Jump to content
 

petertg

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    378

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by petertg

  1. petertg
    Hi all! Since before Christmas I have been able  to do nothing. The Christmas period was spent in part away from home and then occupied with family events. Then in January I had vascular problems in both feet and the specialist had me shut up in hospital for twelve days. I still have problems and difficulty in walking due to a constant pain in the lumbar region. The cold weather and lack of a suitable heater make working in the garage difficult.  However, since this web is for airing modelling topics and not the state of one's health. I can comment a pair of activities, one dating from last year and the other from this week.
    Several years ago I purchased a Roco rerailer which, in fact, could only be easily used at one particular point on the layout, due to the width of its arms and the separation between tracks. When I rerlaid the track on thicker cork underlay it didn't seat properly ion the track so I purchaesd a Proses electric rerailer, which is too large for my layout, can fit on only one siding and occupies half of it. It also requires the  rerailed vehicle to cross four points before reaching the main line.
    Thus it occurred to me to modify the Roco item. I removed the arms and feet (see original picture here):
    I then applied the tip against the sleeperss. measured the gap at the rear end over the track, cut pieces of plasticard just the width between the rails and glued them to the rerailer with the followinf resulta:
     I can now rerail in up to ten different places on the layout.
    In November and January I purchased two second hand Jintys from Hattons, with dcc chip fitted by them I must say I am pleased with the service obtained). However the second one arrived just days before admission to hospital and I only had time to test that it worked. This week I deceided to modify its address and spent a whole afternoon without success. Whatever I did, the address was always 3.The day after I had another go and realised I was using the wrong program. Once this error was corrected, there was no problem, the loco answered to its new addresss but ran backwards when forwars was selected and viceversa- I put this down to the fact that when soldering the decoder, the operativv had confused the wires. This was no problem, since it was suffiient to change bit 0 of CV 29 to 1.
    But I now have an unexpected problem with yje Jintys. I have already glued various Kadee 334 (between the rail) magnets and tested when with my goods and passenger stock, but I now find that the Jintys jam against them, as part of the belly is too low. I shall now have to rip up the magnets and refit them and make space for the remaining one I want to fit by futting out the sleepers, unless there is any better way.
    Regards to all.
  2. petertg

    Slow progress

    By petertg,

    Good evening all. Since my last post modelling has been almost stopped. I had got to a stage where I had to wire up two new platform lampposts and two street lighting posts. This obviously meant working on the underside of the board, which is now a problem. My physical conditions no longer allow me to tip the board on edge like I could a couple of years ago to work upright. Working seated is not comfortable, but after a week turning the matter over in my mind, I decided to put into practice an idea that had occurred to me. The leads from the new posts were long enough to reach some terminal blocks where earlier installed lamps were connected. However, the problem here was how to get the hair thin leads pass through the terminal blocks already full of wires. Just by loosening the screws and trying to push the wires through would not work, because the wires have no body and would just curl up. The idea was to use a needle and thread them through in that way. So, I rummaged in the sewing cabinet and found a tapestry needle which had an eye large enough to take the filaments, although not the plastic sheath. This was overcome by stripping off (with a cigarette lighter) part of he sheath. I was than able to pass the wires through the blocks without dislodging the existing wires. The first lamp went o.k., but there was a contact fault with the second one which required me to release the wire, back it off a little, burn off a portion of sheath and then tighten it up again. Now all my station platform lights work. The street lighting will require the leads to be extended because they are farther away from the nearest terminal block of the existing lighting, but I don't anticipate any serious problems. Once that job is done, I can back to populating the platforms and streets with standing figures, since I have already placed a good number of seated figures.
  3. petertg
    I have just realIised that six months have passed since my last post and a lot of things (not all pleasant) have passed in the meantime. To be brief, In May I was rushed into hospital with a lung edema (lings full of blood) and was discharged a week later with a new addition, namely a stent. Then I had a couple of short visits (a few hours each time) for a nose hemorrhage and a heart block). On the pleasant side, there was a trip to the UK to visit relatives and old friends (in spite of my age and theirs, some are still alive), including a trip on the NYMR of TV fame.
    I decided to get my Faller station (with moving figures) operative and started sticking magnets to the drive belt, but made a horrible mess of it and had to order a new belt, which took almost three months to reach my hands for reasons too long to explain. Once I had fitted the magnets (devilishly small: 2x2x1 mm) I found that the motor was faulty, so I had to order a new one, which I now have. but it won't drive the belt. I don't know whether I haven't got the tension right or whether there is too much friction. I have left that problem for the time being.
    I decided to add an additional platform to the Faller station because my layout has two variants, namely, double loop which goes alternately under than over the bridge, or two individual loops, one going always under the bridge and calling at one of the stations and the other going always over the bridge and not calling at any station. Since I have DMUs and the autocoach, two units can be running at the same time and both need stations where to pick up and drop off passengers. I'll come back to that another time.
    Like another member mentioned just recently, I have decided to populate the layout since there were empty trains, empty stations, empty streets and empty buses (when I put them on the layout). So, I bought some benches which needed painting) and some seated figures and placed some in a small park, in the bus shelter and in the DMUs as passengers. They are, however very plain, apart from the hair and face, the rest of the figure is all one colour (you can't expect much at 6GBP for 25). I also acquired a box of 30 Noch Travellers figures, extremely well detailed, but obviously much more expensive (five to six times). not all are specifically railway oriented and can be used for street scenes. Since I have 30 benches to share out among four platforms and, perhaps, in the streets, I am contemplating buying a box of Noch seated figures and may even buy a box of legless figures for use as passengers if I can find a way of opening coaches and buses without doing irreparable damage.
    Finally, I have added a wall to the other station platform (homemade and decorated with Metcalfe card kits) and show some photos below. The wall is made of two sheets of 2mm thick balsawood faced with printed brick paper and capped with Metcalfe paving flags.

