SRman's Current Layout - Newton Broadway

[SRman]

I have gradually been extending the electrified sections further. It is still back-breaking work, but the 'suitcase' connectors have reduced that just a little. I have now used up 48 of them out of a pack of 50, so I'll be doing a quick detour via Bunnings on my way home from work tomorrow! Once I connect those wires, I can push the layout back against the wall (I'll worry about the point motor wiring later, when I have some sort of control panel in place).

I have now been able to run test trains around just on half the layout on the inner circuit, but I still have to connect the wires to the outer circuit loops. Next, I have to connect the lifting section, which will mean threading the wires back below the piano hinge, to keep them clear of the tracks underneath. I also have to relay a small portion of the tracks along the viaducts at the front, to eliminate a couple of very short sections which would be storing up trouble for much later if I left them that way. There are still several temporary viaduct 'place holders' - recycled from my old layout, and propped up on polystyrene blocks to maintain the correct height. With that in mind, I will be relying on fishplates to conduct power along that part of the viaducts for the short term. When I finish building the Vollmer viaduct components, I will be feeding extra wire feeds through the piers.

I may possibly have to lift and adjust the curved tracks at the newer ends of the loops for clearance purposes, but that will not be a major operation, nor will it involve much more than moving the alignments by a few millimetres either way from where they are presently. The clearances are sufficient to allow me to run most stock on the Saturday of the meeting.

I will post another short video once I have a significant amount of running track.

 

[SRman]

Taking a break from the electrical work, I have restored continuous track through the entire circuit now, albeit some on temporary bridges and supports. 

The Wills four arch viaduct proved to have a bit too much 'give' in the unsupported ends of the trackbeds, so I have added some Plastruct I-beam girder supports at each end. The springiness of the track base I am using also didn't help, although that would improve once the ballast was glued on, but at this stage, I don't want to make it too permanent until I can complete tasks on the lower level, as well as properly painting the Wills viaduct (it only has a pale earthy wash all over at present).

I have stuck the track to the sticky side of the White's Floor Protector, and then used some mastic to locate it so it doesn't move out of alignment, aided by some spare bits of cork underlay wedged between the trackbed and the viaduct walls. The idea of using sticky-side-up allows me to set the track formation without tack pins or gluing. I made sure that track joints are supported, even though it meant cutting sections and adding new bits to ensure this.

Even so, the track on the old, temporary Triang-Hornby viaduct sections can float a bit, so I'll have to see how well they take running trains, once I add wiring and power. Again, at this stage the power will be relying on the fishplates to take it to the Wills viaduct end, although that will also change once I can finish the Vollmer viaduct sections - something that will definitely not occur within the next week, when the meeting is due! The Vollmer section is at the lower centre of the first photo, consisting of two double-track arches converted from four single-track arches.

IMG_20180311_161934 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

IMG_20180311_162745 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


The two Dapol class 68 locomotives are nice and heavy, and are weighing down the cork and card packing I have glued to the end of the Wills viaduct to level the track joint with the lift-out bridge sections.

[Peter Beckett]

Hi Jeff,

Saw you arriving at Sandown as we (Son and Grandson) were leaving so missed out on a chat. Looking forward to next week

 

Peter

[SRman]

Sorry I missed you Peter. Agnes and I did meet up with several other BRMA and MBAA members as we went around.

My feeling at the end of our visit was that all of the layouts were of high quality, but none actually stood out for me. I still managed to spend more than I intended to!

[SRman]

I have now extended the main bus wires to the other end of the layout, and hooked up the first track feeds with one set of dropper wires only at this stage. This means that the entire right-hand end of the layout up to the removable bridge section is relying on fishplates to conduct the power. I will add some more dropper wires tomorrow and/or Tuesday, and also add some to the fiddle yard loops to finally give a complete circuit. I may not have time to wire more than a couple of the point frogs at that end, so running may be restricted to four of the eight loop lines when I have the meeting. 

Even if I had the time to add those last few frog polarity switchers, I don't actually have enough of them in stock at present. I have ordered some more, but they may or may not get here in time to do something with them.

However, feeling pleased with myself (maybe even smug!), here is yet another shaky-cam video of trains proving the electrification works properly.

[SRman]

I finally completed the essential wiring yesterday evening. Even so, a quick test revealed that I had missed two feed wires, so I had to hastily reassemble the necessary tools to do that.

Further tests have now been carried out and trains have been able to run on every loop line and through every point on the main lines - the engine and carriage sheds will come much later!

