young37215

The asylum beckons! The servos change the points perfectly and open/close the microswitch. My problem lies with shorts which I simply cannot crack despite having spent countless hours in the last month wiring up, testing, shorting, checking and re-wiring and testing again. I am at my wits end; all counsel whether psychiatric or electrical will be gratefully received. To clarify what I have done so far: Each point has its own power supply from the BUS I broke the frog power connections on each of the 4 points in line with Peco guidance. Diamond wired up with power (I use orange and yellow wires for power because I can see the difference) and all joins insulated. Diamond frog wiring, green wires from microswitches are attached to point frogs and diamond frogs in line with peoples guidance in this thread Microswitch, 5amp, appears bog standard. 3 wiring points, C (common) goes to frog, NO (normally open) is the middle connection and the default setting, if the switch is open as it is in the picture then this is the power source. NC (normally closed) is the power source when the switch is closed. Servo with micro switch. In this picture the microswitch is open so frog power comes from the middle (the yellow) wire

Eddie The typical west highland building is laser printed, heavy duty card produced and built by Dawson Hall. My contact has been with another Eddie, not sure of his surname though. Web site below contains contact details https://www.dawson-hall.com/xcart/

A little activity over the last few days has seen some progress at Crianlarich. The diamond crossing has been connected to the BUS with wire attached to all points and track. Brackets for the servos have been attached under the board. I am waiting for some micro switches to arrive so that I attach the servos and wire up the crossing frogs. Much trepidation here as I have never used electrofrog points before and my general electrical knowledge and skill level is rather low! I have also started the underpass at the northern end of the station where the western exit leads up a ramp to Glenfalloch Road. To the east of the station lies a car park which will be modelled in part. Retaining walls are beginning to take shape on both sides of the station. Further development all rests on completing the underpass and the diamond crossing because they dictate the position of everything else. Once these are finished, I can start on the station platform. Whilst my focus is on completing Crianlarich, I could not resist laying out the potential location and trackwork for Garelochead station. This will have to wait before further work but it has wetted my appetite.

The pictures show off the layout to great effect. You have managed to capture the essence of the west highland line superbly. The station is instantly recognisable but, for me, the highlight is the way you have blended everything into an archetypical landscape. Can we assume that Inverness will be joining the exhibition circuit at some stage? I would love to see it in the flesh. regards Rob

Progress report Taking on board peoples counsel I will attempt the use of switches to power the frogs of both points and diamond. As has been pointed out for electrical continuity I will consider routes using the crossover rather than individual points. As the above schematic shows, there are essentially 4 routes using the crossover of which only two traverse the diamond. Should be simple! Action to date BUS wires soldered to each point, the diamond and the two small pieces of track that make up the crossover which have all been connected to the BUS. Holes for the frog wires have been drilled through the baseboard and the wires now protrude to the under side of the board although frogs are not yet connected to any power. The track has been placed in situ and trains run across in all directions. No shorts evident although, given the frogs are not connected, there are a couple of points where the dead sections are virtually the length of the loco wheel base which cause momentary interruptions in power. Usually momentum carries the loco forward to the live rail although slow speed running stalls. Next steps Attach servos to the points. I am waiting for micro switches to arrive to power the frogs to do this as one task. Summary So far I am encouraged by progress. Thanks to everyone for their counsel. I will report again once I have connected up the frogs to the BUS and installed the servo point motors.

Dear all Thanks for your input. To clarify a couple of points raised, the diamond is electrofrog and has an isolating joiner on every rail. The layout is DCC controlled. I intend constructing a mimic control panel with switches to operate the servos for the points (and the semaphore signals) I get the option of micro switches operated by the point motor servos for the point frogs. I am less certain about the diamond. Is it as straightforward as Susie suggests? If it is then using point micro switches gives me a solution, albeit one that relies on me setting the points to the correct sequence to avoid shorts. I could live with that and it will be much cheaper than the frog juicer; its just that I am not confident that it is this straightforward. Rob

Thanks Phil Yes, point performance optimised by cutting the wires. Both point blades are individually powered. regards Rob

