clecklewyke

After helping to operate Richard Chown’s French layout at Utrecht a few years ago I was offered an invitation to operate Castle Rackrent and I’ve always regretted not taking it up. i’d watched progress on C.R. ever since I saw it when it was a minimalist harbour station with a fiddle yard concealed behind a warehouse. I later was privileged to see the whole system filling an Edinburgh church hall, with even a semicircl going round the stage. Alas i moved from Edinburgh and never found the time or money to visit Richard’s basement. But I realise that I’ve incorporated many of his ideas on my layouts. A great, inspirational man. ian

I would love it if Hornby could resurrect the original Triang bell signalling set but I’m not holding my breath. However I do believe there is a market for a reasonably priced set of block instruments. Just look at the niche products that companies like DCC Concepts, Megapoints and MERG think it is worthwhile to produce. Not everyone is a collector. One small point - can the bells please have variable sounds and volume so that we can be polite to neighbouring layout operators and identify which bell is ringing. And to Tony and Terry I would say this is what RMweb is all about. It is a virtual model railway club, absolutely invaluable as a way of meeting and chatting to friends in these days of isolation. It’s just a shame we cannot buy each other rounds of beer while we discuss. Nexbtime you are in Askrigg... Ian

Excellent ideas are being posted but let’s keep in mind my main reason for initiating this thread, which is to persuade some manufacturer to make one for me so I don’t have to worry about the electronics technologies. I just want to “plug and play”. Just a thought, my signals bounce beautifully under the control of Megapoints servo controllers. Does anyone have Dave Fenton’s ear? Ian

A simple question about servos and a proposal for a kit to make up a pair of block instruments- (Please forgive me if this question has already been asked) I use servos to drive points and signals on Bradford North Western. These all have just two positions, responding to simple on/off switches via a servo controller. To work a normal three position block instrument needle a servo would need to respond to three separate electrical inputs from a three position commutator. Are there servo controllers which can do this? I don’t think that for instance Megapoints controllers can. If a servo can be made to have three positions, I.e. line closed, line clear and train on line then it would be a simple matter to manufacture an easy to assemble kit. This would comprise the following components, sufficient for a pair of instruments: - servos (or could be sourced separately) - etched brass needles - laser cut wooden casesincorporating servo mountings - microswitches or push buttons - electric bells - printed card (or labels downloadable tile) to describe needle positions (nine closed, line clear, train on line) - three - position commutator - plug and play cables They could have two needles as in the prototype (separate needles for yo and down lines) but I would accept a single needle, with the status of the opposite line indicated solely by the commutator, as in the Triang model. This is the sort of project that Dave Fenton of Megapoints could do in his sleep... Ian (who wou like to thank all the thread contributors, but especlajjy Richard Hodgson of our local S4Soc CRAG area group, for helping to develop these ideas)

How embarrassing. Driving an unseen engine on the other side of the room is a common feature of DCC I find. Sound helps to identify the miscreant loco but it all adds up to Jolly Good Fun. You might remember that JGF was the Festiniog Deviationists’ mantra. Back l on topic, I think that a pair of block instruments at about the price of a loco would be good value, adding far more the enjoyment of model railway operation than yet another loco. To clarify, I am really thinking more about operating at home than at an exhibition. Sounds at exhibitions are another issueo. On the whole I approve as long as it’s done with discretion. One of the best layouts I’ve seen recently was Bridgewater, a 7mm layoutI which not only had train sounds and block instruments but also the sound of levers being pushed back into position in the signal box. I thought it was fab.

I remember a couple of years back being suddenly aware of the sound of Clecklewyke’s block instruments when I was at the other end of the scaleforum hall. So like others here I’ve put bog paper In to quieten the bells. But since then the layout has been only operated at home, on a fairly regular basis, and the bells really are essential to make it feel realistic. In the early 90s I wrote an article in S4 News on my block instruments. It might still be useful but it did depend on the availability of bits of electromechanical telephone exchange. These days I would use centre off meters or servos. I would also make them smaller: mine were nearly full size. They look good but are difficult to fit on the railway without dominating it. BTW I also made a computer program for my ZX spectrum running a digital version of automatic Crispin . I called it digital Crispin and somewhere in the 1990s MRJs you will find an article about it. Sadly my 10-year-old son took my spectrum apart with wire clippers to “find out how it worked”. What is more, he did the same to its replacement… But I still love him. But, as Tony has pointed out, what I really want is a ready made block instrument. My eyesight is so poor now that I have had to go to RTR on 00 rather than P4 so I want one ready made. I’m sure there must be a market for them.