To celebrate, I had a quick tidy up of all the tools and extraneous materials along the tracksides, and cleared some trains off the layout, and assembled some suitable sets for running on Saturday, then put the video camera onto the Hattons Warwell that I bought specifically for that purpose. I have run trains in both directions, edited the footage then uploaded it to YouTube. I have a high quality cut of the video too, but the YouTube one is still a rather large file size (a warning for anyone with limited bandwidth).

Here is the link;

[John Tomlinson]

Really enjoyed the video, and you must be delighted to have the running aspect of the layout finished and working well.

 

The view from the upper track of the lower level lines does evoke images of the twists and turns, and overs and unders, in the tracks "south of the river" east of Clapham Junction. It made me feel quite nostalgic to remember that day in 1973 when as a spotty teenager I "copped" my last Hymek on the lower lines as I headed into Victoria on an emu!

 

John.

Edited March 14, 2018 by John Tomlinson

[SRman]

Thanks, John. That was the sort of thing I was trying to capture the atmosphere of. I did want to run the underground lines too, so there would be glimpses of moving trains on the lower level too, but I haven't pinned all the wiring back out of the way yet, so there is a danger pf trains in the tunnels snagging on the odd stray wire. That's a job I hope to complete this evening after work, with a little assistance from my wife to prop the lifting section open while I work on the underside of it.

At some stage in the future, I will work out a hinged prop that can fold away, but I don't really have time to sort that out before the meeting on Saturday (that's the all-consuming deadline for me at present!).

Having got things running, though, it does inspire me to keep going and get things like point motors and signals up and working too. 

I need a control panel next!

[Peter Beckett]

Jeff,

Thats looking really great. I have the Garratt out on my layout at the moment getting ready for the trip "south" (thats Blackburn South).

 

 

Peter 

[Markeg]

Hi Jeff,

Hope the day goes well.

I was planning to come, but got an offer to play with the big trains today.

Well Daylesford Spa Railway are launching their Railmotor, not sure which one, this Saturday. 

My wife's boss was invited representing the Bendigo Heritage Attractions (Trams, Mine and Joss House here in Bendigo), but he is flying off to Fiji.  Lucky man.

So the tickets have come to us.  So that's where I will be.

 

I have been painting some 6 LNER Gresley 61' coach bodies of late.  Will have to take a photo.

 

Layout is looking good too.

 

Mark

[SRman]

 

 

Hi Jeff,

Hope the day goes well.

I was planning to come, but got an offer to play with the big trains today.

Well Daylesford Spa Railway are launching their Railmotor, not sure which one, this Saturday.

My wife's boss was invited representing the Bendigo Heritage Attractions (Trams, Mine and Joss House here in Bendigo), but he is flying off to Fiji.  Lucky man.

So the tickets have come to us.  So that's where I will be.

I have been painting some 6 LNER Gresley 61' coach bodies of late.  Will have to take a photo.

Layout is looking good too.

Mark

No worries, Mark. I'll forgive you, but just this once!!

Enjoy your event, it sounds like it will be very interesting. You are, of course, welcome to call into Blackburn South at any time you are in Melbourne, not just on meeting dates. Edited March 15, 2018 by SRman

[DougN]

Looking great SRman...I look forward to catch up on Saturday. Only have one thing to do in forest hill before I drop round!

[SRman]

Agnes helped me to prop up the lifting panel while I taped the wires up out of the way. Found one where I boobed - looped the point polarity wire through the track feed wires, so I simply cut the wires to the buses from the polarity-switching pcb, fed it through behind the track wires, then reconnected the two cut wires - another advantage of using those suitcase connectors as I didn't have to fire up the soldering iron and all the paraphernalia to go with it. I also took the opportunity to vacuum up all the wood shavings and sawdust from the underground tracks, from drilling all the holes for the wires to pass through.

I have been switching the points using my tunnel retrieval pole - a longish piece of wooden dowel with a brass hook on the end. I will add a strip of heat-shrink tubing to prevent any accidental short circuits while pushing or pulling the point blades.

All tested OK again, including the underground tracks, where I ran No 8, Sherlock Holmes, one way and a CO/CP stock train the other, with no incidents to report, apart from a small amount of track that needs cleaning. I'll send the works train through before Saturday afternoon.

There is one point on the upper, inner circuit that has not been modified, so is relying on the point blade contacts to feed power to the frog. It works fine at present, but I wouldn't rely on that for the longer term. The new batch of Gaugemaster polarity switches arrived this afternoon from Hatton's, but I won't fit that last one on the main lines until some time after the meeting.

