Great Chesterford Junction Part One ( Pre P1MRC )

G`day Folks,
This afternoon I laid the last piece of track on the sliding yard / traverser. When you look at it, it does not seem much , but there is approx 13 1/2 metres of track involved between the board and the loco storage area. The track was sourced from my collection of accumulated tracks from various sources over the years. Not good enough to use on scenic areas but too good to throw away. The track is a mixture of flex track and set track. The brands include Peco, Atlas, Lima, Lifelike, Tyco and some unbranded ( from China ).?
The yard still has to be wired up but that will be a little easier than the track laying. The first pic shows the yard from the loco storage end


The next pic is a drivers eye view from the same end and looking toward the safety buffer at the far end. We don`t want any stock wandering off the board and trying to escape.!






This is the safety buffer. A piece of timber screwed to the fixed board behind, leaving a gap for the entrance road. The timber is covered with red electrical tape.




The join, where the sliding board meets the fixed loco storage end




And finally, a schematic for the control panel, knocked up in Excel as usual




At this stage I am thinking of building a relatively simple transistor hand held controller for the yard. The yard can be shunted with this controller, however the yard will be dual control and can also be controlled from Great Chesterford yard. Therefore , the provision for a switch on the panel to select either Great Chesterford or Newmarket control. The theory is that a train can enter the yard under Great Chesterford control and then control can be switched over to Newmarket for shunting duties. Trains that leave the yard will also be under Great Chesterford control.

So there you go folks......still plenty to do....but progress is progress !!

Gormo


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

 

G`day Mike,
The Train On Line and Line Clear means only one of them can be on at any one time ie. the track is either live or dead. The shed roads have two isolated sections on the top four roads and one each on the other three. LED`s for those sections will show green or red.....live or dead.
The LED`s in the track number tags for the storage sidings light up only when the road is in the straight through position. The LED`s in the track number tags for the shed roads light up and correspond with the storage sidings road position. For example, if storage sidings road # 3 is in the straight through position then shed road # 3 will be lined up with the green release road.
The track position LED`s will be activated by micro switches placed behind the index plate. When the bolt passes through the hole to hold the track in position, it will push the arm of the micro switch and turn on the LED



Gormo


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

 

Buffer stops this time.........if I keep playing with this fiddle yard long enough, eventually I`m going to launch a loco into space and then wonder why I never sorted out any buffer stops.

So today I have fitted some. They are quite simple. Some bits of wood and some modified pop rivets. With the rivets....I tap out the pin and grind or file off it`s rounded head...and then tap the pin back in the opposite end down through the head of the rivet. The pin is now pressure fitted into the head. Then clean it up.....it has to be smooth....and away we go....we have the beginnings of a buffer.

The timber has to be carefully marked out and drilled. I have deliberately drilled the pilot holes under size so that the rivets have to be tapped into place. It`s like drilling a pilot hole for a nail.

Anyway......here are some pics.

Three different buffers to suit three different track set ups.





This is the very end buffer and shows that I have gone for rivets with a relatively long shank. A shorter shank does not give enough clearance for the coupler, between the buffer head and the timber block







This highlights what I was talking about with clearances......this length is just enough.






The two road set up.






And what the driver sees on the way into the end of the yard






So there you go folks........hopefully I have now averted possible future disasters. Bit by bit things are getting done

Gormo


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

 

G`day Folks,

More progress to report on. !!.....I have managed to build a hand held transistorized controller to use with my sliding fiddle yard. The yard can be operated by either the yard control from Great Chesterford or by this new addition.

I managed to find a very simple design with straight forward instructions that even I, an electronics illiterate, could follow. The author of the design is a chap called John Rumming and if anyone is interested in having a go, the details can be found at the link below.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/nuggles58/Making A Basic DC Controller.pdf


The good thing about this project is that John details what part numbers are required from any of four different electronics suppliers. Unfortunately three of the four are Australian companies, so you folks overseas may have to do a bit of head scratching to work out what would suit from any other supplier.

I purchased my parts from Jaycar here in Sydney. I already had suitable cabling and a DPDT centre off toggle switch and an LED. The rest of the parts cost me a little over $11.00.

The author reckons that with practice, you could knock one up in half an hour??....Ha !!!!!!.....not this little black duck !!!!....he`s a better man than me Gunga Din !!!

Anyway, the instructions are good even though slightly flawed. There are pictures to back up the words, which makes things a lot easier.