MIddlesbrough, yes. i was there with our mutual friend Steve “Griff” Griffiths. I don’t remember a Hymek incident. If the culprit was ignorant enough to steal a locomotive I hope he had an unpleasant shock when he tried to figure out why it kept derailing on his Peco track. Ian P.S. ”crescent”? My computer can’t spell Clifton. No not Clacton Clacton. I give up! These days, because of my eyesight problems, I usually dictate emails with sometimes hilarious results.

Hi Gordon. I too have operated Crescent at exhibitions, I might even have been the “other”other signal man. Frankly I cannot imagine any other satisfactory way of operating a steam age layout which connects between two or more supposedly remote locations. In an ideal world we would have an operating session session during which not a word was spoken, all communications being done by bells and by the drivers observing the signals. My wife thinks we’re mad… ian Everett

Initially inspired by Peter Denny and his Buckingham branch, I have for decades operated my model railway using home made block instruments to communicate between signalmen. We have added sounds to our trains but what could be more evocative of the old railways than the tinkle of block bells? I think that block instruments make a tremendous improvement to model railway operation and are being increasingly used, certainly I hear them more frequently now at model railway exhibitions. Several of my friends have made block instrument: one has even bought a real L&Y Railway instrument - for several hundred pounds - but the only commercially produced instruments that I know of were made by Triang in the 1960s – Though simple they were very effective. I am not aware of any RTR block instruments being available since then. I think the time has come for some enterprising company to re-introduce them. It might be that Hornby, as successors to Triang, still has the original tools but that is a bit of a long shot. We now have better and cheaper manufacturing technologies and there are many more small innovative, imaginative enterprises, catering for a much wealthier and more sophisticated market than in Triang’s day, so please let these companies know if you agree with me. See the following link for a good description of the Triang product and how it can be used: http://www.hornbyguide.com/article_details.asp?articleid=1

Ive sorted my iPad problem so here are a couple of photos of recent events on the BNW branch. First I must record our practice of a vital modelling skill, displayed for the first time to the general public This is surprising because I use it every few minutes when I’m at my desk. For the record I’ve forgotten what we were looking for: I know we never found it. The second photo shows what for me is important progress - working signals. Yes, I know we’ve been here before, when the BNWbranch was a P4 layout. It’s taken a long time to get the track working reliably but now it’s full speed with the signals - three down, eight to go. The gantry is up and working and two more home signals are nearly complete. Mike Megginson is making the four platform starters and somewhere I have two signals from the original Clecklewke. So soon drivers will be able to follow signals. Since the signalmen already communicate by block bells we’ll soon be able to have a perfect operating session. Lots of bells, whistles and chuffs but no talking. My wife just wouldn’t understand... BUT I’ve just got a Jinty with a brilliant sound system from the de Boer works and I’m spending hours shunting the goods yard. But isn’t that what BNW is all about? Ian

I was hoping to load some pictures of recent work on the Bradford Northwestern branch but I simply cannot work how to do it using my new iPad. It was fine when I had a laptop and a separate camera but RMWeb Will not accept pictures from my iPad. I think it could be either because the pictures are of the wrong format or they are too large to be accepted by our M web that my knowledge of the iPad is insufficient to allow me to work out which of these is the case. I think it could be either because the pictures are of the wrong format or they are too large to be accepted by our M web but my knowledge of the iPad is insufficient to allow me to work out which of these is the case. Has anyone else experienced this with an iPad and can they offer some help please. Thank you, Ian.

I wonder how this project is coming on? I looked in on Skinningrove mining’s museum to find that it is closed until autumn but a very friendly called iirc Peter Appleton told me a lot about the area, including the zig zag railway, a model of which will take prid e of place in the expanded museum. I take it this is the CMRC model? i imagine you have seen this fabulous animation of the railway? Those steel hoppers look a bit modern to me! Ian

I love CTG’s work and was given a copy of Each a Glimpse by my late wife in the 70s. Two questions: 1) does Transition Include previously published pictures? 2) where can I buy it? I’ve searched Amazon and Googled the web but there’s no sign of it. Help, please! Ian

I thought you should know that the system is now booting every time, with all eight servos. I’ve done nothing to it since my last report. The system just seems to have settled down and is working perfectly. Mind you I don’t have any spare servos so the problem might return when I connect another servo controller board and start fitting signals. It’s a mystery! Ian

