jamest

Hi all, Got a little annoying problem with the 25. Ref the photo below. In one direction I get a noise from the no1 end to the left of the universal joint around the entry to the bogie 'tower'. Its difficult to say for sure exactly where it comes from. If I lightly side load the UJ with a finger it stops. If I switch direction it does not happen. I thought I had run it out on the rolling Road.... but it came back after switching direction and back. There does not seem to be an obvious difference between the play and movement on either end. You can bearly hear it when the sound is on (obviously I can now) so I could leave it. I don't really want to take it apart. One other option could to be remove the motor that side as I don't need two for my layout... But that seems extreme. Does anyone have any thoughts/ideas? Regards, James

Hi, Bit to report. I've gone for the signal box inbetween the siding and the platform line as per my original plan. So I have three lines in the fiddle yard now. I have little swing catches made out of plywood to hold the sector plate and ensure it pulls down level with the static line. I also have my class 25 back from jintyman with sound and weathering.... Top class. Here is one of his photos. And hattons emailed me the other Friday with a special offer on hymeks. They must have worked out I have the breaking strain of a soggy Mars bar when it comes to hymeks so I bought this for, what I think, the bargain price of £299. Running in now and then off to jintyman for sound and weathering and a small yellow panel. Cheers, James

Hi all, Made good progress with the fiddle yard.... Needs a bit of fine tuning but it works well. Carried on with the glue down method for the track. Only two roads at the moment until I decide on the last siding. Not sure whether to go with the above..... Or have more room to the back and move the signal box to the front as below. Need to decide before going further. Regards, James

hi all, Thanks for the advice - some useful places to look. I think I'll wait until I install sound to populate the DMU. It looks pretty easy to remove the body - but I want to keep the numbers of times I do it to a minimum. Been working on the fiddle yard this weekend - will post photos soon - plumped for the sector plate option. regards, James

Hi Paul, Thanks for the advice. I don’t intend to break the layout down often and I had thought about one scenic board….or permanently joining these two. But I want to keep an eye on portability just in case I’m ever asked to take it anywhere - or I need to move it at home for any reason. A seven foot by two foot board, with all the fittings, seemed a bit unwieldy. I have used the brass screw under the rail on my other layouts but was hoping to get away with it here - mostly for scenic reasons. I could retro fit something to help if it doesn’t work out. I’m going to test this over time and I have a few jobs to do before ballasting it, so we’ll see how it goes. I am going to concentrate on the four foot fiddle yard next so the scenic track can be finished. I have considered my options and a traverser is planned at the moment to aid running around. I do prefer cassettes in OO due to the cutting down on handling stock….but that is when the whole loop in on the scenic section. I feel it will become fiddly and tiresome to have cassettes here. But I haven’t ruled it out. suggestions welcome! Cheers James

Hi all, Been running this beauty this morning. Just a plain OO 21 pin decoder for now.... Sound later. Really pleased with it for the price, hats off to Dapol. I'm sure there are errors I am unaware of, but it has a great weighty presence and the packaging and presentation is first class. Cheers James

Hi guys, You can reverse copydex and get the track up but I've got to admit that I previously tried this on the track directly to the baseboard surface, not cork. I think it would be harder to lift here without some serious damage and rework to the Cork. I have good news and embarassing news...... I've got the main scenic track done now.... What you see here is glued down. I've cut the track over the join.... Went well.... Now the embarassing bit... See the below pic of the four foot board. It shows off the board construction well. This is my first attempt at a mostly ply board and it is very light and rigid. I connected up the controller and got an error... A short... I employ a simple DDC system of green and white wires to inside and outside rails. The frog is yellow and controlled by cobalt point motors not shown in this picture. I traced the, not complicated, wiring and everything seemed fine by eye. I started to worry I had not cut the frog feeds under one of the points prior to fitting, but I tested and proved it unlikely. I went through every feed to check and then noticed my very basic error. To the right of the picture you will see a green and white wire threaded through the diagonal brace ready for the future two exit tracks to the fiddle yard. I fed them through the hole to keep them out of the way.... One of the strands from green is touching white! Doh! The good news is everything works well now, including the colbalts, and I have run my 08 around to test. Cheers, James

Hi, Thanks for the advice.... I have been ultra careful to check every soldered feed before gluing down, especially the points! There is something about the price of an O gauge point that focuses the mind. I know others use the glue down and ballast in one go technique but, in my opinion, it only works well with thiner sleepers. Couple that with trying to manage track testing and alignment and I think I'd be multi-tasking too much. I have progressed more than is pictured above and hope to show more pictures later. I currently have more tinned produce in my shed than tescos! Cheers, James

Hi all, Got my LH point now so I've started track laying. I'm going to glue down the track with copydex. I've also got my laser cut signal box and station building... Very impressed with them and how they go together. Here we go! Loco release and first point under the tins. Cheers, James

