Great Chesterford Junction Part One ( Pre P1MRC )

G`day Folks,

Backgrounds are in my thoughts so I`ve gone back to my streetscapes and printed out one of my concoctions with some background hills. I`ve also scaled it down to 80% of the original piece. It`s been cut out around the outline and just plonked against the wall.
So it`s the buildings on the left near the little man and the car.







I quite like the effect with the hills in the background and I think I know the way forward. The plain paper has no shiny effect and gives a more realistic look I feel. The street scene is one of my own photographs taken in Saffron Walden in Essex just up the road about 10 minutes from Great Chesterford. The pic has been doctored a little but that`s another subject altogether. The hills are a separate photograph planted in behind the buildings for effect.

One thing I am considering is air brushing clouds onto the wall. This would be a giant leap for me and possibly a bridge too far as I am not artistic, however I have seen a YouTube vid of how to do it.
I would have to practice quite a bit before any decision was made to go forward or not. Trouble is I`ve got about 48 feet of wall.?????

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day folks,

Monday is baby sitting day for the Gormo`s and I`ve managed to squeeze a little time in the shed whilst the little fella` is having his midday nap.

Managed to line the tunnel insert. I made up some brick paper and stuck it on with the good old UHU stick. The liner is PVC water pipe.



And now some of it in place.






Sorry `bout the angle on this one.....it`s the only way to get the camera near it.



Next job is to lift the main board and start connecting those points and levers.

Here are the frames fitted

Great Chesterford East



Great Chesterford Yard



And Great Chesterford West



That`s all for the moment......the little bloke is due to wake up now......so back to work.

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

Well folks here`s a little look at the works.

This is the start of the Yard frame being connected up. The complicated section mentioned is still being put together. The reason it`s complicated is because it has to leave room for a few cables to pass it by for more points to the left. The Meccano rocker arm will be explained further down.



This is the complicated point. The access hole to the point tie bar is immediately on the other side of the baseboard support. It was not feasible to place this mechanism next to the hole so this set up is my best option. The route of the connections deliberately avoids conflicts with cables that will be added later. It`s a bit like building a maze with a different way out for each person in there. Parts used are a brass hinge with pin removed, a welding rod, a piece of wire coat hanger and a terminal block as a joiner. There are still two bellcranks and connections to be added.



A couple of bellcranks ready for fitting. They were put together this afternoon but have to wait for the thread locker liquid to dry properly.



Now this point, No.19, is the one at the very end of the bay platform and it allows a loco to run around. Somehow during track laying, I neglected to drill a hole through the board for access to the tie bar. So I`ve used the old method of a pivoting wire that passes through the board. It`s a very simple system and could be operated by a chord. I`ve run a wire in tube down to the Meccano which has a screw pivot which then moves the thinner wire on the right which throws the point.



I have a couple of old pics from a couple of years ago showing the method above baseboard, although I`ve used thinner wire this time. The wire passes through the board about one sleeper back from the tie bar.



And here it is fitted to the tie bar. Once the wire is painted etc. it will disappear plus it`s on the back side of the platform and difficult to see.



More as it happens.

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,
Not much to report I`m afraid. I have been ill since the weekend with one of the dreaded lurgies ( is that how you spell it? )....anyway in other words..... a bad cold. I haven`t ventured out to the shed or very far from warmth, comfort and rest.
So indoor work for Gormo and nothing too physical, so I`ve been working on my backgrounds for the railway on the computer.
To scale them correctly I`ve made up a template based on one of my Metcalfe low relief buildings. The critical areas being doors and windows. The template is loaded into my photo program and then the images are copied and pasted over it and their sizes adjusted to suit. When printed sometimes they still look too big so they can be scaled down through the print process. It`s all about what they look like in the flesh that counts.....a bit like doing a painting....sometimes adjustments are required to get it to look right.
So here`s the two Metcalfes each side of the road out of town. The template height is 8.25" or the width of a sheet of A4. The brick on the left hand building in the scene has been coloured to match the Metcalfe. This picture is taken with the items laying on their backs on a table. Once cut around the roof line....the scene will jump into life.