Also in the package from Hatton's were a couple more code 75 3-way points, a catch point and some code 100 to code 75 adaptors, plus a Gaugemaster auto-reverse module, intended for the Fleischmann turntable when I get that fitted. The latter was £10 cheaper from Hatton's than from Gaugemaster themselves.

[SRman]

This evening, I sent the track cleaner around the underground just to ensure decent running tomorrow in the tunnels.

I then sent Sherlock Holmes and its imitation train of Dreadnought coaches around (they're actually old Graham Farish suburban coaches), and the CO/CP train the other way, while on the upper level I got brave and had three trains running (two on the one track). I had done this earlier but without all the other trains running, so it was easier to keep tabs on them. The Hornby S15 was running on the outer track, with 23 wagons, while on the inner track, the Bulleid diesel, 10201, had a mixed set of Bulleid and BR mk 1 coaches in crimson and cream, and a 2-set of non-gangwayed ex-LSWR stock in plain crimson on the end (through coaches from a branch, perhaps?), and that was followed at a safe distance by a BIL/HAL//HAL combination.

Doing that was slightly more fraught for me because I was driving five trains with four controllers! I do have a couple more NCE cabs which can be attached, so, in theory, I and some other modellers could drive each of the trains individually if we wanted. In use are two Power Cabs and two Power Pros, with another Power Cab semi-permanently allocated to the programming track, but easy enough to swap to the coiled cord and plugged into a spare socket. Additionally, I have a Cab 04p and a Cab 06e, which are available if any visitor (e.g. some of the younger visitors) prefers or needs a simpler controller. Those latter two don't get much use from me at present, but are useful as spares or, as I said, for visitors. All of the full controllers have six recall memory slots set, so, in other words, each of them can store and recall six separate locomotives, units or consists for instant recall when needed, without having to select the loco/unit and punch in the numbers repeatedly.

I'm still tidying up tools and boxes in the train room, but the worst is done, so hopefully all will run smoothly tomorrow for the BRMA meeting. The usual Murphy's Law will probably manifest itself: I'll run the trains for an hour before anyone is due. They'll run perfectly, until the doorbell rings and that first guest comes through, when something will derail or lose a coupling or short out ... the usual rule for any layout where visitors are due!!

Edited March 16, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

Well, the meeting was generally successful,and the layout mostly behaved as it should. I think we had around 20 people visit.

Peter Beckett's Garratt ran beautifully, apart from a couple of minor hiccups that I am sure were caused by the dodgy track alignment where the lifting section meets the main boards near the church. There is a little bit of a hump and twist there, which I will try to fix properly very soon.

Most of the trains ran reliably, although the class 450 consist (two units) caused a couple of dead shorts when the second motor bogie derailed at the same place that gave the Garratt problems. When I needed to have a break from concentrating on the running of trains, I put some 'safe' choices on: MLV 68009 + 4 CEPs 7128 and 7119, 2 BIL + 2 x 2 HAL units (2134 + 2636 + 2694) on the upper level, and No 8 Sherlock Holmes + 5 pseudo-Dreadnought coaches one way, and either pannier tank L89 with two brake vans and three low-sided wagons or the 5-car CO/CP train. All of these ran faultlessly and continuously for long periods of time.

Edited March 18, 2018 by SRman

[Gwiwer]

The usual Murphy's Law will probably manifest itself: I'll run the trains for an hour before anyone is due. They'll run perfectly, until the doorbell rings and that first guest comes through, when something will derail or lose a coupling or short out ... the usual rule for any layout where visitors are due!!

I seem to remember just that happening at mine more often than not. Set up, test run, adjust consists until everything runs sweetly then embarrassment and disaster as soon as the guests arrive.

 

Pleased to hear it all went well in the end.

[Peter Beckett]

Thanks to Jeff and Agnes for a great day. The layout really captures the atmosphere of a busy south London area. So much packed in and despite Jeff's protestations, rakes of suburban trains ran smoothly. Even my Garratt behaved and now can claim to be the only Midland Garratt that has run over Cornish, Welsh and Southern metals.

 

 

Peter

[Gwiwer]

 the only Midland Garratt that has run over Cornish, Welsh and Southern metals.

She ran nicely over my track which had endured the ravages of ten years outdoors and was never as well-laid as Jeff's anyway.  By coincidence I have only today made reference to that evening's running in a reply to someone on the Facebook Model Railway Enthusiasts page asking about running locos through first radius curves.  I was able to confirm the Garratt coped with first radius curves and the reverse curves through some crossovers no matter what it might say on the box.  

