big jim

this morning i decided to make a start on the high level, only the points end so far, first thing i did was to mark up the point positions drilled a pilot hole so i could do a bit of work below turned the board over and marked up where i was going to router out a bit of wood so i could re-use the points motors from the old layout that had short pins, marked them in blue so i could see it through the router guard! not the best finish but it does what i want quick test of a point with some cork under it, looks about right next up i corked the top in readyness for track laying then onto the afternoon, popped to maplin for some LEDs and wire to experiment with points detection, inspired by another thread and a link to bryan lamberts excellent DCC wiring website i give it a shot without going too deep i used the dcc track power and switching frog to operate some of those self adhesive LED strips that you can get from maplin, worked fine under test and with power.... red for the diverging route green for straight ahead i then made myself a mimic board with all 4 points showing which i wired up at this point i realised i'd had a james may "oh cock" moment, namely the mimic board i made didn't actually mimic the trackwork! all was not lost so i cut the board down the middle, which was still not right so i ended up cutting it into four pieces which i then tacked to a piece of wood and loosly wired to the track, the result being this..... this picture shows both routes set for diverging routes route set across from the down to up and straight on both set for straight ahead and one set of points set wrongly i am going to add another set of green led strips to the "plain line" bits between the points at the top and beyond the points on the bottom line to show a bit more route i'm going to mount the lot into a panel which i will secure above the windows of the shed, i'll look at using some sort of 12 pin socket arrangement so it can be removed if needed if it looks good i'll do something similar for the station area!

did something different today, should have been a nice little out and back light engine job but as with most things it never goes smoothly started the day at 04:00 in basford hall to collect my train for the day, should have been ready to roll but when i got there the train was on 1 road and the locos were on 19 road so i had to, with the help of the freightliner shunter put them top and tail on the train 66846 one end 66849 the other end the train was a network rail test train to stoke, set off about 30 late due to a bit of confusion, it was an "X" classification which is an exceptional load, in this case out of gauge so had to keep to certain routes and had to obey local rules such as it being unable to use certain platforms and lines, add to that it was over length (officially) which meant i could only use platform 6 in crewe it took a good bit of work by the signaller to get us in and out without impacting too much on other traffic ready for the off, 405 meters(1325 ft) of train so off on my way, into crewe, changed ends and on my way to granville sidings in stoke, all good, got the train in with help of the PICOS (person in charge of sidings) as they were under T4 possession then it was doscovered the train was the wrong way round, a bit of discussion went on and it was decided to take it out and turn it, basically run back to crewe, into basford hall, back out to gresty bridge, into crewe again and back to stoke which is what i did, unfortunatly it took a few hours to get a new path in here is the train waiting to leave the sidings from here it was out towards stoke, drop behind the signal at cockshutte, change ends again and onward to crewe to do the turn as described above, again as we could only use 6 at crewe it caused the signaller a few headaches with other traffic routed round me but i got on my way back to stoke, time for a couple of pics as i could see things moving around me! into the sidings, propelled the train back up the "ore fulls" siding which is basically the old road into shelton steel works, another siding to colour in red in on my quail map! once propelled in i chopped off the south end loco and moved it onto the departure road before walking up to the north and setting the train back into the sidings where we split it into 2 sections for the various tests/work sites here is the north end loco on the "ore full" line hard to believe there used to be a steelworks here! end of the line! it was then a case if uncoupling the loco and recoupling it to the other one and heading back to crewe, at crewe i then resplit the locos in the goods loop and another driver took 849 to chirk to replace the 56s on the logs and i returned to basford hall with 846 all split and ready to go their separate ways back into basford hall and headed home, got a quick pic of this while walking back to the van in all a good day, despite what should have been an 8 hour day turning into considarably more (lots of "hidden" paperwork for control), again something different and interesting to do, the on site network rail and amey guys were brilliant, very professional as can be expected, they even ran me out to morrisons on festival park for provisions when it looked like i was there for the duration! by my calculations i changed ends a number of times and walked the length of the train 10 times to do so, a total of just over 2.5 miles walked just changing ends!! looking forward to thursday when i go back and pick it up again to return to crewe day off tomorrow though, layout time!

