Branch Line - Roundy, roundy with some shunting

You'll still have fun running it in blue Ed.

Maybe we should go I to the back burner business. We'd sell loads

Good photo's

Cheers

Toto

 G`day Ed,
 Just catching up……you`ve been busy!!!.
 Good to see you sorted out the point wiring. You know those links between the rails will stand you in good stead later on. I am working with older track, mostly insulfrog, and on a couple of occasions I`ve had to add wire links / feeds into points because of poor electrical conductivity at the switch blade contact point. So even if a brand new electro frog works perfectly…..eventually with the influences of time, dirt, wear etc…potentially it will fail. The wire links defeat that possibility before it occurs.
 You`re moving along at quite a rate now with scenery starting to develop. I must get around to some of my back burners…there are a lot…and do something about them.
 Keep up the good work.
:cheers  Gormo

Ed, I purchased a lot of Peco Code 100 turnouts for storage sidings and decided not to provide frog switching, etc, just rely on the tabs on the blades to ensure contact but of course new versions, no tabs so I contacted Peco who said, " most modellers don't use them & even bend them out of the way so new versions would not have them" I was not impressed & told Peco accordingly.

So I had to isolate the frog ( ultimately switched using HEX frog juicers as the turnout motors are the side mounted beasts without any built in contacts) & provide wires bonding blades to adjacent stock rail.

Bonding wire links added to two more of the already laid points, two more to go and I'm back to track laying proper.

Also added two buffer lights I had bought for me as part of a Christmas present.



Probably totally the wrong time period for what I'm attempting, but I like 'em.



Ed

Hi Ed,


I like the buffer lights. Is that the type that take their feed directly from the track, ie, no wiring involved ?


cheers


Toto

That's the ones Toto.

Draw less than 2mA according to the blurb that comes with them.


Ed

They look good, nice and bright regardless of the era. These little touches bring the layout further to life.


good stuff


cheers


Toto 

 Ed….the lights look good.!!
 If you like them, that`s all that matters…..your railway….your rules!!!
:cheers  Gormo

There was this




With the help of my sons on Saturday, there is now this





I've got some shelves to put up and then …………………..

I feel a small extension may be on the cards.


Ed

Ahhh Haaaa!!!
Change is in the air!
:cheers  Gormo

Nice tidy up Ed. :thumbs That bare concrete floor looks like it would hold the cold in winter ?? :shock: A piece of carpet wouldn't go astray.

Cheers, Gary.

Carpet! Us poor UK pensioners can't afford luxuries like carpet

I've got some bits of vinyl flooring towards the front of the garage where there is a freezer and tumble drier, but it's mainly to keep the dust down rather than insulation.

Might try and get some more off-cuts, but there's boxes of stuff like paint and decorating materials to go on the floor under any base board I get built.

Like a lot of other people in the UK, the last thing that actually gets put in the garage is the car!



Ed

You should see my garage… :oops: Damn embarrasing. If I cleaned it out and lined it, I could model Kings X in there !

Cheers, Gary.

So when does kings x start then Gary.

Ed, great to see more space……..what is the line of thought on it so far:hmm

I sense great things.

Cheers

Toto

I've decided I now hate insulfrog points.

Well not quite true, they just don't work very well in my particular garage environment.

Having read on various websites about thicker wheels causing shorts when touching both rails as they cross the frog, I thought I would pre-empt any problems and religiously put two insulated rail joiners on the vee rails of each of my Peco streamline insulfrog points, prior to laying.

(I didn't bother on the Hornby points in the storage area, as the plastic frogs are a bit bigger.)

It did all work ok, but then the insulfrog points began having the same problem as the newly installed electrofrogs, namely not conducting via the switch and stock rails, and as they can't get power the other way because of the IRJs on the vee rails, everything started stalling.
Then while trying to clean one insulfog point, I managed to pull a switch rail out of the tie bar :thud

It was then decision time.

Pull it up and try and fix it.

Pull it up and get a replacement, as the only spares I had were a bit naff (UK technical term).

Pull 'em all up and replace with electrofrog, but I would need to use point motors to switch the frogs as they're at the back of the board. (Too expensive and my back wouldn't let me crawl about under the baseboards).

Abandon the whole bl@@dy thing!

The following day common sense prevailed and I lifted the point, managed to get the tab on the switch rail back through the tie bar and secured it with a drop of Superglue (Cyano).





I didn't replace the IRJs, but used ordinary fish plates and then checked a few locos through the point for shorts.

Of course they ran fine, no short circuits.

Now the problem was, if the contact between the switch and stock rails isn't reliable and your going to rely on power from the other ends of the points to power the non-plastic bits of the frogs, the IRJs have to come out, without lifting all the points.



Spent most of Friday digging out IRJs with a Stanley knife, small screwdriver and pair of thin nosed pliers :pedal

Swore quite a lot and then bridged the gaps with wire and solder where required. Not easy soldering from the 'wrong' side, hence the mirror.



Everything now runs great without stalling………………….. except my Dapol N2 which shorts on the frog.
As Victor Meldrew would say “I don't believe it” :thud

Resorted to the nail varnish trick.



It's better and doesn't short, but sometimes stalls.

Why do we do this hobby????



Ed

I thought stuff like that only happened to me! I had the mirror out as well trying to repair a badly soldered feed on some Code 80 ( don't ask) track:twisted:

Glad it all got sorted Ed

Hi Ed sorry to hear of your woes. At least you have resolved it though:thumbs

And the answer to your last question ……. We do it because we like pain every once in a while.

Keep it going.

Cheers

Toto

[user=1505]toto[/user] wrote:

Hi Ed sorry to hear of your woes. At least you have resolved it though:thumbs

And the answer to your last question ……. We do it because we like pain every once in a while.

Keep it going.

Cheers

Toto

Yep, reckon we're all really masochists


In answer to your earlier question about the additional space, thoughts are a small terminus coming off the fiddle yard with a turntable.

(Always wanted a turntable)

.

Up the other way.




Ed

Hi Ed,


The TT is ideal. It'll be interesting to see the transition between the main layout area and fiddle yard through to the TT area. I note you have two openings which look like tunnel openings. Whats the general feel for this area. Do you intend to have it partially blocked off with scenic ?


toto

[user=1505]toto[/user] wrote:

Hi Ed,


The TT is ideal. It'll be interesting to see the transition between the main layout area and fiddle yard through to the TT area. I note you have two openings which look like tunnel openings. Whats the general feel for this area. Do you intend to have it partially blocked off with scenic ?


toto

Dunno yet, Toto.

Thoughts are it's a 6' by 2' board so it's almost a 'plank' attached to the main layout.

If I make the board removable I can bring it indoors in the winter, when it's too cold to work in the garage.


Ed