A layout in progress, slow progress...

Hi Keith.   Thank you for your reply, I don’t know how far your wagon fell, but, the only fall from grace was a brake van that I imported from Scotland as part of a track cleaning kit. Because the bodyshell smashed to smithereens. Since then I purchased a “Knockoff Track Cleaner “ and now with knock up a wagon body to fit on the brake van chassis. Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Keith

I don't want to jump on your bandwagon, but I can appreciate the lack of running trains - for one reason or another at this end; far too many to mention. Suffice it to say, although I've not spent much time in the Train Room, things have been happening in the background, such as making a start on some house building (start being the operative word), much programming work for the automatic signalling and even more programming, this time for updating the (too far to reach to visibly align) turntable - the old unit was unreliable for stopping at the various exit roads, being misaligned by a couple of millimeters, just enough to cause a derailment and some serious frustration. Hopefully, this time it'll have a stepper motor fitted to it if I can squeeze myself into the space under the turntable where a mouse might have issues getting. Planning the access to such areas was never really on my radar.

One day I'll get round to getting the oily rag out and giving the rails a clean with a bit of self-supplied elbow grease - like you, the track hasn't seen any cleaning activity for too many months now. No fancy track cleaning gear at this end - just an old long wheelbase truck with a felt pad glued underneath and a bit of weight inside to lend itself more to biting onto the track and hopefully give the rails a wipe over - and an old portable Dust Devil (with a failing battery). It's surprising where all this extraneous crud comes from.

Keep up the good work - following your trials and tribulations with interest regarding the timetable operations. Personally, I'll be happy just to run a few trains around!

Dave

You're never too old to learn and I admit I'm somewhat shocked…………….

From your comments, do I understand that the aim of a model railway is to actually run trains………?  :shock: :shock:

I thought railway modelling was a practice bed for woodworking, soldering, landscaping, painting, electronics, utilising some Anglo Saxon language etc. etc.  I've often wondered what those long shiney bits of metal were for……………..  :hmm

Running trains - well there is a novelty. Actually checked on the PC yesterday, out of interest, only too find I hadn't run the TrainController software and hence run a train since early December last year. Too much time spent designing buildings and other bits for the laser cutter. I was such a shock I did have a quick half hour running D0280 Falcon around the layout  and shock horror - other than stopping briefly on entry and exit from one of the auto-reversing sections it went round no problem. Really must find a solution to that timing problem - the PSX unit beats the auto-reverser to the punch stopping all trains on that third of the layout.

Ah, so that's where I've been going wrong all these years, he says fully tongue in cheek. How stupid of me to think building a model railway meant wanting to run trains. Perhaps there's an opportunity here to start a whole new industry of making scale models of trains that actually run under the power of this new fangled thing called "electricity" fed through and along the rails we so carefully lay across the boards; whatever next. 

Until that time comes then, I'd better get the glue stick out and start sticking building papers onto card and making some more houses, shops, etc. etc.
:doublethumb

Thanks for the comments everybody, replies follow this, with apologies for the delay. 

I’ve always stuck with the mantra ‘each to his own’. Yes, for me anyway, it’s a model of a railway…. and railways are there so that trains can run….. that said I completely understand that all the ‘scenery’ which comes as part of a model railway is an integral part of the layout and for many folk the most important part. I will get around to finishing all the green bits eventually – but to nothing like the standard of the majority of layouts on the forum – but at least better than it is now. I will however leave all this computer stuff to those who understand it, definitely not for me despite my background.

Almost 4pm on the layout, and Woodside Station is now very busy



In Platform 1 the Ivatt tank is ready with the 4.05 stopper to Helsby, behind it are the railcars which will form the 4.51 s/f to Helsby. In Platform 2 the stock is being prepared for the 4.41 stopping train to Chester, in Platform 3 the Stanier tank is ready with the 4.22 fast train to Chester and in Platform 4 the Standard 4 tank has the 4.30 for Paddington. The next arrival is the 4.49 from Helsby into platform 3 followed by the 4.53 local parcels into platform 5. This is why I’m fascinated by running the actual timetable, not long ago the Station was quite quiet, now look at it…. if I was just running trains things would be far more regular, a lot easier to deal with, but for me not as interesting. This is the start of the rush hour, which runs through to 6.30 and then it is all relatively quiet until the last train arrives from Paddington at 11.50.

