One of the model railway clubs I'm involved with has a fair size club layout, it's double deck with helix between the levels The layout has a dedicated signalling position that the controller sits and has control of all the main line points on the layout"CTC" Opperators request the route they want and the idea is the CTC wil let them know if they can proceed and throw the points etc. last year we started a modernisation program and part of this was to update the Controler/signal persons control panel and provide the CTC tower yes it really is a tower up above the layout with CCTV of all the layout and a new Control panel. The old panel being 15 plus years old has many intermittent issues due to some previous repairs dodgy soldering and it looks like was a temporary get trains running effort and we'll do it later property etc etc. A member of the club who is in the defence forces started the project some time ago and made up nice etched plastic panel however due to "active service commitments" he has been unavailable for some time So silly I said ok I'll finish it off. Was duely given the panel so what dose it need everything 31 point switches 62 LED indicator lights for the points And 6 power districts isolation's on a seperate panel. Luckily all the yards have local control panels that would have been another 50 plus points The plastic etched panel was very thin so needed a backing more work Top level mainline plan Club control panel replacement nice new panel won't have wiring like the old one by CHRIS, on Flickr Bottom level mainline Club control panel replacement nice new panel won't have wiring like the old one by CHRIS, on Flickr What's involved so far just in the backing plate 186 drilling events pilot hole main hole, All marked out Club control panel replacement nice new panel won't have wiring like the old one by CHRIS, on Flickr 31 switches each has 2 nuts and washers per item=124 actions, next 62 LED's each has a Bessel =124 actions to install the led's STDP switches to control Tortis motors 6 posts = 186 solder joints just for the point switching then add LED route lights 2 for each point another 155 soldering events wow the numbers are stacking up here. 589 individual events so far not counting striping insulation for each wire cutting heat shrink etc. The there's the connectors between the panel and consol. It will all be worth it in the end the old panel will be gone and the new panel should be easy for anyone to use as all is Clear no hand written numbers or lines And no wiring like this Club control panel replacement nice new panel won't have wiring like the old one by CHRIS, on Flickr Now the layout train control is DCC But the CTC is traditional DC style when a dozen people are asking you turn points you don't want to be pressing a sequence of address # As modern as it gets in Australian modelling this loco was released during 2015 as the prototype was under trial before entering service, I saw it on trial whilst driving to the hobby shop and as I walked in the owner was unpacking a box and there it was, it must have been fate, so it came home with me. A scene on the club layout Upper Hunter Model Railway with SSR and CF wheat train by CHRIS, on Flickr Will update over the next few days I want to have it installed this week as the club is hosting another local group for a running session on Thursday.
Hi Chris, the panel schematics are neat. Easily readable and not too fussy. Nice work. The loco is a bit of a beast as well. good luck pulling all the wiring together. cheers toto
Panel complete and all lit up Control panel for club layout ready to be installed new wiring all goes to plugs so it can be removed if requires work to be done by CHRIS, on Flickr Installed on the club layout on Friday afternoon and on Saturday the boys ran trains for 5 hours without a short circuit or point failure to throw. I forgot to take a photo of the panel installed after taking the photos of the trains running. This beastie was one of two running on the layout this weekend AD60 Garret a big British Ozzy DJH 60 class running on club layout built by club member Gary as a commission by CHRIS, on Flickr DJH 60 class running on club layout built by club member Gary as a commission by CHRIS, on Flickr
Not mine unfortunately Kim It is built from a DJH kit by one of the club members Gary for Chris (not me) from one of the other clubs on the Coast. Gary was doing the hand over of the model on Saturday at one stage they were double heading with Gary's own 60 class as well. DJH 60 class running on club layout built by club member Gary as a commission by CHRIS, on Flickr
589 actions in less than a week, you must have an electronics past to be that fast. I had about 150 actions on my little panel, I took me months (an hour here, an hour there). Garratt....nice! Marty
Excellent panel, I wish I could work to those standards. The locos especially the Garratt are beautiful I would have loved to have seen the double header! Great photos thanks for sharing, cheers, Pete.
The number of individual actions to build the panel ended up being far more when you account for all the connections to the layout as well and every wire strip pre tin the wiring etc it goes on and on my mind was boggling by the end. I was involved with Toyota as a HighTech diagnostic tech so have just a little back ground in making things work with wire connections and the like. The end result was worth it as with no short circuits and stopages over 5 hours of running on Saturday proved it was well over due the members had just accepted that all the faults caused by the panel were just part of running trains on the club layout. Nice neet switches and wiring. Control panel for club layout ready to be installed new wiring all goes to plugs so it can be removed if requires work to be done by CHRIS, on Flickr I did take a short video clip of the double Garrets here is a screen shot of them Screen shot Double Garrets on upper hunter by CHRIS, on Flickr http://www.click
Toto wrote: Thanks Toto the Garrets are DJH kits, see even our Ozzy trains are British the real ones and the Kit
The last time I looked at a DJH kit (+20 years ago), they were heavy, a double headed garret, I hope those baseboards are strong. They look absolutely gorgeous Paul
paul_l wrote: How about one in Oscale Paul it's a DJH kit too The best thing about a garret they have a lighter axle load than most small to medium locos so can run on quite light lines.. Attached files
An Inglenook in O, for garrets, not much change outa 20ft then http://www.click Boooootifull model Paul
cmcan wrote: Hi Cameron The backing was cut from a sheet of MDF 3mm I think. The laser cut Perspex panel was too thin to support the switches on its own so I made the backing with a frame at the back to support / stiffen, then the front has a dress edge made from quad angle turned out very strong. It's mounted at an angle and the controller sits at the panel above the layout controlling all the mainline points.http://www.click
Hello All, re Panel Design from someone who worked on the real thing for many years. SMR Chris has done a beautiful job on both the design and the presentation , i particularly like the colour coded lines , for a model railway i think this is a very helpful feature, especially when a layout is multi user and the users are once a week or less. Re background colour, panels were once black or a dark olive green with the tracks in white, track occupied,red;points,green for normal, yellow for reverse; route set white or sometimes flashing white whilst setting up. Then Westinghouse B&S (xMcKenzie&Holland) thought bright blue would make a nice background colour. At daylight in a well illuminated signalbox, trying to read a bright blue panel on a sunny day could be difficault. Then we went to Video Display Units / VDUs and the background was always black, lines light grey, routes set up either green or yellow, the latter for low speed routes. strong colour contrast, though some of us found that a bit tying. These days background colour can be varied to one's choice, with grey being popular, probably because colour contrast is less harsh. In mechanical signalboxes, BR used colour coded lines in a set sequence, on a white background as part of the signalbox pull chart. As was their want BR WR, BR SR, were different , so a reference to The Signal Box .Org will indicate your preferred Region's colour codeing practice. These days you can create a signal control panel on your computer screen , and operate it from there, so wiring panels has been simplified in that regard. regards, Echidna.
