chaz Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 Craftmanship? - well, maybe. Clever? Hardly - if I were clever I wouldn't have cut the tie-bar too short Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) It was definitely a clever solution. (edit for spelling) Edited July 11, 2013 by Kev_Lewis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 It was definitely a clever solution. Fair enough. (I still think it should have been unnecessary.....) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 If you can't stand the heat..... Progress over the last week or two has definitely slowed dramatically as the weather has imposed itself on all my efforts. However this morning I finally finished the wiring changes consequent on the change to Tortoise point motors. Hoorah. Now maybe I can get back to some real modelling. Chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 27, 2013 Author Share Posted July 27, 2013 A common experience? After a bit of a break from Dock Green, and all the tedious wiring stuff, I was finding it difficult to get on with the next few jobs. I decided to pick up and finish one of the half-done bits, the scrubby grass and weeds along the front of the baseboard which looked a bit thin and unconvincing. This was a "ploddy" job - something that didn't require any great thought or skill. Adding a lot more grass clumps has made it look more convincing. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 (edited) No progress worth posting for a while now. I took a week off Dock Green to do other stuff (playing with a new camera etc) and have been chasing up lots of little unfinished bits (forgotten unpainted corners, obvious joins in the cork etc). I have decided to remove the servo drive for the starter signal and replace it with a Tortoise (in line with the conversion of the points). However a Tortoise, as supplied, does not make a good signal driver and needs a little work. The signal needs a vertical pull-wire but a Tortoise is set up to move a wire from side to side to operate a point. The Tortoise design includes a fulcrum plate that slides in two moulded slots so that the amount of throw is adjustable. If you remove the sliding fulcrum plate the slots can be used to support a flat mounting plate. I found that a piece of 1.6mm single-sided PCB cut to approx' 31 x 19mm is a snug fit. To fit a lever pivot I drilled a 1.8mm hole on the centre line about 5mm from one end and tapped this 8BA. Tapping an 8BA thread in PCB is not very good engineering but it's only used to hold the bolt while it's soldered. I cut the head from a brass 8BA machine screw and screwed it into the plate so that it was flush at the back. . It was soldered to the copper with a brass washer in place to form a boss. I made up a lever from a length rectangular section brass tube of 4.7 x 2.38mm section. A flat brass strip would be fine but I happened to have a length of the rectangular tube in a drawer. A short length of 3.2mm OD tube is needed - this is cut to be a little longer than the thickness of the lever. Two holes are needed in the lever; one of diameter 3.2mm to fit around the sleeve on the pivot pin, the other 2.9mm to accomodate the screw which is supplied with the Tortoise.The next photo shows the lever fitted onto the Tortoise. The sleeve allows the nut to be tightened with the lever able to move freely. The Tortoise output block travels about 15mm from one side to the other but I need about 5mm vertical movement to work the signal. So the wire needs to be attached between the pivot and drive hole, about a third of the way along. The next photo shows a pilot hole drilled in the lever at the point where the wire will be.The wire I am holding in the photo is an indication of how the signal pull wire will be relative to the lever. At the moment I am thinking along the lines of a short length of wire hooked into the hole. This is slid into a short tube. The pull wire from the signal is slid in from the other end of the tube so that the two wires overlap and they are then soldered up, the solder filling the tube. Adjustments can be made by melting the solder and moving one or both of the wires up or down and so changing the length. I know that this arrangement will work as I have used it before but it isn't very elegant so..... I would welcome any ideas you might have for a better method. that allows the wire to be adjusted up or down so that the signal action can be fine tunedthat swivels on the lever (as this moves in an arc)and is easy to make and fit Edited August 8, 2013 by chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted August 8, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 8, 2013 I don't know if this will help Chaz. To activate some turnouts I mounted the tortoise on their sides and arranged brass rods in plastruct tubing to activate the turnouts. A Short length of brass tube was soldered across the rod and the actuating wire for the tortoise threaded through. The tube meant that no side thrust was applied to the rod. Turn this through 90deg and you have up and down motion. You might need limiters to protect the signal mech. If the rod ran through brass tube in the baseboard that could act as an upper limiter for the short length of tube. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Thanks for that, Don. As I only have one signal to do and I already have the lever installed on a Tortoise I am half way there. You are right though, my Tortoise will also be on its side, supported on a bracket off the nearest frame member. No. what I was seeking was a better way of allowing the pull wire to be adjusted, preferably not involving solder. I was talking to my wife, Sue, about the problem and she suggested... ...the metal part of a "chocolate block" style screw terminal connector. Now why didn't I think of that? problem solved! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 The signal drive is now on hold while I work on other stuff on the baseboard top surface (far more interesting!) but it will be done soon and I will then post a snap of the completed drive, installed. One thing I didn't say in the posting above - to convert the Tortoise to do this job needs no change to it at all. If you are thinking of trying this there is no risk to an expensive purchase - the Tortoise can easily be changed back to its previous configuration (provided you don't lose the removed fulcrum plate!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 A small refinement.... It occurred to me that it might be quite fiddly to adjust the pull wire if both wire lengths were free to slide in the connector - there would be nothing to stop the connector dropping down out of position until at least one of the screws is tight (cue the anglo-saxon!). So I have soldered the connector to the wire from the Tortoise. I filed a slot in the side of the connector first and used 188 solder, adding enough to form a good fillet on both sides of the wire for strength. so now the wire dropping down from the signal just needs sliding into the connector, adjusting so that the arm is horizontal when the Tortoise is at one end of its travel, and the screws then tightened. If the screws are loosened for adjustments the connector stays put. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 (edited) Another small job out of the way.... As I want all my operators to be able to make a good job of driving the locos on Dock Green, including using the DCC sound to good effect, I thought it a good idea to do a prompt card for each. These will hang on the back of the backscene retaining walls on small round-headed screws, where they can be easily referred to. They can be changed quickly as the locos come and go. I have put three sets of screws in place - I don't anticipate more than three locos being in use at a time. Chaz Edited August 11, 2013 by chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 This afternoon I finished installing the Tortoise drive for the signal.... Snap shows the baseboard inverted. The Tortoise is fixed to the bracket that used to carry the servo, although it had to be repositioned to bring the two lengths of wire into line. The brass fitting at the bottom of the picture is the socket into which the signal plugs and above it is the connector (see above) that allows the wire length to be adjusted to get the signal arm horizontal in the stop position. Chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 (edited) Tatty, weatherbeaten, unloved.... Further up the page (posting #828) I explained how I was going to hide the T-nuts that had to be fitted on the front of the retaining walls. At long last I have made the second box. Both boxes are small card structures with my usual overlay of "planks" cut from 0.8mm ply'. I stained this to make it looked like battered bare wood and the sloping roofs are card painted very dark grey. When I placed them in position they didn't look quite right and I decided a battered coat of paint was in order. Using a thin brush along the planks and working away from bits I didn't want to colour worked fine. I was almost dry brushing as I wanted a patchy, neglected look. Here are the two boxes in position on the layout... ...and a close up of one of them. This one still needs its patch of weeds growing underneath where feet don't go. They are a small feature, right at the back of the layout, so will not grab attention but I hope that they do contribute to the overall scene. I still have no idea what they are for but I do remember seeing similar small structures by the lineside, tucked away in odd corners. Chaz Edited August 15, 2013 by chaz 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 (edited) I'm in small detail mode today.... Another "feature" I remember seeing was a pile of sleepers left by the lineside. Here's mine... Unlike the sleepers in the Peco track these are wood. They have obviously been here some time as the weeds have had time to become established around them. I am determined that Dock Green should not look cluttered so there will not be too many more added details. Chaz Edited August 15, 2013 by chaz 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 (edited) Filth.... More sooty deposits on bridge #4 and the two baseboards at this end of the layout are very nearly finished. They just need a few wagons and a hissing steam tank trundling about to bring them to life.... Below a view looking down the reception/departure line - not a view that's usually available, but nice. I'm not sure about the soot patches directly above the tracks. Do they need to be a big darker or wider or are they about right....? Chaz Edited August 16, 2013 by chaz 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Hi Chaz, New pics look good, hopefully I will make it to Warley. Maybe sooty deposits good be a little wider? Alan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGhostofNigelGresley Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Possibly they could be of different sizes, at the moment they look a little symmetrical. Maybe toss in one big one ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
