Richard Mawer

UPDATE ON FREIGHT SYSTEM So in practice there were some glitches. In the room light it was hard to differentiate between red and orange, and between the green and yellow. The dark blue almost disappeared. Having 8 colours meant that multiple colours were due to go on most trains. This made it quite hard to remember which colours were going and which were remaining. Having 4 freight days and 6 timetable days gave some rotation, but arguably not enough. This isn't really an issue given it takes 15 hours to run through a timetable day. So I have removed Red, Yellow and Dark Blue and replaced them with the other colours. I have arranged the schedules over 5 days. There are less colours for each train. Hopefully this will sort the issues. The next days running will be telling.

Its been a while since I posted an update. I have mainly been building more signals and a few other little bits and bobs. I will post about those and photos soon. The largest change to have happened is regarding freight. This plan has been in existence in concept since the start of this project. I have finally put it into action and last night was the first time it was used. Its early days but it looks like fun. I always wanted freight to be moved for a reason. There have been many discussions on this site about how to do it: cards for wagons, cards for loads and destinations so you have to move wagons to enable those loads to be moved. All are laudable, but far too complicated for my layout. I took a leaf out of Peter Denny's book (well there's a surprise!) and decided that I couldn't deal with real reasons so I would deal with pretend reasons and move the stock based on colours on each wagon. No need for cards to be lying around. So each wagon has a coloured dot on the left hand end of the solebar. There are 8 colours: Red Green Yellow, Light Blue, White, Orange, Pink and Dark Blue. There are different colours on each side of each wagon. There are roughly the same number of dots for each colour. Alongside the timetable for each station/signal box, there is a Freight sheet and this lists out the colours of wagons that are to form up each departing freight and the maximum number of wagons. So far so good: just a simple shunting operation. There are 4 different freight days with different colours each day. As they alternate around the 6 timetable days it means they are not the same colours for day. So its different colours this Monday from last Monday. The clever/fortunate bit is that for any given train Buckingham West operator sees one side of the train and Evenley and Brackley Road see the other. So if Buckingham forms up a stopping train with Red Green and Orange, when it gets to Evenley that operator receives a train full of random colours (the other sides of the wagons), and so has to shunt. Furthermore, as a train goes round the dumbbell at Banbury, it comes back up the line displaying the other side (the random sequence). So again a non stop train from Buckingham West formed of the same Red Green and Orange receives back a full assortment of colours. This way there is always a selection of wagons in each yard that can be used to form up the next train, and some wagons left in the yard. Each yard has a different colour (or colours) that it keeps for a given day. The number of wagons in any yard varies and the number going on any train varies - just like the real thing. So a train to Swindon with a max of 20 units may be full length one day yet only have 13 the next. It will take time for the wagon locations to find their level. Of course there have to be some wagons that aren't part of that general system, such as perishables, milk, coal etc which have their own trains. There are other days when certain trains must carry certain wagons (such as cattle) or are prevented from that, so that they can go on special trains. Its all listed on the timetable. It sounds more complicated than it is when it is being operated - or at least I hope it sounds more complicated than it is. At present the colours are stickers, so if it fails, it can all come off. At least there is some form of pattern and purpose.

Andy, Good to hear from you again. I'm pleased to hear you are progressing. The plan sounds good. We both agree on Buckingham!! I am sure going for operation is right. We spend ages building these things and without operational interest I can't see the point. As far as I am aware GWR lever frames were generally numbered left to right, but all the levers needing to be pulled for a train to go through the box left to right tended to be at the far left - so 1 to 4 would be distant, home, starter, advanced starter - and those to be pulled to go right to left would be the furthest on the right - say 30 to 27 for the same signal descriptions going the other way. All things in the middle tended to be left to right numbered, but there were always exceptions. I am sure someone else with more knowledge will be able to correct me, if I've got that wrong. I'll keep a watching brief. Rich

Stu, you have certainly added a lot to the layout, just like my other clever friends and contributers. I am very grateful to you all and am glad people seem to enjoy the layout.

