ChrisG

I'll be looking out for this train at the weekend! Lovely stuff...................................... Was in Padstow last Summer dreaming of such a sight.

This has been a long haul, but finally approaching the point where I can remount the individual boards which make up Newport. All the track is laid, and wired, the pointwork motorised, the control panel built, and each board has been fully tested in its own right. All that's left now is to test the boards in combination, as any faults will be more easily rectified when the boards are unattached to the layout. I don't fancy any upside-down soldering! So, here are the two boards for Newport North, and when I've finished this post I'll be back in the loft, connecting them up and testing that the correct levers throw the correct points, the uncoupling magnets work, the crossing vees are wired in the correct polarity, etc. etc. Barring any disasters, Newport could be up and running, with the hidden sidings and loops, by the end of next week. We shall see..................... Chris

Plenty of activity in the last few months at Newport, though little of interest to post since it has been repetitive work - trackbuilding, tracklaying, fitting point motors and uncoupling magnets, wiring, testing individual boards. I am now on the last of the Newport Station boards and the attached picture of the underside shows the method I have eventually adopted for fitting Fulgurex turnout motors. This is simple and effective, though obviously I cannot vouch for its longevity. The turnouts are soldered pcb construction with the tiebars connected to the blades by the "Norman Solomon" method involving pivoting steel pins soldered to the blades. The piano wire is 1.15mm and the brass blocks which transfer the drive through 90 degrees are by Modratec. .You will see crudely fashioned (and rather square) Omega loops - the effect of these is to firmly spring the blades against the stock rails. I have not needed any other form of adjustment. As supplied the Modratec blocks have a plastic clutch but I have found these unnecessary and the block is screwed directly down onto the piano wire. As I say, time will tell if the system is resilient. All that's needed on this board now is the DCC traction power bus and then it will be possible to join Newport to the hidden loops and sidings and test run the whole of the Newport Station complex...... The danger then is that I find it more fun to play trains than to buckle down and get Cowes and Medina Wharf built. Chris

I do like that! It really looks the part. I have a thing about level crossings and can certainly remember when lifting barriers were a disappointing novelty. My recollection of double gated crossings is that they were geared in such a way that the signalman just turned his wheel and they would move one at a time in a sort of diagonal pattern - e.g. front right, back left, front left, back right and they closed in reverse order. The gates each started slowly but accelerated through their movement crashing into and bouncing against stop blocks, with a terrific clatter. It was an evocative sound, all part of the excitement of knowing a train was on its way. There were also pedestrian "kissing" gates at the side which were left open a little longer. And always a signal box right by the gates..... I would love to be able to find room for one on my layout but it will take some adjustment of reality to fit one in.

Lovely trackwork and tracklaying. It makes mine look like a right mess! Yours looks beautiful in the raw whereas mine only looks "acceptable" only once it has been painted. Chris

View of the carriage sidings at the North of Newport Station. Just a few more turnouts and lines to lay at Newport and then it is on to Cowes...... Chris

All sorts of complications in the last few weeks arising from the (right) decision to lengthen the platform roads. The worst moment was realising that I would need an 18" radius curve on the mainline and it would still only be an inch or so from the edge of the baseboard - which would make plausible scenic treatment impossible. To cut a long story short, I juggled the radii and eventually arrived at a compromise I can live with, albeit a small modification to the track plan. The photo here shows the Northern exit from Newport looking towards Cowes with the sidings to the right of the mainline. They are much more curved than the real thing of course., but my priority has always been to capture the essence of operation at Newport in preference to visual replication. Now I can start building and laying the track for the carriage-washing siding! the engine shed and depot. And I am pretty certain I WILL build a cut down representation of Medina Wharf........ Chris

Track laying has reached the North end of Newport. Not without some problems and the usual cycle of two steps forward and one backwards. I have about 8 feet to go until the continuous run is in place, but ALL the track will be built before I start any wiring. So nothing running for some time to come and lots of sidings to lay at Newport. As mentioned before, the layout is considerably compressed and configured on a continuous curve to fit the available space. The object is to reproduce the salient operating features of the Station, minus the Freshwater branch.

