Wessex Association of Model Railway Clubs Exhibition

Another weekend of playing trains!

Unfortunately there hasn't been sufficient time to thoroughly test all the problem areas from last week. The new transformer that I fitted in place of the old laptop power supply struggled to supply enough voltage (although there was 5 amps of current available) and made the points buzz when thrown. The blue & grey EMU also didn't want to work. This didn't spoil the weekend though and by Sunday morning, the offending power supply had been replaced by another laptop PSU - full power and proper operation restored!

Thankfully the repair to the Trax controller was a complete success but I now have a spare one as a precaution.

So this was our first outing to Sherborne as part of the Wessex Association of Model Railway Clubs, we were again very well received, exhibiting alongside many familiar faces, some of whom we'd worked with last weekend. A straightforward setup with no major issues with the rest of the layout (thankfully) but a few gremlins crept in with the stock over the weekend.

The blue & grey EMU, as previously mentioned, didn't want to run and closer inspection revealed damage to the worm gear. The only option is to replace it but I didn't have one with me, so I substituted the bottom motor assembly from the green two car EMU, which was also not running terribly well. The motor car ran ok but needed full power and then slowed to a standstill after a 

couple of laps once running as a three car.

I was desperate to see this three car set run, so drastic measures followed. 

Basically the E3002 - the most expensive purchase ever, has the same motor bogie as the EMUs and, as I purchased a new magnet for it when I converted it to three rail running, it has plenty of power. Meanwhile my existing blue EMU set now struggles with six coaches but runs perfectly as a sole, three car unit. So basically a three-way exchange was done - the E3002 motor bogie has ended up in the blue EMU and the bogie from the blue EMU is now in the blue & grey one, with the lifeless bogie now transplanted into E3002. The electric loco had seen plenty of use over the weekend and repairs should be relatively easy, plus a neo magnet will work in E3002 because the body is plastic. 

With the E3002 motor powering the blue EMU, the power difference was immense - it flew round the layout, even in nine car formation. The LED signal on the outer loop is timed generously to allow the long goods train to travel through without turning green, as a result it serves as a good indication of when travelling too fast. If you SPAD then you're going too quickly. The Brighton Belle is more than capable of SPADding this signal, as is E3002. The nine car formation was also fast enough to do this, as was the blue & grey EMU. Just need to install a neo magnet into E3002 and source a new worm gear for the green EMU, neither job is too difficult.

With the EMUs running, time for the next problem(s)

City of Liverpool began stalling and shortly afterwards, Duchess of Atholl followed with the same problem. In the case of Liverpool, it was just a connection rod fouling and had become bent, so this was straightened and bent out of the way of the rest of the valve gear.

For the Atholl, the problem was slightly more serious...

The wheel had come off the axle and this then bent the coupling rod on the other side as the loco tried to power the wheels through one driving wheel. Although this looks quite drastic, the connecting rod bent back into shape with reasonable ease and after a quick dab of superglue on the end of the axle, the wheel was refitted and both locos were back in service.

Deltic St Paddy managed to move barely a few feet this weekend before stopping dead. Closer inspection revealed that one of the brush caps had come off and one of the brush springs has disappeared. I attempted repairs using a brush spring from one of the Co-Bo locos - one of which is missing three tyres but after losing this spring as well, I now need two brush springs and three tyres to bring these back into service.

Regardless of all the issues above, it was a relatively smooth weekend and most of the repairs were done quickly. There's enough stock to cover repairs to multiple locos and the more locos I can repair during an exhibition, the less I have to bring home and fix!

Another recent acquisition, a Wrenn 8F, which I converted to three rail running, also made its debut on the upper loop, replacing 48158 which really needs a repaint so will be retired for the time being.

No video footage this weekend, more pictures below...

This weekend saw the bubble car covering for the two car EMU, which ran for the entire weekend without fault. The Arduino-controlled shuttle has settled in well and required no further adjustments.

Action shot of the front of the layout. St Paddy was due to be double-heading with Crepello but didn't even manage to leave the siding! 

The single Deltic managed to haul the goods train reasonably well but slipped a bit on the bends. This isn't good for the rubber tyres, so Royal Scots Grey was added to cover for the loss of St Paddy.

The Hornby VEP saw use again this weekend. It runs perfectly on the top loop, which makes up for the many hours spent trying to get it to work!

Of all my restorations and repaints, Dorchester Castle is the one I'm most proud of. Here it passes the turntable with City of Liverpool parked up and the poorly green EMU left in the shuttle siding.

You don't need two of the same locos to double-head! An 0-6-2 and 2-6-4 will run just as happily together. These two pulled the brick wagons with ease but the tight radius of the curves on the upper loop precluded the use of more brick wagons.

Royal Scots Grey has now joined the goods train. As this Deltic has a plastic coupling at one end and an older metal coupling on the back, it's best suited to run in this formation. No derailments, no detaching. This has been the most successful outing of the goods train so far. It saw a fair amount of use as a result.

The back of the goods train. 20 wagons plus guard's van,

Looks very impressive (if I say so myself) running slowly along the layout. The Trax controllers mean that low speed running can easily be done.

Duchess of Abercorn & City of Liverpool. This is after the repairs described above. Duchess of Abercorn then started to derail on the corner just beyond the turntable. Replacing a half curve solved the problem.

Busy station. Brighton Belle is stopped for the picture, while the bubble car is just accelerating away back to Brough station.

Busy fiddle yard. The two tracks next to the goods train are the main running lines. Captured just as the VEP flew through overhead.

Duchess of Abercorn just about to pass the spot where it kept derailing. Another popular loco due to its unusual colour. Not bad for Halfords grey primer really!

Sir Nigel Gresley, still sporting a wonky R in the LNER lettering. Thankfully it's on the other side!

Dorchester. My first ever three rail attempt at a very young age and one of only two locos that survived childhood, still going strong.