Wednesday 16th August

Worklist:
Workshop interior
Workshop electrics

Just two again. Geoff finished off painting the interior of the workshop. The floor panel was painted shades of grey and the brickwork on the back and side walls was given the grey-filler treatment to soften the flecked brick paint and provide the mortar. The lower part of the walls was painted to represent 'whitewash'. The new overhead pulley system can be clearly seen. The building lights have got to go up there somehow.

The motor and its wall-mounted platform were also painted and will be ready for fitting next week.

Stephen decided to ditch the original 3v button battery and switch in the base of the flickering LED unit for the brazier in favour of a regular switch and new power supply. In the end, the whole switch unit was rewired. Each board gets a 19v DC feed from a laptop power supply and individual power modules are 'tuned' to the required voltage and makes a cheap and flexible solution.

Some connectors to allow on-board wiring and building wiring to be separated were investigated. We had lots of servo cables left over from the point mechanisms and Stephen was able to use some PCB connector pin units to make up plugs and sockets. It all went well and the boards lighting is ready for final assembly.

Finally, Geoff started hunting through various bits-boxes for extra tools for the workshop walls.

There's a few useful bits there.

Wednesday 9th August

Worklist:
Workshop details
Crane - final bedding-in

A full house and Geoff had been busy. He'd researched belt-driven workshop equipment and found that the drill pulleys could be 'prototypically' modified to reduce the depth of the unit, and he'd made the modification. This meant that the original equipment layout now worked. The high-level intermediate pulleys needed modifying and fitting onto a new lay-shaft suspended between the roof and back wall. The motor now sits on a new wall-mounted shelf.

Just three pulleys directly over the drill reduces the depth.

The 5 pullies (1 x idler, 1 x motor drive & 3 speed output) sit on a shaft.
The wall bearing can be screwed up and down to adjust tension on the pulleys.

The wall bearing in detail. The end bearing is only positioned here to set the correct height for the wall bearing. 

Once the components were dry, the internal brickwork received a 'flecked' layer of paint as the outside. This will be finished next time and the lower parts will be painted white.


Meanwhile, Stephen experimented with the lighting rig assembled previously. The 4 LED's were taped into place and the lighting effect assessed.

The lighting level was very nice, but the 'hot spots' needed to be softened by gently wiping the LED surfaces with fine emery paper. They were then coated in wood stain to make the bulbs a warmer white. Finally, holes were drilled in the back wall for the wiring to the ceiling and brazier lights. The final wiring and switches should be fitted next week.

Laurence mixed some coloured plaster/filler and made-good around the cranes bases before moving on to fit some Kadees to a Corris Railway brake van body. Painting and copius foliage should follw when he's next down.

Wednesday 2nd August

Worklist:
Workshop

Breaking News - the tree has gone! The neighbours tree that has been steadily trying to push the workshop over has finally been cut down. There is plenty of remedial work to be carried out, but the cause of all the damage is now firewood. Laurence, being on his latest holiday, won't get to see the void until next week.

Geoff and Stephen worked primarily on the workshop, Geoff on the interior and Stephen on the gutters and base. First, the back and side walls were clad in plasticard brick sheeting. We considered making the back and floor removable for ease of fitting out the equipment, but changed our minds.

Plastic sheet was cut to size for the floor and the sub-base adjusted to suit. The equipment, that came out of John's building, was arranged to comply with good workshop practice, but there wasn't enough room. As well as the brazier, bench and tools, there is a wall-mounted motor and pulley/belt system (left) to accommodate. The old building, albeit fairly open-sided, was quite dark inside and the equipment was only just visible, but the revamped building is due to have new LED lighting, to highlight the interior and its details. The building clearly needs to be reassessed, so a 'directors' meeting is required to decide what to do. Could it become an engine shed with a few tools, but what about John's equipment?

Stephen modified the back of the RWP swan-neck to fit flush on the wall and had to remake the top socket before repainting. Both gutters will be fitted once the interior is finished.