GWL

Copper vs Steel One of the point control wires I installed last week has broken where it bends 90º through the point bar, which I think tells me all I need to know about my copper vs steel wire conundrum... Oh well, no going back now. So I‘ve reinforced it with an L pin made from 1.2mm wire through the point bar and soldered it back onto the existing control wire for now. Meanwhile, new 0.4mm stainless steel wire has arrived, (thank you Wires.co.uk) which means I can crack on with the final two points at the far right of the layout, the platform runaround. As it's a crossover, I want to use one switch to throw both points. Here's how I've done it: ...Oh and forgive the jaunty angle of some photos...! First, cork is cut away for the tubes and slide switch. Three 8mm holes are drilled in the top of the board and then filed into one rectangle for the slide switch to sit in. A 5mm hole is drilled through the bottom of the board (in my case an ikea Linnmon table top) for the cabling to drop through. The switch is a double pole on-on slide switch from CPC. The travel of the switch is pretty much an exact match for the travel of the points. The switch has to change the polarity of the frogs (the V section of rail) of both points, so everything is marked as to what supplies what. The white cables are already soldered to the point frogs and threaded up through the hole I drilled for the switch. The red and black wires are 15cm droppers which will poke down through the hole and crimp to the main DC bus wires. The switch is soldered up and everything is insulated with electrical tape - sadly my heat shrink kit is trapped at work in an empty theatre! With the switch in place, two 0.8mm holes are drilled through the head, one with the direction of travel and one across it. PTFE Tube (0.5mm ID / 1mm OD PTFE Tube from Amazon) is laid into the slots and held in place using hot glue. The tube is trimmed to length at the points and switch ends. Next, 0.4mm steel wire is threaded through the head of the switch and into the tube, and pushed through until there is about 5cm of excess is protruding past point no.1. The wire is then bent up through the hole in the point tie bar, folded over and cut so it cannot slip back through the bar. A small L shaped pin made from 1mm wire is pushed in with a drop of super glue to fill the hole completely, preventing the 0.4mm wire from rattling about in the hole. The top of the pin and the end of steel wire are joined with a drop of solder. Once the glue has dried, the control wire is now connected securely to the point tie bar. This is repeated for point no.2. The points can then be secured in place, with any adjustment in position facilitated by pulling or pushing more wire through the hole in the switch head. Once everything is fixed down, the wires are then bent around the switch head and pushed through the hole running through the side of the switch, then trimmed to length. A drop of solder and/or superglue can be used to keep the wires in place around the switch head. Everything is filled in with hot glue, with any spillage or excess glue trimmed away using flush cutters or a Stanley knife. Once the glue has set, there should be no movement in the switch chassis, PTFE tube, or points. The switch should slide easily and change both points with a nice positive click! And thats it! I’m sure there are more elegant ways of doing it, but it cost me less than £30 for the parts to control 10 points, including switches, wire, PTFE tube and wiring. I have 8 points on this layout, so have spares left over for $@%& ups. Of course this does not include glue gun, soldering kit, hand tools, etc. and we shall see how reliable they are over time, but I’m confident! Next task is wiring up the main DC bus...!

Decoupling seems to be ok for me with this setup, but I've had issues far away from the magnets with the wagon bouncing away from the train when trying to couple. Similarly to your rogue decoupling issue, I think the Kadee's need a minimum rolling resistance so that the loco isn't ramming the wagon at 30mph just to get the knuckles to engage! Coupling and decoupling is certainly a much more positive action when the wagon has a weight to it, it's the reason I'm attempting to make a removable weighted wagon load. The "foam brake" solution sounds great - I'll give that a try. I've used adhesive foam tape for padding out sound practical props in my theatre day job... perhaps that would be a good product for sticking between wagon axles? Link below: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/foam-tapes/2050877/

Hi Jon, I've just written a blog post which details my conversion of exactly these two coupling types - link below. Also two photos attached which show the socket on a wagon which I think matches yours, and a comparison with the original coupling along side the modified Kadee. Hope that helps! Best, G

