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Baseboards H & I Wiring These 2 baseboards form a little 3-road stabling area for locomotives that are not in use in the main 10-road through stabling sidings. Baseboard H was really simple, and Baseboard I had only 2 turnouts so that wasn't too bad either. It just needed the addition of a 4-servo controller from MegaPoints Controllers. Baseboard H - Top Baseboard H - Underside Baseboard I - Top. Yes, I did get around to completing the single track leading to Baseboard I. Baseboard I - Underside I'll not bore you with Baseboard J as it's just a single track!

Tarnishing Removal I used the T-cut I had (more of a cream, smother than normal T-cut) and went over the railheads. Initially I used my Dremel clone, but settled for a cloth with a flat stick inside. Tedious job going round all the rails, but at least its finished and the rails look a lot better. Hopefully, this will help with smooth running ...

Just be careful to leave space or gaps for the PVA fumes to release. These can 'tarnish' the rails, as I speak from experience. Maybe it was the type / make of PVA I used, or it was the plank of timber I placed over the rails to spread the load of the weights (to keep the track in place while the PVA set) trapping the fumes. Either way, give somewhere for the PVA fumes to 'exit'.

Not sure I'd have enough drinking straws. I was gluing down 10 stabling sidings at a time ... Not got as far as ballasting yet, but I hope to have the rails painted by that stage (blending in with the existing tarnishing) so it should not be a problem when gluing the ballast.

I found that T-cut (or at least the 'gentle' version I have from Auto Glym) works very well. I tried application using a soft pad on my Dremel clone, cotton buds, and a cloth wrapped around a timber stick. In the end I've come to the conclusion that the cloth wrapped stick worked the best, and uses the least consumables. In turnouts though I found that the softwood stick alone, well soaked in the T-cut) was easier, as it was less likely to get 'snagged' on rail ends. Yes, there is a little white residue, but that comes off when dried using a toothbrush and can be vacuumed up. It's made a huge difference to the junctions, where the rails now shine as they should. Well happy.

Baseboard G Wiring Now this was always going to be the next difficult Baseboard, what with 11 turnouts to contend with. Well, it's all done but not without a few problems. Firstly, one of the cross-braces clashed with a servo location. Thankfully, the cross-brace was easily removed and re-installed about 2" away. I hadn't glued any timbers, just screws, and none of the screws were under already installed tracks. Turned out to be an easy fix. Next I interchanged two turnouts (forming a crossover) when installing. As I had already prefixed the droppers, this resulted in them both failing to meet my 'back to black' rule. Ah well, those two turnouts will have to be 'back to red' instead. I left myself a note stuck to the underside of the Baseboard as a reminder! Then I found I'd managed to miss two insulated rail joints on the heel of two turnout frogs. Mutter. With a bit of track lifting (the glue comes off the underlay cleanly with a bit of force) I was able to install the necessary insulated joints. Here's how it looks: Track installed Underside wiring, complete with MegaPoints 12xServo controller After fixing my wiring errors I was able to hook up my PowerCab and run my Class 08 shunter around the tracks. No 'dead' areas (even in the scissors) and the frog polarity was correct first time. The running was nice and smooth, despite the obvious 'tarnishing' of the rails caused by the fumes from the PVA glue. I will get the tarnishing removed once I've found an easy / quick method of removal. At present I found T-cut to be very good.

Robo, I am using an underlay on my layout currently under construction. See link in footer to Burton-on-Trent South. On 05/02/19 I said: [1] "The underlay material I used is, errr, underlay. Literally. It's for under wood flooring and came from Homebase about 2-years ago. As you can see from the photo below, it's 3mm thick and I paid about £30 for the 10m2. That's plenty to complete my plans. I'm sure cork would have cost more, and I think this stuff has a number of benefits. Firstly, it's quite soft so you can put fishplates onto flexitrack without having to remove the end sleeper. I just cut off the 'rail fastenings'. The slightly lower sleeper (due to the fishplate) is absorbed by the underlay. Second, PVA glue sticks to it, but when forced if peels off without leaving any damage or residue. Guess how I found that out ... Third, when you drill holes through it into the baseboard (eg: for droppers) the underlay seals back up the hole." There is a photo of the underlay I used in the same posting. In a posting on 07/11/19 [1] I listed the steps I'm using to install the underlay and set out the tracks. [1] - If I knew how to put a simple 'link' to the posting I would, but it keeps changing it to a 'window'. Really annoying. So far it has worked as I expected it to, with no problems with 'debonding'. I also found that tracks can be lifted from the underlay (using adequate force and a knife) and the glue comes away quite cleanly. Quite a benefit.

And there is a guy on YouTube, Martys Matchbox Makeovers (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLM7pRUW6CmqqoAic24wbpQ) who uses the milky type stuff to dip the plastic windows of old Matchbox cars to return them to a good shine. The product I have came from The Range (I'm sure others stock it) and is called 'Astonish Wood Floor Polish'. See attachment. 2019 - Astonish Wood Floor Polish (The Range).pdf

Thanks for all the ideas chaps. Based on the comments, and what I have to hand, I'll be giving the following a trial: T-cut Lighter fluid (i did a quick rub with a cloth and it seems to work) IPA. Well, surgical spirit actually as that's what I've got I'll probably end up using the cloth pads of my Ozito (a Dremel-like device) on a nice slow setting. As I have quite a large length of track to 'polish' I don't fancy using elbow-grease. I'll report back with my findings later.

