Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

Thanks Gary,
Yes the cows were quite plastic before Julie got to work on them and she has made quite a difference to them.
I also have some pigs that she is willing to have a go at, but I have resisted, I just don`t want any pigs on my railway.......they are dirty little devils and they stink...
Gormo

 

G`day Echidna,
Thanks for your comments.......I like the idea of the inverted fluoros.....that makes a lot of sense.
Speaking of lighting.........I have an idea about improving the lighting in my railway room, however it`s a big job and most likely will require extra flouros which could be a pain to fit at this advanced stage.
Part of the modification would be to fit pelmets in front of the existing lights so that all the light is concentrated on the railway. Think theater lighting, where the audience is in subdued lighting and the stage / railway is fully lit.
It`s very early days yet and there are other things to do and honestly, it may never happen.....it`s not critical.
Gormo

 

She was obviously in the "moo'd" when she painted them...........Oh dear....
Right....." moo-ving " right along.
Yes major work on Little Bardfield is pretty much complete now and all that is required are the details......I still have to do that vegie garden, but I think I need to phsyce myself up for that.......I need a lightning bolt of inspiration to hit me and then I`ll be away.
The thing to keep in mind though Chris, is that Bamford is next and that is a major undertaking as well.
So that will be another epic conversion to a British country railway station and should get interesting along the way.
I think I was saying to you that I was considering electric point motors for Bamford as I felt there may be space restrictions if I use my mechanical system.
Well I`ve looked at it again and I was wrong.....the mechanical system will work and also I`m looking at a much reduced control panel and probably a walk around controller.......again to save space in the mounting location.
The issue being of course, the sliding yard directly below Bamford.....but I think I`ve worked that out now.
So even though I`m tidying up Little Bardfield.....my thoughts have moved towards Bamford already.
Gormo

 

Ah Yes.....Thanks Keith,
But I converted to LED fluoros a few years ago now.?......I needed to reduce flicker on my videos and the LEDs did the trick.
There is plenty of light in the room....there are four fluoros lighting a room 13 feet x 10 feet roughly......but there are still areas that I think are under lit compared to the rest of the room.
I feel pelmets may help to intensify the light towards the railway whilst at the same time slightly darken the walkways.
With the light arrangement the way it is at the moment though, pelmets would also darken the Bamford area, so extra lighting would be needed there.......so it`s not an easy solution....it`s also not entirely necessary........so at the moment it`s in the too hard basket....
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Work has commenced on Bamford terminus, which is the last part of Great Chesterford Junction model railway to be made fully functional.
As the track plan is not set in concrete yet, and also as no formal track plan exists on a proper control panel, I have seized this opportunity to improve the shunt-ability of this section of the system.
The solution is quite simple in that, all that is required is to add in a run around loop for the yard.
In the pic below, the straight section of track aiming towards the blank section , was removed from the original plan to allow the left hand point in the bottom right of the pic to be inserted.



A section of track was also removed on the left hand side to allow another left hand point to be inserted, and these two insertions will form the run around..









I still have to excavate plaster from under parts of the points and the connecting track. That will be fairly straight forward but messy.





The run around will comfortably accommodate 5 wagons, so space won`t be an issue.





Once the wagons are uncoupled , the loco can run into the head shunt to wait for the points to be reset.





The loco can then connect to the opposite end of the wagons and then shunt them into the goods shed road.




These two points need to be inserted and readied now, because the first part of the process of change for Bamford will be the addition of a manual point control system with lever frame / frames and a control panel.
So some careful calculations to be done first, especially for the location and size of the control panel and the lever frame / frames.
Anyway, first things first........we`ll get this track down with access holes under the tie bars, new supports under some of the track and clean it up and test it.
This is going to be a complete transformation, as was the case with Little Bardfield, so stay tuned folks.
Gormo

 

G`day Gary,
Yes it would have managed well enough with the existing run around, although that is quite long.
I quite like having the short run around set in now..........I think ultimately it will make it a bit more fun to operate and reduce the need to back a train back out through the mouse hole to allow it to access the sidings......we`ll see...?
Well anyway...it`s done now.
The track work is set in place and fixed down......some plaster had to be excavated to allow this point in the foreground to sit properly on it`s cork base.