Kadee Couplings! For those that don’t know, they’re a more realistic looking coupling for model railways than the usual bulky tension lock ones we get on most models in the UK. They are made by an American company called Kadee (pronounced Kay-Dee as in K & D). Kadee just look more like something you’d expect to see on a train, and allow coaches and wagons to run closer together. I ordered a selection of Kadee’s for NEM pockets from Hattons, along with the rod magnets I’d ordered from First4Magnets. Testing has been done on a siding and I'm pretty happy with my version of a budget delayed action magnetic decoupler. Also it turns out that I what I thought were modern models fitted with NEM pockets for interchangeable couplings, are in fact not-so-modern models with the older, bigger clip-in style pockets. I've ordered some Dapol wagons from Hattons which I'm assuming/hoping will have NEM pockets. Either way, I'll be testing as we go. I was slightly disheartened initially as I thought I would have to order the underset gearbox style Kadee's, but some fettling with a drill has produced modified Kadee 18's, 19's & 20's that should fit both Hornby pockets and NEM pocket if I want to swap things around down the line. I have also bought the Kadee coupling gauge, which really is a necessity to set the decoupling pins height accurately. I found that this made more difference to reliability than the height of the magnets under the track. Half the Kadee's required pin bending once fitted to rolling stock; I didn't use the official bending pliers but just grabbed each end of the pin with pliers in each hand and gently bent the pins up or down. You almost don't know you've done it, it's very subtle. Photos & captions below. Here are two couplings fitted, with decoupling magnets fitted just under the track after much trial and error. 3mm holes were drilled in the top of the board and the magnets simply push in. There's plenty of grip to hold them in place but I think I'll use a drop of PVA going forwards to make it more permanent. I only drilled through the top surface of the Ikea Linnmon tables I'm using for base boards, which is fine until you realise really need to push the magnets up from underneath to raise or remove them - hence the massacred sleepers from much grappling with pliers! The magnets in question - bought from First4Magnets.co.uk, arrived very quickly! A Kadee 18 modified to fit a Hornby pocket, and a comparison with the original Hornby tension lock. My process: Put the Kadee's swallow tail in a vice and drill a 2mm hole between the forks of the swallow tail, right where they meet at the knuckle end. I found the drill bit located itself in the right place, right at the tip of the V. Drill a 1.5mm hole at the base of the T piece of solid plastic, between the knuckle and the 2mm hole you just drilled. Use a Stanley or craft knife to cut through the plastic between the two new drill holes. Push into the Hornby pocket! The 2mm hole should "click" locate around the shaft in the socket, the 1.5mm hole and knife cut allows the additional flex. I found this works for Hornby pockets but not for the similar pocket on a Dapol GWR grain wagon, there was too much vertical wiggle room. A bit of glue or packing would fix this, but I'm trying to find ways to keep things both glue-free and semi permanent. I don't actually have much use for that wagon anyway... Two types of modified Kadee's fitted to each end of the Hornby auto coach, Kadee 18 on the left, Kadee 19 on the right, the latter giving an extra mm or so of clearance. The modified 18 seems to be the best all-rounder and fits most of the Hornby non-NEM stock. Both coupled to the same butchered Kadee screwed onto a 6 plank wagon - see below. This was a Kadee 19 with swallow tails removed and a 1.5mm hole drilled through the centre of the T plastic. It was tricky to drill close enough to the knuckle so that the coupling would be nice and close, but without the head of the screw touching the knuckle which would stop it from pivoting freely and self centring on its little springs. I failed on the other end of this wagon. In future I will err on the side of leaving too much space between hole and knuckle, then file it into a slot if I need adjustment later. I could have left the swallow tails attached - they actually rub on the axle slightly which might help stop the wagon rolling towards the magnets when decoupled. Might try that down the line if needed. I also had to file down the end of the stanchion that holds the coupling screw, as this was also rubbing on the knuckle and preventing it from self-centring. In other news, most of the track is ready to glue down now, I'm just waiting for steel wire to finish the station crossover switching, and the cable to finish the electrics under the boards. I will go through both in detail in subsequent posts. Oh and finally, as a random side project I'm trying to create a removable 5 plank wagon load using clingfilm. There is an M10 steel nut hurried in the ballast to add some weight, and the whole lot is being set using the trusty PVA/water mix... who knows if it'll work, lets see.