Steady progress on Newport at the moment. I have finished wiring the Station throat board which has a scissors crossover and one other turnout. All fitted with Fulgurex Motors, and Sprat & Winkle electro magnets installed in strategic places. Most activity has been directed towards developing the method of installing the Fulgarex motors. I have read a number of criticisms of them, and I do now appreciate they are difficult to install - beginning with the need to completely ignore the "official" instructions! I have made a number of false starts, but my favoured method now involves 22swg piano wire, running in suitably sized tubing and a new turnout operating unit of my own design. The photograph is of a prototype, which needs some amendment of the basic measurements to make it completely right. The base is a piece of PCB about 50mm by 18mm. The screw holes are sized to fit your screws (mine are 3 * 3/8" dome headed brass woodscrews). The central hole through which the operating rod runs is 8mm diameter. It could be smaller. The gizmo in the middle which converts the drive motion by 90 degrees is by Modratec and the ability to adjust it using the screws is crucial to success. It also incorporates a slipping clutch mechanism, though I have found this difficult to calibrate and apparently unnecessary anyway. The control wire needs to be offset to give the vertical rod as much width as it needs to move within the 8mm hole. With a throw of 6.5mm at the motor, and a much smaller throw needed at the turnout, I fettle a "Z" spring in the wire to absorb the extra throw. This results in the turnout blade being sprung against the stock rail firmly, but not too firmly. My tiebars are built to the Norman Solomon method, using pcb strip and brass pins. Seems reliable..................... I use the switches on the Fulgurex motors to switch the frog polarity, and, like many commentators have found that they are not totally reliable. Luckily there are spare switches and if one doesn't work the other nearly always does. As a by-product, I have discovered that if the turnouts on the scissors crossover are interlocked so that it is not possible to set both pairs to "on", there is an opportunity to significantly simplify the wiring of the crossings. Maybe I will find time one day to document this. Turnouts can be interlocked either through the Fulgurex switches or (as in my case) with a mechanically interlocked lever frame (again from Modratec). Next task is to get these TOOUs into batch production. I am aiming to build enough for the whole layout and by doing all the cutting, drilling and soldering as batch jobs I minimise the time needed as well as engendering a much tidier working environment with only the tools out for one job at a time. The object that looks a bit like a lavatory is a 1:1 scale egg cup. And (usual disclaimer) I am merely a satisfied customer of the products mentioned in this post. Chris

At last some progress worth reporting. There were several steps forward and then backward over the Christmas break but at last the Medina is bridged, I've laid track over the baseboard joint into Newport and am now building and laying the track in Newport Station. The picture shows the non IOW loco I am using for testing. It is simply the most reliable small loco I could find in the local shop - it runs beautifully! The first turnout should be a three-way but I had already (by mistake) designed and built the lever frame without the necessary interlocking.

I managed to get a few hours in on the layout in the last couple of days. Much pondering of how to approach the crossing of the Medina, and at least one false start. Track coming in at the top of the photo is from the hidden loops. The first stretch of viaduct will be hidden behind 1) Cowes Station approach and 2) Newport Gas Works. The line will become visible as it crosses the twin drawbridges. These were what I had to engineer in order to get the track into Newport. I hasten to add the drawbridges will not be operational. The challenge was to replicate the real thing which appears to have been flatbottom rail bolted directly to transverse timbers with occasional timber spacer bars. Having rejected the first thought of superglueing the rails to wills timber planking sheets I worked out the following layered method. Bottom layer - 6mm plywood (standard on my baseboards) Second layer - 1.5mm cork sheet glued down Third layer - 1.5 single sided pcb sheets glued and screwed to the plywood through the cork The 2nd and 3rd layers get the trackbed up to the 3mm cork standard for the rest of the layout Double sided pcb 1.6mm thick sleeper strips soldered to the pcb sheets - this brings the height up to the required rail height above trackbed of 1.6mm which matches the C&L track and turnouts. These appear as the pink bars in the photo Infill between the widely spaced sleepers is the aforementioned Wills timber planking sheet, glued to the pcb using impact adhesive. The rails will be soldered to the pcb sleepers. So fulfilling the requirement for solidity and height. Tomorrow - lay the track! Chris

Good luck! I was always very fond of that old Tri-ang model as I grew up in the Southern electric heartland (Wimbledon/New Malden) and had one myself as a youngster. ......

