Wot? No posts!

Hi all,

Due to the upcoming festive season and the necessary preparations, I shall not be posting now until the new year. Have a great time and see you all in 2007!

Colin

That time of year

Hi,

I've been having some thoughts about the time of year I should model Rhyd Ddu in:

- Winter - bare trees, dead bracken, full streams, but few trains(!) See image below of tracklaying on Pitt's Head straight...

- Autumn - notoriously difficult to model leaf colour correctly and convincingly (sorry for the poor attempt at finding an autumn pic, which also shows the lack of Autumnal images of the area I've collected too!)


- Summer - too much growth and heavy blobby green bracken coverage as shown in the foreground below...


- Spring - a nice balance, not too much growth and a mix of dead and new colours....

So, I'm thinking Spring then.....oh dear that will mean another trip to Wales, the Welsh Highland and Rhyd Ddu is necessary, what a terrible problem!!

Colin

Christmas blogging

Well, now we're moving into the final days of shopping madness before Christmas, I am going to reduce the number of blog posts to just one a week (every Monday if possible). Normal service will be maintained come January....

Happy Christmas and a wonderful new year (one year closer to 40 glorious miles of narrow gauge heaven in 2009)...

Colin

Forwards Miniatures?

Now I'm a big fan of backwoods miniatures (www.backwoodsminiatures.com) as they produce some very good kits. Their Double Fairlie, Taliesin, NGG16, K1, Russell and Linda/Blanche are indeed likely to feature on Rhyd Ddu in the future... I do however have some comments on them:

They have now (it seems) finished on their '009 crusade' and have moved into the On30 market, which is a shame as there are many other narrow gauge locos that could do with the Backwoods treatment. In their defence, they say that a kit for Monarch will be done at some point in the future and that when a NG15 is running on the WHR, a suitable kit will appear, but it is disappointing that some locos won't ever be part of the backwoods family... That appears to be a factor of: Pete's personal preference of locos and the (presumably) better market for On30 stuff.

In an article, in 'Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review' [is that the journal with the longest name ever???] (http://www.narrowgaugeandindustrial.com/) a few years ago, it was revealed that the double fairlie kit nearly didn't make it, as Pete has trouble with his personal views on the prototype... This, it seems, is the reason that other locos, such as the FR Englands, Mountaineer, any Talyllyn/Corris loco etc will never make it to become a Backwoods kit. What a shame, particularly as some of the 'missing' kits I would suspect would sell pretty well.

Secondly, the Backwoods kits are generally only a model of the loco in one particular time frame. That is, that the NGG16 is in SAR condition and requires a lot of modifications to make it into a WHR NGG16; the same with the double fairlie, which is only really to model Livingston Thompson (and it's other previous namings). Again, a shame and one which must reduce the available market for such products.

But why am I moaning, the kits are superb, instructions great (a few companies could learn lessons from the great instructions backwoods give), the locos run well and, the best bit is, that they are as near to perfect scale models as is possible in 4mm to the foot gauge. Certainly significantly better than some out-of-scale white metal kits that used to be the mainstay of 009.

So, well done Pete, but, as ever with my postings on this blog, it's not 10/10 due to the slightly disappointing range limitation imposed by your own taste and the lack of flexibility within kits for differing versions of the same loco. Altogether it's 9/10...

Colin

A half-century!

Welcome to my 50th post!!

So, Warley show then.......what did we think??? A few observations:

- Backwood Miniatures was in attendance and they got an order from me (what will be Merddin Emrys).

Their kits are superbly put together and are quite simply the best in 009. Pete even said that he will be doing a kit for an NG15 in the future, once the WHR have decided on a design for the tender. Loco image below:

- A number of narrow gauge layouts were there and relevant images are available on my fotopic site: http://colin-lea.fotopic.net

- There were also a number of innovations there that were interesting: Hornby DCC, a sniff of a new Bachmann DCC system coming soon, smaller DCC chips than ever (and at £10) and various sound modules etc for DCC. As mentioned before Rhyd Ddu is being wired in such a way as to make DCC conversion as easy as possible, but will be conventional DC for now.

- But....I hear you say....surely he has some criticisms.....

