Scrayingham

[jaymzhatstand]

Cheers Mick, and well done with the eagle eyes!  I have been fitting insulated rail joiners to the gaps, and the one I haven't done yet, is guess which!

I've just finished fitting the grab handles to Van 7, so that is now awaiting final detail painting.

Cheers

J

[jaymzhatstand]

I have finally got around to sorting out my new fiddle yard.  In fairness I have been distracted by my other layout, but have now at last made some progress!

As stated previously the old fiddle yard served a purpose, but was not brilliantly reliable, the insulfrog small radius points being a particular problem so a new system was devised.  I had considered a casette storage sysetm, but decided that they could be problematic to store and I had viisions of me tipping one up and stock rolling out of the end, as I'd no doubt forget to fit a stopper at the 'dead' end!  So a traverser was the order of the day giving me an extra storage road than my original fiddle yard and no points to contend with!

As you will see from the photos, track alignment and current provision are dealt with using brass rod and tube sections, ensuring perfect alignment on every road.  The tops of the tube sections had to be filed down slightly in order to not be higher than the rail head, but all has been checked and various items of stock will pass over without problems (so far!).  Next on the agenda is the new control panel for the station which will hopefully make it a lot more user friendly and also incorprates section switches to place less emphasis on the point blades carrying current.









Cheers

J

[tedp]

That's a neat looking fiddle yard. I like the engineering of the track ends with PCB strips. Is that a drawer slider rail underneath?

[jaymzhatstand]

Thanks for that, it's not as neat as the photos seem to show though, but it works so I'm happy with it!

They are indeed drawer runners, fitted with ball bearings so hopefully they'll stay pretty smooth and reliable for a long time!  I think they came form my local hardware store and weren't too pricey either, so thats always a bonus!  They don't feel cheap and tacky though, so I don't think therte'll be any issues of cheap-and-flimsy ness!

Cheers

J

[Tigger]

Nice work, J.

The fiddle yard does look nicely built; the combination of positive locking and good electrical feed is well worth the effort.  With a bit of time you can also incorporate other contacts to the rods to feed current to signalling equipment!

[invercloy]

I was wondering what had developed on your layout.

The fiddle yard solution looks good, very neat.

Have you made any progress on the scenic section?

[tedp]

Thanks for that, it's not as neat as the photos seem to show though, but it works so I'm happy with it!

They are indeed drawer runners, fitted with ball bearings so hopefully they'll stay pretty smooth and reliable for a long time!  I think they came form my local hardware store and weren't too pricey either, so thats always a bonus!  They don't feel cheap and tacky though, so I don't think therte'll be any issues of cheap-and-flimsy ness!

Cheers

J

As long as they have ball bearings they should be all right. Good idea. I must keep it in mind.

[jaymzhatstand]

Thanks for the positive reactions, I'm pretty pleased with it myself, and am hoping that it will spur me on to actually make some progress and spend some time operating the layout now that it is a bit more user friendly (in theory!)

Tigger - Much as I like the idea of a fully signalled and interlocked traverser, I doubt my electronics knowledge, which is, at best minimalist will stretch that far!  Especially as the whole layout is controlled by a single DC unit.  If I ever extend it and incorporate an independently controlled fiddle yard however...no, brain, stop now!  I'll never sleep if I get an idea like that in there, plus I don't think I could fit any more layouts into the spare room and the domestic authorities won't like them spreading everywhere else!  I currently have about six part built models and a rake of slate waggons on the TV stand in the lounge awaiting attention!

Invercloy - I haven't done any more scenic work since my last update, once I've got the station section re-wired, I can make a proper start.  There's also the scenic link board to ballast and such, but once I can fron things from one end to the other, that will hopefully encourage me to get on!  Running through scenery is a lot more satisfying than a bare board!

Cheers

J

[jaymzhatstand]

Just a quick update to say that the first train has run from the fiddle yard to the corner board without incident!