    First half of new wall

    New wall completed
  4. petertg

    Another type of modelling

    By petertg,

    It has been over three weeks since I have been able to lower the layout from the garage ceiling since the floor has been, and still is, occupied with Christmas material. Firstly, it was the boxes containing the Christmas decorations, then it was the boxes containing 37 5-litre bottles of olive oil (we buy first press virgin olive oil for all the family and friends for the whole year direct from the mill) and, after the oil had been delivered to its destinations, the floor was filled with boxes of Christmas sweets which we also buy direct from the factory (an annual outing).
    In view of the absence of activity on the railway front, it is perhaps in keeping to show some other modelling, more seasonal, done by my wife and our two youngest grandchildren.
    Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year for all.



    Some of the figures are hand painted clay over 70 years old fom my wife's childhood.
  5. petertg

    Water Tower

    By petertg,

    Helo again.
    My layout is based on a track plan from the 1975 Hornby catalogue and does not contain a water tower and, from the range of accessories illustrated in the catalogue, it does not appear that any was available. The front cover of te catalogue, which is a colour photograph of this same plan, shows an engine shed and steam locomotives, so water would have been required.
    Some time back, I purchased a Peco Water tower and, when placed on the baseboard, it seemed very low. So, I made a base for it as per the following photos.


    There is also a photo where I think it should go for space reasons, unless I place it at the far end of the end-to-end middle road opposite to the shed.

    I would like to receive opinions on the following points:
    1. Is the base and tower on it prototypical (or almost) of any period of the history of railways in Britain up to about 1960?
    2. Would the tower have been painted or left black (I suppose it should be weathered but I do not possess those skills)?
    3. Is the place I have chosen O.K?
  6. petertg

    Ballasting

    By petertg,

    Since I relaid the whole track using cork underlay instead of the previous foam underlay I have been faced with the problem of decent ballasting. Since, for reasons explained in previous posts, I used a 5 mm thick cork, I now have the problem of how to disguise this steep step. I tried gluing 7 mm wide cardboard strips at an angle to form a hypotenuse and, in some places it seems o.k. but in others not because I did not get the ballast to stick properly. Finally, I decided to glue a twine in the angle between the upright cork wall and the base and then apply the ballast and a small test piece turned out alright, but when I have applied it to the layout, I find it hard to get the same results and it doesn't seem to look quite right to me, but I haven’t seen close up shots of other modellers' ballasting to compare. I enclose some photos and would like to see photos of others.




    A further point, is the water tower o.k. in its present colour as supplied, or should it have a different colour and is it right planted directly on the floor or should it have a pedestal?
    The photos are not particularly good, but I used a tablet with a low powered camera.
  7. petertg

    Still alive

    By petertg,

    Hi all!
    Between my last post and this there have been five heart blocks and a pace maker. Fortunately for me, the last block, which lasted nine seconds, occurred when I was in bed in hospital, being monitored. Eight hours later, the pace maker was installed.
    Apart from this, I am struggling along with the ballasting of the track. I try to do a bit each day, but 20+ metres of track is a lot of track. Also, since I had ripped up the foam underlay and used cork, since the cork portions were hand crafted (?) from sheets, when I laid the track again, it did not coincide exactly with the centre of the cork bits. So, to make things look decent, I have to trim the cork.
    As commented before, I had three OO gauge steam locomotives, but only four passenger coaches and no goods stock. So I purchased four coaches in LMS livery to go behind my LMS locomotive, a rake of seven goods wagons, including a brake van and a particular Derby lightweight DMU (second hand) that I had wanted for some time now. In the past Hattons had reduced, from time to time, the price of various Bachmann DMUs, but not this one and, finally, the price went up substantially. So, in the end, I have had to pay for a second hand DMU the same price for which I could have had it new two or three years ago.
  8. petertg
    In DCC Questions I raised a query concerning a possible PCB failure in my Class 108 DMU. As a result of the fall the decoder had developed faults, so I removed it and inserted a blanking plug and tried the vehicle with an analogue controller, with no success. I assumed that the PCB might be damaged and dismantled the power car to the extent of even removing the motor from its support. When tested it worked so a number of further tests as recommended on the Forum led me to suspect that the blanking plug was defective. I replaced it with another one and got positive results and to-day I even managed to reassemble the vehicle practically in no time (much to my surprise). Further testing revealed some faulty power pick-up through the non-powered bogie of the drive car. I removed it, fettled up the chassis pick-up pads and cleaned the bogie pick-up pins and it now seems to run O.K. Also I commented on the Forum that I had damaged a good decoder in that the white wire had broken loose. I dared to resolder it and it appears to work although when I first replaced the decoder compartment lid, both rear and headlights came on simultaneously. The locomotive in question has very little space for the decoder and the harness so I had to fold the latter slightly better than it was to be able to replace the lid. It now seems to work properly. Both the Class 108 and this locomotive have only been tested on a separate two foot track I have really prepared for programming (although by switching leads from the controller it doubles up as a mini main) and I have not yet tried them on the layout.
    Just a year ago I said that I had finally completed the underside of the layout and added photos. With the earthquake this is no longer true since I have to reconnect some point motors and some new droppers which I added to parts of track that I had to lift and relay. At my age my body is not in the best of conditions to work under the baseboard and perform contortions and to tilt it on edge on is becoming increasingly harder each time. The best thing in my favour is that I am not usually pessimistic
  9. petertg
    In my last post I said that my layout had suffered something comparable to an earthquake. Yesterday I managed to have it lifted off the floor and placed on its trestles and set about assessing the damage. One street lamp damaged, the station platform illumination does not come on, one station building had lost a chimney pot, some of the columns supporting the ramp up to the bridge had broken away from their bases, two under floor point motors had become disengaged from the track and one track joint had come apart. The whole ramp did not come apart because one of the columns is attached to the baseboard with a screw and the track base is also attached to the column head with a screw. The chimney pot and the split track joint were easily repaired. The point motors have required lifting of the track and one has already been refitted. This operation led me to realise that there were substantial length of track that had not been held down to the baseboard, so this will be done.
    To test the track integrity I got out my Class 150 DMU which suffers from mysterious derailment (mentioned before and subject of a Forum thread) and managed to close the wide back-to-back measurement of the offending pair of wheels to an acceptable dimension. This test revealed the split rail connection mentioned above, but the machine continued to derail under the specific conditions. A close inspection showed that the derailment occurs at the joint between a straight and a turnout. There is no obvious reason why this should happen, but since I have had to lift the track in this area to reengage the other affected point motor I will see if relaying the track cures the fault.
    I add a picture of the take-up roller as it is now. The motor was pulled away from its support.

