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petertg

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  1. 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).
  2. 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?
  3. petertg
    In October, my wife and I had a holiday in Geneva with a daughter who was working there with the WTO. On the Saturday, she took us to the flea market where there was a lot of rubbish on offer, but one lady had 3 or 4 of the Lima Tram collection. I didn't buy then, because I wasn't quite convinced of its suitability for my layout. Nevertheless, a few weeks later another daughter went to see her sister in Geneva and I asked them to buy one for me, It is the Düwag Partywagen, nº 208041 as shown below.
    I have been searching for information on the Internet but the only concrete information I have located is on a Dutch language page. As far as I have been able see, these models are not brilliant runners and would seem to be best in the show cabinet. I have tried it out on my layout and, while needing a finger from the sky now and again, it did manage to negotiate the complete circuit, points included. These models are not DCC ready, but I couldn't quite understand whether it was possible to fit DCC or not. Has any member had any experience of these models and can enlighten me more fully?
    I have searched the Forum and have not been capable of finding anything on the subject, so I am raising the matter here.

  4. petertg

    Signal Box repair

    By petertg,

    Good eveninng all.
    I think (i.e. hope) that the end of ballasting is reasonably near. There are only a few metres lest to be done. The downside is that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot do a neat job.
    On the other hand, one of the two signal boxes (Metcalfe) kits was a bit decrepit and damaged, namely, it had lost its steps (kept safe in another place) and the top storey had become separated from the ground floor on three sides, whereby it could be opened like a box. Its chimney also fouled the overhead viaduct. According to the representation of this layout on the front cover of the Hornby 1975 Track plan catalogue, this box was at the foot of an embankment, but I replaced the embankment with a viaduct and just above the chimney there was a curve, whereby the chimney was half under the viaduct. I toyed with the idea of buying a new one and then thought that this one could be restored, since it had become weathered with time and more in keeping with the layout, which is also showing signs of the ten years I have been at it. So, I carved it away from the baseboard, inflicting some more damage, removed the original chimney and covered the hole with a Metcalfe paving slab, stuck the top storey back in place and mounted a new chimney at the other end of the box, made from a plastic straw and held in place with a wire bracket. To fit the bracket, I had to prise the rear half of the roof from the walls, to bend the ends of the wire back against the inside of the wall. I also stuck a piece of balsa between the chimney and the wall to keep it from being squeezed. I than stuck the whole box on a piece of cardboard and restuck the stairs in place, hoping they will stay there this time. Finally, I touched up some surface imperfections with grey acrylic paint ass though it had been patched up with mortar. Here are a couple of photos of the finished job.


  5. 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?
  6. petertg
    I can now update on this subject. In the last entry, I placed several photos and will repeat one, namely, the shed in the wrong place

    In the end, I decided to chop the shed down to its original height by removing the supplements I added several years ago. The photo also shows the door posts I had to remove. When I relaid all the track early last year to improve the dcc feeds I did not take into account the track centre-to-centre distances nor was I too careful in seeing that the straight sections were really straight. This meant that the shed entrance was not wide enough and the locomotives were either colliding with the posts or rubbing against them, contrary to what I said in the previous post. I first removed 2 mms from each side, which was fairly easy since it meant slicing through 4 layers of glued card, but when I placed the shed on the new floor, the entrance was still too narrow. This now meant slicing through 6 layers of glued card and this was just too much so I removed the whole post on each side and made new narrower ones from balsa wood, covered with brick paper. When I placed the remodeled shed on the floor I found it was off-centre relative to the tracks, i.e. the locomotive went in with a large clearance on the north side and was rubbing on the south side. This meant slicing 2 mm off the north side of the floor and adding them to the south side, which finally settled things more or less satisfactorily.
    Finally, like mentioned in another post some days back by another contributor, I do not want the shed to be a permanent fixture and since the floor was made practically to the same dimensions as the shed's footprint, I added a skirt to each side which fits down the side of the floor, preventing the shed from being accidentally displaced but making it easy to lift off as and when required.
    I now have the problem of making a signal box which does appear on the original track plan compatible with a water tower which does not, because the available space is limited and the tower could limit the view of the yard from the box.
    Finally the installation of an additional platform as mentioned last time will require a serious rethink.

    A front view of shed.

