ROSSPOP

With all the important wiring up done there has been vigorous testing of track and pointmotors. Mogul 9316 runs through her paces today as this week I converted her to DCC sound. There has been much tribulation with setting up and motorising the crossing gates using servo motors. Finally got somewhere, so here is my effort in the true spirit of Michael Bentine....

High Graham Sorry about my sad 'humour' but to explain..... If the switches are functioning properly you should hear four 'clicks' every time you throw the point, that is one click for each switch. I have found that under load ( from point blades in 7mm ) the moving 'cam' does not travel quite far enough to throw all the switches on some of the mechanisms. With the upper most switches you can loosen the screws and twist the switch to point inwards a tad to point towards the centre of the mechanism but not so with the lower switch and if that one does not throw it can cause the motor to overheat. my simple solution is to remove the screws and the upper switch and open out the holes in the bottom switch with a drill so that when reassembled you can also angle this switch inwards a tad. You may need to increase your operating volts a tad also. When all is well you should hear The Four Clicks and also seethe switches click over...... Hope this is clear enough.......... john

This project is to be DCC sound driven but under the baseboards will be the traditional wiring of point motors and servos. Fortunately all my kit built and single RTR locomotives have modern motors with very low ampage requirements and have run well with all of my 4mm controllers and wiring preferences so I hav`nt seen a need to change much. I have recycled most of my previous 4mm wiring looms using low ampage ribbon cable as connections to and between units . These don`t require any soldering and have been totally reliable. Also on this project I have used quality double bladed `suitcase connectors` Provided you use the correct diameter cable I think they are very useful As is a glue gun when you forgotten cable clips!!! Point motors are Fulgorex and Lemarco as I like things to be simple to adjust and service. They are not for everyone. There is a minor adjustment needed to make the switches more reliable so they become `Fulgorex and The Four Clicks` The recommended operating 14V is too much and causes the gears to jam, 9V is not enough for O Gauge pointwork and affects the reliability of the inbuilt micro swiches, particularly the lower pair which can cause the motor to overheat through shorting out. mine operate well at 12V. They are noisy, which does`nt bother me. I`ve since changed the operating links to a Gem wire compensating loops. Yesterday I completed the track wiring and re-assembled the units and today these duty locos completed the thorough testing and I`m pleased with the results...............

Trackplan is now down and a single slip has replaced the originals catchpoint to improve operating potential. Wiring follows the traditional dropper method disguised with suitably modified chairs...... Turnout operating rods are now in place and awaiting completion under the baseboad.

Putting Dcc into kit built locos be they white metal or brass is not a problem at all. Modern quality decoders will tolerate accidental shorting up to a point, they will not tolerate being wired up incorrectly or metal speakers shorting against metal loco bodies. So.... If you have made a crappy job in building your metal kit in the first place and it is already shorting out it will destroy any decoder. If your loco already runs well it will run even better with DCC all that is required is insulating the wiring , speaker and decoder. And if you can build a kit in the first place.....you won't have much difficulty in any of that... Regards John

Placed an internet order this time yesterday......just arrived with the morning post .now that's what I call impressive.....

Your following the wrong thread. Try the other Mallard Part work and you will be better informed on missing parts etc........or on Farcebook.. ..http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/81382-mallard-partwork/?p=1315406 group

So trackbuilding progresses at a sedate pace in the `senior` scale..... The way I had made the `servo` assisted crossing gates meant that I needed to fix them in place on the diorama before driving the `railroad` through..... I`m not gluing the track in place yet but am building in `sets` as I go along..... I`ve halted at the turnouts as I need to fabricate some 7mm sized turnout operating units. I `m intending to use the same system I have used in 4mm......angle cranks above and below baseboard connecting with rod and tube.... These are some 7mm trade offerings I`ve gathered over the past year and have managed to make some robust units... The C&L turnout kits I`ve had for sometime and used rather thin paxolin as stretcher bars which I fabricated a holed lug as the attachment point for the actuator rod. thank goodness you can get 14BA nuts and bolts !!!!

I can thoroughly recommend the NCE powercab system at around £130 as a good starter which you con upgrade to a 5amp system later if your setup needs it. I still have the starter set up and run my DCC sound 4mm and 7mm locos brilliantly,but then I only need to run two locos at the same time in either gauge . Regards John

Nothing particularly new or exciting with trackmaking . Having used Exactoscale point kits in 4mm, I continued the theme by using C&L 7mm point kits which have everything you need and with which you can specify preferred rail chairs.... GWR twobolt of course. Having experienced annoying rust problems, and to some extent, soldering issues, with steel bullhead rail in 4mm I have chosen nickel silver rail for this project, which I am sure will make soldering joints more reliable over time and humidity. Making your own pointwork is a hobby in itself and isthe preferable option for this DCC project. There are three important wiring locations to think about....... Left and Right stockrails......... .....and the Frog....... I prefer to use suitably sized paxolin strip fixed to the plastic sleepers with Gorilla superglue. These will be drilled and dropper wires soldered on when affixed on the layout... I prefer to use blue tack to keep point timbers in place during assembly as it makes lifting the pint of the trackplan much simpler than double sided tape etc........ Of course you will find that the slide chairs at the point blade end will fall off when you lift the track up... so I fix them and any other errant rail chairs in place with THIN Rocket superglue...... For the plain track it`s the time honoured use of a track jig........ every fifth sleeper at the right end is unfixed and will be the location of the soldered dropper wires which will be hidden by `cosmetic chairs` Then off we jolly well !!!! ...............

LED strip lights are now attached.....just some cable tidying to complete tomorrow as I upset the neatness by spending an hour and a half tracing a power fault which I eventually found to be a naff connection on one module.......

