young37215

Work on the power BUS to make ready for the 2 power districts continues. Below is a schematic attempting to show what I am doing, from having a horseshoe shaped power BUS the BUS will be cut in half at approximately its midpoint. The half (or district) that powers the fiddle yard section around to Ardlui shown as Section A in pink will be connected directly to the power supply from Cab Control. The second half (district) controlling Garelochead around to Fort William shown as Section B in orange will have a DPST switch installed between the CC power supply and the BUS. The on/off switch will enable starting up track power to become a 2 step affair to reduce the initial power surge of all locos attempting to grab some power at the same time which can trip CC's short circuit protection. The split of locos is typically 2/3rds in the fiddle yard area with the remaining 1/3rd in the Fort William area. Indications are that this will stop the short circuit protection activating on start up and once past the start up, CC runs quite happily providing sufficient power for the whole layout. If the switch does not solve the issue then it looks like I will have to buy a power booster which at around £200 will be an unwelcome expense. Fingers crossed...

Yes although the 6th coach is off the platform on arrival because the train has to stop short to allow the loco access to the run round. After run round, the consist sets back so that all of loco and coaches are in the platform. I cannot find a picture of a 6 coach arrival, these show the southbound sleeper in the platform showing atight but acceptable fit.

Point and signal control is through a non DCC Megapoints network with an independent power source unaffected by any track related shorts caused by incompetent signalling of which there are more than there should be! I have not considered interlocking at this time although I believe Megapoints may be able to do this. My current thinking for tokens is a simple affair probably made from cardboard to test and prove the system. If it works as I hope I might be tempted to create more representative tokens. At the moment this is in its early stages of development and I want to see how it works before spending money on it. 37033 enters Garelochead with 8B13, 1315 Sighthill to Corpach where it passes 37026 on 1T32.

I wonder Andy if you would be better off scaling back the length of your trains?. Although load 6 was typical, shorter trains were commonplace on the extension as you know and I think shorter trains would make quite a difference to what you can do. My personal view is that once a model gets beyond 4/5 coaches in length it actually looks less realistic and I am very comfortable running load 4 for most WHL4 services. I have tried load 5 for the 2 Oban rakes but felt this was detrimental to how trains looked. Shortening trains also increases space for running so that you are not not simply shuffling lengthy trains between stations with little opportunity to actually see and hear locos under power. Purely my personal thoughts but, as you said elsewhere, everything we do is a compromise to one degree or another. I think you have sufficient space for Fort William. The baseboard for my version is 270 cm in length to the tip of the first point, the platform is 190 cm and comfortably holds load 6 plus loco which is sufficient for the sleeper. Other station platforms on WHL4 are about 160 cm in length. A rake of 4 coaches totals 110 cm, with loco a train is under 140 cm which fit easily in the stations. If you shorten your rakes I additionally suspect you will also be able to fit a holding space, mini fiddle yard type arrangement between Glenfinnan and Fort William thus allowing trains to wait between movements. Even more radical would be to have the fiddle yard underneath Glenfinnan which would increase both the scenic potential and storage space at the same time and introduce the opportunity for gradients for additional operational interest! In terms of power and on the assumption your power BUS runs underneath the track, I would be looking to connect the controller fairly centrally, either end of your fiddle yard looks about right, and not too close to the radiator. My old Prodigy powered a much larger BUS from a similar central point with ease. Apologies for the length of my ramblings which I attribute to a of lack of sleep caused by my back complaining about its reintroduction to golf in the last 10 days. Hopefully these provide some food for thought in your planning.

Wow, what a stash of tokens. Thank you very much for the heads up, I am tempted by the thought of securing just one of the tokens for personal posterity. I hope that the post lock boom that is predicted does not extend to the auction rooms!

All looks like a lot of fun at present, planning can be a rewarding and stimulating activity. A track plan will be interesting viewing and will also help to provide you with feedback and suggestions on the location of your controller.

