Updated plans and now moving ahead

And then more progress on the traverser end with the additions of the scenic screens but not before I'd realised that I needed a little more Real estate out front, hence a revised plan of traverser end allowing  430mm at the widest point —


 

This required minor modifications of the support structure, easy with this style of frame.



and then the expanded top surface.

 

seen with the backboards in place:



I've been asked about access. Hard to see from the above but there's easy access at the far end and the front (exit) panel will be removable.


 





 

Hi Colin, Its been a while since I visited your posts. Good to see you are now well advanced in the build.
Great work and well thought out.

Over Christmas, all went well for my visitors with various demos and  some modest operations, which was a relief in one regard but served to  remind me how much remains to be done!
       
      Now P&Q has returned and we've recovered a little, I've turned my  attention to checking and fine tuning the Storage traverser. As my  grandson J (12) reminded me, I have a lot of independent variables to  manage here, tricky. 
       
      Key points:
       
      1) the traverser tray movement is controlled by a stepper motor stopped  when a thin wire (not shown) reaches a photo-interrupter. These are  positioned to match track separations but can be manually fine tuned  individually. The screws allow for a rotation which moves the sensor  point very finely to 0.1mm



2) the tracks were adjusted to give the same separation, a length of spare rail cut to length served as a handy tool.
       
      3) The approach roads needed to be held perfectly in line and at the  same required separation but retaining ability to adjust the pair  sideways for fine tuning. This was done on a 2mm aluminium mounting  plate.



It ended up being an iterative process to get the sensor positions and the approach roads to optimum placement.
       
      I knew there would be a minor difference in the tray stopping positions  between forward and reverse movements, i.e. the wire approaches the  sensor from opposite sides. The fine wire has a finite width and on the  drive assembly under test this led to ~0.3 to 0.5mm variation in the  stop points between the two movements. It was rewarding that when  assembled and tested the equivalent variation measured as <=0.5mm  despite the tray being centre driven and hence the edge is 460mm from  the line of drive.
       
      My 2-6-2 Small Prairie with its free floating front / rear wheels is  the most demanding of alignment but when fully aligned it worked well on  all lanes, as will be seen later.
       
      The traverser drive and control system were designed for me by my very  good friend Graham Jackman and it is a piece of work I'm deeply grateful  for, especially now that it has fully shown its worth in action. He has  had his design published in Silicon Chip who hold the copyright. Those interested can see it at p92 of the December 2022 edition.

Two videos, the first shows the traverser in operation, in a sequence of movements  Small Prairie 4539 moves from Track 3 via Track 5 to Track 7 of the  storage tray.

Traverser Video 1

The second shows 4539 moving from the runaround track across two curved  B7 left turnouts, onto the B7 Single slip and then a B7 Right turnout  (converted to a "Y") in the storage access approaches.

Traverser Video 2

PS I've edited this to add back the Youtube links and remove all the font and spacing formatting info which has come over with the Site transfer. Hoping that tidies things up. Links to Youtube work very well in new format  :)

Nicely done, Colin. It's a good feeling when it all comes together after a lot of work.

That's magic !!

Looks fantastic Colin - so clever.  :thumbs

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Traverser Operations
 
My plan has been to have three possible options for loco and stock  movements happening "off stage", exploiting the features of the design
 
1) Loco runarounds.
I've been advised that Branch operations such as Main (GWR Cullompton  or SR Sidmouth Jct.) heading to Branch, Upper Hembury would operate with  loco heading on the Down, running around, then returning on the Up  heading the train in reverse. It not being usual to have a turntable at  the small Branch terminus.
 
Hence, the returning loco needs to complete a 2nd runaround while at  the traverser and today's post looks at my plans being tested out in the  flesh. Fortunately the cassette mechanism from my previous layout was  readily converted to use on UH, simply setting the approach angle to  head on, a few quick cuts and you have a working cassette 



As the cassettes were already pre-wired, I just needed to connect the flexi-lead into the bus and plug in.



The loco was backed into the cassette and the combination shifted to the access point on track 1



The loco pulled off perfectly, ready to go out onto the approach road  and complete the runaround procedure. This was a simple case but to  access a free track, it might be nescessary to move the traverser tray  to bring a free line to a cassette loading point.


At present, the support connections to the end of the layout are  temporary, to enable testing. I'm not planning to have permanent fixed  lines there as the cassettes option offers much more flexibility.

Great stuff Colin

I am a firm believer that storage is the key to a good layout.  Your traverser offers 6 trains and multiple loco options - more than enough to give the terminus a wide scope of traffic and operation.  Excellent!