Keith

S'mae Kevin

Only about two foot onto boxes, so no damage done….. although it was two months before I finally found the last wagon wedged between two of said boxes. Since then I always make a note of the number of wagons/coaches in the far siding, just in case it happens again.

Keith

  S’mae Dave

  Yes time in the loft here too has been fairly limited of late, down to the overall ‘Covid’ effect, which seems to have taken over most things. We had a trip out to the metropolis (aka Newtown) last Tuesday for overdue eye check-ups, first trip there for a year – really felt quite odd after all this time – I fancy we may well have become online hermits, and it will be some time yet before things return to whatever the new ‘normal’ is in the future.

  There are parts of Woodside which I used to be able to access fairly easily, nowadays however it isn’t quite that easy, I don’t appear to be quite as ‘flexible’ nowadays – either that or my arms are getting shorter.

  The turntable at 6C is just operator controlled, nothing fancy as you would expect, and I can normally avoid any derailments caused by misalignment as I have a clear view of the turntable. In the fiddle yard, where such a system would be difficult to use given the restricted view, I rely on the standard Hornby offering, which automatically pauses at each exit point, works very well.

  I’ll keep running the timetable for now – it would be good to get ’61 finished, but that’s a bit of an ask – and then I really should make some sort of effort on the green bits. There again, if I did start the ’56 timetable the West Kirby – Hooton branch would be open so I could get the 1400 tank on the layout, replace a couple of diesels with steam,  and see how the layout copes with the extra traffic at Hooton, all very tempting, perhaps too tempting….

  One advantage of the trains running is that they do tend to keep the dust levels on the tracks under control…..put your house building and electronics to one side for a while Dave, and enjoy some operating therapy!

  Keith

S’mae Peter

    I always thought one of the main purposes of a model railway was to define an area/room/shed as ‘my space’……

 I think you'll find that the Anglo Saxon also comes in really quite handy when you do start working with the long shiny bits of metal with their attached wires and things, as they too have a mind of their own – despite any amount of design and plans.

Keith

S’mae Dave H

Yes running trains is good for the soul. Sounds to me like you have a fairly complex system there – way beyond anything my poor grey cell could ever understand, but after a break it is good to see something running. For me, after this latest break from running trains, I have real problems remembering the exact functions of some of my many switches – but slowly it’s all coming back…. and proves I really should run the layout more often.

Keith

Keith

I know I have said this before but who needs green bits when you have trains with times, destinations and purpose.  Back in the day, Cyril Freezer called these layouts "Mainly operational" and they were none the worse for it!!

Keep up the good work - you continue to inspire

Barry

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

Keith

I know I have said this before but who needs green bits when you have trains with times, destinations and purpose.  Back in the day, Cyril Freezer called these layouts "Mainly operational" and they were none the worse for it!!

Keep up the good work - you continue to inspire

Barry

One of my crew, keeps digging me about finishing some scenic areas but with changing of track plans and attempting to get the "perfect" timetable & operational processes , the "green" bits are last on the list - at least my grey cells are kept active even if the moveable bits like legs arms ,etc are not perfect nowadays.

I think this is a good example of not much "green" bits

(Click to enlarge)

one of many found trawling the net using
railways through deserts

Hmmmm…. I got things like this from such  a search


Oh! Wait….. deserts, not desserts…..  My mistake!

A complete lack of green bits there Ron. My first thought was somewhere in the USA, but then it looks like narrow gauge, so maybe South Africa or China. On the other hand, it doesn't matter anyway.  :)

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

Hmmmm…. I got things like this from such  a search


Oh! Wait….. deserts, not desserts…..  My mistake!