I have also tried different bits of stock, being both pulled and propelled, and so far there hasnt been a single problem.  No doubt one the track is ballasted and painted something will develop some sort of objection to it though!

Cheers

J

[jaymzhatstand]

Yesterday I joined the station board up to the rest of the layout and had a bit of a running session.  I have decided I need to be able to isolate the fiddle yard so will be adding some electrics for that, and theres a bit of a sag where the fiddle yard and curve boards meet which is a bit of a bind with some couplings coming undone over it.  This should be pretty easy to solve (famous last words!)

Anyhow, here's a photo of the layout looking from the headshunt of the station 'up' the line.



I have also made a video of it in action, Harlech Castle (still undergoing 'winter' maintainance arrives with a works train, runs round then LNER N16 No14 leaves the shed area while the freight is shunted into the goods shed.  No. 14 then leaves to collect a train from the carriage sidings (which are elsewhere!)

So now I should be able to make a start on some scenic work.  First job is to paint the rails of the newer track, and hide the new wiring in the same manner.

Cheers

J

[tedp]

Had a look at your video and photos. Well done, no derailments, the electrics seem OK and most of it has even been ballasted! It's looking quite good and all seems to work well, apart from one or two pickup problems on the points. That's normal and they can be ironed out as you go along.

Do you use Greenwich couplings? I'm still stuck with the N gauge couplings I standardised 40 years ago. No chance of exchanging them on 150 items of rolling stock, it would take me a year.

Can I offer one bit of advice? I would replace the AC power on the point motors with DC and a capacitor discharge unit. That would make them less noisy.

Anyway, the layout is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work!

[jaymzhatstand]

Cheers, fortunately I didn't have to undo too much of the previous ballasting to update the wiring, so the only challenge I have is to colour match it (although in reality newer ballast is often a different colour)  One of the stalling sections, just by the water tower will be easily solved with a bit of wire soldered across the live joint, in about ten minutes time!  The fishplate is a bit unreliable (it's probably got some paint in somewhere!)

My couplings are mainly Paul Windle ones, with loops on the 'down' end of the stock and just the 'buffer' on the other end, although for neatness I've used some smaller plastic 'buffers' on some stock too, which as long as they are at the right height, they work just fine.

I had already come to the conclusion that a CDU will need fitting, and there is plent of space under the board to add that when funds allow.

Cheers

J

[Tigger]

Looking very good indeed.  Have had a few derailments on the L&TR recently - some caused by the new stock settling in but most caused by an increasingly senile owner who can't seem to use his coupling hook without ending up with a string of wagons coming up with it!  Wasn't a good couple of operating sessions!

[jaymzhatstand]

Since finding out that I've got an exhibition in just under a month (Whitby & District MRC at Goathland Parish Hall 21st & 22nd July), I thought I'd best get cracking, the main thing to get done on the layout itself is scenery (although I can guarantee something electrical will fail once it's all done!)  Fortunately I've had the ballast done for a while, so that's one less job to do, although it does need a bit of weathering.

I've made the main formers for the scenery on the extension board, and once I have a tunnel mouth fitted I can start landscaping!

In the accompanying photos you'll see my Chris Veitch FR 104/106 being used for gauging and clearance tests as it's my longes passenger vehicle and will hopefully be in service by the exhibition.



This shot shows roughly where the tunnel entrance will be, with the carriage half in and half out-ish!



As can be seen there are a few more formers/supports to fit to the viewing side (right hand side in the picture) before the 'ground' can be laid.



I aslo intend to have a retaining wall to stop landslips where the trackbed has been cut through the hill along the inside of the curve, not unlike those which can be seen on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway between Grosmont and Goathland.

I'll try to update this fairly regularly now as I should be making a bit more progress with the exhibition approaching fairly quickly!

Hopefully I'll see some of you there!

Cheers

J

[MickT]

Bit of an "against the clock" challenge coming up J, but it is looking good so far!

Good luck and best wishes for a "following wind" as you get stuck into the scenic creativity!

Mick