Did the 'tip' involve dipping the plastic into self-shining liquid floor polish? That would put the gloss look back, but I don't know if it 'fills' the imperfections to remove the 'fog'. Probably not much use though unless you can get the glazing out again to dip it.

Dave, Thanks but I wasn't at the ballasting stage, just gluing the track down to the underlay so it had to be 'neat' PVA to get the required adhesion. See the photo in the first posting.

Gents, Thanks again for the advice and tips. Just one thought, has anyone tried t-cut (or similar) to remove the tarnish? It's fairly 'gentle' (even on car paint) so I don't think it will damage the rail or leave scratches, but will it remove the tarnish?

Gents, Thanks for the replies. Am pleased to hear that it's not a serious problem and that it will 'wear off' once I get some trains running (not for a while yet though ...) I agree that the tarnished look could well enhance the rail weathering. I certainly hope so. Mind you, on the fiddle yard / stabling area, where the photo was taken, it not going to get weathered anyway.

I am getting some tarnishing of the rails on my layout as I glue the track down. I'm using the common method of neat PVA under the sleepers. See photo below: Now I'm guessing that the tarnishing is caused by the 'fumes' from the PVA as it cures / dries, but I could be wrong. As I generally have planks of timber on the track to weigh it down while the PVA sets I suppose it's possible that the fumes get trapped ... Has anyone else had a similar experience, and how did you manage to remove the tarnishing from the railhead to improve electrical contact?

Baseboard F Wiring While I was waiting for the 4xservo boards to come from MegaPoints Controllers I completed Baseboards D & E (see earlier postings) and was well under way on Baseboard F when the 4xservos came. Thus it wasn't long before the wiring on Baseboard F was similarly completed. With this board having 4 turnouts, it was an exact 'fit' for a 4xservo controller board. Hurrah, no need for 'fly leads' to adjacent boards or even spare sockets. As with all the previous Baseboards with MegaPoints Controllers, I set up (adjust) each of the servos limits to verify the correct turnout movement and operation of the microswitch for frog polarity. As you might have noticed by now, I've completed Baseboards B, C, D, E, & F and still not had any trains actually running! I must confess that this is really annoying but is a direct result of my plan to use separate baseboards and MegaPoints Controller boards. Yes, I could bolt the completed boards together and hook up my the NCE PowerCab to the power bus and run some trains (I did do this for a single loco on Baseboard B sometime ago so it does work), but until I have the Mimic Board built I can't actually operate the turnouts very easily. Ah well, it least it keeps me concentrated on the 'build' and not 'playing trains'!

Baseboard C Wiring Dave at MegaPoints controllers was 'on the ball' once again and my order for some 4xservo boards came through promptly. This enabled me to return to Baseboard C and get the servos installed to complete the wiring. Not exactly my tidiest wiring, but it is 'logical' (honest Guv ...). As usual, I tested each servos operation and the polarity of the microswitch to the turnout frog, and I tested continuity to each rail from the power bus. Well, actually I couldn't test one of the servos (there are 5 on this board and the controller only controls 4) as one is served by the 12xservo board on Baseboard B via a jumper. I'll need to assembly Baseboards B & C together to test the last servo.

Scott, I think what you are doing wrong is not adding a 'return' after the photograph. It is treating the photo 'as just another character', so if you miss the 'return' it word-wraps the photo+text.

Baseboard E Wiring I'm starting to get the hang of this wiring malarky (famous last words ...?) and finished Baseboard E in a single day, and that included making some additional stripboard / veroboard components as I was getting a bit short in my stockpile. The 'odd' blue/green/yellow wire across the middle of the board is a network cable for the MegaPoints controllers, which need to be daisy-chained together. To connect the boards together I'm using plug-in PCB connectors (they're green) attached to small stripboards. See below. The lefthand one is for the track power, split into NB & SB. The righthand one is for MegaPoints controllers, and needs 2 wires for power and 3 for the network. As you can see I tend to include a few 'extra' pin connectors just for future-proofing, even though I seriously doubt they will ever get used. But, better to have one too many than one too few!! The green 2-pin plugs are for the bus wires that pass around the front of each board. The smaller black plugs are to connections / tracks 'on' the baseboard. On the next board I'm back to turnouts, so progress will probably slow down again.

Scott, I will be using inkjet printed paper for my buildings as well, so I'm interested regarding your comment about the degree of colourfastness. Can this be improved by the application of a clear coat - basically waterproofing spray? I'm sure it will improve the 'robustness'. Or are there any other methods that would help? I got the impression that the new website was essentially WYSIWYG, and thus a preview was no longer necessary? Mind you, the necessity to use TWO vertical scrollbars (one for the 'page' and the other for your 'posting') is a little tiresome!

