Jump to content
 

Dave Holt

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,069

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Dave Holt

  1. Dave Holt
    One of the problems I've created for myself is that the layout is being/has been wired in a way that means nothing can really be tested without the control panel being connected and so far I had not made any progress with this item. I've now made a start sing a panel case bought from Squires.
    I must say, it has a sort of 1950's Sci-Fi film laboratory (think Quatermass or Blob from Outer Space type of thing) look to it in my view. However, since the layout is set in the '50's, that might be quite appropriate.
    Progress to date has mainly been marking and drilling for the various switches and LED's and fitting the plug & socket (2 x 25) for the connections to the layout and 2 x 5 pin DIN sockets for the main DC and DCC controllers. The two large rotary switches select the main or yard controllers or DCC for the two track sections (main/platform line and loop/yard).
    The point and signal switches are set out like a signal box lever frame and have appropriately coloured levers.
    Still lots to do, but at least work is under way.
     

     
    Here's the panel with the lever frame and section selector switches fitted and holes drilled in the mimic diagram panel for an isolation switch and various LED indicators.
    Here are skectes of the two panels.
     

     

     
    Dave.
  2. Dave Holt
    The plastic structure of the bridge is now complete - parapets clad, capping stones added, etc and I've sprayed it with Halfords grey plastic primer in preparation for painting the stone surfaces.
    Whilst most of the local buildings, including the station and coal drops are millstone grit, my colour photos of the actual bridge show it to be made of a grey coloured stone. I'm not sure whether to try to replicate this or adopt a similar colour to the other stone-work, for a more consistent appearance, especially as I've moved the bridge much nearer to the station features than the real thing.
     
    Two shots from the Greenfield side.....
     

     

     
    ...and one from the station side. The short extension at ground level is a small retaining wall at the bottom of the cutting.
     

     
    Next job is to paint and ballast the track through the bridge, which has already been primed, so it can be permanently fixed to the base-board.
  3. Dave Holt
    Following on from my last entry, I've started work on the over-bridge which forms part of the scenic break between the station and the fiddle yard.
    The bridge is based on Bridge No. 4 which was (is) actually located in Dobcross, a mile or so along the branch from Delph, but which, together with the nearby group of cottages, forms an effective scenic break. A photo of the real thing appears on page 23 of Larry Goddard's excellent Delph book. The bridge - at about 81 feet long, more a short tunnel - carries Mount Lane over the railway. Mount Lane actually leads off Wall Hill Lane, but in my version it connects directly to Delph (Holt) New Road, which runs along the front of the layout past the coal drops and up to the station.
    I had formed the base for Mount Lane as part of the base-board structure but found that I hadn't made it high enough to cross the railway with sufficient clearance, so additional packing pieces have been added and similar levels incorporated into the bridge structure. This latter is made from plastic sheet, with a basic core clad in embossed sheet to represent the different types of stone used in the bridge wing walls and parapet.
    The photos show work in progress. I'm currently waiting for further supplies of plastic card and some additional tools to help finish the bridge.
    The final road surface will be 2 mm higher than the supports, but as yet, I haven't decided on the best material for this or for the ground in-fill between the (quite narrow) road and the widely spaced parapets.
     
    First a view through the bridge, looking towards the station:
     

     
    Now a view from roughly the same view-point as the photo in Larry's book:
     

     
    Finally, the station side of the bridge. Judging by photos I took some years ago, the stonework of the wing walls on this side of the bridge is quite different from the random style used on the other side. Strictly, none of the embossed card is exactly right, but these are somewhere near. The proper way would be individually engraved stones cut into plain card - as per Geoff Kent's lovely bridges recently illustrated in his MRJ article - but perhaps I'm not that dedicated!:
     

  4. Dave Holt
    As far as I know, no DMU ever visited the real Delph, but in my model version (Holt), a Cravens power twin unit is being trialed as a potential replacement for the steam powered ex-LNWR push-pull trains.....a trail doomed to fail I predict!
    Anyway, a converted Bachmann set is seen arriving past the head-shunt buffer stops. Behind the unit is a template for the extended over-bridge I have relocated from Dobcross. Also seen is a photo of the actual bridge (with my late wife, Sue, acting as a 5' - 2" tape measure!).
    The final shot shows the space for a group of cottages from Dobcross which will form part of the scenic break to the fiddle yard and the steep lane rising to cross the aforementioned bridge. You can just make out a photo of the real location in the copy of Larry Goddard's Delph book, open in front.
     