I must admit that when I first read through the circuit, I didn`t expect that it would perform very smoothly because of the lack of components, however now that it`s built an running, it`s actually quite good!


The pic below show most of the parts required and ready to be worked on




The next pic shows some of the parts fitted. The case had to be drilled for some of them so setting out the placement had to be done with care





Now we`re getting serious....all the parts are fitted and the case is ready to be put together and tested.




So here we are......all locked up....a view from the front





A view of the back......this transistor , if used with motors that draw a lot of current or if used for double heading, will require a heat sink fitted as well. In my case it should not be necessary as the controller will have limited use.





Now the labeling is added and you may notice the LED is lit.......power is on !!







These next two pics give an idea of the size











Well it`s all tested and working fine. It runs on either 12vdc or 15vac because there is a rectifier built in. I am quite pleased with it and now I am considering building another one or two for use on the layout.
I have done a little demo video to show how the controller works.......so enjoy

Sound On







Gormo

 

Just as an addition to what has already been said.....I have ordered some heat sinks from Hong Kong, so I will add one to the controller when they turn up. I have found that Smokey Joe, when running at very slow speed, tends to heat up the transistor. Not to a point of concern, but might as well add the heat sink anyway....just to keep everything under control.
Since building the controller, I have been giving it a bit of a work out and it is performing well, so it certainly will do me until something better comes along. Speaking of which????......I have a circuit diagram and instructions for a pulsed feed back controller, which I got from the other forum. It is a lot more complex than the little hand held and I am still trying to understand the info I have. One day I will give it a go because it promises to be quite something, although you never know until you run it??
Gormo


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

 

`day Folks,
I am working my way through the parts required to be sorted and fitted to get this sliding yard finished. As it progresses, the natural order of things seems to be falling into place. In a nutshell, you cannot complete the wiring until the control panel is fitted. The control panel cannot be fitted until the lower fascia is fitted....etc. etc. etc. and on and on it goes. I won`t bore you with the detail.
Well today the lower fascia has been sorted. Again, this is an item that has been made from recycled material. It is 3mm MDF and was the back off a cupboard. A good deal of it was scored and scratched and not suitable, but I managed to get enough out of it to do the job. The corner has been strengthened by sticking some Duct tape over it.






This is a view from the front face where eventually the control panel will sit. I might add that this fascia will be painted black shortly to make it less visually obvious.






Now this piece of ply is the beginning of the control panel. It`s 3 ply, courtesy of an old drawer bottom. It will be hinged at the join which will allow it to drop down forward. The back of the panel and also the area behind will then be easily accessible. It sits just below the framing of the top board which will be Bamford terminus





This is a trial run and fit for the overlay. I have had to move a couple of items on the lower part of the schematic slightly, so that they are not covered by the hinges.





Also I am trialing the fitment of micro switches....only one at the moment, to see if it works. I have Super glued the end of this one to the board and it seems to be holding quite well. It`s quite a simple process compared to screwing them down and adding packing where necessary. If the Super glue fails, I`ll go to contact adhesive.




Well that`s about all I can tell you at the moment. I will just keep plodding away at it and keep reminding myself that it is getting there.
Gormo


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

 

G`day Folks,

Today the camouflage paint was added.......flat black acrylic. I think the pictures tell the story?


Before



After











A bit of red electrical tape to highlight the buffers






And the sliding yard got a coat of black as well






I think it has done what I wanted......it seems to be less noticeable in the room and once the railway is on the top level, it will be even better.


More to come as it gets done !!!.

Gormo




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

 

Well today I have been working through some Gormatic (did I spell that right Toto ?) solutions to problems with the control panel. The panel had to be enlarged a little to cope with the panel frame overlapping the edges of the schematic. This has affected my original plan of having it placed just under the top baseboard frame because ,now it`s too big for that spot. Not a problem though.....there is usually an alternative solution when you stop and think about it. So now it sits just on the outside of the frame but still below the top of the top baseboard. That sounds like double Dutch but essentially, it`s going to work out OK.....I call this newer version the Gormatron 3000.....Why, you ask.?.......Dunno !!

Anyway....moving right along. the first pic shows the frame I am using. It`s one of those Meccano picture frames that is put together with brackets and screws etc.......hardware !! I have had to cut it down considerably for what I want. You can see the exposed metal where it has been cut and filed etc.






Part of the frame had to be removed to allow the fitting of hinges. This is the bottom edge of the frame and will be barely noticeable.





Now the hinges are attached with Pop rivets. This process has to be thought out carefully so that the rivet does not interfere with the board once it`s placed in the frame.





