Progress (or otherwise) on Jeff's new layout

Watch this space Jeff, and thanks.  Those track-laid boards which got as far as powered test runs 10 years ago for a project I never took forwards and which had been used as shelves beneath Penhayle Bay ever since are finally up on legs and need only a corner piece fitted between them to permit test running of the new project.  

Sounds promising, Rick. I'll look forward to seeing your progress on that.

A few more new items have arrived tonight, in the shape of a Dapol LSWR B4 0-4-0T No. 96, Normandy, a Hatton's Beilhack snowplough, and (from a couple of days ago) a Hatton's P class 753 in SECR livery, together with two of Hornby;s 3-plank wagons in SECR livery.

The B4 was DCC-fitted out of the box. It has been run-in on the rolling road, but a slight tight spot remains going forwards only. I have managed to free it up a bit, but it is still evident at crawling speed. As can be seen in the video, it is fine at more normal operating speeds.

I took a short video on my mobile phone to show all of these items off in one go.

No attempt was made at period accuracy for this video! 


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​IMG_20180612_185945 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

You'll have to model some snow somewhere now Jeff  


Ed

I think this one and the converted tender I made many years ago will sit at the back of the engine sheds 'on display' for much of their lives. :)


Snowplough Tender - 3 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


I did do a snow layout once for an exhibition in Rockhampton. I don't have many photos of it, and only one actually scanned into digital form. I didn't have any snowploughs at that time, though.


model Metroliner oval by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

:thumbs


Ed

Having lost most of the school holidays with a virus and lung infection, I have finally done a little more  on Newton Broadway … not much, but it's a (re)start.

I drilled holes for the working Dapol Semaphore signals and planted two of them. Both are upper quadrant Southern Railway types, with one having a lattice post and the other a rail-built post. I may have to get another lattice post one as the location looks to require a taller signal because of the curvature and buildings in the way. I also have a couple of distant signals but I need to consider their positions carefully. One should be on the viaducts but I haven't figures out a way to fit it there, yet. Neither signal is wired up yet, so they are permanently at danger at present.


P_20180713_160536_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


P_20180713_161017_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


P_20180713_161244_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


P_20180713_161251_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


P_20180713_161301_vHDR_Auto by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


The weeping willow tree was only loosely planted, but fell over while I was trying to take the photos! This was also a good test of my new phone camera (an Asus zenfone 3 zoom - camera seems good and the battery life is remarkably good).

Sorry to hear you have been unwell Jeff and I hope things improve soon.

The new work looks good as ever.  I do like the 4TC and that view tempts me towards a blue-grey one.  I did have one on pre-order but cancelled when I realised I would only have space for one unit which is the original blue one.  But Rule 1, you know …..

All the best.

Hi Rick.

:hi

The blue/grey unit is pretending to be in the NSE era at present. I would love to get a third unit (NSE livery) but simply can't afford it at present … and that's ignoring the fact that I am really out of storage space too. 

    


The waste of my school holidays would have been tragic, except that Agnes and I are now both on Long Service Leave, but on half pay, so my spending has to be curtailed a bit. As it is, I still have several pre-orders to come in - a PLA Janus shunter and Kernow's Warship among them. I asked them to credit the Warship with the funds from the DJM class 74, so that should help a bit.

The TCs are very nice units though. You know you want one …

:cool wink  :cool wink   :pathead

The Dapol working semaphore signals are now working! I have temporarily wired them to a 12V DC power supply, although for the future I really want to step the voltage down a bit. I have some momentary on push button switches to work the semaphore arm motors, while the LEDs remain lit (one of the reasons for stepping down the voltage, to dim them a bit).

The Ivatt diesel electric 10001 has just had extra lamp irons fitted , made from a staple inserted into drilled holes, with extra dummy marker lights added beside them (actually just holes drilled into the front, filled with Krystal Klear). They barely show against the black paintwork. I also glued the discs on, just two per end - remember, while on the Southern Region, these were for route indication, not the type of train.


Dapol Working Semaphore Signals Wired Up - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


Dapol Working Semaphore Signals Wired Up - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

I have slowly been switching over to modern image with Network South East stock predominating on Newton Broadway's high level tracks.

This video is the result of around 10 - 15 minutes of videoing, followed by a lot more time editing the footage. Filming would have taken a lot less time if the Hornby Pullman coaches had behaved properly!

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In trying to run two Hornby 4 VEP units in multiple (i.e. a DCC 'consist') I ran into difficulties with the speed matching - they clashed rather badly and didn't want to work together at all. On checking, 7830 had a Lenz Standard decoder fitted (my usual standard for these) but 3588 still had a Hornby decoder in it - I forgot I had bought this one at a greatly reduced price already DCC fitted, and had never got around to putting a decent decoder in. Anyway, now I have worked that out, 3588 has a Lenz decoder fitted and is working reasonably comfortably with 7830.

My usual settings with these decoders are starting voltage (CV2) = 0, acceleration (CV3) = 25, and deceleration (CV4) = 18. Kadee couplers are used between units. At some stage I'll modify the consist settings so that the headcode, tail red headcode and interior lights are all operated by the consist address.


