gordon s Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) The question of cutting your own pcb strips came to the fore again today on the C & L thread. As it was a while since I looked at this subject, I went up and cut some more pcb strips. I'm doing this on a Proxxon table saw as per before. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/3422-eastwood-town-merry-christmas-to-all-our-readers/page-119 The financials were very much in your favour, hence worth looking at it again. You could get 4 times the area of copper clad for 1/5th of the cost, so 1/20th of the price. Here's some pics taken a few minutes ago. I 'm still using the same blade and have been cutting sleepers etc a lot of the time since my original investigation. I set the fence at 4mm and ran off three strips. The width was fine at 4mm and the top surface clean and without burrs. What was disappointing were the number of burrs on the back side. .....but it only took a few seconds with a needle file to take them off and you have a perfectly usable strip. There's no doubt there is some mileage in this as I was about to order 10 packs of strip which is the best part of £200. The key to everything is how does it perform when building pointwork? I'll give it a try and report back. Edited December 31, 2017 by gordon s 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium martin_wynne Posted December 31, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 31, 2017 What was disappointing were the number of burrs on the back side. Hi gordon, The tool for removing them is one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Skarsten-Hook-Cabinet-Scraper-No-35-/232615030858 In use they are pulled, not pushed. Blades slide in, or can be resharpened on the grinder. An indispensable modelling tool for lots of jobs, especially with plasticard. I'm not sure if the original "No. 35" is still available new. I know they are much used by boatbuilders. Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustytrev Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Hello Gordon, Not tried the tile cutter yet then? I would assume the water coolant/lubricant is likely to ensure a cleaner cut? Happy new year. trustytrev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Well here we go, 10.32 on January 1st 2018. A very happy New Year to all that have followed ET over the years. If you're new to this thread or found it by accident, a very warm welcome to the world of recycling. Pull up a seat, this may take a while..... Who'd have thought it, this lanky, skinny school kid who spent most weekends at the end of Platform 10 will be 70 this year. Jeez, that's a wake up call to get something done before it's too late. Saw Trev's question last night, so here a minor update to set the scene for 2018 as well. Weather in the Royal Borough has been up and down to say the least. Nothing like those further north have had to endure, but wet and miserable just the same. Tile cutter? Yes it's on the list of things to do, so here's the excuses. 1. It's buried at the back of the garage. 2. It has to be done outside as it involves water. 3. It's blooming' noisy. 4. It's been wet and cold. Add to that, I've had a stinking' cold and spent most of the days in front of the woodturner watching the darts from Ally pally or my beloved Spurs on TV and it ain't been done..... It will one day.... So back to ET. This is the corner under construction right now. These tracks form the entrance to ET station from the blank wall end of the room. The four tracks shown at the bottom centre are a provisional goods/industrial bit yet to be finalised or built. This will sit inside the curve. At the other end (bottom right) the tracks are as follows.From the left. Platform 1 (Up) Platform 2 (Up) Bay platform (Up and Down) Platform 3 (Down) Platform 4 (Down) Platform 5 (Down) Relief Road Industrial siding I can't say this has gone together like clockwork as operator error on Templot meant I had some Mk1's banging sides together and I would have been inundated with complaints from diners etc that their soup was in their lap. Managed to deal with that, although clearance is down to a couple of mm in one place. This really shouldn't be an issue as it's between the approach to Platform 5 and the goods relief road, so the chances of two rakes of Mk 1's passing each other are slim. Even then they won't crash, but one of two passengers could lose their heads if they were leaning out hoping to see their favourite A4. Track wise, pointwork is laid and ballasted with plain track to fill in the gaps just going in now. Once that's done I'll put in all the wiring track feeds from the top surface, then turn the whole thing over and add the Tortoise motors and wiring proper. Seems like I've been working on this board for ages, but in reality it's quite complex with 13 turnouts and a switched crossing to deal with. Add to that days off to play golf and evenings watching sport on TV and I'm surprised I've got this far... Had 92220 over earlier in the week to talk about Camden Shed Mk2. Wow, the new room looks really special and his plans for the new layout look tremendous. Spent some time discussing baseboards and support frames and I shall look forward to seeing it develop. Still waiting to hear how the interview went, as I may be brought in to cut a bit of wood