BRUNEL TRAIN SHED A huge thanks to Stu Hilton alias Stubby47 down in Taunton who accepted my commission to build a Brunel train shed for Buckingham West. I think it is brilliant and just what Buckingham needed to scream Great Western. It sits centre stage as you get to the door to enter the railway room (what other folks would a garage!). Some time ago David Bigcheeseplant on this site very kindly sent me plans and drawings of the sheds at High Wycombe and Thame. We lived in High Wycombe for 22 years, so apart from everything else it seemed apt. I passed these on to Stu together with some photos of various sheds and the measurements of my platforms. Constructed mainly from plasticard, but with plasti strut and wire trusses. Suitably painted and lightly weathered, it sits over platforms 2 and 3. Platform 2 is bi-directional and used by shorter trains. 3 is the main departure platform. The near side is open with pillars which allows passengers access to platform 1 (the main arrival), but also for the operator to see the ends of the roads. God forbid a loco is left at the buffers when an arrival is due! The shed is deliberately quite short so that it gives the right impression but isn't a pain to operate with, nor hides all the lovely trains. I have been waiting for the shed to arrive before finishing the platforms - my story and I'm sticking to it. So I apologise for the missing part in the photos. Stu has made a rear wall to close off the back and make it look like the wall of the station building when viewed from inside. That's what I asked for. But now I think I'll keep it open, so we can look through just like one of the photos below. Stu did a really good job and consulted all the way about all sorts of details. He even hand delivered it, but that was chance rather than something he does for everyone. He creates some amazing buildings. Look at his website. Thanks again Stu. It's perfect. The 09.25 arrival at Buckingham West from Banbury. Hauled by the Bulldog built by Stan Chandler and Tony Gee. Someday soon to receive its shirtbutton, number and name of Pershore Plum. I Just love the atmosphere created.

CROSSING THE VOID Looking at a book about GWR branchlines I noticed how many level crossings there were. I succumbed to the idea of a crossing on the branch just outside Brackley Road. As the branch is high at that point the lane will then cross the main lines by bridges. I rearranged the positions of the Home and Advanced Starter. This allowed the signals to protect the crossing. I didn't have any spare switches on the panel, nor trust myself (or anyone else) to open the gates before driving through them, so I was thinking through how to do it sequentially using servos and microswitches, when Mark Riddoch of MERG fame and frequent visitor to BW said he could easily do it with an Arduino and stepper motors. I am very grateful for the interest and assistance. So when pulling lever 9, one gate slowly opens to rail, then the other, and finally the Advanced Starter pulls off. Putting it back, the signal goes on, then the gates open to the road one at once. Lever 10 goes through the same sequence but it pulls the Home off. The signals are operated by servos and a Servo4 triggered by the Arduino. There is not too much traffic on the branch, so the time taken to clear the line is no problem. The gates are the Gaugemaster Fordhampton crossing. I made the road approaches from plastic card and mounted the steppers below. The gates are superglued to the stepper spindles. The setting up was easy thanks to Mark pre programming the travel. The bits of card in the photos are merely supporting the gates while the glue goes off. The base colour is just an undercoat!! So that's Brackley Road now fully signalled. Once the scenery is built and I have a crossing keeper's cottage, I think this will be a nice little area.

BELLS AND LIGHTS Some operators have struggled slightly with the 3 bells at Evenley. Although they are different pitches and tones at first it can be confusing. The idea of indicator lights was mooted some months ago. There was quite a bit of discussion on here. Three bell tappers can be seen on the panel. The bells are behind. I am delighted to report that when he was last here, Mark Riddoch of MERG very kindly brought me an Arduino based circuit board. His original design was going to be based on a 555 chip I believe, but I think Roger Noble, another friend from my HWDMRS days, made a suggestion. Its simply connected to the three bells and 12v dc. As a bell is rung the equivalent LED lights. After 5 seconds it flashes quickly and then slowly for another 5. I have made a simple panel next to the controller. It is quite clear, if a little basic. My dymo tape has run out. Thanks again Mark and Roger.

