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Dave Holt

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Blog Entries posted by Dave Holt

  1. Dave Holt
    Following on from the fitting crews and fire irons to various locos it's back to some rather more fiddly modelling in the form of the injectors for my Ivatt Class 2 tank. These injectors have quite a distinctive shape and I am not aware of any commercial source of realistic representations of these items. To overcome this lack, I decided to try and represent the injectors and their mountings using multiple layers of custom etchings, produced to my sketches by Rumney Models. I use the word "fiddly" because each injector unit consists of 30 separate pieces, not including the wires representing the pipework, despite the body only being 5.7 mm long.
    Here's a photo of the real thing, fitted to the Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 tender loco at the SVR. The injector is identical to that fitted to the tank engines except for the mounting bracket and orientation of the water feed pipe.

     
    For the model, I produced this sketch of the assembly relative to the chassis main frames (on the right) and underside of the cab/side tanks (along the top). Drawn 10 times full size, I realised I needed to make some slight changes (as noted) to allow for some minor dimensional compromises.

     
    Here we have one of the assembled injector body/mounting bracket units (LHS of the loco) with the various pipes and water valve operating spindle laid out in roughly their correct relative positions. The pipes will be bent to shape and fitted after the injectors have been fixed in position on the loco main frames.
    Also shown is the other injector and bracket (RHS) which is, of course, the opposite hand.

     
    Think I probably need to go and lie in a darkened room for a while after that lot.
     
    Dave.
  2. Dave Holt
    Last time I took my Jubilee. 45701, to run on the NLG test track, it refused to move and showed a fault message "AU5" or "AUS" on the controller. I thought at the time that maybe a pick-up had moved in transport or that there was a chip fault. Anyway, try fiddling with the controller I could not get it to move so it was put away for a future time.
    Last weekend, I was chatting to "Barrow Road" at the Leamington show and the subject of a visit to run suitable locos was mentioned. Now, a Jubilee is a very suitable loco for this layout, so my thoughts turned to trying to sort the problem out. The main issue was the necessity of dismantling the model, with the risk of damage to the finish, in order to access the suspect items. Before starting, I again tried the loco on my short test track and had intermittent movement and then error messages, this time error 01 and 02.
    So, reluctantly I separated the tender, removed the boiler and finally the footplate/cab from the chassis. At each stage i checked for shorts of items out of place but to no avail. It appeared to be a damaged chip or burnt out motor (coreless type). I decided to unsolder the chip leads and refit the bridging bars to enable DC operation to check the motor, starting with the LH side. When I turned the chassis over to do the RH side, I discovered that the wire connecting the RH pick-ups to the connection pad was hanging free. It appears that I had made a dry joint which must have made intermittent contact - hence the problem.
    I quickly remade the failed connection and then reconnected the LH side chip wires and, hey presto, normal behaviour when placed on the test rack.
    The loco was re-checked at each stage of reassembly although there were a couple of hiccups along the way. First, I couldn't find the screw which holds the front of the footplate to the chassis, search as I might. So a new screw was fashioned - it's a very short 8BA but has to have the head reduced in diameter to fit. Then, as I prepared to re-attach the tender, the special screw through the draw bar pinged out of the tweezers. An hour or so on hands and knees failed to find it but did find the missing footplate screw! No option but to make a replacement. The original included a long, Alan Gibson crank-pin bush and I could not find another despite searching my spares boxes and several other Brassmasters loco/tender kits. In the end, something was made up from brass tube and the flange which broke off a 2 mm pin-point bearing which I had been trying to use as an alternative.
    Of coarse, I got completely wrapped up in all this, in my determination to get it sorted, and was slightly horrified to discover it was the early hours of this morning when I finally finished.
    Despite the trials and tribulations and the rather late night, I have now got a fully functioning Jubilee ready to join the fleet.
    As a change, today I've been making a replacement tip for the spokes on one of my large umbrellas, which came to grief in the high winds and heavy rain at the Leamington Show, and making two sets of long fire irons to go on the tenders of the Jubilee and the Crab.
     
    Dave.
  3. Dave Holt
    My Brassmasters Jubilee, 45701, Conqueror, has been painted and lined by good friend, David Clarke. It's now come back to me to be re-assembled and various smaller items attached before it goes back to David to be weathered.
    The attached, very poor quality, photos show the re-assembled loco ready for some test running prior to the weathering.
     