Hi My model of Crianlarich includes the old diamond crossing at the northern end of the station where the Oban and Fort William lines divide. I attach a picture of this below, I am seeking guidance on wiring the 6 frogs that make up the junction. Background is: Track is Peco code 75 electrofrog points Points will be motorised with servos and a Megapoints Controller Each piece of track/point will be independently wired to the BUS The diamond has insulating joiners on every rail I want to make the polarity switching as simple as possible with as few wires as I can whilst minimising the risk of shorts. I think that a frog juicer might be my best solution because, even if I wire the 2 diamond frogs independently (and thus add more wires), there is the risk of manual error with the route setting causing a short. I think I should be able to get a frog juicer to provide polarity control to all 6 frogs with just two power inputs from the BUS and 6 outputs to each point. If correct then this appears to be the optimal solution for what I want to achieve. My questions: does what I say make sense? assuming I have understood correctly, can anyone recommend a frog juicer with 6 or more outputs Thanks for your input Rob

Thanks for Thanks for the picture, it adds to the pot. What I really want however is a picture of the tea room end wall which is directly behind the signal box in your picture. From memory I think it is blank much as is the south end but I would like to be sure if I can.

The attached link takes you to pictures similar to that above. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/48992-crianlarich/ All very useful but what I really seek are pictures showing: a side on view of the eastern side of the building (i.e. taken from the up platform) the north facing end (the wall facing the signal box) Any takers please?

Thanks, I have a picture already from a slightly different angle but the more the merrier when it comes to drafting a plan. Incidentally I am not surprised the steam heat was on, it looks a typical August day for the highlands! Queen Mary Brake and RMB are on my list of required rolling stock. First things first though so I need to get on and finish the station.

It does and I have waded through them for several hours but none provide a really clear shot of the building, just parts of it. I am hoping that someone has a better profile on film.

I am seeking for assistance with pictures of the station buildings at Crianlarich in general and, specifically, the tearoom. Ideally from the 1980's but any showing detail of the buildings will be much appreciated. These will provide me the detail needed to build a model of the buildings for my 1980's based WHL4 layout. In advance, thanks for your help. Rob

I spend less time modelling during the spring and summer hence the lack of recent updates. However I cannot resist showing off my new WHL station building which arrived earlier today. It has been laser printed in card and built by Dawson Hall. I am delighted at what they have produced which is so much better than anything I could have scratch built and really captures the essence of the distinctive WHL Swiss chalet style buildings. This building will be used for Garelochead which is my next station project. Pictures show the building on an old platform used for design purposes and which is not flat hence the gaps under the building. Nevertheless it still looks brilliant.

Keep digging for more of these!

Steve, Charlie Thanks for the clarification, I am now clear on the situation and how things have got to where they are. I look forward to hearing the EM2's at Bristol although based on what people are saying on here it looks like I need to start saving! regards Rob

Steve My question is more would a custom made EM2 speaker designed to fit within a modern diesel be an option? I have no idea as to the origins of the EM range and guess that they are designed for a different purpose than fitting into models. My point is that with a custom design (and even if it cost more), the overall cost might fall because it would mean less work required by the likes of yourself to fit them. It would also be a better solution for the model because and notwithstanding your skills, it must be better to minimise modification of factory built models. Perhaps a follow up question is anyone aware of dialogue taking place with model manufacturers about them changing the loco design so that larger speakers can be used? Given that model designs already exist, I guess manufacturers will struggle to see any economic benefit of changing designs. However if they are not asked then they are unlikely to do anything. regards Rob

I am waiting to hear the EM's in action at the Bristol show with great interest. I fear that I am going to want to upgrade the dozen base reflex speakers in my class 37 fleet which will not be cheap! This is not a complaint in anyway, shape or form and I am very happy with the base reflex sound fitting by Steve which is considerably superior to the ESU standard speaker. It is simply a case as with many things where new products render older ones inferior and ultimate obsolescence; such is progress. A thought for peoples comment/consideration, is it possible to get the EM speaker in a size that fit within locos and thus avoid/reduce the work involved when upgrading?. I am assuming here that the EM speaker is not something made for models and is something that Charlie and/or one of his colleagues have sourced hence the need to do so much work to get them into locos. I suspect that the EM manufacturers would consider a custom job if there was sufficient demand, even if it were at a higher cost, a speaker that involved less work to fit into a loco might well mean the overall cost falls. Again, to repeat my earlier point, I am not complaining about costs or criticising Charlie or Steve, I just wonder if there is a different way forward?

and my wallet is having palpitations....