Firstly it was very busy in the morning and frankly the aisles were not anywhere near wide enough, particularly for wheelchairs.

Secondly the catering is OK, but seating provision, although improved from previous years was still very much found wanting.

Thirdly, I saw this (otherwise) lovely model of NGG16 No. 138 in 16mm scale, but what's with the colour??? Why does it seem so difficult for anyone modelling this engine to get the colour right??? Compare and contrast ....

Colin

Those promised images...

So, as promised, some shots from the Wakefield show...

Blakecaster - a good example of the application of too much detail.

A Leek and Manifold coach (unfortunately in LMS livery, not original, but nonetheless rather nice!) on 'Pity Me'

Ouzel Thorn - very nice!

A lovely 7mm model of Linda

Ouzel Thorn again and why it didn;t get 10/10 - where's the check rails???

Colin

Wake me up!

After a trip up to Durham this Friday to see Claire's grandma, we called on Wakefield and the model railway show... The 45th annual Wakefield show none the less.

So, after the poor turnout at Wirksworth, was this any better?

Oh yes!

Firstly, the traders were first rate: squires, eileen's emporium, langley, Bill Hudson books, totally trains (of Ross on Wye) etc etc Very good turn out for a relatively 'small' show. The refreshments were excellent and certainly much better than we experienced at York recently (the sandwiches had run out at 12:30!). No such issues here, decent hot and cold snacks/meals and a good selection of drinks/crisps etc.

What about the layouts then? Well, these were pretty good too, excusing the odd bit of shocking green grass, misaligned bridges etc. From the classic layouts that have done the rounds before - Ashbourne Midland, Narrow Road etc. to the newly exhibited DCC layouts, the range was good.

Any narrow gauge... I here you ask...? Well, there were the following:

- "Pity me", a 30 year old 009 freelance layout that had a variety of Vale of Rheidol, Leek and Manifold, Ffestiniog, Talyllyn and Snowdon Mountain (motorised 'Thomas' plastic engines) stock. A bit of a rabbit warren, but not too bad, and considering its age, it was pretty good. The Leek and Manifold coaches were particularly good 7/10, but 8/10 when the L+M stock was running.

- "Blakecaster" - A decent, if slightly over detailed 7mm narrow gauge layout. The Virtual NG exhibition describes it as :

"Serving a large country estate and village of Blakecaster that is isolated from the outside world by the infamous Patchway Bog, Blakecaster has no road connection to the outside world and the only connection is by the narrow gauge railway which was laid across a narrow ridge across the bog. The period modelled is the late 1960's when steam is rapidly disappearing from British railways and even on the narrow gauge, diesels are beginning to appear."

There was a huge amount of detail and to be honest, this did actually take away from the railway, which is a shame. 8/10

- "Ilfracombe East" - a 009 layout (again quite old) modelling a fictitious branch off the Lynton and Barnstaple to Ilfracombe. This had some lovely stock, but was marred by some shocking scenery that looked like someone had poured fluorescent green paint all over the fields. Suffice to say, there were layouts nearby that put its scenics in the shade big style. 6/10

- "Ouzel Thorn" - On 2 1/4 - a superb little narrow gauge layout based on a fictitious location in Lancashire. Just superb, great stock, excellent scenics and the only adverse comment I have is the lack of check rails on the bridges. Else super, 9/10 and the narrow gauge winner for me!

Other narrow gauge exhibits included a demonstrator who had a lovely selection of 009 stock ad 7mm models of Moel Tryfan and Linda.

A grand day out was had by all!

(pictures to follow later in the week)

Colin

Is this the best name for a beer ever??

X-MŴS LLAWEN / MERRY X-MOOSE ABV 5.0%
This fine ale is brewed only at Christmas using a careful selection of darker malts and aromatic hops to produce a full flavour and body, subtle bitterness and a rich ruby colour.

Just ordered some bottles for Xmas! Bring it on!

PS sorry for the slight diversion from normal 009/WHR posts, but it is kind of related to the FR...