    First the DMU with the bridge portal behind:

     

     
    Now with the photo of the actual bridge - the tack-bed at this point is now a footpath:

     
    And finally, the cottage/lane feature:

     
    Regular readers might note that for a change, the base-board is not on the lounge floor! No - I haven't finally got round to assembling part of the support structure - in this case, it's carefully balanced on the backs of two dining chairs!!!
  5. Dave Holt

    Delph max

    By Dave Holt,

    As a follow-up to my entry the other day, I've added the next board along - with the coal drops. This is the maximum length of the layout I can erect on the floor without moving furniture around, so the station platform board is not attached. I haven't started the fiddle yard.
    In use, the layout is high enough (1400 mm to rail level - quite high) to go over the furniture, but I haven't made a start on the support structure so far.
    Having these boards connected allows the point rodding runs and crank, compensator and stool positions to be determined.
     
    Similar shots as last time, but with the extra board - beginning to give a sense of the overall size and space.
     

     

     
    Dave.
  6. Dave Holt
    I recently retrieved the final scenic base-board from my friend's workshop, primarily to check the space for the home/loop bracket signal and if there were any under board obstructions which might get in the way of the operating mechanism. Actually, there's loads of space, unlike some of the other signal locations on the next (station throat) board.
    I've taken the opportunity of having the board at home to lay the first section of the single track approach to the station. I'm happy with the alignment across the base-board joint and smooth curve achieved. Here's a couple of photos of the track in situ, one in each direction.
     
    First, looking towards the station throat point-work
     

     
    Then looking towards the rest of the world (or Greefield, at least)!
     

     
    The strange sloping structures are the foundations for a sloping lane which climbs up and crosses the track (actually located in Dobcross) and a connecting foot-path. The space between these features is filled with an interesting group of stone-built cottages. This arrangement is meant to hide the exit into the fiddle yard.
     
    Dave.
  7. Dave Holt
    I've finally painted all the bogies and re-assembled all 6 coaches which make up the train. Weathering can wait till a later date. Here are some further views of the train posed on the station throat section of the layout - track yet to be wired & painted.
    For those who haven't followed earlier entries, Delph wasn't built on a continuous viaduct (!), the arch shaped openings are the tops of lightening holes in the stiffening ribs. These will be hidden behind an embankment and stone retaining wall, eventually.
     
    First, the final pair of coaches to have the bogies painted.
     

     

     
    Now the assembled train, starting with a couple of views from the buffer stop end of the station area.
     

     

     
    A couple of shots looking towards the station.
     

     

     
    Dave.
  8. Dave Holt
    Four of the coaches making up the set have now had their bogies painted, as illustrated below. Two more to go!
    At some future stage, I'm going to have to pluck up the courage to carry out some weathering on the superb paint finish Coachman achieves. Probably not much on the sides, but roofs, ends and under-frames got fairly grubby in steam days and were never cleaned between shoppings.
     
    Anyway, here's the job so far - bogies painted, AJ couplings on the outer end coaches and also the brake 3rd (it will be an end coach in a different formation using some of the same coaches plus another (as yet not built) brake - a D1916/1946 open 3rd), corner steps added to the Period III's, Masokits couplings between coaches - and of course, Coach's superb build and paint quality.
     

     

     

     

     
    Dave.
  9. Dave Holt
    Gosh, nearly 6 months since the last entry!
    Not a great deal of progress with the layout - although I have applied a base coat of colour to the trackwork on two of the boards and started to contemplate wiring up on the third board, That's the one with the main station throat pointwork, so represents more of a challenge than the two dealt with so far. There's nothing like thinking about a job to avoid actually having to do it!!!
    Anyway, I have been doing some modelling over the intervening period - some of it "cheque-book" modelling and some physical modelling! Inspired by the photo of a Greenfield to Llandudno holiday train on page 101of Larry Goddard's Delph to Oldham book (Foxline), I wanted to represent it on Delph as if it had in fact started it's journey on the branch. Larry has produced a rake of 6 coaches, the first four of which are the same diagrams as visible in the photo and the last two types of his choice. I've built the bogies as larry doesn't work in P4 and as a result the whole thing is still work-in-progress. The bogies are a mix of Dave Bradwell sprung units, where AJ couplings are required, and the new Brassmaster/Jim Smith-Wright compensated units (very quick and easy to assemble, I must say) for the remainder. Cosmetic side-frames are 247 Developments for welded type and MJT/Dart Castings for the rivetted version. I haven't made and fitted the AJ's, yet but the coach to coach couplings are Masokits types, which allow coupling by just pushing the vehicles together and which are very easily adjusted for length so the (sprung) buffer heads just touch.
    Painting of bogies and weathering still to do.
    The photos below show the assembled train (in the correct sequence per the photos) with my partially completed Crab at the head - again, as per the photo. Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, but lighting conditions are not the best and the use of flash seems to make them to stark and too much contrast.
     