I intended to say, and indeed typed, that it boots with seven servos and continues to respond properly to the switche’s when the eighth is connected but it somehow got lost from my post - I find my new iPad does that, naughty tablet! Sorry, Ian

I will need two servo control boards when I instal my signals. For the moment I need one board to power eight point servos but I will need to add another board to power eight signals. The power supply will boot seven servos but not eight. Ian

In answer to your questions: If I boot up with eight servos they briefly twtch then make a whistling noise like a modem or fax machine then go silent and don’t respond to switches If I boot with seven the system powers up normally, responding And, RobjUK, thank you for your suggestions. Have you(or anyone else) any experience of these units? The first looks promising but I see that the Anotes on the second say, “Requires professional installation. For indoor use only not water resistant. PLEASE NOTE: This unit may need to be mounted in an enclosure to meet Electrical Safety Standards.” Ian

I’ve been having problems booting myMegapoints system and Dave Fenton suggested it might be a power supply problem. So I did a wee experiment, booting with just seven rather than eight servos connected to the servo controller board. And it worked! I can confirm that if I reboot with all eight servos it normally fails but if I disconnect one servo, leaving just seven connected it always reboots successfully. It does not matter which servo I disconnect so it is the number of servos that counts. It is not that one servo is faulty. I can live with the workaround of disconnecting one servo for the moment but not when I have the signals connected as well, which will need a further eight servos. So i think I’ll need to find a beefier power supply which is silent. I could not bear the fan whir of the supply Dave recommends. The power supply I use is supposed to deliver 12v 6a regulated, so meets Dave’s recommendation.of 2a per servo board, see https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074HX4GJ3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Is this unsuitable or does the recommendation of 2amps per servo board need reviewing? Can anyone suggest a suitable SILENT power supply? Ian

Hi, all. Thanks for your suggestjikons. I know Dave is very helpful - he’s already swapped one board which seemed to have a faulty “mode” button. I was hoping that users could take some of the load off Dave by supporting each other. I will check all wiring and connections. Intermittent faults are infuriating. It booted correctly twice yesterday with no problems but this morning, without having changed anything it failed again. I bet it’s a loose connection somewhere. Ian

Thanks, Mike but I’ve already taken up too much of his time. He’s one man running a very complex business very we’ll. i also suspect their might be a power issue. I have a 6amp supply which should be beefy ynough but maybe the wiring has too much resistance. I’ll check all connections and try thicker section wire.

Thanks, Mike but I’ve already taken up too much of his time. He’s one man running a very complex business very we’ll. i also suspect their might be a power issue. I have a 6amp supply which should be beefy ynough but maybe the wiring has too much resistance. I’ll check all connections and try thicker section wire.

I wonder if anyone can assist with a problem I am having with my Megapoints system? The system has been working well, controlling eight points, with one multipanel processor and a servo controller board. I have yet to instal any signals.I However, often when I switch power on there is no chatter of servos adjusting their positions, just a whistling sound akin to the sounds of modems. The light on the multipanel processor comes on properly but the reassuringheartbeat light on the servo controller does not nor do the servos respond to the switches. However, sometimes it powers up properly and works fine. I am tempted to try a reboot and if that fails swap to a spare servo controller card but I am worried that I have done something wrong and would damage the replacement card. Any thoughts? Ian Ian

The simple fact is that the Megapoints web site states that you need a regulated power supply delivering 12 v or thereabouts and you need 2amps per servo controller board. I have two such boards so need a minimum of 4amps. I agree that the Fusion PS 101 is overkill,. It is more than I need and I was hoping to find a less powerful power supply that is silent. All this is now overtaken by events as the Fusio ps failed - totally dead. It will be returned to its suppler and in replacemend I have ordered a Signcomplex ps rated at 12v 6a. Much cheaper and >50 good reviews. Its arriving tomorrow so watch this space! Ian

On the advice in the Megapoints web site I have purchased a Fusion PS101 to power my Megapoints system. But it’s terribly noisy as it has a cooling which is very intrusive. Since when I am in the railway room I either listen to music or DCC sounds the intrusive whir of the fan is unacceptable. Can anyone please recommend a silent power supply? Thanks Ian

I am considering replacing my umtrliable Marcway track with Peco OO bullhead but I need curved points, which Peco are not currently supplying. Does anyone know if they are intending to produce curved points and if so when. Ian