New layout: All in a day's work

After a 10 hour stint today, we've made progress.

Two more of the old boards are now stripped of their track, taking the total to three.

All six boards were brought together today for final assembly, tweaking, dowel pins and boarding.

The frames were clamped together ready to mark up for the dowel pins. Ideally this should be done on a bench using a pillar drill. We chose this method A) because the ends of the boards had already been glued & screwed and B) I don't have a pillar drill. After careful marking and drilling, the dowel pins were glued and tapped home. 

Once the dowel pins were in position, time to fit the toggle catches to each side, these ensure that the boards stay tightly clamped together. Final checking of the front boards before fitting the top MDF panels to ensure everything is straight & true.

The front and rear sections all locked together for the first time, some minor tweaking required on one corner, apart from that, everything is square.

Time to add the top layer of MDF, everything checked again for the best fit before adding glue & panel pins.

Looking along what will be the front of the layout - a lovely blank canvas.

16ft x 5ft of three rail porn!

With everything nailed & glued, time to start loose-laying track for the best fit, taking into consideration the location of points to ensure they're not fitted over board joins and trying to get most of the track joins near the edges to avoid excessive track cutting. 

Strange to think that when the portable layout was first built, at this point we would have screwed down the track and then run it in this state with bare MDF. Not this time, this time there will be paint, scenery, ballast and hills!

Trying to find the best fit for the turntable - after so many hours went into modifying this it would be a great shame not to use it. This will need to be recessed into the timber due to the height difference.

Deviating from the original design I drew on SCARM, the shuttle track in the foreground was initially designed as a small village terminus and wasn't intended to be used as an independant shuttle line. It was to be linked into the main track here and into the run round loop but as this now runs into the main station, there is no need for additional points here. I have a plan for the shuttle control to also work the points and alternate the shuttle service between the two platforms. More designing & testing required first to ensure that it'll work before I commit this to the layout.

A tunnel is planned for the two running loops here, it will commence just after the end of the turntable.

The TPO moves to the mainline, on the old layout this was situated in the station and its use limited to one platform. Placing it here makes it more accessible. Also gives the three front boards something of interest on each board. This centre board will also comprise the four road level crossing. Some debate as to whether this needs repainting to match the station platforms.

I had a plan to add sidings behind the TPO, hence the points at the back of the level crossing, I got out-voted on this so this will be replaced with a half curve.

The level crossing will also need to be slightly recessed, as we discovered when it was used on the previous layout. The main station will be situated here between the crossing and the tunnel mouths and will be exactly as it is on the previous layout, using three platforms. Now that the TPO has moved, I can extend the platform further along.

The tunnel mouths have been cut and will require joining & repainting. There will be a proper tunnel with scenery here and the pointwork beyond will be just inside the tunnel.

The design here is similar to the current layout but with some redesigning to incorporate the shuttle track, which will be on the left of this picture, running from the points along to the far right hand side of the layout.

I intend to keep the same track isolation plan as I had on the previous layout - each of the four tracks will have two isolated sections. The shuttle will run into the first section where a diode wired underneath will stop the train running further into the station area. I will fit an override switch so that I can run to and from the shuttle station as normal if I wish to, and take the empties back to the depot at the end of the day.

Tunnel will be here, with another tunnel at the other end. Scenery and a raised loop to be added later.

Looking from left to right along the front, there will be a lot going on, way more than the current layout. The trackwork I've tried to deviate from long, straight sections to create some interest, whilst not complicating things to the point where derailments & uncouplings will occur.

The high edge of the board has now been trimmed to a better size, it slops back up to this height near the tunnel entrance and perspex will be added along the front to protect the layout and discourage wandering fingers when on public display.

I can now go away and design the mapping for the control panel now that I know where all the points are and how many are needed. The track has now all been removed as the boards will require primer & paint, then I can start planning the wiring and fit the board connectors. The PCBs for the points controls also needs to be constructed.

A very, very long day but we've achieved a great deal here.

