Had another opportunity this week to set up all six boards together with a view to designing the rear section of the upper loop but also to play with the layout and identify any faults.
The rear section has now been fabricated & painted and awaits final assembly and wiring. Several people suggested that the rear section would benefit from its own siding so that a second train could be stored so this was incorporated into the design.
A small back board has been created for the length of the front three boards, sadly its height means that it's impossible to run the layout from the back and be able to see what's going on, so the layout will have to be side-operated.
Although the 0-6-2 tank engines seem to be the most temperamental locos and therefore were considered the best test locos, we hadn't foreseen that it would have been prudent to test with a larger loco - had we done so we would have found out much earlier that the hit the platform of the main station as they exit the tunnel. A spare platform ramp has been re-modelled by shortening the ramp and rounding off the sloping edge, this has now been primed and painted ready for fitting, which should overcome the problem.
We also discovered that there has been some slight warpage in the front sections, boards one and two being the worst affected. Although no derailments, there's quite a jump between the boards which may be cured by adjusting the legs, currently all the legs are at a fixed position but it appears that some adjusters would be beneficial.
Finally it was suggested that it would be very clever if, as part of the auto shuttle, the points at the village station could also be automated to let a different train out each time. After careful consideration I think I've found a way to do this using the existing shuttle module and some creative engineering...
Sunday 27 July 2014
Saturday 19 July 2014
New layout - All in a day's work, part five
On one of the hottest days of the year so far, we decided to have an impromptu day on the layout to try and push things forward to a conclusion.
First job was to construct the legs, the layout now sits at just over a metre high, which is perfect working height for me!
Once all the legs were finished we assembled all six boards together and I was able to work on some of the minor electrical gremlins, like why the shuttle signal at the main station end didn't work (because I hadn't connected it underneath) and why the shuttle stopped short of the station (because I hadn't wired that either!)
Having the boards on legs meant that I could figure these problems out without disconnecting the boards and flipping them over. Discovered that the green aspect of the shuttle signal wouldn't work and this is an internal fault on the signal so I'll just replace it and repair the other one at my leisure.
Some issues with track alignment on the rear fiddle yard. I had expected a problem here due to the way that I'd hastily laid the track, most of the issues were resolved relatively easily but some of the tracks that had to be cut across the board joins will need further attention and a dab of epoxy on the centre rails to keep them in place.
Although we were testing on a slope, the shuttle and two main loops performed well.
The village station needs a building and footbridge, I have spares in the loft but the bridge will need to be painted to match the rest of the sahara beige buildings.
The only major project remaining is to complete the upper loop.
Considering that this layout was only planned in March, we think we've done pretty well to advance to this stage. We wanted it ready by October!
No further all-day sessions are deemed to be needed now.
Of course I had to take a video of the first trains running the entire layout for the first time:
Friday 18 July 2014
Two more fixed
Finally got around to replacing the broken coupling on Cardiff Castle, only took me nearly two years to resolve!
Also sourced a replacement body for one of the 8Fs, this will pair up nicely with 80158. Then found a front bogie in the spares box with a front coupling so that I can double-head the two 8Fs together. Here Cardiff Castle and the re-bodied 8F are doubled up for testing.
I intend to show the new layout with a complete set of working locos, the Gresley teak coaches were given to me ages ago and are in poor condition, they don't run that freely and the roofs are rusting. Hopefully a light lube and a respray of the coach roofs will suffice but for testing locos under load they worked fine.
Wednesday 16 July 2014
New layout: Lights
I decided to illuminate some of the buildings, so purchased a 2 metre reel of Yellow LED strip.
This stuff is pretty cheap, looks to be waterproof and can be cut every 3 LEDs.
After experimenting with different positions, for the signal boxes I opted to fix the strips along the side of the box.
The effect when illuminated is pretty good.
For the island platforms, a single three LED strip will do.
Not bad.
And for the larger station, two sections.
Thankfully I wired the layout with a switched 12v bus wire for lighting purposes. I opted for LED over grain of wheat bulbs as LEDs require less maintenance, as these platforms are being ballasted into position they would be difficult to remove if a bulb failed. This seems to be a much simpler option and the yellow LEDs give a nice retro look!
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