    Finally a question: is the Regional Railways Sprinter livery BR or post-privatization?
  10. petertg

    Christmas Greetings

    By petertg,

    Nothing new on the modelling front. Just to send my best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all members and particularly to those who have the patience and good will to respond to my questions on the Forums.
    I hope to be able to make some positive progress in the New Year.
  11. petertg
    Hi all again!
    Since I can’t make any positive movement forward on my layout, I feel I must let off steam with this note. I have a list of jobs to be done:
    1. Improve the lighting in the garage, not only for better illumination of the layout, but also for all uses of the garage.
    2. I have to replace four pulleys of the hoisting system which do not rotate when the baseboard is being lowered or raised. Fortunately the cords used are Kevlar mountaineering cord which seems to resist the friction and slides over the stationary pulley. I had arranged to have my son-in-law and family for the weekend of 1st November so he could help me with the job, but my wife going down with flu and his mother suffering a fall stymied this.
    3. When we get around to replacing the pulleys, I want to turn the baseboard round. This is because the new controller connects to the same end where the point motor control is installed and this means that when the garage door is closed, I have little room to move in the space formed between the door, a side table and a chair (the transformer and controller go on the side table). With my previous starter kit, I had a hand held throttle with freedom of movement all around the layout and this lack of space did not occur.
    4. The scenic arrangement needs finishing. The original layout plan contemplates a second signal box and, to place this appropriately, I shall have to demolish or remove a line-side shed. Also, in parts I have foam track underlay and in other places I have cork where I shall have to ballast. A burnt out point motor needs replacement and finally, some items are in need of repair.
    Although it may seem strange to some, it gets very cold here. As the crow flies we are just over two miles from the Med, practically at sea level, but we get early morning frost and ice. This week we had ice in the back garden. So, to avoid working in the garage (surrounded by north and west walls), I have made a portable test track for working on the kitchen or dining room table. It can be used either as a programming track or main as it can be interchangeably connected to the leads from my controller (see photos below). It is obviously not long enough to do long main track testing but at least the start volt (CV2) settings can be tested. Apart from that, all CVs can be read off and reprogrammed as necessary. I have three locos which need adjusting.

    This shows my controller with two female ended leads which attach to male sockets on the baseboard.

    This shows the male socket at the end of the portable test track, albeit unfortunately not very clearly

    This shows the portable track.
    I finally received (after 16 days) some spares ordered from the U.K. and set about doing something that I would not have dreamed of a year ago, namely modifying RTR stock. I was inspired into this by reading of others who fit a body of this onto a chassis of that and do other changes. So, to change the couplings on a Fowler 4P 2-6-4 tank of 1992-5 vintage, I changed the front pony truck and fitted new couplings and have also chipped it. Some modification of the interior of the body will be required to allow for convenient housing of all the additional wires and insulation. But, at least, it responds to commands. I also ordered a replacement pony truck for my Stanier 4P because I have had problems with the original. One wheel has lost its tyre twice and even came off when I tried to replace it. So, if this happens again, I shall have to replace the pony truck.
    As mentioned on forums and blogs, I have had problems with chipping locomotives and have spoiled five or six decoders. My experience now shows me that not all the problems were due to the decoders. What is obvious is that the decoders were probably not adequate for the particular locomotives to which I fitted them but, also, I was not aware of the possible need to reprogram various CVs and, if I had known, I would not have been able to do so with my DCC starter kit. Also, at that time I thought that all decoders were the same (part of the blissful ignorance mentioned in my first ever post). While on the question of decoders, the Bachmann 21 pin decoder (ref. 36-554, ESU manufacture) according to the data sheet attached therewith, has no provision for modifying CV6. I am wondering if it has an automatically variable default value. In the Zimo decoders CV6 comes with a default value which is automatically one third of CV5, so if you reprogram CV5, it adopts the new value, while at the same time it can be reprogrammed otherwise.
  12. petertg

    Just plodding along

    By petertg,

    I sometimes wonder if what I post is of interest to anybody but me. Some people are building kits, others are making attractive dioramas, etc. but I am doing nothing of that. When I think I am getting somewhere another hitch occurs. At the beginning of summer, after a couple of weeks of hectic work to install the new operating system for my point motors I found that one of them did not switch, Since prior to doing the final wiring I had tested the motors one by one and they had worked, my conclusion was that one of the soldered joints within the switch panel box had come adrift and since this meant undoing around 40 connections to gain access to the inside of the box, I left it for a future occasion because all the other motors (14) worked well and it was not too much to move one turnout by hand.
    A good while back I had observed that four of the pulleys in the hoisting system for my layout were not rotating. Since I used Kevlar cord (mountaineering grade) there were no signs of frictional wear, so I did nothing about it. However, since I have made arrangements with my son-in-law to come and help me this coming weekend to change the pulleys I decided that the time had come to look into the point motor fault and set about it. I released the 40-odd connections working from underneath (without having to tip the baseboard edge on) and then found that there was no loose wire. I checked the corresponding switch and it was O.K. So, what was wrong? I finally found that it was the point motor that had failed but I have no idea why. Fortunately I had a spare motor which was quickly fitted and proved to work. However, to redo the undone connections I shall have to tip the baseboard edge on this time because one thing is to loosen a connection and pull the wire out but another thing is to get it back in again.
    Apart from that certain items are now in need of repair, I have three locomotives awaiting decoders (two have to be hard-wired) and one needs the couplings changed, not all the scenic work is finished and I am in doubts as to how to do it. The Faller station, bought right at the very beginning, has not yet been properly installed and there is the problem of discovering why different locomotives derail at different places, while others do not, or come loose from their coaches. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for when I started (see my very first post).
    The above was written two days ago and to-day I upturned my baseboard and set about restoring the connections and I got through 21 in just over an hour before having to leave it. It was a fiddly job with tweezers, a light from above and a torch to see from below the terminal strip. I’ve still got another dozen to reconnect and then tests the lot before returning the layout to the horiozontal position. I have also asked a question in the Modifying RTR stock forum but haven’t got any information yet.
  13. petertg