Colin

Traverser tales

Bit more detail on the traverser design...

outer frame of 70mm pine, 4ft x 2ft. attached to the inside of this frame are battens of 34mm pine with two struts, creating a kind of shelf. Onto this shelf is nailed 3mm hardboard (shiny side up). On the two upper edges of the 70mm pine frame, some strips of 9mm ply are attached to act as the base for spur sidings one end [made live by push-to-make switches] and the common exit (to layout) on the other side. The actual traverser is created as a box of 34mm pine with a piece of 3mm hardboard underneath (shiny side down) and 6mm ply on top. Thus the traverser 'floats' between the two shiny sides of the hardboard and there is just a 1mm total height difference between the traverser and the board top, which can be sorted by a bit of cork underlay...

Colin

Packs a punch

Well, I went to B+Q and got those measurements (see yesterday's post) and yes, the traverser design will work, albeit with a 1mm difference, but that can be sorted with a bit of cork packing, so I'm not worried. It requires 34mm pine and 70mm pine with 2 bits of 3mm hardboard and 9mm and 6mm ply to work! (+1mm cork!)

I also picked up a punch set, 3 for £2.48 - mustn't grumble! These will be invaluable in the tiresome job of finally tacking down the track. The pins are placed now, but need driving in the whole way as I wanted to make sure of the track alignment alongside the platform.

I also started the station shelter late yesterday, but found the wills sheets difficult to cut accurately as they are pretty thick, so some more practice and perhaps a sharper knife is required. To be honest I was a bit tired too, so I might try setting aside a few hours and doing this properly some point soon. Finsihed one side with a cut out window though, so some progress was made.

Colin

The lay of the land

3 things today:

1)Dreamt up (literally) a design for the traverser, which requires a trip to B+Q tomorrow to verify the exact depths of various bits of pine, plywood and hardboard, but the design should work fine and will be fairly easy to build. Drawing to be posted here soon.

2) Decided that a section of the board 3 will need to be cut out and lowered to help the layout look more like the real thing. See image above - the track level is above the car park and the height difference will allow for the steps/ramp to be modelled. This is a relatively easy job, but will wait until I have completed the wiring and ballasting, as it requires the board to be split from the others temporarily.

3) Collated the bits together for the Rhyd Ddu station shelter, colloquially known as the 'wendy house'. I will be putting this together over the next few days. All the measurements have been scaled from official drawings and this should be a relatively easy piece of scratch building. Watch this space!!

Colin

Let there be light

This is a veissmann OO/HO lamp standard, available from gaugemaster/hattons. They come fitted with bulbs and feed off a 12v DC supply. They are also a 'near identical'* match for those on Rhyd Ddu station... shown below...and at 48mm they are a scale 12ft high, which might be a tiny bit too tall, but the bases could be sunk into the platform a little to account for this.

I'm pleased I found these as the only alternative was to take some white metal lamps I already have and run a cable up one edge of them (as they weren't hollow and there is no chance of drilling them!).

Expensive though :-) £6 each!

*yes, I know they're not perfect, but no-one will notice really!

Colin

More on silflor

Check this layout out http://nevardmedia5.fotopic.net/c206443.html - it's called combwich and such of its scenic areas of long grass are in silflor. see what you think...

Thanks go to Dad for the link

Colin

Silflor

Silflor - long grass, provided in various colours and available in small sheets from international models - http://www.internationalmodels.net/acatalog/Main_Catalogue_Index_Silflor_53.html

This could well be a good base for the wild upland grass around Rhyd Ddu and provides the long strands that I've been looking for. Alternatives could be old-style carpet underlay, Noch static grass (mega expensive) or a huge mix of woodland scenics coverings interspersed with longer strands of field grass.

Well Noch static grass might be expensive, but this stuff is pretty heavy on the wallet too, so I suspect I'll try it on the lower lying areas of Fridd Isaf before using it around the station. An image of the Fridd Isaf area taken at the weekend is below...

What are your views on long grass - any other ideas anyone out there? - if so, please use the 'comments' section at the bottom of this post to give us your ideas...

Colin

Bridging the gap

Spent a productive hour or so today adding two wooden supports either side of UB114. These were glued and nailed in, before the moulded stonework was glued to the uprights. The purpose of them is to allow for the plywood trackbed to abut up to the stonework, without having to attach the stonework to the plywood. The wood will be hidden by scenery and a wall eventually and won't be visible in the end. I already have the necessary plastic for the mock concrete beams and these can be added once the surrounding scenery is complete.

