Reconstruction work at Dunalistair

[tedp]

With the Rijswijk show reports done, I have installed two microswitches of the three I need to fit. These are single pole switches and will suffice to back up frog switching on the yard points.

The first thing to do is to add a longer lever to the rather stiff switch levers. I used pieces of scrap rail bent in a slight dogleg and soldered these to the short lever on the switch. I used small pointed pliers to hold the tiny flat lever and act as a heat sink between the end and the hinge:



Then the switch was installed under the baseboard. I measured the distance to the point motor's operating pin by eye and drilled one hole, inserting a 2mm pin as a locating stud. Then I more or less aligned the switch and put in a second pin. The pins are a push fit. Gluing the switch and the pins to and into the underside of the baseboard makes a permanently fitted switch. The lever then is then bent a little so the switch will click with the point motor in one position, and it won't with the point motor in the other position. That ensures it will change over during point motor operation.



Finally, here is a short video of the switch being worked by the point motor. You will see a fair amount of bounce, but the point motor will first flick the point blades and push the switch over, then it will spring back a little without causing harm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsix9lfcWOU

[tedp]

The Flagman

For 30 years, a tiny figure has guarded the quay sidings at Dunalistair with a red flag. He must be all of 5ft 6, and is very slight of build - probably a young lad of 14 earning a few pence on the railway to augment his father's meagre pay. In fact, he must be an H0 figure pushed into service - he can be seen on the far left in the 1990 photo shown below.



When I installed him, I conducted extensive surgery, removing his right arm. The new arm and the flag it holds were built up from wire, with the insulation representing his uniformed arm and hand. There is a pivot hidden in his chest, and a slot in his right side allows the arm and the flag to move up and down.

A steel wire passes through the baseboard into -pardon me- his posterior, and right up into his body to the wire arm. If you push the wire up a millimetre, the arm and the flag go up. For years I intended to fit some sort of driving agent under the baseboard, but nothing came of it

[tedp]

Test running

Tonight I ran some test trains over Dunalistair, shooting some video of the proceedings. Most of it went quite all right, but I found I had crossed a wire - the one that feeds the dead section on the locomotive siding. The switch is supposed to be fed from the frog of the point which gives access to the siding, but I had connected it to the wrong frog - that of the other point!

It cost me about an hour and a half, lying uncomfortably on my back with my head in a storage cabinet under the layout, to trace the fault and re-connect the wire

[JulienW]

So you should be Ted - well done!

[gtmspyder]

So normal service is resumed Ted, I'm pleased you have completed the structural work to your satisfaction, just the scenery to reinstate now eh?

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Kind regards,

BrianT.

[MickT]

Exactly what Juliena and Brian said! Well done Ted, an excellent piece of work and the result looks to be a justified reward for the hard work you have been putting in recently.

Mick

[tedp]

I realise I have been seriously negligent in updating this thread, as the tale has already been on NGRM, so I'll try and catch up.

Two weeks ago I needed a diversion and I started some new work on Dunalistair. I removed all loose items from the Dunalistair area containing the new track installed last winter. The backscene panels were taken out, the vehicles, and the ships. I cut strips of newspaper and used sellotape to fix them here and there, covering the scenery. I put strips of sellotape over all the point blades and their pivots, since these carry power.

After I had removed or covered up everything as well as possible to guard against overspray, I sprayed the track rust brown. Only a few patches of tall grass caught a whiff of brown, otherwise it was fairly successful.

I let it dry overnight, then after painting the rail areas that were missed by the spray, and thorough drying, I used the end of a steel ruler to scrape the railhead. This distresses the paint on top, and removes most of it. Some wet-and-dry was used to remove most of the remainder, and the track rubber (which is far softer than wet-and-dry) does some polishing of the scarred rail surface. This scarring is on microscopic level and may induce fouling up in the beginning. However, after some running-in the contact areas will be polished and the effect is reduced. My reasoning based on practical experience.