    Hallelujah

    By petertg,

    Hi all!
    I think to-day that I can safely say, after nearly seven years, that work on the underside of my baseboard is finished. There is one detail that I cannot finish for the time being. It is a motor that requires AC and, since I have converted everything else to DC, it will not work. Perhaps when I can purchase a new, more complete controller than my current start set. The turnouts all work and the lights also. Since I had reformed the dropper wiring I tested a locomotive, which also worked, albeit after several weeks of non-use, the track needs a good clean. However, I fear that the controller handset is starting to fail.
    Here are a few photos of the underside of the baseboard:



  14. petertg

    Last minute snag

    By petertg,

    Evening all:
    This morning I had high hopes that to-day would see the finish of work on the underside of the baseboard. But there is still one problem bugging me. I can't get the station lights to work properly. My street lighting works, the yard lights work, but not the station lights. The funny thing is that if I apply the current from what should be the head end of the wiring there is no response, but if I apply current from the tail end, then they do light up. So, the obvious solution is to redo the wiring, but at 21.00 hrs I was tired, so tomorrow will see another session.
    When I was wiring up the point motors, since I have the baseboard edge on upright, I can't see the top side when working on the bottom, so when testing the point motors I had to work by ear. All made sounds of working but, when I was able to have a look at the top side, one motor was not moving the blades, although it had made operational noises. I removed it and saw that the rocker arm which moves the points was damaged. However, since my son-in-law (a right handyman) was staying with us, I gave it to him and, more in hope than anger, asked him if he could open it (it was a Hornby surface mounted one) and he did so. The end of the arm mounted on the solenoid core had apparently been burnt. Somehow he repaired it with a bit of thin stiff wire and superglue and got it to work.
    What I have done is tidy up the wiring of the droppers. When I first fitted them, I used terminal blocks and left long slack loops of wire and had to cover some connections with a piece of cardboard to avoid possible snagging. However, last year I acquired some new solder iron tips and some decent solder, so I decided to take advantage of the base board being uptipped to do some rearrangement.. A couple of photos to illustrate.

    Wired with terminal blocks.

    After tidying up. These pictures are not of the same area of the board. Thy represent one area before it was done and another area after it had been done.
    I hope that to-morrow I can finally finish with ther underside of the base board.
  15. petertg

    Some success at last

    By petertg,

    It’s been some time now that I have been itching to update my blog. A few months ago I said that I had successfully digitized my old Wrenn City Class locomotive (though for some unknown reason I can’t locate the post now). This was true only in part. I did get it to run, but it only ran for a few feet (or should I say decimeters) and then stopped. The final result was that I spoilt two decoders. Then, when I tried to put it back into DC status further problems arose. An exchange of comments on the appropriate forum led to the discovery that the armature had gone dud. I obtained a rewound armature and a supermagnet, but still no joy, only smoke from the armature. Further tests revealed that the insulation on the front brush holder tube had failed, so when I reversed the feed wires, it did work as DC but, obviously, it was still not in a condition to fit a decoder since the only thing I had managed to do was to have an insulated rear tube and an uninsulated front tube, just the opposite of the original situation.
    At this time my idea was to get some replacement tubes and insulation in case I irreparably damaged the front tube when removing it. I was not successful in getting replacement tubes so, finally, I decided to be brave and try and remove the offending tube and insulation myself. I first tried to make a sort of press with two strips of steel pulled together with nuts and bolts, but it didn’t work so I finally got a long enough and thin enough bolt to pass through the tube and forced it half way out by tightening the nut up on the bolt using a larger nut as collar to separate the head of the bolt from the end of the tube and allow space for it to come out and then I placed a small wood screw having a head of smaller diameter than the hole in the chassis in the tube and knocked the tube out with the thin bolt through the other tube. I then removed the old insulation, insulated the tube with insulation tape and replaced it (all of the above was preceded by an exchange of comments on the forum, with great help being obtained).
    I then prepared a separate oval for DC operation and tested for current consumption and came up with some really exorbitant readings (as discussed on the forums). Following indications given on the forum I did a static test and found a stall current drain of 1.87A so I decided to go for a large capacity decoder (1.6A normal, 2.5A peak, probably much more than really needed). The chosen one was Zimo MX632, but then the problem was acquiring one. My local shop does not stock this make, one relatively nearby dealer said they did not stock this model, another did not reply to my request and there was a third which I had located and then could not find again, so I had to order from a UK source. I can now say that finally to-day I have got the thing to run digitized.
    Also mentioned on the forum was that I had lost the tender drawbar and was kindly provided with information for making a replacement. I made one out of plastic, not having the material or the tools to make one from metal and I was given two dimensions for the distance between hole centres (42 or 43 mm). I went for 42 and now find that this distance is 1 mm short. I may be able to rectify. If not, I shall just have to make another one.
    I am now working on a solution to my point motor control system (discussed elsewhere), having found a solution on the forum. It will entail a substantial reworking of the present wiring but I think it will be safe from my clumsy fingers.
  16. petertg

    A short update

    By petertg,

    Good evening fellow members and guests:
     
    As the sixth anniversary of the start of my layout is fast approaching and the seventh may even come before it is finally finished, I have decided to show some photographs, namely:
     

     

     

     
    In them you can see my two DMU's. After exchanging information and advice elsewhere on this web. I came to the conclusion that, from the DCC angle, my layout was at least acceptable and so I had a go at playing trains with these DMU's running simultaneously (with a head-on crash included at the crossover due to a slow reaction). I'll now have a go with other locomotives.
    I use an analogue system for switching my points and, due to my less than nimble arthritic fingers, I have already blown four motors through accidently touching other levers than the intended one. Is there any way of protecting the motors (I am not prepared yet to go digital in this aspect)?
  17. petertg

    A short holiday

    By petertg,

    Just got back from a fortnight's holiday in the Department du Lot (France) where, among other great sites, we visited a Heritage Railway (if that's what they are called) that runs on a disused line from Martel to St. Denis. Among their items there is a locomotive built way back in 1887 and which was in service until the 1970's. There are a few photos below. The coaches (?) were open, unsprung I believe, the flooring seemed to be old sleepers and the seating was wooden, recovered from old French 3rd Class coaches. We went on the day they were sporting a steam locomotive, other days they run diesel. We were pushed one way and pulled on the way back.






