded by the day!
     
    In the meantime the final part of my recycling is about producing a batch of wagons.
     
    For those of you that have followed my blog you will know that the junction station on my layout is called Newton Purcell. The real NP is south east of Banbury where there is a belt of ironstone. Accordingly I have an ironstone quarry and therefore need some private owners wagons. As I owe my love of railways to my late father I decided to use his middle name as the quarry name: Hewitt. I decided on a red oxide type colour and white lettering. They had to be well weathered taking on board ironstone colouring.
     
    I had collected 10 old Triang opens from exhibition stalls. Plain green and brown usually. I cleaned them, primed them in the same way as my other paint jobs and then sprayed them with Railmatch enamel rust.
     

     
    Next I printed HEWITT on the PC, put some clear hard plastic sheet over it, taped it in place and using a sharp craft knife, carefully cut out the letters to form a template. The plastic came from some packing. I'm not sure but I think it was from a cake box or something.
     

     
    Once I had cleaned up the edges of the cuts, I trialled white paint from the airbrush onto coloured paper. It was clear the trick was to keep the stencil hard up against the wagon side, to use the paint sparingly to be thin and look worn, but not runny. Some spraying was more defined than others, but that prevented all the wagons looking the same.
     

     
    Once properly dry, I added a very very thin and watery black wash along the grooves between the planks to provide definition. I also hand painted (brush) the insides using a badly mixed combination of tan, white and rust acrylics. The poor mix gave variation. Weathered and aged wood is a grey silver colour. I later added rust weathering powders to the inside to represent the ironstone residue.
     

     
    On the outside I then sprayed Lifecolor frame dirt and track dirt upwards over the underframe and wheels, overspraying onto the lower sections of the body.
     
    Humbrol weathering powders were used to add more weathering around the underframe, picking out rust on the brakes, brake handles and axle boxes as well as black (grease) on the boxes. I added rust powder around the body, concentrating around the top and around the doors, to reflect the ironstone residue.
     

     

     
    Finally, it was all sealed with a fine and quick misting of acrylic matt varnish from an aerosol.
     
    Although many say never try to put acrylic on enamel and vice versa, I have found they are fine if they are left to dry fully.
     
    I'm really pleased with the results. Okay there are no numbers, tare weights etc., but the overall effect is what I wanted.
     
    Now I need to get that railway sorted so they can run.
     
    Rich
  12. Richard Mawer
    Over the years between layouts (almost 30!!!!) I slowly collected locos and rolling stock for my mid 1930's layout. However, I still had the wagons from my early train set. I sold all the diesels and coaches as I packed up the final layout of my youth. Some of the wagons were early Triang wagons and included a bright yellow tank wagon.
     
    Over the years I collected a number of UD 4 wheel milk tankers in the wrong belief that they would be right for my layout. I now know they were wrong. I have now bought what I actually need for Buckingham West. So I sold a few of the UD tanks on line and decided to recycle 2 of them and the yellow tank.
     

     
    Buckingham West will have a gas works and will therefore need tank wagons to ship outbound loads of tar, so I decided to recycle these tanks into tar wagons. For this exercise I sprayed the wagons with Halfords grey primer, then black Humbrol satin finish enamel.
     

     

     
    I left them for 2 weeks to fully dry because putting acrylic on enamel can easily cause orange peel. I believe the paint needs to fully cure to avoid this. I trialled adding tar runs before I weathered them. It seems best to layer finishes anyway, to get decent results.
     
    I heavily weathered them firstly with white Humbrol weathering powders on the tanks to age the paint and then spraying the underframes in an upward direction so there would be some overspill feathering onto the body. I used Lifecolor rail weather acrylics frame dirt for this.
     
    I finished them off with the weathering powders, mainly dark earth and rust. A very quick misting of acrylic varnish sealed the powders on. The final additions were to represent the tar overspill around the fillers. This was done with liberal amounts of black acrylic paint run down the side from the filler, simply dribbled off an overloaded paintbrush. I did that once, but then dribbled copious amounts of acrylic varnish down from a pipette, letting it dry between applications. The liquid acrylic varnish I use is Johnson's Pledge Klear floor polish. I only have the new stuff at about £6 a litre, not the old mythical stuff you may read about, which people are selling on line for stupidly high prices. The new stuff seems to work very well.
     

     
    I cannot imagine that even in the 1930s tar wagons being in good shape. I appreciate that most wagons will be in better condition in the 1930s than the 1950s, but these would be well over-used and unloved. The end result looks pretty good to me and is a good example of recycling.
     

     

     

     
    Rich
  13. Richard Mawer
    Well the day had to come.
     
