Wednesday 18th December

Worklist:
Review new cassette switch unit.
Wire-up switch unit.
Prepare new exhibition boards for uncoupling magnets (rout-out recesses underneath).

Laurence running late on grandparent duties and eventually arrived after lunch.

Stephen had made a new case for the cassette switches that included an additional switch for the masons yard feed. The LED's located in the original box will be replaced by surface-mounted LED's glued between the rails (LED's on order).

Post-photos, the case had been spray painted satin black and was ready to be fitted, but when Geoff decided to form the cut-outs for the uncoupling magnets, a discussion quickly started about general train movements around the yard, vehicle movements ditto, building positions, size and type, all of which put everything else on hold and Plan B was adopted - a detailed discussion on the overall design of the boards:

Due to the extent of curved track, the magnet on the main line (to facilitate delivery/collection of wagons to the yard could only go at the transition between the curves, so the proposed road was sketched on. Where was the road actually going? To the edge of the flooded quarry and to a building or the yard, or both. Some boxes were introduced to represent buildings together with some strip wood for the tunnel running behind. Then the engine shed appeared and a taller tunnel panel where it joined the bridge board.

The discussions went on.... 

Geoff retrieved a second hand book  on quarries that he'd just purchased, which had lots of inspiring photos like the one below. The building on the right will (probably) be adopted for the left hand end of the layout ('Fragile' tape) as it offers an entrance into the workshop and two nice gable ends facing the public.

The photo below highlights the transition between the yard and the new engine shed. The hillside/scenery will slope down from the right, comfortably hiding the tunnel track behind and the yard buildings hide the tunnel to the left, but the junction is 'awkward'. Keeping the short, exposed section as low as possible was deemed paramount, so a minimum height tunnel (no hand shunting) could be used. Bringing some of the rock face around the back of the engine shed might look a bit odd, but the central building (photo above) was noted to be on a higher level with an access staircase. The polka dot box indicates such a raised ground level, extending behind the engine shed, with a brick side wall for the stairs at the board joint. It looked promising.

Another photo showed an arch over the main railway that appeared to be a high level track. It was suggested that one of the LH building gables could be designed to have an 18" spoil removal track complete with end-tipping skip wagon, that would act as the scenic end to the layout. One thing we noticed in the book was the liberal use of corrugated iron cladding and roofing, which will also figure highly in our buildings.

We returned to the road layout and changed the delivery point to the left-hand and central buildings, creating one large area for manoeuvring between the access road, yard and quarry edge. This required the magnet to be re-positioned slightly. Safety of the railway at this point was difficult to assess, but Geoff was reasonably happy (someone will no doubt provide appropriate comments in due course!)

Construction of the different tunnel sections were discussed. Geoff had successfully used a sloping roof to a similar tunnel on another layout, but Stephen argued for a flat top box. Geoff's fully cantilevered roof construction was adopted.

After lunch, when Laurence had been fully briefed about the mornings deliberations (which he was very happy to have avoided), timber was sourced and a tunnel section was fabricated.

Extensive discussions about how wagons would be shunted in and out of the yard took place. Geoff favoured using 'scheduled' trains to stop at the yard and drop off empties or collect fulls for onward passage. Rather than use the mainline loco for internal shunting, a small IC unit could be used. Stephen favoured serving the yard from Worton Court. Wagons with large blocks from the quarry could be dropped off in the WC yard and taken down to the masons yard and finished stone collected, as required. There was no agreement, so discussion will continue, but it was great to be putting some 'flesh on the bones' of the new boards.

Wednesday 4th December

Worklist:
Insert small section of track.
Make jumpers for rails at board joints.
Fit wires for point/frog continuity.
Run some trains!

Stephen arrived late having travelled by train (during a guards strike), but it gave Laurence and Geoff a chance to get most of the boards up and ready.

A missing, short section of track on the outer, quarry run was fitted by Geoff, who then moved on to adding tails to points for 'manual' switching of the frogs.

Stephen made up sprung clips from solid wire and fitted them at board joints. Where there were PCB joint strips, he soldered jumpers.

Geoff's next task was on the 8-way plug from the bridge board that normally went to the fiddleyard. This required a temporary socket and feed wires added to connect to the first adaptor board tracks. This went smoothly except that when the connection to the bridge board was tested, there was a partial failure. Everyone's attention was trained (!) on the problem that finally required opening-up the control panel and testing right back to the section switches, without success. After lunch, we tried again and found that the quarry line track running into the tunnel had a broken soldered joint on both rails. Whilst a nuisance, we were heartened by the fact that a lot of investigation work that we needed to perform to establish the wiring for future modifications was completed at the same time.

Once repaired, Stephen and Laurence set-up a train each and ran the first trains from old to new boards and both tracks.

There's a lot to do, but we'd reached a major point in the redevelopment of the layout.

 

Wednesday 27th November

Worklist:
New cassette socket
Track laying
Dig out the quarry

Back to three again and a good, productive session it was. Laurence continued with the cassette connector, which was finally completed after a few tweaks/adjustments. At the same time, Stephen dismantled the electrical feeds from the existing sockets, leaving the other ends connected to the 8-way socket underneath. He then added another pair of wires for the new cassette connector. We still need to design a switch and indicator unit for the three roads.