Having passed 37039 at Arrochar, 37026 rumbles in to Garelochead where it will pass another north bound train. Elsewhere I am now just waiting for the delivery of a DPST switch so that I can create the 2 power districts that I have been preparing for. I have decided to avoid seperate circuit breakers at this time, the cost being prohibitive in my view although it will be easy enough to wire them in should I change my mind. I am also gearing up for a return to more normal times when I hope to have some friends around for running sessions. Cab Control has Engine Driver software that enables a smart phone to be used as an additional controller. My issue is more one of signalling where I am planning the use of single line tokens to protect trains from head on collisions in the same way as the WHL operated pre RETB. A single token for each section will be sufficient as I only have 1 signal box being the main control panel meaning the token can be returned to the central point after the train has transited the section. Possession of a token will be mandatory to access the section in question thus creating operational safety. My research has shown that examples of tokens used on the WHL change hands for several hundreds of £ so I wo'nt be using originals! I will initially create tokens from card and provided they deliver what I want, I will get some made from aluminum or similar material.

The opposite working to 37026, the 1254 Glasgow to Oban is headed by work stained 37039 seen arriving at Garelochead. The trains are booked to pass at Arrochar.

The 0100 Queen Street to Oban last ran in the WTT year starting May 1981. I am not sure how the stock of the 0100 returned, the booked trailing loads of 245 tonnes indicates 7 vehicles. The 3 daytime trains from Glasgow to Oban were all booked 280 tonnes, the first two trains of the day back from Oban were 280 tonnes whereas the last train was a coach less at 245. In general terms of rolling stock only two rakes were required to cover Oban diagrams, one overnighted in Glasgow and the other at Oban. It is a mystery to me how the stock returned, it is not clear from the WTT!

As others have said, some days it goes pear shaped and there is nothing you can do but feel frustrated. I spent several hours yesterday mucking around with wiring and creating power district sections. At the end of the day there was nothing visible to show for a days work, I think I have got it all working but will not be surprised to find a problem or two along the way. My power BUS comprises 32/02 equipment wire for the main and 16/02 for the droppers connected using Screwfix earth blocks which all fits together very easily and is flexible enough to allow additional wires to be easily added if required. (I have wired each piece of track on scenic sections but only a few in the fiddle yard) It is probably heavier duty wire than necessary but in the 4 years since initial installation the only issues have been down to my stupidity. None of the components were particularly expensive either and given how reliable and robust it has been to cope with my electrical ineptitude, it would have been worth twice the price! One tip, buy wire in bulk from someone like RS Components, not piecemeal like I have. You will use more wire than you anticpate and having a reel in stock avoids waiting for supplies as well as costing a lot less.

I have always felt Spean Bridge is the odd one out in terms of WHL stations, I am not sure why although the two platforms compared to the usual island might be the reason. Nice picture nevertheless, the lack of activity being so typically WHL. Back at Crianlarich 37026 arrives from Oban with the midday train to Glasgow.

It is surprising how little detail there is at most of the intermediate stations on the WHL, even before the de-manning caused by the RETB introduction, by the early 1980's they had become very run down. Finding unique identifying features is a challenge. A busy by WHL standards midday scene at Fort William sees 37043 departure for Mallaig with the 08.37 from Glasgow and 37178 waiting to do the same with 14.00 ex Fort William. 20085 is the idle station pilot and 20184 sits on the stock for the 16.30 teatime service.

I have added several posters at Crianlarich to match those visible in various pictures from the early 1980's. The posters are self adhesive ones from Ebay which have been stuck on thin pieces of plasticard with the edges painted black and glued to the building with PVA. The one thing I am missing is an early 1980's WHL timetable on a poster where, I believe, the entire timetable was printed onto a single poster for use at all stations. Any takers?

ETHEL2 was my first for 'haulage' when on 23rd August 1984 37085 dragged it up the WHL on the sleeper which I was on whilst doing an All Line Railrover. I was on the sleeper from the south in a nice warm compartment which I think explains why I ended up so far north in that I slept until we were north of Dumbarton! My move that morning ended up being 37085 to Tyndrum Upper (proper name in those days) for the walk to Tyndrum Lower via the Little Chef for breakfast. 37027 returned me to Glasgow on the 0800 from Oban. Tyndrum was the furthest north I got on the WHL until the late 1980's, this was my first time north of Arrochar. No flashes of inspiration overnight with a solution for my new ETHEL. Practically I can only see that I will have to remove and/or cut back some of the fitted pipes to enable the bufferbeam to be returned to the loco so that it will work with tension lock couplings. 27032 followed 37081 northwards with the Eastfield breakdown coach although I am not sure what has broken down yet; time will tell!

Several months ago I sold my old Hornby ETHEL in anticipation of the new ones on the horizon. My Hornby version had served me well over the 10 or so years I had owned it but a combination of the the pitza cutter wheels occassional short circuiting on pointwork and the aged bodyshell meant that I fancied an upgraded version. I decided to go fo the Heljan ETHEL largely because it is unpowered. After 2 hours faffing around in an effort to make the loco usable, I am now having second thoughts. Out of the box I think the loco looks the part despite the documented shortcomings. My problems arose once I wanted to actually use the loco rather than just look at it. It seems the detailed bufferbeam will not work with tension lock couplings which foul most of the pipes including the unnecessary steam heat pipework which I have now removed. The choice then seemed to be remove the rest of the detail or take the whole bufferbeam off. Neither feel particularly appealing on a model costing over £150! In the end I settled for removing the entire bufferbeam as a temporary measure just to see how it ran which so far is good with no derailments or short circuits. I am not yet sure on the way forward but I am very disappointed with Heljan. It is as if the model was designed by someone who has never run a model railway. In too many years of modelling I have never encountered so many obstacles to using a purchase. So far and despite exercising care I have managed to snap off part of an air pipe. Now some of the shortcomings feel more pronounced and the absence of ETH fittings is particularly irritating. 37081 had the job of hauling the Mk3 push pull set with ETHEL heading a Sunday excursion from Edinburgh to Oban.

37022 heads the delayed 0700 Mallaig to Glasgow caused by the failure of 37108 at Mallaig into Crianlarich.

No offence taken on my part, I am grateful for your contribution and advice both here and on the ESU forum. I asked a question and you gave me an answer. In hindsight perhaps the question was more appropriately asked on the ESU platform but I wanted to ask native English speakers hence my reverting to RMWeb. My thinking highlights that my brain does not find electrical workings intuitive hence some of my questions may appear daft to a competent electrician. My simplistic thinking was CC includes a power supply, can I link two together? Answer is No. Somewhat ironically I appear to have resolved the spurious short problem by accident. I decided to go down the suggested route of power sub districts and as a first step, I added insulating fishplates at the district seperation points. The power BUS has not been seperated and continues to feed all track. In the four days since installing the insulated fishplates, applying track power has started with the first button push on the MC2 unit each and every occassion I have powered up the layout with all 20 locos in situ! Internet searches indicate that the PSX circuit breaker costing around £40 per unit work with ESU products. I'll need a minimum of 2 of these meaning the costs of sub power districts are starting to add up. If someone will give me a suggestion on alternative and hopefully lower cost circuit breakers that work with CC, I will probably follow what seems to be best practice and complete the power sub district seperation.

I started making the preparations to create power districts by adding several isolating fishplates around the layout to divide it up into potentially independent electrical sections. I thought that this would be a sensible first step on the way to implement what several people more electrically competent than me had advised to be best practice. Power continues to be fed from the single BUS where for reasons that I dont understand, the isolating fishplates appear to have the effect of curing my spurious short on starting up track power. So for now I will leave things as they are, the layout is working as I want and Cab Control appears to be happy. What more could I want? 37/20 combination depart Crianlarich with the sleeper heading to Fort William.