     
    As I have mentioned before, I wish to upgrade my system but, since impulsive acting has led to many problems up to date, I shall be asking for help elsewhere on this weeb.
  18. petertg
    I have been writing up this contribution bit by bit for nearly a month now (editing as and when necessary), but since progress has been slow for various reasons, not all related to the layout itself, I have decided to make a post.
    I am an assiduous reader of almost all of the blogs and, while it is no great consolation, it is encouraging to see that more experienced modellers make mistakes and confess them. Since I am basically optimistic I refuse to give up unless I am absolutely forced to and I am still plodding along. Having finally sorted out the question of the Hornby switches mentioned in my last entry I reassembled my switch bank just the same as before, since there is obviously no problem with placing the on/off switches in between point switches, while making slight modifications to its emplacement.In fact, being a different colour they serve to distinguish the different groups of point switches. I then had my baseboard tilted on edge for three whole days while working on the underside and set about reforming the wiring. I isolated the street, station and fiddleyard lighting wiring from the point wiring. I had used the point return wiring but it had caused interference in certain cases, so I gave the lights their own independent return wiring and they worked successfully, with one hitch: one of the pins will not stay fixed in the switch, although this is a minor problem to be solved in the future. I then set about connecting the additional droppers I had installed and at the same time remade some dicky connections I saw that might have caused problems in the future.
    The next step (currently under way) is to reconnect the point leads to their respective switches. This is a slow job, since while I did keep the pairs of red and green wires correctly paired, the numbered sticky labels I used to identify them were not as sticky as they should have been and several have fallen off them, so I have to test them pair by pair to identify the correct switch.
    I have done test runs with my Bachmann Class 150 DMU (power car only), my Bachmann DMU Class 108 (which doesn't derail but has other problems such as erratic running) and my Hornby Stanier 2-6-4 tank engine and they respond to the commands, albeit on the slow side when wanting to slow them down to a stop, when they overrun the stations. Also, once stopped, sometimes they won't start again. I have'nt tested anything else, since I keep the rolling stock stacked away in their boxes.
    These test runs have shown two problems, one of which was known and has been commented upon elsewhere, namely the Bachmann DMU, when running head-on counterclockwise on the circuit, derails at a particular set of points, but the cause is that the two rear wheels of the rear bogie (note: only two of the wheels) leave the track at a spot some distance before where derailment actually happens, the vehicle runs along a straight until it reaches the points and then derails completely. When pushing in the same direction and either pulling or pushing in the opposite direction, no derailment occurs. Something similar happens with the tank engine, but in a different place; when running head on clockwise nothing happens but when running head on counterclockwise it derails in the same place (which is a totally different place from the DMU). It is obvious that tweaks are required, but the problem is where and, once located, more importantly, which is the appropriate solution.
  19. petertg
    Hello again. After an exchange of comments and receiving good advice from fellow members concerning DCC track wiring and a few trials, I came to the conclusion that my wiring, albeit not perfect, was not bad and that certain anomalies observed with certain vehicles were due to the vehicles and not to the track wiring. Then, when one problem seemed solved, a new one arose. My whole point activation system (analogue) went dead. In view of the way the system is wired, it was obvious that the fault could only lie in the very last stretch up to the switch bank, but one thing misled me. The three switches controlling the street and station lighting are intercalated in the switches controlling the points since, being of a different colour, they serve to separate the different groups of points and the lighting was working, so I started dismantling things which were unnecessary. After testing contacts and on the way blowing two point motors (one with a false contact and the other after having finally located the fault, by accident -I accidently flicked one of the switch levers with a fingertip-) I located the fault. It was in the input to the switch bank which made a false contact. I then had to discover why the lighting worked and replace the point motors, having recently received the new ones.
    I did seriously contemplate rewiring the whole layout but, as previously advised by another member, I decided to leave well alone and just correct one or two anomalies and add a couple more power feeds. I am also contemplating buying another, more sophisticated control system but this presents physical problems. My current system works with a hand set and the point switches are located conveniently at one corner, but it might not be convenient to locate a new knob-operated controller in the same corner as the present system (which is different from the switch bank) and this would require relocating the switch bank so that one person could both control the trains and move the points without having to move about too much, plus the installation of a programming track. For this I could adapt one of the sidings, but I have been advised that this is not recommended and that the programming track should be fully independent. The more time passes, the more complicated things seem to come. I shall have to do some hard thinking.
    Anyway, since the financial crisis (as at least one other member will corroborate) is squeezing harder and harder, any substantial purchase will have to go on hold and also I am having eyesight problems which are making things a little more difficult.
    However, I have not been still. I found the dual connection of the public lighting and corrected it and have repaired some damage done to existing items, such as a park shed crushed by hand to avoid falling and an uprooted tree.
    If I remember rightly, mention has been made of problems related to the lightness of the trailer car of the Bachmann DMU 150 so I decided to add weight to mine. The power car weighs around 200 grams and the trailer car less than 50 (according to our primitive kitchen scales). I first thought of lead shot of the type used by fishermen, then I thought of flat iron bar and then I remembered that in the back garden I had steel rod of the type used for reinforcing concrete, so I cut off four bits of about 25 grams each and tried them out as per enclosed photo, namely 50 grams above each bogie.
     