S AND T DAY I can't quite believe how long it has taken today to wire in a few signals! I think it actually took longer to run the wires than it did to set the servos up. Not helped at the end by my own stupidity on fault finding. The simplist thing would have been to switch the power off and back on and see if the Servo4 board had reset, rather than re-wire a whole board and half Brackley Road panel and still find it didn't work! Aagh!! Why are the simple answers so far away when needed. So now Evenley has some extra signals:- Left to right :- Evenley down advanced starter with Charlton Junction Distant below; Evenley up distant, Charlton Junction down (continuous run) distant on the lower level. Evenley up advanced starter with Buckingham West fixed distant below; Buckingham West outer home in the distance. I need to make another 2 arm home/distant for Buckingham advanced starter and Evenley down distant which will go in the hole behind the nearest one. In typical GWR fashion it will be on the right of the running line. I thought that track was straight! Brackley Road also has its first signal. The Guards view (given that there is no platform yet) of the platform starter. I can now see I didn't set it quite horizontal. I'll adjust it next time I plug the laptop into the Servo4s. There are some others, but a signal is a signal! I won't bore you. I now have to make all Buckingham West's signals including a bracket and the 4 post gantry. Brackley Road needs 2 more. Then thats it! Two of the signals are quite vulnerable, so I have fitted clear acrylic sheet to protect them from stray arms and sleeves. I've hit these sheets a few times already, so its saved some upset already.

Gents, Thanks for the comments. The layout has progressed. Please find the up to date thread at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/102581-buckingham-west/page-14 Cheers Rich

My Hand of God happens at the end of each day for the coal. Thats when time stands still!

Good to hear from you Rich. I can't claim originality for the cling film thing. I tead it somewhere ages ago. Can't remember when/where. The signals look ok at a distance (no pun intended), but they work well which is the i portant bit on this layout.

NEXT BATCH I found time today toake some more signals. I use the excellent Ratio Quick Assembly kits. They are made to operated by cord with a lever supplied in the kit. The signal is meant to have a tubular base that goes through a half inch hole in the baseboard. I have found many parts to be too fragile and fiddly for my liking and I want them servo operated. So I miss out most of the parts, using just the post, ladder etc. I slice the mouldings off the base and superglue that to a piece of plasticard with a servo fixed below. The operating wire goes straight through the base to the servo horn/bracket. These sit over a 40mm hole for the servo. The signal arm and axle is one of the weakest parts of the kit and certainly not up to the workout a servo can give it. They tend to break. The design also has a lot of leverage, meaning not much movement of the wire makes a large movement of the arm. My solution is to slice off the plastic spindle and use an old (very old!) Hornby (I'm talking about Super 4 days!) track pin. By comparison to todays track pins these are more like nails, but they fit through the Ratio hole perfectly. I Evostick the arm to the head. On the rear I use another piece from the kit, cut down in size, drill a small hole though it and push fit it over the point of the pin. The operating wire, bent 90 degrees, hooks though the larger hole. This stops the arm and spindle from coming out and gives a longer crank for the operating wire, lowering the leverage ratio. Once set at the right at the right angle, a drop of superglue on the pin secures the plastic back piece. You can see the original piece from the kit (not sure what is really meant for) on the left and the cut down version on the right. Once built, these are quite resilient. Ok, the back looks a bit clunky and the wire goes straight into the ground, so its no masterpiece, but they work and can signal trains. The twin arm signal was a pig. I have made brackets before, but not one of these. The bracket was a doddle by comparison. On these there is next to no room to make sure the upper wire misses the lower crank. I have only one more to make!

CORDON A few years ago I bought two Cordon Gas Wagons from a website called i-materialise. They are 3D printed. I have posted about them previously. Cordons were used to hold gas for gas lamps and coach lamps at stations without a mains (local coal gas) supply. They were kept in bay platforms etc. and then taken to a major station for recharging. I have finally got round to finishing one of them. They have NEM pockets so the couplings were easy. Brass top hat bearings were sunk into the axle boxes with a soldering iron. 14mm wheels were added. Due to the plastic moulding the wagon was very light. The tanks were hollow so I filled the lower 5 with Liquid Gravity. It's very fine shot. I suspect there are other brands available as they say. I have read that PVA and lead react and expand. So I squirted copious amounts of Evostick in each tank to seal it. Here it is stuck together. I need to touch up the paint and add transfers. That'll be another couple of years then! I now have the second one to do. I also endd up changing loads more couplings. How many more wagons need attention? And to think I went into the railway room to wire up the new Servo boards!!!

I have used pieces of ferous metal in the loads (and stuck under the plastic ones) and hand held magnets. If I keep hold of the wagon, the magnet will pull the load out.