One of the low relief Metcalfes will be placed in a corner of the room. The back scene on the right will be stuck onto the wall to the right of it to indicate that there is a little lane going off to who knows where down there.



Here is one that was tried out to good effect. The buildings are sourced from my own photographs and from donated photographs and from the net and have been subject to considerable adjustment in some cases.



I use PosteRazor 1.5 free software to print my images in poster form. It allows you to specify all dimensions, pages, overlaps etc. for printing.
What I am finding, as I said earlier, is that you start with the background buildings at the right scale via the template, however in some cases they look more effective scaled back to about 80% of the scale size. It gives an illusion of distance but it`s very much a try it and see situation.

Gormo






____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,
Busy, busy, busy......that`s life for me at the moment. So the railway is getting very little time, but some time, to keep things moving forward.
I am still working under the board connecting rods and bellcranks for the lever frames. The main board is just about there......maybe finished tomorrow??? and then it`s onto the board with the engine shed and turntable, which only has six points to connect in a relatively easy arrangement.
I have been working mostly at night, but not every night, so progress is slow yet gratifying.

One night I was ready to chuck it in however.......I was having trouble with number 16. There was resistance and friction in the line which was causing strain on all the parts and limiting their movement. I couldn`t get enough throw at the point blades. I practically rebuilt the bloomin` thing about six times until finally it worked. That was a frustrating exercise and I was starting to wonder, after three hours on the one point, whether I`d bitten off more than I could chew?? Lessons learnt that night have so far prevented any further dramas.
So here is the frame complete at this end. There is just one hinge to go in at the opposite end for point number 11 and that`s it for this board. I have had to get a bit creative with the lines. They are on multiple levels, some use cable as well, but they are tested as they are put in and so far it works.





This will give you a better idea of the twists and turns and ups and downs that these connections follow. Points are labelled as we go along too.



You can see cables here above the rods. These cables actually have rods in them. When they are suspended like this the cable outer reduces the flex in the rod. I take quite a bit of trouble to ensure the rod travels freely through the cable.







It gets interesting here at the main intersection. You can see bell cranks at different heights allowing rods to travel over and under other rods. It`s not the most beautiful solution but I have to do what works.



Another close up showing the complexity of the routes







The rods used in the hinges are welding rods with their coatings removed and the rod cleaned up. They are nice and rigid and suit the hinges quite well. All other rods are wire coat hangers straightened out and then bent to shape and most ends of the rods are given a flat face to give the locking screws a better purchase. The little cable clips are placed in positions where the rods flex and are only used if necessary. The less friction in the system the better.

So there you go folks....... tedious stuff but gee it`s good when it`s done!!!



Gormo




____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,
More progress happening.....slowly but surely. I`ve exhausted my supply of micro switches, however work continues whilst I wait for my delivery.

I decided to do a video update this time so you may get a better feel for what`s been happening under my baseboards.





Just don`t ask me to trace any wires.....

I`m still snatching time where possible because events seem to be lining up one behind the other at the moment......well at least life is not boring.!!

I`ve also just booked some air line tickets for a trip to New Zealand south island later on this year, so the planning for this holiday has to be given some priority at this stage. One of the highlights for me will be a trip on the Tranzalpine train departing from Christchurch and crossing the south island to Greymouth......a trip of 4 1/2 hours through plains, gorges over rivers through mountains etc.
This train trip is apparently one of the worlds great train journeys. Below is a link to Kiwi Rail promo pics and videos.
http://www.kiwirailscenic.co.nz/tranzalpine/
We will pick up a car and drive the rest, eventually arriving back in Christchurch.