switcher 1 Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 I think the brickwork above would also be sooty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 ... and I'd make the 'edges' much less distinct. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Traxson Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Filth.... More sooty deposits on bridge #4 and the two baseboards at this end of the layout are very nearly finished. They just need a few wagons and a hissing steam tank trundling about to bring them to life.... Below a view looking down the reception/departure line - not a view that's usually available, but nice. I'm not sure about the soot patches directly above the tracks. Do they need to be a big darker or wider or are they about right....? Chaz Casting my mind(or what's left of it) back 40+ years, I seem to think that most bridges had smoke/blast deflector plates through them, from a little outside the arch(easier to replace rotted plates than rotted bridge?). Certainly the smoke marks would fan out and fade as they got higher and the edges would be less distinct. having said all this I'm plucking up courage to do this very thing on my 7mm narrow gauge layout and I know it ain't easy. Phil T. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 (edited) Thanks for those thoughts chaps. The airbrush bottle still contains matte black so it will be a simple job to revisit the smoke marks tomorrow morning. Smoke deflector plates? We did consider them but as Empress Road bridge in Loughborough, on which Peter based the bridge, doesn't have them and probably never did (although one would have to check old pictures in albums to be sure) we decided against them. Chaz Edited August 16, 2013 by chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 Possibly they could be of different sizes, at the moment they look a little symmetrical. Maybe toss in one big one ? Well GoNG, the obvious one to be bigger is the reception/departure where locos might be working a bit harder and there might be more traffic - the other tracks are just sidings after all. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Thanks for those thoughts chaps. The airbrush bottle still contains matte black so it will be a simple job to revisit the smoke marks tomorrow morning. Smoke deflector plates? We did consider them but as Empress Road bridge in Loughborough, on which Peter based the bridge, doesn't have them and probably never did (although one would have to check old pictures in albums to be sure) we decided against them. Chaz I'm not convinced the authorities would bother with smoke deflectors in a yard. I think the staining would be heavier on the reception and departure road where the engine would routinely be working harder as it pulled away from the yard. Smoke deflectors can still be seen at Surbiton station on the ex-LSWR mainline out of Waterloo. They are concrete and cast into footbridge of the 1937 art deco station. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 17, 2013 Author Share Posted August 17, 2013 (edited) I'm not convinced the authorities would bother with smoke deflectors in a yard. I think the staining would be heavier on the reception and departure road where the engine would routinely be working harder as it pulled away from the yard. Smoke deflectors can still be seen at Surbiton station on the ex-LSWR mainline out of Waterloo. They are concrete and cast into footbridge of the 1937 art deco station. I agree Chris. My understanding is that they were fitted to cut down on the corrosive effects of coal smoke on steel; I believe they were occasionally fitted to signal gantries. But their use was certainly not universal and where traffic levels were low they might well have been omitted. Having said that the traffic levels in Dock Green yard are probably going to be somewhat excessive! Chaz Edited August 17, 2013 by chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I agree Chris. My understanding is that they were fitted to cut down on the corrosive effects of coal smoke on steel; I believe they were occasionally fitted to signal gantries. But their use was certainly not universal and where traffic levels were low they might well have been omitted. Having said that the traffic levels in Dock Green yard are probably going to be somewhat excessive! Chaz Indeed they were. Here is a pitcure of a bracket signal on the Blubell Railway that is so fitted and a gantry at Taunton in diesel days still carrying deflectors. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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