Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

G`day Folks,
I`ve started doing the paved area around the timber merchant.
I started scribing some card, a mind numbing experience, but a good result, and thought this was going to take too long.
So I got out some Metcalfe cobble sheets I had and tried them instead.
Unfortunately I felt that I would regret going down the easy road because they simply don`t look as good. They lack the texture / relief and being very close to the front of the baseboard, I felt it would annoy me.
So back to the original idea and I just accepted I would complete it a small section at a time.
Here below is a section being created.........cereal box card, an HB pencil and a rule. The pencil makes enough of an indent to create relief and colours the joint at the same time.





The first large piece completed, coloured with graphic markers and dusted with chalk pastel for a more Matt, weathered finish





Then a small curved section.....nothing is glued down yet





The entrance yard and a curved track section





And a straight section for the track





A close up of the texture




As I said , nothing is glued in place yet, I need to replenish my glue stocks.
The other thing to decide upon is whether to continue paving onto the other side of the track or not........maybe just put grass there.?......I`ll sleep on that one....
Gormo

 

Well maybe.....

 

G`day Folks,
Finally finished marking up the paving today.
And glued some of it in place.
The paving in between the tracks and the areas that surround the Timber Merchant building are now fixed down
The paving near the edge of the baseboard needs some packing under it to bring it up to level, and then it can be fitted permanently.
The building will just sit in it`s dedicated position and be removable if required.












I guess the next stage will be to start putting the walls in and start working out the gates.?

A short test run video below



Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
The final parts of the paving near the baseboard edge have been fixed in place.
Then started working out the walls.......initially I had some MDF strips that would be convenient, however they just did not have enough height, so back to the drawing board.
I thought I would use some foam board instead for the brick walls and add some chain wire fencing into the mix as well.





This is all at mock up stage at the moment just to eyeball how it may look when done properly.
I think the chain wire fencing will be a good visual addition as it allows more to be seen, whilst still defining the perimeter of the timber yard.





Due to the spacing in the wire mesh, I may have to create some wire gates separately to achieve a dimension that does not fit in with the mesh spacing





Yard man Splinter O`Reilly keeping an eye on things at the gateway.




Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
No fences complete yet, but I have turned my attention to the two gates that will be needed.
I think it will be best to get the gates installed first and then bring the walls up to them , so to speak.
So as I want mechanically operated gates, I`ve been working on a mechanism to try and achieve this.
Some years ago I acquired a whole bunch of gears and axles online with the intention of putting them to good use on the railway at some stage.
The axles are 2mm and consequently the gears will fit most small can motors etc.
I know I could use servos for this purpose, but I could not be bothered with the electronics side of it and programing Arduino etc.
I know it`s child`s play for some, but it`s a pain in the **** for me, so there you go.
This is the mechanism..... a brass hinge acts as a bearing to carry the motion from vertical to horizontal.
The motor is held in place with hot glue. The mechanism is upside down in this pic.





The gear wheel that meets the worm drive has had approx. 75% of it`s teeth removed to limit the travel of the main shaft that will carry the gate.





There is a simple spring made from a guitar string under the modified gear wheel. When the spring makes contact with the nail at either end of the travel, the spring applies enough pressure on the gear wheel against the worm drive to ensure it`s teeth engage with the worm drive for the return journey.





A front view ......also shows holes drilled into the timber base to allow the mechanism to be fitted up under the baseboard




A short video of it working.
Bear in mind it needs proper switching and a low voltage power supply, but we`re on our way with this one......



Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Well the first gate mechanism is installed below the Timber Merchant.
As far as the gate is concerned, it has been made from a single piece of Balsa.
I have used some 2mm heat shrink tubing Super glued to the end edge and then covered the Balsa both sides with a modified image of an old gate.
The heat shrink tube is a beautiful fit over the vertical axle and can slip a little if required when the gate comes up against the stoppers.
The walls are still simply standing in place and need to be covered with brick paper
I have added a smaller version of the Timber Merchant sign and a weathered speed limit sign for 5 mph




The other side.....the heat shrink tube on the right has been painted Silver to resemble a gate post





The gate in it`s open position butted up against the internal stopper ( toothpick )





You can see the other stopper just to the right of Splinter O`Reilly




We now need the brick paper on the walls to really finish this scene off properly, however all in good time.
Below is another short video showing the gate working in place.



Gormo

 

Thanks Brian and all the best for the New Year
Gormo

 

Totally agree Jim,
Sometimes simple and bullet proof is the way to go...
Gormo........Happy New Year

 

G`day Folks,
Started working on gate number two today only to find I have a space restriction for the mechanism if I use the same method as gate number one.
I went through my box of recovered mechanisms from computers, CD players, DVD players etc.etc. and found a mechanism I purchased at a model railway exhibition many years ago.
I am confident that it is a Music Box mechanism that has been converted and motorized, anyhow it`s perfect because it can be mounted out of the way and the gate can be driven by a belt between the mechanism and a pulley mounted at the bottom of the gate axle.
This is the beast in question and it will be mounted on this board. The board will be cut down to the mechanism chassis dimensions.





Here it is up under the baseboard. The axle pulley on the right has a spacer fitted to keep it in line with the drive mechanism
You can also see how close the Bell crank for the points is to the gate axle......this is why I had to take a different approach to motorizing the gate in this location.





Here is the axle / gate post on the top side. It has a short worm drive fitted, and almost obscured by the ground, that acts as a locking ring to stop the axle sliding back down into the hole




And now another short video showing it working



Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
A temporary set back today, as the way I had the drive mechanism for the Coal Merchant`s yard mounted failed.
Back to the drawing board ,and now instead, it has been mounted vertically with a couple of brackets rather than in the horizontal orientation.
I am happy to say it now works very well.
The printed coverings for the gates were printed and sealed yesterday and I applied them today.
This is the same image I used for the Timber Merchant gate, however with this one I used the colour replacement tool in my drawing program to add the brown colouring in.
I think it`s quite effective and the gate looks like it`s had a hard life.





Same treatment on the other side.





And in the closed position.




This afternoon I installed the wiring for each gate. Each gate is controlled by two switches.....a DPDT toggle switch for direction.....OPEN or CLOSED.....and a push button momentary switch to activate the gate in either direction. The switches have been placed directly opposite the gates on the front fascia of Bamford baseboard.
You can see the Timber Merchant gate being operated in the bottom left hand corner of the video below.



Gormo