Note slight overspray on the tall grass near the fence. And the foot of the rail somehow always seems to catch the spray less than needed. But since the light is from overhead, this may be accentuated. It will be less prominent after ballasting and weathering.



The transition to the existing older track.



The diamond crossing. Special care was taken to clean the contact surfaces around rail crossings - the diamond contains some live flangeways.



Following that I added pavement at the diamond crossing, half of which lies in the dockyard road. The problem here was that the original road surface was made 30 years ago using a filler material to emboss the setts in. This has been off the market for many years, so I had to find an alternative. I have considered other fillers, but last year I was given a pile of Redutex embossed wall sheets by Daniel Caso, an Argentine modeller living over here. I found one that looks close to the original road surface, although it needed some work to match the colour. I'm not yet sure about the result, but for the moment I'll leave it be.

The space between the rails was painted dark brown and fitted with card inserts to provide a base for the timber inserts made from stripwood.





After weathering and painting the Redutex setts and the timber inserts, it looked like this. Note that I painted the check rails, but I expect this will wear off as a result of track cleaning.





The last view shows that the Redutex surface is slightly flat compared to the older setts, which are too rough in texture. However, if I shut one eye it looks like someone relaid the track, then used some different paving to fill the gap.  ;)

The diamond-shaped insert in the crossing is card and it looks a little flat. I may add some PVA glue rivets to give it some texture. I should add that the flat area just beside the diamond crossing will be covered with ballast or ground cover. This is the printed circuit board which I constructed the crossing on.

Next, before I even thought of ballasting, I had to determine the route for point rodding (I have two packages of Wills point rodding bought at John Wooden's shop at Porthmadog this spring) and signal wires. To be continued.

[tedp]

Next, I ballasted the harbour road, since that didn't need any point rodding. The ballasting is provisional, since I will need to clog it up and weather it using plaster. I used the Nixnie approach again since that produces good results. First, I put dry ballast on the track and used a brush to spread it evenly. Below is the diamond crossing - I glued some ballast down on the PCB base using undiluted PVA glue, to get a good key.



Note the lifted edges on the old scenic cover, where it was left in place. This has been covered in some more before I applied the glue. These edges will form the base of more weeds to be applied after the ballast is dry and stable.



Cleaning the flangeways with a soft brush before the glue is applied.



Applying the glue solution using a syringe, dripping it in from the side to prevent disturbing the loose ballast. The glue is diluted with a lot of water, and a little liquid soap is added to break the surface tension. Note that I leave the space under the point blades clear of ballast - it is only painted, which I have found will be near invisible when the rest of the track has been ballasted.



Wet ballast left to dry overnight. Note the dummy Peco point lever. Note that a little paint is still needed on some of the sleepers, and on the point lever.





I left it overnight so the ballast could dry. In the warm weather that didn't take long.

Preparations for installing the point rodding

Next, the routes for the signal wires and point rodding were determined. One problem was that the signal box is a little awkwardly positioned. The point rods to the crossover near the signal box will be led under the track there, and cut where necessary.

I thought the point rods and signal wires to the station throat and the home bracket would run past the ash dump and under the road at the level crossing. Eventually I led the wires along the fence between the harbour road and the main passenger line, and only the rodding past the ash dump.

A board was installed to keep the ash away from the main line and point rodding. The rods will run between the track and the board:



Conduit installed under the road, for point rodding. This was made up from stripwood and balsa. I cut away some of the scenic cover, glued the mouths of the conduit in place and glued coarse sand over them to hide the fact they don't continue under the road:





Next, Tim Sanderson suggested I fit a catch point to the harbour line. Here it is - although it isn't yet connected up to some sort of linkage to make it work, it has been installed and tested. Here is a step by step report. First, the rail is cut and bent. Note the old Atlas N point blade I would use.



Next, I removed a lot of ballast and some bits of plastic sleeper. The Atlas point blade was now tested for size, and I ground down the stock rail and the blade so they fitted.