they run a bit closer to you than sandbach actually, they go stockport, altrincham, northwich, chester may be worth getting a lift to northwich for a few pics, one going over the viaduct over the weaver would be good or climbing up to cuddington

they dont run southbound but the northbound is about 23:15, have a look on real time trains, it should be on there

here are a few pics from the last couple of days, unfortunatly today was my only day on the logs this week (so far), i was hoping to get to take it along the cheshire lines through altrincham but i've got a coupel of days of engineers trains to work instead heading north last night, 56087 leading a dead in train 56105, 087 was only running on 4 traction motors but performed effortlessly, the northbound run was via stockport, manchester and bolton and onwards to preston, pretty much first stop was carnforth to allow a pendo past and back south this morning, ready to depart kingmoor with the 56s running in multi this time after picking up a conductor again at preston it was on to manchester, stopped at bolton to allow a few passenger trains past and on to deansgate where the conductor and i got off and the train continued on to chirk via stockport, altrincham and northwich, i seriously considered jumping onto a tram to alty to get a few shots of it coming through but decided to go to see what was left in modelzone on deansgate instead

nice! enjoyed working through manchester again today, been a while since i last did it with fastline, a few changes en route, no mayfield parcels station and lots of new flats around ordsall lane not to mention OHLE there too was running over 3 hours late but still lots of photographers about on the diversionary route passed a scorched class 70 near salford crescent being dragged by a 66, apparently it spontaniously combusted near hindley on an engineers train, has the fire brigade attend apparently

Been thinking about the high level boards this weekend, but before i could do anything i had to move all the stuff off the top of the boards so i could actually get to it! Found a piece of formica that was left over from a Sharps bedroom installation which i cut down to make a shelf below the layout to put it all on, going to make another one for the opposite side that can house the removable section After doing that i could get to the boards where i began looking at track setups, originally in my head i wanted a 2 platform station with a loop going into some sort of industrial complex, want to try and avoid hugely complicated track set ups due to space etc, after a play about i came up with this set up...... If you can picture it there would be a platform on the left (next to the shed building) then the "down line" next to the "up line" then a wider island/double faced platform with the "up loop" on the extreme right Looking closer at the other end we have the entrance to the shed coming off the "down" (propel in move), on the "up" there is a curved point to get over to the loop with a set of points going back into the industrial bit (which is a lot smaller than originally invisaged) going futher into a small Y point to 2 "discharge sidings" The depot will have a 3 way point to the 3 roads in the shed with a point coming back off the right hand line back to the fuelling points which are on the high level bit Once im sure thats how i want to do i will crack on with getting point motors in place before i secure the top and fit the cross bracing to the framing, much easier to fit the bracing once motors are in place and the beauty of this particular set up is all the points are on the one board. as i want to reuse the seep motors from my previous layout which now have slightly too short pins i am going to mark their positions and use the plunge router to take a few MM of base board depth away from underneath so the motors are sat either flush or recessed slightly to give me the length back on the pins, doing it this way will at least mean the recess is level throughout as opposed to it possibly being skew-wiff if i use a hammer and chisel