The loaded ironstone wagons waiting in the quarry line. This quarry siding will be behind a removeable section of backscene, accessed by a bridge at the the far end. Next to it are the lines between Evenley and Buckingham West. On the lower level is the dumbbell line out of the Banbury storage loops.

LOADS UPDATE After 24 hours the loads themselves were dry and hard. But below that there was a lot of wet glue. The cling film was preventing it drying. The trick is clearly to peel the cling film off at the 24 hour stage and turn the loads over. After a couple of hours the soggy bottoms had all dried off. All I have done tonight is paint the insides of the wagons black for when they are empty. I got quite a few more to do as I have just over 60 coal wagons. The ironstone looks good. Thank goodness they are hauled loaded down the incline!!

CARRYING COALS TO BUCKINGHAM This is one of the evocative titles from Peter Denny. It was an article in Railway Modeller explaining how he had two bodies for each coal wagon: identical in every way except one was loaded and one empty. Articles such as this shaped my passion for the hobby. Tonight I was meant to be making signal kits, but I can't find the track pins I use as spindles. I did, however find my bag of ironstone chippings. So plan B became wagon load building. Firstly the ironstone and then more coal (hence the title). Most of my coal loads are lightweight Parkside Dundas plastic mouldings, but some wagons are different sizes and I can't find any to fit. I don't want heavy coal loads because the wagons are hauled up the incline loaded. Its a 23 wagon train. Unlike Peter Denny, I have gone for the more traditional approach of removeable loads instead of interchangeable bodies. My coal loads have small ferous self adhesive weights stuck to the undersides. I can then lift the loads out with a magnet. I have made the loads for the odd sized coal wagons and the ironstone wagons the same way. Firstly I put a piece of cling film in each wagon so it hung well over the sides. This is to prevent the load getting glued in the truck. Then I cut a piece of polystyrene sheet to very easily fit each wagon. Perhaps a 2mm or even 3mm gap around each one when dropped in. Next I cut a better fitting (but still not tight) piece of thick card and pva'd the two together. I stuck one of the ferous weights onto the centre of each card and then painted the card. Burnt umber for the ironstone and back for coal. Finally I tipped a small amount of each filling into the trucks: just enough to cover the card and the weight. When happy with the way they looked I mixed up some pva and water. About 50/50. Maybe a bit stronger glue-wise. One drop of washing up liquid added in the time honoured tradition to break up the surface tension and then dribbled it over the loads to saturate them. I am now just waiting for them to go off over the next 24/36 hours or so. The glue will dry clear. I can then lift them out with the cling film, remove it, or if stuck, trim it back, and then mark the base with the name of the respective wagons they fit. Hopefully in use I will be able to remove them using the magnet without damaging the loads.

SERVOS TO SIGNALS As well as the Servo1s, I have made 4 more MERG Servo4s. In terms of controls thats it apart from 1 interesting extra that a friend is working on. That will have an entry on its own later. I now need to extend the power feeds to the new boards, fit them and wire up from the switches. I also need to make all the signals. Here's one I made earlier! As the saying goes. It will be Evenley's down home. Its connected to a Servo1 and has had the trimmer pots adjusted. Ready to put on the layout.

SERVO 1 MERG produce a kit in their Pocket Money Project range called EZ-Points. Its really a Servo 1. It controls 1 servo and uses the trim pots to set the two end positions of the servo travel, and the speed. Like the Servo4, it is triggered by an on/off switch and has a 9 to 12v dc input voltage. The difference is that it is set on a small piece of stripboard instead of a bespoke circuit board. You have to make the breaks in the copper strip in the right places before you begin. So its a bit more like electronics were at school all those years ago. I have made up 4 so far. They are going to be used for signals which are somewhat on their own and where there are no other items that justifiy using a Servo4 or where the servo wire run would be too long. The wires become aerials and the servos act strangely if the wires are too long.

WOW! I am very impressed with Gaugemaster. Firstly their no quibble lifetime guarantee is almost unheard of in this day and age. What other product can you send back for repair with no proof of purchase and no time restriction? Just send it back with a note saying what is wrong and they will sort it out for free. Not only that, but I posted the controller off last Friday about lunchtime. It would not have reached the factory until Saturday at the earliest. I doubt anyone was working in repairs over the weekend, so they will have got it into the right dept by Monday at the earliest. And today (Friday) it arrived back on my desk first post. It must have been sent off Thursday at the latest. I find that pretty impressive. So thank you Gaugemaster. Buckingham West will be running again soon.