After soldering the N/S base to the rail where it was cut, fitting a pull rod to the blade, and bridging the gap with a wire (which is sunk in the ballast), I added a little ballast to hide the damage.



And here is the catch point in open position. It will be made to work in conjunction with the point at the station throat, but that may take some time to realise!



to be continued!

[tedp]

Point rodding

Following the ballasting of the harbour road, and fitting the catch point, I made a start on the point rodding using one of the Wills kits. This was both a fiddly and an uncomfortable job as I had to do the work under the Inverlochan unit, so I was continually overstraining my back.

Apart from installing the rodding, I did some research on signalling and locking arrangements. First, I decided to dispense with operating the pair of points at the engine release (and turntable) end of the layout from the signal box. I had a look at Douglas, IMR, in its original state, and if I am correct the engine release points were hand operated. So I substituted Peco point levers.

I also removed the shunting signal covering the move of the engine from the buffer stop to the release road. The engine driver has a line of sight to the signalman - if he wants to back up to the servicing siding, he can do so on a green flag from the signalman. The release road has a dwarf signal covering the point to the main line. Technically there should be another trap point there - see further posts.

I added dwarf signals as shunt ahead signals to the main line starter and the goods line starter. These won't be worked, but I will have to add an operating wire to each of them. The number of operating wires is now six... 



Anyway, the point rodding. I started by fitting a facing point lock to a main line point.



Immediately I found that these standard gauge components are rather big for 9mm gauge. The point lock casting fits between the rails and keeps under the rail head, but there is no question of fitting a deflector plate to cover it up. In addition, the operating rod which is bent to clear the rail, is far too long to fit the restricted space beside the track. So I cut it short. Here is the crank and a section of rod added.



Next, the operating rod and crank for the point blades:



And here is how I made up the assembly for the point lock and the blades, for the other point in the crossover (the one leading to the ash pit road). This one I did on the workbench, taking care to leave 23mm between the rod for the point lock and the crank end for the point blades. Note the thin microstrip used to splice the rod sections together.



Here is the second assembly in place:



I will need to extend the platform by a wooden surface to the front of the signal box, as that reduces the amount of detail needed at the signal box itself. The signalman needs a safe surface to step on, and the point rodding and signal wires need a protective cover.

Finally, a close-up of the rodding and the facing point lock of the other point. The parts, although quite fragile, are still a little coarse for narrow gauge use. But there is little alternative, and they do look very good.



Next were the cranks to get the rods from the point in the last photo under the track to the signal box, and another set of cranks and rods leading to the point and point lock at the station throat.

A day on, I had my fill of infuriating little grey plastic parts from the Wills point rodding kit. The parts are beautifully detailed, but I wonder why they didn't include a few stacked crank assemblies in the sprue instead of having us patch them together. In addition I had to lift the track from the servicing road to get the final pair of rods in place - in various bits and pieces, since they really are not meant to use with 009 track.

But I persevered, and completed the rodding at the signal box end. All that's left do is run two rods all the way to the station throat and add a few bits there. Now I had to find a way of running six signal wires including pulleys in a very limited space.

First, here is a look at the rods beside the platform, where the servicing road joins the main passenger line.



Next, the point where the release road joins the passenger line. Note the extra run of two rods that will end up at the station throat.



The signal box, where the rods disappear under a wooden cover. The old interlocking box under the station sign would be substituted by a new one with inclined lifting covers to access the interlocking mechanism.



Next, a close-up of the rods and cranks passing under the service track. Please don't look too closely at the botched rods under the rails - an indication of the difficulty of the work. The rods were put down in pieces and lined up by eye before gluing them in place. I think some ballast to leave only the top of the rods between the rails showing will do wonders here.



Sir Theodore's skirts just clear the point rods, as does the union link on E.R.Calthrop's motion. It took some careful measuring to verify that!



The track here still looks funnily bare, and ugly with all the wiring in view, and the rod guides seem to be very tall, but I expect that will improve with ballasting.

To be continued!