    It has taken far longer than we expected for a short and simple chain, but we have finally exchanged contracts and the house move from High Wycombe to north Oxfordshire is finally happening. Consequently I have had to take down the layout. I packaged all the stock and the few buildings that were out over the last few weeks, but was reluctant to take saw and drill to timber until the deal was binding.
     
    So today I have toiled in the baking heat in the loft. It is a good way to sweat off a few pounds!
     
    Although the layout is called Buckingham West, that station still hasn't been built. The only one constructed is Newton Purcell, which is the junction, but it never got connected to the double track circuit. In fact only the circuits, storage loops and reversing loop were connected and operational. So I have made the two Newton Purcell boards transit-proof, by adding extra timber to protect the electronics boards and other vulnerable parts.
     
    The boards for the rest of the layout (the operating parts) were taken down next. The problem was that they were not built to be moved or split into sections. They were timber frameworks and basically screwed together all the way round. As the track bed was screwed onto the framework and then covered with insulation / fibreboard with the track glued onto that with pva, it was rather tricky.
     
    My best tool for the day was a bread knife. It was brilliant for persuading the track to leave the fibreboard. In most cases it simply lifted away, but in some areas the top layer of fibreboard came with it. That was quite easy to remove and I only lost 1 yard of track and 1 point, which looked as if it was damaged when laid.
     
    What is more, I managed to preserve the majority of the storage loops on a board. I also saved the twin double junctions on another board. The rest of the boards had to be fully dismantled and mostly scrapped. Some timbers are saved.
     
    I still have the Buckingham West board to dismantle and then to get them all out of the loft!
     
    In the new house, I have a larger railway room and so Marples and Beeching will not get their way with Buckingham West (even though in 1936 to 38 they were never even thought about).
     
    The lessons I have learnt and will rectify in MK2 are to make the height differences between the levels less than in MK1. The gradient I would have needed was far too steep. So I will have no gradient steeper than 1 in 60 and hopefully flatter than that. I will also add more storage loops, make sure there is nothing directly above the loops (Newton Purcell was directly over the loops), use set track for the reversing dumbbell, and make all the boards as separate units bolted together.
     
    So here's to MK2.
     
    Rich
     

     

     

     

     

     

  14. Richard Mawer
    Gents,
     
    Thanks for all the comments. As you can see, I have taken it all on board. I have added much more grey to the roofs and covered the Lake sections of the roof. This was Lifecolor roof dirt, and the solebars are black (Lifecolor weathered black).
     

     

     

     
    I airbrushed the roof dirt. Last time I used the airbrush with acrylics I thinned the,
    M 50:50 with distiller tap water, but it was thin and didn't stick to the under frames of the wagons. I was painting frame dirt to underframes. More alarmingly the paint kept drying in the tip of the airbrush and blocking the paint flow. I tried more pressure, but to no avail. I also added flow enhancer, but that didn't help. I think the paint ran off the plastic even more, but still dried in the airbrush.
     
    This time I had bought some Tamiya acrylic thinners. I can't help thinking it is water with a bit of alcohol and therefore a bit of a rip off, BUT it seems to have worked. I did find that the paint seemed to "run out" during a spray, but be there again when the trigger was depressed again. I turned the pressure down to 15psi and all was good.
     
    I added Humbrol weathered black on the roofs, more heavily across the vents. Dirt streaks off such points. I streaked it more, with water. I then sealed that with a mist of acrylic varnish.
     
    I painted the solebars by hand with a brush.
     
    I think thats an improvement.
     
    Rich
  15. Richard Mawer
    With the house move still hanging in the air, it seems pointless to do any more work on the layout. Hopefully soon I will be taking it apart to go to its new home.
     
    So my attentions have turned to rolling stock. This entry deals with two old Triang clerestories.
     

     
    The livery is plain, poor and wrong. The actual model is freelance too, but we'll overlook that. I bought the coaches to be part of a workman's train, so I decided to backdate them and distress them. Rather than spray prime them with Halfords grey primer which would have covered over the windows, I sprayed some primer in a yoghurt pot and started to paint it on. Disaster! The pot melted! Beware!!!
     
    So I ended up using thinned grey enamel.
     

     
    Between 1912 and 1922 the GWR painted it's coaches a rather fetching "Lake" , not unlike the Midland Crimson Lake. Coaches were normally painted every 7 to 10 years. My layout is mid to late 30's, so really there shouldn't have been any Lake livery around past about 1930/32. But railway modelling is all a compromise and I like to stretch the truth a little too. So what if an old pair of coaches were overlooked and left to languish on workmen's trains on a secondary line and branch? They would be pretty knackered by then. So.......
     
    A trip to Railex in Aylesbury yielded a pot of Phoenix GWR Lake and an Iwata Neo airbrush and compressor. Time to play.
     