     

     

     
    Dave.
  4. Dave Holt
    Except for the buffer heads and final finishing, my Brassmasters Jubilee in now structurally complete, ready for painting, except......
    More problems have arisen, so it's currently a series of ups and downs.
    Final assembly and attachment to the tender has confirmed that the fall plate(s) will have to be omitted or heavily modified. As modelled, they probably work fine with the Stanier 4000 gallon tender, but with the Fowler 3500 they are too wide and long. This results in them jamming under the cab doors and contacting the filler plates that surround the brake and water scoop columns, preventing any angular movement of the tender relative to the loco to follow curves. I could trim the fall plates to miss the filler plates, but that would still leave the cab door issue. I'll have to see about that.
    I've previously mentioned the DCC chip problems and partial recovery and I confidently expected coupling of the tender pick up wires to the loco would help improve the loco response, but it hasn't really improved matters, so, presumably, it's not just a pick up issue. What is worse, is that now everything is connected, electrically, I seem to have introduced a dead short in the reverse direction only. Since it shorts one way but not the other, the short must be due to some movement withing the pick up arrangements, possibly due to the loco suspension. There doesn't seam to be a mechanism for the problem to be with the tender pick up arrangements, so I'll have to investigate the loco. At present, the motor is only constrained from movement by the (quite stiff) connecting wires and I've noticed that the front brake blocks are perilously close to the wheels, so they will be my first bits to check out. There isn't a lot of clearance between the brake hangers and the rear wheels of the bogie, so any stretching of the front brake pull rod will have to be done very carefully, so as not to transfer the problem!
    The other area to look at is contact of the wheels inside the splashers. Perhaps when the loco pushes the tender, the draw-bar forces tend to push the rear of the loco slightly to one side, causing the drivers to touch inside the splasher. Mind you, for that to cause a dead short, something on the other side would also have to be touching at the same time.
    Isn't fault finding so much more of a challenge that building in the first place?
    Anyway, here are three shots of the loco before it comes apart to investigate the above issues. I've even temporarily fitted the front number plate (45701) and shed plate (26A - Newton Heath). Unusually, my chosen loco remained at this shed for nearly its whole working life, returning after works visits.
     
    Side on
     

     
    traditional front three quarters view
     

     
    and, finally, a rear three quarters view.
     

     
    Dave.
  5. Dave Holt
    My Jubilee, 45701, Conqueror, has now been weathered by friend, David Clarke, ready for me to finish off. Cab glazing, crew and DCC chip to be fitted, the tender coaled up and the cab roof fixed. For some reason I haven't yet identified, it has developed an intermittent short when running forward which it didn't have previously. A quick check of loco brakes and sand pipes hasn't shown anything out of place, so some further investigation will be necessary.
    Here she is in her current state:
     

     
    Dave.
  6. Dave Holt

    Delph - Loco progress

    By Dave Holt,

    I've made some reasonable progress in the past couple of weeks with the various locos under construction. First the Crab had a front AJ coupling added and a shed plate, which I had somehow overlooked, a crew in the cab and coal in the tender. Since then, I've almost finished the Jubilee, the latest jobs being coal in the tender, cab glazing and fixing the roof after adding a crew. Just waiting for the glue to fully dry in the tender before reconnecting loco and tender.
    The Caprotti Black 5 (loco and tender bodies) was collected at the Warley show after painting. Today, I've fitted the buffer heads, AJ couplings, number and shed plates, glazed the cab and re-assembled the bodies and chassis. There will need to be some adjustments to the chassis and body weathering to blend them together and there is still the crew and coal to fit.
    The Caprotti and Jubilee are shown in these photos. It's clear that the Jubilee loco and tender are not connected. Neither is the Caprotti, but that pushed together to the proper positions, unlike the Jub.
     