[SRman]

I had a quick running session today, just for videoing purposes. There are six trains running at any one time, but, as usual, Murphy's Law kicked in: all ran perfectly for a while, but the moment I started the camera, the parcels train played up by derailing one of the coaches. I removed that one, then another derailed instead, then when I had replaced that with a different coach, the locomotive derailed at a different location. That train features in some of the footage, but after that I ran the Brighton Belle instead. What this means is that while there are six trains running, seven different trains may be seen in motion during the video - I have also mixed up the order a little, just for fun!

[P.C.M]

Hi Jeff, Thanks for an enjoyable meeting on Saturday. It was great to watch the trains running on the top level. I think the parcel train split on Saturday, I was sure it was a low coupler. 

 

Cheers Peter.

[SRman]

Hi Jeff, Thanks for an enjoyable meeting on Saturday. It was great to watch the trains running on the top level. I think the parcel train split on Saturday, I was sure it was a low coupler. 

 

Cheers Peter.

 

Yes, the parcels train did split for that reason - it was one of the Bachmann BR horse boxes, but those weren't the cause of my frustration when filming on Sunday. The couplings tend to pull down as a result of sudden stops from the stock behind, so are an effect, rather than a cause.

 

Thanks for the compliments; I'm glad everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. As usual for the host, it was harder to mix with more people on the day.

[SRman]

As an aside to all of the above, Newton Broadway was a completely fictional name I thought up. However, a search on Google maps has revealed there is a Newton Broadway in Suffolk ... purely coincidental!!

[SRman]

As a small diversion from layout building, I did a quick build of a Parkside LNER horse box kit. It is finished except for a few very minor paint touch-ups and the transfers, which are on the way from Cambridge Custom Transfers as I type this.

LNER Horse Box with BR Horse Boxes - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

LNER Horse Box with BR Horse Boxes - 1 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Also visible in those photos is my first attempt at using some static grass.

This evening I set about levelling the track over the joint between the lifting section and the fixed level near the church hill. I then tested the DJM class 71 through the track where I knew it had derailed a couple of times before, and that worked nicely. I then tested the outer track with the consisted class 450 units, which had shown a tendency to derail occasionally exiting the loops and crossing that joint. That was tried slowly at first, watching every bogie as it travelled through the points and joints, then a few high-speed runs, culminating in a flat-out run, with no mishaps at all.

After that, I enhanced the class 33 and 4 TC set (416 in plain BR blue) by adding blue and grey set 404, then propelling that around at high-speed. Once again, all went well, so I am well-satisfied with my efforts.

Class 33-1 D6520 propelling 4TC Sets 404 and 416 After High-Speed Tests - 1 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

[SRman]

More horse boxes! The Parkside ex-LNER one again, with a few extra paint touches, together with an ancient Lima ex-GWR version that I have just tarted up a bit. The Lima model was in BR(S) green - a livery I'm not convinced it would have worn in real life - and has had its roof upgraded with new torpedo vents and new wire end handrails (mine was missing one anyway), plus better wheels and a complete repaint into BR maroon. The original model had some strange pointy conical roof vents arranged in rows of three across. A study of some images in Google showed a variety of vent and gas/oil lamp top combinations, so I just picked one such arrangement, although I believe mine should have an extra lamp top of some sort in the middle over the groom's compartment. However, the whole thing is really a compromise that I have tried to make a little more convincing, if not actually realistic.

The underframe is not 100% accurate either, but I haven't done anything about that at this stage, except to replace the horrible oversized Lima couplings with some Parkside NEM pocket holders and Bachmann NEM pockets and couplings, and replacing the crappy buffers (one of which was missing) with some turned brass examples that looked right to me. Probably the source of greatest dissatisfaction now is the brake blocks being in line with the 'W' irons. They are in the 'too hard' basket for now.

Anyway, enough rambling: here are a couple of photos, showing the LNER and GWR boxes together, and in the 'race special' train with the Bachmann BR mark 1 horse boxes from TMC.

LNER and GWR Horse Boxes - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

BR and LNER and GWR Horse Boxes - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Edited March 24, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

Another 'quickie' kit-building project: a Parkside ex-GWR Beetle prize cattle wagon. I started this last night and finished the basic construction this evening after work. It will be painted in BR maroon, with a coat of undercoat to be applied first, very shortly.

There is a small amount of brake rodding still to apply, and, of course, the window glazing, which has to wait for the painting to be completed first.

exGWR Beetle - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

exGWR Beetle - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr