Somewhere SW of London. Somewhen before today

I have yet to make my control panel so I shall be following this keenly…

Michael

I have yet to prove to myself that I can build a control panel!  Penhayle Bay never had the one which was intended.  It always got by with its various controllers and an array of 50 or so Hornby lever switches perched in an inverted spare baseboard (so with the perimeter bracing facing up not down and preventing anything falling off!) 

Space here forces me to site the panel on a corner of the actual layout rather than beneath or in front of it.  The white board is an offcut of marine ply with triangles of chipboard as its sides which will give it a slight "towards me" angle rather than everything sitting flat on the main board.   I have to make a few large holes in the main board for wiring but that will pass through in looms; the small white panel however requires numerous smaller holes as shown above to accept the wiring from each bank of switches and from the main power controller.  That will sit in half-depth recesses bored into the ply keeping the controller just above its surface allowing air to circulate beneath it.  


I have a week of annual leave booked in early March with which I can do nothing outside owing to the continued presence of this ruddivirus.  As full wiring requires a lot of items to be moved out from under the layout - and then returned when the job is done - I hope to take a few days of that week to completely disrupt everything in the room and wire up beneath the boards.  Some is already done.  Most points were pre-wired when the boards were first built a surprising ten years ago now.   All that is needed in most cases is to connect A and B and test that it all works.  The lighting will require rather more work and might not be completed just yet.  

Job lot of platform lamps being wired up. 

They look interesting Rick - a little too "modern" for me but where did they come from - maybe they do an older model ..........

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

They look interesting Rick - a little too "modern" for me but where did they come from - maybe they do an older model ……….

Ratio item 454 "SR Lamps" which require painting despite the appearance of some shop illustrations.Pin vice with a 0.5mm bit to bore a pilot hole through the shade followed by a 0.8mm to allow two wires to be threaded through.  The shades were also slightly bored out with a 5mm bit to accept the LEDs in a recess in prototypical fashion.  And a job lot of pre-soldered LEDs from China.  You will also need resistors to dim the lighting from "dazzle" to "glow"  


I am taking my inspiration from this post which I found through a simple internet search.  Note that he says a 0.05mm drill bit.  That is much too fine even if such a thing exists.  0.5mm is correct.    https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=55782

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

They look interesting Rick - a little too "modern" for me but where did they come from - maybe they do an older model ……….

I don't know about being "too modern", Peter. The Southern was producing pre-cast concrete fittings and fixtures from the 1930s onwards.

:hmm

Let’s do the time-warp again ….. 
 
Newly-arrived Kernow MRC / Revolution Trains Cargowaggon is tested on the tramway-radius corners of Waddlemarsh using an 07 as traction.  
These are superb wagons. Well out of my themed era but one was purchased anyway.  I am pleased to report it rolls freely through even my tightest curves. 

What radius is that curve Rick ?

The bridge and backscene look great in that shot.  :thumbs

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

What radius is that curve Rick ?

The bridge and backscene look great in that shot.  :thumbs

It's a flexi-track curve so not to a fixed radius.  End-to-end it is 400mm or about 16 1/2 inches.  At the mid-point it is somewhat tighter than that and probably close to the 370mm (15 inch) or so of First Radius fixed-geometry track 


Appreciate the comment on the scene; getting that right wasn't easy.  I am stuck with joins in the sky for now; I hope they can be eased out with pastels at a later stage but for now they can be dealt with in photo-editing software when it matters.  

Oh. There are wires everywhere!  

Waddlemarsh Halt in the sun. This scene is making good progress. The first platform light is placed but not yet tested and working 

When needs must. 

I cannot solder indoors. The puff of smoke may trigger the alarm. Any spill may harm the carpet. 

But there is always modelling space. In this case on the potting bench outside the back door.

Those lights are going to look superb Rick.I had to smile at the photo with wires everywhere…I suspect a few on here will be getting a feeling of deja vu with that one!It seems to have been a real feature of the Southern that if it could be made in concrete, then it was…they were real pioneers in that way!  Waddlemarsh continues to deliver!

 :pathead

Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

Another day another little piece of the jigsaw conplete. 
The “off-scene” view through the footbridge requires scenic decoration for some distance.  The curve of the track, necessary to accommodate the sharp bend, takes it almost to the edge of the baseboard. 

The photographic backscene is therefore curved to match the track and has required a small piece of card to be glued as an outrigger to the baseboard to avoid a gap. 

This has now been fitted and the area ballasted / greened so that the view through the bridge appears to be a continuation of the main scene. 

THAT is playing mind games with my eyes Rick.  Very clever !
Cheers

Matt

Yes indeed, a very smart trick.  Good job!
Michael

Progress on the panel. 
Switch banks now glued and screwed down; controller placed. 

I am not happy with the position of the controller. It blocks too much of the view.  My thinking is to cut the angled panel such that it only holds the switches and mount the controller flat on the baseboard. 

And they say it's all done with mirrors !!  That card does the job brilliantly Rick - from the front, it looks miles away - from above, the illusion is evident - well done Sir !

Love the control panel - Morley I hear, are very good and can almost compete with DCC ………………almost !  :lol: :lol:

So …..
Someone miswired four of the six switch banks. :oops:  I was following the wiring diagram for signals not points 

Today the top pair were rewired correctly which was tricky but far from impossible. The levers click inti the cradles but are not fixed so they come back out with a little persuasion. 

Tomorrow will see the middle pair rewired. The lower pair are fine - bottom left is for signals anyway and bottom right is on-off switches for isolating sections and those should all be correctly wired. 

It’s a hobby, they tell me