     
    On testing, the power car both pulled and pushed uphill and down dale at reasonable speeds and at a crawl and there was no derailing of the trailer car. However at a crawl the power car derailed at a point where it experienced no trouble at faster speeds. Investigation revealed a large gap between rail sections. This was corrected and the problem disappeared. However it was caused by the leading wheels of the rear bogie of the power car when running forward (something which happens at another part of the track as I have mentioned in a previous post and which I still have to solve). However, as far as weighting the trailer car is concerned, unless anybody can kindly point out possible problems unapparent to me at this stage, I will fix the weights in place and replace the body shell.
    I have also encountered a problem that you most likely don’t have in the U.K. I have two soldering irons (different brands) and have been unable to locate spare tips for either of them, even after an intensive search on the Internet. I finally located a shop in Barcelona which can supply another brand, but which seems compatible with one of my irons and I am now awaiting their news of their availability, since they did not have the tips in stock. When I get the new tips I will set about installing the replacement point motors.
  20. petertg

    Hope renewed

    By petertg,

    I have decided to add a new piece to my blog although, after reading all the blogs where people build all their own stuff I get the impression that, in football terms, you all are in the Premier League and I am low down in a half-holiday league (if such thing still exists).
     
    However, being no angel, I will rush in. I want to update my DCC equipment but I can't make the investment until it is reasonably possible to play trains with what I have got and it seemed that the track was still full of surprises, nothing better to get my Hornby 2-6-4 Stanier Tank which has obstinately refused to work well and which, as mentioned in a previous post, Hornby told me that it was probably helping me to find track faults. Close investigation confirmed at least two conflictive spots: one, when running clockwise it at the end of a long downward incline ending in a curve and two consecutive sets of points, the second set curved, the other, also with clockwise running being at the end of an upward 180º curve ending in a set of points on the flat. Already last year I had softened the transition from ramp to flat because the front bogie of the tank engine was left hanging in the air when it got to the points but it still wasn't enough.
     
    So, yesterday I set about solving the problems. It seemed that the derailing when entering the double set of points was due to a difference in rail height and placing shims under the underlay seemed to clear the problem there. The solution to the other problem seemed to make the upward ramp slightly steeper so that the locomotive could enter the points on the flat while the transition from ramp to flat was less acute. I pulled up the track (probably the fourth or fifth time this curve had been lifted) tested the ground with a spirit level and inserted a flat piece of cork where the curve ended and relaid the track to-day. This afternoon I have spent about four hours or more running the tank engine, I must have rerailed it more than twenty times what with one thing and another, finding that in spite of the shims it still derailed at the end of the downward curve. Finally a very close inspection revealed that when set one way, the points did not close properly because the point surface mounted motor was slightly out of place. At other points, where the thing was derailing the second time round, having passed the first time O.K., I came to the conclusion, correct or not, that on the first passage it was dislodging the spring clips used to communicate the insulfrog and the second time round it hit it. So, I removed the clip in two places, seemingly without any adverse result. The Stanier now seems to perform reasonably well (fingers crossed and touching wood), apart from stopping at times and refusing to start unless reinitiated.
     
    Finally a photograph of a thing I have been after for over two years and finally obtained: a double deck bus, back loader, in Leeds City Transport livery, with the added incentive of being a model of a bus on which I had actually travelled in my youth.
  21. petertg

    A bit more

    By petertg,

    In spite of what I said in my last contribution, I have spent more time and money, albeit only about ?5, on the layout. I bought some cork 3 mm thick and balsa wood 1 mm thick to equal the core thickness of the foam underlay (because I could not find cork 4 mm thick and didn't want to go traipsing round the whole area) and re-laid three turnouts. Since I than had problems to settle a long straight in the grooves of the foam underlay, I finally removed about one yard of foam and replaced it with cork. In the end though, of the three turnouts one has a surface mounted motor and I had to insert a piece of plywood to get the thing to work. Now I have the extra work of covering the cork underlay with ballast. As mentioned in somebody else's blog, I rinsed the ballast and the idea seems to work when I apply the adhesive with a dropper since it does not float out of place.
    I have also spent a long time trying to digitize a Wrenn City class live chassis locomotive (without adequate tools) without success. I had the notion that the decoder chip had been damaged but, without a PT I was unable to verify this fact and, since I had already sent another chip up in a puff of smoke, I was reluctant to try the only one I had left. However, after buying a voltmeter and multiple tests with a 9V battery, I found that the motor armature was not sufficiently tight. I tightened it up and then, without the chip, I applied the 9V to the motor and it worked. So, to-day I decided to run the risk and use my last chip and it worked.
    I had recently tested my UK rolling stock and it seemed to work reasonably well and one of my continental items also works well so I decided to test the set that came with my DCC starter kit. The locomotive runs well alone but, with its three coaches, problems right from the start. The coaches derailed in two places and came loose in a third. I haven't discovered the cause for derailment in the first place because it did not happen to-day and on inspecting the second place I discovered a screw holding the track down projected slightly from the surface (but not sufficiently to affect other rolling stock). It was duly corrected and the derailing did not occur. A similar thing caused the unhooking of the coaches.
    I then discovered something which does not cause derailments but might be the cause of faulty dcc signal transmission. At the entry to the bridge the track is loose and one sleeper rests on the head of a screw holding the bridge to its column and I am wondering whether this might cause some slight irregular movement when certain locomotives pass over it, thereby disrupting the signal.
    In view of the conical shape of the head of the screws I use to hold the track down, I am considering countersinking them in the sleepers.
    It seems that I still have a lot of work to do before we can just get down to playing with trains without too many hitches. In this respect I must say that I have been devouring many other entries relating to DCC, tight curves and other items and it seems that to get a perfect layout is virtually impossible One loco jibs in one place, another in another place, yet another works o.k in one direction and not in the other, etc.
    Since I started late, I have not been able to get all the period vehicles I would have liked but last Saturday on a visit to a local Christmas Fowl Fair, on one of the many other stands I found a late 40s early 50s double deck back loader in Bradford Corporation livery (an EFE model) but to my surprise It does not have any registration numbers like all the others I have.
  22. petertg

    A bit more

    By petertg,

    Below there is a number of photos showing different stages of construction.