As a final note, I take no credit for any of the carpentry skills seen here. I merely supplied the hardware, my brother is responsible for the construction of this and many hours have been spent producing these boards so the standard seen here. My job was to fit the catches & dowel pins, lay the track and wire the thing up!

No, we don't do commisions! 

New layout: Progress 26/3/14

The first of the old boards has been scrapped.

Now you see it...

Now you don't...

It is sad to be scrapping these old boards, I haven't yet decided the fate of the entire old layout but I do need to reclaim most of the track and this particular board, being oversized and wont even fit through the loft hatch, has no real future purpose. The timber from the sides of the old boards will be recycled to use as supporting legs for the new layout - no more resting on tables and hopefully no more back ache!

The scrap, non-working, spares-or-repairs Duette controller arrived. After checking it over with the multi meter to ensure it was safe to run, I connected it to the mains and found that everything works - A bargain, fully functioning Duette ready for stripping!

As for the switch panel, work is progressing well.

The final design was printed onto self-adhesive, glossy photo paper. I chose photo quality paper as this will take the lacquer coat better than normal paper - my experience with the coach overlay kits was that applying lacquer over the transfers created blotchy marks. The only unfortunate problem is that whilst the yellow background dried perfectly, the blue linings and lettering have embossed over the top of the yellow ink, meaning that they haven't been saturated by the photo paper and tended to smudge, this has led to some air bubbles being trapped under the paper as I couldn't apply much pressure when attaching the stickers.

This is basically two pieces of A4 paper, cut into the two sections and joined in the centre, which is then carefully stuck to the aluminium panel...

I've stripped out the potentiometers from one of the Duettes, marked, drilled and reamed the new panel to fit and replaced the old H & M switches with toggle switches - these are easier to mount and have a better feel than the old switches.

I'm really pleased with the final appearance, just need to remove everything and lacquer the panel...

The switch panel casing has been built for me - my carpentry skills weren't up to this. This is constructed from spare 6mm MDF left over from the construction of the new boards. I chose a home-made panel after many hours of research concluded that a factory built panel of this size was far too expensive. This one so far has been built for around £25.00 including the aluminium sheets.

I couldn't resist test-fitting the new panels, it fits like a glove!

The top panel will feature some switches and two digital ammeters on the left side and a map of the front three boards on the right, with all the points switches drilled into the panel. I also intend to fit LEDs to indicate the position of the points. Using the learnings from making the bottom panel, I will make a low-resolution black and white stick-on template, drill and file all the holes then remove the sticker, clean, file and de-grease the aluminium panel and then apply the final stickers. This reduces the risk of damaging the stickers when drilling and I want this to look perfect. I may also apply one coat of lacquer to the stickers before I apply them to the aluminium, hopefully this will reduce the risk of smudging the ink and will allow me to use more pressure to remove any air bubbles.

When finally finished, the box will be painted blue. I found a good resolution picture of a Dublo loco box and was able to get a good colour match from it, I'll print a high-resolution sample and get the paint mixed at a DIY store. A little anal maybe but it's all in the detail!!!

I have now received all of the capacitors, relays and breakout PCBs that I need to construct the layout. Next stages are to commence making the PCBs and fit the dowel pins and catches to the boards, before priming, painting and then commencing track laying. Then there's scenery and the raised loop...

Lots of work done and many hours spent so far but way, way more to do...

New layout: Designing the control panel

Rather than having switches on every board (like the current layout) I want a central control panel. It was a long-term goal with the old layout do do away with the individual switches - they get knocked and damaged so a central control panel is the way to go. I also want a panel with the controllers built in - no more wiring up each time etc.

I had hoped to go over to Gaugemaster controllers but as I need four of them, this won't be cheap and funds are already tight.

I love the feel of the gaugemaster controllers, however I also like the feel of the old H & M Duette - especially the centre off position. As I already own a Duette I figured that I may as well look to incorporate this into the design and find a second unit, which I've now done. I've sourced a broken Duette from Ebay which I'll repair and use in the control panel.

I want to build the controllers fully into my control panel and not just squeeze the entire unit into the panel. Having taken my existing Duette apart it looks like a reasonable task to strip it from its existing enclosure and make something "bespoke."

I scanned the fascia panel into my computer, after a lot of tweaking with the brightness and contrast, I ended up with this:

Not brilliant, the right hand side of the fascia is bent & discoloured, also there are lots of scratches. Certainly not good enough to construct a new panel.

Time for some airbrushing!

I want a panel that looks uniform in appearance and not just look like two Duettes thrown together.
The scan of the old fascia, although tatty, was good enough in places. The dial markings and the lettering around the switch banks scanned perfectly. The rest of the lettering I re-did.

After much airbrushing, scratch removal and touching-up, I ended up with draft 1:

The right hand dial was too badly marked to re-use, so the left hand one was copied and used for all four dials, giving a more uniform appearance. 

Not bad, I think it looks far better than the original panel and far more bespoke. I don't intend to re-use the existing Duette switches, I'll substitute these for toggle switches.

I decided that the panel looked a bit bland, it really needs some colour and I guess it's only fair to include the H & M logo.

After some more tweaks, I have what I think will be the final version:

I think this will look good, the combination of yellow & blue suits the Dublo style. I've ordered some aluminium sheets which will become the control panel, this will be printed onto sticky-backed photo quality paper and then lacquered once in place. A second sheet of aluminium will become the signal & points control panel, which I can't really design until the tracks are laid and I know exactly where all the points will be.

More to come...

LED signals

I have amassed a fair collection of colour light signals, sadly most of them don't work because one or both of the bulbs have fused.

Although spare bulbs are readily available, the new layout is being constructed with public exhibition in mind, that means that the signals could be lit for up to or in excess of eight hours at a time. Filament bulbs generate heat and heat discolours the lamps. Of the working signals I have, the colours are pretty poor and they have a tendancy to illuimate half the layout.

The other issue is that I'd like to use my signal matrix control that I bought years ago but could never use as it can't handle the current consumption of filament bulbs.

Having looked at the back of the signals and the method used by HD to install the bulbs, I worked out a way to fit LEDs instead.

This is in no way intended as a "how to" guide, more of a "how I did..."

Heat-shrink tubing, a hot soldering iron and the ability to solder quickly are must haves.

So, I started with a signal with only one functioning bulb...

The light from this is almost yellow in appearance.

The ladder unclips from the body of the signal and pulls away, the wiring that is just tucked into the body can be eased out.

One screw secures the back of the lampholders to the signal...

I also need to make a modification to the wiring in the base. I'll be fitting the ballast resistor between the body of the signal and the common connection.

The 3.5mm LEDs and ballast resistor, only one resistor is required and can be wired either side of the LED.

My signal controller uses permanent live and switched neutral wiring, so the polarity of the LEDs has to be reversed, the common feed is live.

The long tails of the LED are bent down into the signal body, handily the ladder fixing tends to scrape away some of the white paintwork. If it doesn't then a small section can be scraped away. The ladder will hide it!

Then the two legs are soldered into the body...

Heat shrink tubing is a must to insulate the LED connections properly. The existing wires are soldered to their corresponding LED, the heatshrink is then slid right up to the LED and heated with the soldering iron...

The shielded legs are also bent into position and the wires tucked back into the signal body.

The ladder holds all of this in place, the soldered LED bulbs don't appear to need further fixings to keep them in place, the legs are stiff enough to keep them in-situ.

I unscrewed and removed the "earthing" tab that connects the signal body to the "C" connection. This is then cut and the resistor is soldered between the two connections. This is where quick work with a hot iron is essential as the base is plastic...

Time to test...

Cheap and easy mod. Takes about 20 minutes and as the original lampholders have been retained, this could be reverted back to bulbs if needed (which I won't)

New Layout: Progress 14/3/14

The framework all six boards has been completed & end panels (for joining each board together) have been installed.