Please could someone with knowledge clarify this for me: It seems that Collett coaches were initially painted with brown window frames for doors and “lobbies”, but when they changed to the shirt button emblem these windows were painted maroon/red. I’ve just noticed this while window shopping for Collett coaches. I have a Hornby early GWR auto coach (R4547) with brown windows, whereas the current model (R4831) has shirt button emblem and red windows. my queries: Can anyone provide more info on when and why the windows changed? Would it be unusual to have seen an old and new paint job autocoach together? Or would they all have been changed within a matter of months so only have been seen during that brief transition? Many thanks! G

Progress. I’ve started from the bridge end of the layout and roughly a third of the track is now stuck down, including 6 of the 8 points. I’m happy with my wire-in-tube point control, I’m waiting for some more glue gun sticks to tidy up around the slide witches. No idea why I didn’t group all the switches In this section together... hindsight is 20/20, but perhaps this will make them easier to disguise in amongst the foreground scenery. Since there are no decouplers to be installed here (more on that later), I’ve let excitememt get the better of me, cracked out the wet water, pipettes and PVA and started ballasting. For those that don’t know, wet water is in fact normal water with a drop or two of fairy liquid added to it (other dish detergent brands are available). This reduces the surface tension of the water droplets when sprayed over the loose ballast, and allows the water to seep down, around and under the stones and track. A 50/50 PVA and water mix is then dropped/dribbled/splurged over the pre-moistened ballast, and seeps everywhere it needs to get to stick it all down nicely. The PVA sets rock hard, some prefer to use other glue so the finished ballast is more springy and can be worked on later, but I’m not fussed. Plus PVA is super cheap. Noice. I’ve gone for a mixture of Woodhand Scenics ballasts, sourced from two model shops on eBay; medium grade “light gray” for newer, cleaner sections and fine grade “gray blend” for older dirty stuff. I wrapped my steel rule with cling film and taped it to the end of the board to get a flat edge to ballast up to, which I think worked well. I’ve managed to remove some paint from the sleepers when chipping off rogue stones after the glue has dried, so for my second round I used a tooth pick to do this while everything was still wet. Much better. What do we think of the ballast on sleepers on the main line? Inspired by a photo of the West Somerset Railway, but no idea why it’s there... is it new ballast waiting to be spread or tamped down? I’m pretty pleased with the results, I plan on weathering it down later to make it look more grimy. The rusty rails are too red in places, so a tin of Humbrol No. 29 enamel is in the post for me to try Instead of the No. 62 I have been using, though I do like the latter for super rusty bits such as disused sidings, trackside debris, etc. Concrete and Couplings. Two things have brought track laying to a halt for now: Firstly, the spray plastic primer wasn’t a match for Humbrol 72 Khaki Grey which I like for painting concrete sleepers. I’m contemplating whether or not to brush paint 4 meters of flexitrack or take the plunge on an airbrush... The latter would take nearly £100 from the railway budget pot, so I’m leaning towards brushing by hand. I don’t need to be as fussy as I have been with the inside faces of the sleepers as the ballast covers it, so perhaps it wont be as bad as I think. Brush painting is quite satisfying too... but airbrushing is a new skill to learn! Choices choices. Secondly, I’ve decided to buy Kadee magnetic couplings as I feel I’ve outgrown tensionlock and don’t want the “Giant hand” descending to decouple locos. I have a small amount of rolling stock and I can afford £30 worth couplings to convert the lot, but the official Kadee decouplers are all a bit dear considering I need at least 6. So, after some research on this forum and others, I’ve bought a bag of 3mmø x 12mm neodymium magnets from First4Magnets.co.uk - really cheap, easy to install and from the videos I’ve seen they seem to work well... I’ll do some tests once they arrive and see how it goes! Signalling is another consideration, I think I’d like to keep it mechanical, perhaps with my wire in tube... but one that can wait for now. I’m also going to attempt to move two points with one slide switch for the platform run-around crossover. Fun and games ahead!

Thanks a lot for this Harlequin - my answers and queries are in blue above.

Thanks Rich, yes I think I will get away with it! No probs Mikkel, yes the new caps have been much better - I’d say they produce about a 40mm dot from a 15cm distance. I paint the track outside before laying, it’s still not controlled enough for me to use inside on the layout, but is less wasteful. Also I cannot stress enough the difference the low pressure paint cans make with the caps in terms of control.

Furloughed. But its not all bad, I’ve been allocated a corner in our 2 bed London flat to embark on a model railway project to pass the time. HURRAH! I thought I’d start a blog about this adventure and this first post details the progress so far. Scheming. I'm a Theatre Production Sound Engineer in London, who grew up in North Somerset. Ghosts of old branch lines that snaked around and through the villages near my childhood home have always been a potent source of inspiration. A pile of Hornby 00 track and assorted western rolling stock has been sat in a box for years, leftovers from a childhood 6'x4’ loop layout that closed to goods and passenger traffic circa 2008. The project is to build a model railway on a budget in the limited space available. I have some modelling experience and am handy with a soldering iron, drill, files and to some extent paint brushes. I’ll be using this layout as a test bed to learn some new skills and try things out, building as best I can while having fun. I’m not going to worry too much about perfect true-to-life design or operation. The gist is a fictional GWR country terminus (because we can't get enough of those!), perhaps a preserved line, effectively based on a shrunken version of the old B&E / GWR station in Clevedon, North Somerset. Photos of said station below... I’m naming my layout Kingston Bridge, the landmark still standing about halfway along the disused Clevedon branch from Yatton, and just up the road from my childhood home. LINNMON to the rescue! Base boards... I have no wood, and no means to quickly buy wood online at a reasonable price. Step up the ikea LINNMON table! Two 100x60cm white tops, sturdy, and £6 each! Add 8x ADILS legs at £2.50 each and we’ve got ourselves a budget base board. Thank you IKEA. I’ve laid 2mm cork on the top of both tables as a base - six pack of 300x1000mm rolls from Amazon did the job - though it turned out more like 295x1010mm. So a slight gap at the back that will need filling later. The legs took longer to arrive so the “boards” sat on an existing table to get me started. I’ve used two small flight case catches to join the boards. They keep the table tops together nicely while allowing for some vertical adjustment for levelling. Only gripe is that the holes on the hook component were smaller than listed - hence ugly countersunk screws instead of nicer pan heads... I’ll fix that later. Track attack I had a pile of used Hornby 00 track, but it wasn’t in good nick and I decided to treat myself to something new. After a fair amount of research I’ve chosen Peco code 75. I like the way it looks on other layouts and having never used Peco track before, I thought it was the time to try! Well I was too slow, because it seems EVERYONE has had the same idea! Buying track was quite a challenge. It feels as though the parts for this project have been sourced from every model shop in the UK! The original track layout (planned to be all wooden sleeper) quickly went out the window and was adapted to suit what I could get my hands on for a sensible price - I was not going to pay £10 per piece of wooden flexi track!!! I’ve ended up with concrete sleeper flexi track, and wooden points with the exception of two right hand medium points that also had to be concrete. I was determined to get a single slip into the layout, I find them interesting and wiring and operating it correctly would provide some exercise for my brain! Initially the mix of sleeper types annoyed me, then I remembered my mantra for this project - I can learn to model with both concrete and wooden sleeper types. I’ll have to make up some back story for the mixture of sleeper types later... thoughts on a postcard please. Rough version of the plan above. The lower sidings might change a bit... that idea was a mileage yard, and that the uppermost track crossing the road might