or two..... Other than that, sniffing' like a good 'un. Edited January 2, 2018 by gordon s 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 1, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2018 Happy New Year Gordon and I'm glad to see that it's now becoming somewhat harder t keep pace with developments at Eastwood. Word of warning about the upcoming birthday - you will of course have to renew your Driving Licence and if you have certain medical conditions (which I don't think you do, but ...) the DVLA might require you to attend for a medical examination. They have done this with me - advising me and the surgery at almost 4 weeks notice before my licence expires that I am to have such an exam. At our surgery you're lucky to get an appointment at less than 5 weeks notice and according to the Medical Secretary appointments for medicals are even more difficult to get therefore they need longer notice, oh dear. Fortunately she managed to get me an earlier appointment - two working days before my licence expires and one of those days is a Bank Holiday; so assuming Swansea are happy with the Doctor's words I'm unlikely to have the new licence until at least a week - 10 days after the old one expires. You have been warned Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 Thanks for the advance notice Mike, I'd forgotten that. One of the things I'm proud of is still using my green paper licence. None of this modern stuff.....:-) Touch wood it's not given me any problems re car hire etc abroad, but no doubt the day will come when a 'youngster' will dictate what I can and cannot do. Good grief, I sound like my Dad.... What's strange was when I was working I was always driving change and looking for new ways to do things. Since retiring I've now gone full circle and really struggle with change for the sake of change. If it ain't broke, don't fix it... .....but then you'll be out of business...... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junctionmad Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Thanks for the advance notice Mike, I'd forgotten that. One of the things I'm proud of is still using my green paper licence. None of this modern stuff.....:-) Touch wood it's not given me any problems re car hire etc abroad, but no doubt the day will come when a 'youngster' will dictate what I can and cannot do. Good grief, I sound like my Dad.... What's strange was when I was working I was always driving change and looking for new ways to do things. Since retiring I've now gone full circle and really struggle with change for the sake of change. If it ain't broke, don't fix it... .....but then you'll be out of business...... Personally I love the credit card photo driving license , handy as general identification too, and at least in the US they stopped regarding me as some wierdo with a paper non photo drivers lcense !!! ( mind you that was some time ago ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Thanks for the advance notice Mike, I'd forgotten that. One of the things I'm proud of is still using my green paper licence. None of this modern stuff.....:-) Touch wood it's not given me any problems re car hire etc abroad, but no doubt the day will come when a 'youngster' will dictate what I can and cannot do. Good grief, I sound like my Dad.... What's strange was when I was working I was always driving change and looking for new ways to do things. Since retiring I've now gone full circle and really struggle with change for the sake of change. If it ain't broke, don't fix it... .....but then you'll be out of business...... Still had my greed driving licence until 21 months ago when we moved, still it was in bits !! Like you the older we get change is less appealing, but why change something if its still working and not broken ? Now if something new comes along that will give you added benefits which you want that's fine, but change for change sake, that's a fools game As for something which is broken, might be worth having after all. I bought a Bemo H0m loco for under £30, turned out the DCC chip was fried, well I wanted to use it on DC so a no cost repair. After running it at Christmas round the tree a cameo layout is in the offing, might turn out to be an expensive buy as the two coaches I bought for it cost nearly twice the price second hand and the next loco will be much nearer £100 s/h and that's the cheap ones. Still happy new year PM me re the rail Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Cook Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I had to change to the photo card licence when I reached 70 last year but my paper licence was pink not green, the only problem I had was at a chemists when they wanted proof so that I could get my prescription, non of the staff had seen a paper licence before. Geoff 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted January 1, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2018 I will hit 70 much later this year. I still drive on a green DVLC licence, but this will have to be swopped for a French one at some stage before then. The present one, like its user, is a bit frayed around the edges! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted January 1, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Edited January 1, 2018 by polybear Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted January 1, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2018 If it ain't broke, don't fix it... Ummmmm..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted January 1, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 1, 2018 Weather in the Royal Borough has been up and down to say the least. Nothing like those further north have had to endure, but wet and miserable just the same. Tile cutter? Yes it's on the list of things to do, so here's the excuses. 1. It's buried at the back of the garage. 2. It has to be done outside as it involves water. 3. It's blooming' noisy. 4. It's been wet and cold. Add to that, I've had a stinking' cold and spent most of the days in front of the woodturner watching the darts from Ally pally or my beloved Spurs on TV and it ain't been done..... 1. Tidy the garage. Good God man, this is important....we're all wondering if it's worth running out to buy tile cutters or not.... 2. Wet cars go in garages every day. What's the problem? 3. Sod the neighbours. They didn't care about you when they were setting off rockets at midnight. 4. Christ, you've got a coat, haven't you?? A Cold? C'mon...... And Spurs? That explains a lot. One of the things I'm proud of is still using my green paper licence. None of this modern stuff.....:-) You'll end up with one of them there new fangled picture licences now. Big brother 'an all that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 92220 Posted January 2, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Well here we go, 10.32 on January 1st 2018. A very happy New Year to all that have followed ET over the years. If you're new to this thread or found it by accident, a very warm welcome to the world of recycling. Pull up a seat, this may take a while..... Who'd have thought it, this lanky, skinny school kid who spent most weekends at the end of Platform 10 will be 70 this year. Jeez, that's a wake up call to get something done before it's too late. Saw Trev's question last night, so here a minor update to set the scene for 2018 as well. Weather in the Royal Borough has been up and down to say the least. Nothing like those further north have had to endure, but wet and miserable just the same. Tile cutter? Yes it's on the list of things to do, so here's the excuses. 1. It's buried at the back of the garage. 2. It has to be done outside as it involves water. 3. It's blooming' noisy. 4. It's been wet and cold. Add to that, I've had a stinking' cold and spent most of the days in front of the woodturner watching the darts from Ally pally or my beloved Spurs on TV and it ain't been done..... It will one day.... So back to ET. This is the corner under construction right now. sketchboard_2018_01_01_1011_25.jpg These tracks form the entrance to ET station from the blank wall end of the room. The four tracks shown at the bottom centre are a provisional goods/industrial bit yet to be finalised or built. This will sit inside the curve. At the other end (bottom right) the tracks are as follows.From the left. Platform 1 (Up) Platform 2 (Up) Bay platform (Up and Down) Platform 3 (Down) Platform 4 (Down) Platform 5 (Down) Relief Road Industrial siding DSCF8999.jpg DSCF9002.jpg DSCF9005.jpg I can't say this has gone together like clockwork as operator error on Templot meant I had some Mk1's banging sides together and I would have been inundated with complaints from diners etc that their soup was in their lap. Managed to deal with that, although clearance is down to a couple of mm in one place. This really shouldn't be an issue as it's between the approach to Platform 5 and the goods relief road, so the chances of two rakes of Mk 1's passing each other are slim. Even then they won't crash, but one of two passengers could lose their heads if they were leaning out hoping to see their favourite A4. Track wise, pointwork is laid and ballasted with plain track to fill in the gaps just going in now. Once that's done I'll put in all the wiring track feeds from the top surface, then turn the whole thing over and add the Tortoise motors and wiring proper. Seems like I've been working on this board for ages, but in reality it's quite complex with 13 turnouts and a switched crossing to deal with. Add to that days off to play golf and evenings watching sport on TV and I'm surprised I've got this far... Had 92220 over earlier in the week to talk about Camden Shed Mk2. Wow, the new room looks really special and his plans for the new layout look tremendous. Spent some time discussing baseboards and support frames and I shall look forward to seeing it develop. Still waiting to hear how the interview went, as I may be brought in to cut a bit of wood or two..... Other than that, sniffing' like a good 'un. Thanks very much for the chat, coffee and help, Gordon. It was great to catch up and to see how you’ve progressed. ET runs beautifully - the smoothness of that J-whatever-it-was (apologies for the lack of ER knowledge) through those long curved formations was a delight to behold. If I had to put money on it, I’d bet on a full ET circuit and some videos during 2018. Currently redoing the Camden Shed mk2 plan with the OS map as background rather than the previous diagram, which was nearly correct but not quite, being roughly a scale 12” too long between the bridges. I’ll rectify that piece of imbecility with the down engine line as well. Ugh. Not sure who was interviewing whom, but I’d be delighted to accept any assistance that you might be able to offer with the baseboard construction, and will be in touch once I’ve sorted the templot plan so we can finalise thoughts about how and where to cut the boards. Hugely appreciate your kindness. Hope you get over the cold quickly and I look forward to a game of golf when the weather improves. Just off to Spain for 2 days’ practice. A very happy new year to you and Mrs S. Iain Edited January 2, 2018 by 92220 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted January 2, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 2, 2018 If I had to put money on it, I’d bet on a full ET circuit and some videos during 2018. Iain I'll give you 2 to 1 against. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Thanks Iain. At least someone has faith in me.....unlike a certain gent from 'oop north. At 2-1 against I'll have a few quid with you... Your new plan looks very impressive indeed and I shall look forward to cutting a few bits for you for Camden 2. By the way, that loco was a J15. I'll convert you to the joys of the LNER one day.. Hornsey shed would really fit well in that new room. Or how about Wood Green with A4's thundering through. Back to ET and just spotted a minor error this morning. In my haste to get the last turnout complex down and ballasted before the darts started, I completely forgot to drill a hole for the Tortoise actuator on one of the three turnouts in this last complex. What a dope... Of course that means I've glued the tie bar to the baseboard. It'll be fine if you want to go straight ahead....just don't ask to go off to the right. Shouldn't be too difficult to resolve once it's desoldered from the switch blades. Just a waste of an hour or so. Been looking at an ADM turntable for ET. I've finally given up on the Metalsmiths 70' Cowans and Sheldon turntable. It's been under development for the whole time I've been playing with ET and looks like it will never arrive, so it's back full circle to a Peco one that I started off with years ago. I know an electronics whizz kid could knock up a stepper motor control circuit in next to no time for a fraction of the cost, but it's horses for courses and I could waste another stack of time trying to build one when I already have too many things on the schedule. Some of the funding will come from the sale of two Fleischmann turntables that are gathering dust under the bench. They both work, but need some loving care and attention as I've carved bits away and changed the deck rails to code 75 etc. Got a few questions for them re accuracy, radial and vertical alignment when using low sleeper profile Code 75 bullhead rail from SMP, so I'll give them a call. I wonder what today holds in store.... Edited January 2, 2018 by gordon s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Thanks Iain. At least someone has faith in me.....unlike a certain gent from 'top north. At 2-1 against I'll have a few quid with you... Your new plan looks very impressive indeed and I shall look forward to cutting a few bits for you for Camden 2. By the way, that loco was a J15. I'll convert you to the joys of the LNER one day.. Hornsey shed would really fit well in that new room. Or how about Wood Green with A4's thundering through. Back to ET and just spotted a minor error this morning. In my haste to get the last turnout complex down and ballasted before the darts started, I completely forgot to drill a hole for the Tortoise actuator on one of the three turnouts in this last complex. What a dope... Of course that means I've glued the tie bar to the baseboard. It'll be fine if you want to go straight ahead....just don't ask to go off to the right. Shouldn't be too difficult to resolve once it's desoldered from the switch blades. Just a waste of an hour or so. Been looking at an ADM turntable for ET. I've finally given up on the Metalsmiths 70' Cowans and Sheldon turntable. It's been under development for the whole time I've been playing with ET and looks like it will never arrive, so it's back full circle to a Peco one that I started off with years ago. I know an electronics whizz kid could knock up a stepper motor control circuit in next to no time for a fraction of the cost, but it's horses for courses and I could waste another stack of time trying to build one when I already have too many things on the schedule. Some of the funding will come from the sale of two Fleischmann turntables that are gathering dust under the bench. They both work, but need some loving care and attention as I've carved bits away and changed the deck rails to code 75 etc. Got a few questions for them re accuracy, radial and vertical alignment when using low sleeper profile Code 75 bullhead rail from SMP, so I'll give them a call. I wonder what today holds in store.... Hi Gordon - happy 2018! Totally agree with you regarding the Metalsmiths 70ft Cowans and Sheldon. Having also spent as long as you stalking their website in the vain hope there would be progress on an OO version - I'd jump on one in an instant, and I can only imagine there must be a healthy demand from others in a similar quandary - I'm resigned to either modifying a Peco version, or having a bidding war on Ebay if someone wants to shift a