The last few weeks have been spent testing the ZTC DCC kit - as yet unconclusive though working better with current chips rather than obsolete ones. Now I'm trackbuilding for Newport, with another attempt at the scissors crossover. Here are a couple of pictures of the printed trackplan in situ. The main downside is that with the highly curved compression I have to use it doesn't look very much like Newport! But it will have the main operational characteristics and with buildings and rolling stock it will look more persuasive. Chris

I finished the work on the hidden section of the layout yesterday and started testing it last night. Here is the first non-stop run around the reversing loop, and under ZTC power too. I know DCC is old hat now for many people but for me it is a new experience..... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152047918969766&l=4173367519135467514 From the testing so far there are eight faults I have found. The most tricky to track down was an intermittently shorting jack lead (I use 1/4" jacks to carry the DCC bus between baseboards). The rest should mostly be straightforward to fix or fettle. I am now looking forward to moving onto trackbuilding on the scenic section. The first target is to get the Sandown/Ryde lines running over the viaduct and into Newport, platforms 1 & 2 operational, and trains able to be run round. Happy days! Chris

I have a number of Smallbrook kits waiting to be built, and one to be built. With a one-piece resin chassis it will surely be difficult to drill out the axe bearings. I did see a tool which would do it advertised in one of the Model Mags a few months ago but failed to keep a note of what it was called or where to get it. Anyway, it looks to me like you are doing an excellent job. The hardest thing I found was getting the handrails level and straight. And especially the window bars! Chris G

... but lots of progress. I finished wiring up all the hidden tracks - tested them and established that everything was basically working. However, as a long-time lapsed modeller it has taken some time for old skills to re-emerge, and even to remember how things "should be done". As a result, there was a long list of things that I generally wanted to improve and effectively raise everything to a consistent standard of tracklaying and wiring. So now starts a period of re-work, and the installation of the DCC ring main. This will be carried from board to board using 1/4" jack plugs and cables made from lighting cable. Frankly the flex recommended by DCC Supplies seems way over the top for my needs, but you never know. I imagine if you load the bus with everything electrical on a layout it does need some heft. Mine will ony ever be carrying traction current as the rest of the layout remains steadfastly electric rather than digital and electronic. The most satisfying moment has been the DCC test loco running around the return loop without stopping and without manual intervention. NOW I am beginning to see the point of DCC though frankly I have not got it running to the desired standard yet. The jury is out regarding ZTC Controls I have to say, and I hear there is another delay on the long-awaited upgrade. The old story of a "developer leaving". As a one-time IT Manager it was my job (amongst other things) to make sure no individual could ever hold the company to ransom... Still to do then until this phase (all hidden tracks fully operational) are the following:- 1) Finish laying in the DCC bus connections 2) Re-engineer the track joints across the baseboards 3) Install power indicator lights 4) Improve anything that is annoying me I reckon that SHOULD take a week tops. As usual, we shall see. I am finding my appetite for this process is probably good for a couple of hours a day. I am of course now beginning to look forward to the track construction stage - must make sure the supplies are in in sufficient quantity. And (how could I forget), I am absolutely in love with my gas-powered soldering iron. So quick, so responsive, so much heat when you want it, and no trailing cable. Superb! Definitely recommend them to anyone. The gas doesn't seem too ruinously expensive. A bientot Chris

Here's a short clip of the first wired-up board under test. This is the entry to the hidden tracks behind Cowes. Sorry the E1 is running so badly - it's been in a box for more than 10 years and hasn't even had its wheels cleaned! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151976898439766&l=4917899407502608761 Chris

Mike - it seems to be around £25 for 5 metres worth and several magnets - an extension pack of 5 metres with fewer magnets is £15. In other words a fraction of what you quoted above. Chris

Hi Mike, I was at the Farnham show this weekend and met the guys from Elite Baseboards who showed me a product called "Power Base" made by DCC Concepts in Australia, and imported here by Elite Baseboards. It is made up of metal bases which fit under the track and magnets which are fitted under the locos and give a significant increase in pulling power. Once again, I am merely a satisfied customer of Elite, and have not actually used the Power Base product myself. They did show me the evidence on video, though. Chris

Today I have been working on the control panel for the hidden section of the layout which is by far the biggest wiring task of the lot. And this is my third iteration, having been unsatisfied with my two previous attempts. The multipole connectors are the excellent "Ewe-Link 2" available from Elite Baseboards, with whom I have no association apart from being a very satisfied customer. These are easy to use although you may notice the sticky labels with numbers on which I printed to overcome the difficulty in reading the numbers moulded on the plugs. One day this will all be behind me and I will be on to the fun stuff :-) I had a good day on the Isle of Wight yesterday riding the IOWSR (Calborne and Freshwater) and photographing panoramas to use as backscenes. Colin Duff, Modelling Secretary of the Southern Electric Group kindly took the photos for me. Chris

Oh dear, I seem to be exceptionally good at failing to see what has already been written...........:-( And as I now see, you carried out the test and weren't happy with the results. What prompted my original comment was a friend who had a loft layout (now dismantled) with a short radius helix, who put me off the idea for my layout currently under construction. In fact the planning process for my layout was a long drawn out affair and what started as a grand plan with 4 stations, hidden loops and a helix is now two stations and no helix..... But a much better chance of a) being "finished" one day and b) running reasonably well. Chris

I'm going through the same process on my layout right now, and I have become convinced that conducting proper tests is NOT a waste of time. More an investment. It is difficult to put effort into setting something up that will be undone, but in the long run, it's the road to a successful layout. When I first commented, for some reason I didn't see the photos of the Helix - it certainly looks good (like the rest of the layout which looks magnificent) and I hope you can silence the doubters! I shall follow with interest and fingers crossed! Chris

This is a bit late in the day and things may have moved on a lot, but I found this post just now and wanted to flash warning lights at the thought of a 2ft radius helix in Finescale. I don't know if being Finescale makes it better or worse (I suspect worse), but that's a tight radius which will impose a severe gradient (I'm too demse to work out the maths) and I am doubtful that any loco would be able to haul trains of the length you seem to be contemplating up such a gradient with the resistance caused by the curve...... Chris

How brilliant - I wanted some of their earlier versions but they said they were withdrawn as they proved unable to curry the currents demanded by modern DCC equipment. I'll get on to them - I know them well as they built and installed my baseboards!

I've been quiet for a while because although I've been very busy and productive on the layout, there's not much of photographic interest to show. I'm still wiring the hidden tracks, board by board, and testing them individually prior to reassembly. The loft is a complete mess, the floor strewn with layout wire offcuts. A number of things had to be done for a second time. I'd made a hash of the control panel so built a new one, and also had problems with the wiring index which led me to come up with a completely new and much more simple way of annotating it. Of course what is taking the time is the need to wire it like an exhibition layout with electrical connectors between each board. Simply finding and deciding what type of connector to use has been "fun". On my old layout I had a marvellous 36 way connecting system, bought from a specialist modelling supplier whose name I cannot remember. The socket at each end was mounted on a PCB with 36 screw terminals, and the cable was an old style printer ribbon cable (a parallel cable I think it was called). It was expensive, but simply marvellous. I have now managed to come up with something almost as simple, which are computer D25 sockets with right-anged pins for mounting on a PCB prototyping board, and ready made male/male connecting cables which have been wired "straight through" (i.e. pin 1 goes to pin 1, pin 2 to pin 2, etc.). Overall, things are going fine, and with a fair wind I should be able to call the hidden section complete by the end of next week. We shall see - that's the target anyway. In early October I am going with a friend to the IOW to take panoramic shots from the East Bank of the Medina for the backscene between Cowes and Newport. Great excitement when I received the new kit for the 18t double verandah road van, of which one ran on the island, on the heavier freight trains. And I've been dabbling with Sketchup in order to create 2D drawings for laser cutting - the first project to be Newport Engine Shed. But that's a background task as the basic construction has priority right now. First train into Newport at Christmas? It's certainly possible! Chris