Catches and dowel pins have arrived.

Big order for electrical components placed (relays, capacitors and breakout pcb's)

Still require MDF for the sides and tops of the boards.

2 x HD tunnel mouths received, one more required for this layout.

Wiring configuration for 37 pin connectors drawn up.

Started writing a schematic diagram for the points control PCB's, started using Visio to write this but gave up and drew everything from scratch using Excel instead.

Some track lifted from the loft layout, this will be cleaned and the best pieces will be used for the front of the layout. Only the best, straightest, flattest track will be used, this will reduced the risk of track shorts, derailments and uncouplings. As the track is going to be ballasted I need to be sure that none of it is going to fail and require removal / replacement.

Also decided that the signals will be converted to LED. I've already experimented with a signal that had two blown bulbs - I have quite a collection of these now. A while ago I ordered a signal matrix control, although it's really designed for mimic displays these things can be used to control LED signals. Dublo bulbs are too powerful but also they generate a fair amount of heat. This is going to be an exhibition layout, the signals will be illuminated for hours, the dublo bulbs don't like that kind of treatment and have a habit of losing their colour so LED is a better option as well as greatly reducing current consumption. I can also use the matrix pcb to automate the signals using the same principle that I used when I built the relay controlled version I'm using on the portable layout.

Golden Fleece completed

£9.50 Golden Fleece body from Ebay.

Spare chassis left over from attempted repairs on Sir Nigel Gresley (wrong colour wheels)

Tender left over from Silver King.

Armature found in the spares box, tested & working.

New neo magnet fitted.

Connecting rods straightened (catching on one side)

Light oil.

Commuator cleaned up.

Top & bottom motor bearings lubed.

Pick up spoons polished.

In all, about 30 minutes work. Just need to find a securing nut for the body. Runs well, current draw is pretty good...

A nice, cheap addition to the collection that's worth way more than I spent in total. I really enjoy projects like this, making something good out of scrap parts.

£10 Golden Fleece

Well £9.50 plus postage.

Saw this on eBay and couldn't resist. I should have enough spare parts scattered around to make this into a running loco, again this will be a loco that's built entirely from scrap parts. The body is a little play-worn but certainly usable as it is without the need to repaint.

Ages ago I sourced a scrap chassis which was bought to restore Sir Nigel Gresley but when it arrived it had black wheels rather than the Gresley red ones, so I kept it to one side just in case.

My original Silver King was mis-matched with a gloss body and Matt tender so a replacement body and tender was sourced a while back. The old tender I kept to one side just in case.

So all I need to do is find an armature and a neo magnet, then I can turn this into a runner...

New layout: progress

Made my second run today to purchase timber for the skeleton framework of the new boards. Thankfully my brother, being a demon at carpentry, has already turned the timber I purchased last weekend into the three frames for the front boards.

There will be six boards in total, each will be separate, no hinging this time, the framework will be clad in either mdf or plywood, this should stop the boards from warping like the current ones are prone to.

The layout will be 16ft x 5 ft the outer boards will be 5ft 6 in length, with the centre boards being 5ft each. They should just about fit in the car, they will also be designed to be stacked, the cladding will prevent the boards being stacked on the tracks (another problem with the current layout) and consideration is needed with the height of the scenery and raised track. If it's too high then I'll struggle to transport them.

One of the primary reasons for hinging the current boards was that it reduced the amount of wiring between boards. I need a system whereby the boards will join together with the minimum of wiring. Seeing connections and wires underneath isn't pretty. I've previously used db25 connectors when I first designed the boards (old parallel printer terminals) and these worked relatively well. However although my soldering technique is reasonable, I'll need more terminals. Actually I've worked out that I need 37 pin connectors between the front three boards to allow for all the electrics planned. Thankfully after many hours of searching, I've located some 37 pin breakout pcb's.