    First, the Caprotti, with the Jub peeping in:
     

     
    Then the JUb. with the Caprotti tender:
     

     
    And finally, a front three quarters showing both:
     

     
    Dave.
  7. Dave Holt
    I was very please to accept an invitation to run some stock on the Manchester Model Railway Club's "Slattocks Junction" P4 layout recently. As the layout is set on the Manchester to Rochdale line, it is the perfect setting for my locos as I hope the photo shows. Besides railways, in various scales, I have a great interest in the cotton mills which dominated the landscape of my native Oldham during my childhood so, I have been pleased to be able to help in some small way with encouragement and some architectural information in the marvelous model of "Alpha Mill", which appears , or rather dominates, the background of the photo. The photo was taken by my good friend, David Clarke who, as explained in earlier entries, painted, lined and weathered the featured loco.
     

     

     
    Here we see Caprotti fitted Black 5, 44741 at the head of a parcels train passing the mill and then on to the canal bridge.
     
    Besides 44741, I took three other locos which ran with varying degrees of success. My Stanier 2-6-4 tank ran faultlessly, the Crab struggled a bit with the weight of an 8 coach passenger train, whilst Jubilee 45701 ran well but had an intermittent short as did EE type 4 diesel, D211. Later investigation of the Jubilee revealed a brake hanger had become dislodged and was catching one of the driving wheel flanges. Unfortunately, this required a major disassembly to put right, but this has been achieved without damage to the finish. I think the diesel was just on the limit of curvature it can accommodate.
    Anyway, thanks to all the guys in the Manchester club for their warm welcome and kind hospitality and allowing me to play trains for an afternoon.
     
    Dave.
  8. Dave Holt

    Delph - Locos on tour

    By Dave Holt,

    I took my three latest completed locos to pose on Clarenden at the Leamington Club, last night. Here they are being serviced in the loco shed after arriving with excursion trains from the North and also seen departing for home with a return working. Hopefully, they look better here than on the shelf in my modelling room!
     
    Here they're seen on shed in various poses:
     

     

     

     

     
    44741 and 45701 are seen double heading a return working past Scrubbs Lane West Box:
     

     

     
    Dave.
  9. Dave Holt
    Yet another step forward with the electrics - nearly there now. I've had two bell code dinger units made to enable the layout operator (driver/signalman) at the front to commincate with the fiddle yard operator (hidden at the back) using prototypical bell codes. These units utilise a modified door bell mechanism (to give single dings each time the switch striker is depressed) operated by a battery powered circuit board at each block post and a change-over micro-switch. Only two wires are required to join the two units - perhaps as well as that's all I'd provided in the wiring loom!
    Any way, the unit for the main control panel has been installed - except for the externally mounted PP9 battery. I haven't sourced a suitable mounting clip/bracket, yet.
    Photos show the dinger cicuit board inside the panel enclosure and the bell and operating switch on the outside of the panel.
     

     
    Dinger circuit board.
     

     

     
    External panel views showing the bell and operating switch. I hope to mount the PP9 battery on the end of the panel, just below the bell.
  10. Dave Holt
    Following a request, and for those who are interested in such detail, here a some further photos of the chassis components.
     
    First, the frames. Nothing particular to note really. Suspension is a centre rocking point for the front axle and twin beams for the centre and rear. Horn blocks are London Road Models cast items. Pickups bearing on the tops of the wheel treads, hidden behind the tanks and the valve gear.
     

     
    Three views of the keeper plate. This has now become permanently entangled with the brake gear since the front brake stretcher passes between the front sand pipes and their support brackets. Besides retaining the driving axle boxes in their horn guides, the keeper also carries the dummy springs, ash-pan and sand pipes. The four hair pin shaped wire thingies are the pony truck side control springs. It's fixed to the frames by a number of 14 BA screws.
     

     

     

     
    Dave.
  11. Dave Holt
    Faced with the daunting task of laying the ballast, I've taken a break from the layout and have picked up a loco project which I started ages ago but didn't get very far.
    It is a Stanier (Ivatt!) Caprotti Black 5 based on a Comet kit. Previously, I'd built up the basic footplate and cab, but without the splashers, and soldered the frames together and marked out for the compensation beam pivots, but that's about it. Anyway, I've knuckled down over the past few weeks and now have a wheeled chassis and footplate/boiler unit, as shown below.
     
