7mm The Derby Line: Basford North

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Hi Tony,

Love the flowing track work and the complex point work, it’s going to be one amazing layout. I really want to get back to work on my layout but I have too many other builds on the go at the moment.

Martyn.
 

dibateg

Western Thunderer
Thanks Chris, Martyn.

The majority of the electronics will be mounted on this panel in what will become a control cubicle, I just need to make up a shelf for the DCC kit. Ultimately it will be a lot more tidy!
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An overall view, just a few sidings left to lay in the goods yard. One the wiring is done, I'll ask 'er indoors to make up some curtains to hide all that junk.
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Weymouth traverses the switched diamond - no issues...
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rosspeacock

Modelling on a £1200 table.
Tony, your layout looks excellent. I love the trackwork, lovely and flowing as a couple of others have said :thumbs:

Ross.
 

daifly

Western Thunderer
The rail joiner situation for the storage yard is resolved a speculative purchase proved fruitful, they fit the C&L bullhead rail perfectly.
View attachment 130149
Just to illustrate how good these Atlas HO joiners are for our purposes, here's a photo with some C&L Code 125 rail. The joiners are slightly too long but fit very well and would do a great job of keeping the ends of two pieces of rail (particularly on a curve) well-aligned. Easily shortened as needed.
Dave
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dibateg

Western Thunderer
Thanks Dave

Wiring continues, but in the dire weather I've been making up the control panel for the storage yard. The front panel is only temporary at the moment and there is a lot of tidying up to do! I worked out a wiring schedule in Excel, but still needed to amend it. At least it can be updated and re-printed each time. The Vero boards are for the route setting circuits on some of the loops. One of my first jobs was making this sort of stuff, its amazing how many mistakes I still make....
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3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Hi Tony,

Crumbs, I wouldn’t know where to start, I am trying to keep my layout as basic as possible with an abundance of DPDT switches to cure all my electrical problems :D.

Martyn.
 

dibateg

Western Thunderer
Work continues - day after day. Wiring is not that exciting, but it means that soon the railway will be working. Half of the storage yard control is now wired and tested. As usual the railway room become host to household stuff and that has has to be moved out each time.. but soon it will be done and the curtains can go up. I'm finding stuff I've been hoarding for the layout for years, all those heavy PSU will be going down to the recycling centre. I used switch mode units now that are for 12v kitchen lighting. The reel of 8 core cable is dated 1995!
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dibateg

Western Thunderer
We've had a re-design of the station control panel - I've made up a temporary one for the moment. I've re-arranged some of the sidings , the middle siding looked too cramped. So I've created an engineers siding to use up some of that space between the station and Park Lane
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Dave Holt

Western Thunderer
Tony,
Hope there was no damage to the WD motor. Perhaps 7 mm stuff is a bit more resilient than my 4 mm. I've had a couple of lucky escapes with Portescap motors when I've inadvertently connected the DCC to my test track whilst a non-DCC loco was standing on it. Wondered what the strange rattling/buzzing sound was and then quickly lifted the loco clear. Phew!
Dave.
 

dibateg

Western Thunderer
Wiring continues, and with the control panel in place, power control has been commissioned. Work is in progress to connect the point motors. At the moment the panel is just a temporary lash up.
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With the storage yard now functional, we can now run some trains. A type 1 D8058 ( Heljan ) heads West with empties for Stanley colliery. Although actually they probably didn't appear until after my time period.
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A Derby Friargate train arrives at Basford North with K2 61738 in charge. The Thompsons are Sidelines, and the Gresleys are Kirk with Newbold underframes and JLTRT bogies. The K2 was a second hand purchase, builder unknown.
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dibateg

Western Thunderer
Wiring continues, board 10 is one of the busiest, with the control panel attached to it. I've also organised the control cubical with a shelf for the DCC equipment. I'm on the home straight now, just two 25 way D connectors to wire up.
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I have more stock than sidings, and I've identified some dead space behind the Bulwell Common line that could be used for some long storage sidings. So I've Templotted up some turnouts to see if it is possible.
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I can cantilever some extra board off the edge of the existing boards... Trouble is my initial planning was very accurate, there is very little ply left. Come a dry day I will fire up the jigsaw!
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Dave Holt

Western Thunderer
"I have more stock than sidings, ......"

What an enviable position to be in!
I take it your proposed additional storage siding have adequate access to reach any recalcitrant stock?

Dave.
 

dibateg

Western Thunderer
I'm working on it Dave - I shall have to stay slim, maybe cut down a bit on the crisps... On the other hand, lets not be too hasty...

The Basford panel is now commissioned, lights up and even works. There were just a handful of wiring errors. Trains can now traverse both arms of the junction with me having to crawl underneath and manually change the points.
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Station pilot for the day is '350 13032 and was used for testing the goods yard. It burbled up and down testing the sidings and turnouts.
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Dave Holt

Western Thunderer
I'm working on it Dave - I shall have to stay slim, maybe cut down a bit on the crisps... On the other hand, lets not be too hasty...

....Trains can now traverse both arms of the junction with me having to crawl underneath and manually change the points.
View attachment 140991

That method of operation might negate the need to cut down on the crisps:p.

I see there are numerous white card mock-ups of the future buildings. Peter Leyland has posted some photos on RMweb of the actual buildings and they look marvelous. I'm sure they will really look the part on Basford North. He has made the station, goods shed and signal box for my layout and I can say that his work is to the highest standard.

Looking forward to reading about further developments as you progress.

Dave.
 

dibateg

Western Thunderer
Thanks Dave -
yes - I'm looking forward to getting the buildings. They will define the location.

Work progresses on the extra storage sidings, its a bit of a squeeze. The missing bit will be hinged to allow maintenance. My 7 coach holiday train should fit in there ok. My trains are not that long, but a 22 wagon mineral train seems long enough when you video it. I think when you shrink a prototype in to a small space, reducing the long trains by a certain percentage doesn't matter. To me it looks better that a long train draping it's way around the layout. Fortunately most of the local trains were 2,3,4 coaches in the latter days.
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dibateg

Western Thunderer
Reasonable weather kept me away from the layout for a while, but increasing inclement days have assisted progress. The first part of the three sidings are in. It's all a bit tight though and although the first part of each siding is 6 foot radius, they tighten up further on to around 5'9" and they are a bit close. Trains will be backing in to these sidings. The middle road is tight so will be for short wheelbase vehicles only. The next section of the sidings will be on a hinged assembly, to allow for maintenance access. The boards are very wide here, but I'm planning on making a large area of scenery removable on the other side - there are no tracks there - to allow one to clamber on to the layout so as to be able to get to the back.
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