BobM

Hi Andy, Cheers for the info,....sorry for being dense (if not solid north of the neck).....am I correct in seeing from your diagram that the (green wire) goes from the bus wire fed from my gaugemaster controller to the switch and motor...or are the motors powered separately? Regards always.... Bob

Hi Andy..... Thanks for the posting.....I could fit one and see how I get on with it.....it seems there are three wires coming from each one.....does one go to the bus wire for power the other two to a switch of some kind....? Does the motor directly slip over the pip...? They may be small enough to 'loose' if painted with sleeper grime etc...? Regards always..... Bob

I haven't considered Peco side mounted point motors, there could be room on some points for these to be installed but I haven't any experience or advice on these...? Regards always.... Bob

Hi.... I have spent about half an hour, gentle attempting to tease the one point up and there is certainly some movement but sadly apparently not enough to get the wire through the central hole in the tie bar.....and attempting this with a double slip has proved to be as difficult as there's not enough play with the droppers in situ here.....will see if I can come up with a method of attaching the wire to the pip by some methodology.....as Hercule Poirot's Miss Lemon once stated....'difficulties are made to be overcome'......! Regards always.... Bob

Hi Andy.... I will try again, I think the overriding problem is that I have wired in my droppers so tightly, there is little room for manoeuvring between the point and cork base....this is a salient pointer to plan ahead rather than stumble into problems...will attempt to insert the wire..... Regards always..... Bob

Absolutely stunning Peter, Platform '7' reincarnated.....! Regards always.... Bob

Hi... With your advice Lez Z. (and everyone's advice) ringing in my ears, today have a had a walk into my local model aircraft supplier shop, and have purchased a thinner (0.24swg) piano wire, rather than the supplied Mercontrol wire (hoping that it'll have the strength to produce sufficient throw) and a length of ptfe tubing to experiment (along with some brass tubing as an alternate carrier) with rather than give up at the first hurdle...have also taken onboard all the postings on here too in relation to tube in wire...so will let you know how I get on..... My main concern it attaching the wire to the 'pip'....a task which is getting on my 'pip' also at the moment...! Will a simple loop, sufficiently tight enough to be slipped over the pip and then superglued into position do the business...? Many thanks guys.... Regards always.... Bob

Hi Guys...... All the advice here is much appreciated and taken onboard..... I am wondering whether continuing down this route (with Mercontrol) is going to be beyond my soldering capabilities and time scale / financial limits......continuing with Mercontrol I have a feeling I may become 'bogged' down in something that will sap my enthusiasm to work on the layout further ....? I may have to admit defeat on this and just throw the points by hand on this layout....is there anyway of adapting a right angle crank to fit on to the pip directly.....which the can be attached to the wire...? For example a crank soldered onto the 1013 coupler...? Regards always.... Bob

Hi Guys..... Hope all are okay....? Just musing..... I haven't just yet, given up all plans for using Mercontrol as a method of point throwing, although I am 'teetering on the edge' of doing so, every option of attaching the wire to the pip seems to throw up problems..... I have considered two options...... One being to trim the pip down and insert the bent control wire through this hole and glue to fasten and secure (to deter the wire tearing or wearing through the hole) in position..... secondly to bend the wire into a tight loop, slip over the pip and again glue into place...... I am correctly am I not in believing that the steel wire cannot be soldered to the 1013 coupler supplied by Mercontrol as they are incompatible materials.....? Regards always Bob

Hi Guys..... Hope all are okay....? Just musing..... I haven't just yet, given up all plans for using Mercontrol as a method of point throwing, although I am 'teetering on the edge' of doing so, every option of attaching the wire to the pip seems to throw up problems..... I have considered two options...... One being to trim the pip down and insert the bent control wire through this hole and glue to fasten and secure (to deter the wire tearing or wearing through the hole) in position..... secondly to bend the wire into a tight loop, slip over the pip and again glue into place...... I am correctly am I not in believing that the steel wire cannot be soldered to the 1013 coupler supplied by Mercontrol as they are incompatible materials.....? Regards always Bob

Awesome work....love it.....! Regards always.... Bob

Is this the area in question? Regards always Bob

Hi..... Just thinking and perhaps that is a dangerous thing for myself.....but if it were not a flue....was it anything to do with a ventilation shaft for the adjacent underpass which ran beneath the tracks to Great Charles Street....? The design profile seems different from the earlier images and it is fashioned possibly out of blue brick by the look of it, other chimneys seems to be terracotta brick on the earlier builds....but seems to be there in the 1930's... Regards always... Bob

Hi Guys..... Sorry for the lack of updates, only reason for so being that there's been very little progress on Cambrian Street due to a number of factors, primarily being 'floored' by this continuing bout of 'man flu'.....which I cannot shake off at present.....but hey...compared to many who have far worse conditions to contend with I am fine...! Also I remain undecided as to whether to 'bite the Mercontrol bullet' and follow the only option open to me to use it, as my points are laid and wired in, whereby I trim down the 'pip' to expose an access hole allowing the insertion of the bent control wire running to the lever frame.....? I am worried that doing so may cause unforeseen problems further down the line, should the the bar be torn through at any stage by the control wire.....so I am on the horns of a dilemma as to whether to do this and possibly be damned, or just to throw the points manually.....? So whilst I make up my mind...(any advice would be appreciated).....I have begun the process of removing the cork base in preparation for commencing ballasting......firstly however could you guys advise which paints you would recommend for colouring the sleepers and rails, to take away the plastic look of the peco track.....I have heard of sleeper grime as a preferred colour by many on here....? Regards always.... Bob