    Side view with skirt

    Pieces removed
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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
  11. petertg

    Still plodding on

    By petertg,

    Things seem to be moving forward again in the direction of getting back to the situation prior to the accident. Last Sunday we had a family visit and with the aid of my son-in-law (a Jack-of-all-trades for my wife and me) I managed to get the layout tipped edge on again to be able to work on the underside since, at my age, my body is no longer supple enough to do contortions to work underneath. I reconnected a couple of point motors and then started testing them all. I found that one was not working, but the wiring close to the motor was correct so I went to the other end and found a loose connection and, at the same time, found another loose connection which was why the station lights did not come on. Once the connections were remade the problems were solved. I then started wiring in the new droppers I had added taking advantage of the fact that I had had to lift portions of track when repairing damage on the top side of the layout.
    On Monday I finished wiring in the new droppers and finally managed to repair the street lamppost that had lost its head as a result of the fall, not without a problem, since the bulb fell onto our hemp carpet and since it was almost smaller than the roughness of the carpet, it took quite a while to locate it. Nevertheless, I did locate it, reassembled the lamppost and refitted it to the layout and it works.
    On Tuesday I decided to go part way to solving a problem I have had ever since I changed my point motor and public lighting system from AC to DC operation. I have Faller station which has a moving belt under one of the platforms to drive a rotating advertisement post and also passengers walking up and down the platform. The motor was originally wired into the AC system but when I changed, it stopped working because it only works on AC. I also doubt that it would work through the controller since the current delivered, apart from not being exactly AC, is much too high for this motor. So, I decided to extend the wiring to a point adjacent where the transformer is located, with a view to devising a way to insert it in the system between the transformer and the controller. I then lowered the baseboard back to its horizontal position and thought it would be a good idea to give a locomotive a run to see how things were. The first one I tried was my Lima 40101 (with a Zimo chip) that had previously worked very well, but this time it objected. I put it away and got out my Bachmann 150 DMU (with its 36-554 ESU chip) which has also worked very well (in fact, apart from its mysterious derailing fault, now cured, it is perhaps the best performer of all) and on the main circuit it went O.K. I then tested it on the sidings and the first effort went alright. I varied the siding and it stopped, lights on, and would not respond to orders. In the light of previous experience with this machine, I sensed that it had done a spontaneous reset and, effectively, this was the case. This is the second time so I assume the best thing it to leave it with address 3 (obviously cheaper than changing the chip).
    Wednesday and Thursday went by with some cleaning of the track but I still think that more has to be done. To-day, Friday, has been a blank day.
    I am now going to ask for some help. Any day now it will be eight years since I started this layout ais no nearer being finished than it was a year or even two years ago. It is not one that can keep on growing since it is constrained to an 8x4 board.
    So, I enclose some photos and would appreciate ideas for filling in the bare spots.


    The Metcalfe filling station is too large for any available space and for this corner I had thought of the Sports Pavilion.




    I have some level crossing gates for placing on the road. I had fitted the pair closest to the board edge but too close to the track and while most vehicles passed with a hair's breadth clearance, my City Class sent them flying so I have to reinstall them. As for the remaining space, I have two pillar boxes but two seem too much for such a small urban area.
    Also, please forgive me for such a long-winded entry.
  12. petertg

    Playing trains

    By petertg,

    Hi all!
    As stated in my last post, after nearly seven years of messing about with my layout (and messing it up), I have now reached the state where I can seriously think about “playing trains”
    So I got various models out of their boxes and, after cleaning the track with IPA (which, to my surprise, is sold at chemists here) I started trying them. The result is that my Bachmann DMUs (Class 108 and 156) performed reasonably well although the 156 derailed two or three times at the same turnout in one direction. From previous experiences with other locomotives I believe that this turnout is defective and will have to be replaced. The leading bogie goes through on the right track but apparently shakes the moving blades away from the stock rails and then the trailing bogie goes along the other track. This only happens when the trains go through in one direction, but not in the other.
    The Electrotren Spanish push-pull double deck commuter set went very well except for some (presently) unknown reason the front lights on the non-powered driver coach did not come on. I shall have to check the wiring since they are controlled by an independent decoder. The Hornby 2-6-4 Stanier tank, when coupled to three Gresley coaches, played up although alone it went fairly well. I have had the same problem with this locomotive before.
    From other blogs I have ascertained that the Gresley coaches, the only 00 passenger stock I have, do not form a prototypical rake, since there is no brake, only a 1st sleeper, 1st passenger and buffet coach. Anyhow, nobody else here knows that.
    Finally, a picture of my new point control desk.

    The letters are my own coding for ease of locating the turnouts and the switches are all set the same way so as to indicate whether the turnout is for the straight or for the curve.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
     

  15. petertg
    When I started placing scenic elements on the layout, I discarded resin made items because of their weight (to avoid overloading the electric motor raising and lowering the baseboard) and price and opted for a Metcalfe Card Kit. I then decided to place it in a different site from the one shown on the layout. It was not fixed in place because, at that time, I had Hornby buffer stops which clip onto the rails and any slight blow from a locomotive can dislodge them and it would have been very difficult to replace then at the closed bottom end of the shed.
    Then I decided that the opening was too low to allow electric locomotives through with the current collector raised and I added some 3 cms to the height. The increase wasn't too obvious at first because the shed rested directly on the baseboard and the track occupied some of the height.
    However, last week when looking at the photograph of the layout which graces the front cover of the catalogue from which it is taken, the idea hit me that the shed was in the wrong place (as though some subconscious overseer said "you can't put it there") and when I looked at the layout itself I finally realized the logic of the layout, something that had escaped me for ten years.
    Below are some photographs of what I had wanted to do and what I have had to do.