    First, the re-creation of the published photo
     

     
    More detailed views of the various coaches
     

     

     

     
    Finally, a view fron the rear as the train departs Delph on its way to the sea-side.
     

     
    Dave.
  10. Dave Holt
    Not much actual modelling progress to report, but it's been a while since the last layout update, so here's the latest.
     
    After spending what felt like weeks on my hands and knees - the major drawback with having the base-boards on the lounge floor! - grinding off rivet heads and applying cosmetic chairs to the ply sleepers at the base-board joint, I have painted the whole lot with grey primer, prior to applying the actual sleeper and rail colours.
    I got this idea from Iain Rice's book on fine-scale track.
    The problem is that the ply sleepers used at the joints and in the pointwork are different in both colour and texture from the moulded plastic sleepers in the plain track. The normal wood dye/staining method for ply sleepered track would be very difficult to match with the painted plastic track, so....everything is given a coat of aerosol grey primer to even it all up and then if can all be painted with the same range of colours and apart from very close inspection revealing the proper keys on the cosmetic chairs, it should all blend together. I think you'll agree with the effectiveness of this approach, as shown in the attached photos. It really is hard to see which are ply and which are plastic sleepers. I used Halfords grey plastic primer. It will be interesting to see how durable it is.
    The eagle eyed will spot that although I tried to be careful to mask of items not being painted, I have managed to get a bit of primer in several areas where it shouldn't be, although it's not much and should be easy to touch up.
     
    First a general view over the station and coal drop boards:

     
    And now a closer view at the base-board joint (staggered to fall between sleepers on the diverding tracks) and at one end of the platform release cross-over points:

     

     
    As you can see, I haven't made any attempt so far to represent the point blade tie bars. These will be non-functional and, bearing the shallow viewing angle which will result from the high track level on the completed model, I'm thinking along the lines of just dummy, fixed stretchers not actually attached to the blades at all.
     
    I also have to figure out the best colours of paint to use for the sleepers. These will have to be individually painted, I think, so another long laborious job in prospect. Well, it won't do it itself, so I'll just have to knuckle down....
     
    Dave.
  11. Dave Holt
    Not much visible progress with the layout recently, so in view of some recent interest in Caprotti fitted locos on RMweb, I thought I'd post a few photos of my effort - BR Standard 5, number 73129 - intended to work my Wakes special (for the North Wales coast). I think it's fair to say that Caprotti fitted locos were not well liked by footplate crews during the BR era, being regarded as weak on banks but fast on the level and good coasters. The super performances by Duke of Gloucester in preservation have disproved this view which was probably due to lack of familiarity and a sharper exhaust than normal locos leading to working at too short a cut off. Not that these issues apply to our models.
    Anyway, Patricroft shed ended up with all the English allocation of these locos and one of these was the last BR steam loco I saw in everyday service - the west end (Horse Dock?) pilot at Manchester Exchange in 1968. I spent a pleasant half hour on the footplate chatting to the fireman whist waiting for my (Peak hauled) Newcastle bound train.
    Possibly for this reason, I've always had a love of these locos.
     
    The model is based on a DJH kit but using milled main frames from Alan Gibson. In fact, the only DJH bits on the whole chassis are the cylinder /steam pipe castings, the slide bars, brake hanger/brake block etches and the return crank gear box castings. The valve gear shafts, complete with representations of the universal joints were made from various diameters of brass rod and tube. The injector casting are Alan Gibson and the pipework, lubricator and valve gear support brackets, etc., all home made.
     
    The photos were taken by Barry Norman and i must apologise for the poor quality reproduction. This is due to way I've scanned them in and re-sized the files not any fault with the original photos.
     
