BobM

One more sleep until resumption of passenger services...... We saw schedule empty sock movements on 'The Valley' today in readiness for tomorrow...... 'The Pig' 43106 went south from Bridgnorth to Bewdley to overnight for the first northbound of Kidder in the morning, seen here passing through Arley as a I did a volunteer gardening stint on a rather pleasant late winter Friday afternoon.... soon after (possibly passing The Pig at Bewdley) class 50 033......took the empty Blood and Custards to Bridgnorth to work the first southbound Saturday morning.... won't sleep tonight...too excited...just akin to Christmas ! Regards always... Bob

Hi...Thought I'd share this with you, at least you can have a laugh...thought I'd have a go a drawing one of my favourite paintings.....a pretty rubbish picture and attempt...a work in progress.... Regards always... Bob

Hi.. A call to SVR Headquarters may help for clarity or answers on KEII status.... Regards always... Bob

Hi Ian Thanks, sadly my points are down and wired up.....hence my predicament and all the brilliant advice being directed my way by all you kind guys... Regards always... Bob

Hi Lezz...I will practice drilling a 0.5mm hole through the pip on a spent turnout.......cheers.... Regards always... Bob

Brilliant Lezz thank you.... Regards always Bob

Wheyhey......! Only have to wait until Saturday (5 sleeps in Santa palance) when 'we' can welcome back our visitors for the 2018-19 season, as volunteers we will have the company of our loco's again and the Valleys 'heart' will be beating once more...! This fine lady will be celebrating 'her' 100th Birthday this year....Hope the Queen sends a telegram...! Regards always, Bob

Hi Lezz.....Will look forward to your advice (and everyone's postings on this subject), for which I am eternally grateful.... The tie bar on a Peco 100 (00) is a very thin 'rod'.....I think the 'N' gauge has a wider tie bar....I have tested cutting down the pip right back to the bar and this does open up a hole into which the bent wire can be slipped, but I am hesitant that the wire will pull through...? Is there a halfway house method in that if I trim the top off could I drill carefully down the centre, if my eyesight is good enough,,,,this would give a 'stronger' remaining pip to take the strain of the wire push / pull....? Regards always..... Bob

Hi Lezz... Thanks for the info as always..... If I trim down the pip, this exposes a hole in the tie bar into which the bent wire could be slipped....do you think that if this was glued into position it would suffice, and be strong enough not to tear thorough the tie bar....? Regards always... Bob

Hi Lez Ahhh I see thanks..... Thoughts and 'ideas' stimulated by yourself and Andy have been whirling around my mind all evening and what was once hesitation and trepidation to work through this has turned into something less 'worrying'......what I intend to do firstly is to see whether the thinner, piano wire I obtained from my local 'aircraft' model shop will solder to the Mercontrol 1013 coupler that will slip over the pip, so everything can be above the baseboard as planned, but I have doubts this will not prove to be any different to that with the thicker wire which comes with the system....(after this potentially fruitless attempted soldering)...... the plan then is to drill the hole through the central tie bar hole and into the baseboard and then open out the hole to accommodate the wire potentially from beneath.....as a first step in building the confidence to proceed.....? Regards always... Bob

Hi Lezz I understand that an actuator is something which provides the motion, but not quite how this would work as part of the movement in this case...? Are you also hinting at the area between the point and the track bed being lifted slightly by a piece of packing to protect it...? Sorry for being dense....! When I first started working at the horticultural nursery where I have been for 35 years now....I looked after the aquatic section....ponds, plants and fish....used to put in ponds too..! Regards always... Bob

Having a 'think'....I know that is a dangerous for me......and taking your suggestion onboard, is it feasible and are we talking about taking the the tubing (maybe brass in some areas for added strength) from the lever frame, by drilling a sloping hole to carry the tube in wire beneath the board ( or the lever frame lowered to a height and set into a level, allowing tubing to run just beneath the baseboard) and then the bent wire coming up from beneath into the tie bar hole....which has been opened up from beneath in the manner you described Lezz by drilling down through the tie bar hole then widening to allow the required movement....? I may not have written this idea very clearly..... sorry...? Regards always.... Bob

Trouble is that working 5 days at a nursery, then two days looking after the gardens at Arley Station on the SVR ( 7 days a week 'work' virtually ) ...my garden at home is less than tidy as there' no free time to attend to it in the manner it deserves...! Regards always... Bob

Lezz / Andy.... You two guys are an inspiration, your guidance, support and encouragement is wonderful......I won't throw in the towel just yet, give me a spade, a pair of secateurs and a range of plants and I'll fashion you a garden, as that's been my background in horticulture for 35 years now..... when it comes to matters such as these I am a bit lost until the penny drops.....and I will, with guys like you around, still fashion something that'll produce results either above or below the bases boards using tube in wire or side mounted point motors....? In tandem I hope to continue to build Cambrian Street Station / Scenery to keep momentum .... Cheers my friends.... Regards always Bob

Hi.... Dumb clot that I am, I seemingly had some of the buffer beams the wrong way around..so have altered these now so the lamps are pointing the right way now....! Regards always.... Bob

Hi Guys..... Having seemingly been preoccupied with determining the best way forward with operating the points on Cambrian Street (a topic (Mercontrol) for which I have received great support and advice).......I have not done anything on layout itself.....so have just snapped together five Peco buffer stops and placed these temporarily into place on the sidings / head shunts close to the station.....hopefully I have put these together correctly.....do the chairs require removal to allow these to sit on the sleepers...? These will be painted with sleeper grime or similar colour (any suggestions) as apart of the ballasting process... Regards always... Bob

I can 'see' where all this is going to end up my friends.....in that I will be throwing the points manually in the end as I feel that for this layout at least...it'll have to be the case more than likely, although I haven't totally given up just yet....or attaching the wire (bending into a loop and gluing directly to the pip)? Regards always... Bob

Thanks Andy.....much appreciated as always... Bob

Hi.....I do appreciate this Lezz.....it may however be beyond my capabilities..... but I will study it fully and get my head around the mechanics of it..... Regards always... Bob

Hi... This is where we are at, at the moment..... excavated beneath the pip on the tie bar.... Regards always... Bob

Hi Guys..... Just a message to say sorry for not posting on here as there is some very useful discussion underway on the Mrecontrol system (and forum) relating to the issues I am having with it on Cambrian Street, the outcome of this will determine whether I go ahead with it on the layout or throw the points by hand, or perhaps use side Peco mounted point motors instead.... Regards always... Bob

Cheers Lezz..... Thanks for the info and diagram...I will make an attempt.....there is so little free upward movement in my laid points, I am scared of damaging the mechanism or spring.... I will try as tube in wire would be my prefered method of switching the points..... Regards always Bob

Hi Lezz I am using standard cork underlay..... Cheers... Regards always... Bob

Hi..... Plenty of info here for me to digest......will not rush into anything.....we'll see how we progress here eh....? Regards to all, always... Bob

Hi I have a gaugemaster model D that powers my twin tracks....I see that there are two free 16v ports on the connectors I presume I could use these to run to the control CPU and switches...? Regards always Bob