Sleepers have been slid under the rails to fill the gaps created by the modifications.....they are Super glued in place.





The connecting straight rail was suspended between the two points after it`s initial installation, however card piers were inserted where required under the track and the whole lot was secured once levels were set correctly.





The track has also been painted.......Burnt Sienna Acrylic brushed onto sleepers and rails. Colour blending and corrections will be done once the new section is ballasted.




Speaking of ballast........I need to create some and try and match the original.
Just noticed in this pic the old ballast remaining behind the station platform..........not sure if I can recover that or not...???........
I`ll give it a go......nothing to lose.
Gormo

 

Yes that`s true Sol,
I`m going to have to bite the bullet at some stage, because I recovered some of the old ballast from behind the platform as mentioned, however there won`t be enough to complete all the sections that need doing.
It`ll work out somehow.......because I`ll make it work.
Gormo

 

No worries Gary,
Thanks for the offer, but I`ve fudged it already.
Managed to recover some from the back of the platform and then I winged it for the rest.........it`s looks good enough and when grass is added, you`ll be hard pressed to tell the difference.
Gormo
PS....I`m tied down with some home renovation at the moment so won`t be around much for a while.

 

G`day Folks,
Managed to get back out into the shed today and had a crack at a refinement I have been thinking about that could make my Block Instruments work in a prototypical manner.
They are close to prototypical in the way I had originally wired them, however my wiring was originally designed to avoid electrical conflicts between transformers and was somewhat of a compromise.
As time has moved forward and I`ve learnt a bit more about the subject, I`ve realized that with the addition of two extra wires, the system could be pretty much operated just like the real thing and without electrical conflicts.
Today I have added two extra wires into the work shop area and two extra wires into the back shed as well.
So the process now for moving a train between sections is, I think ? , prototypical and it is also easier.......bonus....

The block instruments are now worked in the following manner.
For a train to run from Box A to Box B.
When there is no train in the section, the block instruments LEDs read – Line Blocked.
The signalman at Box A can see there is no train in the block section ahead by checking his block instrument. (and/or by doing a visual check )
He then sends 1 beat (Call attention) on the Morse key to Box B, which that signalman acknowledges with 1 beat. ( basically saying " Yes I`m here and listening " )
The signalman at Box A then “offers” the train to Box B by sending the appropriate Is line clear? bell signal. eg....a DMU service would be 3 beats.
The signalman at Box B, provided he is satisfied that the section is clear, acknowledges the bell signal ( 3 beats ) and turns his commutator to Line Clear, which lights the LED on the instrument at Box A to Line Clear.
The signalman at Box A may now prepare his train for departure by making sure points are set correctly and the controller is set to the proper direction.
The signalman at Box B must also be sure his points are set correctly and the controller is set to the proper direction.
The train can now be powered up and as it passes Box A, the signalman there sends Train Entering Section signal (2 beats) on the bell, which the signalman at Box B acknowledges and also turns his commutator to Train On Line, which lights the Train On Line LED on Box A.
When the train has passed Box B, or arrives at destination B, the signalman sends Call Attention ( 1 beat ) on the bell to Box A, and when answered, sends the Train Out Of Section bell signal (2-1) which is also acknowledged. He then turns the commutator back to Line Blocked. This also shows on the LED at Box A.
Therefore both signalman have a permanent indication of the state of the block section, but the signalman at the receiving box (in this case Box B) is the person who makes the final decision as to whether the signalman at A can allow a train into the section. Indeed, if he has any reason for not allowing the train to enter the section , he simply refuses the train by not acknowledging the Is Line Clear? signal and leaving the commutator and LED Indicators at Line Blocked.
Now as we are housed in a small room and not actually miles apart out in the open countryside, this could lead to some interesting, and possibly heated, operating sessions......especially if we are running to a schedule.....
It`s all part of the fun isn`t it..??
Gormo