43 FINALLY BECOMES 72 The latest operating session showed up 4 problems:- - cattle wagons not staying coupled - ironstone wagons derailing - a controller's brakes failling - the 43xx's running ok at passenger speeds but not good at slow or for shunting. The cattle wagons have not really been used before. It turns out some of the replaced coupling hooks were stiff and other couplings were too high. The former have now been freed up and the latter issue solved by changing the couplings back to the originals. They are Bachmann and the couplings are cranked/stepped down. I hadn't realised, but the NEM sockets are too high. Why did they do that? Why use something supposedly standard and allowing for interchange and then set it at a none standard height? Anyway they are now all sorted but the Bachmanns have narrow couplings. We'll see how they shunt and if they lock up. The ironstone wagons need some more TLC with back to backs and weight, but I think the main issue was the speed they were being pulled by the 43xx. The controller has been sent back to Gaugemaster for a lifetime guarantee repair. The brakes would not go fully on. So trains would creep! This is the first fault out of the 7 controllers. I do like the simulators and these controllers make all the locos behave well and at slow speeds. Surely the best analogue controllers out there. Who needs DCC for inertia and control at slow speeds??? The 43xx's with Hornby tender drives are so much better, but not good at slow goods speeds compared with modern locos such as the 28xx's, ROD or J11. It might have something to do with the width of the tyres or the depth of the flanges. The powered tender wheels are a bit like steam rollers. also the inserts I added to prevent the excessive play in the driving wheels from throwing the pony truck also ad some resistance. As a 43xx is nearly always rostered to the ironstone and shunting is needed at Evenley, it has become a bore. I am sure the necessary speed needed to keep the 43 from stopping on corners also contributed to the ironstone wagons desire to leave the tracks at times. I have therefore retired one of the 43's. The other is fine for passenger trains. Instead I have relented and bought one of the gorgeous 72xx beasts. Hopefully I will now have slower ironstone trains with fewer mishaps and better shunting. They are lovely models and are impressive at slow speeds. I'm off to make more signals and Merg Servo 4s now.

Thanks Tony. Yes she needed a bit of lead towards the rear. Some is blutac'd in the cab at present. I'll get it in the firebox when I letter, plate, lamp, coal and crew. I have a few more that need similar treatment and they all need lamps and crews. Cheers, Rich

Over the last couple of weeks I have not had too much railway time. I've been tied up with village stuff. But I ran the Bulldog everywhere on the layout to check her out. She ran well. Thanks Tony. However she kept derailing leaving Evenley on the Up line. Nothing else did but on closer inspection the gauge was wide on one point. This station is the only bit from MK1 and came over with the removal guys. Either I fitted a dodgy point or it took a bash in the van and I never realised. Either way, it had to go. A new electro frog went it, was wired, then I messed up the servo tie-bar wire! I would have refit the servo. Golden rule: don't do railway stuff when tired! I pulled the wrong servo off underneath!!!! To make matters worse it was 1 of 2 servos on a slip and was wired via a Y splitter cable off one port on the MERG board. So both servos have to move exactly the same amount - no individual adjustment. So I had to replace it in exactly the right position. Shall we just say, it took more than one go, and move on!!! At least the replacement point works well! I have also had to adjust the positions of some other servos. Not sure why, but they stopped moving right over. They didn't need much, but without it, some trucks started to derail. Odd. Anyone else had such issues? I have also continued to change wagon wheels, set the back to backs, change couplings and add weight. I am coming to the end of Friday on the timetable. Some more operating sessions are coming up though. 20.45 coal empties, Buckingham to Severn Tunnel Junction, having called at Evenley to pick up empties from there and Brackley Road. 21.00 Leamington goods which actually terminates at Evenley as one of those weird old fashioned quirks. Any wagons on that train bound for Buckingham have to wait for the following day. They can go via Brackley Road on the morning's 'Fly' (pick up goods) or wait for the afternoon's 'Fly' or late afternoon trip freight.

Otherwise known as a collar.

Some of them need new numbers, names and decals. So that is going to have to wait.