    First the chassis from above, showing the compensation beams (twin at the rear and single at the front. This transmits weight direct to the fron bogies wheel sets, so the bogie frames pivot and slide on side bearers, without any vertical movement, as on the real thing) and the High Level gearbox, complete with torque reaction link (at the rear):
     

     
     
    A shot from underneath showing the keeper plate with the dummy springs and ash pan sides, and the front bogie (which uses various Brassmasters bits):
     

     
    A couple of shots with the body attached. There was a lot of adjustment and filling with low-melt solder to get the boiler and firebox something like. There will be some minor filling required to the firebox over the wheel splashers. The dark blotches on the boiler are where I splashed excess phosphoric flux on the castings and didn't wash it off quickly enough:
     

     

     
    The coupling rods are already made, so the next job will be to open up the crankpin holes and sort out the crankpin bushes. Then I'll find out if the quartering is OK or not. I used a GW wheel press/quartering tool to press the wheels on, but there's a pit of play between the wheel locating stubs and the axle bore in the wheel which allows some slight variation between wheel sets.
     
    Dave.
  12. Dave Holt
    Here's my interpretation of the timber baulk buffer stop. Actually made from plastic sections - it probably ought to look a bit more distressed than it is. I've given it a base coat of dark grey to cover the white plastic. I'm not sure if the original was painted with black bitumastic , like the rail built type, or just treated like sleepers - which tended to weather to a silvery light grey.
    The view below is the same general direction as the photo of the real thing in the link posted by Meil "Do you mean this buffer stop?", in my earlier post (Fairly major cosmetic...)
     

     
    I did take a photo of the front, but it's out of focus, so I'll have to have another go later.
     
    ...and here it is - still a bit blurred, but you will get the idea.
     

     
    Dave.
  13. Dave Holt
    Progress on my Standard Class 2 tank is at a temporary standstill, awaiting the final etched components. In the meantime, I've been fitting the injectors to a model Crab belonging to a good friend.
    What I anticipated being a very straight forward detailing exercise proved to require rather more tricky and extensive work to achieve the required outcome. The loco consists of a Bachmann body on a Comet chassis, built to P4 standards. Interestingly, its one of the rotary cam poppet valve fitted examples but I'm not sure whether it's the Lentz or Reidinger type.
    The original chassis construction is beautifully neat and rather better than I normally achieve, but lacked the injectors and any of the underneath piping which I normally include. Furthermore, when I got down to it, I found that the brake arm supports under the cab had been fitted as per the totally wrong Comet kit instructions (located just inboard of the main frames instead of close together near the centre line), which resulted in one of the brackets being just where the exhaust injector should fit. The pick-ups on the rear wheels are also rather close to the injector and piping positions but I managed to live with that.
    Anyway, the first thing was to move the brackets inboard to the correct spacing (whilst still leaving access to the rear body fixing screw). Easier said than done. The brackets were found to be "L" shaped and soldered into the chassis side frames and what appeared to be a frame spacer was just fitted between the brackets. As a result the whole assembly came away from the frames in three pieces upon unsoldering. Definitely not what i expected. So, a new, full width frame spacer had to be made and fitted, to which the slightly shortened brake support brackets could be fitted.
    Of various options available, I opted to use Brassmasters lost wax brass castings for the injectors.
    The exhaust injector, together with all its associated piping (various diameters of brass wire) was mounted on a removable base plate which is attached to the new frame spacer with a 14 BA screw.
    The live steam side was a bit more tricky as the injector and overflow are fixed behind the cab steps (part of the loco body), whereas the piping is attached to the frame spacer, again using a 14 BA screw. Unfortunately, the Brassmasters casting is the opposite hand to the type normally fitted to LMS locos, so the positions of the steam supply and overflow had to be reversed by cutting off the existing flanges and providing new parts on the other side of the body.
    Getting are the bits of wire bent to the right shapes and correctly located whilst soldering in position required quite a few abortive efforts before final success was achieved. Praise be to Blutak!
    Here are a few photos showing the end result.
     
    Three shots from underneath, showing the two injectors, pipes and representation of the water hoses from the tender,
     

     

     

     
    And a side-on shot of the fireman's side, showing the exhast injector.
     

     
    Thoughts now turning to completion of my Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2 tank, also a Bachmann body on a Comet chassis. These locos were the basis for the later BR Standard versions, so lots of similarity to the loco recently featured. Plenty to do on it to keep me off the streets and out of pubs - well, some of the time, anyhow!
     
