Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[Gwiwer]

 

 

fellow BRMA member Ron Solly from South Australia

 

You won't go wrong with Sol.  A quiet but very accomplished modeller who came all the way over here one time and ended up wiring a double-slip for me!

[St Enodoc]

You won't go wrong with Sol.  A quiet but very accomplished modeller who came all the way over here one time and ended up wiring a double-slip for me!

Yes indeed Rick. Very knowledgable and a good bloke to boot. He models almost the right part of the world too!

[bgman]

The DCC Concepts ADS-8FX modules are excellent in my opinion, I've recently fitted them to a few turnout motors and they work impeccably. I don't think you will go far wrong with them if you decide to purchase some. Whilst I appreciate there may be other cheaper ways I'm happy I've used them.

Route setting with dcc should also be possible although I haven't got that far yet.

[St Enodoc]

The DCC Concepts ADS-8FX modules are excellent in my opinion, I've recently fitted them to a few turnout motors and they work impeccably. I don't think you will go far wrong with them if you decide to purchase some. Whilst I appreciate there may be other cheaper ways I'm happy I've used them.

Route setting with dcc should also be possible although I haven't got that far yet.

Thanks for that bgman. Any issues with initial surge current in your experience?

 

The price isn't as bad as it seems as first sight - less than AUD 100 for the 8fx version. Take away the cost of a microswitch and you're looking at about AUD 10 per point. I'm prepared to pay that for the convenience and especially to avoid the need for long runs of high current between the control panels and the points, as well as not having to switch the high current through the push buttons.

 

My main reason for the trial is that H&M motors are lower resistance than Peco or SEEP and I want to be sure that everything works OK before ordering enough for all 53 storage loop points.

[bgman]

My units are connected to DCC Concepts analogue turnout motors and programmed using a Flieschmann/Roco Lokmaus via the learn switch on the units. I initially purchased just the one but after initial success went for what has become 3 of the eight switch units !

I also wired them to some of my older Tortoise switch motors and they have all worked impeccably.

I haven't had any surges whatsoever.

The intention is to eventually set up routes through a combination of my ECoS controller and a Roco Z21 ( which I currently own which will be plugged into the sniffer bus of the ECoS ). You may find this somewhat extravagant but having retired and treated myself I want to use the ECoS and an ESU programmer to eventually download sound. Initial trail once again has been successful I'm pleased to say.

Sorry to go on but I reiterate what I said in #254 it is a very useful tool in the running of the turnouts if the timing is adjusted when route setting.

Keep up the good work.

[bgman]

One more thing of note I forgot to mention, when the power to the layout / turnouts is turned on I found that all of the motors went through the process of centring themselves ! Bl**dy annoying to say the least !

Upon reading the instructions ( yes we all do it at sometime !!) properly I found that once each address was learnt I went back to each turnout and put in address 198 ( this won't erase the the initial number ) which stops them from going through their little dance routine.

Hope this helps

 

Cheers for now.

Grahame

[St Enodoc]

One more thing of note I forgot to mention, when the power to the layout / turnouts is turned on I found that all of the motors went through the process of centring themselves ! Bl**dy annoying to say the least !

Upon reading the instructions ( yes we all do it at sometime !!) properly I found that once each address was learnt I went back to each turnout and put in address 198 ( this won't erase the the initial number ) which stops them from going through their little dance routine.

Hope this helps

 

Cheers for now.

Grahame

Thanks Grahame, that's useful return of experience. I am slightly confused though - I am looking specifically at the ADS version for solenoids not the AD version for slow-action motors. I can't visualise any way that a solenoid motor woudl centre itself - am I missing something?

[bgman]

Thanks Grahame, that's useful return of experience. I am slightly confused though - I am looking specifically at the ADS version for solenoids not the AD version for slow-action motors. I can't visualise any way that a solenoid motor woudl centre itself - am I missing something?

Sorry if I'm confusing you!

I've just taken a quick photograph of part of the instruction leaflet that comes with the AD8-FX which explains the process I tried to describe -

 

 

As I have never used solenoids to switch turnouts I'm not certain if this helps, I did drop DCC Concepts an email ( before reading the instructions) and found them very helpful so maybe it would pay to ask them directly?

All the best

Grahame

[St Enodoc]

Sorry if I'm confusing you!

I've just taken a quick photograph of part of the instruction leaflet that comes with the AD8-FX which explains the process I tried to describe -

 

image.jpeg

 

As I have never used solenoids to switch turnouts I'm not certain if this helps, I did drop DCC Concepts an email ( before reading the instructions) and found them very helpful so maybe it would pay to ask them directly?

All the best

Grahame

Thanks Grahame, that does clear it up - your image is of the AD-8fx not the ADS-8fx. I have discussed this with DCC Concepts already but am interested in any other experiences that folk might have had as well.

[bgman]

Once again, sorry to confuse you, hope you manage to make your proposal work satisfactorily and look forward to the next instalment:)

[St Enodoc]

On Thursday I mentioned fitting temporary wires to feed the frogs on the points in the main lines and here is how I did it:

 

The bare ends of the wires are twisted and doubled back, then simply wedged into the check and wing rail gaps.

 

Today I laid the rest of the points for the Down end of the Paddington loops.