    But I still had the problem of the windows. Enter Humbrol Maskol. What a wonderful product! It is a latex which you can paint on to mask areas and later peel off. So I painted the windows and white parts of the roofs with Maskol. I then sprayed the thinned Lake and hey presto...
     

     
    When I painted the Maskol at first, I painted too much and it went behind the coach sides. It also stuck to the sides of the window reveals. When I pulled it off, it took some paint, plus was a pig to get out from behind the coach sides!
     

     
    After touching up and adding a coat of Humbrol glosscote They looked the part.
     

     
    Decals from HMRS finished them off. The glosscote allowed the decals to stick better.
     

     
    It was tempting to leave them in that state, but that just bent history too far - even for me. So a coat of acrylic matt varnish, Lifecolor Frame Dirt over the underframe and Roof Dirt over the roof. I am happy with the Frame Dirt, but not the roof. I had a vague recollection of painting side to side to look rain stained. Clearly it's not a good idea to do that with the airbrush. I had to do a saving job with Humbrol soot weathering powder. I'm still not happy with the roofs, but don't know what else to do.
     
    I added Dark Earth and Rust powders to the sides and underframe and do feel they look fairly old and Knackered.
     

     

     
    So, they are just about possible, in their knackered condition, but more importantly they add a bit of difference to the layout.
     
    Rich.
  16. Richard Mawer
    In 1900 the Great Central Railway opened a double track branch to Banbury from their London Extension, joining at Culworth Junction. This line became the main interchange point for trains between the Great Central and the Great Western. It allowed trains from the northern cities to run to the west and south. Trains ran from such places as Sheffield, York, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, to Southampton and Bournemouth. Often these trains saw the loco and stock from different companies, such as a GCR loco hauling GWR stock.
     
    There was also a large amount of freight passing over this line.
     
    Although the line from Banbury (via the Oxford line) to Buckingham was GWR and there was no GCR interest at Buckingham West, it was agreed between the companies that when demands required and loco availability was stretched, the GCR (and later LNER) would be allowed to run locos to Buckingham West to relieve congestion at Banbury.
     
    Of course all this is pure fiction, but it did allow me to purchase the new Bachmann LNER liveried ex-GCR J11 Pom Pom. Although I am not struck by layouts running mainly black locos, it is nice to have one (or maybe it will stretch to 2) black ones! The loco is a superb slow speed runner and I am very pleased with it.
     
     

     

     
     
    Rich
  17. Richard Mawer
    A mixed bag to report today.
     
    On a good note, I have parted with some cash, not only for the long awaited Dukedog (which still needs to be painted GWR Green with a shirtbutton), but also Star and 28xx with shirtbutton. My Bulldog has also been remotored. This is an old Ks kit which a friend of mine at the High Wycombe club (HWDMRS) finished off and painted for me. The old motor worked but was very noisy and far from smooth. I bought a new Mashima and Roxey gearbox and Stan very kindly fitted it. I have a lot to learn and remember from years gone by on motors and gearboxes. Unfortunately for him, it proved to be very fiddly to get to run smoothly due to the con rods wanting to do their own thing! Thanks Stan.
     

     
    On another good note, I have worked out the wiring needed for the Station at Newton Purcell for the track feeds and also for the servos for the points and signals and have soldered it all up over a number of evenings.
     

     
    The track feed switches are mounted on the track plan. The signal and points are set out in signal box lever frame style. There is an amount of interlocking and interplay between the two types of switches. The signals and points for the double junction are interlocked in as much as the signals will not clear if the points are set for the wrong road. Unfortunately the levers (switches) will throw, but the boards will not pull off. The distants will also not pull off unless the home, starter and advanced starter are not pulled off as well.
     

     
    The advanced starter signals also act as cab control switches. Pulling off the advance starter switches control to the section in advance. Trains are controlled by the eventual arrival section on my layout. This means that if there is a non stop train from Buckingham West to Banbury, the Banbury (continuous circuit and return loops) controller takes control. This is done by Buckingham West ceding control to Newton Purcell by pulling off its Advance Starter and Newton Purcell ceding control to Banbury by pulling off its Advance starter as well. All of this of course is following a series of bell codes. The wiring for Buckingham West and Banbury is relatively straight forward but Newton Purcell is more complicated due to the passing nature of the station and particularly because it is a junction and the branch to Brackley Road is single track, so can be controlled by Brackley Road, Newton Purcell or Buckingham West depending upon the signalling.
     
    More good news is that I have had all my MERG Servo 4 pics (the brain) reblown by a very kind MERG member. These are now on the latest (and more stable) firmware. I have put them back in to the SERVO 4 control boards that are fitted to the Newton Purcell baseboards and have so far managed to very easily reapply all the settings off a laptop. However, I have two SERVO 4 boards that need more attention and are not playing the game. Of course one is the only one that is not directly accessible!!! Why is that always the way. So I am going to relocate that one.
     