Geoff fitted a diagonal brace in the quarry aperture he'd formed the previous week. He then cut out the hole for the other half of the quarry. Stephen suggested that having the board joint through the centre of the lake wasn't ideal, but the shape of the perimeter did lend itself perfectly to having a single, slide-in water surface piece. Although not immediately accepted, the idea with elevated to the status of "worth looking into".

When Laurence had completed the connector, he supervised Geoff fitting it. 

Stephen prepared a section of track to complete the Mason's yard trackwork, which Geoff also fitted. 

The absence of track in the engine shed was now evident, and a discussion ensued about pits. Geoff drew cross-sections of an ash pit and a longer and wider inspection pit. It was agreed that an inspection pit would be employed in the engine shed, with a short ash pit between the shed and the adjacent point. Construction and dimensional information is now required so that the pits, including the rail support steelwork can be made. 

We were very happy with the look of the two new exhibition boards. As we now had end-to-end track, it was decided to try and have a running session next week, although a lot of temporary electrical jumpers would be required. Or, as Stephen suggested, make some battery loco's.....

Wednesday 20th November

Worklist:
New cassette socket
Track laying
Dig out a quarry

Stephen tied up with builders this week, so just Geoff and Laurence. Laurence continued to make the connection unit for the mason's yard track into the fiddleyard.

Geoff laid some more track in the masons yard siding ...

... before moving on to cut out the quarry.

Some reinforcement on the corner.

Wednesday 13th November

Worklist:
Continue laying track.

A cold morning, but we were nearing the end of track laying. First, we set up the boards required for the final push. Boards #5 & #6 (new exhibition extension boards) and the fiddleyard were laid out down the centre of the workshop to provide maximum access. The fiddleyard was required to provide the location of rails running onto it. The black box on the edge of the fiddleyard containing the track isolation switches and LED indicators was unscrewed. This is now in the way of the new track running through the masons workshop that will allow hidden full/empty wagon exchanges. A new switching unit or system will need to be designed and fabricated in due course.

At this point, Laurence took on the task of making another cassette 'socket' for the new track and went off to find the materials from the 'left-overs' box.

Geoff continued with track laying, initially tackling the crossovers at board joints. Stephen got on with laying the rest of the cork underlay, going on to laying the quarry track and then assisting Geoff.

 

Above - A PCB strip anchoring the ends of track on board #6 abutting fiddleyard cassette socket.

Below - The Masons yard point ended up close to the board joint. The rail-ends had to be trimmed with a Dremel and separating disk before being soldered to brass screws at the joint. Never a good idea to abut rails on a joint, but the flexitrack beyond was successfully shaped and secured.

Above - The catch point siding for the engine shed on the left should be just long enough for a small loco.

Below - the engine shed track is still being decided. We're keen to have a pit, so this will be fabricated as a complete unit and a hole cut in the baseboard before installation.

Hidden quarry line on the left, the Masons yard line awaiting track (and a cassette socket) in the centre and the mainline on the right. The sexy little curves in the middle go around the edge of a flooded quarry, the hole for which has yet to be 'dug'.

We're close to running something all the way around!



It was a cold morning...

Wednesday 6th November

Worklist:
Modify fixtures between boards #5 & #6.
Continue laying track.

An abnormally cerebral week for the three of us with the morning spent modifying the fixings on the last two boards, but in the afternoon we tackled the the subject of the electrics.

When bringing together boards 5 & 6 (engine shed and masons yard) in order to fit tee-nuts, it was noticed that the bolt hole and locating pin positions on the 'inside' clashed with a proposed cut-out in the board edge that would become the banks of a flooded quarry. Even paring the space for the water to a minimum did not work, so the decision was made to move the fixings further in-board. The locator pin/socket had knurled casings which had been wood-glued in. These were tapped out and re-fitted in new holes. Likewise, new holes for the bolts were drilled and tee-nuts fitted.

The boards were temporarily laid across the racking legs and track laying continued. While Geoff fitted the final point on board 5, which had the cork underlay already fitted, Stephen transferred the salient track setting-out information to board 6, to show the line for the cork underlay.

Lunch intervened before we could get the cork underlay fitted, and we retired indoors. Still at the dining table, Stephen presented a layout showing the trackwork indicated as two rails, to aid scheme development. He also had two options for electrical connections and hence control options for the junction between the main station and the satellite area, each of which would have its own control panel and operator. Being the first time the matter had been discussed in earnest, voices were occasionally raised as different scenarios and solutions were thrashed out, but soon two main options were derived:-

A) Create a change-over area where a whole train could be sent, held and then collected by the other operator. (Previously identified as boards 2 & 3). The need for some additional switching to facilitate the handovers became obvious, but the physical nature and location of the switches was another matter, hence Stephens idea of small switch boxes on long leads, that could be fitted in different positions (with a bit of Velcro) for on-going trials.

This did not take into account any consideration regarding how the sections on the two new boards would be handled in terms of through trains and local shunting when in an exhibition format. This lead to further discussions which in turn prompted scheme B.

B) Have a single electrical break between boards 2 & 3. Each panel could control tracks up to the break. The Local panel would employ 3-position rotary switches to determine Main, Off or Local control of each section (As used on the original Cottesmore layout). The Main controller could then run trains right through to the fiddle yard whilst the Local panel could shunt in the masons yard or engine shed.

Another complication was the fact that operation in the workshop with all of the intervening boards was a different scenario to an exhibition, where both panels would be next to each other. The second solution worked perfectly for both workshop and exhibition situations.

The meeting finished amicably and with interest in refining a solution honed for the next meeting.