Thursday 20th February

Work list:
Geoff - Extension board - finish wiring
Stephen & Laurence - Platform board - continue wiring

Following the previous session, we realised that things weren't exactly as we thought - wiring wise. We decided that we ought to spend a little time this week confirming where all the section breaks were and whether to keep them. The new board sections could also do with a review.

Then, it was time to review the point operation. The thing is that several points fire at the same time and the connections occur on an awkward, soldered connector strip. In the end, we resorted to the capacitor-discharge unit, made the previous week.


Happy that all was now resolved, it was time to complete the new loom connection/socket wiring. Laurence was almost driven to despair changing his schedule as the joined point feeds were incorporated. It didn't help that one or two points were wrongly labelled on the board.

Stephen presented the stairs built for the end of the store. It has a polyboard core, brick paper covering and balsa wood steps.

Thursday 13th February

Work list:
Geoff - Extension board - wiring and sleeper separation
Stephen & Laurence - Platform board - wiring


During the week, Geoff had fitted the two 'new' point motors. He said that it is a fiddly job and a lot easier to do on his own - i.e. with no one to disturb him! Instead of using the plastic tube actuators, he simply soldered wires to the 'horns' on the motor. Once correctly aligned and with the help of a capacitor-discharge unit (he just threw together), they worked fine. The re-used H&M point motor below.

John often took a belt-and-braces approach to things, and his point motors were typical. Some people used the built-in motor switch to change the frog polarity and some used micro-switches. John used both, in parallel (below). We're keeping his existing arrangement and using the motor switch alone on the new ones. 

Geoff had started to wire up the board and intended to complete it in the style of the layout he is building at a local school, but a detailed discussion took place regarding wiring up and operating Worton Court.

Geoff's preference is for a separate control panel with a captive wiring loom and separate connections to each of the four boards - agreed by all. A tot-up concluded that the two main boards needed up to 20 connections, the extension 8 and the fiddle-yard 4. On Cottesmore, RS connectors were used, but these are no longer available. A rummage through several boxes provided sufficient males/females and shells to complete the job. 

In 'the old days', all model railways were operated from behind the layout, but 'these days', many operators control their layouts from the front, engaging the public as they worked. With no firm preference, it was decided to cover both options. Socket positions were agreed and wiring commenced. Old looms were cut-up for some locations, which saved re-soldering 20 wires.

Once his board wiring was complete, Geoff set-to with a Dremel and disk to cut through the copper on the printed circuit sleepers. A quick blast with a CDU showed up the odd copper-hairs that remained.

As a final exercise, Stephen dropped his embryonic storage building onto the extension board, to check it for size. Made from 5mm foam-board, the shell looked OK, so work can continue. Brick paper has been laser printed from PDF's generated on a website - www.paperbrick.co.uk - that offers free sheets you create yourself, from a wide range of options.

Inspiration for the building - a converted cart shed with a granary over.

Thursday 6th February

Work list:
Geoff & Stephen - finish fitting the board-joint screws and lay the rails/track. Fit the two points and associated track to complete the head-shunt and siding.
Laurence - platform.

Track laying went well, although it was discovered that the track Stephen had donated from his old layout, had sleepers made from much thinner printed circuit board. Additional card packing was required.

Discussions about the platform finish continued. First, it was decided to make it tarmac using either sand or model ash, but thoughts of undulations caused by uneven glue led to the use of sandpaper. It was then decided to fill in the platform 'void' with 5mm foam-board to ensure a flat surface, which required the rest of the original platform fill to be removed, which was duly undertaken by Laurence. 

The board was roughly shaped and pinned in place. Then, using a simple wooden jig, the board was marked out and cut to shape. 

Stephen presented a new design for the store, based on one from a book on traditional farm buildings - in this case, a converted cart store with a granary over. It fitted the space well, leaving plenty of space for vehicle access.

Thursday 30th January

Work list:
Geoff - make the second point, for the head-shunt.
Stephen - make turnout tie-bar actuator (interface with point motor). Survey & record existing electrical wiring. Investigate existing control panel(s).
Laurence - Make 2nd actuator, develop platform edging design and consider platform infill.

Geoff draws a freehand pattern in-situ, then assembles the point over it. As we don't have any of the originally used code 70 flat-bottom rail, we're using code 100 flat-bottom rail as we did have some of that! An adjustment will be made at the interface.

Following Geoff's pattern, two small sections of rectangular tube are glued to a square of plastic. A smaller tube slides smoothly  through the guides. A dropper from the tie bar will be fixed to the slider, which will be moved by the H&M solenoid motor using an omega loop of wire. 

H&M solenoid point motors. John liked straight-line wiring to reduce snagging. The wire itself is very thin, so the layout will probably be rewired.

The control panel is typical John - built in two halves - one fitted into each board - close together, and very tight for space. In Cottesmore mode, additional feeds from the adjoining boards with selector switches were used. The new layout will have a single, simplified, external controller.

Laurence using a brake van to assess the clearance required for the new platform. Below is how the new edging stones will appear. Much discussion ensued about the platform surface - real and model. Sand is favourite at the moment.

The final act of the day was to accurately fix brass screws at the board joint to solder the rails to. We used to use copperclad strips, but screws are more robust.

Thursday 23rd January

Work list:
Geoff - Make a point for the siding/head shunt.
Stephen - Strip up the crumbling Pyruma cement platform edge. Mark-out the new head shunt and siding. Remove the platform base and glue down a new, cardboard track-bed sub-base.
Laurence - Cut out new platform edging stones from 6mm MDF and prepare for use.

The completed point being aligned. A hole for the tie-bar actuator needs to be marked.