     

     

     

     

    A modification to the layout not mentioned above was to lengthen two of the sidings. The two straight sidings at the top station (looking at the plan as reproduced above) were too short to accommodate a locomotive and three coaches, either the locomotive or the end coach remained over the points, so I made them curved and made a curved platform for them from balsa wood.
     

    As said above, I had installed point motors (underfloor) only on the main circuit but not on the sidings. To avoid having to make more holes in the baseboard I opted for surface mounted motors. I have decided to leave the motors analogue controlled. Having installed them on the sidings, I found that a certain vehicle would not pass between two motors mounted on adjacent points; they were mounted on the curve, not on the straight. So, rip them up and replace them the other way around. Then one burnt out, so replace it, but moving one underfloor motor to another place, with the corresponding new hole, to get the surface mounted one where I wanted it.
    In the meantime I had purchased a Hornby 2-6-4 Stanier 4MT Class 4P tank engine and was incapable of getting it to do even one complete circuit without derailing. I suggested to Hornby that the bogies were too light and they replied that the loco was probably pointing out multiple track faults to me. They were right in that and I have ironed out a good many faults. Bit I still think that I also am right because various other locos perform O.K., while the Stanier still derails too easily.
    When I got around to the decoration (mentioned above), there was need for more improvisation (meaning modification of the original plan. As mentioned above, on the front cover photo of the Hornby Catalogue, there is no visible means of access to the houses in the interior of the circuit. So I decided to build a level crossing. I had not seen anywhere a readymade one suitable for the two curved tracks at this point under the bridge.
     

    I imported the card kits, made them and then found that the row of terrace houses would occupy too much space where I wanted to place them to leave room for a street of scale size. So another modification. I had to cut a slice off the upper layer parallel to the sidings to make room for the houses and the road. Compare the following photo with the previous one above, albeit taken from the other end.
     

    Another modification was to raise the height of the engine shed because the electric locos, with the current collector raised, would not pass under.
    I also added some semis with gardens and garages. Then I discovered road signs (easily installed) and lighting for the street, railway platforms and marshalling yard, which meant modifying the electric cabling on the underside of the baseboard. In view of my age and the slight flexibility of my body, the installation of the wiring meant tipping the baseboard side on.
     

    This is a very early photo (2008) but shows what I say about tipping the board side on.
    Throughout this year I have made much progress in the decoration and removing track faults, but it has meant ripping up the track in different places and relaying it. Currently I can get most locos to move around the whole layout, entering and leaving sidings, stations, etc. without serious problems.
    Up to here I have been relying on my memory and the aid of the photographs, so the events related might not have been stated in correct chronological order.
    The most recent work has been to place railings and hedge between the top station area and the semis and this again has meant having to rip up one of the curved sidings and relay it because the coaches rubbed against the railings, with the problem, then, of making sure that two trains on the sidings did not touch each other. They will just pass, with about a millimetre between them. But all of this shows what happens without good planning and getting 'brilliant' new ideas almost every time I contemplate the layout.
     

  23. petertg
    Background:
     
    I am a GB expat, born in 1933 and have lived practically two thirds of my life outside the UK. My first memories of railway modelling go back to pre-1939 when I seem to remember an O gauge set up on top of the table with the rails plugged in direct to the mains and the locos had rods sticking out from the cab to control them. My father said you had to be careful not to get an electric shock.
    The next memories date to the 1942-3 period when I was invited with a distant cousin by a man in Batley to see his layout in his cellar. It was a large room with the layout going round all four walls with a sort of diorama in one corner. he had a steam engine but said we could not see it because it took to long to raise steam. The electric models were set to do just one complete trip round the track.
    During these years I also got to know a soldier posted to Pontefract and who lodged for a while with his family with my uncle and aunt where I was evacuated who had built is own steam engine, King John, which was a feature in a magazine which I believe was called Model Engineering.
    At the end of the war, my father asked us what we wanted him to bring us when he returned and I requested a tank engine. I was unaware that these things probably didn't exist in 1946 Egypt.
    Nothing happened modelwise for the next few years, I came abroad, got married and had children. Around 1972-3 we purchased a Lima kit for my son (alegedly for him), but never really had a decent place to set it up permanently. On a trip to the UK in 1975 I purchased a Hornby Track Plan catalogue, a Wrenn City class die cast locomotive and other items. On other trips I purchased Peco flexible track and, in the meantime, I had purchased sundry rolling stock locally.
    Now and again we put the track portions together on the floor but no serious layout was ever made. Up to 1991 we lived in a flat in Barcelona, with just enough space for six persons and although we had a second home up at the top end of the Costa Brava, with plenty of space theoretically, there was really no adequate emplacement.
    In 1991, we sold both places and moved into a detached house with a garage. Still now and again we put the track portions together on the floor or on the garden table, but nothing permanent. Then, in 2007 I saw the light (or the penny dropped) and realised that I could hang a layout from the garage ceiling. But I still had the fixed idea of a specific track plan from the Hornby Catalogue bought way back in 1975 and here are the illustrations.

    A closer inspection will reveal that the front cover photograph is a version of Track Plan nº 9, though, subsequently, for technical reasons, I had to make some variations.
    Here is where the costly improvisation started. I was in complete ignorance of what was to be involved. I had my own ideas, a lot of diverse material, but nothing else. So, I set about the job without commending myself to anybody. I had an aluminium frame made by a man who had installed several aluminium windows and doors and sunblinds in the house. I ordered a 244x122x6 mm plywood baseboard (I had no idea that a lighter material was available) from a local carpenter and installed a pulley system in the garage as per the following illustrations, using a blind roll-up drum and, originally, a manual wind-up system, soon to be motorised (the board obviously came down easily enough, but was a hell of a job to wind up) and Kevlar mountaineer's cord.

