Has it really been a year ? Blimey !

Things have moved on a bit. More stock has arrived. A Calder Valley 110 3 car DMU. These never made it out of T'Valley (Those Northern folk knew when they were on to a good thing!), but they would have been a fantastic suburban DMU as well. More powerful than most of its peers and according to those that drove it, fantastic brakes. This one has been DCC'd and has had the wheels adjusted to actually run through pointwork - they were nearly 3mm too narrow. I acquired this in mint condition. I don't think the trailer or un powered motor had ever been out their box.

The station know has lighting (A birthday present) Its a bit course scale, but does add a certain something. A few people have also now made it onto the platform as well.

Big news is the fitting of some signalling. This includes a fully automatic block signal at the end of platform 3 and a semi automatic, partially interlocked pair at the converging junction at the end of platforms 2 & 4.

The automatic signal is very simple. An LDR (Light dependant resistor) is buried in the 4 foot and triggers a relay as the train plunges it into darkness. To hold the signal red, a capacitor charges up whenever the LDR is covered, the amount of charge and hence the red aspect, is proportional to the amount of time the train takes to pass over the sensor. Therefore, a longer or slower train will hold the signal red for longer! This is a modified Maplin kit, costing about £5

The junction platform starters are slightly more complex and incorporate a 2nd LDR module to trigger them back to red. Using a pair of DPDT switches, a simple interlock means that only one signal can be set to green. This is accomplished using a DPDT relay wired to hold energised until power is removed. Some BT spec relays with built in diodes were acquired, making wiring up a cinch. Again, an LDR is buried in the track, and this will set both signals back to red. It is not possible to set both signals to clear, although the flat crossing is not protected as yet. Full interlocking will be somewhat more tricky, as one track does not need to be protected from the flat crossing as it joins after the junction

The R49 stock is now fitted with new pick ups. The sprung wire versions were not a great success, excerting too much force on the wheelsets and slowing the train to a crawl. New pick ups have been fabricated out of some battery contacts from a mobile phone. These are gold plated and nicely springy and work very well.

Various track sections have been tweaked, and the entrance to the yard has been relaid, as it was causing derailments with about half the stock. The issue was the curve was too tight, so it has been relaxed out a little.

The control panel is built from MERG kits, with a DCC encoder linked to SPST switches to the diode matrix and wired to an LS150 and MERG decoder. The LS150 needed modifying to work with the MERG kits as it would stop the MERG decoder working reliably. The solution was a pair of 100nF capacitors in series with the input to de-couple it from the DCC points bus. The issue appears to be to do with the MERG encoder, as this is not a true floating output, but requires an earth reference. The input of the LS150 messes this up and the capacitors sorted the problem. The panel is laser printed onto plastic paper, to make it water proof and wipe clean. See the photos of my LH30 for just how grubby things can get!

Next steps are to finish the platforms at the terminus. Walls are laid, so its only the top surfaces and landscaping to do. The station roof etc needs a but of fettling and the tramway is very temporary just now.

2 more years should see it done!