4 VEPs 3588 and 7830 - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


4 VEPs 3588 and 7830 - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Looks good Jeff  :thumbs



Ed

Thanks Ed.

I have been tweaking the CVs slightly in one of the two VEP units to get a reasonable speed match between them. The NSE unit, 3588, had its high and mid-voltage (CV5 and CV6) settings altered so that the two units run at much the same speed through all speed steps on the controllers.

I have posted a second video with Network South East trains, mostly different ones from the first video I posted a few days ago.


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I have done yet another video for the Network South East period of time, while experimenting with phone camera settings (stabilisation turned off to eliminate the jerky motion, 1080p at 60 fps for this set).

One of the Heljan CargoWaggons was playing up with a coupling losing its return spring and causing derailments (now fixed - this involves dismantling the wagon and the coupling mechanism and inserting a length of thin wire or, in my case, some plastic rod), but after several attempts, I got the Speedlink freight to run reliably with both the class 56 and the class 37.

I don't have any suitable Underground trains to run for this time period, although some are under construction (4-car trains of A60 and C69 stocks).

Of course, if you think my videos are getting boring or repetitive, please skip on by.

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Great video Jeff. I never get bored of watching trains go by  :thumbs  Love the sound of the 37 'growling by'  
Cheers

 Matt

Who could ever get tired of watching trains ?

Even if they are all diesels  :lol:

Thanks guys. :)

When I go back to an earlier era, I'll make sure I get some video of steam as well.

My faithful Fleischmann turntable has died. It exhibits a complete short-circuit when connected up, and I can't figure out what exactly is wrong or where it is. As this is a good 25 or more years old, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new turntable. I have settled on the Heljan 89121 model, which is DCC-ready as a bonus. It arrived this morning from Hatton's, and is unpacked and sitting loose on the layout now.

Since the overall diameter is smaller than that of the Fleischmann model it is replacing, I can have another go at arranging the engine shed roads with the turntable at the front, instead of behind the engine shed buildings. Preliminary experiments suggest it might just work. Unfortunately, I had to curtail my efforts earlier today due to a persistent cat - Sykes kept on sliding the door open and coming in to see what  was doing. I'm lucky Hattie didn't see that he had opened the door; I really don't want one cat, let alone two of them, racing around under and over the layout! 

The joys of being a cat slave. This is what real terrorists look like!



IMG_20171101_182504 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


 I have now managed to get some "Me" time, with both cats now tuckered out and sleeping. Here are the results of some rearranging and tinkering with track alignments with the new turntable very roughly in position (but obviously not sunk into the baseboards yet). The track is mostly only placed in position and not anchored in any way, just to gauge the effect so far.

Looking from the front, and going towards the back, there is a small spur for stores and coal, a single track to the turntable, a single storage and refuelling line, a double track engine shed, then another single storage line (which could be for DMU/EMU or for locomotives), then a double track EMU/DEMU shed (as before).



P_20180817_190551_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr



P_20180817_190605_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr




P_20180817_190619_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


​This is all untested at present, but looks reasonable to me so far. Any comments or suggestions welcomed.

I have just been working on a couple of unrelated projects. Firstly, I bought some 3D printed London Transport Electrical Isolation Cabinets from Shapeways. Having painted them yellow (with yellow roofs on the newer-style fibreglass boxes, and dark grey roofs on the old-style wooden pair), I tried to copy the signs on the pair I had from Metro Models, but couldn't get them in focus, so I made up some new ones in Word, printed them out and stuck them on. They are barely readable, even under high magnification (I was down to 1.5 point text), so I am not too concerned if they aren't quite accurate.


LT Electrical Section Cabinets by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


 Next, I have decided the final position for the new Heljan turntable, so marked out the perimeter with a pencil, with the turntable well upside down. I had to shift an under-board support by a few inches to clear the hole I was about to cut. I then cut the main hole, staying about 5-8mm inside the pencil lines, then cut out the holes in the paper template and overlaid that onto the baseboards and marked where the plastic spigots had to go, and drilled them out. A few test fits followed, with minor adjustments to the holes between each test, until it sat snugly in the recess.

The following pictures show the temporarily laid tracks back in approximate place with the turntable properly sunk into place.


P_20180820_165306_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


P_20180820_165318_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


 Experimentally, I rearranged the rear tracks with an extra point inserted to give one more storage line, and moved the engine shed over to be adjacent to the DEMU/EMU shed, but I don't think I'll retain this as it makes the sidings in the DEMU/EMU shed too short. It also makes the area look more cluttered. However, I am happy with the turntable position - anything else I do now won't interfere with that. It leaves a clearer view of the shed area without the buildings obstructing the view of operations.

P_20180820_165901_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


 This photo shows that even the largest of my steam locomotives will fit comfortably on the turntable. Merchant Navy 35023, Holland Afrika Line poses for the camera.


P_20180820_171504_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr