G.W.R. BLT: Almost there.

[jonte]

Looking forward to further reports your progress in this field Jon . Don't put yourself down on the skills front - I am one of those guys who is more than happy to use things straight out of the box without a lot of further work, so who am I to talk about skill sets?
Please keep us informed - your audience awaits .

Roger

Oh I don’t know so much, Roger.

I seem to recall you resurrecting a certain Webb tank within a couple of hours and with a basic tool kit in your revered shed, that I doubt ever worked as it should, even when originally built by a ‘professional’

Credit where it’s due, my friend

Thanks as always for your kind words and encouragement.

Jon

 

[jonte]

The last point of the day to be laid, still with pin to be trimmed:



At close of play, four of the five points have been fitted with their motors. Again, manual testing is positive with plenty of free movement, and the bonus of no gaping hole:



Please excuse the excessive use of insulated joiners, however I find it helps keep everything as straight as possible. Some of course will remain for electrical continuity.


Next time, the infill sections of track will be cut to size, and laid together with the last motor to be fitted to the final of the five points.

Then, the locations of rails to which wires will be soldered and frog wires will be marked and holes drilled through which the wires will pass below board. Once achieved, the lot will be lifted and the wires soldered to rails before refitting and reattachment of the point motors.

Cheers.

jonte

 

[jonte]

Not a lot to show for a day’s attention, but the outer part of the loop with its radius caused a headache or two. The problem was that with space at a premium, the final point (laid today as planned) had to go in a precise location; no ifs or buts.

Rather than cut too short, it was a case of near enough; offer up; remove; file a bit off; offer up…etc. You know how it goes, folks. The fact that one rail’s longer than the other is another variable to take into account. Then, just as I thought I had it, it was suddenly too short

The straight (inner loop) was a cinch by comparison.

Eventually, trying to marry up two roads to one point with its flimsy insulated joiners all the while ensuring it went back where it should to fit over the pin of the point motor again, was a trial.

Thankfully, it all seems to fit okay, but I’m beginning to have second thoughts about lifting it all again to fit wires discretely to the underneath. Having to go through that performance again whilst trying to thread wires through small holes isn’t all that appealing. If I decided to go down that road, I’d fit wires to the rear of the rails so as not to be on show from the viewing section to the front; this is another advantage of a removable backscene, one last obstruction to contend with.The entry lane, head shunt and sidings can all be wired from underneath as planned as no juggling skills would be required in those cases.

I’ll leave you with a couple of shots taken once again at close of play:




Busy tomorrow so will try and do a little more at some stage over the weekend.

Thanks for looking and for the generous likes.

jonte

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Thankfully, it all seems to fit okay, but I’m beginning to have second thoughts about lifting it all again to fit wires discretely to the underneath. Having to go through that performance again whilst trying to thread wires through small holes isn’t all that appealing. If I decided to go down that road, I’d fit wires to the rear of the rails so as not to be on show from the viewing section to the front; this is another advantage of a removable backscene, one last obstruction to contend with.The entry lane, head shunt and sidings can all be wired from underneath as planned as no juggling skills would be required in those cases.

Yes I would wire from behind so to speak. However, it may get a bit tricky when you wire the isolated points. Personally I wouldn't want to wield a soldering iron around the rails on the points for the fear of dislodging the gauge through heat.

With apologies in advance Jonte. To make the wiring (I assume for DCC) easier and reduce the number of soldered track feeds - which does unfortunately mean lifting the track - I would be inclined to remove the yellow circled isolators and replace them with live rail joints. The pink circled ones stay in place and the circles at the bottom of the photo are for the joints I cannot see. I presume they are Electrofrog points.



And, again, apologies for the Mysteron rings all over your photo.

 

[jonte]

Morning Dave, and many thanks for your valued contribution

You’re right, of course, about the overly excessive use of the plazzy joiners, and apart from the doubles in the loop (unnecessary I know, but overkill as DCC can be a little sensitive so just belt and braces) the intention was always to replace the unnecessary ones outlined with metal joiners after wiring. As I mentioned in my previous, the plastic joiners help to keep everything balanced and straight for marking out, and a bonus is that the ‘stop’ in the middle of the insulated joiner acts as a sort of expansion gap when replaced by metal joiners. That was the thinking anyway.