[tedp]

Next, I extended two rods towards the gap in the baseboards. These will be continued towards the 'tunnel' I made earlier. I also looked around for examples of signal operating wires and guides. There is an interesting topic on RMweb: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/71373-semaphore-signal-cable-runs/

Here are three photos from that article.







The last one is interesting as it shows the small size of a wire support post, compared to point rodding. I have to fit a bundle of 6 wires to tiny posts, next to the point rods. I will try using fine fishing line. The wires will be run round a curve, so I think they will be strung along vertical posts such as the one shown in the photo. Note how the wire pulleys are grouped and that an entire group of three is pivoted.

Shortly afterwards it was suggested on NGRM that I fit trap points to the ash road and the release road. I decided to build dummy ones, which can be inserted in a very short time. More of that later. Another suggestion was to protect the rods and wires between the rails with deflector plates or boards to prevent glowing cinders from locomotives causing damage. This suited me fine as these would serve to hide any glitches in the rods as well, or even the ends of wires and rods where the cranks and pulleys would be too close together to model convincingly.

Here is a photo of the signal box, mercilessly showing its age (but I won't replace it!). I fitted a new cover box for the interlocking gear just under the nameboard.



The wires for the signals will pass under the tracks to end up at the opposite side to the point rods. That makes for a less crowded layout and a simple route to the signals at the station throat. The route has already been decided on: they will run under the end of the point, and continue under the release road seen in the lower left corner. Between the rails I will fit deflector plates or boards to keep out the ashes and to protect the wires.

Here are some shots of the signal wires I'm trying to make up using fishing line. In the run shown there are six strands next to each other, glued to pins using superglue.

I set up pins on the edge of the workbench and just threaded the line back and forth. More pins brought them close together:



Then I inserted pins under the strands at 50mm intervals and superglued them to the nylon line.



Here is the result.



However, this approach didn't work very well as the nylon line came off the pins - they are very smooth and the glue didn't properly key to the material. I fitted the pins in the baseboard surface and glued the bank of 6 wires to hem using neoprene contact glue, later reinforced with liquid CA glue. I'm not quite happy with it - in close-up it looks too coarse, however from a distance it's hardly noticeable, being stuck behind the fence. The fence posts are about 15mm tall - stripwood and yarn, 25 years old.



But here is the first catch point which I think is rather better. Note the brass pin used to brace the rail as it was bent.



Also note the two castings glued in place - pulleys for the platform starter (out of the picture) and the miniature signal. The pull wires will be added later. The pulley banks for the six wires leading off along the fence will be scratchbuilt. And the rod and cranks to the trap point have to be added.

[tedp]

developments

Fitting the catch point to the ash siding took about 25 minutes - I timed it. The procedure was the same as before. Note the dental mirror - I used that to verify the alignment of the rear of the point blade.



Test running on the ash road. I tested the track gauge first, and it needed correcting, otherwise the Kato chassis would have dropped in.



Next, I started building two banks of three wire pulleys. They were made using offcuts of a piece of mains wiring insulation and some styrene strip. Note the whitemetal casting (single pulley) bottom right. Once painted they will look funnily similar. Except for the holes in the pulley.



I needed eight parallel wires under the track, emanating from the signal box. Some of this would be hidden under protective boards, but I wanted a suggestion of many wires running in parallel. So I made up this, with the styrene strips superglued under the fish line strands:



After installation - I needed to lift the end of the release road to get it in - it looked like this. Note that I added the wires to the platform starter and the dwarf signal blocking the exit from the release road. The three-tier pulley banks are at the bottom of the photo. The guide unit next to the track is one of the left-overs from the Rae Bridge signalling project, about 10 years ago. It's a staple with a wire soldered across it, and an aluminium tube meant as a roller. It seemed to fit the purpose.