    Dave.
  14. Dave Holt
    Phew! I'm pleased to say I've managed to partially recover from the recent set backs described last time.
    First, the replacement illuminated magnifying glass has arrived and is ready for use, so at least I'll be able to see the jobs in hand!
    This morning I got out the mini drill with a rotary burr and ground away more of the inside of the Jubilee resin firebox such that it now fits over the motor whilst missing the whistle. Getting the front fixing screw in before the new lamp arrived was a tricky task but accomplished on about the tenth attempt.
    On Saturday, I thought I had better check to see if my DCC control system was working at all by trying out one of my existing DCC locos on the test track before starting to rip bits apart. That worked OK, so I then tried the Jubilee chassis again, using the default address 03 and, lo and behold, it worked - rather spasmodic - but at least it moved, proving that the chip is not completely dead. I think the issue with the loco now is pick up related so I need to get the tender pick ups connected to the loco and see if that improves the running.
    However, the failure to change address suggests that there is a problem with the programming aspect of my DCC power unit or the way I have it wired to the track. Further investigation is needed with possible replacement in the future.
    Dave.
  15. Dave Holt
    In anticipation of fixing the platform in position, I've done some work on the rodding for the platform release cross-over which will be fairly inaccessible once the platform is in position. The cross-over was operated from a ground frame located between the buffer stops via a rodding run which started in the 6 foot, then crossed under the platform road and then ran close to the platform face before crossing back to the far end point blades. I've tried to replicate this arrangement using cast white metal stools from MSE and 0.4 mm square rod from the same source. The rodding cranks are Brassmasters etchings and the point stretcher bars are represented by lengths of plastic strip passing under the rails but not attached. Hopefully, once painted and from a reasonable viewing distance, this won't be too obvious.
    The photos show some of the work so far.
     

     
    The arrangement at the point nearer the buffer stops is slightly unusual. The rodding continues past the point blade attachment (via a lug attachment - not yet modelled) and the passes under the track several sleepers further along. I thing the purpose of this arrangement was to balance the pull/push lengths and so avoid the need for a compensator. Photos of the actual location show no signs of a compensator.
     

     
    Here is the far end connection where the rod passes under the platform road to reach the blades in the loop line.
     

     
    Here's a more general view of the rodding and stools, looking from the buffer stop end.
     
     
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
     
    Dave.
  16. Dave Holt
    The final bit of point rodding in front of the signal box has now been completed and is shown in these photos.
     
    A general view:
     

     
    and just in front of the box:
     

     
    Unfortunately, I've now created a problem with the wonderful signal box made by Gravy Train. The original had a walk-way in front which was removed because the rodding cranks and signal wire pulleys are in the way. However, there is no slot above ballast level for the rods, etc., to enter the box, so I'm faced with having to create one without wrecking the finished box. This is to accommodate the support of the inner ends of the rods going under the box, which are above the false bottom in the box. I hoped I might be able to carefully carve a suitable opening in the floor and front of the box but it appears to be made from a grade of plastic card closely related to armour plate and the front face of the box is several thicknesses laminated together. I'll have to find a way to achieve the necessary openings somehow.
  17. Dave Holt
    Recent progress has been rather slow and has included cosmetic point stretcher bars on all the points forming the main station throat and a start on the point rodding in the same area. Of course, at the real place, there wasn't much point rodding because the signal box had been removed in the early 1900's and subsequently the points were operated by local levers. However, in my model I've reinstated the box and so rodding and signal wire runs are required. The rodding run connects the box to the two cross-overs and the facing point lock controlled by the signal man.
    I've opted to use MSE cast white metal rod stools which are a lot less fiddly than the fabricated etched brass type and actually represent the LNWR stools slightly better. Rodding is represented by 0.4 mm square section N/S wire, also from MSE. Some of the cranks and rod end eyes are from Ambis etches. I'll also be using Ambis stuff for the FPL and the point blade detector.
    I have temporarily fitted rodding into the stools in order to locate them for fixing down to their mountings to give a smooth run (as best I can).
    These photos show the progress so far:
     

     

     
    A couple of general views showing the rodding run, from where it passes under the track between diamond crossing and the mill siding point, to the king point and FPL. Also visible are the local point levers for those not controlled from the signal box.
     