Here is the panel attached to the edge of the yard. You can see what I mean about the Mecanno type construction. The panel is easily accessible for maintenance. I will have to fit a couple of cords to act as stays. They will take the strain off the hinges when the board is in the DOWN position.





The panel in the operating position. The timber behind simulates the top baseboard frame.






The panel has to be taken apart again so that the frame can be painted.....Matt Black again..and the schematic has to be drilled so that I can fit switches and LEDs. I also need to make a temporary bracket to support the panel in the Up position. Once the top baseboard is fitted, I will fit a catch, possibly magnetic, to secure the panel.

Well no more work today.....I `ve had enough and SWMBO needs to know I am still hanging around.
Gormo

PS....the schematic has been done in the same manner as the previous panel I built. It is printed onto photo paper an then laminated to protect it. It is then glued with spray adhesive to a backing board, three ply in this case.

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

 

G`day Folks,

Oh woe is me!!!......I decided to do some test drilling on my sacrificial control panel for Newmarket yesterday. Drilling did not go so well but punching was very successful. You might ask "why is Gormo telling me this.....he has done it before on the other panel"......which is true, however the other panel is 3mm MDF and this one is 3 ply......a different kettle of fish.

So " beauty "..says I....." better check the clearances for the toggle switches ".....Hmmm???? .....therein lays the problem......the spacing is wrong and upon checking with the other panel the line thickness is wrong. What a dope I am ...I didn`t ,for some stupid reason, check all this before I printed the panel.....I don`t listen to my own advice. I am lucky they still let me out alone....honestly????.

The solution is to back track, sort out the spacing and thickness issues and hope that it all will still fit in the same footprint.

Well I have now completed that and we are ready to try again. I guess it could have been worse. I could have spent time making all the holes and then found out it was wrong.....Oh well, put it down to experience.

Anyway here is a shot of the original



And here is a shot of the new version





The different spacing dimensions meant that the track plan expanded and consequently the logo had to be moved to the side. The yard control graphic is also a slimmer trimmer version of the first attempt.

There you go folks.......more to follow as it gets done.
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Well a bit of back tracking and some redesign has sorted out mistakes made with the Newmarket control panel. The frame for the same has been repainted to cover up areas where the metal had been laid bare due to cutting and filing etc. The pic below shows the frame and I reckon it`s scrubbed up OK.






Today, I printed out the new redesigned schematic, laminated it and fixed it to it`s backing board. Following that the holes were punched for the LEDs and switches. Then 19 switches were pre-soldered and fitted to the panel





The business end showing switches lined up like little soldiers





That little exercise has wiped out best part of the day, however I have had another exercise in back tracking on the boil as well. I posted some pics of the paint job on the sliding yard the other day, and one of the pics showed that I had placed red electrical tape behind the buffers to highlight them. The pic in question is below.






My friend Toto pointed out, and rightly so, that the electrical tape will dry out and peel off eventually. He was concerned that the standard set for the railway had dropped a little on this occasion. On reflection, I had to agree with Toto. So I have replaced the tape with painted paddle pop sticks ( iced lolly sticks) and the results are below.















Thanks for pointing that out Toto because I am now glad that I changed them over to the above.

More to follow as it happens......stay tuned
Gormo


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

 

G`day Folks,
I have started today working out an electrical interlocking system to use on the loco end of the sliding yard. You can see in the picture below that when the yard is pulled back all the way to the release road, that the ends of the loco roads are unprotected. The roads are only safe when it is all the way back in the opposite direction against the wall. I have toggle switches to kill power to the roads but really that is not enough. One lapse of concentration and a loco will launch into my library below. I had considered a physical barrier ,however getting it to work and keeping it simple was not easy so it got shunted to the too hard basket.





The simplest method that I could come up with is electrical interlocking. This means having micro switches activating power to the road only when the sliding yard is in position for that road. Therefore when the road ends are exposed those roads are electrically dead. The pic below shows one of the micro switches in place and on. The bolt is pushing through the hole against the switch lever.






I have added further safe guards in the four two section roads wherein the rear part of the section can only be activated if the front part of the section is on. This means that the rear loco is less likely to shunt the front loco too hard if it is accidentally powered up, as they will both receive power at the same time, therefore moving forward together but separately. Hopefully this situation will not arise, but if it does there is less chance of damage. At certain times children will be operating trains so I have to build in safe guards for them and for an ageing Gormo who is slowly losing the plot.
All this is a bit difficult to visualize so eventually I will do a little video demo which may explain it better.