Colin

A suprise birthday trip

Hi all,

This weekend, we decided to take a trip to North Wales. This decision was entirely on the spur of the moment and was, in fact, an excellent decision all in all.

It was the first trip out of any distance with Thomas and he did really well, despite nearly 350 miles of driving! We stayed at the Travel Inn at Bangor, which was excellent by the way and they even provide free travel cots! Top!

Anyway, why am I telling you all this? Well, of course the trip mean't that I could photograph the last few areas of Rhyd Ddu that I have been struggling to understand from my current photo collection, and...............................

to top it all off......................

K1 was out on a photo charter at Rhyd Ddu!!!!!

spinning the web

Not much progress to report on the layout due to a number of factors: weather, the baby and being away from home on work related stuff. Anyway, today's post is about the newly revamped Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways website. I penned most of the words for the WHR side - have a look at www.festrail.co.uk or www.welshhighlandrailway.net

Time for a feed

Some further progress this morning:

• A number of extra feeds were soldered in place on boards 2 and 3.
• 4 x 8mm holes were drilled in board 4 ready for the control panel and the M8 bolts. assembled with washers (2 on bottom, 10 on top - to allow for the panel to slope down) were put together.
• A couple of bits of cork were cut away.
• Almost all the rest of the holes in the baseboards were drilled ready for feeds.
• The buzzbar on board 4 was split into 4 pieces ready to take various feeds.
• We ran out of wire! More was ordered.

Tonight will be spent working out the rest of the wiring diagrams (particularly for the panel) and then work can start on installing LEDs... (which can be done inside out of the cold, dark, wintry nights!)

Colin

Tree-mendous!

Saturday night in front of the TV?? Oh no, our family make trees! Here is a collection of the best efforts of Mum, Dad, Claire, David and myself... Who needs X factor??? Woodland scenics are the best in my opinion, bend them, shape them, anyway you want them....

The winner, was Claire's tree:

Wire we happy?

Massive progress today, aided by the skills of Dad and David. A slideshow follows:


All 5 point motors were screwed down, their switches attached and tested and the pins cut off to the correct length at track level...

All baseboard joins were soldered and tested with a bogie coach.

The first D connector was assembled and used between boards 1 and 2.

A number of feeds were drilled, soldered and run back to chop blocks, ready for wiring back to the control panel.

All switches (point levers, sections and isolators) were installed on the panel and many holes were drilled ready for LEDs and LED holders were put in ready. Unfortunately, due to a late change of mind on one isolating section (added for extra operational flexibility), we were one isolation switch short...

Also... the DIN plugs for both controllers were wired up and a couple of track issues were also sorted. Holes for all feeds and frog feeds have now been drilled too.

Tomorrow morning will see more feeds being put together...

Colin

moving up a gear

The above are various switches etc. for use on the layout. From left to right: PECO point motor with extended pin, PECO passing contact switch for throwing the points, on-off DPDT [double pole double throw] switch for isolating sections (second poles for an LED on the panel), DPDT centre-off switch with white lever cover (for switching sections between controller A or B, or indeed neither [off]) and finally on the right twin microswitch for loop points, one to switch frog polarity and one for a signal. Behind is a PECO single microswitch for switching frog polarity, where a signal is not present.

Add to these the Din connectors for plugging in the walkabout controllers, the D connectors for connecting wires across boards, the point indicator board and various 5mm and 3mm LEDs and we have all the bits for the control panel, apart from the actual panel itself....

Oh look a control panel! This will be attached using M8 bolts, the top bolts with long washers so that the panel sloped towards the front a little. PS there's 4 layers of white emulsion on this!

So everything's set up, buzz bars are in place and I even widened the holes in the point bars to take the point motor pins today. It's already for the wiring weekend, this weekend. David and Dad are coming to lend a hand, I'll be spending the rest of the week drawing up wiring diagrams... Bring it on!

Colin

sticking to it like glue

Good progress today!

- The control panel box has been screwed together and painted with 2 coats of matt white emulsion. This is now ready for the addition of the coloured strips to show the track diagram and then the drilling of the holes to take LEDs and switches.

