BobM

Evening Guys.......Hope all are well and not too soggy....it ain't half chucked it down here all day....! Continue to wire up and making progress....( and only to alleviate the repetitiveness of this vital task ) I have very loosely set out one part of how the station approach may look, the station headshunt and part of the goods yard......so take this as a first thought on how the station throat may develop, I may adapt the images (just for fun) as the wiring process continues......see what you think....comments appreciated as always..... Regards as always......have a great weekend... Bob

Hi... My supplier kept badgering me to have a 'smart meter'......even making an appointment to have one fitted even though I declined their 'offer' as there is currently no legal requirement to have one fitted I cancelled their appointment and will continue up until there is such a requirement to to send regular readings of both meters....and thank you very much but I think I am 'smart enough' to work our exactly how much it is costing me..with a pencil, paper and my head.....that's why I keep switching suppliers and tariffs....just say you're switching suppliers and their smart meter installation letters stop..... Bob

Hi Guys...Hope all are well? Just to say that I continue to 'chuff along' with the wiring of Cambrian Street.....perhaps gaining experience as I am incorporating a greater number of droppers with each 'stint' on the layout....possibly now 60% completed on phase one....then we move onto wiring of isolated sections....(research on which I will search out on here....any pointers guys please ?) Then it'll be the planning for installation of wire in tube point / lever control followed by signalling planning and control by potentially same method....again any ideas would be appreciated.... Cooler, fresher weather on the way...rain too......Hoorah!!!

Evening Guys....Hope that you and your's are in fine fettle? Finally there has been a couple of evenings when I haven't, after spending all day at the nursery, had to make a 45 mile round trip down to the station and spend 3 hours watering due to some very welcome rainfall and cooler temperatures......sadly though I think the heat and dry weather may return soon and there'll be a need to resume the evening watering routine once more...hey ho! Anyway enough of the whingeing.....just to say that there is steady but slow progress regarding wiring further droppers on Cambrian Street and as yet, there seems to be no great howlers and haven't blown any fuses or had any shorts as I've gone along.....there seems to be no 'stalling or falterings' as the test loco runs through the dropper wired points and now utilising two control knobs there appears to be no conflicts of power running through the tracks...... Will keep you good guys updated on progress...I must say I am looking forwards to the scenic stuff, even ballasting has a kind of appeal when compared to wiring......going to search on here for ballasting techniques or tips on making sleepers look authentic colours if anyone knows of such please let me know.... Cheers and regards as always to all Bob Mind you there is always an advantage to having to be at the SVR 'after hours'......

Lake Windermere......not hot and humid.....just perfectly 'temperate'.....

Hi Guys....Hope you're all okay and all's well with you and yours my dear friends......? I always seem to be apologising in all recent my recent posts for the lack of progress made on Cambrian Street, and indeed this one is little different as there has been only a few further droppers added to the layouts wiring over the last week......seemingly little time available time to get stuck in.......I for one will be pleased to see the back of this hot and humid weather as no sooner as I've left the nursery after the days business, it has been for weeks now, a three times a week extra 45 mile round trip evening 'hop' down to Arley to ensure everything is adequately watered and moist, not suffering from the heat and dryness or ailing in any way......to say the least I have been 'cream crackered'..........! Have also managed some 'own time' through having a great day in dear old Aberystwyth last Sunday, absolutely glorious weather conditions (even though I really want rain and cool weather now).....then took a day off work to travel with Arley colleagues to The Lakeside and Haverthwaithe Railway via Windermere Lake steamer....again superb! So please can we all come to an agreement that folks who like heat have had their share of the summer now.....we need some 'balance' now....rain and fresher conditions please.... Regards as always... Bob

Two sides of the same coin today perhaps......? Firstly on 'the upside'..... When the weather has been like it has today (Sunday)....dashing along the Cambrian Line into glorious west Wales for a day on the coast, there is no where better than the UK.....any foreign locations you could, to put it politely, quite happily 'find a place where the the sun doesn't sunshine..... and let it reside there'......? Thanks Aberystwyth once again...... but then conversely......there was a reminder perhaps of the state seemingly the UK finds itself in at the moment from the wretched state of this flag on Aberystwyth Prom......our lovely nation perhaps currently........a bit battered, torn, tied up in knots and a shredded....but still basking in sunshine.... Regards guys... Bob

Hi Guys.....Just to say further droppers installed during the past week....so we make (albeit slow) progress, moving through the station throat and on to the link lines next, towards the main line.....then it'll be the engine shed section points.....the prospect of isolated sections remains some distance away yet awhile but just coming into view over the horizon...the main thing being that as I progress I seem to be not banging my head so often on the underside of boards.....but I am still learning the heat of molten solder should I place too much on the iron.....! Have a great weekend....off to the seaside by train (Aberystwyth) on Sunday..going to sit on the platform for a while and reminisce what things once were..... (copyright Ben Brooksbank) Regards as always..... Bob

Hi Guys..... I am conscious that progress on Cambrian Street is perhaps seemingly 'painfully' (as I do seem to keep banging my head on the boards when working beneath them) slow.....and it does seem to be taking me an eternity to solder up these droppers, I am only averaging three (sets) an evening, but I intend to solder in as many as possible at each point, which I believe to be the correct method of ensuring there's no dips or breaks in the electrical power through the point blades..... So I plod on.....please bare (sorry that should be 'bear' I believe ( will leave the mistake as a lesson to be learnt )) with me and I am looking ahead to the time when the real modeling and scenic work above the wiring can begin.....I will be moving on to the switched sections (isolated lines) once all the current wiring is completed..... Cheers and regards Bob

Hi Guys, Just an image to show further droppers being soldered then insulated taped to bus wire...... Cheers my friends will update as and when progress is made,,,,,we still have movement and as yet no 'shorts'..... Regards as always, Bob

Plodding on but making progress on wiring up the droppers and not banging my head on the underside of the boards so much now so progress indeed...! Will carry on wiring ....... there is one thing I've noticed that when the first droppers were soldered on to the bus wire and began running the 0-6-0 through the points the initial 'judderings' and 'hesitations' seen at that time, have now disappeared as further droppers are soldered into position, so I hope that this is a sign that I must be doing something correct eh? Will update further when able, but continue to wire up.... Regards as always to all you good guys.... Bob As an aside take a look at the images here from Tyseley Locomotive Works open weekend a good event and well recommended if you've never been guys...

Hi Guys..... After what seems as quite a gap, due to all the recent warm to hot weather causing me to be seemingly always 'on the end of a hose pipe' during the evening and not getting home until gone 10pm nearly, I finally 'hit the buffers' exhausted and resultantly now 'nurturing' a summer cold....but hopefully may now be able to get back down to the wiring of Cambrian Street....give me a good hard frost or 6 inches of snow any day! Regards to all, Bob

Hi If your daughter is making jewellery sounds as if she has been blessed by inheriting the Gary 'Creative Gene'...have a great weekend....Regards Bob

Hi.... Still wiring, soldering, taping and banging my head! But, 'we' make progress....have a hot, steamy weekend guys...! Regards as always Bob

Evening guys.....Hope you're all well and your weekend is okay too....? Thought you may like to see these images.....? I appear to be undertaking three sets of droppers a night (when I am working on Cambrian Street) which for me seem 'painfully' slow but that just me perhaps, (so at that rate I should be complete by the t'other side of next Christmas)....but 'steady' is better than 'rushed' I suppose.....? The images here show what is going on 'below'......so I want to give an indication, rightly or wrongly, how I am getting on and what I am doing...... I am continuing to use the same technique as previously stated..... Softening the wire coating both on the bus and droppers, tinning the dropper ends, bending the tip over and then soldering this to the outside of the rail, the dropper then being soldered on to the bus beneath prior it to being taped up...... The black being the common negative for both tracks....red and orange for the respective positive, track one and two control knob respectively.... So I plod on! Cheers and kindest regards as always, Bob