Baseboard D Wiring Whilst I am awaiting some parts for Baseboard C (namely a MegaPoint 4-servo controller board) I've spent my time working on the wiring of Baseboard D. What a joy to work on a baseboard with tracks (10-sidings) and no turnouts. It's much easier / simpler and I've got it finished in a couple of days. See below. You can clearly see the split between the 4 SB tracks and the 6 NB tracks. Not entirely necessary, but it seemed prudent to keep the SB & NB on different circuits, if only to aid troubleshooting. I've seen quite a bit of discussion regarding DCC versus DC, but I think the wiring on this board would have been just the same on DC (I'm using DCC).

Phil, I could be totally wrong in my explanation about missing sleepers at fishplated joints, but at least it's logical ... Strange that you see so many layouts under construction with sleepers missing. I seem to recall it occurring on Everard Junction as well. However, missing sleepers are necessary at baseboard joints, where a method is necessary to 'fix' the rails in place. Using the underlay (it is soft) I didn't see how the copperclad sleeper method could be made to work, so I went with the 'soldered to screws method'. If anyone knows how the copperclad sleeper method could work with my underlay I'd be interested to know about it. I suppose I'd need to replace the underlay with 3mm plywood, and attach the copperclad directly to it?? At present I'm working on the 'fiddle sidings' areas, so absolute accuracy / authenticity is not so critical (which is why I started there - to practice). Once I get to the upper (scenic) areas, such things as baseboard joints become more important. That's a while away, as I have to complete the lower levels and then tackle 'the ramps' .... That's going to be fun as the plan is to cantilever them off the baseboard support structure (not the baseboards themselves, as I still want them to be removable).

Boyes, a chain of low-cost home/DIY shops in Yorkshire, currently has Humbrol enamel paints at £1.50 instead of the more common £1.85.

Phil, I did have a test run of Baseboard B a while back. It demonstrated that I had the polarity on some of my turnout frogs backwards! That was easily fixed, and I've learnt my lesson where I went wrong. Actually, powering one board and getting the MegaPoints Controller powered as well was quite a bit of a faff, but at least all the turnouts operated as they should. However, this clearly demonstrated that I need to get a mimic panel built to operate the turnouts easier. As it was I had to individually 'short' each one on the controller to move the turnouts. I've got some ideas about building the mimic panel with off-the-shelf bits and a building-block approach using common veroboard designs. I just need to get my ideas drawn up in Xara to make sure it will work. The underlay material I used is, errr, underlay. Literally. It's for under wood flooring and came from Homebase about 2-years ago. As you can see from the photo below, it's 3mm thick and I paid about £30 for the 10m2. That's plenty to complete my plans. I'm sure cork would have cost more, and I think this stuff has a number of benefits. Firstly, it's quite soft so you can put fishplates onto flexitrack without having to remove the end sleeper. I just cut off the 'rail fastenings'. The slightly lower sleeper (due to the fishplate) is absorbed by the underlay. Second, PVA glue sticks to it, but when forced if peels off without leaving any damage or residue. Guess how I found that out ... Third, when you drill holes through it into the baseboard (eg: for droppers) the underlay seals back up the hole.

Wiring Completed on Baseboard B Well I never expected wiring to be such a long job. It has taken me days of wiring (and, errr, re-wiring ...) to get this first board completed. The finished board looks like this: Yes, that's a MegaPoints 12-Servo controller board in the middle. It controls 10 turnouts (with the double-slips counting as 2 turnouts) on this board, and will have 2 'fly leads' onto the adjacent baseboards to control 2 more turnouts. The following photo is a close up of typical turnout servo and frog control microswitch installation. To keep costs down, I've made all the cabling from rolls of cable and crimped on all the termination plugs / sockets myself. All the stripboard / veroboard is screwed down to the baseboard with blue silicone 'washers' about 2mm thick. These provide the necessary 'standoff' to clear the solder connections on the underside. The 'washers' were cut from a length of aquarium tubing I found at a local PoundStretchers shop for a couple of pounds! I think I'll have enough for the entire build. You can also see my fastidious labling of just about everything. The cable 'fixings' are just the common clips you can get from B&Q, although I also found 'mixer boxes' of them in the Pound Stores. I chose to screw them all in to permit 'adjustment' as things were installed. This turned out to be a very good move!

Lower Level Tracklaying Completed Well, almost. The only bit missing is the single track 'link' across baseboards I & J. That means all the turnouts are laid and so is the 10-track stabling / fiddle sidings. All the baseboards can be 'separated', with the rails cut at all the baseboard joints. That involved a huge number of screws in the baseboards soldered to the underside of the rail ends (before cutting ...). All the tracks and turnouts have the necessary 'droppers' installed ready for the next major task - wiring! At least each baseboard can be removed and turned over to permit wiring. So much easier than working under the baseboards! (Baseboard layout is shown in earlier posting) Turnout Fan - Baseboard B/C (the white bits are the turnout numbers) Stabling Sidings - Baseboard C/D Turnout Junction with link to the future 'ramp' up to the high level & 3-sidings for loco stabling - Baseboard G/H 3-sidings for loco stabling and 'missing link' single track - Baseboard H/I