Somewhere SW of London. Somewhen before today

Rick, I have printed out the 2nd photo which shows PL15s and will trace the wiring & reply- who did that for you in the first place?

Rick, i won't have a chance of looking at that for a couple or three  days but the twin microswitchs PL15 are basically two PL 13's - one PL13 equal one of the microswitches.

Merry Christmas one and all.  

A slightly belated happy new year to one and all.

I have had the misfortune to be laid (literally) aside by a severe attack of gout since just after Christmas.  Being unable to get shoes onto a badly swollen foot has restricted me to indoors and the act of moving around - or trying to - has been so excruciatingly painful that even the neighbours have asked if all was well having heard the shouts of pain.  


Things are starting to improve.  I have made it back to work though that has been difficult and painful and only a very limited amount of walking around has been possible.  The job does not always require moving around, though does require standing all day, so I have managed to get by.  


I hope to get back to the model during this weekend with some slight electrical changes in the pipeline which should ensure things start to run smoothly.  


In the meantime new boxes arrive in the mail from time to time.  The contents are destined for detailing and weathering before being used in anger though are tested to ensure correct operation out of the box.  


The weathering roadshow has two dates pencilled in for this year so far of which the first is the Hayle MRC May exhibition.  The invitation was extended last year and is always done informally but I do need to confirm it with the organiser.  

Sorry to hear about the gout Rick.

Both my late father and grandfather suffered, so I suspect I'll get it soon.

At the moment though, I've just got an awful cold.

Time of year I suppose.

Did you get your electrical problems fixed?


Ed

I am not aware of gout running in families though there may be cases where it does.  No-one in my family ever suffered.  There is a history of rheumatoid arthritis on father's side but not of gouty arthritis, to give it its fuller name.

I am hopeful that the electrics will start to behave once I apply some advice given via RMweb.  I intend to make a start on things today but have a backlog of more urgent domestic engineering tasks to carry out first having been confined to bed / sofa for most of the past 10 days.  


Once the electrics are fine the rest should follow fairly quickly as I have many of the required bits just waiting to be used.  The conductor rail for the electrified line will be dummy using code 60 rail and Peco insulators though some standard black-sheathed modelling wire will be used to represent the appropriate cables.  I have previously tried to build a workable system powering electric trains via pick-up shoes but the variations of mass production and of necessity the sharp curves we often use on models made that unviable.  It can be done.  It requires rather more skilled micro-engineering than I have the capacity for. 

Proper Job will aid your recovery Rick.

I don't eat offal anyway unless it's heavily disguised and the steak pie fails to mention its presence!  Nothing seems to be capable of preventing the onset of an attack and the drinking of water - whilst usually advised - can also mean there is a need to visit the toilet more often.  When movement of any kind results in screams of agony an urgent need to get from room to room is the last thing one needs!

I have found cherry juice settles things somewhat and is more palatable than endless water.  It also doesn't want to come out quite as quickly for some reason.  That and the prescription Indomethacin are what makes the difference to me.


The advice to cut out salt and certain foodstuffs (bacon being one over and above offal), plus the elimination of alcohol, makes some slight positive difference.  Raising the affected part and applying a cold pack (ice block or sacrificial "first aid" peas which will never be eaten but are kept purely for emergency use) does work.  I spent a few days with the ice block being changed hourly to keep things cool.  Ironically in bed I want to keep things warm!  


We're getting there.  The swelling is very much reduced now and so is the level of pain.  This has taken two weeks from onset which is typical for me.  I'll be back on my feet at the day job at 7am tomorrow meaning the alarm is set for 5am.  I might have free prescriptions these days but I still need to earn my keep!  

Glad to hear you are on the mend…. a nasty affliction.  Looking forward to some more railway progress.
All the best

Michael

My luck has struck again!  I'm not quite over the cough nor the gout which have troubled me since Christmas.  On Monday night I became very unwell suffering stomach pains and cramping.  The short version is that I have been in bed for much of the week with what the NHS111 medic described as a gastric virus.  Despite similar symptoms it is apparently not food poisoning and this thing is going the rounds.

I'm over this year already.  Is it too much to ask for a couple of days' worth of half-decent health and to get back on my feet?  

Once again the model has to take a back-seat for a while.

You are in need of some fine Cornish air  Rick!

[user=364]Super D[/user] wrote:

You are in need of some fine Cornish air  Rick!

Indeed I am.  And a dose is scheduled for next weekend with friends from Lostwithiel.  

Work is in progress.  IRJs have been placed where I am told they need to be.  I am currently (pun intended) re-wiring the power feeds to have them correctly placed and with a common-return. 

A few new items of rolling stock have arrived.  At present these have been tested for correct operation but are not due to be weathered and placed into traffic for a while.  I have to build up a stock of items requiring weathering in advance of a handful of demonstrations and master-classes booked or pencilled in for the year ahead.  

Rick,

I've sent you a PM for an off topic issue,

Colin

Another day and another problem.  

I was using the meter to check out a dead spot on a point which had been wired according to the plan I am now using and which should have had power. There was nothing between the plastic boss in the blade to the frog.  

Suddenly there was a PING and most of the rails parted company with the plastic base.  I really don't know why.  It wasn't a new point but had not seen much use.  The only future for it lay in the bin.  A replacement has already been mailed and should be here over the weekend.

Once that is in and the wiring restored everything on the main running area should work.  Assuming that is the case then I can move on to the dreaded custom-built crossover and a three-way point which both feed the main storage yard and will be all that remains in the way of full powered operation.  

I hope !!!

And behold everything did not work.

I have more testing to do to understand why there are dead spots.  I have found a couple of points which are fitted with frog switching but which seem to rely on blade contact to pass power.  I don't know why that is and I am not about to tear up any more track to find out.  If I have to lift any more track it will be the whole lot and it won't be replaced.  


Next week I have some leave.  The weather is expected to be dire for at least a couple of days so I might find nothing better to do than crawl around under the boards swearing at wires ……… 

And it is bit far me me to come to look over your shoulder....

Sol - indeed it is rather a long way.  I was most appreciative of your visit to Penhayle Bay which was a fair trek for you.  The extra few thousand miles might be the proverbial straw on the camel's back.  

I'm close to a dunce at these problems Rick but did you wire the stock rails to the switch rails 'the so-called "DCC friendly system);  If so, did you cut the tiny factory installed link across the cut in the rails ?