i like that, almost timeless

tonight i just felt like playing trains so i got my "sinfin tanks" out and had a bit of a run with them, used them primarily to check out the trackwork, had a few problems with derailments at first but i fiddled with the track a bit, closing rail gaps, straightening entrances to points etc and i seem to be getting there, still a few problem areas but nothing major one little job i did was to wire in the lenz remote plug, got some 4 core telephone cable from maplin which i soldered to the original lenz wires last night before fitting it today, worked spot on so i secured the wiring in its final position ready my version of the sinfin tanks train i worked the other week! last nights video of the 70 testing the yard light engine and tonight testing it with the tanks behind one bit of advise i'm after though, the seep point motor "track feed" tabs are soldered to the track at the actual toe end of the point, would it be possible or indeed would there be any benefit to wiring them to the bus wire i'm running to the decoders from instead of the track, its a 13.8V DC regulated supply? or possibly as shown in the decoder instructions should i wire the TRACK and POWER inputs on the accessory decoder together but run it to the regulated supply rather than the track feed? the reason being the motors don't seem to have much of a "kick" when i operate them despite going over ok (i have not run a track bus wire under the layout, the whole lot is currently fed from the one power point)

My last 5 cars cost less than that combined!!

A little bit more....... Sorted out the controller shelf Then began the wiring from the regulated power supply, ran the cable along the wall below the layout, clipped into place which connectors in place where the accessory decoders are going to be fitted, should i decide to add any extra decoders or things like yard lights, buffer stop lights etc then i can merely cut the cable and fit a chocolate block connector Then i cut a hole in the end board with a 25mm hole cutting bit So i could fit the lenz handheld controller plug in place, just need to get some telephone type cable to join it to the controller Forgot to put last week, that i'd laid the track up the inclines A trip to maplin tomorrow to get some more cable then after payday a couple more accessory decoders, can't really carry on with the high level bit until i'm sure all the points that are below are working correctly with the decoders

did a bit of track replacement earlier, basically the curved point into the yard was causing me problems as the main line rises up the bank but the diverging route stayed on the level so i was having problems with locos derailing where the track dipped into the yard the solution ws to remove the points and refit a set of short straight points instead so it would all be on the level first up, removed the curve point refitted the short point reconnected the tracks to them, i did a bit more fettling since this pic and have taken some of the cork from the mainline to level it out a bit you can see the difference between the point lengths here and testing them with the sound chipped 70, quite a large loco so a good one to find rough bits of track! EDIT: you tube link not showing when posted on ipad

aslo to add to what mike has written, yes the rear loco is shut down, if it was running then it would require a 2nd driver as class 66s don't have automatic fire fighting equipment fitted so the lead driver would not know if it was on fire! its not just about supposedly saving money, there are of course operational reasons for top and tail, no run round facilities, possession instructions etc RHTT wagons have multi cables and control air pipes fitted so both locos can be running, similarly things like chltern's silver sets running with dvts can remotly operate the fire equipment on the 67s, if they use non fire equipment 67s then they have to be manned too

another "wheels" shot, this time a pair of 56s from earlier

and back up north again today 6c37 from chirk, 56105 and 56087 in multi today first job was fuel them as west coast worked it in last night and dont know how to use the fueller (photo edited/cropped down to just show the locos, not any infrastructure! and away, first stop bushbury jn for a few minutes next stop was winsford jn, sat on the slow while a few passenger trains passed, then on to tebay, another shot of tebay loop (i seem to frequent it quite a lot), and another combo of locos! and on to carlisle, almost at journeys end, just about to run round to propel back into the wood yard