The thread highlights how difficult it is to achieve absolute accuracy with what we model. I know that all of my TTA fleet are numbered incorrectly for the WHL but I have not got to the stage of feeling the need to start a renumbering programme yet. I have this pencilled in for lockdown 17! 37033 has charge of 7V86, 0606 Mallaig Junction Yard to Sighthill seen arriving at Garelochead

A few days of pottering and loco servicing have reduced the amount of operations. Although I am running the 1981 WTT, I could not ressist the 37012 and 20085 combination which would have been more likely in 1983 seen heading the down sleeper arriving at Crianlarich. I must finish my version of the 1983 WTT to be more prototypical with the 37/20 Mk1 sleepers and which will also cover the Autumn 1983 introduction of the Mk3 sleepers and ETHEL.

Feedback and guidance is much appreciated. My thinking on a second CC ICU clearly does not deliver what I hoped for in terms of being a power booster. It seems I need to bite the bullet and go down the route of dividing the layout into districts which should include seperate on/off power switches so that I can 'load up' gradually when starting a running session. If I am to expend the effort to create districts then it makes sense to add short circuit protection at the same time. I read that these should be electrical rather than mechanical if they are to be quick enough to stop CC short circuit protection. That said I would not recongise a circuit breaker if one landed on me so I am seeking guidance on what and where I should be looking for to source circuit breakers. Given I am running ESU products, is there a recognised or preferred option in terms of circuit breakers that work best with ESU ?

I still get the annoying and intermittent spurious short on start up with Voltage set at about 18V and the maximum power at 5 Amps. One suggestion from the ESU Forum has been to add more power by way of the ECoS Boost. This feels a little overkill given that the ECoS Boost costs north of £200 and once I get past the intial start up problem, CC runs happily powering my 20+ DCC sound chipped fleet. It might be that I need to do this but until I understand what causes CC to sense a short on start up, simply adding power feels an expensive experiment. I am also pondering the addition of a second MC2 handheld unit but, again,it costs the best part of £300. I am now thinking that buying a second CC would be more economic, including import and delivery costs I can get one for under £400. On the basis that this comprises a second 7A power supply through the ICU and a MC2 unit, this appears the better option. Today's question is can 2 CC ICU's be connected and networked in some form of sort of master and slave arrangment?

I have already checked that the lights on 37108 work at both ends on an alternative chassis and that the same problem arises with the chassis of 37108 with an alternative body. The problem can only be wiring or chip and I cannot see anything wrong with the simple wiring arrangement. Maybe when we can get together your Lokprogrammer will show a simple set up problem but I fear the worst for this 10 year old chip. Post servicing, 37108 is on test with functional lights at No 1 end but not at No 2 end.

Loco servicing and running yesterday with a real life failure from 37108 on the 0700 Mallaig to Glasgow. One of the drive shafts has come loose, probably as a result of my removal of the bodyshell and efforts to restore the headcode lighting, resulting in 37022 having to undertake a rescue. When recovered to depot I stripped 37108 to repair, clean and service the loco. The directional lighting is still not working and having cleaned everything associated with the lights, my suspicion is that I have the first step in a chip failing. The chip is a 10 year old Loksound V3.5 which I have been considering replacing so it will not be the end of the world, just another expense. 97201 departs Crialarich on its test run across Rannoch Moor.

I reckon you might be a year or two early with 1984 as the OTA's did not start appearing until 1985 and the condition of those in the pictures look like they have done some work. Still interesting pictures of Crianlarich Lower, I considered including this on WHL4 because of the shunting interest it would create but I could not make it fit. Although strictly at the end of my 1980 to 1985 time window, the OTA is a bit of a necessity for any WHL modeller and I have several on WHL4. The tribometer train continues its journey north seen arriving Crianlarich.