     
    This is the attachment to the king point. The two extended sleepers are for the point blade and FPL detector.
     

     
    Here the connections to the double slip (cross-over formed with the king point) and the tandem point (cross-over with the mill siding point) pass under the running line to the loop. Each cross run has a rodding stool, partially sunk in the ballast in the running line 4 foot, just visible near the bottom of the photo.
     
    Dave.
  18. Dave Holt
    Not too much progress with the layout or locos recently, although I have painted the cobbled area in the goods yard. I've been putting this off, fearing I'd wreck all the effort of hand scribing the setts. The initial results confirmed my fears had been well founded, but a couple more washes with very diluted black have blended the patches in a bit. I'm still not completely happy but hope it doesn't look too bad to others.
    In the lull, I've posed my Jubilee on the part of the layout currently erected, to illustrate a future operation. In the photos below, the Newton Heath shedded loco, in unusually clean condition, has arrive running tender first, with the stock for a sea-side excursion train and is seen in the process of running round its train, prior to departure......
     

     

     

     

     
    The loco will be going off to be weathered shortly.
     
    Dave.
  19. Dave Holt
    Now that the Jubilee has gone off to be weathered, I've started to prepare my Stanier Caprotti Black 5 for painting. This entails stripping it down for degreasing and to give access for painting. The disassembly is quite complicated and has to be done in a specific sequence to get access to various fixing screws. Due to the short cab sides and exposed, open type steps, the pipework under the cab has had to be split between the footplate unit, the chassis mainframes and a separate carrier plate at the rear end. In order to dismantle the loco, first the tender is disconnected, then the pipe carrier plate is removed to reveal the screw which hold the footplate to the chassis. As built, the boiler can then be removed from the footplate as it was fixed by two screws under the saddle and by a pin engaging in the cab front at the firebox end.
     
    Here are the main components after separation. The chassis will be broken down into its component parts for me to paint shortly.
     

     
    The separate pipe carrier also has the rear section of the brake rigging attached. The brake pull rod and the exhaust steam injector pipe plug into their mating parts on the chassis brake rigging and keeper plate, respectively.
     

     
    Here's the footplate unit. You can just about make out the Caprotti drive shaft sloping up towards the saddle area. Also visible, with the circular spiral on the end is the valve actuating pipe running from the dome to the cylinders. In a previous post, I explained the thinking behind fixing the cylinders and slide bars to the footplate, rather than to the chassis, as one might expect.
     

     
    My friend, David Clarke, who is going to paint and line the body, has advised that he would prefer the boiler and footplate to be supplied as a single unit so I have now fixed them together with Araldite, which is curing as I write. Once set sufficiently, I'll trim off the excess which has squeezed out and fill any remaining gaps.
     
    Dave.
  20. Dave Holt
    It's been quite a while since I last posted anything about Delph (or should I say "Holt"). This is mainly because there's been precious little progress in recent weeks, partly due to the warm weather making work on the layout an unattractive proposition but mainly because I've been shying away from what seemed like a difficult and fiddly task. Needless to say, when I actually knuckled down to it, it proved much less of a problem than I had anticipated.
    Anyway, a concerted effort over the past week has seen good progress and it now only remains to do the facing point lock (which straddles two base-boards) and the cranks outside the signal box.
    Here are some shots showing the main rodding run, complete with compensators, and the arrangements to get the rods across the entrance to the mill siding.
    First, the main rodding runs. In the second photo, the hole in the base-board is for the starter signal to plug in.
     

     

     
    And here, the rods pass under the track into the mill siding, seen from each side. An Alex Jackson uncoupling magnet can be seen under the middle rod.
     

     

  21. Dave Holt
    The signal box has been modified to overcome the problem mentioned in the previous entry. A 3 mm wide slot was gouged in the underside using a custom made chisel (ground up from a screwdriver). Slots to accommodate the point rods were then cut in the front wall - very carefully, so as not to damage the paint finish applied by Gravy Train.
    I had been rather apprehensive about hacking at a fully finished model but it proved not as difficult as I'd anticipated. Let's hope that also applied to the forthcoming ballasting!
    Here's a photo of the box in situ with the rods entering via the new slots. Presumably there would be similar openings for the signal wires, but these have not been attempted. Best not to tempt fate.
     