    The bad news is that I am very unlikely to see the station up and running for quite a long time. We are moving house (hopefully) and so all the effort put into that station is going to be put on hold. It is not total bad news, because that part of the layout is in two halves and is transportable and reusable.
     
    The really sad bit is that the continuous circuits and reversing loops are going to have to be dismantled and I do not know how much will be reusable. At least it has been a good learning curve and next time I will correct some errors.
     
    Happily, the house we hope to move to will have a railway room. I intend to be moving out of the loft! Although my loft experience has not been as bad as many said it would be. I cannot hide my joy at the thought of a room (hopefully large integral garage which will be insulated and heated) for the railway. Vertical rear edges to the baseboards, allowing taller buildings and backscenes will be a joy. The principles of Buckingham West will be continued.
     
    So there will not be much progress on the layout, but I hope to build some more building kits and to renumber update some locos. I will be adding extra pickups and painting some goods stock. I also hope to start some weathering, having bought some powders and an airbrush. Watch this space.
     
    Thanks.
     
    Rich
  18. Richard Mawer

    Bracket finished

    By Richard Mawer,

    So at last I have finished the first bracket signal and added the servos.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    Remember to take labels off the servos before using the tape. I have staggered the servos to allow non conflicting movement.
     
    I use "No more nails" tape. It's the only one I have found that sticks we'll enough.
     
    The signal is super glued to the MDF.
     
    As mentioned in a previous entry, the servo (in this case servos) goes through a 40mm hole in the baseboard and the rectangle base is flush fitted into the fibreboard top of the baseboard.
     
    Cheers
     
    Rich
  19. Richard Mawer

    Lines and Locos

    By Richard Mawer,

    At last some more progress - on two fronts. Both baseboards for the junction station, Newton Purcell, have been built and initially installed. The construction is the same as the rest - 2x1 inch framing and cross members with 6mm MDF on top, glued and screwed, topped with insulation board made for going under laminate floors.
     
    The station is roughly a "handed" version of Grandborough Junction on Peter Denny's Buckingham Branch - why reinvent the wheel fully? you may think, but the design actually came from planning how the layout would be run and what traffic types it will have. Not unsurprisingly, as the concept behind the layout is so strongly influenced by Denny's classic, the traffic and operations led to very similar requirements and once you apply steam era rules to platforms, junctions and trackwork (ie, double junctions off double track, as few facing points as possible, trailing access to goods yards etc.) the plan looks very familiar.
     
    Due to the length of the station, and more importantly because it is above the storage loops, I have decided that for now, the boards will remain in two halves so that once the track is glued in place, I can remove them one at a time and wire them up, add the servos etc. Only when all is neatly stowed away underneath and wires taken to chocblocks will I replace them and join them together. I need to ensure that there are no hanging wires etc to snag on trains below and there is insufficient access to the undersides when in situ.
     
    I have modified all the points, most here are insulfrog. I will explain why in a future blog, but it's for control panel reasons. I know this is a compromise. Consequently, most only need the centre throw spring removed for servo control. The rest need the switch blades soldering to the running lines in the common fashion for electrofrogs.
     
    The radius of the curves has been marked out. This is tighter than I ideally want and varies from 610mm to over 900mm. I next laid out the pointwork and joined them into larger units. The holes for the servos now need to be drilled and the track glued down using PVA.
     
    The pointwork comprises 3 main sections. The up end of the station has 2 single slips forming the trailing crossover with trailing access to the yard setting back from the up line (furthest away), and trailing access into the ironstone quarry, setting back from the down line. There are also 2 small private sidings trailing onto the up line (at the top of the photo).
     

     
     
     
    At the down end of the station, there is the double junction off the mainlines onto the branch and access to the bay.
     

     
     
     
    The final area is the ladder of points in the yard and headshunt. The line nearest the mainlines through the platforms runs through and trails into the down main via a curved point at the very end. It is protected with a catch point, in the traditional (but seldom modelled in freelance layouts) manner.
     

     
     
     
     
    I have had the old Airfix 61xx apart a few times, and whilst it is running better, I can't get it to start reliably enough. I also think the rear driver axle is slightly bent. So I bit the bullet and bought a Hornby 51xx. Well we all need some therapy at times. It's a lovely runner. So is the Bachmann 45xx I also bought. This came via a list of never-used locos owned by a local collector who unfortunately died. The list was sent to my club, HWDMRS in High Wycombe.
     