These are basically 37pin male and female plugs that are pre-soldered to a pcb board, with terminal blocks for all 37 connections. This will make the whole process much easier to wire. I plan to have the connectors mounted on the board joins along with dowel pins, when everything is lined up, it'll be a simple job to just clip the boards together - no wires, no fuss. That's the plan anyway.

I was originally going to use standard 12v automotive relays under the boards, problem is these are large and will look untidy so I've worked out that I can make three separate points control pcb's (one for each board) and make a separate pcb for the track isolators.

I've already spent some time mapping out the configuration of the 37pin connectors - having everything written down is a novelty for me, previously I keep it all in my head but electrically this project will have much more electronics than the current boards have,  also to reduce the volume of wiring from the switch panel (which I also need t build) I will need to use remote relay control.

After many hours trawling the internet for a suitable enclosure for a control panel, I've decided that they're far too expensive, better for me to construct my own from scratch. I've seen many fine examples of DIY built panels, I know in my mind how I want mine to look. I'll be abandoning the A3 controllers for the main lines but will retain one for shunting duties on the back boards. Ideally I'd like to use Gaugemaster controls as these can be supplied in panel mount format. I've also located a suitable track shuttle device that can also operate two signals. I'll build a manual override control using a relay pcb.

Lots and lots of work to do and lots of money to be spent. The deadline is November, for now the existing track on the portable layout will be left alone so that it can still be used. I think we'll leave that part right until the end if we can and get the wiring, connectors, dowel pins and latches fitted
first.

This is going to be a mammoth project, without doubt the biggest challenge to my wiring skills yet. If it all comes together as planned it'll look fantastic...

...I hope.

New layout: First Steps

And so it begins...

After my initial design using SCARM, it was decided that we'd try a mock-up of the track work for the front of the layout. This simply involved loose-laying the tracks across the tables, I grabbed a pile of spare track (sadly not enough points) and masking tape to illustrate the size of the boards and where the joins would be, so that point work and crossovers could be moved if needed.

16ft x 5ft approximately. The front section will incorporate the main station and level crossing as it does now, along with the turntable and a small terminus at the other end.

Masking up showed me where the board joins would be and what track work needed to be moved.

The raised section is also loose laid, for now just placed over the existing tracks so that we could see where bridges and tunnels would be needed.

The new layout begins...

After much deliberation, I'm going to have a go at a totally new portable layout.

The design I put together using SCARM has been mocked-up using loose track laid on tables, with sections masked off to indicate where the board joins would be. On the face of it, it should go together reasonably well but will require completely new boards. I've purchased some of the timber required so that work can commence shortly. The absolute deadline to get this layout in show able condition is November. That sounds like ages away but in reality there's a lot of work to be done.

It's been agreed that we will incorporate a raised loop but this will be a single line section, there isn't really sufficient space to make it double track. The village terminus idea will fit as planned and I can also use this to run a shuttle DMU (or EMU) between the stations. Basically I'll have three running loops and an end-to-end terminus, plus any shunting or turntable moves. Whilst the new layout will be shorter, there will be more going on and with so much rolling stock it'll double the amount of running items. I also like the idea of having tunnels and bridges, and of course the ability to leave platforms, signals and TPO apparatus in-situ. This will significantly speed up the time taken to set up which means more time to run the layout! There will also be a significant amount of wiring involved, thankfully having done the loose mock up today I can work out roughly what wiring is needed, relays, capacitors etc and start building any control circuits etc.

The new layout, when finished, should tick all of the items below:

Faster setup with more fixed track
Platforms can be fixed into position
Platforms and buildings can be illuminated
Signals fixed in position and permanently wired
TPO fixed into position and permanently wired
Raised track, independent of the two loops
End-to-end terminus running
Ability to run four trains plus shunting duties
Use of tunnels, bridges and scenery
Reinforced boards that won't warp in storage
Increased siding space at rear of layout
One person operation more practical (standing behind layout, not inside it)
Self-supporting legs, not running on tables
Able to use the Märklin turntable

If I've ticked all these by the end of the build, I'll be happy.