Hi all, Been a while but it has taken a while to get started on this. I've moved on my Greenwood layout to provide room and funds to make a start on the boards. Here they are..... A three foot and four foot long section by two feet wide. This will be the scenic section joined to a four foot fiddle yard. Surprisingly the plan is the same! Except for a LH point in place of the wye. Despite saying I was sticking to DC my class 25 is away with jintyman for DCC fitting and weathering and I have added sound to my 08. I have a 122 DMU coming next week and I have also accumulated some Dapol wagons. Here are some pictures as evidence.... The card represents the station building and signal box. The three foot board is on the end with one point and the loco release and siding ends. I've added Cork to the whole surface. From the other side...... The gap you see under the point template is a gap in the Cork sheet... Not a baseboard join. The join is on the nearside of the station. I was going to join the scenic boards permanently but I think that is an unwieldy solution at two foot wide and would prevent me taking out the layout, if invited, one day. I'm still waiting for the left hand point to come into stock. I will have to be careful where I cross boards... After playing with which board goes where and the point options I feel this is the right solution and gives me the right loco release length while keeping the points off the joins.... Looking forward to progress now. Regards, James

Hi Scott, I think we met a few years ago when you took on Braybridge? Hope you are well. Early plans look good - I always think smaller layouts are a good cure for low mojo - easier to move forward with without getting stuck. I'll follow with interest. all the best, James

Hi John, Very impressed with how you scale up the scale scenes stuff. I’m starting out in o gauge but have modelled in oo for several years and have a good selection of scalescenes stuff. I’ve seen your other structures on your bigger layout. seeing your earlier post about scaling up by 175% has peaked my interest….I didn’t realise it was that easy. I’m lucky enough to be able to print in work so I can live with a few mistakes! Will defo give it a go with some simple stuff. Meanwhile I will follow your progress with interest. atb James

Hi, I can only echo the other comments.....that looks great. It must be really satisfying to be able to pretty much make it all yourself. I'm afraid I am a slave to buying RTR - but this is really inspirational. I will watch with interest. Regards, James

Hi, This is a co-incidence - I've recently tried to chip my 03 with a simple 6 pin chip (it is DCC ready and not factory sound fitted). The running is not great - I realise it can be other things but I think I should have got a chip with stay alive catered for. I was looking last night and saw a DCC concepts Zen decoder with wires pre-soldered to the chip and a little capacitor supplied. I believe the number is DCD-ZN6D. It seems reasonably priced at around 20 quid - has anyone got experience of this chip in a similar situation? Regards, James

Hi, Like you I'm dipping my toe into O gauge and I'm also at the planning stage with a similar size layout in mind (and I'm in North Devon too!). I've looked at Tim Horn for baseboards but his website seems to be constantly under development - he seems to be a victim of his own success. Can I ask if you ordered these baseboard modules recently? If so did you contact him via email to order? Looking forward to seeing your layout develop - I am going for a slighly earlier period with a green 08 and class 25 - I also hope to get my hands on a Dapol 121 one day! I've only bought RTR wagons at the moment but hope to make some too. all the best, James

Hi, Just found this thread - you have created a really nice layout in a very limited space. Very impressed with the wiring too! I think the scene you picture above looks very good - I tend to make it up as I go along - which wastes a lot of time - I'm impressed with your planning and execution. I will follow with interest. All the best, James

Absolute pleasure Matt, looking forward to seeing how you develop it. It's yours now, and what you have planned sounds great. I'd like to claim it was good planning on my part to leave it era non specific... But we both know it's not! Hope to see some pics on here when you are ready. All the best, James

Hi, The layout is heading up the M5 (hopefully moving) to its new home. Many thanks for the support and encouragement.... On to the next project. Regards, James

Hi, Thanks.... I'm afraid my available space can't keep up with my ideas! I've been bitten by the O gauge bug and need this side of the shed for that. I have another OO layout opposite which does not have a thread here yet... One more stored underneath it (North Molton) and another smaller one stored in the garage (Niwbwrch)! I think I have commitment issues! Regards, James

Hi all, Second, and last, shameless bump. I'm still selling this on the classifieds...and reduced the price - I'm hoping to move it on rather than salvaging what I can and scrapping it. I'm never comfortable pricing my own work! I'd rather it went to a good home - if it suits someone's needs. Regards, James

Hi all, Shameless bump I'm afraid. I've decided to sell this layout to make room in the shed for a small O gauge layout. Please see classifieds for details... Or pm me. Regards, James

Hi, Scanning through this list and noticed a topic with A&H. It reminded of the service I received recently, and the fact I should share it given how good it was. I found the service to be friendly (by phone), quick (had my lenz handset and base station upgraded), and very good value for money. highly recommended. James

I've always really liked this layout, and I can only add to the other comments. Really like what you have managed to fit into the area you have to work with. You have got the amount of track, scenic and operational interest 'ratio' just right in my opinion. The warehouse really completes the backscene well. Thanks for sharing, regards, James

Hi, Enjoying watching this come together. Can I ask the dimensions of your scenic area/sector plate? regards, James

Hi, I'm a serial collector of second hand unused points from my local shop. I have some code 75 in good condition but only one each LH and RH. I don't have anything in the pipeline in OO so you would be welcome to them for the price of postage. I'm sure they are small..... But just in case... Sorry its not two RH, but let me know if you need them. Good luck, James