Barry

Traverser Operations - (continued)
 
2) Rotation of Stock (head to tail)
Not likely to be much used but the storage cassettes are easily rotated and are powered for operation in either direction
 
3) Loading Stock from a long Storage cassette.
I have several of these, about 760mm long from the former layout but  loading them with just a 300mm gap and a banister beyond created several  challenges
 
How to make a secure loading platform which did not compromise my  access space at the traverser end? I drew on those old interlocking wood  puzzles for some inspiration.
The horizontal slats will hold a load if they are inserted into the end  and under a second joist, fine but this makes them over 500mm long.
The second challenge was fitting them between the balusters and then locking in place.
 
 My solution is best understood by seeing it in reverse, dismantling is a very rapid process in pics 1-5 below, leaving the access space totally clear.



 

1) pull out the narrower rear support, this comes straight out between two balusters to give (2)
3) pull out and remove the concealed key (access from beneath) this has locked everything rigid once assembled.
4) rotate the front support towards the user so it can be removed between the two balusters to give 5)
 
 A simple lock allows a long support to be laid on top of the forward support and this in turn takes the Cassette.


 

 easy access and removal makes it a convenient loading point for stored cassettes


 

The Saga of my search for a decent Class 48xx model
       
      From my teens in Somerset, my strongest memories of Branch line locos  were those of small Prairies and Class 48xx, the latter on the  Strawberry  Line from Yatton down to Cheddar and Wells. So those locos  went high on my must have list once I got serious about Branch rather  than mainline operation.
       
      The short version of my mission to get a "decent" Class 48xx goes as follows:
       
      March 2017 - Avoiding the Hattons / DJM release, simply enough by  reading of the many problems being encountered soon  after release, problems which, as far as I could tell were a triumph of  design style over substance. OK if you want you loco in a display  cabinet but not if you want robust operation. 
       
      Next, exploring the issues with the various Airfix / Hornby releases  led me to trying out the late 2017 model (R3589) which promised some  improvements, albeit in the same 40 year old bodywork. It was not to be, a variety of issues listed and explored here New Hornby 14xx  finally convinced me to move on, the Saga continued.
       
      Next up was a 2008 Hornby release (R2778) conveniently sporting the GWR  Monogram, numbered "4869", perfect for my needs and I got lucky by  finding a rare fine working pre-owned version. It's only limitation was  the dreaded traction tyres which on a loco with 4 wheel pickup^#  reduced effectively to 2 was a problem in need of fixing.
       
      The recommended solutions,
      1) buy spare Hornby wheel set (permanently out of stock) or
      2) an old dud Airfix model as a donor for a replacement axle.
       
      Selecting the latter my story then took on a decidedly interesting twist!
       
      A suitable dud Airfix was duly purchased, just 8 quid I recall, but  when it arrived, it most clearly was not what it claimed to be. Some  poking around and questions on line identified that I'd acquired an old  Kays 14xx kit, lovely body but dodgy motor with a short, front end half  chassis.  I can't remember who it was but some kind soul suggested this  would be a great project where I could build a decent chassis and get a  fine working model. You'll note of course that I still didn't have a  replacement axle for my 4869.
       
      This brings me to early 2019. The details are now blurred but Doug Newton and I were in contact and as he lives about 7km from here he kindly  offered some help should I go down the kit build path. Lots of helpful  advice followed on what I'd need and after some reflection I figured I'd  give it a try, put together the necessary orders and awaited their  arrival. 
       
       This is a good point for a break, because that's exactly what I had,  just two months shy of 3 years in fact, thanks to COVID. Doug and I met  up for the first time just Friday last. TBC.



# It's true the trailing axle has pickups as well, but as far as I could tell these were close to useless. Earlier versions of this model used plungers on the back axle but these in turn had their own problems.




 

At last some progress to report. Nothing much to see up top, but under  the boards it's been a case of back one step to advance two .
       
      The main change has been the swapping out of solenoids from the main  turnouts that'll take the majority of traffic movements and replacing  them with Cobalt Omegas. The Cobalt motor here has two sets of inputs, in this photo the upper  three are 15V power from the Control panel + feedback line for the  direction LEDs and the lower three (S2) are the Red/ black from the  Power bus and the Orange feed to the powered frog.



I'd been told that soldering connections to tortoise motors can be a  pain, get it right first time and the wiring connections fitted on the  cobalt make hooking up a breeze. Mostly done with the boards up, but  even the odd one in situ didn't present me a problem.
       
      This photo shows the 1200mm to 2400mm section of the baseboards where much of the more complex track-work is located.





This section is now complete, the latest addition being all the power  feeds on the LHS, going to the six lines heading North to the Station /  Goods Yards. Everything DCC is wired back to the main Bus so that the  boards can be lifted as shown, should the need arise.
       
