Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

G`day Jim,
Yes that was covered a little while ago.
I use LibreOffice free office suite and more particularly LibreDraw to design and print my panels.
There is a bit of a learning curve, as with most things, but I think you will find it`s not too difficult to produce something worth printing.
A tutorial covering drawing a track plan for a control panel was covered in
Episode 153 20 Designing and Drawing Schematics for Control Panels Part 2
Another for drawing control panels more particularly for a speed controller was covered in
Episode 152 20 Designing and Drawing Schematics for Control Panels Part 1
And there was also one done in the final episode of Gormo`s Shed which shows how to make a totem
156 20 Gormo`s Shed Final Episode
Hope this has been of some assistance
Gormo

 

A bit more progress.......base timber fully cut away now after being drilled for securing screws.
Also the aluminium angle back stop has been cut away and levers fitted temporarily prior to varnishing





I just need to make up a timber strip to sit on the front edge of the lever frame and another piece of aluminium angle will sit on top of that as well.




Off to the shops
Gormo

 

Well yeah
That`s why we are here Toto......the enjoyment of running trains
Gormo

 

Yes Jim,
Build it right build it once........the extra work involved pays off in the long term
Gormo

 

No worries Jim,
I don`t know whether you`ve explored the Gormo`s Shed Collection.??.....but there`s enough videos in there to drive you bananas....

If you scroll down the forum HOME page to The Learning Zone you will see Gormo`s Shed.....click on that





You will then see the collection of videos. Paul L has arranged all this section into a yearly index. So if you choose a year and click on it you will be able to open all the videos for that particular year.




I would suggest that you first get in a good supply of crisps and beer.....
Gormo

 

Well this box is ready for varnishing and finishing.
Access holes for wiring have been cut behind the panel and locating holes drilled for the fixings to attach the box to the layout





I thought if I make the holes for the wiring generous enough, existing wired switches can be passed straight through the back ready for connection to the front panel.
It will just save me rewiring everything, although there are some new feeds to be added into the mix.
These are the sort of switches I use, so as you can see, they fit through the holes easily.





Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Gee we could use a bit of rain here in Sydney.........not !!!!!!!
I have been to Canberra for an overnight stay and both legs of the journey out and back had me driving through torrential rain. Fortunately, Canberra was quite OK with just light showers, so our stay was a pleasant one.
Anyhoo.....back home and back out in the shed for a little bit today to carry on with the control panel.
I have added a strip of timber to mount the rockers onto. The extra spacing off the back of the panel gives me a greater range of movement if I need it for adjustment.
Better to have too much than not enough.




Also an Aluminium angle strip was added to the front of the lever frame. This is actually the reverse of what I`ve done on my other frames, they are attached at the back of the front strip of timber, however this one needs to be fitted in this way to allow the combing to be removed easily. The combing will be glued to the top of the Aluminium strip but only at the front of the box.





Then some connecting rods were cut to couple the levers to the rockers.




They were then attached and secured.....the whole lot will have to come off again for varnishing, but I should be able to remove the rockers and the levers as one unit.








Of course we then have to test to see if all is working as it should, so there is a very short video to show this below.



Gormo

 

Thank you Toto...
Gormo

 

G`day Sol,
I have moved through the big players in Australian retail....namely Woolworths, KMart and Bunnings for most of my working life.
I am not a trained engineer or tradesman by any means, however I have always had a mechanical ability and understanding since I was a child.
It`s an ability that should have been taken advantage of possibly through tertiary qualifications, but life did not pan out that way.
My Father was good with his hands and a frustrated inventor to some extent, and I have learnt from him and then gone on to develop further skills just by doing.
There`s no substitute for having a go and improving as you learn your way through things.
My ideas usually develop late at night just before going to sleep. I can visualize in my mind what I want to build, right down to all the parts, measurements and fixings etc. and then take it apart and rebuild it all possibly in a different configuration all done in my head.
I guess it`s my special gift.......but I also feel that everybody has something that they are good at.......doesn`t really matter what it is.....it`s just their special gift as well....
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
I have had my two little Grandsons staying over ( school holidays ) for a couple of days, so no further progress on the control panel to write about at this stage.
Of course we have had some long sessions running trains with Block Instruments and I must say they are quite professional at it. They can be left to their own devices to run the system to such an extent, that I can just sit down and watch the trains go by.
I complimented them yesterday and told them that they were doing a fine job, and not long afterwards one of them suggested that we run trains through the system with no talking, just communication by instruments alone. That was quite a magical running session, repeated again today, because it`s not an easy thing to do, especially for two young lads of tender years.
Our youngest, James (7 y.o.), was running GCJ.....two trains on the main line and doing station stops plus operating one instrument sending and receiving branch trains from the bay platform. The older of the two brothers, Liam (9 y.o.), was operating Little Bardfied with two instruments working between GCJ and Bamford, whilst at the same time operating a shuttle service between Duxford ( cassette storage ) and GCJ Platform 4 ( yard facing platform ). I had the easy job of running Bamford.
So when the time is right and I can have adult friends back into the shed, I may have to pair them up with my Grandsons to help train them on how to operate the system.......
I must say that operating model trains working with instruments is a most enjoyable pastime. I don`t think it matters whether you run Analogue or DCC, it brings that feeling of close to prototype operation to the system, which we don`t normally get on a model railway.
I`m still going to keep working at it to make it more complex, by running to a schedule, but that`s quite a bit of a brain pain to work out something to suit my system.
I`ll get there one day.........
Gormo

 

Certainly did Jim.........they are a couple of smart cookies and they enjoy it which is the main thing....
Gormo

 

Gormo