     

     
     
    I am gradually getting the locos out and running them in after all these years in boxes. I have two Mainline 43xx's. So far I have only run one. It was bought off an auction house and so was a risk anyway. I bought my other new, so I hope it has faired better over the years. Anyway, early on, the drivers got out of alignment all of a sudden and it threw some strange shapes with the con rods! When I took it apart, the chassis was cracked as well. I bought a cheap BR version on ebay and swapped the chassis, but after a short while the drivers slipped in the same way. It transpires the glue keeping the metal stub axles connected to the plastic insulator mid way, comes adrift, so the quartering goes caput! When trying to find out what best to do, on this site, help was offered by a very kind, and helpful modelling couple: Polly and Ray. Polly is Southern 42. They offered me the Bachmann Chassis as they have built a Comet chassis for theirs and a deal was done. Duly fitted, the loco is good as gold. A big thank you to you both.
     

     
    Now should that lining remain on those cylinders??
     
     
     
    Rich
  20. Richard Mawer
    As mentioned in the last entry, over Christmas I made my second MERG Servo4 electronic module. You will recall I put too high a voltage through the first one (and one donated by a friend) due to H&M Duettes delivering far more voltage than they say when they are not under load - BEWARE!
     
    This third module tested ok and looked right. I plugged it into a new (checked) 12vdc supply and still all looked and tested ok. I plugged 4 servos in and they worked. I wired it up the power for common return, wired it to the panel switches and added piano wire bent double back into the cranks of the servo and offered them up under the points through holes in the baseboard under the tie bars. I originally hadn't centred the servos up first, so some bent the piano wire and were working at odd angles as a result. I redid this with the laptop and now have much better positioned servo armatures. The points then changed via the panel switches in the desired manner and all was well. I am pleased to say the double sided sticky pads are still working well. Not the cheap polystyrene ones: they pull off. These are very strong. One did not feel overly secure and then I realised I had stuck it on the label side of the servo and of course the label was coming off - well, the servo was coming off and the label was well secured to the baseboard.
     
    I was then able to play trains for a while and enjoy the fruits of my labours over the last year. This is as far as the last blog entry got to. I got a few more locos out and was enjoying life when all of a sudden a train ran off the continuous run and into the loops - but I hadn't changed the points!!! Was there a ghost in the machine?? After a bit of experimentation I found that one of my Dean Goods and particularly my 61xx caused the points for the storage loops to change over. This happened with the suspect locos running, but with them at random places around the circuit. Both locos are in need of a service, but why did only 2 of the servos change and only in one direction???
     
    I have to say that the MERG modules are very easy to make and you do not need to know anything about electronics. Most of the MERG membership know a lot and they are very helpful and I received loads of advice when I put my situation up on the forum. We tried lots of things to find the cause and a solution. One of the MERG members in my club (High Wycombe and District Model Railway Society) had not only very kindly offered to mend my first two modules, but also had some ideas about my phantom point changes. We swapped out the offending module for one of the repaired ones and hey presto the problem had gone. Well almost, I still had some "twitching" of the servos at times, but no complete change over.
     
    It turns out the problem was twofold.
    1) although I thought I had made the module well and it looked and tested ok, it turned out there were some dry joints. Mark had found some on the other boards too.
    2) The suspect locos are producing RF from poor running and the module was picking it up. The dry joints were making the module interpret the RF in an odd way.
     
    The "twitching" is quite common, but can be dealt with. The solutions are to improve the running of the locos, which I need to do anyway, and to keep the track clean. Separating the Servo wiring from the track wiring as much as possible will also help. There are also some configuration changes I can make to the module to reduce it. These are all standard.
     
    Overall, I am really pleased with the look of the slow changing points and also with how easy the modules are to build. I also like how cheap the combination of servos and Servo4 Modules are. The members of MERG are brilliant and pleased to help. So a big thank you to Mark, Chris, Keith, Bob and all the others in MERG.
     
    I have learnt that dry joints are hard to spot, but cause lots of problems. Just because a module works doesn't mean it works fully and faultlessly. I hope my future soldering is better and I shall certainly be checking very closely indeed to find any possible dry joints before I install the modules.
     
    I shall certainly be using servos powered by MERG Servo4 modules for all the other points and signals.
     
    Now, this time consuming interlude has been concluded I can get on with the next baseboard construction - at last!
  21. Richard Mawer

    Lessons!

    By Richard Mawer,

    Irritating got even more irritating!!! I made all the cuts in the track, installed 4 out of the five micro switches and even before I could wire them in (so the dead sections on the far rail were totally dead) the locos were still doing odd things. Another session in a darkened room and the reason for it AND the answer came to me. So I put in place Plan..... (Now what is it?) .....oh yes Plan D!! I soldered up all the damage I had just done to the track (!!!!!) and added just one more break, 2 wires and another centre sprung dpdt switch. Job done! How did I make such a mess!!
     