- Cork was cut out such to mount the two water tower bases at the Beddgelert end.

- 4 pieces of OO track were glued to the bottom of the baseboards to act as 'buzz bars'. I did this using my new glue gun, which takes a bit of getting used to, and the glue dries mega quick!

Colin

under cover of night...

Had a terrible night last light with the baby, so no real 009 progress to report unfortunately as have been trying to catch up some sleep...

However, I have decided that the next steps should be to get the control panel ready for an intensive wiring weekend before layout work stops for the winter (and I try and get some coaches built!). Thus, I hope that tomorrow I can do the quick bits of woodwork required plus the drilling of the necessary holes... but first let's see how the night goes!

Colin

Hidden (sidings) under a bushel

I want to post today on my emerging plans for Rhyd Ddu's hidden sidings. My feeling is that to keep interest going on the layout, the siding should be able to 'rack up' a number of trains ready to go. This requires a number of sidings, each of which a similar length (garratt + 6 coaches is my standard at 3 1/2 feet). All of this points to cassettes, a sector plate or a traverser.

The necessary baseboards for all these 3 options are actually quite similar, what I am keen to do though is to create a system that is reliable, easy to construct and extendable in the future. My feeling is that cassettes are a bit of a faff to make and that a scetor plate is actually only a less flexible version of a traverser. Indeed, there may well be more than one output from the layout side of the hidden sidings, perhaps into a stabling siding, also not in the public view. Long-term, it might also be nice to extend the layout from the other end of the hidden sidings too.

Another thought is that trains will mostly end up with the loco at the wrong end of the train when they stable in the hidden sidings. Therefore an easy way of moving locos to the other end of the hidden sidings needs to be included.

So...what's the plan?? To allow mulitple outputs from the hidden sidings (both ends), a sector plate is really out and cassettes are indeed a bit too fiddly for me. Thus it look like a traverser, but I have some concerns over using the traditional design where the traverser floats on kitchen drawer runners. Why? - because of the big gaps that are created either side of the traverser that stock could fall into (ouch!).

Thus, I am proposing a slightly different design, where the traverser will 'float' by having highly polished surfaces between the bottom of the traveser and the baseboard top. The traverser still moves easily, but the gaps are gone. At either side there will also be short spurs where locos can be moved onto other traverser roads using push-to-make switches, separate to the actual layout.

So it's traversers here we come....

Colin

The coaching manual

I've got a decent number of 009 locos for the layout. In the end, I'd like to be able to run WHR(C), WHR(P) and FR trains on the layout, but for now it's looking ok...

However, coaches are a different matter...but this is the plan: red is got kit, amber is part made/in wrong livery, green is complete and grey is 'no kit bought yet'

WHR set 1 - brake, saloon, open, pullman, 23 and B wagon

WHR set 2 - brake, saloon, saloon, open, 24 and B wagon

Works diesel + 2 x B wagons, ancilliary other wagons, coach 1000 and ex SAR brake van

FR 1870s heritage train - bugs 2 and 5, ashbury 10, iron bogie 15, bowsider 18, curly roofed van

FR 1930s heritage train - van 2 (ex No.10), bugs 1,3,4, quarryman's coach, iron bogie 16, bowsider 20

Quarry Hunslet+ slate wagon train and van 6

FR modern set 1 -106(David's),105,104,14,37,26
FR modern set 2 - 116,121,122,103,11,22

So, lots of work ahead this winter to start putting these sets together. Watch this space though...

Colin

The B's knees!

This is an ex South African Railways, now WHR B wagon. There are 8 on the WHR at the moment, although 2 are on the FR for use holding coal now that locos are being converted to coal again (Earl of M and Taliesin being the first converted). These are clearly striking and interesting wagons (and sizeable too) and 2 have also been converted into bike wagons to carry bikes (making a nice link with the local Beics Menai hire in Caernarfon). For more info go here: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr/wagons.htm Therefore they are a must on my 009 model of Rhyd Ddu. But no one produces a kit for it....well that is until now...