  22. Dave Holt
    The 12 v DC power supply units for the two signal servo control boards were collected today and then fitted under the boards. There's one power supply unit for each of the control units and these are now all wired up. Another step towards completion of the wiring arrangements.
     

     
    This one supplies the starter and ground signals;
     

     
    and this one the bracket signal.
     
    Next task is to add the bell code dinger unit to the control panel.
  23. Dave Holt
    In my last entry, I reported that I couldn't get the signals to work and suspected some switching problem, which I assumed was due to my attempts at some limited interlocking within the control panel. This requires certain switches to be either normal or reversed in order to allow the circuit to the signal servo control board to be broken, thus clearing the signal. So, for instance, it is not possible to clear the home signal unless the entry point is set to the platform road and the FPL engaged or it is not possible to clear the yard exit ground signal if the cross-over is not set or if if the yard entry signal is already off.
    Anyway, all this arrangement was checked using a resistance meter to check the making/breaking of the circuits within the panel and all appeared OK.
    My next worry was the use of the layout common return for the sevo control return rather than a dedicated servo control return, especially when DCC power is in use because of possible traction signal interference to the servo system.
    Well, I don't really know what had happened, because without making any alterations (other than swapping two of the signal switch connection on one of the control boards which I had connected to the wrong wires from the control panel), when I tried the system a short time ago everything worked OK, even with the DCC system connected. Phew!
    I've also fitted two of the Tortoise point motors with stiffer operating wires to solve a couple of point throw issues.
    Better get on with the point rodding stool supports, cosmetic tie bars, etc., prior to painting the track on the most recent board. Than it's ballasting - something I'm really not looking forward to!
     
    Dave.
  24. Dave Holt
    The signals made for me by Steve Hewitt (of Liverpool Lime Street fame) were collected last week and have been trial fitted to the layout and the operating mechanisms and contol units fitted and wired. Steve has made a wonderful job, as seen in his semaphore signals thread in the forum section of this site.
    The following photos show the signals in situ and the operating bits fitted. The signals have since been removed and refitted into their carrying frames for safety during further layout construction.
     
    First, we see the signals in their layout locations, starting (appropriately) with the starter signal.
     

     
    Next the miniature semaphore ground signal controling the exit from the loop& yard into the running line.
     

     
    Coming in the other direction, we have the home signal. This is a two doll bracket controling entry into the platform road or into the loop/yard. This signal is seen from both sides.
     

     

     
    Now some shots of the under-board operating mechanisms and control units. The operating mechanisms are servo motors and the contol boards are made by GF Controls. I believe they are based on those developed for Lime Street and they each control two servos and incorporate a switchable bounce facility and simple adjustment of the on and off arm positions. The bracket signal unit incorporates two servos to operate the two arms. The others have one each.
    Here's the arrangement for the bracket signal.
     

     
    As I explained previously, space for the yard ground signal mechanism is very tight and I had to re-route a wiring bundle to make room for it. This shot shows just how tight it is. The original route for the wiring was straight through the two redundant wiring clips (fixtures visible either side of the mechanism, as is the re-routed wiring).
     

     
    In contrast, the started signal servo has loads of room!
     

     
    Finally, heres the control board for the starter and yard exit signals. Both controllers have been located so the arm postion adjuster pots can be reached easily from the base-board edge - a very sound suggestion from Steve.
     

  25. Dave Holt
    I'm having a weekend away frome the layout and thoughts of further ballasting!
    Yesterday, I got fairly damp helping spruce up 35006, P&O (304.8 mm/ft scale) ready for the GWR Gala, where it's on display out in the car park (on the loading/unloading track, not the tarmac!). The weather wasn't too kind to say the least. My main job was cleaning up the valve gear and coupling rods and blessing them with Shell Ensis de-watering oil. Hope it worked - I'll find out tomorrow when I'm on footplate guide duties.
    Today, I've been to Railex at Aylesbury. A really good show, in my opinion. My favorite layout was Blackgill (sometimes featured in the layout thread section on here). I must say the standard of modelling, the detailing and keen obsrevation of railway features is outstanding. I just hope I can get somewhere near with Delph. That would be a major and most satisfying result. There were plenty of other good layouts as well, but Blackgill was the star for me.
    Back to the layout next week.
     
    Dave.
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