Talerddig - micro layout

Hi all,

I picked this old Lima CCT secondhand for a bargain price the other day and with a bit of work it'll make a nice addition to my small parcels fleet.



The first thing be I'll tackling is the awful wheels and misaligned brakes - I'll hopefully use something from the spares box for this. I've also bought some SE Finescale flush glazing - I'd have preferred the Lazerglaze set but couldn't find anywhere that had it in stock. Until I try the SE stuff I won't know if I'll use it as is, or use it to cut my own glazing.

Finally I'll repaint and weather it. Progress will be slow as the baby is due anytime now but it'll be a nice project to work on!

Matt

 

Some progress to date with the CCT. My first attempt at reaming the axle boxes was an unmitigated disaster - probably due to lack of sleep!

My solution is very much a bodge - time will tell if it'll be robust enough. Brake shoes are leftovers from some Parkside kits with a bit of plastic rod thrown in - excess is still to be trimmed here.





More progress soon.

Matt

 

That does look like a great little tool Chris, might be worth investing in one.

In my blurry eyed-ness I drilled right through one of the Lima axle boxes and then also cracked part of the plastic. What I've done is to remove the Lima parts and then graft some W Irons onto the existing solebars. While not 100% correct they're good enough for me, and certainly good enough at a distance! I'm not sure how strong they'll turn out to be but the plus point is the ride height is more accurate now.

 

I did buy return to centre switches - I forgot to mention that!

I mentioned in my last post the ride height was more suitable after replacing the Lima axle boxes. Hopefully this picture shows what I mean. Granted it's about 1mm out but I can live with that!



Matt

 

Thanks Gary - used a combination of superglue for the initial grab then flooded the joints with liquid cement.

So far so good - I'm still not sure of longevity but for a small layout like mine (or like mine will be when I build it!) it should be ok!

Matt

 

Quick sidestep while I wait for supplies of handrail for the CCT.

Anyone like a bargain?

I know I do! I'm a big fan of 16t mineral wagons and have built a couple. Now I really like the Parkside kit but they range anything from £8.50 upwards depending on where you shop.

While browsing online recently I came across unpainted 16t mineral bodies by Dapol costing the princely sum of £1.50 each. This got me wondering if there was a cheaper way to get some 16tonners.

I happened to have the underframe sprues from a Parkside mineral that I'd kept following an unfortunate accident several years ago (spilt glue + plastic body parts = disaster). I set about seeing if I could do something by combining these parts.

First off, the Dapol body is sold as a 10ft chassis and (looking online) the Parkside underframe is 9ft but I'm prepared to take that risk!



I've grafted the solebars onto the Dapol body. I had some wheels and bearings "in stock" to use which obviously helped keep costs down too.



You'll notice I've had to fashion bufferbeams from plastic sheet and use some spare buffers. A quick comparison photo showing the two versions side by side and I think it looks pretty favourable. The Dapol body is longer but if mixed in with other wagons it may not be so obvious:



If I hadn't already had the solebars, I could have bought a chassis kit from Parkside (and in fact I have bought one to do a second). The grand total of the body, underframe and whitemetal buffers comes to around £6.61 (may be more or less depending where you shop obviously). I think it's worth it.



Matt

 

Quick update: the mineral is finished, just needs painting.



It's a bit of a bodge in areas but worth the effort I think.

Matt

 

With regards the switches I bought for point operation, they are Gaugemaster GM510's - actually not sure if these are sprung return to centre switches?

Another electrical question: if I wanted to create an isolating section how would I do this? I assume I'd use isolating rail joiners and bridge the gap somehow with a switch? Would I need isolated fishplates on one or both rails?

Thanks in advance

Matt

**Have I mentioned anywhere that it'll be DC operation?

 

Thank you Gary, that is very helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to post that.

Would the Gaugemaster GM503 switch be suitable do you think?

Matt

 

I've been putting off and off actually laying track for a variety of reasons, mainly my hesitation with wiring. I thought it was about time I started mapping things out using lining paper.



It's dawning on me how small it is!

I've also been sorting through my stock and have identified several items that can go to raise some funds.

Onwards I go!

Matt

 

Morning all,

I know these are quite boring posts so I apologise in advance. But it helps keep a photographic record for me and keeps the motivation going.

So here we can see a mock-up of the run round loop - very short! But I will be able to run around a single Mk 1 coach with a Type 2 loco which was always going to be my maximum loco hauled passenger train length anyway.





Thanks for looking

Matt

 

Thanks again Gary,

I can solder just about! All of my concerns are with the actual wiring - where things go, how to join everything together etc - it's a mystery to me so I'm grateful for your advice.

My previous layout was two wires from track to controller and manual insulfrog points! Simple to set up but very restrictive!

Matt