Bubble car & (finally) restored the VEP

On the right - my latest acquisition for the new layout, this will run on the shuttle loop in the smaller platform. Sadly HD never made any single car units but this Hornby version will be used as a demonstration that modern stock can be made to work. Current pickup is via a Marklin skate that just about fits underneath and current return is via all eight wheels.

And on the left - After almost two years, the VEP is repaired!

My previous attempts to repair ended up causing more problems than were resolved. In the end I snapped off the top of the motor housing and lost both power pickups from the motor bogie. Spares for these appear to be hard to source at the moment so when a scrap motor chassis appeared on the internet, I snapped it up. Thankfully the parts remaining on the scrap chassis were all the bits I needed to finally resurrect this thing!

Current draw initially was just under half an amp, quite high for modern stock. This settled down to about 0.3amps but still doesn't run anywhere near as nicely as the Bachmann multiple units. Quite a bit of rolling resistance is notable on the unpowered carriages and the rubber tyres make the motor bogie rise up when starting from standstill. I also had to remove the front and rear couplings to stop it from derailing on corners, I gather from some internet research that this has been a problem for other users. I'd love to run this in multiple with the CEP but I'll need a way to couple it and then I'll need to find a way to slow down the CEP to avoid wheel slippage.

Nice to finally see it in action, just needs a good clean up, it's covered in dust!

New layout: Revisiting the checklist

In one of my first posts regarding the new layout I wrote a checklist of things I wanted, stating that I'd be happy if I achieved everything on the list.

So...

Faster setup with more fixed track - DONE (set up in under 40 minutes, pack down 30)
Platforms can be fixed into position - DONE (only 2 ramps loose-fitted)
Platforms and buildings can be illuminated - DONE (all buildings illuminated)
Signals fixed in position and permanently wired - DONE (and converted to LED)
TPO fixed into position and permanently wired - DONE
Raised track, independent of the two loops - DONE
End-to-end terminus running - DONE (automated shuttle and points control)
Ability to run four trains plus shunting duties - DONE
Use of tunnels, bridges and scenery - DONE
Reinforced boards that won't warp in storage - DONE
Increased siding space at rear of layout - DONE
One person operation more practical (standing behind layout, not inside it) - DONE
Self-supporting legs, not running on tables - DONE (layout now 1 metre high)
Able to use the Märklin turntable - DONE

Impressive!

One issue that has come to light is that the 9 pin breakout PCBs we used to join the front and rear sections together are significantly weaker than the 37 pin versions used on the rest of the boards, they struggle to line up, wont stay in position as they're only held in by two screws and because the front and rear sections tend to be connected at an angle, I struggle to connect them. I've ordered two short extension cables and will relocate the breakout PCBs away from the board joins and use the cables to connect. This will take about 5-10 minutes off the setup time (hopefully).

New Layout: Final testing

After spending more than a few hours tweaking tracks, sorting dead spots and track shorts, and trying to level the tracks to avoid the annoying uncouplings, we finally set up the layout for an evening purely to run it for ourselves.

However we discovered that the floor of the hall we were using wasn't particularly level, which resulted in a couple of high spots. I'll resolve this by purchasing some adjustable feet to fix to the bottom of the legs.

It became clear that the speed of the locos on the shuttle is a problem, ie if we use two trains on the auto changeover, they will need to operate at a similar speed to avoid either crashing into the buffers or stalling mid-journey. A few combinations were tried, even the two Bachmann EPBs have massive variances in performance and wouldn't run together that well.

The CEP finally got an outing, normally this one gets left in the roof due to the amount of space it takes up but it seemed really at home on the upper loop so we'll definitely be using this for the exhibition.

Brighton Belle caused us no end of problems during the last testing session, having been gifted some Wrenn pullman coaches I've replaced the couplings on the two end cars, these stayed coupled and ran faultlessly all evening.

I think the layout is now about as perfect as it's going to get, there will always be gremlins - after all this stuff is over fifty years old now and never designed to be incorporated into a scenic layout like this. The control panel with its shiny new ammeters also performed really well and I'm pleased that I spent the time changing to analogue dials.

And that's pretty much it for now. Next and first proper outing for the layout is at the end of October, one week prior to the exhibition. We decided that no further work is required and the small things like fitting buffer stops, adjustable legs and half fish plates can all wait until then.

We achieved what we set out to do - build a layout in time for the exhibition in November, and we've done it!

Now we can relax for a while.

New layout: Fame at last!

The whole purpose behind building the new layout was for an exhibition that we'd been asked to do in November 2014 (and already we've had two requests to exhibit elsewhere in 2015!)

Since joining the model railway club and taking the layout to some of the sessions to work on it, we've attracted a fair amount of attention (all good) and we're now featured on the Weymouth Model Railway Club website, a write-up has also been submitted to Railway Modeller, who have also apparently expressed an interest in what we've been doing.

A very nice little write up including some stunning pictures taken by one of the club members can be found here:

http://www.weymouthmra.org.uk/layouts/members/i-ad-that-andy-and-steve-miller/

New Layout: Ammeters

I decided to revisit the control panel as one of the ammeters kept showing a current draw of over 7 amps.

This caused some major concern when it first appeared on the display. For starters it shouldn't be possible for a Duette transformer to tolerate that kind of current draw for more than a few seconds - this went on for considerably longer. Thankfully I soon realised that both tracks were actually running perfectly and quickly deduced that the problem was with the gauge itself.

When I designed the panel I already had the two ammeters that I'd intended to use in the loft and as there was only two, there was no provision made for more, even though there are four controllers. A few issues with the upper loop, combined with the realisation that we could actually use the top loop for much longer, double-headed trains made me realise that we should consider installing ammeters for every controller.

The digital ammeters also don't really suit the vintage 1950s look, plus they have to be wired between the output and the track, wiring between rectifier and controller is preferred as this would measure current irrespective of the direction of the train but these digital meters just wouldn't work in that formation and they can't measure negative current.

I needed a better solution so I went back to basics, analogue meters - nothing wrong with a big needle swinging across a dial face!

After hours of searching I couldn't find a design I liked, the ones I did like didn't have the range I was looking for, I know it's possible to adjust this but this would be more time-consuming. In the end I bought a set of cheap gauges and decided to have a bash at creating a bespoke dial face.

Very cheap looking, and that's because they are cheap! Also they look relatively easy to dismantle.

...And they were! Here the faces have been removed and turned around so that I have a blank face ready for my bespoke design.

A quick scan of the original dial face gave me a design template to work with, after some colour and bespoke graphics, including adding the name of each track circuit via the totems, I had the design printed, again onto self-adhesive vinyl.

Same problems with inkjet printing on vinyl, very hard to smooth out the bubbles. After this picture was taken I stripped the dial again and smoothed it some more before final drilling into the control panel.

Thankfully I kept copies of all the files when I made the original graphics, I had to reprint the section behind the dials as most of it was destroyed during the drilling process.

These dials, to fit them snugly, require some pretty large round holes, I used a wooden hole saw to do this, it took ages and it's fair to say the hole saw wont be making many more holes now (but it did the job!) after drilling more holes to secure the gauges, I bolted them into position and then made a wiring loom section using more pluggable connectors so that the panel is still completely removable for onward maintenance.

The whole thing was then taken over to the layout for final testing - thankfully everything works and I now have ammeters that read in both directions, they also seem more accurate and react quicker to potential issues, vitally important stuff.

New layout: Slideshow

Youtube video/slideshow of the layout from design to completion:

Youtube slideshow