Jay Dubyew Nth Yard

Something I need to do is be able to align the sector plate with the entry road, but using 3mm MDF for the sector plate base, this created some serious head scratching and chin rubbing...

The alignment thingy-bob had to be part of the sector plate, so I had to cut it another sheet of MDF to shape. No worries as I have plenty left over. The other thing is that it needs to be operated from the front...

So, a few options...

I was thinking of magnets, but no as I would need to order some, then there is the wait.

I was also thinking of brass tube soldered to the rails and using a locating pin. No good as I don't have any brass tube nor suitable pins. Besides, it would be awkward getting in between the tracks as the entry line is only just over an inch long behind the scenic break.

Another option is 1 x slide bolt and three sockets ?? Not a bad idea but securing them to 3mm MDF becomes an issue.

So, some lateral thinking was needed. So I kicked back on the couch, watched some tv and then that eureka moment struck !

Ok, so I checked out the spares box to see if the 'eureka monent' could come to fruition.
Aluminium - check.
Angle bracket - check
Brass sheet - check
Brass channel to fit the aluminium - check
Solder, Flux, Iron - check
A few small screws, nuts and bolts - check

Ok, rather than write a complete 'how I made it', I will rely on the old saying, 'A picture speaks a thousand words...' So, here are three pictures...



^ First position.



^ Second position.



^ Third position.



^ Locking lever in upright position.

The pins (thumb tacks) are there to position the track whilst the PVA dries. The outer tracks always have a slight S or reverse S in them so that they line up with the entry track. The whole lot needs to be cleaned up and the solder filed back to make it neat.

Cheers, Gary.

 

You`re right there Ed,

Gary that is definitely worthy of a special " Gizmo " award and deservedly so for lateral thinking.

Excellence in action...

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Thanks guys.

Been drilling the holes into the sector plate and baseboard for power feeds.



I set the sector plate in the nuetral position and drilled the 6 holes (2 x per track) right through the sector plate and the baseboard.

Next I moved the sector plate to the left and using the holes in the sector plate, drilled through the baseboard. Then I moved the sector plate to the right and drilled through the baseboard again. This has now left 6 holes per track, 18 in total.

The holes are grouped into threes, ie, left rail and right rail on each track and the holes were opened out with a 1/4" drill bit to form 6 oval shaped apertures. Don't pay any attention to the Anyrail print as that was from a former layout.



I can now soldered the power feed wires onto the rails up through the apertures and the holes in the sector plate. The oval apertures allows room for the wires to freely move when the sector plate is shifted left and right, without any pinching.

The 3 pairs of wires will be soldered onto two tabs under the baseboard, one positive tab, one negative tab. The bus wire will also be soldered to these tabs and run down underneath the baseboard to a mail/female combination plug so I can separate the two baseboards (fiddle yard and scenic).

More pics to follow later.

Cheers, Gary.

 

All the wiring has been completed and everything tested. The track needed a clean before running locos, but before I put a loco on the track I just hooked up the Powercab to see if there may be any electrical faults. All was good and locos ran up and back no problem at all.

Here is a strip that I used to connect all feeder wires to the track bus. This makes life easy although I needed to drill holes for the wires and screws. Plenty of 'slack' in the feeder wires to allow smooth movement of the sector plate.



Using the same strip, this is the opposite end where the power feed from the scenic board connects to the fiddle yard board.



And finally connecting the bus to the male/female connector to supply power to the fiddle yard.



I might have to do a short video of trains running, but I won't promise it...

Cheers, Gary.

 

Yes I agree with Ron,

Very neat Gary...

Where did you get those connecting strips.....I don`t think I`ve ever seen them before.??

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Thank you Ron and Gormo.

The copper (?) connecting strips I had given to be from an old sparky friend who was doing some electrical work at the cemetery. I'm unsure what length they come in, but the few strips I got are about 8" long with 12 tabs. I guess you could pick them up from an electrical wholesaler like TLE (Australia). They come in a plastic insulating sheath.



Here is a pic of what it looks like slide out of the plastic sheath.



Cheers, Gary.

 

Well there you go !!!!

Thanks Gary and friends........they look to be a very useful item.....

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Finally, the items from the US arrived.

It took 4 days to go from the shop (Model Train Stuff - Maryland) to Sydney Airport, but then spent 13 days with Aust Post, with the package arriving on the 26th, after landing in Sydney on the 13th April...

Anway, this is what I was waiting on...



Guess what I'm doing this weekend...??

Cheers, Gary.

 

Nice one Gary.

Good use of the copper Busbar.

 

Geez!!!! Gary,

There`s plenty of nifty doo dads and knick knacks there for you to play with.

I can understand your frustration with the post. It seems to be getting worse not better.

We sent calendars to the rellys in England in early November 2016 for Christmas. One lot sent us an email about 2nd Feb 2017 to say they had just received it .......where the heck was it for nearly three months????..........Sheeesh!!!

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Exactly Cameron....

I mean they can give all sorts of excuses but the reality is that the system was more efficient years ago. It`s going down hill fast.

Sorry Gary......I`ve just hijacked your thread.

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