Earlier this year I managed to get drawings of these wagons from Marcus Ingram at the WHR and passed them to Allen Doherty of Worsley Works in the hope he could produce something in 009... Well this weekend at expo narrow gauge the B wagon 009 kit is launched - £13 for a kit with bogies and all bodywork - not bad eh! Allen produces lots of other FR/WHR kits and his site is here http://www.worsleyworks.freeserve.co.uk/NG/NG_Index.htm

Finally, a quick advert for an item I'm selling on ebay to raise funds for Rhyd Ddu (A Corris/early Talyllyn 'Tattoo' loco (no.4)- a good runner, nicely painted and a snip at the moment - see http://tinyurl.com/yfqohd

Colin

At this point in time...

Above, is my first and other 009 layout... It's called 'Nant Gwernol' and a fairly accurate model of the Talyllyn Railway's Nant Gwernol terminus, except that it includes an 'extension', nominally to link to the Corris Railway (which there were once plans to do so) and a slate quarry on a second higher level (where one never existed, the quarries were further up into the hills). There is also an extra siding running to a Dolgoch Falls style water tower [in reality this would be in a ravine!].

A lot of progress was made as can be seen in the photo, but the slate quarry area never really got going (although I had drawn the plans for a scratchbuilt dressing mill) and FR/WHR interests took over from Talyllyn.

From the start of the Rhyd Ddu project I was in two minds as to whether I should rob this layout of parts to help with the costs of the new layout. Well, I managed to avoid robbing anything that is visible to the viewer i.e. track, points etc.

However, today I removed the 4 point motors for use on Rhyd Ddu (to save time, money and some soldering). The other reason for doing this is that I have long admired the modratec ground frame system (pic below) and would love to have one of these on my layout. The reason for not using one on Rhyd Ddu was because you can't use it to power point motors via DPDT switches. Well, on a small one-board layout like Nant Gwernol, the alternative 'wire in tube' method is a lot easier to install and maintain.

So, the point motors and peco switches will be recycled to use on Rhyd Ddu and the other equipment such as the CDU will be sold on ebay. A sad day taking apart bits of one model, but at least it's for a good cause and that I have an alternative plan for the layout long-term....

Colin

Wirksworth it?

As mentioned yesterday, I visited the Wirksworth show put on by the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. Was it worth it? Well, there are quite a few things that disappointed me:

- £4 to get in was expensive frankly.
- It was spread across 3 halls across the town, which was just about OK, until it started raining!
- Similar exhibits were not grouped together
- A number of layouts were plain shocking and were no better than a hornby box set placed on a flat board with some shoddy scenery.
- Almost all the trade stands were identical - model shop stands selling OO equipment.

but...

There was a clever little 009 layout made in a violin case, a decent 7mm NG layout and some excellent American and French continental layouts.

so...

One way of considering how good an exhibition was, is to conider how much I spent (or could have spent) and how many layouts that were there, that I would have liked to own. Well, I spent £5 (and didn't want to buy anything else) and there was only 1 layout I would have liked to own. Oh dear!

Next year I hope there will be some better traders...tools, scenery etc... and the bad layouts are expunged...

Colin

tanks, but no tanks (yet)

Above is the Port end water tower, which is unusual in that the long stock (or KMX tamper) siding runs beneath it. Today I placed the bases of this water tower and tacked all the track in the yard down. The tank will comelater (scratchbuilt) I cut the rails across the board joins and glued down the copper strip sleepers ready for soldering... I also started to consider exactly what parts of the car park will need modelling and to plan for where they fall on the baseboards.

I also received some excellent news from a WHR e-group member a spot height from the top of the Fridd Isaf rocks! [see post yesterday, when I had thought this was impossible]

Tomorrow is the Wirksworth show, so will be there hunting for bargains!

Summary of the future plan:

End Oct - installation of all track, point motors and tidying up of all cork edges around track

Nov-Jan - complete paper wiring plans plus complete control panel (can be done indoors during the cold months, rather than the garage)

Feb-Mar - complete base scenery formers, newspaper, cardboard straps and modroc.

Easter - visit Rhyd Ddu to complete scenic research

early Summer - complete the rest of the board wiring and start scenery.

...

Colin

you tube whr(c)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl-KjaA5hSc&mode=related&search

worth a look - a youtube video of the Welsh Highland on the approcahes to Rhyd Ddu! The 'layout' starts at 2mins 35secs in!