Hi......Continue the wiring of droppers from track to bus.....thankfully still have movement through all the sections completed....... Have a great weekend guys...... Regards as always... Bob

Evening Guys.....Hope all are well....? Just an update for you kind guys......I am plodding along (albeit for me) at a very slow rate with installing the droppers and attaching them to the bus wire.....I have completed 5 in total so far, averaging a few each night at the moment, but I have only being doing in for two nights ! What I have done seems to be working okay, and the current is still flowing through the points laid so hopefully all seems well with no shorts (yet anyway).....I had forgotten but have been painfully reminded just how 'hot' a soldering iron can be and even the 'spit' of a piece of molten solder that may happen to land on bare skin....ouch! Will continue to progress and keep you advised..... Take care guys and kind regards as always..... Bob

Hi Just an update....have emailed Peco regarding am update on the availability of an impending motorised version of this turntable and have been informed that this has been sent for final test and may be released by late autumn this year.....? Regards Bob

Cheers my friend...much appreciate the info and the trouble you have taken to message me..... I have started a new thread called Cambrian Street....the link should be here (below)......in fact your message is quite timely as I have just begun wiring up and indeed have movement as of last night albeit a short distance.... Take a look at the new thread.... Regards Bob

Look ! Bob

Hi How do you guys upload videos on here of your work, always see Youtube footage.... Regards Bob

Evening All.....Hope all are well......? I have to say that it is with some trepidation that I post this, as this is 'the serious' business and there are some talented guys out there looking at this and probably even now taking a really sharp intake of breath and looking on with disbelief as to how someone could make such a mess....actually 'work' ! So...here goes...... This lunchtime went up the village and went and purchased two cans of Indian Pale Ale, no not really, three cans of (IPA) actually WD40 for the cleaning of rails and all electrical stuff, in preparation to 'bite the bullet this evening wire up droppers to the bus wires for the first time, and to gain experience soldering such for real.......there's no going back now! This is how I went along........ The droppers had already been placed into position the previous evening...... Began this evening by cleaning the rail with a fibre glass pencil and gave a rub down with WD40 cloth to make the side of the rail clean and shinny...... The dropper (the negative in this case) had its plastic coating softened sufficiently by using the lower portion of (a separate and older) soldering shaft until it just shows signs of melting, it can then be easily removed without fear of cutting through or damaging the the wires........ Once stripped off (the wire coating I mean, not me which wouldn't be a pretty sight at all) the wire was tinned and when cool, trimmed and bent 90 degrees.... Solder was then applied to the cleaned portion of the rail where the dropper was to fit.......the iron then used to push the wire into the now melting rail solder the two allowed to cool to bond......the dropper given slight pressure when cool to check that all was firm which is was...... A bit 'blobby' admittedly but a first attempt The same process was employed for the positive bus wire......both then in position The two droppers the soldered to their respective bus wires beneath the board and taped up...... You can imagine how thrilled I was when I turned the controller on and turned the 'heat up' and the 0-6-0 trundled its way along the siding....I am so happy! I wish i could upload the video I took..... Need a drink now....! Regards to all have a great weekend..... Bob

Ta ! I take it that is the electrical cleaner such as WD40 etc.....not,,,,, Indian Pale Ale !

Hi Is it best to clean the rail, either with alcohol, a fibreglass pen or all firstly before soldering the wire to a track? Cheers Bob

Hi... Well I thought I'd take one (little) step further forwards, to the point where I'd be installing droppers to the bus wire.....so have drilled through the baseboard with a drill which makes a neat, snug but usable access hole and inserted both the positive red and back common negative return wires through said opening and there's sufficient length of wire beneath the board to be soldered to the bus....this is what it looks like this evening.....will have look through the advice given by you good guys on here regarding soldering to track..... does this look reasonable... Regards as always Bob