enter a factory yard or building, set into the back scene. Who knows, its a moveable feast. Meanwhile the table legs arrived! Super easy to install and remove, with plenty of adjustment for levelling - at least 25mm. At 70cm high they’re not “exhibition height” but are ideal for sitting and working. What’s the point? I have a pile of Hornby point motors, and the initial plan was to use them. However, once I’d committed to the LINNMON tables I decided to surface mount as much as possible rather than hack away creating holes for things. Wire in tube with slide switches for frog polarity seemed like a neater option and a fun learning opportunity, so thats what I’ve chosen. The switches are part no. SW05898 from CPC.farnell.com, PTFE tube is 0.5mm ID / 1mm OD from Amazon. The wire is 0.4mm silver coated copper... I know I know, I’m probably going to regret not using steel, but I had it on the shelf and It seems sturdy so far... perhaps I will curse myself later. I’ve soldered on thicker wire for the point end so there is more rigidity and less play in the hole through the tie bar. The switches are soldered up to the frog wire with two drop wires for + and - feeds, then set into holes drilled with an 8mm bit and filed to shape. The PTFE tube is set into a slot cut in the cork, then everything is fixed and filled in with a hot glue gun. Each individual piece of track has drop wires, which are 16x0.2mm 0.5mmSq (20 AWG) from railwayscenics.com - I couldn’t find lengths of wiring under 25m as cheap as theirs, and its great quality. I will be using 32x0.2mm 1mmSq (17 AWG) for the bus wires under the tables - probably overkill but better too much than too little and should be future proof for upsizing. I will run ‘analogue’ Initially but would like upgrade to DCC at some point... Rust, rust or rust? Painting the track has been a voyage of discovery. I don’t have an air brush nor the funds to buy one. My initial solution has been Kobra low pressure spray paint In Chinotto brown for a base coat on all track, wooden and concrete sleepers. Used with black dot caps from Graff City, this provides a more controlled spray than the regular spray paint cap. The concrete sleepers have then been brush painted in Humbrol No. 72 Khaki Drill Matt Enamel, and the rails brushed with No. 62 Leather for a rusty look. The No.62 works well In my opinion for unused extra rusty track but is a bit too red for track in regular use. Thinning it down on top of the Kobra chinotto looks okay but its not perfect or consistent for the main track. I think I’ll try a darker option down the line... Also, brush painting concrete sleepers takes quite a lot of time... I have some Plastikote grey primer that I think comes out roughly the same colour as the humbrol, so I might give that a try going forward in conjunction with some darker rail rust paint. And thats it for now! I’ve started laying track and a bit of test ballasting, but I’ll save that for a more bite-sized next instalment. Please comment with your thoughts, I’m trying to learn and would welcome all opinions!

Long time reader, first time poster! I'm a theatre production sound engineer in London, who grew up in North Somerset. My imagination was captured by the ghosts of old branch lines that snaked around and through the villages near my childhood home - specifically The Strawberry Line, Clevedon branch, & WCPLR. A pile of Hornby 00 gauge track and several models of local GWR stock has been sat in a box in our tiny flat from a childhood 6'x4' layout that closed to goods and passenger traffic circa 2008. Like all of us, I have some time on my hands for who knows how long, so I'm embarking on a small layout project that will ultimately last for as long as the lockdown does! In short, the layout is a fictional GWR country terminus (because we can't get enough of those!), perhaps a preserved line, based upon a shrunken version of the B&E / GWR station in Clevedon, N.Somerset, to be built on two 100cm x 60cm Ikea table tops with Code 75 track. I have found much inspiration and advice from this forum, and I'll be starting a blog in the appropriate section shortly where I will go into more detail. I hope that documenting my progress provides some interest and points for discussion, and that I can glean further hints and tips from you all! Stay safe and well, everyone!