    Big lessons:
    try before you do 6 lots of stuff!
    Think about back flows of electricity.
    Don't test for electrical isolation or continuity with a loco on the track.
    Expect locos and stock to bridge isolating breaks
    Expect the unexpected.
    Oh yes and don't blame sticky locos if you've not cleaned the track! I am sure I knew all that 30 years ago, but .........
     
    Anyway, locos are now running with trains of coaches! It's been nice to see the 30 year old Castle perform for the first time in it's life and to see the new City being put through it's paces: a lovely loco!
     

     

     

     
    At last I have been able to move onto the next phase: to make another MERG Servo 4 board and fix the servos to the double junctions. As you can see, the points have so far been held over with Blu-tac. You take the springs out of the tie bars if you are going to use servos, so you get the slow action change.
     

     
    I have previously made a "servo 4" control board, as mentioned in an earlier entry in the blog. They are quite easy to make if you follow the instructions religiously. BIG LESSON: don't use either the 12v dc or the 16v ac feeds from Duettes to power them!! Not only did I blow up the main capacitor on the first board I made, but I had the same result with a board given to me by a friend! And that was after I changed from ac to dc following the first indoor firework display! Luckily another friend (aren't model railway clubs good!) has repaired both for me. So while I wait for them to come back, I've made another.
     
    Each "servo 4" board controls 4 servos and you program the boards from a pc to set the two extremes of travel and the speed of change. The board remembers the settings and the servo then moves from one setting to the other by changing a simple on/off switch: easy AND realistic. With the electrical tests done and a new, regulated power supply (simple plug in 12 v dc) the board was up and running. Thanks to advice from some clever people at MERG I've modified the board a little to work on common return, but I am using a common return for all the Servo 4's that is separate from the power bus for the trains, to keep "noise" down on the power - no, I'm not 100% sure what that means either, but I'm told it stops the "chatter" or wiggling that sometimes can happen with servos.
     
    I couldn't get the pc to operate the board and servos at first, but sought some more advice online from other MERG members. They are a helpful bunch. Although I got lots of advice I was still static and unresponsive -as it were. Then I put the software on my daughter's laptop and all was sorted!! The next issue was actually fixing the servos under the baseboard and linking to the tie bars on the points. My first attempt was the Evostick very sticky double sided tape pads to hold the servo in place and use a section of guitar string supa-glued to the armature crank to connect to the tie bar and provide an element of spring to hold the point blades hard over. The sticky pads worked (so far), but the guitar string was a disaster. Far too bendy. I ended up using piano wire bent through the armature and back on itself.
     
    I've learnt another lesson as well. Even if you think the servos are set half way, they might not be. When you plug in the pc there is a chance they will travel right over and bend the wire, if not damage the point blades. Its going to be better to plug the servos into the board and the board into the pc, before fitting the armature to the servo and the servo under the points. We live and learn.
     

     
    I had another project in mind for the Christmas break. I have to add horizontal rails along the front and rear of the high level junction main board so that the weight is spread. Instead of making whole lifting sections, the ends will be more open framed to allow holes to be cut and removable scenery so that the points into and out of the loops can be reached if needs be, but to allow for the correct alignment of the track, boards will be laid on the frames and the track fixed before the boards are cut around the formations. But that might have to wait.
  22. Richard Mawer

    Irritating!

    By Richard Mawer,

    Isn't reality irritating at times!!!!!
     
    In "Bells and Whistles" I said how I'd sorted the wiring for the storage loops (which feed into a return loop). Reality is that it doesn't quite work how I intended.
     
    After lots of testing, I finally realised that because locos stop in different places as they cross the double break at the end of the loops, they are the cause of some odd ghost movements that were starting to seriously irritate me and prevented me moving onto the next part of the project. The breaks in the rails and the wiring are designed to automatically stop the train towqrds the end of the loop whilst out of sight, but then allow it to pull away under when required, using the other controller. The insulfrog points forming the exit are supposed to route the power to the right loop and the sprung, centre off, dpdt switch is used to switch the end section on, so the trains only exit when wanted.
     
    It transpires that some of the locos stop partly over the breaks, with their wheels or their tender wheels shorting the gap and then as the power feed is changed from one controller to the other, and the common return rail effectively swaps over (the exit from the loops is via a return loop), the shorting wheels can feed power/return to different rails in the exit trackwork through point stockrails and the wiring. The end result is that occassionally, depending on point settings and which locos have stopped how far over the breaks, two locos start up instead of one! The results are rather obvious!!! Considering all this occurs out of sight, it is set back. I had not envisaged such back flows of power. The (very rough) circuit diagramme is below, but only shows two loops. I am still not 100% sure how it is happening, but it certainly is and I have tested continuity over and over, with locos in all sorts of positions. I have even undone track feeds and removed the wires from the switches to prove the point.
     

