Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

Well Murphy`s Law kicked in this afternoon when I was altering the wiring on Bamford.
I managed to sort out what I had to do to remove the redundant switching which also included a relay. There were a number of alternatives involved in the original wiring and they were done so long ago, that I had to re-educate myself as to what they all meant.
A bit of head scratching and some testing with the multi meter, soon sorted out what was needed and what had to go.
So in the end, I have removed a switch and a relay......doesn`t sound much but it will help to keep the new panel a bit easier to use.
So then came the testing.......all was going well until I ran a railcar back to GCJ. It was struggling under the GCJ controller and when I cut the throttle back, it kept going.
Disaster.......what the heck was going on here.........well what was going on, was the Bamford controller was powering the railcar at GCJ.......
Time to eliminate possible causes and work backwards to a solution. All rail breaks were isolated and working correctly. All Block Instruments were set to Line Blocked. Three independent controllers in three isolated sections should not interfere with each other unless one or more of them are working jointly from one transformer.
That was the case.....Bamford controller was piggy backed on to my Newmarket yard transformer and as Newmarket yard connects to GCJ.........I had a conflict. The previous use of relay and switching and jiggery pokery cancelled this issue.
The solution was to bring in another transformer dedicated to Bamford.......end of story.....well not quite......the new transformer was plugged into a power point under GCJ and tonight when I pulled the plug out, half of the plastic face of the power point came away with it.
Now I need to get myself a new power point.........
It`s all part of the fun I suppose........I have created these problems myself, except for the power point, so I guess it`s good that I can resolve them and hopefully learn something of value along the way.
Tomorrow is a new day....
Gormo

 

Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Well all my electrical woes seem to be sorted out for the moment ( knock on wood )......No more conflicts within the railway system and a new power point has been fitted.
Back to square one...
So today I`ve gone through my store of kept pieces of timber to see what I had for making the new control panel and lever frames.
Some of it looked pretty ugly to start with, but after a few passes through the Thicknesser, I now have more than I need. It`s not all 100% usable, so some will be lost to the bin, however what`s left should come up rather well.
Next task is to accurately plan how it`s going to be built, which means I have to get some levers together first to determine the size of each lever frame housing.
I have two things that are base measurements.......somewhere to start from......the levers and the control panel schematic.....everything will be built around those two measurements.
Gormo

 

Howdy rail buffs,
Work proper started today on the Bamford transformation.......although it`s a long way from transformed yet, but you`ve gotta start somewhere.?
I`ve started to make preparations for the building of the two lever frames.
This requires brass Choc Block ( Terminal Block in Oz ) inserts to be adapted to fit on the levers so as to accept the connecting rods that will eventually push the points backwards and forwards. The brass pieces need a hole drilled into the side of them.......best done on a drill press with a vice to hold the part.





We then tap a 3mm thread into the hole........again best done whilst the part is in the vice.





Check that the screw fits properly





Then fit the screw through the lever and add two 3mm washers on the other face of the lever, to which we then add a drop of Loctite 263 ( Thread Locker )
Then fit the brass piece onto the end of the screw. Tighten the screw and then back off about 1/10th of a turn to allow for free movement.
Let the Loctite set.





And then it should look like this. There are two securing screws to fit into the brass piece to hold the rod, however I hang off fitting those until the Loctite has set. The Loctite can seep inside the fitting and lock up the securing screws if you don`t wait........how do I know this.......





So eleven levers required and sorted this afternoon.





As the levers will be set below the baseboard, they will need rocker arms fitted to the back of the frames to transfer the movement to directly below the baseboard.
Each rocker arm will require two brass fittings, one for the top and one for the bottom, therefore eleven rockers need twenty two fittings as seen below.
The rocker arm lengths still have to be determined. To do that I have taken a number of critical measurements so that I can determine exactly, where the frames will sit in relation to the baseboard, and that in turn will determine the length of the rocker arms. The rocker arms need to clear the underside of the baseboard by about 5mm.




So we are still moving forward, however lots of little bits and pieces to be put in place before any drastic transformation takes place.
More as it happens.
Gormo

 

The six lever frame assembled.



Gormo

 

Followed by the five lever frame.








Then onto the blanks for the rockers.....these are quite short compared to others I have made, however that`s what is required so we`ll see how they go...




Holes drilled to take the securing screw for the brass fitting.





Center holes drilled for the 3/16th rod axles and holes for the securing screws countersunk to reduce the profile of the heads of the securing screws.
The top ends of the rockers have also been rounded to ensure good clearance when moving just under the baseboard.





And brass fittings fitted and ready to go




The next step will be to make up two frames of rockers mirror reversed to the lever frames so that the fittings will line up correctly between the front and back frames.
I also need to get myself some more 10mm Aluminium angle.....thought I had some but apparently not.....the angle will be used as a back stop to stop the levers pushing all the way forward up to the back board.
Well that`s it for today......a trip to the hardware shop looms to stock up on angle.
More as it happens
Gormo

 

Well not today at least Sol.....
Gormo

 

Thanks Jim

 

Thanks Toto,
I`m glad you enjoy the process.
I`m basically putting it up here again as we have so many new members now who probably won`t have had the time to trawl back through lots of pages of GCJ to find previous builds and of course they won`t have seen the process.
This is the final mechanical lever build for this railway and the total levers will climb to forty........yes forty levers and I think they have served me well, not only in reliability, but in the final cost.....imagine the cost of forty Tortoise motors or even forty solenoids.....it adds up to quite a tidy sum.
The action of the levers has a bit of weight to it as they rely on friction to hold the point in place, however over time the first levers have freed up a little giving a lighter action, although still positive.
This new build is a variation on the other builds, but the principles are still the same, so I am confident it will perform equally as well as the others.
Gormo

 

I`ll see what I can do......although the levers are assembled now........I could show the rockers being assembled or possibly just put a couple of the older videos in here to show the whole process....??.....
Gormo
Edit.....just found a Tortoise motor retailer here in Oz selling at 35 dollars AUS.
35 x 40 = 1400

 

Well Toto,
I managed to do a video showing the rockers being assembled this afternoon so I hope you enjoy it.



Here is also a link to a topic I did some time ago demonstrating the system

Episode 149 20 Manual Point Control Demo

And here is a much older one demonstrating how the system is built,

Episode 11 Manual Point Control

Gormo

 

Thanks Jim,
Can`t remember how I came up with the low level siting idea, it was probably one of those late night brain storming sessions that provided a solution.
Gormo

 

Well we`re still rockin` folks,
I had to get my saw table out this morning for a household repair, so when that was done, I returned to the saw with my bits of timber for my control panel.
First of all a point of reference, in this case the three ply backing for the schematic. So the three ply was cut to size and from there I could determine the overall height of the box making allowances for the slots to put the panel in.




From there we could then place the levers into the equation and determine what space was required for them.
In this panel, the base will be removable, so if the panel needs to come out or if the levers need adjusting, access will be good.





A dry fit to check it all......at this stage the levers are sitting higher than they will be eventually





Following the same theme and materials, the five lever box was cut too.





The top and the three vertical parts have been glued and screwed permanently and the schematic has been glued to the 3 ply. Below you can see the aluminium angle back stop cut and drilled ready for installation. A notch has been cut out of the back board also to increase clearance for the bottom of the levers













The base has to have material removed as well. The bottom section of the hole will be completely removed once I drill some screw holes in the base....don`t want to chance breaking it.





So the overall height is 125 mm and the box can go no further than 62 mm below the baseboard top. The bottom of the box will be flush with the bottom of the steel supports that hold the railway up. The aim is to have a fascia following the same line of 62mm below the baseboard, so it should look neat and consistent.
These measurements also mean that the box will sit 43 mm above the baseboard top. I plan to build a hill over the top of it as the box will also be recessed 52 mm into the baseboard keeping it flush along the front edge of Bamford.
I think this is possibly unusual as most control panels are either positioned on the front edge of or below the baseboard and not usually intruding into the scenic part of the board at all. For me it will be a space saver........anyway we`ll see how it goes.??





This is a better approximation of how the levers will sit in the box.




Anyway.....more to follow but I have other things to do for a few days.....so progress may be slowed a bit...
Gormo