Beginnings - Saturday 7th June 2008

Right, two Hornby track rubbers were purchased this morning for a very reasonable amount, so it was time to start work.

Up until now, I've had some track that I bought from ebay, a couple of power track straights I bought from Jake Tudge over at Rail Forum and a big box of rusty, spare bits that were given to me (free, gratis!).  Locos don't run on rusty rails, so the plan is to clean them up with the track rubbers, in the hope this will allow electric contact.

The track rubbers don't look much - just like pencil erasers - but they work!  20 mins of hard graft later and I have 2 double straights and 2 ordinary striaghts over which locos will now pass, albeit with the odd spark and occasional push!  A bit more work will have them up to scratch.  Only another 20 odd bits to go....

Oh, and I've got a bicep like never before now as well.  Just the one though!

Track Rubbers are your friends - Tuesday 17th June 2008

Another evening of cleaning up track.  This time I spent nearly 2 hours working away.  It can be very threaputic!  The frightening thing is that I ran the rubbers over a couple of clean looking points and was shocked at the amount of crud that came off!!  Let that be a lesson to you - keep your tracks clean for future.

Just 21 double straights and 6 short straights left to go!

On a lighter note, the Deltic class 55 diesel loco, Tulyar turned up as well.  I was beginning to get frantic that it would not appear, until I discovered it was being posted from mid-America.  All in all, it made good time.  It's a lovely looking loco and runs quite well, although due to it's size, it doesn't seem to like short radius curves.  Once further straights have been cleaned, I should be able to give it a proper run.

Now just waiting from a Lims class 31 loco and some assorted wagons, coaches and an old loco.  Depending on how the old loco is, it might just spend time on a siding on the layout, as a non-runner?



Slowly, slowly - Saturday 26th July 2008

Well, things have been grinding along slowly.  Mostly, I just had a oval with a passing loop set out on the dining room table to run a few trains on.  My son loves it!  I've had some wood kindly donated thru my local freecycle.org so that I can start thinking about the layout proper at last.  The plan is to make up some shelves to run round 3 sides of my office area.  The layout will be in a 'squared' horseshoe with mostly single track with passing slips around the stations/halts.

The Lima 31 has turned out to be a dream.  It runs very smoothly and can pull great weights.  The old loco turned out to be a bit passed it.  I sent it to EPM for a service, but it turns out that the engine was knackered and a bit bodged, so I've sold it on to them for spares.

Latest purchase is a track cleaning wagon from ebay.  It's a good 20+ years old and has hte original pad, but has hardly been used.  It'll be a great help in keeping the tracks clean whilst running round behind a loco!

It pays to freecycle.org! - Sunday 27th July 2008

If you haven't already, join up to your local freecycle.org and get sharing!  A request for some wood that I could use as shelves and thus a base, led me to a very helpful couple in cheam.  They have given me some lovely t&g wood from an old wardrobe that I will start to cut to size (as soon as I can get to my father-in-law's power tools!) and hang in the 'office'.

I posted a link to this site in my 'Wanted' e-mail which caused an astonishing 38 hits in one day!  One of those hits was Peter Tibbetts from the next town along who offered me a box of old 'OO' gauge bits.  I promptly picked these up to find several nice early BR coaches, a brake van, some much needed track, buildings, semaphores, a wind up Thomas, Annie and Clarabel (much to my son's delight!) and lots more.  Many thanks Peter!  You are the first official GB (generous benefactor) of the Mole Valley Line!

 

Too quiet for too long!

So, very little has happened over the summer, autumn and part of the winter.  Then my father-in-law kindly put together some legs, with bracing, as above (excuse the mess!) and I've added the MDF that I got from freecycle.org, thus!

You can see that the plan has changed from a squared horseshoe to a table top.  The horseshoe on shelves was just too difficult to take any further at this stage of my modelling experience, plus the table top is more flexible (well, that's my excuse!)





and a short video, here: -

 http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn185/HughCollings/Layout%202/?action=view&current=MOV00118.flv

The MDF is 21mm thick.  Perhaps slightly overengineered, but it does add stability to the table.  The table is of 5cm square legs with 10cmx2.5cm supports.  The back and both sides have 2 supports - one 20cm up from the ground and one level with the tops of the legs.  The front just has the support level with the tops of the legs to allow storage under and a chair to be put under with room for my legs. 

The MDF is simply screwed into the tops of the legs and twice along the front and back for each piece.  The top consists of two seperate pieces, 1x100cm and 1x50cm (simply because I didn't have a single piece big enough).  The top dimensions are 150cm long x 104cm wide and the table sits some 74cm from the floor for my comfort.

Track

I started with a simple oval, as per the video.  The track is mostly 2nd hand Hornby that I have either been given, or purchased from Ebay.  I began with a simple oval, as per the video.  Since then, I have added a left and right hand turn out (points) to the front of the oval to make a simple 'run round'.  Much fun was had when the turn outs were added, as the insulated the power track from the oval, rendering the whole track dead!  Took me a little while to work this one out.  I could have moved the power track and feed from the controller, but I do need some isolated sections for shunting etc.