Next, I added protective and walking boards to several areas where rodding and wiring needs to be covered - cinders from the engines are one reason, and providing a flat walking surface for the engine crews during watering and coaling is another. For me, it did away with the need for even more fiddly cranks and rods - I have seen enough of them in the days past!



ballasting

Finally, I spread ballast round the area, and spent about an hour levelling it and brushing it away from moving parts of the points, and from the rods and wires which in reality would be kept clear of ballast as well. Note that the ballast is still unweathered - after it has set I will treat it with a thin wash of black paint and plaster to clog it up slightly, and to tone down the colour.

Here is what it looked like before I started dripping in the glue solution.





The function of the protective covers is now more apparent - there are three places where rods and wires cross the siding in the top of the photo. A long piece of boarding was added there. The wires continue under the track to the pulleys at the bottom. The only place where I didn't fit boards is the point, where the operating rod for the catch point passes under the rails. Top left is a piece of boarding which hides the point rod towards the catch point in the ash road. This provides a flat walking area for the loco crews.

Then I dripped in the glue solution. As before I took every precaution to keep it away from the point blades... 

[tedp]

Yesterday I destroyed the Animated Flagman, completely and utterly. I nearly scrapped it, but luckily I decided to rebuild it.



What happened was that I had noticed it tended to stick a little, with the flag lifted and not coming down. The figurine was plastic to begin with, and it was very fragile. I suspect I had knocked it during the ballasting operation. So I decided I would use a tiny bit of superglue to reinforce its feet....

Well... the superglue found its feet, but it also found the tiny steel wire in tube that operated the flag. It was stuck so tight that nothing would budge it any more. In the end I had to remove the entire figure, and the wire in tube assembly. In the process I managed to knock the extension arm off the relay. So now there was no more flagman ... but the ballasting operation has been successful.

An hour or so on, Mr Flagman had new cyano gel feet and the steel operating rod up his spine has been re-set. The flag is now soldered to the flagstaff. The worst part was having to fix the driving tube in a solid position and re-fit the drive with the baseboard in its normal position. With me lying on my back, head in a storage cabinet and everything I drop falling into my face.

The flagman is back at the job. He is now a bionic man with two clay cyanoacrylate feet. His flag waves in an odd way, but the action is more positive after his accident. But I didn't fit a new shoulder joint. Wonder what's ailing him this time...

Here he is again, holding up his flag!



In addition, the ballast which had dried overnight, was brushed with a thin wash of dark grey plaster and a lot of water. In the photos above and below, the roadbed looks very dark, but in the end it dried in the right colour. When using coloured plaster, the end colour is always a matter of trial and error.



In this view, note the expanse of bare plywood which will be covered in green things.



The ash heap hasn't been touched.



The method used is largely the same I used on Nixnie, although I was a bit sparse on the plaster. The harbour line has been clogged up most.

This morning I found the colour of the ballast has improved markedly. I cleared some stray particles, vacuumed the surface and ran extensive trials with various locos - fine flanges, coarse flanges etc. In one case I needed to clear the flangeway of a check rail, as some goo had accumulated there - the Kitson with its long wheelbase stuck a little.

I found I have to drip in more glue solution as in places the ballast has weakened due to having been wet again - it has to be tied together a bit more. When I do, I immediately wipe the solution off the rail and the points - the point blades and stock rails where they make contact are never touched. Now I have to wait until tonight to clean the track and do more trial running.

However, before I started work I made a few photos.

A close-up of the harbour sidings, and a section of release road, showing a variety of textures. Perhaps the track needs a little more clogging up - the siding at Nixnie is better. But for the moment I'll leave it as it is. I'm rather pleased with the cobbles as well - they are the original thing, 30 years old, but they weather well since the space between them is fouling up.



Compare this to the siding at Nixnie which I think is slightly better. I think the fine rock dust I used there looks better than the artificial ballast stuff used at Dunalistair:



I feel the track next to the signal box now has the right colour - not as pink as it was. Some of the rail needs a touch of paint.



A close-up again shows a variety of textures, and the signal wires come out nicely which was what I wanted.



Finally, a shot during trial running. The Kitson and the L&M saloon have fine flanges, and the Kitson is used to check clearances as its motion bracket strikes anything protruding into the loading gauge. William Wallace has the original coarse Arnold flanges so that will bump over any particle that rears its head in the flangeway.