Heljan. There's a gent from a club near Brisbane on our East Coast that developed a very serious drive motor for their Peco install - using a drive that is actually sourced from the UK. I'll have to dig around and see if I can find the details. Not a problem I need to solve this year, but one that will arrive sooner, rather than later, hopefully. edit: Found it: http://www.goldcoastmodelrailwayclub.com/motorising-a-peco-turntable.html and the drive: http://locomotech.com/ Regards Scott Edited January 2, 2018 by jukebox Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Happy New Year to you as well! I was up and about at 4.00am this morning as this head cold made it hard to breathe, so was reading about your plastering skills. I have to say, Stockrington is really coming along well. Those sweeping curves across the plain and then the lower bridge over the river are a joy to behold. It seems Metalsmiths have sold the whole lot to Midland Railway Centre and it's still the same....:-) One day it will happen. Probably just after I've ordered an ADM one.... Of course Iain wants one for Camden, so that's three of us already. Edited January 2, 2018 by gordon s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 1. Tidy the garage. Good God man, this is important....we're all wondering if it's worth running out to buy tile cutters or not.... 2. Wet cars go in garages every day. What's the problem? 3. Sod the neighbours. They didn't care about you when they were setting off rockets at midnight. 4. Christ, you've got a coat, haven't you?? A Cold? C'mon...... And Spurs? That explains a lot. You'll end up with one of them there new fangled picture licences now. Big brother 'an all that. I have a tile cutter, admittedly a cheap DIY one, i have a feeling especially if the cutting disc is as thick as mine you will waste more than you cut. I have been told the company which supplied C&L used a router which was designed to cut these boards. I thought your Proxon table saw was working with a decent blade? As for suppliers, I believe the Marcway products differ from the SMP even though they now supply both. They still do the SMP Paxoline timbers and also fibreglass (which SMP never supplied) no thicknesses quoted. Marcway do their own timber strip in both 1.6 mm & 1.2 mm thick both of which I assume are fibreglass and may be single sided, may be cut with a guillotine ? no idea about quality control of widths C&L used to do 2 thicknesses of double sided fibreglass timber and sleeper strip 1.6 mm and 1.06 mm, the latter having changed to 1 mm thick . This part of the business was sold to Phoenix paints by C&L C&L (new owner) has continued supplying both 4 and 7 mm scale copperclad strips from their own source (may even be from Phoenix), still in double sided fibreglass. still using the same codes. Wizzard models sell fibreglass copperclad strip 1.6 mm thick, I bought some 7 mm scale strip which was single sided and as good quality as C&L sold in packs of 20 12" long strips £13.50 for timbers and £12 for sleeper strip Hope this clarifies the situation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junctionmad Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Single sided , FR2 ( paxolin ) copper clad is still available cheaply from china , a search on aliexpress.com will show up,a few suppliers Given the amount you use , Gordon , why not have a few orders on the go , rips up much easier, then fr-4 fibreglass in the proxxon This is what I do. It's works out very cheap at around 10 dollars for 5-8 150x100mm boards Edited January 5, 2018 by Junctionmad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted January 2, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 2, 2018 Hi Gordon - happy 2018! Totally agree with you regarding the Metalsmiths 70ft Cowans and Sheldon. Having also spent as long as you stalking their website in the vain hope there would be progress on an OO version - I'd jump on one in an instant, and I can only imagine there must be a healthy demand from others in a similar quandary - I'm resigned to either modifying a Peco version, or having a bidding war on Ebay if someone wants to shift a Heljan. There's a gent from a club near Brisbane on our East Coast that developed a very serious drive motor for their Peco install - using a drive that is actually sourced from the UK. I'll have to dig around and see if I can find the details. Not a problem I need to solve this year, but one that will arrive sooner, rather than later, hopefully. edit: Found it: http://www.goldcoastmodelrailwayclub.com/motorising-a-peco-turntable.html and the drive: http://locomotech.com/ Regards Scott In the October 2017 "Australian Model Railway Magazine" there was an article on motorising a Walthers turntable using a stepper motor controlled by an Arduino. Unfortunately I threw the mag away but one of my compatriots might have a spare copy (or it might be on sale in England somewhere...). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tender Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 In the October 2017 "Australian Model Railway Magazine" there was an article on motorising a Walthers turntable using a stepper motor controlled by an Arduino. Unfortunately I threw the mag away but one of my compatriots might have a spare copy (or it might be on sale in England somewhere...). Theres a thread here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78578-dcc-controlled-peco-turntable-project-using-a-arduino-uno/?p=1223686 describing how to motorise a Peco turntable using a stepper motor and DCC interface, but i don't think Gordon wants the hassle when he can buy an off the shelf product to suit his needs, all be it expensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 Right. Copper clad. Just been up and revisited the whole subject of cutting. Hooked up my extractor (vacuum cleaner) to the table saw and swapped over to the Proxxon diamond blade. Happy to say the results are perfectly acceptable. A little more dust, but a mask and extractor dealt with that admirably. No burrs and a straight cut. Yippee! On that basis I'll make my next turnout from cut pcb and see how it performs. Even allowing for the cuts, one sheet of pcb is around three packets of pre cut strips. So £3.10 versus £56.85. Even if I wrote off a £30 blade every time, I'm still ahead of the game. (My auto correct keeps changing pcb for pub!) A neat reminder..... Thanks St Enodoc re stepper motors etc. There are several articles around (at least one on RMweb) regards control with an Arduino, but electronics is probably out of my comfort zone. Having built a diode matrix and LED panel, I'm not saying I couldn't get there in the end, but would rather spend that time doing the things I can do, even if it costs me a few quid. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted January 4, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 4, 2018 (edited) Another wet, soggy day and my beloved golf course is soggy to the power 2, so only the back nine open, temporary greens and teeing up everywhere. This may seem like overkill, but the condition of our course is extremely good all year and it's only their cautious approach on the odd one or two days a year, that ensures the course stays in tip top condition the rest of the year. Add to that a stinking cold, little or no sleep last night and the decision to drop out of my usual Thursday bandito's seemed a wise move. On the upside, loads of coffee and track laying continued. I'm sick of the sight of this board now, so it was with a loud hurray, the final piece of track went in at 2.00 this afternoon. A big clear up followed by a few pics for my RMweb diary and that was it. The next task should have been turn the board over and start the wiring, but with 15 Tortoise motors to go in plus at least 70-100 droppers, I thought sod it, lets stick some paper together, more of which in a minute. OK job done.... Meanwhile Eastwood Town brewery is starting up the machinery and hoping to be shipping out some wonderful ales before Christmas 2018. As always my attention to detail leaves a bit to be desired. How did a Western van get this far north? The J15 seems to have escaped all signs of duty and is a fresh now as when it left it's works in 1883. Must have been part of the strategic reserve deep in Box Hill.... Make the most of it kid, you'll be filthy in the next few months. So an afternoon spare, but the month old board is off limits. Back into Templot, group a few templates together and print off numerous sheets of A4. Trim to size and stick together with Magic Tape.....and what have you got? Eastwood Town MPD.....:-) Designed as a peninsula board with access on all sides, there should be enough work here to keep me busy and get me going again. After pondering the whole set up for many minutes, I may have made a cock up. Better to realise it now, than start building pointwork. The lovely shed I bought from Great Northern has one wall unfinished as it faced towards a wall on Peterborough and would never have been seen. I should have checked and not relied on memory, but the blank wall now faces into the shed complex. Several options. Finish off the building with brick paper, but getting one to match after all these years may be a problem. Build some form of structure on that side to hide the blank wall or relay the whole plan to move the shed over to where the coaling stage is and put that where the shed is. Minor problem is that the approach pointwork is all built and laid, so any changes would have to be after those turnouts. I'll think about it overnight and then play around with Templot to see if it can be done. I think the coaling stage tracks are also wrong as the feed hopper track should be on an outer track, not the middle one. That's just a spacing issue and should be simple, but 9 times out of 10, a simple change often has a knock on effect and means other pointwork has to be changed to retain the smooth flow. I'm not walking away from this, in fact the opposite. The power of Templot is to spot all these errors before you progress too far and after all, we all make mistakes..... Edited January 4, 2018 by gordon s 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 4, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 4, 2018 Gordon, Impressive work as always. On the shed front or should I say back, how difficult would it be to knock a hole in the end wall and turn it into a through shed, you could then turn it end for end, with stub ends a few inches long on the outside. There were a few GW sheds like that. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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