Church Norton

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I thought I had better put an update as to what has been happening of late on the layout ( fiddle yard ) and to be honest, not a lot !

Being a lone modeller as there is not a local club with 7mm interests in my area, I have to be a bit of a jack of all trades and one of my weaker areas in the hobby is the black art of electrics. So to this end I am trying to keep everything as simple as possible, the layout will be DCC and the turnouts operated by tortoise motors and the signals by servos and these will be eventually controlled by a lever frame.​

As you can see I have started to put some " droppers " in place but no " bus bar " at present, but yet again the gremlins have reared their ugly heads. I have just spent the best part of the morning trying to understand why I cannot sort out the polarity on one particular turnout, I tried swapping the three wires in different sequences ( I mean how hard can it be ! ) until finally out of the side of my eye I caught sight of a barely perceptible spark ! Yes all it turned out to be was a dry joint on the pcb board on the tortoise motor, Grrrr....

Apart from that it all seems to work OK.



Yes I will tidy it up when I am finally finished.



My trusty 57xx being used as a guinea pig.

ATB,

Martyn.

 

[Dikitriki]

Are you able to post a track plan yet Martyn?

Richard

 

[3 LINK]

Are you able to post a track plan yet Martyn?

Richard

Hi Richard,

Well I do not know how to " decant " my saved file of my track plan on Templot , so rather than be beaten I decided to take a photo of the plan on my monitor .



You can just make out the outline of the platforms in the bottom left, those platforms are just long enough for a 4 coach train, the minimum radius of the layout is 6' or over with just the inner fiddle yard curve going down to 5' 9" ( reserved for the local B set/ push pull only ). There is a loop feeding the goods yard and hopefully I will be able to increase the length of the head shunt at the top of the plan.

A fairly basic uncluttered plan I think, once the track is laid I will revise the plan and if needed maybe add a siding or two to the refuge siding that is sited at the end of the up platform.

I await any constructive comments, although Rule number one will apply .

ATB,

Martyn.

 

[Dikitriki]

Hi Martyn,

A more practical plan for the space. One immediate thought - can you shift the turnout at the 'south' end of the station further round antclockwise, so that the full length of the platform can be used. Visual more than operational.

Other than that, it would be unwise for me to comment in the slightest on GW practice .

Cheers

Richard

 

[3 LINK]

Hi Martyn,

A more practical plan for the space. One immediate thought - can you shift the turnout at the 'south' end of the station further round antclockwise, so that the full length of the platform can be used. Visual more than operational.

Other than that, it would be unwise for me to comment in the slightest on GW practice .

Cheers

Richard

Hi Richard,

There is nothing like the harsh reality of realising that the most grandeur of plans are usually shot down by Templot in the cold light of day, like most of us space is at a premium . I am just glad that I will be able to have a roundy at the end of the day.

The idea of extending the platforms is something I had not thought of up to now, the plan up to now was to have a road bridge ( scenic break ) going over the track and down towards the station where there would be a camping coach sitting in a disused weed strewn siding . The thought of maybe a 6 coach train is very appealing though, I will certainly give it some thought, cheers.

Martyn.

 

[3 LINK]

Just a quick update, as work has been quiet I have made a start on the electrics as you know, and believe it or not, it all worked first time point motors as well !



So all that is left to do to the fiddle yard now is to build the 3 remaining turnouts, so then I can make a start on the scenic boards.



As you can see in this last picture I have to juggle about with the different track gauges, and to make sure the 31.5mm gauges are just for the crossing vee and the wing rail area.



ATB,

Martyn.

 

[OzzyO]

As you can see in this last picture I have to juggle about with the different track gauges, and to make sure the 31.5mm gauges are just for the crossing vee and the wing rail area.

View attachment 35425

ATB,

Martyn.

Hello Martyn,

Looking good. if I'm reading your post right are you only using 31.5 in the crossing nose area? I'd have thought that you'd have use 31.5 for the whole point including the switch rails.

OzzyO.

PS. do you think that you'll make Telford?

 

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Hello Matey,

The main reason I decided to go 31.5mm was to avoid the dreaded wheel drop that you usually get with R-T-R, and even hand built turnouts in some cases unless you reduce the flangeway width through the crossing vee.

As all my turnouts are on a continuious curve I like to have that little bit extra play whenever possible, and I make the transition from 32 mm to 31.5 so gradual that it is hardly noticeble at all. Two of my turnouts on the planned scenic section are nearly 3' long so it is easy to blend in and out the 0.5 mm difference

.