    First some shots of the finished loco:
     

     

     

     
    Now some taken during construction:
    The front bogie frame, showing the hollow pivot tube which was later soldered into the chassis spacer between the cylinders. A pin passes down the pivot tube to transmit the weight from the bogie external compensating beams to the front compensating beam in the chassis. This arrangement allows full compensation of the front bogie wheels without the bogie frames moving vertically. The bogie slides sideways with rubbing pads on the bottom of the mainframes resting on the "ears" protruding either side of the bogie frames. Light springs resting on the bogie axles keep the frames pushed up onto the pads. Hairpin side control springs centralise the bogie on the pivot tube. A bit complicated, perhaps, but it works really well and is applied to all bogies on my locos.

     
    Now some shots showing how the cylinders and valve gear are made up from sub-assembles which are held together by small screws (14 BA, if I remember correctly).
    First the cylinders with slidebars and connecting rods:

     
    Next the main drive shafts. This unit fits on top of the cylinder unit. Part of the exhaust injector steam feed pipe is included - the "S" shaped piece of brass tube!:

     
    Then the reversing gearboxes and shafts. The long, separate shaft is from the cab to the valve gear:

     
    When it's all assembled to the top of the chassis, the valegear looks like this:

     

     
    At the rear end of the chassis, on the right hand side, there is the rather distinctive lubricator mounting and drive. The lubricator bracket is quite massive and has the steam feed from the blast pipe to the exhaust steam injector passing right through the bracket, or rather the lubricator bracket incorporates a tube which forms part of the exhaust steam supply pipe. On the model, sections of this pipe are attached to bits of the valve gear, as seen above, and some to the chassis mainframes. The injector castings are Alan Gibson. This shot has the brake gear removed. Also visible are the dummy springs, sand pipes/brackets, ash pan and hopper operating gear and the pick ups - all mounted to a removable keeper plate which retains the driving axles. The motor is a Portescap 1616 fitted with an MJT gearbox conversion. The electrical connection to the motor, via bits of gapped copper-clad sleeper strip glued to the gearbox side plates, has since been modified to include a DCC chip.

     

     
    The brake gear is made in two sections. The "herring bone" main section with the brake hangers, which clip onto the chassis mountings and is easily removeable to get the wheels out. The rear section with the operating lever is attached to the chassis by screws, below the cab:

     
    The complete chasis, unpainted, looks like this:
    From underneath

     
    and from above:

  12. Dave Holt
    Having been putting this off for some time, I finally knuckled down and have fixed the coal drop deck and sloping wing wall in position. Some minor adjustment to the end of the track on the adjacent board was required to align the rails, mainly to correct a slight difference in height. This was done by re-soldering the rail attachment at the end sleeper, where it is soldered to the head of brass nails which pass through the rivet holes in the ply sleeper. After a couple of goes, as satisfactory result was achieved, as checked by rolling a 13 ton steel open wagon (visible in the photos) over the joint. Actually, there wont be much stock movement over this section of track, but it's best to have the alignment to a good standard.
    Fixing the deck wasn't quite a straight forward as it might have been due to a slight degree of warping and bowing of the deck timbers. A general purpose glue (similar to UHU), a pile of weights at each end and a final dose of super runny cyno appear to have done the trick. Time will tell......
     
    Photos show the deck and wing wall in situ, after fixing. Also a more general view over the station area with the deck in place.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    Dave.
  13. 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.
  14. Dave Holt
    All the rail-built buffers in the goods yard area are now in place and all sleepers and cosmetic chairs fitted. This leaves the timber buffer stop in the yard and the two head shunt (mill siding and run-round loop) rail-built units still to do. These last two are on the station throat board which I haven't progressed beyond the track laying stage, yet.
    I've scaled the timber stop from a photo of the back of it, drawn it out, selected suitable (plastic) material and am about to start construction. Drawing the thing full size lead me to conclude that the siding track stopped a bit short of where it should, so a short additional length of plain track has been added to bring it to about the right place. Hopefully, this won't be too visible once everything is painted and weathered.
     
    One of the goods yard stops, positioned in front of the goods shed, is on the station board, but the siding is entirely on the adjacent board, so it's been necessary to re-connect the two boards, temporarily, to locate the buffer.
     
    The photos below show the buffers in place.
     

     
    View from near the coal drops (with deck removed).
     

     
    View from beyond the end of the station platform (not in situ).
     
    Dave.
  15. Dave Holt
    Or, perhaps it should be "The buffers hit Delph"!
     