Hi... I see that 6023 KEII (The Blue King) is going to grace us with (his) 'her' presence during our Spring Gala during March.....quite a line up developing here....! If anyone (like myself), is going to Stafford Model Railway exhibition this weekend, have a great day.... Regards always... Bob

Hi Matey...... I hope that you'll get a diagnosis of the root cause of your ill health soon, that in itself would ellevate some of the anxiety of not knowing, which obviously feeds into your general overall condition....All the best as always.... Bob

Cheers for the 'pip' info..... regards always Bob

Hi.... Super work...can I ask how did you attach the wire to the pip on the point....? Cheers Bob

Hi Guys...... Came across this most mesmerising and relaxing footage on Youtube...... Hope you like it as well as the music....Vangelis at his best.....! (Go to beginning for full impact if it opens in the middle) https://youtu.be/qYpC_n2MP-0 Akin to life...beginning in the sunny, colourful valley, steadily ascending into chillier but spectacular heights......! Regards always Bob

Hi Guys... Just a diversion....! This is most mesmerising and relaxing......Vangelis.... https://youtu.be/qYpC_n2MP-0 Akin to life...beginning in the sunny, colourful valley, steadily ascending on the same track into chillier but spectacular heights perhaps......! Regards always Bob

Hi Guys.... Apologies for not posting.....however I seem to have been 'floored' by this either heavy cold or borderline flu, as I have not 'moved' since late Tuesday....will post when feeling more akin to human.... Regards always... Bob

Hi Guys....Hope you are well ( better than I am at the moment as I am seem to have come down with another bout of 'man flu)....? Anyway enough of the wallowing....I have made a decision here, with which I am happy and I hope that you will understand why I have taken it.....having laid my track and wired it up it was always going to be almost impossible to have the points thrown any other way than by hand or mechanical means such as Mercontrol, however even this installation required for optimum results the control wire to be inserted into the central hole of the tie bar again this was ruled out by the fact that the points were down...... so I investigated the possibility of attaching a control plate to the pip, a venture I have to report brought varying degrees of success, using either the coupler from Mercontrol, a role for which I knew they were not designed and therefore didn't perform well......memories of how the old family layout controlled its array of points are vague (it has been 40 years and sadly family no longer here to advise) and perhaps confused.....so it could be that I was on to a looser to begin here..... a final attempt to attach an alternative to the pip was made this evening and to some extent it did work.....using a male crimp terminal electrical connector, the steel was soldered to it securely, the wire feeding through the tube fine, however the end result was that the terminal connector didn't sit comfortably on the 'pip' and occasionally popping up, losing the throw for which it was designed.....also it just didn't look right and if it doesn't look right it probably isn't.....? Therefore I think it is now best to use the fallback position and that is just to throw the points manually, not ideal for sure in terms of modelling or how one would like it to be, many reading this may be thinking badly of me but if I am to continue onto the real aspects of why I began Cambrian Street, which is the modelling and scenery, the points will have to be thrown manually, or the layout and interest in it may stall, as I spend and indeterminate amount of time on something that'll be driving me around the bend....? So hope you understand guys ..... Regards always.... Bob

Hi.... I have remembered what 'we' used to use on the original family layout as the coupler (connector) soldered to the control wire, this then slipped over the pip.... they were spent (crimped) terminal cable connectors I believe these were small enough to not be intrusive when painted and strong enough to do the job....will source some and perhaps give them a try as an alternative.... Regards always...Bob

Hi Everyone.... Thank you so much for the advice, this is always appreciated, this is timely advice, as returning home earlier than anticipated this evening, decided to have a go at the next stage hinted at above.....in line with my wish to be open and frank with you kind guys, I have to be honest with you and this evenings exploits have been somewhat disappointing my friends as I couldn't get the coupler to solder to the wire....each attempt, five in fact failed.....whether it is the solder or incompatible metals I am not sure.....will have to rethink the next step.....the hand of god solution is looming perhaps if the work on Cambrian Street is not to stall....lifting the points, even slightly fills me with trepidation..... Regards always... Bob

Hi Guys.... Just a quick update and muse....as it is highly likely that there'll be no further work on Cambrian Street until early next week as after work tonight there's a planned visit to 'The Great Orange Palace' that is Sainsbury's....and with tomorrow being a full day, weather permitting, volunteering on the SVR next week is the next available chance to sensibly complete the next steps..... .....it is these steps that I'd like to run through along with my thoughts why there'll being done..... I am adapting the Mercontrol system to my own situation that I've created, rightly or wrongly it may be the only forward outside using the 'hand of God'..... Firstly I intend to determine the length of wire required to reach from the point to lever frame which in this case is a straight line.......also I am going to use a coupler to slip over the end of the 'pip' on the peco tie bar......this being soldered to the control wire.....this done prior to inserting the wire into the oiled tube as I do not want to run the risk of heat being transferred from the soldering iron down the wire and melting or distorting the small bore tube should it be inserted beforehand......I have seen instances where the wire is simply bent around pip...however I do have reservations as this will just slip off if it is not tightly attached...? Once joined / soldered together, the wire inserted into the tube, this (and the coupler) held in position either by using tape or pins, the coupler glued if required to the pip.....the solder being painted grey or black to hide the colour as apart of the ballasting process.. Then I will move on to attaching the wire to the lever arm..... That's the theory..... Regards always... Bob