Despite having never got further than building baseboards and laying track stages, I’ve always somehow managed to ‘blag it’, electrically, originally guided by those old Peco pamphlets of yesteryear and most recently in t’internet days, by Mr. Lambert’s valuable ‘how to’ thread, which I have to keep referring back to as my memory”s like a darned sieve! I even managed to get this working first time too:

Another ‘unfinished’ symphony, it mimics in a fashion that at Birmingham Snowhill and is built to a gauge of 18.83mm (I shaln’t insult the P4’ers by calling it just that ), but even that managed to work first time following the diagrams of a three way in the late Iain Rice’s book on track making.

Back to the point in hand confused,Dave, I’d thought about several ways of circumventing this problem in the event that I became (expectedly) lazy over the lifting of the track to wire, most of which are totally unrealistic; in all reality, I probably will wire from underneath, starting with the furthest point and track first whilst enthusiasm and energy levels are at their peak. That’s the most patience testing, and when all’s said and done, the benefit of the new point motor is that it can be removedand replaced very easily with just a twist (the marked out holes for pins will ensure the track goes back where it came from), so I’m blessed in that respect.

Apologies for the waffle and to those who’ve seen those piccies of the three-way once too often……

Regarding the Mysterons , Dave, my son as a youngster (who’s now a strapping, head of department, school teacher), was terrified of the introduction to each episode of captain Scarlet (where it accounts for his immortality) and used to hide behind the settee until it was over, bless his cotton socks.Thus I pulled his leg recently by texting him this:

Great stuff too if you like Anderson productions.

Thanks again, Dave.

Jon

 

[Roger Pound]

Jon,

Regarding under-board wiring, like you I find this a pain, especially as I work in analogue (the mysteries of dcc are well above my pay grade ). Having tried surface mounting on Whatborough Camp with qualified success, for Cropsham, my current 'new' project I decided that a relatively easily portable board which could be positioned edge-on to do the wiring may be a better answer. It seems to work for me - just a thought in passing which I hope may be of interest.

Roger

 

[jonte]

Jon,

Regarding under-board wiring, like you I find this a pain, especially as I work in analogue (the mysteries of dcc are well above my pay grade ). Having tried surface mounting on Whatborough Camp with qualified success, for Cropsham, my current 'new' project I decided that a relatively easily portable board which could be positioned edge-on to do the wiring may be a better answer. It seems to work for me - just a thought in passing which I hope may be of interest.

Roger

Hi Roger.

I think I know what you mean, Roger, which does indeed sound the ticket (‘simple ideas require profound ponderance’ - I think that was the saying anyway - something I’m incapable of ).

Incidentally, I took a deep breath and jumped in with both feet earlier this morning after a day away from the bench for grand parenting duties, and the hardest part was gathering up my soldering tools and making a space for them on my over-cluttered work bench (standing room only ).

The problem is trying to locate the holes for the wires centrally, as the 1/8” drill I’m using doesn’t allow much wriggle room (drill sizes that do leave whacking great holes in Blackburn, Lancashire ).

So, I’m taking it slowly, although I still managed to get only one wire dropper central out of the ‘two’ in the required position so far, (decided to go for hidden wires after all!) which means I’ll have to account for the ‘offset-edness’ when I drill. That’s my next task after I finish this coffee.

Wish me luck, and thanks again, Roger for the top tip. Keep them coming

Best,

Jon

 

[Tim Hale]

Well done

Tim

 

[Roger Pound]

Keep on drilling - you could hit oil..........

Roger

 

[jonte]

Well done

Tim

Thanks, Tim.

Jon

 

[jonte]

Keep on drilling - you could hit oil..........

Roger

If I do, Roger, I’m going to pay somebody who knows what they’re doing to do it for me

Jon

 

[jonte]

Well as mentioned earlier, I decided to do it the hard way after all.

A fits and starts approach saw me re-familiarising myself with my soldering iron, not having seen it for a while, before bonding the closure to the stock rail for electrical continuity. Offcuts of code 40 rail seemed slim enough for the job, although in their nickel silver, solder covered state, they resemble Elton’s seventies stage wear:




Still, some suitably coloured paint over primer should tone it down.