Hi Simon Old news .....known manufacturing problem pivot will be in issue 57 Replacement wheels in issue 52 Regards John

As some of you know the platform and signal box are already completed.......... This project will be based on an actual location, not I may add, down to the last jot as I intend to add an extra siding or two by adding a single slip point into the equasion to improve operating potential and possible extension at a much later date......... At the signal box end I needed to think about the crossing gates and a working distant signal that in reality was probably a tubular post at the time of this photo. But I have changed to a wooden post. Crossing gates are a typical GWR figuration from a Sevenscale kit now produced by Springside Models..... I`ve taken a chance and used the whitemetal posts as supplied to motorize using a servo motor on each gate..... I won`t connect the cranks up until in position on the diorama....... meanwhile they have been etched primed before spray painting in company colours which will be weathered when in place..... For the single signal which protected the crossing and was pulled on when the gates were closed to road traffic, I used an old 1960`s CCW kit with extra parts from Scale Signal Supplies and Colin Waite..... Again all etched primed....can`t stand paint coming off models...... This will also be operated with a `bouncing` servo

Each module is to be lit with the latest superbright LED strips supplied by LED Lighthouse. I`ve settled on an equivelent of at least 100 watt brightness for each module which can be dimmed if needed. These new type of LED lights available produce about 100 lumens per watt of power input. A 100 Watt filament bulb produces about 1200 lumens , so I would need an LED strip of at least 12watt per metre length. I chose 4 meters of NANO TECH flexible LED strip 2835 60/LED/M at 14.4 Watt per meter. Waterproof. The strip needs a 12volt transformer capable of coping with combined wattage. I also needed strip connecters and a dimmer switch. I hope to get all four modules lit up this week.................

Woodwork is not my strongest skill....... But the plan is to build a modest diorama/layout to feature my Churchill Halt model. Lightness and ease of transport is paramount with quality inbuilt lighting built early on so as to match the scenic work to my choice of illumination. It all has to fit into my shed without any fiddleyards set up....there will be one at each end of the project. I`ve based my modules on an article in RM Aug 2012 by Neale Burrows. MDF is too heavy so I was lucky to find all my timber from a local hardware shop. I started with a simple jig to drill four bolt holes at each end of what is to be four modules. Four sets of component parts to make odd sized modules based on length of halt platform and the position of pointwork and working crossing gates. Two modules at 3` 6". One at 2` 6". One at 4` We did have some sunshine ???? Each module has a set of adjustable legs. I`ve decided to use 5mm foam core as track bed and scenic work Height from floor to track level is 3` 10" and the visual window will be H 12" L 13` 6" Modules are now complete enough for me to start laying track and wiring up. I am pleased with the light from LED lighting strips. I will start a tracklaying blog in a while...................

I hope the instructions on how to replace them reads " put the first set you were sent in the bin" Here's hoping !!

Just had an email from Dudu Dube at Customer Care saying they are aware of the wheel problems and are working on replacing them...............

I think your quite right Bushrat It`s never been rocket science to get a sweet running chassis in any gauge. A wise old codger long ago told me to always start a loco kit with the coupling rods and use these as the main datum to line up the axles....bushes/hornblocks accurately in relation to the loco frames which will then transfer to the wheel crankpins , by using a simple jig.......... which of course need to be ` quartered` axactly the same as each other. therefore if you can get these inferior quality wheels to `quarter` at either 90 degrees or perhaps 120 degrees ( and stay in that setting) you will be fine....... SIMPLES..............

Unfprtunately Hachette have made the wheels on the cheap , which is a pity as I have been very pleased with the majority of parts. I shall order the `wheel` replacement issues and see if I can cobble together a set with `decent quartering ` Hachette ,in my view, will avoid starting again with wheel manufacturing. This kit was only ever destined to run on a short length of track for a `novice loco builder` I wish mine to be the same running quality as the rest of my kit built stock which will now definitely mean purchasing a set from Slaters. Even if you manage to succeed in getting an accurate quartered set from Hachette you will be left with the other problem of them working loose, as the screw threads are also poor and there is much too much slop in the fit............

I would like to know from anyone with a set of Slaters replacements, what `quartering` they are set for..................?????

Thanks OzzyO, Bushrat and 30801 I could`nt sleep having read all your posts!!! So up with me torch!!! Basically the bad news is they are S$*%T wheels with the centre boss quartering to the old HOng KOng standard. The good news is that by swapping about I got all three wheel sets to `quarter` at, I assume, to be 120degrees Ozzyo...is this correct for a 3 cylinder loco????? I knew I should`nt have strayed from the one true faith........GWR.......!!!! So at least I have a working set

Modelpara With respect , if wheel crankpins are hugely out of alignment as in my case the coupling rods will only fit on one side of the loco. Fine for a static display perhaps..... John

Piccys speak much clearer this set will only quarter at 90 degrees the other two axles will only set less than 90 degrees or greater than........ Niether are interchangeable so beware.....

I don't care what they should be set at as long as every axle is the same. You can't see both sides of a loco at the same time. Mine cannot be set up at all by mixing and matching as the central brass boss has been moulded to two differing standards. One wheel set is 90 degrees, the other two sets are two spokes less

Oh yes oh yes oh yes Now have all six drivers and only two quarter at 90 degrees the other four are a choice of about 80 or 160 degrees ( AS DESCRIBED IN ISSUE 39 PAGE 155 INST 11 & 12 ) Didn't get the bogie pivot this week....... Have emailed them ....but can't see them understanding the quartering issue........... Watch this space....... John