    Following my stint with the bulldozer and grader to change the height of the road, just beyond the station, I thought I'd better get on with more directly related railway matters. So, I've fixed two rail built buffer stops at the end of the platform and loop roads. Quite a few more to go but progress nonetheless.
    These stops are made from the Mainly Trains fine-scale cast brass kits, which match the Code 75 C&L plain track very well. You may notice that the stops are not quite complete as the very rearmost sleeper (located under the 3 rail wide section at the rear of the stop, are not yet in place. The buffers are connected to the running tracks using Exactoscale/P4 Track Co moulded plastic fish-plates. As a precaution against wheel rims shorting across the isolating gaps (the cast brass buffer beam offering a very attractive circuit path from one side to the other), an additional rail gap will be cut in one rail, after the adhesive has fully dried.
    I've only fitted cosmetic chairs on the visible side of the rails (same as the point-work). Mind you, I'm not sure why I've bothered at all. All the stops at Delph were surrounded by so much debris and long grass that the sleepers, chairs and rails were completely hidden from view. The platform road stop had a pile of what looks like spare cobble stones stacked in the 4 foot almost up to the buffer beam and the loop line 4 foot was filled with a pile of ballast or ash/gravel - at least in the period modelled - mid 1950's.
    Just visible in the 6 foot are the pads for the stools for the point rodding from the ground frame (located between the two buffer stops) and the run-round crossover points.
     

     

     

     
    Dave.
  16. Dave Holt
    Although the track and electrics are far from complete, and the control panel and fiddle yard not even started, I have been thinking about scenic aspects of the finished layout. Following on from the coal drop wing wall, my thoughts turned to the retaining wall alongside the road as it curves round and up to the road junction near the station entrance.
    Study of a photo taken before the road layout was changed, looking towards the station masters house and down the road to Dobcross and road elevations shown on a site plan have convinced me that I had made the road slope up too steeply so that the road level outside the afore-mentioned house was far too high. Over a period of a few weeks, this has been eating away at me until I have been driven to try to improve matters.
    It would have been an awful lot easier to get it right in the first place because chopping the finished boards about to lower the road surface has not been the easiest of jobs. It's still not absolutely correct, but a lot better than it was. Due to some interference of immovable bits under the road surface, in the end I was able to lower the extreme top end of the slope by about 20 mm and generally blend this in to the original slope over a length of about 350 mm. The new arrangement is shown in the photo below. Some idea of the lowered road surface can be gleaned from the edge of the strip of wood visible at the end of the goods yard area. Originally, the right hand end of this strip, now suspended in mid air, was fixed to the sloping road. Now there's a gap of about 10 mm.
     

     
    Having corrected this niggling problem, I can now make and fit the various buffer stops to the station board roads. Except for the track which goes through the goods shed, these are of the rail built, BR standard (ex-GWR) type, despite Delph being ex-LNWR. The goods shed road had a masive timber baulk stop which looks like it was some locally produced replacement, possibly for a damaged rail built version. Although this stop appears in the distance in several photos, the detail isn't really clear, so I'll just have to make a best guess. No doubt someone will know better after it's built!
     
    Dave.
  17. Dave Holt
    As part of the scenic work for the station board, the right-hand wing wall has been completed. I'd cut the stone facing pieces from Wills sheets some time ago but have now completed the wall by assembling the two pieces and adding the capping. The assembly has been painted using the sooted stone technique explained to me by Peter Leyland - paint the basic stone colour all over, when thoroughly dry, paint matt black and wipe off using kitchen roll with a vertical action.
    This new angled section of wall is on the station board whilst the remainder of the coal drops is on the adjacent coal-drop board. You can see the joint in one of the photos, just below the edge of the coal drop deck. Overall, I think I've managed to match the colouring across the joint and then gradually have less blackening progressively along the wing wall where less dirt and coal dust would have been flying about.
    Behind the wing wall and then along the front of the goods yard, there is an extended low retaining wall holding back an embankment. I'm debating the best way of producuing the retaining wall - which is curved in both plan and in the vertical plane along its length and has an appearance which is not replicated by any of the embossed/printed products I can find - and also the embankment itself. For this I'm hovering between some sort of closed foam material and wire mesh with plaster bandage construction. Any thoughts and suggestions would be most welcome for both the wall and the embankment.
     