     
    I am now having to insert further breaks to make each loco stopping space into a separate isolating section with a further push button controlling each. So much for simplicity! It will be fun trying to fit isolating fishplates to track already glued down!!!! Ho hum!
     
    At least, due to my testing, I was able to get some green locos moving. Here are my Saint, 61xx (in the process of becoming a 51xx), City and one of my Dean Goods.
     

     
    I have also been asked about the layout itself and how it fits in the loft. Here are some photos to put it in context. It is at a very early stage, with only the storage loops and continuous run built and no scenery at all. I need to loops working fully, before I then build the incline up to the junction and then on to Buckingham West and finally the branch to Brackley Road.
     

    This is the twin double junctions on the continuous run. The one on the left leads to the storage loops (and reverse loop) and the one on the right will lead to the incline up to the Junction. The incline will be built alongside the collar beam seen running towards the camera.
     

    This is the baseboard for Buckingham West - the main terminus - with the continuous run in front at the lower level. The line here will be in a cutting with a brick arched retaining wall up to the higher level.
     

    This is the entry end of the storage loops with the continous run in front and the reverse loop out at the rear. The loops will be covered by the Junction station, with the ground sloping down to the continuous run in the front. The boards for the juction are propped up at the front.
     

    This is the exit of the storage loops and shows the dumbell/reverse loop bac to the continuous run. The mainlines are to the front. Note the boxes of stock and buildings waiting to escape their 30 years incarceration and becoe a layout!
     

    With the Buckingham West baseboard seen to the left, the mainline crosses behind the hatch and dives under the Buckingham West board. The collar beam is again seen in the centre of the loft, but this is the other end. The incline will be on the right side of this and the small branch terminus (Brackley Road) will be built on the left side with trains leaving away from the camera and swinging right handed to the junction.
     

    This shot puts the central collar beam into perspective with the Buckingham West boards in the background.
     

    The loops and the exits which caused me so much trouble. More work required!!!!
     
    Thanks for reading.
     
    Rich
  23. Richard Mawer

    Bells and Whistles

    By Richard Mawer,

    With the continuous run (Circuits) panel made and the route selectors for the hidden loops fitted and working, attention has turned to wiring in the changeover sections in the loops and the cab control switches on the Circuits Panel.
     
    I started out with a simple break in both rails towards the end of each storage loop so the locos would be driven in on the down controller and stop as they passed over the break. Then I put in a single break at the far end of the points ladder beyond the loco so I could use a single 'push to make' switch to add power to the loco from the up controller so that the train wouldn't start off when the up controller was being used for another train going round the circuits. When desired, the button could be pressed the up controller would connect to the final part of the storage loop and drive the train out, round the dumbell and back onto the circuit, but in the up direction.
     
    So much for theory! In practice it turns out I have a number of locos with pickups split diagonally across the driving wheels on one side and the tender wheels for the other. I don't understand why this arrangement was ever devised because it confers no benefit that I can see. If the pickups were on both sides of the drivers and both sides of the tender then it would significantly improve electrical pick up over points and crossings. However, (rant over) the upshot is that these locos stop as the drivers cross the double break, but won't start on the up controller (with the feed button pressed) because the tender pick ups are still on the down side of the breaks!
     
    Plan B. By adding another double break near the entrance to each loop, most of each loop is now switchable to either up or down controller via a sprung (momentary) centre off dpdt switch. So I now hold the switch over to the Down side whilst the train enters the loop. It then stops either half over or fully over the original double breaks, and then by holding the switch over to the up side, the loop and starting section are energised by the up controller and I can drive the train out. There's always a way!!
     
    The control panel for the continuous run/circuits only has one controller: down. The layout is designed to use cab control: switching control of station sections by pulling off the requisite starting signals. The destination controller drives the train the whole journey. The circuits' controller will be used to drive down trains from Newton Purcell (junction) if it stopped there, or from Buckingham West (if it were a through train), all the way to the continuous run and into the hidden storage loops.
     
    Up trains will be controlled from either Newton Purcell or Buckingham West (depending whether a stopper or through) and therefore a selector switch exists on the circuit panel to select which station will have control of the up trains as they leave the loops and run round the circuits before being signalled up the incline to Newton Purcell.
     
    All of this will be done by block bells (when there is more than 1 operator). Down trains are standard in their signalling, but up trains are a little more complicated because the destination controller has to start the train out of the hidden loops and run it a few times round the circuit before it heads off up the incline to Newton Purcell and as I said, that could be operated by Newton Purcell or Buckingham West.
     