[tedp]

As the ballast was drying, I decided to glue down the scenery in the station area, since I had to wait anyway. I got out the remnants of the Woodlands and other scenic material and selected a few colours that matched the older scenic cover best. I thought - they were still too bright compared to the weathered and worn stuff on the 25-year-old harbour layout. Some work with brown and yellow water paint will be needed to tone down the brightness. However, I set to work, and here is the result.

The harbour shunter and the NWNGR style six-wheeler at the coaling stage.



A wider angle taken from the slipway shows some of the new scenic cover.



Between the tracks there is an area of weeds and shrub. More tall grass is needed around the fence separating the dockyard from the station.



The end of the line has hand operated points. Weeds and shrub have appeared here as well.



The dockyard again, showing the new pavement and the ballasted and part overgrown track.



Period piece taken across the dockyard.



Another view of the area near the signal box. Weeds and shrub have appeared between the tracks.



Next will be some work on the other baseboard unit - extending the point rods and the signal wires, and matching the scenic cover so the transition won't be too obvious. To be continued...

[tedp]

Since I now have the bit between my teeth, I decided to carry on with the point rodding on the headland unit. I found I have just enough material to complete the run of point rods and the facing point lock to the point at the station throat. Basically I cut small patches into the scenic cover to fit the bases of the point rod guides. I make up the units to size, then determine where the bases will go.

Here is the length of run from the existing rodding to the 'tunnel' I made under the level crossing. Note that the rods must be cut through at the baseboard gap, or I would damage them when I move the layout. The units in the middle are compensators - they convert a pull action into a push action, and vice versa, to allow for thermic expansion of the rods. Another tunnel is needed for the signal wires - the mouth is cut from a piece of styrene tube, bottom left.



The rods at the other side of the 'tunnel'. The rods continue past the location where a connection will branch off to the catch point. I cut a slot in the scenic cover. The new (dummy) tunnel for the wiring exits here.



Next, the risk of burying wiring in the scenery. I almost cut the wires to the track at the station throat!



Finally, I noticed the bogie of the Kitson tended to derail on the (older) Peco point in the station throat. The problem proved to be the too-short check rail, which doesn't properly guide the bogie into the frog. Some wheels don't like this, and the bogie on the Kitson which doesn't track very well to begin with, left the rails each time I reversed it over the point. So I cut off the end of the check rail and I removed a few rail spikes, then trimmed to size and bent to shape a piece of rail which I then glued in place. End of problem...  8)



To be continued!

[tedp]

Today it was a very rainy day over here. I hardly poked my nose outside, and I did a lot of detail work on the station throat. The amount of effort doesn't really show in the result, but it had to be done.

I completed the point rods to the point blades, the catch point and the facing point lock. This includes cutting a passage under the track in three places to get the rods through. Also, I did most of the preparation work for the signal operating wires. The wires to the home bracket are in place already. The only part missing is the wires and pulleys to the starting signals and the shunt ahead signals. But I prepared the pulley banks for those.

Here are some photos. First, the nylon fishing line being tightened at the home signal end. There are two strands that had to be led all around the curve, to the starting signals where they will pass under the track. The large pin is a temporary aid to tension the line.



Here the 'wires' are led along the track and the point rods. Note the rods to the facing point lock and the point blades. Each is led to its own crank and linkage.



Cutting the 'wires' after they have been glued to the posts. Gluing is a two stage process - contact glue first, later reinforced by liquid cyano. In the process I separated the wires so they are vertically under one another, before the glue set.



Another home made pulley bank at the foot of the home bracket. Here the 'wires' have been painted track colour.



A close-up of the detail at the station throat, not yet completed. The rods are finished, including a 'bridge' to the catch point which is split off the rod to the point blades. The wires in the distance are still loose - here a bank of four wires will be led under the track, and joined by two more from the harbour road signals.



To be continued!