I was pleased with progress made in relation to relaying the furthestmost point, with which I started as planned, together with the rails forming the loop, especially in respect of the small 1/8” holes provided to ensure that the wiring remained discrete. Despite the cosy fit, everything went back from where it started, leaving no gaping holes. Unfortunately, the second point along wasn’t so straightforward: it went back into position alright, but the tie end was sitting slightly proud. I reckoned that forcing it down with pins would eventually cause the blades to rise above the stock rails, so intervention was urgently required. After fannying about for what seemed an eternity, gingerly opening up each of the three holes in true trial and error style, I eventually lost patience and took a 6 milli bit to all three. I’m relieved to report that it now sits flat. The holes can be dealt with later

Not a lot to show once again, but relieved now that the most difficult part of the relaying is out of the way.

Until next time, thanks for looking and I’ll leave you with a couple of shots of progress made:



Cheers,

jonte

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Good start. I don't think you'll even notice the wiring by the time the track is painted and ballasted.

Nowt to worry about.

 

[jonte]

Good start. I don't think you'll even notice the wiring by the time the track is painted and ballasted.

Nowt to worry about.

Thanks, Dave

Jon

 

[jonte]

Just one more siding to fit.

The entry from the fiddleyard:



From the terminus end (could barely get in to take the shot):



General:



Cheers,

jonte

 

[Zzz123]

Very nice Jonte, it's coming along nicely! I like the narrow viewing slot - focusses the view.

 

[jonte]

I’m pleased to report that track laying is complete; does it work?

At the risk of sounding facetious, your guess is as good as mine, at least until I’ve popped out to pick up the electrical gubbins with which to connect it all up. So far as to say, there are no dry joints and there are enough feeds to ensure that my over exuberance in the insulated joiners department, shouldn’t prove too problematic

As belt and braces, each if the two headshunts has isolation gaps fitted to be operated by on/off switches. Probably not required with DCC, at least it will provide more switches to indulge my passion for flicking switches (looks like my granddaughter has also inherited my genes in this respect as she can’t pass a light switch without flicking it, although my wife frowns upon the practice ).

Anyway, now that this part of the build is over, I’ve taken a couple of minutes out to enjoy the fruits of my labours by adding one or two bits and pieces to give an impression of what it might look like when it’s finished (fingers crossed).

To this end, here are a couple of shots to share with you, accompanied by the odd narrative to act as a guide.

An aerial shot looking towards the terminus end:



A nearer track level view of same:




Looking across the tracks towards the station building:



The two headshunts: one for the loop, currently occupied by the Dean Goods (Oxford Rail), and the nearer siding for the coal staithes:



I like the mass of rails in this shot, and to that end, it’s amazing how much operational value can be obtained for a scenic section of only 4’6” using small radius points:



Looking across towards the signal box, the ‘coal’ road is to the right of the picture:



Finally, a view provided by the drop-down end scene over the buffer stops (when I eventually fit them !):



Hope you like them.

Best,

jonte

 

[jonte]

Very nice Jonte, it's coming along nicely! I like the narrow viewing slot - focusses the view.

Thanks, Zed

Essentially it’s to make it easier to manoeuvre around the house; any higher and I find it a little unwieldy. Easier to store too.

Hope you like the additional photos.

Jon

 

[Zzz123]

Thanks, Zed

Essentially it’s to make it easier to manoeuvre around the house; any higher and I find it a little unwieldy. Easier to store too.

Hope you like the additional photos.

Jon

Zed...I like it, might change to that!

Additional photos are great, signal box and station building look good too.

 

[jonte]

Zed...I like it, might change to that!

Additional photos are great, signal box and station building look good too.

I think it suits you

Many thanks for the compliment.

The signal box is just for signifying the actual box’s location (when I eventually make it!), which will be a single storey, platform based affair, perhaps along the lines of that of Fairford. It’s a long abandoned project built from a Dapol kit and bits from the spares box, and based on Sidmouth. In point of fact, the original Broad Gauge boxes were very similar to the typical SR style which I believe were based on the watchmen’s cabins at the end of turnpike roads which preceded the railways.

Incidentally, I forgot to mention that the long back siding will pass through the goods shed (once again, when I get found to making it from the left over parts of the station building), like at Cirencester town station upon which the track plan is based, but more akin to the ‘extension’ at Witney Goods station in Oxfordshire.

Cheers,

Jon