      Meanwhile the underside of the mimic panel is much tidier in the Mark  II version. Many LEDs required rewiring to work in the Cobalt feedback  lines so I took the opportunity to improve the mounting, installing each  LED in a small polythene tube which holds it firmly in the panel, but  is removable. These can be seen here rising up out of the underside of  the board. The groups of three lines coming from the board are the power  15V +/- and feedback via the LEDs. Each of these has a JST plug  connection to facilitate complete removal of the mimic panel as required.

February marked a major milestone for me for two reasons

•       I completed the installation of 10 uncoupler modules, most importantly those  on the main line (3) and one at the back end of the run-around loop  together with all the required wired up track.    
•       The setup was tested thru a multi-step shunting routine    

   The photo shows the end result after the various moves, the sequence of which was as follows:

•       Pickup Goods comprising 3 vans and 4 wagons plus brake van were pulled  from the traverser to the Upper Hembury main Station line (nearest  camera), this to commence a test routine involving shunting off the Main
  
  
•       The loco backed up to uncouple the entire train (uncoupling location is just beyond the fouling point of the crossover)
  
  
•       The loco pulled forward clear of the crossover then ran around to re-enter the main line at the far end    
  
  
•       The loco then pulled forward, attached to the Brake, moved so the brake then uncoupled from the rear cattle wagon    
  
  
•       The loco and Brake reversed up to clear the single slip and then  forward via the run around, to drop the Brake Van in the Main Spur where  it was decoupled and parked
  
  
•       The loco then went back reattaching to the rear of the vans, pulled  them back clear of the slip then forward onto the runaround loop where  they were uncoupled as shown

   The steps were not optimised nor what would happen under normal Ops.  The wagons on the main, once freed from the brake would be distributed  to the various yard lines depending on the operational considerations of  the moment. For example, accounting for the need to be assembling an  outgoing Goods and clearing sidings access while bringing in new  deliveries.
        
       The Brake will not be parked in the Spur as shown but at a suitable  hold location in the yards, to keep access free on the main. These  compromises were necessary as the required lines are yet to be laid.
        
       The home built uncouplers worked faultlessly which is more than can be  said for the operator who is still coming to terms with using /  controlling electrofrog turnouts!

With all the track wired up with droppers into the DCC bus and mostly painted it was time to pull most of the planning printouts occupying empty space and splash on some sealing paint.

Suddenly it starts to look more promising.

With the station end advancing, now to update the status of the rest of the layout .
     
    There have been minor updates made to the tannery end from the original  plans I posted. I've added a piece of temporary foam board for the  corridor from main to tannery, also the updated plan now shows a short  spur added to allow for the possibility for a small works engine. I  believe that Much Murkle Mark 1 had a similar spur but it later was  removed.
     
    Presently the board dividing the storage yard from the tannery is  removed but will form the back drop to the factory works in half-relief  running along its side.
     
    The trap point in the works line is shown in its position.



 
I realised that progress with laying the trackwork out to the  Tannery required me to sort out what lay in front of that section of  track first.   
 
       Earlier in the planning I showed the OS 1881 25inch map of the river and town prior to arrival of the railway. This is repeated here:





My plan was to model to the river bank all along the front of the  layout, dropping down from the higher level of the river bank where the GWR  tracks were to be located.
     
    Above the tannery and drawing from the same water resource where a weir  closes off the river, there is an old corn mill which I felt would be  worth capturing. As a result I've busied myself with constructing a  lower tier as a base for the river bank structure. This is the first  step in the process.
     
    The track will not cling perilously near the edge, it just looks that  way until I build up the connecting infrastructure which will connect  the upper and lower levels.

Just checking in with a test post. Looking good so far

Colin W said

Just checking in with a test post. Looking good so far

From “Post #286,981”, 30th March 2023, 7:33 AM

Colin W  

Good to see you made it back in Colin 🤝  🙃

Cheers

Matt

Barchester said

Colin W said

Just checking in with a test post. Looking good so far

From “Post #286,981”, 30th March 2023, 7:33 AM

Colin W  

Good to see you made it back in Colin 🤝  🙃

Cheers

Matt

From “Post #286,987”, 30th March 2023, 8:39 AM

I must say it's all looking very $exy with the new features :devil:

This should be a huge shot in the arm for the old codger!

And nice touch to still have Peter Mac's fav old emoticon still around  

PS I mean YMRC not Peter just to be perfectly clear about my 2nd point!

Old, curmudgeonly,  prone to forgetfulness,  stops working at the slightest  provocation,  . . . The old forum software wasn't  much better ?

Oh ! You WEREN'T  talking about Petermac  


 

Cheers

Matt

I think that comment could be considered libelous - just checking with my lawyers .....

No - just heard from them and neither comment could be considered as libel - apparently my lawyer says they're not inaccurate comments ……..

Can't add an emoji because I'm on my tablet but I'll have a field day when I use the PC…….