richscylla

I've been spending a lot of time working on locos and rolling stock (which I will post pictures of soon) but I have done a little more scenery. I have put up some fencing, made an overgrown area and have started to work on the road/parking area behind the station. I'm really pleased with how the shelters have come out too.

Some vandalism at St. Michael's Hill this week! I have been doing more work on the layout and will do an update soon. I have also been weathering and re-spraying a lot of stock, so I will post some pictures of those too!

I refuse to believe the RES47 is a model! Looks incredible! Well done Richard

I really can't wait to see what Richard has been up to on the new Everard Junction! His videos are a massive help to me with my layout!

After a long time working on electrics (and I still have a little bit more to do) - I got back to some of the scenic stuff today which has been great. I have been concentrating on the area alongside the longest platform. I'm pretty happy with it, I will see how it all dries overnight and then see about adding a little more detail over the weekend. I also have hardwired this Lima Class 47 for DCC with a Hornby 8 pin decoder tonight - it was one of my better DC runners so I thought it was worth a shot. It seems to have been a success - it's been programmed and works on the layout. I also got my airbrush out for the first time at the weekend. I've started doing a little bit of weathering on some wagons to start with. I will post some before and after shots once I've completed the first one. I will also weather the track at some point soon!

Yeah - maybe if I could go back that is what I do - but for this project I will have to go to the right hand side now. Anyone come up with any creative ideas?

Scale: 00 Period: 1995-2000 I have been building a layout (St. Michael's Hill - link in my signature) and it's coming together fairly well. I had planned to just keep it as the size it is now (with a Fiddle Yard added) but someone asked me the other day if I would extend it. I was thinking about it, and if space allows I could do one day but what do have? I was wondering if I should throw it over to the forums. The layout is made up of baseboards that are 4 ft, by 1 and a half feet. If I was going to extend I'd probably have the same size board again. The scenery break is two single mouth tunnels under a road bridge so I have included it on the plan. The brief story of the left hand side, is a small station for 2 car DMUs, over a canal. Then there are two sidings, which form a small ballast store/general sidings. I would love to see what other people would do with the other half of the layout!

Yeah - really pleased with the light levels. Just need to add the lights to where the buffer stops will go, and add a switch so the station lights are controllable, and then I think the electrics on the whole layout are done! Rich

I've been busy today!

Not too much has gone on today - but I did manage to wire up my signal!

I have put the first coat of paint on the platform now!

I have been working away at getting all the wiring for the point motors done - and I'm there (I think - more of that later). The track is now ballasted in the most part. I need to do the points and there are a few bits that need touching up, either by filling some in where the ballast didn't stick, or by cleaning a few sleepers from where it moved around a little and got stuck. Generally I'm pretty happy with the results. It needs to be weathered and lots of weeds and grass added to the under-used sidings but it's a good start. The point motors took a while - well one in particular. Once I'd worked out the wiring (which took a while I must admit) the fitting of them was a tale of two halves. The first one leading into the station went in like a dream! The second one - not so much! Firstly, the hole I drilled wasn't quite in the right place. I actually had to increase the size of the first hole a little but it went smoothly. The second one was a nightmare - I used a hand drill with the idea of drilling until I hit the foam the track is laid on, but a slip meant I went right through and lifted the point and some of the surrounding track. So this had to be glued back down. Then it appears that the rod on the SEEP PM1 that I have feels a little loose. It moves around quite a lot and changes the angle which meant it hasn't really been working. Finally I got it in the correct position and it was working briefly, and then the rod moved and it will only fire the point half way again. Having looked around, it seems this is fairly common unfortunately. Lots of people say putting a tiny blob of super glue on the rod helps. I've made sure it's in the right position and given it a go. I will see in the morning if it's worked! Next jobs will be working out the best way to trim the rods down, ballasting the points and then tidying up the rest of the ballast. Then I'll look at adding the signal and painting up the platform.

Yeah - I will drop the chat team a message in the morning.

I was wondering if Hatton's do gift vouchers? I have had a look on the site and couldn't see any, but does anyone know for sure? Thanks, Rich

I'd echo what Nick says - maybe strip out a couple of lines and the space will work wonders for you! I can't wait to see how it progresses.

Wonderful! Thanks everyone - you've turned my day from frustrating beginning to satisfying end! The power of community!

Thanks BoD. I think I do - but a diagram would be super useful if it's not too much trouble. Rich

I have used a little solder to go over the blown track - and it works!! Thanks everyone for their help! One last question - I have a second SEEP PM1 - how do I connect that to the circuit I have? Assume I don't need a second CDU? Rich

So probably my fault rather than an issue with the CDU. I'll grab another one - do people recommend the Peco one over the Gaugemaster one?

What could have caused this? Especially if the voltage was too low?

It's a momentary contact switch. I will try taking the switch out of the circuit and trying that though

Is there damage to the soldering towards the top right?

My other thought is perhaps, I'm not giving it time to charge initially. Could that be an issue?

I have gone out and picked up a guagemaster power supply with a 16v AC output and I'm finding the same issue. The point still throws (just about) without the CDU, but when I add the CDU into the circuit it doesn't work at all. Is there anyway to test the CDU? I don't have a multimeter, but if I did, how would I test that it's working correctly? Thanks, Rich

Thanks!!