 

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

Hmmmm…. I got things like this from such  a search


Oh! Wait….. deserts, not desserts…..  My mistake!

Gradient's too steep on that ! He'll never get up there without a Banker !! :hmm

I think that's the desert line where there's a photo of a gandy-dancer trolley on a well worn timber bridge somewhere online Sol - I recognise the sand…………………. :cool wink :hmm

I like the cake and if you cut a piece off for me it will reduce the gradient - if it's a big enough piece, you'll have a flat layout ……………… :doublethumb

Apologies for the delay, unfortunately all this dry weather has meant that I can get on with all the ‘outside’ jobs, increase the number of walks we do etc. Still the brownie points will eventually come in handy.

When I’m not outdoors I have been trying to advance this timetable, held up by some problems with my split chassis Hornby J94, currently one of the yard pilots. A few drops of oil seem to have done the trick for now – although I haven’t yet managed to find the right screw(s) to release the body. The instructions are still with the box, which is in a bigger box along with lots of other loco boxes and instructions, somewhere under the layout – which is tantamount to as good as lost, until I attempt a major tidy up. Anyone out there with a split chassis Hornby J94 that knows the correct screw(s) to remove the body, please let me know.

Meanwhile, on the layout it didn’t take long for the newly installed 3-aspect signals to improve operations – it is 16.30, the 2P is running down light engine to Hooton, to bring back the 17.00 Hooton - Rock Ferry, the yellow indicates that it will have to stop behind the 16.05 to Helsby in the loops under Woodside Station.



Sorry for banging on about the operational side of the layout – but that’s me, and there’s more… the Shrewsbury (via Granby) – Birkenhead milk train has now made it to Birkenhead with yesterday’s empties from the processing plant, after delivering today’s supply. The Hall will go off to 6C to be fed and watered before making the return transatlantic trip to Granby and Shrewsbury at the end of the rush hour.

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Catching up with the correspondence…
                                                     
S’mae Barry – Many thanks for your kind comments, and yes, there are a few of us about with the timetable/operational bug, and I do like the sound of having a ‘Mainly Operational’ layout. Give it time, we may get a few more converts!
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S’mae Ron – yes, getting the track right and then the timetable has to come before the green bits, all a question of priorities – I’m happy with the track, I’ve got as much as I can fit in the space available, now it’s just a case of seeing if the layout has the capacity to actually run the timetable. Winter ’61 has proved to be OK. Once I’ve finished this second run it’ll be time to turn the clock back a few years to when the West Kirby branch was open – see how the layout, particularly Hooton station, copes with the extra traffic – that’s got to be more important than the green bits. I will get around to them, eventually, for now it is more like little and not very often…. Yes, the grey cell (you’ve got more than one?) is kept active…. as for the moveable bits, well, they try their best….

…and all this talk of cake, I’ll have a large slice please.
                                                ———–

Keith
 
 
 

Split chassis Hornby J94; are you sure about that? My Hornby J94's have a screw down the chimney and two at the rear under the bunker.

S’mae Pete

Many thanks for the info – there are no pickups on the wheels, so I assume it is a split chassis – I’ve had it for quite a while, it was one of my early purchases back in 2009 along with a Hornby split chassis Jinty. I have now managed to remove the body, eventually, the detachable chimney was quite a surprise, and even with the three screws removed finally getting the body free from the chassis took a while, the lugs on the front of the cab in particular. Now that I understand how it attaches to the chassis, I can manage it relatively quickly, emphasis on the relatively.  The J94 is now running like the proverbial sowing machine, and will probably get promoted to station pilot on the next run through the timetable. Bidston had three J94s for a number of years for working in the docks – one of them was often seen on Birkenhead shed at the weekend. That said station pilot at Woodside is a bit of a stretch, but I’m an expert stretcher!

Keith