     

     
    Cheers,
     
    Dave.
  18. Dave Holt
    It's bee a while since my last post, mainly due to lack of photogenic progress - and that hasn't changed really. However, I have made some steady progress with the wiring of the station board (board No. 4 in my scheme of things). This is now complete with the jumper cables, plug/socket for connection to the control panel, which will be mounted at the end of this board. Due to the position of the panel relative to the bulk of the pointwork and signals, lots of the wires just run from one end to the other but makes the wiring look more complex than it is. Nevertheless, there's certainly plenty of it under this board! I've tried to keep it all as neat as possible.
    There are two jumpers to the panel, one terminating in a 25 pin plug, the other in a 25 pin socket - not that there are 50 wires, just more than the biggest plug i could obtain (37 pins). The following under-board shots show the tag strips with wires attached to the outer ends from the board and the inner ends to the jumper cables. The cables can be seen clipped in their transport positions, tucked out of harms way.
    There may need to be a separate ribbon type wiring and plugs to carry the loco number describer info from the cassette fiddle yard to the main panel display - I think you need something like this when driving DCC locos from hidden sidings (loco address and forward/backward info)
     

     

     
    In order to gather some scenic information, I visited the remains of Delph station yesterday to measure up the roadside retaining walls and try to get a feel for the types of trees/bushes, leaf colours, etc., as i intend to set the layout in April/May time. It's sad to say that the whole station area, with the exception of the station building, has been decimated since my initial visits. I was fully aware that a housing estate had been built on part of the goods yard and in the coal drops area, but I hadn't appreciated just how much collateral damage had been done to the old infrastructure. All quite sad. Still, some very useful information and photos were obtained, which will be a help later in the project.
     
    Cheers,
     
    Dave.
  19. Dave Holt
    In order to correct some unsightly gaps in the cut out in the cork underlay, where the goods shed fits, I have temporarily re-fitted the shed. Suitable cork infills have now been fitted. Eventually, the shed will be surrounded on three sides by cobble stones. The total thickness of the cobbled area will be roughly 4 mm so as to be flush with the top of the rails. Similar to Martin Nield's description of the typical L&Y yard arrangement in the latest MRJ, the yard at Delph (ex-LNWR) had a double row of old sleepers between the adjacent rail and the cobbled area, presumably as these were easier to lift than cobbles when track maintenance was required.
     
    Whilst the shed building was in situ, I posed a part completed banana van on the shed road to check clearance and running. All OK, i'm pleased to report. However, I'm not too sure that any part completed banana vans ever actually ran to Delph, so this may not be strictly prototypical!
     
    The event was captured on film (well, pixels, anyway!):
     

     

     

     

    Banana van just visible at the far end of the shed in this view.
     
    Back to loco maintenance!
     
    Dave.
  20. Dave Holt
    After departure of the visiting West Country and its train of enthusiasts, it's back to the slow progress with layout construction. I must say, without the station and goods shed in place, it does look to have taken several steps backwards!
     
    Since my last post, back in December '10, I have been working on the station board. All the track is now wired (except final connections to the Tortoise moters and AJ uncoupling magnets), cosmetic chairs fitted to the points and cosmetic fishplates fitted to all the track. Next job is to make & fit the jumper cables which connect to the control panel, located at the end of the board near the buffer stops.
    This choice of location for the panel, at the opposite end of the layout to most of the point-work, means that many of the wires have to run the whole length of the layout - making the wiring look worse than it is!
     
    With regards to the cosmetic chairs and fishplates, after some deliberation, i decided to only fit them to the visible side of the rails - cheating, I know, but it saves quite a bit of work and the back side of the track will never be seen, even by the operator, so why bother?
     
    Here's a few photos to illustrate progress to date:
     
    First, a couple of views of the platform release cross-over, now with chairs and fishplates.
     

     

     
    Second, some views of the wiring underneath. In some of these, the board is connected to the adjacent board via the jumpers as it was easier to identify the connecting wires from the tag boards than by trying to identify the plug/socket pins.
     

     

     

     

     
    I've also been having some further thoughts about the rodding from the ground frame (near the buffers) to the cross-over. As far as I can see from photos, there were no compensators fitted to the real thing, which had me a bit puzzled. Closer examination of the photos shows that the rodding from the frame extended beyond the toes of the nearer point and the rodding crossed from the six foot to adjacent to the platform face under the switch blades, enabling approximately the same length of rodding pushing as pulling, thus avoiding the need for compensators. (Hope I've got this right!)
     