    In these photos it can be seen thatthe shed on on the second and third lanes, with the water tower at the other ind of the tird lane.


    Here the shed can be seen in the right place on the first and second lanes and the problem now is where to put the water tower.
    It then occurred to me that the shed needed a decent floor at rail height level for the personnel to move about easily and I set about laying one. I have tested it with two different locomotives, an Electrotren Renfe electric loco and a Bachmann Class 150 DMU and both went in and out of both lanes smoothly at speed levels 1, 2 and 3. It has subsequently been painted, so I will probably have to clean the track again. Since the shed will no longer be resting on the baseboard, but on the pavement, the height now seems to be excessive and out of proportion and I am toying with the idea of removing the supplement I added years back (as mentioned above).


    The first view is of the semi-finished floor with cork underlay. The second one shows the floorwith a balsa wood top cover in place and painted.
    I now plan to at another platform to the unfinished stattion on the same side as the shed.
  16. petertg

    Success confirmed

    By petertg,

    As mentioned in the last but one post, it is now nine years since I started out on this adventure and I think I can now say that we are in in a position to play trains. The layout is far from finished scenically, as ripping up and relaying the track caused a lot of damage. but no dead spots appear on the track. It seems, however, that some vehicles do not like the track, as mentioned in a previous post, and one of my best runners, the Class 150 DMU, started playing up again. When travelling forward at speed step 2, it consistently derailed at one spot, a turnout leading to the yard and engine shed. Close observation revealed no obvious reason, since this derailing did not occur when running in reverse over the same spot or in the opposite direction. In the end, I came to the conclusion that one wheel was hitting a rail joiner, causing it to lift and derail. So A 'it it wi' me 'ammer. A few taps on the end of a screwdriver with a rubber mallet worked wonders.
    I enclose some photos of the layout, before:


    and as it now is:


    The part with the buildings did not suffer much, mainly benches missing from the small park and the road had to be relaid, A bit each day and I might get finished by the end of the year.
    Finally, to make mouths water, a picture of this year's Christmas cake. We do not ice it or cover with marzapan.

  17. petertg

    Progress(?) report

    By petertg,

    What is progress? Is it having more on your board than you had before or is it that some things that didn’t work well now work a bit better?
    I had to replace a surface mounted point motor. Previously all units had passed well, albeit by a hair’s breadth. After replacement I discovered that the non-powered driver car of my push-pull double deck commuter rake (the first double deck units introduced by RENFE prior to the genuine EMUs) was hitting the motor. The point in question is situated right at the exit from a 90 degree curve (Hornby second radius) and since the coach has a good overhang ahead of the bogie, the front end was still way outside the track when it reached the motor. Since there was no way of replacing the motor on the other side of the track (lack of space) my first idea was to insert a short straight between the curve and the point. I thought I had a Hornby short straight left over, but I hadn’t, only a box of Lima short straights which are a good centimeter longer than the Hornby piece. I ripped up the track, immediately saw that a short straight would not fit in with the curved track, so I thought of a length of Peco flexible track. I started to doctor one length by removing bits from the split parts of the sleepers to tighten the curve, but soon realized that it would involve too much work and might not work either.
    So, I relaid the original track and, since I had removed a power clip, which was several cms from where the hole for the droppers was located, I decided to try my hand at soldering droppers directly to the track and, fortunately, I was successful. I then set about observing the offending rolling stock and came to the conclusion that the simplest solution was to file away part of the undersurface of the vehicle, got hold of a file and removed about 1 mm from the snowplough arrangement and a little from the underside of the coach and this worked also. I do not know whether it is licit to mutilate rolling stock to solve problems but I did.
    Encouraged by my soldering success, I turned to an old Lima locomotive (purchased nearly 40 years ago) which I had digitized without success (instead of running, when the power was applied the decoder switched off), had rewired in analogue state again but which would not run properly with the bodywork in place. The reason was that the wires I had used in certain places were too stiff and did not allow the motor bogie to rotate sufficiently on the curves. So, out came the soldering iron and solder again, I removed the offending wires and replaced them with finer ones and now the thing runs with the body on. I need this locomotive because I have a lot of old Lima rolling stock where the coupling height does not coincide with that of my more modern locomotives.
    A couple of photos to show it, alone and with a rake of six goods wagons.