So there you go folks......enjoy the video

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day folks,

Work on my second board, as mentioned in an earlier post, is progressing well, albeit slowly. The board has six points to be connected and at this stage I`ve finished five. The last one will be knocked over in the next couple of days. I`m still waiting on my delivery of micro switches to finish the points off properly. They should arrive any time now.
I`ve started working on ideas for the Bamford point set up. There are two boards that make up Bamford. One has four points and the other has five. I`m going to have to break the point control up into two frames.....one for each board....otherwise there will be too many extra connections between boards. The baseboard framing for Bamford is only 20mm thick ,so the connecting rods and bellcranks will be more exposed. Therefore I`m going to do some testing with cycle brake cables. Ideally they will do away with the bellcranks but I think that may be wishful thinking? The cables will need a return spring attached at one end to keep some tension in the line. Without the tension there is too much play in the system unless you do dead straight runs and straight runs need bellcranks to turn a corner. The tension factor also means that I will have to fit adjustable stops on the point actuators so there is not too much tension applied to the tie bars. I have done this before when I was first developing the system and it works quite well.
If the cables work, I will have some tolerance for placing the frames as well. The frame for the station section needs to swing up and down or slide up and down to allow good access to the fiddle yard underneath. Therefore, again, cables would allow the frame some movement.
Little Bardfield is a different kettle of fish. The boards are too narrow and positioned in such a way as to make fitting manual control difficult. I will probably use solenoids for this section of the railway.
Anyway we will get the hard stuff out of the way first.
When I finish the second board in the next short while, I`ll put up some pics.

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

Yes Toto Thanks, I`m sure you are right!!

In fact I know you are right!!!.......the last point got connected today. No micro switches yet.....looks like it won`t be till next week now....Oh well....plenty of other stuff to do.

Here`s the complete set up with rods and bell cranks and hinges.



Where the action starts



Twists and turns



And some more



some more



Well there we are folks.....the two main boards operational except for some details, but essentially routes can now be selected via the lever frames. No more improvisation needed to hold a point in one direction....Yaaayyyy!!!!.....That`s a grand total of twenty five points connected by this method and each one of them different....Crikey!!!!

Finally a short video showing this lot working.





Gormo




____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

Another thing that has happened is that some home made back grounds have been fixed in place.....stuck to the wall in effect. I`ve taken the plunge.....gotta start somewhere??? These have been shown before as mock ups but now they are permanent.



I now have to add some roadways and paving to the ply base but I think it`s going to work out OK.



The paving in this pic is a just a piece of scrap card placed there as a test to see what a proper job may look like.







I am going to use Wet & Dry paper for the roads and maybe a cobbled section around the back of the church. There is no definite plan locked in......we`ll play it by ear and see how it goes.?

That`s it for the moment......it will be good to get these bloomin` switches sorted. If they don`t show I`ll get some locally just so that things can move forward again.

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything

 

Ok.....here we go,

The pics are a bit rough but you`ll get the idea I think??







Gormo

PS.....here`s Gormo coming out of the Laundrette......I had to be in there somewhere




____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,
Well today I designated as a rest day......I`ve had enough exercise this week and my body was telling me to have a break. So I did and I finished up playing about with some landscape background ideas I`ve had for a while.
I`ve borrowed here and there to compile a scene which has been modified and manipulated to produce something which I think is worth sticking on the wall. The resulting landscape has been printed onto A4 plain paper using your stock standard bubble jet and then stuck in place with UHU stick.

The first pic taken from the raised area near the lift off bridge.



And now from the other end



And now at track level....a drivers eye view.



Last one with Pannier for scale.



I`m going to reshape my embankment to try and suit the scene a bit better and also now the backscene gives me a benchmark for scenic colours. The trick is to match the model to the picture as you all well know.

More as it happens

Gormo

PS.....Yes that is Highclere Castle......they sold some of their land to the railway company.....didn`t you guys know that???


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

Can I suggest cutting the angle of the embankment down to a taper, exposing more of the backscene. When your in scenics mode, build up some clump foliage (bushes) to help disguise the join between 3D and 2D. i have altered your pic somewhat as pictures speak a 1000 words...



The red line is where I would aim at trimming back the embankment, exposing those trees to the left of the castle, outlined in black. Some shallow plantings, drawn in green to blend the scenes.

Cheers, Gary.

ps. I can see where the signal box will be.





____________________
...as a young lad, it was big trains for little boys, now it is little trains for big boys...!

 

G`day Folks,

Thanks Toto......I am pleased with how it`s turned out. What I find interesting is that the background was printed onto nine sheets of A4 in the Landscape setting. Therefore giving a maximum height of 8 1/4". The result gives the impression that it is much bigger.....the camera must be telling lies again.???
Gary you are absolutely spot on with your suggestion. I will be taking steps to bring the embankment into line with what you have drawn. Unfortunately I`ve approached this a**e about.....should have done the background first.......oh well....there`s no fool like an old fool???

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,
I submit herewith the amended embankment as per Gary`s suggestion.
The first pic shows the original set up with the signal box set in it`s cut out. It`s OK but we need to see more of that background.



So now you can see the difference between the original on the left and the revised on the right. Bear in mind that the baseboard is also set out from the wall at the moment whilst the embankment dries off.







There you are....it`s getting there.
Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

Well I`ve been in touch with my micro switch supplier and they`ve asked me to give it another few days to which I`ve agreed. They suggest that the delivery will appear and may be held up in customs...we`ll see....

In the meantime more progress on the scenic side. The embankment has been given a base coat of acrylic brown earth and areas along the route of the track have been built up with cardboard. The foam underlay the track rests on is 8mm thick, therefore the surrounding areas need to be built up.

You can see the card next to the coach which brings the level up to sleeper height. I have also been base coating the card and painting track as I move along.



A better view of the painted embankment and you can see the card level between the tracks.













A nice view of a flat corrugated cardboard landscape. I`m still working out what to do here. This area is the bay platform at Great Chesterford Junction so there will be a platform on the left. The right is optional at this stage.....for example...start raising another embankment to meet an over bridge or have a slight embankment with buildings starting on the right or a slight embankment with the station garden included.????????.....don`t know yet??.....I need to look at some pics of stations.



That`s it folks for the moment.

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,
I won`t bore you with pictures of wiring and switches, but today I have fitted all my micro switches to the turntable board, including one for a frog. They are wired and connected within that board and they connect to the main board and control panel via a multi pin connector (as used on computer cables) courtesy of Murray`s layout.........nothing is wasted! Except for the frog, all these switches are for LED route indication on the main panel. If my memory serves me correctly, I will have at least 50 LED`s to fit and wire......Ohh dear!!!!....who`s idea was this????
Connection to the control panel has yet to be done. All connections completed today have been double checked with a multi meter to ensure all is good before proceeding.
I have just started preparing the engine shed roads for isolation breaks and wiring, which again will be connected up to another multi pin connector.
Fortunately the wiring is at the point now where I think any further progress can be achieved with the boards down and secured, which at least will allow me to run some trains.
Time for a bit of R & R

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,

Most of the wiring under the turntable board has now been sorted. I have had a dose of the flu this week which has slowed me down. On the mend now with energy returning.
I still have to wire up one half of a multi pin connector, but that won`t take too long, and also have to revisit a couple of inter board track feeds that need beefing up a little.

So this is how it shapes up now. All the micro switches are in and tested. The one glaring object that needs attention is the turntable control panel...I still have a makeshift set up there.?



I use Meccano to form bridges for the wiring in some areas. Don`t worry it`s not the good stuff.....it`s rubbish actually compared to the old Meccano.



Different lengths for different spans.



Connections are marked up for easier tracing later on.



Micro switches are placed in various positions to suit the site.



And another example of placing them where they work best.



You`ve probably noticed that I am using brass connectors for the micro switches. I have found in the past that the switches are very easily damaged by my clumsy soldering, so I`ve elected to go this way......so far so good....

Well there you are folks.....this board is nearly there.....another step on the path to completion.

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,

Not a lot to report......I`m still not feeling 100%....this bug is a persistent little cuss!!!!....but I`ve come up with a build plan for my station platforms and as such I`ve just ordered some picture framing brackets from Queensland because they will be a fundamental part of the build.
So another Gormo gizmo is developing in the wings and I will share it with you as it comes along. My platforms are curved and not particularly easy to build so I`ve had to come up with a method. I`ve done some testing today to see if it is possible to have this idea work effectively and so far it seems like a goer!!
I think it`s possibly a similar concept to the Peco platform side system but with a twist. The idea I`ve come up with is to cut lengths of 3mm MDF to the appropriate width ( platform height minus the covering thickness). Mark out the platform shape and length onto the baseboard using the pencil on the side of the coach system. Cut the lengths of MDF to suit the mark out lines. Then Superglue the right angled brackets, spaced at say 100mm? (yet to be determined ) to the back of the MDF flush with the bottom edge.
Glue brick paper to the front face of the MDF.
Now the interesting part.....fit the MDF platform sides to match the markout lines and fix in place with a screw through each bracket......so what you say!!...no big deal....but once the sides are in place we then cut and fit / glue MDF strips in between the two platform sides to strengthen the structure and effectively turn it into a frame and also form a good base for the platform top. Logic says that once the cross members are glued securely the frame should hold it`s shape.
To create the platform top we simply remove the screws from the brackets, lift the platform frame out and then lay it onto a sheet of MDF and mark out the top and cut it out.
Re-fit the platform frame and screw it down and then glue the top on.

That`s it.....easy peasey.!!

The bonus being that you can adjust the positions of the walls in the first stage to make sure that clearances will be good and also there is no guess work when marking out the platform top......from there on it`s just a matter of putting it together.

Gormo

PS....Meccano No.12 Right Angled Brackets are the right size but I don`t have enough of them so I`ve sourced something similar from a picture framing firm in Queensland.


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

So here are some pics.....early days yet and using scrap material but you`ll get the idea. Nothing is cut to the correct size.

Right, this was the first thing I tried. The angle sticks to the MDF really well however the outside angle is not a right angle. It`s possibly 88 or 89 degrees and quite frankly if I persevered with it , it would drive me crazy because the MDF wall will not sit vertical.



So then I tried the Meccano. Imagine this bracket without the left hand vertical and that would be a Meccano #12 bracket. This bracket also sticks extremely well with Superglue, so this is the progression. The method is starting to reveal itself. This bracket sits well and vertical.



Now this is what I do when building something new. Have a test piece on scrap and push it till it breaks to find out what the limits may be. You can just see a hair line crack to the right of the bracket, but this piece has been pushed to an extreme radius. Normally to achieve this radius you would cut some slots in the back of the piece.



This is more like the radius the material will have to deal with



And this is how it would sit normally with another wall opposite on the left.



The thing to bear in mind is that the final structure will gain it`s strength from the cross bracing that will go in between the walls and also the top being glued on to tie it all together. At that final stage the brackets will be practically redundant, however they are essential in the early stages of set up and alignment.
That`s if I`m right???....the million dollar question??

Nothing ventured...nothing gained they say???

Gormo




____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"

 

G`day Folks,
Gormo`s running trains again......Yayyyy!!!!!!

It`s been a while and I was getting withdrawal symptoms.

All my isolated sections on the main boards are now connected and working, so in effect, the main boards are fully operational. The connections through to the control panel were done yesterday and then it was just a matter of bolting the boards back together to get things running.
I was surprised that the trains actually ran first go because the track hasn`t been cleaned for yonks!!
All was not smooth sailing though, one of my electro frog points was connected up incorrectly. I don`t understand how I did it wrong, but there you are, I did. Fortunately, because the connections at the micro switch ( frog polarity ) are push fit cable connectors, it was just a matter of slipping them off and re-attaching the correct way around.

Well I feel that`s a good place to be at the moment and I`m happy to be able to run something once again.

Gormo


____________________
"Anyone who claims to have never made a mistake, never made anything!!"