    There will be a lull in layout work now, as I need to check my locos over, ready for a run out on Dewsbury at Scalefour North (with a test session beforehand).
     
    Dave.
  21. Dave Holt
    Coachman's nightmare has come true - when a little known enthusiasts' special arrived at Delph (aka Holt) consisting of an 8 coach rake of southern region stock hauled by re-built West Country class, 34027, Taw Valley. Strangely, this rather unusual occasion was not well recorded at the time and no photos appeared in the railway press of the day. However, photos confirming the event have recently come to light and a selection is attached to this post.
     
    The arrival of this train also answered an outstanding question as to the length of the run-round loop at the station. On this occasion, 8 BR Mk1's were safely accommodated in the loop. Normally, the operating department limited holiday excursions to 6 coaches, generally of 57' ex-LMS stock, but made a special concession for this Southern train.
     

    The train has arrived and pulled up to the buffers to allow passengers to de-train from the 5 coaches which fit in the platform. Those in the rear 3 will have to walk forward to alight.
     

    Taw Valley simmers quietly in the platform.
     

    Having pushed back the stock, clear of the run-round points, Taw Valley has drawn forward again, ready to run round. The sun has come out to briefly bathe the loco in brightness.
     

    An overall view of the scene, taken from a hillside across the road and river.
     
    What did I say in the previous post about fantasy?......
     
    Dave.
  22. Dave Holt
    Whilst I have the station boards down on the lounge floor, with Gravy Train's superb buildings temporarily in place, I thought I might just simulate the arrival of a through local from Stockport (via Oldham Clegg Street). This service is one of the deviations I'm making from the true operation of Delph, to give a bit more variety than just the motor trains would allow.
    In this case, the train consists of Stanier 2-6-4 tank, 42551 - one of the darlings of Lees shed, with a two coach suburban train (models not yet finished - no glazing or buffers) consisting of an ex_LMS period I lavatory composite and an ex-LNWR brake 3rd. The train stops short of the run-round points, then the engine moves up to the buffers, ready to run round. Actually, this shows just how far along the platform passengers would have had to walk if this sort of train had actually run. Not much fun in bad weather!
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Soon the fantasy will have to stop and I'll have to get back to working on the boards to get the track wired up and operational! Still, it's nice to play a bit.
     
    Dave.
  23. Dave Holt
    I collected the superb station building, platform, goods shed building and signal box from Gravy Train on Saturday and couldn't wait to try them in situ. Thought I'd place an appropriate Donkey train in the platform for some of the shots.
     

     

     

     

     
    Dave.
  24. Dave Holt
    Following some final adjustments to the deck sections (some time ago, I accidentally broke the deck into two pieces by dropping it onto a quarry tile floor!), I have now got the fit to my liking and have made a final dry run with the assembly. Now it's take a deep breath and fix it in place on top of the pillars, permanently. I've not quite decided on the best adhesive, yet. The options appear to be PVA, Uhu or epoxy. The deck is wood and the pillars a mix of wood and plastic, on the contact areas.
     
    Here are a few rather poor quality photos of the deck in place. I think more lighting or the flash would have been beneficial!
     
    First, a plan view. Some of the cross beams are missing and will be added once the main longitudinals are fixed
     

     
    Some views from the front.
     

     

     

     
    Mmmm! That angle-poise lamp does look a bit out of scale!
  25. Dave Holt

    Delph - Trial assembly

    By Dave Holt,

    Now I've got all three boards with track laid at home, I was able to assemble the three together for the first time on the lounge/diner floor - after moving a bit of furniture and a rug! The three sections together are just over 12 feet long, with another scenic board (as yet without track) to take the line off to the fiddle yard (at the far end, in the photos). Current work includes fitting the point motors, TOU's and Alex Jackson uncoupling magnets under the boards, together with trimming some rail ends at the board joints, opening up some rail joints for rail expansion and electrical isolation purposes and cosmetic rail joints at the appropriate positions (these latter cut into or through the rail head but not right through the full rail section). Then it's on to the wiring.
    I think I will get three of the support boards made up, so i can have the boards at a good working height. Kneeling on the floor isn't doing my knees any good, despite use of a foam kneeling pad (intended for gardening!).
    Photos show the three boards assembled on the floor.
     

     

     
    Dave.
×
×
  • Create New...