 

The first one to go in had to be very close to its neighbour to maintain the alignment of the standard fan. To achieve this I removed the first timber from each point and replaced it with a shared timber. The rails are soldered to the shared timber without fishplates using a track gauge to align them.

 

One of the other points needed the operating loop to be moved to the outside of the stock rail to ensure that its motor would be clear of one of the L-girders, while the furthermost point leading to track 1 and 2 could not quite be fitted exactly on the alignment as again it was very close to its neighbour. This doesn’t matter too much as there is room to let the curve of track 1 extend a little further along the straight part of the loop itself.

 

As well as using the roller to press the points into place, I also used some toolmakers’ vee blocks that I inherited from an uncle to hold the points down while the glue set. The wooden box has a very heavy vee block inside and the brass nut and bolt are a piece I made when learning to use a lathe over 40 years ago.

 

Here are all the points ready for the plain track to connect them up and then of course the first three loops themselves to be laid. The dead-end track between the Down Through and the standard fan will be used by the railbus when it goes off-stage to Tregissey.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Brinkly]

Very nice flow to the track work.

 

Certainly looks well built.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nick

[St Enodoc]

Here is Peter's Dapol Western on the Limited at Porthmellyn Road. The nameplate is missing - I'd better check whether it's lying around on the layout somewhere.

Good news - Peter found the missing nameplate tucked away in the loco's box.

[St Enodoc]

 

Here is the Up end of Paddington with the points laid for loops 1 to 3 - not quite a mirror image of the Down end.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[bgman]

Had any joy with your solenoids yet mate ? ( as per previous discussion )

[St Enodoc]

Had any joy with your solenoids yet mate ? ( as per previous discussion )

I'm waiting for the ADS-2fx to arrive from DCC Concepts Grahame. I had hoped it would be here by this weekend so that I could try it out, but as it wasn't I laid the Up end points instead. I'll report back when I have had a play.

[bgman]

I'm waiting for the ADS-2fx to arrive from DCC Concepts Grahame. I had hoped it would be here by this weekend so that I could try it out, but as it wasn't I laid the Up end points instead. I'll report back when I have had a play.

Hope all goes well and works exactly as you want them to

 

Grahame

[St Enodoc]

To round off this weekend's work I laid the sections of track linking up the pointwork at both ends of Paddington loops 1 to 3 and also laid in the Tregissey siding.

 

Unfortunately this is not long enough to hold the long china clay train as well (42xx + 11 clay tips + Toad), so it's actually far longer than it needs to be just for the railbus. Nevertheless I laid as long a siding as I could and I am sure that in time it will get used for other things.

 

The loops are laid as far as where the change from SMP to Peco track takes place, so it will be a relatively swift job to join the two ends up. This should get done before the BRMA visit in three weeks' time but due to some other commitments between now and then I'm afraid that there is no chance of getting the loops electrified and the points motorised by then.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Barry O]

Looks long enough for a two car set ( steam or diesel)?

[St Enodoc]

Looks long enough for a two car set ( steam or diesel)?

Yes it is, but there isn't one on that part of the layout! All the passenger trains on the main line are three or more coaches long. The only one- and two-coach trains will be on the Pentowan part of the layout. The 14xx and trailer will work turn and turn about with the GRCW single diesel railcar on the Pentowan/Polperran service, while the Pentowan/Padstow service will be run by a Maunsell BCK/BSK set (I think they were called P sets) hauled by the O2.

 

The short clay train would fit the siding but it's a bit too far to reach easily to remarshal the loco and brake van.

[St Enodoc]

I'm waiting for the ADS-2fx to arrive from DCC Concepts Grahame. I had hoped it would be here by this weekend so that I could try it out, but as it wasn't I laid the Up end points instead. I'll report back when I have had a play.

It arrived today, but I'm not going to be able to find time to try it out for a week or two unfortunately.

[St Enodoc]

Yesterday I wired the ADS-2fx up to a SEEP PM4 point motor to try it out.

 

Unfortunately I had some problems.

 

First, one of the screw terminals for the power input would not tighten up against the wire. I managed to wedge the wire in for testing but obviously this would not be adequate in the long term.

 

More frustratingly, having set up the decoder the point motor would not throw in either direction. It just gave a little "jerk", as though not enough current was getting to it. The motor worked fine when powered direct from the laptop power supply.

 

DCC Concepts are aware of these problems and will investigate once the decoder is back with them.

 

Other than that, catching up from our trip to New Zealand staying with hongkongmike of this parish for the Australia Day weekend took up most of my spare time today (and before anyone jumps to conclusions, I took annual leave on Monday, not a sickie!). As a result, the only work I managed to get done was to tidy up the railway room ready for the BRMA Sydney area group visit next Saturday.

[islandbridgejct]

There's nothing quite like watching a good layout build!

 

OK, popcorn moment over.

 

Alan

[St Enodoc]

There's nothing quite like watching a good layout build!

 

OK, popcorn moment over.

 

Alan

Thanks Alan. A bit slow at the moment due to other things getting in the way, but track laying should resume soon pending resolution of the point control issue.

[Andrew P]

Its looking really neat, I do like the flowing curves, excellent stuff.