this evening was a nice little job in the sunshine to conduct an enginners train out a possession into the good loop at craven arms a few pics of the evening the view from the box, basically this weekend craven arms is sitting between 2 possessions, the 153 is stabled on the down line in readiness to work a service over the heart of wales line which diverges just beyond the platform, it was hoped that the train leaving the possession would be able to work into the down platform before crossing over at the crossover beyond the 153, however the signaller couldn't get the points over as the 153 was occupying the section between the 2 signals so the interlocking wouldn't allow it so the possession train had to sit there until 19:30 after the 153 left the section (and station) towards kinghton a few pics from inside the box once the 153 left i walked down to the signal to meet the train, he had permission to pass the home board at danger and i was meeting him at the signal on the down (the one you can see the rear of) which i had permission to pass at danger to cross over and move towards the box looking back towards the 'box, i was to cross over towards the ground signal next to the box which i also had to pass at danger as the wrong direction move is unsignalled, for that reason the signaller also had to clip and scotch the points for the movement couple of signal views CA23, junction signal, main line to take you towards ludlow and subsiduary towards the heart of wales line CA2, protects the crossing, an 'inner home' signal, the section being beyond the crossing and at CA2 my train came into view, driven by part time RMWebber 21Alizard, 66067 leading a train of 10 salmon wagons adn 66111 on the rear and into the good loop, we went right up to the end to clear a crossing but it didn't fit, we ended up moving back towards the 'box to get in without blocking the crossing, before the move back, note the "tail lamp" camera next tot eh loco so the box knows you are in clear as the loop is before the box after moving back towards the box it was a case of shutting down the locos and putting on some handbrakes, the rear loco 66111, one of the RETB fitted 66's, note the highland rail sticker on the side and driving back past marshbrook i spotted this through the trees so i stopped and got a quick pic of it, a class 70 sandwiched between a couple of ews spoil trains, there was another one in the distance too something a bit different and the first ews 66's i've driven too

thats the fella, i did think it was something to with ATP, obviously a different system to the chiltern line type i'm used to seeing which has arming loops and no ramps

Choas at New St earlier, 4 trains worth of passengers waiting to get onto the aproaching desiro!

i was looking at my bachy 70 earlier, a respray into colas colours is probably quite simple but the amount of ohle stickers and little warning notices on it is unreal! anyway onto today, did a bit of road learning to didcot again, first up i went over to moor st to get the 10:55 to banbury then i had to go to reading using the XC cab pass then travel back to didcot on a fgw hst (passenger) to didcot so i could have a look round, i then got a 165 back to oxford before getting another XC voyager back to new st where it all went belly up as usual, the train back to crewe was 30 mins late, the manchester was 30 late due to no driver too so everyone piled on the desiro which ended up rammed all the way back to crewe some pics.... started at moor st and on to banbury to wait for my train to reading and into reading, had about 15 mins there so got some pics from the new bridge, which having had a good look at it is very impressive, if somewhat lacking passenger service info in strategic places (but not as bad as new st at the moment) looking back from the new bridge towards the west quick question for the stationmaster, noticed on the way in there are some sort of white boxes at most signals, pretty much where TPWS grids are normally located as can be seen on the UP line just beyond the facing point, what are they? smart looking unit in FGW livery, a class 180 my train back to didcot onto didcot, only 1 pic, ews 66 in the yard area and onto oxford, spent a bit of time here, went into the box for a look round, had a good chat with the signallers, always worth doing in my opinion couple of old BR blue vans in the goods platform and then onwards back to crewe via new st tomorrow, craven arms to conduct an EWS 66 off site into the goods loop, hopefully get to drive it, first EWS 66 if i do!

I' e got a pair of them on sunday but i'm going WCML with i as i still dont sign the s+c, i'm sure ive got a southbound job next week too so that will also be going WCML too

as it happens i visited the 'box at oxford today while road learning, spoke to the signallers who said the loop is indeed being relaid however it will become the down fast (90mph) and if i understood it correctly, the up loop will become the up fast with the existing roads (current fast lines) that will be then running up the centre become freight loops, the junction at wolvercote will be doubled too

i did a few of the route risk assesments for fastline, crewe to liverpool amongst them, the gathered info is inputted into a computer and it gives an index of how complex/risky a route is, info included things like multi spad signals, signals with restricted views, areas of low adheasion etc, of course there is no substitute to actually getting out there and driving it with an instructor! from a drivers point of view you do get a briefing and "yellow peril" for any signalling or p way changes to routes, the one for aynho to marylebone was pretty big!

its always the same, i go and route learn somewhere and they change it, off over there later learning aynho to didcot

couple of pics from today, worked the sinfins from crewe to carlisle, first stop was carnforth then onwards to tebay, final stop carlisle tebay loop