The other little project that has been under development is the permanent connection for the hand held controller. I saw a hand held controller on that auction site and the seller had used Australian telephone plugs to make connections around his layout. That seemed like a good idea to me because they are usually a really firm connection.
The pic below shows what I had available. I may give the white bit a coat of black, but not sure yet.




For the benefit of overseas folks, the plugs have three fingers with a removable metal strip on each side of the finger. The fingers are removable too when you take the cover off. So there are six possible separate connections. The fat finger with the hole in it is for a screw to make a permanent non removable connection. It was quite easy to remove the metal strips and solder my wires to them.




The next pic below shows the socket arrangement. Again all the parts are removable. Normally there is only one screw to hold the socket against a wall...the one in the center. Unfortunately this allows the socket to pivot so I put two more screws in the corners to make it rigid. Normally the wiring would trail out through the square hole in the rear of the socket however, I don`t want to have wiring trailing across the board, so I drilled a hole through the back to keep it out of the way








So that`s where we are at the moment.....the micro switch system works.....I just have another four of them to go to finish that side of things.
More to follow as it happens
Gormo




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

 

G`day Folks,
I mentioned in post 686 above that I would do a little demo video.
Well here it is.......enjoy.
Sound On







Gormo


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

 

G`day Folks,
I received a delivery today from Hong Kong. Heatsinks specially to suit the TO-3 transistor that is fixed to the back of my hand held controller.
I mentioned in an earlier post that the controller designer recommended using a heatsink, especially for locos that draw a reasonable amount of current. I had also found that one of my locos did just that and consequently caused the transistor to heat up. It was not really a problem because the controller will have limited use.
This afternoon....I thought what the heck.....I`ll fit one to the controller. So the pics below show how the heatsink has been fitted.

The back



A side view



Sitting in the cradle



Sitting in my hand



Testing the controller with the high current draw loco ( Smokey Joe ) returned excellent results. I ran it backwards and forwards at a crawl. At this pace previously, it would heat up quite quickly. With the heatsink fitted, at it`s worst, it`s just warm....the transformation is quite dramatic for this loco.

So I rate this conversion as a success and eventually I will build a couple more of them. I think next time I will try and mount the heatsink on top of the controller. It may make it a bit easier to hold, especially for little hands.

More as it happens.......stay tuned.
Gormo






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

 

G`day Folks,
Lately I have been working on wiring up the Newmarket Yard panel. The switching is a mixture of standard toggle switches and micro switches. I have added micro switches to the index plate at the other end of the yard purely to control LED indicators. So now the roads have two micro switches each. One bank of switches protects the ends of the loco roads and the other bank controls switching for the LED`s. It may be overkill.....but I need all the visual help I can get, including the cameras, because the yard will be concealed. The idea is to look at the panel to check the status of each road and it`s position in relation to the exit road and loco roads and whether those roads are occupied.
So here is the panel with some LED`s working. The colour coding system for the active road is Purple for the release roads, Amber for the train storage roads and Yellow for the loco roads. They light up when the road is selected / in position.





Micro switches fitted to the far end to control LED switching





Now the telephone exchange in the back of the panel. Wiring still has to be tidied up a bit, especially the other end which is still being worked on.




I have gone back to soldering LED connections because I ran out of a suitable insulation for the push fit I was doing previously. Once the LED is in place it is secured with a drop of Super glue on the back.




Another visual aid for moving the yard into the correct position. When the Red marker lines up with the Yellow label.....you`re there.




Well I`ve got about eight LED`s to go, I think ,to finish, so it will be a good job out of the way once that is done.
I have also a short video which shows the switching action taking place, however my camera battery died just before I could end it properly, so sorry about the abrupt ending, but you will get the drift of what`s going on.






Gormo


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

 

G`day Folks,
Well finally the wiring for the sliding fiddle yard is complete. All tested , all working and now all I have to do is work out how to use it.
I have also added an additional light for the cameras which I think I mentioned a little way back. The light has been robbed from a three LED torch which was actually a bit of rubbish, but the LED`s and the head area suit perfectly what was needed.
So here we are below with pretty much the final set up, minus the railway on top. The additional light is just near the top left hand corner of the coach on the left.



Here is the light fitted snugly into the steel channel




The final tangled web for this area. I should point out that I had to remove one layer of ply to give less depth for the LED`s to push through. It`s quite easy to do with a craft knife.