Regarding Telford, things are looking up so fingers crossed I will see you there.

ATB,

Martyn.

 

[3 LINK]

Hi Folks,

Well it's been a while since I last posted any updates, what with the glorious summer we had and work getting in the way not a lot of work was done on the layout.

But now with the autumnal changes happening I have more of an interest in carrying on with the layout, rather than walking down the beach.

Well with the fiddle yard now all up and working, it's on to the first scenic board, this board is a bit on the large side being 6' 5 inches long but as the layout is hopefully going to be permanently sited in the room it should be fine. Actually the board is not that heavy in it's current state and I needed it to be longer so as not to have a board join across the heel of the curved turnout that will enter the station platforms. This board is lower than the fiddle yard so then I can hopefully blend in a small bridge and embankments along the line.

Here are a couple of photos to give you all an idea of what I am waffling on about.







ATB,

Martyn.

 

[Compton castle]

All looking great Martyn, it's coming on a treat,
What's the idea? Country scenery or an industrial feel?

 

[Neville]

Very impressive I love that curved board and how you have accomplished it.
Great Stuff! And I'm only on the first page!
Looking forward to the rest of it.
Thanks.
Neville.

 

[Osgood]

I see what you're up to now - you're going to build a second layout (a 'Cromford & High Peak tribute'?) on the side.

P.S. I'm very tempted to steal the idea of those adjustable legs (office furniture style? edit; no. kitchen units aren't they?) fastened to the baseboard and sitting on shorter trestles - with a bit of modification to anchor the base part they'd be suitable for a portable layout too.

 

[3 LINK]

All looking great Martyn, it's coming on a treat,
What's the idea? Country scenery or an industrial feel?

Hi Steve,

The layout will hopefully portray a quiet rural backwater ( well not too quiet, there will be lots of shunting and clanging of buffers I hope ) .

Martyn.

 

[3 LINK]

I see what you're up to now - you're going to build a second layout (a 'Cromford & High Peak tribute'?) on the side.

P.S. I'm very tempted to steal the idea of those adjustable legs (office furniture style? edit; no. kitchen units aren't they?) fastened to the baseboard and sitting on shorter trestles - with a bit of modification to anchor the base part they'd be suitable for a portable layout too.

Hi Tony,

I think with a gradient like the side of my baseboard you would be better off fitting some rack and pinion .

Regarding the adjustable legs, that's exactly what they are kitchen unit legs. I decided to use those as the old kitchen units underneath the fiddle yard are staying put, and so far they have worked out well especially for aligning the baseboard ends and you can also screw the bottom of the legs down if needs be, you will just need some long screws and maybe some washers.

All the best,

Martyn.

 

[3 LINK]

Very impressive I love that curved board and how you have accomplished it.
Great Stuff! And I'm only on the first page!
Looking forward to the rest of it.
Thanks.
Neville.

Thanks for the compliments Neville,

And it's good to see you on this forum as I often enjoy reading your threads from elsewhere .

All the best,

Martyn.

 

[Compton castle]

Now that I've finished hogging Martyn's track building services I'm looking forward to seeing the next instalment.
Have you decided what the scenic brake is going to be?

 

[3 LINK]

Hi Steve,

It's funny that you say that as I have been busy beavering away in the man cave today, no interruptions, playing my favourite tunes, sheer bliss.

I have made a start on the first scenic board and have just about put in the track base which will still be level but the baseboard itself is a couple of inches lower, undulating ground, embankments, etc. Now being that I am following the Templot plan to the nearest millimetre, I did not quite take in the expanse of area in the foreground , see photo.



So now, reference the " scenic break " it will no longer be a tunnel entrance but the entrance could possibly be disguised by a run down factory/warehouse of sorts with a weed strewn yard. I am also thinking that this could of had a couple of private sidings being fed from the refuge siding up past the down platform, which will be in neglect and no longer used, except for the occasional head shunt. Decisions, decisions.

Regards,

Martyn.

 

[Scale7JB]

Like it!

And as Neville mentioned, very clever idea for the double skinned curved board..

JB.

 

[Compton castle]

Plenty of space in the foreground for some nice scenics

 

[3 LINK]

I was rained off at work today so I thought great a day building the next baseboard, but the Wife thought otherwise

. The next baseboard will be a bit longer than I originally planned because the end of the board would of been halfway through a single slip, not good but never mind. So in the end all I have managed to do is put the scenic break in place.







One of my 12t Vans being nosey !







So that's all for now folks.



Martyn.



PS, sorry about the yellowish tint to the pictures, it must be the tube lights !