The answer was to run some thin electrical cable from a terminal block by the controller, under the table top and up through a small hole to a further power track on the back of the oval.  Now there is power to the oval or part of the oval and the run round when required.

As the track is mostly elderly, it does need a good clean (out with the track rubber again!).  Only the LBSC 0-6-0(T) and the Class 31 seem to want to run at present.  The remaining locos struggle round in fits and starts, with some pushing.  Suprisingly, the Continental 0-4-0(T) runs round fine in revers, but struggles fowards!  Go figure!

I've seen a layout in January's 'Railway Modeller' magazine - Castlehill - which I think I might emulate.  The scenary will be completely different, but I like their use of the track in a tight space.  My table is slightly smaller than their layout, but I should be able to squeeze it all in...

The Layout lives!

After some fiddling around, I've come up with my own layout and track plan of  which I am quite proud!  The basic oval has been kept and I've added a shorter oval across the middle.  Both ovals use the same track on the right hand end (see photos).

In addition, I've created what will be an 'industrial zone' towards the centre of the layout.  This will incorporate two sidings for shunting.  There's not much room so they are cramped and not prototypical, but they fit the space.  There is a siding with an engine shed as well.

I'm adding another siding towards the right end for more shunting, but powering it is providing problematical at present.  It may be that the track I'm using is not up to much.





A general view of the layout as is now.

 

The 'industrial zone' and sidings.

The engine shed - no way the Class 31 is going to fit!

The signal box

Moving along - up to 15th April

I've been playing around with the track for a little while and finally, I'm getting to where I'm happy.  There have been a few problems with locos bouncing off at points and 'stalling' on various straights.  These have been resolved - the offending points were replaced and the 'flat spots' cleaned again with the track rubber (track rubber = friend!).  I've learnt how to solder (many thanks to Teleman for his instructional video) and added some power feeds to various sidings to achieve power when the iso-frogs isolate the sidings.  I have just a tiny bit of fiddling to do with the sidings to achieve my goal and then I should be in a position to lay some grass and pin the track down.  Overhead photos give the gist of the layout - camera in on the ceiling for these shots and I still can't get it all in the frame!


Lots of playing trains! up to 20th July 2009

Well, things have been progressing, quietly away.  No great steps as yet, because it can be difficult to find time. 

Biggest change to date is that the layout is now DCC!  After much time thinking DCC was complicated and a hassle, I enquired generally on a couple of forums and got very helpful andvice and positive feedback., so decided to take the plunge.

To begin with, I've gone for the basic Bachmann EZ Controller.  It's not as advanced as some, but I'm only running a small layout with a few locos, so I don't need anything too advanced.  I've picked up a couple of Bachmann Junior locos - an 0-6-0T and an 0-4-0ST (which is shortly moving on to pastures new) to enable me to check that the DCC is wired in correctly and running ok.

I've tried to hardwire an 80's Hornby A4 Mallard, but it has proven problematical and keeps blowing Hornby R8249 decoders.  It seems that older locos draw more power and beefier decoders are required - now on the shopping list!

I have purchased a lovely 2nd hand Q1, number C8 in unlined BR Black and SOUTHERN on the tender.  Unbeknownst to me, until I tried to track down new coupling rods for it, it is a DCC ready loco.  In went the R8249 decoder and no end of problems again!  Running rough, stopping, shorting out.  Then I discovered that one of the pick up from the loco to the tender had been bent up inside the loco body - presumably, I did this when fitting the decoder.  Much better now!  Derails on one particular corner, so that lenght of track is due to be replaced.

I've also got my hands on a DCC Class 47 Duffer, which runs very nicely.  I'm intending to do away with most of my diesel and concntrate on steam now - in fact the 40, two 31s a 37 and two 47s have already gone on ebay.  I'm just left with the DCC 47 (which I'll probably keep untl the rest of my stock is converted), a class 42 Warship and a Class 45.  I intend to run some diesels, the type that would have been around at the same time as steam.....at a push!

I really need to update my stock photos which will be done very shortly!

I have also discovered that the left hand end - Malden Rushett - is too cramped for my fine station.  After juggling about some of my astronomical equipment, I now have room to add a little extension board over the storage gap at the end of the table.  This will make siting the station and platforms easier and may involve a bay platform?

Yesterday afternoon, I had a few spare moments to my self, so I went thru some of the loft find items that were given to me and found some bits that were of use, albeit in various stages of disrepair.  A good few hours were spent with a tube of super glue mending legs on a water tower; some sail on a windwill (although sadly, two are still missing); an old Airfix footbridge (some bits missing too) and various Triang metal semaphores and loading gauges.  Great fun!

I'm now at the stage where I can think about modelling the scenics and planning what to do next.  I think the track really needs ballasting, so PVA, ballast and decoders are on the shopping list!