     

     

    In the meantime, I had discovered Hattons and placed a massive order (250 GBP). I was selective. I had made a study of the requirements for the above track plan and missed out what could be replaced with what I had got. For example, one Lima straight cut to size could do for four Hornby short straights, Peco flex track could be used instead of long straights and an odd Lime curve could be inserted.
    At that time, my idea of building a layout was you just stick the track pieces together, wire up the controller, plug in, place the material on the track and away you go. Poor me.
     

    A first impression of the future layout
    With my massive order I had not been able to obtain the ramp piers (out of stock) so I set out on making a number of scratch built columns with wood and also tried expanded polystyrene (recovered from the tip, since the standard models wouldn't do) and with fibreboard I did some makeshift ramps.

    Then the man at the local Model Shop, when I showed him the Hornby Catalogue, suggested that the slopes were too steep and that the locomotives would slip. It appeared that this was so.
    Change of mind (more improvisation), the plan had to be modified. The marshalling yard and one station were raised about 4 cms, whereby there were four gentler gradients instead of two steep ones (the original height difference was about 10 cms). But this required making more columns with improvised equipment.

     

    In the meantime, it was evident that while the baseboard came down easily (obviously) it was hard work to wind it up by hand. So an electric motor of the type inserted inside the drum of blinds was installed.
    Up to this time I had no idea that DCC had been on the scene for some time and with analogue control the system worked more or less OK. Then I discovered DCC. and since my son gave me the money to cover what I had already paid for the blind motor I purchased a PIKO starter set. Having installed DCC, I had to modify the layout once more. The isolating tracks and points had to be deisolated (if that's the word).
    More problems, some locos worked well, some didn't work at all, others with intermittent jerky running on the main circuits, but there was no way they would run into the sidings properly.
    At this time the layout was virtually only track and the platforms of a Faller station at the bottom side. And time was passing. Sometimes weeks passed between work sessions. Also, I had installed underfloor point motors only on the main circuits, but not on the sidings.
    Then I moved onto decoration and decided to modify the plan from what was shown on the Catalogue front cover, where there are buildings inside the circuit, but with no visible means of getting out (this fact was pointed out by my family). Here I could purchase very well made resin buildings but not cheap. Since I am a subscriber to Hattons weekly newsletter, I discovered the Metcalf card kits and opted for them. A whole row of six terrace buildings (two corner shops and four houses) cost a little more than one resin engine shed would have cost me here. So, except for the Faller station, still to be set up fully, the buildings are Metcalf. I will make it no secret that I have tried to relate the layout to my life in Leeds. I have at least six vehicles with Leeds registration numbers and one with no registration nº but a Leeds address on its side panels and other vehicles related with the automobile distributors where I worked. Yet other vehicles are related with other aspects of my life, namely a Morris Minor Traveller (brother-in law) Morris Minor Post Office van (my father) and a Ford Popular (a cousin of a cousin who once took me for a ride and the car was bouncing like a ball at 55 mph).
  24. petertg

    New platform

    By petertg,

    I mentioned in my last post that I was building an additional new platform so that I could have two trains running simultaneously and both would have where to pick up and set down passengers as required or otherwise one would have to run continuously with nowhere to stop. I can now report that the new platform is in an advanced state and enclose some photos of its construction.
    In the first place I would point out that do not have any CAD program, silhouette or laser cutter, 3D printer or instrument for measuring angles, so all has been done freehand, with the corresponding blemishes. Fortunately, most are hidden under the canopy and are not visible at first sight. The idea was to install it parallel to the Faller station already installed, so ai have tried to represent the same colour scheme, but since I has to mix colours several times in batches, I was unable to make a perfect match.
    I had prepared a platform some time ago which, owing to imperfect laying leading to a tapering space between the tracks, the platform also tapers. At that time I decided that I had to properly mount the Faller station, which has one platform with a moving belt below, so that there can be walking passengers on top. I had ruined the original belt when trying to glue the magnets to it. These magnets are not much bigger than a pin head but they stick together as though they were superglued. For reasons too long to explain, I took me three months to get a new belt. Then I discovered that the motor would not drive the belt, but the gears started jumping, so I had to order a new motor which, fortunately, same through quickly, but it will not drive the belt properly. My guess is that there is excessive friction which needs to be cured. Anyway, I decided to leave this problem for later on and set about building a canopy for the new platform resembling as close as possible the Faller one.
    In the first place I had to make columns to support the shallow V-shaped roof and, thus, turned the Faller canopy upside down and started making columns out of laminated 6x1 mm styrene strip, as shown in the photos below.

    The portion shown (upside down) was too short, so I had to fabricate two more columns and pieces of roof. The roof was made from 0.75 mm styrene sheet, later laminated with 2 mm thick balsa wood. The columns were planted in the base platform, the styrene strips were added (see photo below of mock up) and then the balsa outer covering.

    When I had got this far and placed the platform on the layout, I realized that I had nor provided any access to it, so I had to cut oblong holes through it and make stairs like on the Faller platform.

    Below there are a couple of photos showing where the platform goes and the platform provisionally in place.

    There is still a lot of touching up to be done, such as installing benches and passengers and two lampposts like on the other platform. I had purchased two, but they are not the same as the others because the shop had only one left. However, there are more on order to be received in the next few days.
  25. petertg

    Getting closer

    By petertg,

    To-day I finally managed to get the two new street lamposts correctly wired up after several failed attempts. I had got one to light up, but the other one didn't, not because it was wired the wrong way round, but because of a faulty connection and, possibly, a slight fault in the post itself.I say getting closer, because the stage has been reached where uit can be said that the layout is almost finished I suppose that you can never say that a layout is finished, because there are sdtill umpteen details to be attended to, somr will be attended to, but others perhaps not. After eleven years at the job and with ever poorer health, I am beginning to get a bit tired. I may have a look at modifying some of my HO rolling stock, although I don't know whether it will be worthwhile.
×
×
  • Create New...