    I then tried it out alone and it worked. Thereafter, I hooked on the six goods wagons and it laboured on the inclines (probably not more than 1/250), the wheels slipping and it needed a push by hand. I removed the heaviest truck and it still laboured, overheated my controller and finally gave up. I think I have probably irremediably damaged it.
    That, then, is all the progress I have made.
  18. 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.
  19. 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:



  20. 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.
  21. petertg
    While I am still pondering on the best way to set about finishing the ballasting, as a diversion it occurred to me that I should protect the last unprotected side of the layout, where the track hovers over a precipice and, fortunately, in nine years only one locomotive has fallen to the floor.

    For a time, I had a programming track fixed along the edge but I decided to remove this and set up a portable programming track so I could work on the dining room or kitchen table when it was cold in the garage. A first idea was to acquire a strip of plywood or hardboard and nail it on to the edge of the baseboard, then I thought it was more scenic to build a brick wall and fix it all along the curve. So, I set about making a wall from a cardboard shoe box, using two thicknesses and overlapping 24 cm long strips half by half to make one 140-odd cm strip as per the photograph.

    I then prepared a brick pattern downloaded some time ago on glossy photographic paper but it didn't look right, so I acquired some matte paper. Although the pattern was to scale, the bricks looked too small against other brick papers I had bought locally in the past, so I increased the size by 70% with Photoshop. However, when I printed it out I made the mistake of using Windows Live Photographic Gallery and the bricks came out even larger, about twice the scale size. When I realized, this I had already printed the three sheets I needed, so I let it be. Here is a photo of the brick paper.

    I then covered the whole strip on both sides with this paper and added columns every 12 cms using Metcalfe paving slabs.
    I started attaching this wall to the edge of the track when I had done about half, I felt I should have tested first to see whether the rolling stock could pass freely. Out came my Lima HO scale wagon lits coach and it did pass, but at a distance leaving room for only a fag paper. I tried with a DMU, a steam loco and a passenger coach, all OO scale. They also passed but I felt that the space represented only 2 or 3 scale inches and that more space was need to make it more realistic, so I unglued half of what was already done and widened the space and it now represents slightly more than one scale foot.
    I then finished off fixing the wall in place, installed the capping using the Metcalfe material and filled in the gap caused between the base of the wall and the edge of the track board by widening the curve. And here is the final result.

  22. 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.
  23. petertg
    Hi all!
    As mentioned in a previous post I replaced my 14 Vac point motor control for 12 Vdc and purchased a new controller to replace the old Piko start kit. This meant that the 14V transformer became available to power the new controller. Since, as can be seen from the enclosed images, the transformer is relatively large and was previously mounted on the baseboard, I decided that I did not want either the transformer or the controller to be permanently attached to the baseboard. So, I installed two sockets under the baseboard for the main track and the programming track I have also installed. This latter can be seen on a shelf alongside the main track. The transformer and controller rest on an auxiliary table. Some tidying-up is still to be done but, at least now, trains can run.


    Also, space has been left for additional scenic material.
  24. petertg
    Hi all! This is probably not the best place to request information, but in view of its nature, I don't know where to place it.
    I need to have the names, addresses and e-mail adresses of model railway shops in London with good repair facilities for Hornby models.
    Can anybody help?
    Thanks in advance
  25. petertg

    Untitled

    By petertg,

    I have not written a specific tite because what I have got to say this time is only partly connected with modelling. I have just come back from a fortnight in Portugal and had intended to have a ‘drive’ on my layout to try and approach a finish (those of you approaching my age may remember the G.P.O. drives post-war to install as many telephones as possible, party lines included).
    While away, I had seen and purchased in Lidl a digital caliper, so I decided to try it out on my problem DMU Class 150. I lowered my layout from the ceiling without placing the trestles underneath it, since I only intended to take the model off it and send it up again. However, when I pressed the appropriate button on the remote control, instead of rising, it crashed down to the floor. It had pulled the take-up roller from the wall. I am now waiting for some able-bodied person to help me lift it off the floor and dismantle the roller to assess the damage. No personal damage was suffered.
    The new caliper enabled me to ascertain that the offending wheel pair on the DMU was far too wide, so I now have to settle that problem. I than tested the B2B on other units and on one of my two 2-6-4 tank engines, I found a pair of wheels on the rear bogie to be very narrow. The more I dive into this modeling lark, the more complications I discover.
    Going back to the holiday visit, we had intended to travel to Lisbon by train but the nearest station was at Santarem, and what a station. It has a very small public carpark in front of the station, a small subscriber part a bit farther away and free parking on the road behind the station but, get this, there is no access to the station from this road. Depending on where you have to leave the car, you have a long hike back down the road to the level crossing and then a shorter hike to the station. Since Santarem was practically 30 km from where we were staying (a marvelous rural tourism house), we dropped the idea of catching the train.
    We did happen to see the terminus in Sintra and I took a few snaps. They are not particularly brilliant but I post them for what they are worth.



    And finally, a mural inside the station booking hall

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