    For example, if it's an up through train, the circuit man starts by doing the unusual thing of offering the train to Buckingham with a separate bell that misses out Newton Purcell, but still using the normal exchange of bell codes. When the circuit man gives 'train on line' he should already have selected the correct route out of the loops (so it's the correct train), selected Buckingham West as the up controller and be holding the loops' sprung switch to exit/up. Buckingham then turns his controller and drives the train out onto the circuit. After a few laps the circuit man then offers the train to Newton Purcell in the normal manner by bell code. He will offer the train along to Buckingham West by bell and when he receives the 'line clear' from Buckingham, will pull off his signals, but most importantly his starter signal. This hands control of Newton Purcell's up line to Buckingham. Newton Purcell in turn gives the 'line clear' to the circuit man, who changes the points and signals over (these will be linked) and sends 'train on line' to Newton Purcell who sends it to Buckingham West. Buckingham then continues to drive the train all the way to his own station. "Simples" as certain meerkats say!
     
    Now to find a few old bike bells and cheap solenoids. Oh yes, and to sort out those servos, build the incline and the small job of building Newton Purcell, Buckingham West.............
     
    Rich
  24. Richard Mawer

    In and working

    By Richard Mawer,

    Well that's what you get when the wife goes on a girlie weekend to a spa - time to do what matters!
     
    I have completed the second diode matrix (to control the exit from the loops), built the control panel for the circuits and storage loops, fixed it all in place and wired it in. What's more, it all worked first time. I can now control entry into and out of the loops by a single push button per loop and not have to think about how the train is being directed.
     

     

     
    The long line of green buttons is the exit and the red buttons are the entry.
     
    At the top there are the point switches for the twin double junctions, which will be operated by servos. These switches will also control the signals.
     
    The red button in the centre is the bell to the next panel.
     
    The middle switch operates the isolated sections in the loops and changes them from incoming controller to ongoing and finally, the switch at the bottom selects which station will control the outgoing train - the junction (next up the line) or the terminus if its a through train.
     
    The large space at the bottom is for the incoming (down) controller - which will be a home made inertia controller - half done, needs finishing - another topic!
     
    Overall, a good weekend. Serious progress.
     
    Rich
  25. Richard Mawer

    Pre-requisites

    By Richard Mawer,

    The layout has to tick various boxes for me. The first and foremost is operational interest. All my layouts as a teenager were tail-chasing train sets with some scenery apart from one which was a fiddleyard to small branch terminus, but they were boring to operate. What really got me about Peter Denny's Buckingham was the operational interest.
     
    No matter how I redesigned the concept over the 30 years away from modelling, I kept coming back to Denny's three stations and fiddleyard.
     
    I have already said that a timetable and clock are important, but so are the following citeria:-
     
    * three independant stations with goods facilities
    * operators primarily as signalmen not drivers
    * operating signals and some interlocking
    * block working with bells
    * double track mainline
    * station pilot working of main terminus
    * layout location to be fictional, but a secondary line placed in a real area that 'could have been'
    * mid 30's GWR, but with a limited number of 4-6-0s
    * 5 coach mainline trains
    * a quarry or other source of mineral traffic
    * lots of cattle traffic
    * milk traffic
    * continuous run for testing /running in /putting time and distance on the timetable /just watching trains
    * panel switches to be in an old fashioned 'frame' rather than a 'powerbox' track diagram
    * private sidings for industry
    * lots of shunting for proper reasons, not just random
    * intertia control of locos
    * solo and group operation.
     
    Of secondary importance to me is the scenery. Don't get me wrong, I want it to look the part, but I am no Barry Norman and this layout will be no Pendon. I just don't have those skills, patience or time. Mine will be a little more like the Gainsborough Model Railway Society. I think most of the exhibition layouts I have seen on the circuit are amazing. The quality of workmanship is incredible and they present brilliant scenes, but for me, many lack operational interest or purpose. It's a personal thing and I welcome the diversity of this hobby!
     
    So that's where the thought process got me.
     
    Next was a rummage in the loft to reveal 24 unused short radius peco code 100 insulfrog points, a few superquick buildings only slightly damaged, 4 H&M point motors, 2 H&M Duette controllers, 25 yards of unused but rusty steel flexi-track and an old triang motorised turntable.
     
    First real decision - to use peco code 100 and nickel silver track. The steel was ditched. I couldn't afford to ignore the points and buy replacements as well as teh extras I would need.
     
    A look in the boxes of accumulated stock confirmed I had 14 locos - most of which hadn't ever been run. Most were bought new, but a few had been ebay purchases. I have collected a good selection of coaches and wagons over the last 10 years os when I have been "seriously" contemplating this layout - rather than just day dreaming with precious little intent!
     
    This delve into history resulted in 2 more early decisions to be made: DC or DCC and what to do about that half made K's Bulldog kit I kept looking at and putting away? Time for Google..........
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