Only modest progress this week with more time spent running than building. I have wired up the western sidings at Crianlarich which are now fully operational. Tempting fate I know, but so far electrics are proving straightforward and working well. 37039 arrives Crianlarich with an Oban bound oil train and departs for Oban 37085 pauses with a southbound service from Fort William. Loco will detach and run round before heading back to Fort William.

Today I just about finished adding droppers to Crianlarich, only the diamond at the northern end is outstanding. This enabled me to run some trains, partly for fun and partly to test the power and I am pleased to report that it all worked well. Given the absence of any track laying south of Crianlarich as yet, a mythical landslide has closed the line meaning that trains are terminating and reversing at Crianlarich. 37026 threads its way over the northern crossing and heads for Fort William across Strathfillan 37039 crosses Strathfillan and arrives at Crianlarich with empty oil tanks. Illogical given the landslide but having unpacked the TTA's, I was determined to give them an outing!

Thanks to those who have made offers of photographs. Whilst any picture of the area can be helpful, what I am really after is 1980's material to act as a pointer. Fortunately in this day and age of the Internet, pictures of the WHL are widely available as are videos and dvd's. Historic pictures from my 1980's era are slightly less easy to find although Ernie Brack (SwissIrishErnie on RM Web) has a fantastic Flickr site with a WHL chapter including many 1980's pictures which acts as my main point of reference. Thanks again; if I get stuck then I will certainly take up peoples offers of photographic help.

Progress continues albeit slowly as I try and work out how to utilise my new Megapoints controller and servos. The crux of Crianlarich is the diamond crossover at the northern end of the station with 4 points that require motors and micro switches for frog control. In addition the diamond needs frog switching. Given that Megapoints and servos are new territory for me, I moved the diamond onto a temporary baseboard to test the theory. I then hacked away at a piece of aluminium conduit to create a bracket for the servo. My drilling needs practice! Finally I managed to attach the bracket to the test baseboard at the correct point. The servo was attached and, astonishingly, worked first time just like in the Youtube videos. Thank you Mr Megapoints. I then created further brackets for the remaining points; fortunately my drilling improved. I now feel sufficiently confident to replace the diamond crossover and to wire up the servos. I have not tested micro switch operation because I feel confident about the simplicity of using the servo movement to change the polarity. Time will tell of my confidence is justified or misplaced!

The spur leading from Crianlarich onto the Oban line has been provisionally laid. It will quickly dive behind a backscene to hide the fact that it goes back to the main fiddle yard where Oban has its own section. In addition there is a link to the main fiddle area so that freight wagons can be 'recycled' into the general pool. Electrical installation has started with the main power BUS using 32/02 wire for the BUS and 16/02 wire for droppers linked using screwfix terminal blocks. Droppers are soldered to the underside of the track, I do not intend to connect every piece of track in the fiddle yard, just sufficient to ensure a reliable power supply. The colour coding is garish but essential given my colour blindness! So far I have only wired the fiddle yard, today I plan to start on wiring Crianlarich so that I can start running trains.

Further progress at Crianlarich where I have managed to get the northern scissors junction to feel about right. The points will be operated using my new Megapoints controller and servos, I hope these are as straightforward as the Youtube videos show!!. I also need to work out how to wire the scissors correctly to avoid polarity conflicts. Additional trackwork at the southern end of the station to complete the sidings has been added and pinned in place. On reflection the old engine shed needs to move northwards which means the siding needs shortening. Despite this the overall profile of the station is beginning to create the feel of the location that I seek. Track has also been laid and pinned in the fiddle yard. It will probably get tweaked when operations commence but for now I have something to work with and can start planning the point motorisation fest project. In the back ground Glenfinnan station sits in its revised position and in the far distance a roughly located Garelochead station and trackwork can just be made out.