Colin

On the straight and narrow

Today a lot of the straight tracks alongside the platform were nailed down and the yard point positioned. The rails were cut across the baseboard joins and holes drilled for 2 of the point machines. The final piece of track to the end of the visible layout was also cut and positioned, with a cheeky little curve added to provide some extra interest (although it doesn't really exist in reality).

It has been confirmed that no maps with spot heights of the fridd isaf rocks exist and thus heights will have to be estimated. I have some photos of these rocks with people stood on top, and their height (a nominal 6ft?) can be used to estimate the actual height of the rocks.

Also today heathcote have confirmed that multiple motors can be used with the points indicator board discussed yesterday.

Colin

Turnout nice again!

Or 'turned out nice again' the classic George Formbyism... With a bit of help from Dad, I laid out the yard today to test the likely layout without nailing it down completely.... The promised images are below...

Also today some excellent LEDs arrived from Hong Kong (via ebay). They came in a kit with resistors, shrouds and steel surrounds. This has mean't a step forward for the control panel and extra planning was done today on this. See below for an image:

The LEDs will be used to denote whether track is switched to controller A or B, or indeed off. The final piece of the jigsaw is below:

and this is how it works:

A point position indicator board from heathcote; it remembers the position of the points and displays this via LEDs. Each board powers 4 points; but I have 5! However, two of my points work together at the entry to the yard and so I'm hoping I can get away with one board... I await a reply from the nice people at heathcote....

Colin

Derby day

Now the shop pictured above is a bit of a love-hate kind of shop. I'll tell you why.... Firstly, a few weeks ago I dragged the very pregnant wife across Derby, through a rather unpleasant underpass to find this shop. This was a Saturday at about 3pm...I found the shop..........and it was closed!!!! On a Saturday! I now find that the shop is intermittenly closed when the owner is at exhibitions. Which is a bit silly really.....! If I wasn;t so persistent, I probably would have given up and kept on using gee dee in Nottingham.

However, I'm not one to be put off that easily, so today Dad and I attempted a further visit. Yes it was open, yes we found an easy parking space without necessitating a further navigation of said underpass and yes...it's a wonderful shop. Full of woodland scenics, wills, peco etc. - simply very good, bits of 009, all the major model railway equipment required for any gauge and decent prices too...

So, overall, its excellent, if it would be a little clearer about its opening hours!

Purchased the rest of the peco 009 points, a further peco point motor and the first (of many I suspect) bag of ballast (woodland scenics granite mix). When I got home, I glued the final piece of cork in place (hooray Rhyd Ddu is corked!) and laid out the yard quickly to check the positioning of points. So, soon, phase 1 tracklaying should be complete, with just a few soldered joins to complete and some final cork removal before we move on to wiring!

Colin

Seeing the light

This shot shows the point indicator on the loop points. These light to show that the points are set 'wrong road' i.e. the automatic sprung points have been set the non-normal way. The FR/WHR system is for right hand running through stations, so this light shows if the points are set for the left hand platform. So how do we get this top work on the layout? Well, the points won't be sprung, but set using peco point motors, I already want one switch to change the polarity at the frog so I need a twin microswitch .... voila below... which uses one switch for the frog and the second for LEDs on the panel, but it's the same idea really...
Anyway...progress today has seen the cork stripped out (by chisel) for the platform. which now sits nicely in its gap between the cork for the track bed. Track was then laid out to the south loop point and the final bit of cork laid underneath. The 10mm hole for the point motor pin was also drilled and first ideas for the yard track layout were tried out.

Tomorrow, my parents are here so might not get much done, but the cork will be dry and the yard plan can be sorted and laid out ready for tracklaying.... Will post some pictures when the track is properly liad out and nailed down...

Colin

Give us a wiggle...

The above shot clearly shows the wiggle, which moves left and right from the loop point onto the platform. Why am I telling you this (apart from the comedy headline?), because this has been laid today, along with the track along the north side too and the board joins between board 2 and 3 (to be soldered tomorrow). Then the platform was positioned, marked and the cork beneath it cut ready to be stripped out tomorrow (I started stripping a bit today actually). I also drilled a 10mm hole for the point motor of loop points north.

Colin