I thought I would also share this little gizmo with you. It`s an LED tester which is especially good if you have LED`s where the Anode and Cathode have been trimmed and you can`t tell which is which. You just plug the LED into the grid at the top and press the button. If it does not light up, reverse it. If it still does not light up, it`s a dud.




This pic shows it working




I have used this tool quite a lot now. My red LED`s have all been trimmed to the same length so I have to check each one. They were a freebee so beggars can`t be choosers. Most importantly though, I check each LED before it goes into a panel.

 

G`day Folks,

Well this afternoon I managed to make 15 Rocker arms for the next couple of lever frames that are required on Great Chesterford Junction. Between the two of them, the frames will operate the yard and the far end of the station Main lines. I still have to prepare the fittings for the arms and also the levers. This involves taking a terminal block inner and drilling a hole in the side of it and then tapping the hole with a 3mm thread. The TBI is then attached to the lever or rocker arm with a screw and a washer. Sounds simple enough but it is actually quite a time consuming exercise. So little by little it`s getting there. I am looking forward to having more control over my yard especially.

The first pic below here shows the rocker arms plus one spare.





The length of the arm is important, however ensuring that the holes are equally spaced is critical. It can cause variations in the amount of lever travel.

So still more to do there.

The other thing I have under way is raising the ground level on the layout. The track is sitting on 8mm thick carpet underlay which is too high for ballasting, so the ground level will be built up around it. I am using corrugated cardboard which I have been collecting for some time. It`s just a matter of cutting strips to approximately the right width and gluing them in place with PVA.






Once the cardboard is stuck down, it`s been given a coat of acrylic Matt Black followed by a blending in of Brown Earth.





This process is starting to transform the look of the railway which is a highlight for me. For example you can see below the PCB sleepers have now been blended into their surroundings.







This pic above is of the drop down flap and you can see the insulating breaks along the centre line of the PCB sleepers. I have also just placed a dry mix of ballast and some gravel I have collected, to see how it looks. This is not the final mix…it`s just a look and evaluate for the time being.





So that`s where we are at the moment folks. Coming along nicely I reckon.
Gormo






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

 

Well Folks,
It`s a bleak old day here in Sydney. It`s cold with very heavy steady rain that is forecasted to last for the rest of the week. Along with the rain we have very strong gusts of potentially damaging winds. I`m a bit concerned about water possibly invading the shed.
All in all, not a very nice day to be out in the shed. I think I will park myself in a comfortable chair near the heater and read the latest Railway Modeller from cover to cover.
My wife has just advised me that our illustrious Prime Minister has just put his foot in his mouth again by making negative comments about Scotland.
On behalf of the Aussie contingent Toto........sorry about that. There were not enough jobs for clowns in the circus here, so Mr. Abbott decided to go into politics instead.
Gormo

Take 2.
The rain eased up a bit this afternoon so I decided to tough it out in the shed for a while. The main item on the agenda is modifying terminal block inners to act as fittings for the point levers and rocker arms. The will be 15 levers and 15 rocker arms which requires a total of 45 terminal block inners.
The method is simple. A small drill press vice to hold the part. A piece of flat bar positioned in the vice to act as a jig to ensure consistent drilling. An M3 tap and suitable drill bit and the old drill press of course ( I`d be lost without it ).
The first stage is to remove the terminal block inners from their housing. I`ve made up a small hook to assist with removal.



Then we get the vice / jig set up and placed hard up against the back stop on the drill press. The TBI is placed with it`s flat edge ( top ) against the aluminium bar. The bar is like an extended stopper if you like.




Once the hole is drilled it needs to be threaded with an M3 tap





Then it a looks a like a dees.






Then put the screws and washer in ready for further assembly later on.






There is a little demo video showing the process in more detail









Again.....Gormo





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

 

G`day folks,






Gormo

 

`day Folks,

Here`s Gormo`s little army ready for battle or the next stage in the process if you like.





Six Lever Frame




Six Lever Frame



Six Rocker Arms



Six Rocker Arms




Now two housings need to be made up and some more bits and pieces. The six lever frame will be attached to the board that holds the turntable, so I am thinking of incorporating a control panel for the turntable within the lever frame housing. It`s only a simple affair and should look pretty good to boot.

I should explain that I don`t pass point lever linkages between baseboards. It would be a right pain having those joins between boards so I have kept each board as a self contained unit.

More as it happens
Gormo


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

 

Here is my connection part....it`s a very small rivet modified and convinced into undertaking a different role




Food for thought

Gormo


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