Wednesday 23rd June 2021

Worklist:
Continue wiring the boards.
Discuss options for servo-driven points.

Assemble and fit point motors.
Discuss control panel size and layout.

Stephen continued and completed the wiring on the Engine Shed board. Both future exhibition boards were complete.

Geoff reiterated that two systems were available for controlling servo driven points. He had used 12-way MERG controllers in the loft, but older 4-way modules were also available. Although slightly more expensive, Geoff recommended the newer 12-way modules as he was more au fait with the system. Only three points/servos were required for the two new scenic boards, but we expect some of the spare capacity can be channelled into moving features on the layout.

Using a simple, manual servo controller/tester, bought on eBay, Geoff went through a stock of servos he had for various projects, but primarily his 00 loft layout. The number of faulty or noisy servos was very disappointing, but 3 were eventually found.

Using a box of Geoff's 3-D printed servo mounting components, the three point motors were made-up, fitted with spring wire connectors and fitted in place. The units have been developed so they can easily be modified to suit different locations. The micro-switch changes the feed to the frog.

The final task was to review the control panel size and component layout. Stephen had produced some preliminary sketches and the switches and knobs were assembled. A final decision was required about whether to have two or three areas of group control via master rotary switches. These are located at one end of the panel and control whether an area of track was powered from the Local or Main control panels. The hidden 'Quarry' line was one zone, but should the 'front of house' tracks be controlled as one area, or be divided into 'Mainline' and engine  shed/masons yard? The latter was decided so that a small amount of shunting in both areas would be possible, controlled locally, whilst the mainline is given over to the Main panel. Three switches will be required.

The red push button switches are 8-pin units comprising a DPDT switch and 2 feeds for the integral LED. One side of the DPDT works as a simple on-off switch and the other operates the LED in tandem. These have become quite rare since building the first control panel, so 'sufficient' were purchased when they appeared on eBay at the start of Covid.

While 'trying out' the switch and knob positions, it was discovered that the point operating switches had 45 deg. rotation rather than the 22.5 deg. drawn. Stephen will need to reassess the layout, but the principles were agreed.

Wednesday 16th 2021

Worklist:
Continue with wiring on the two new exhibition boards.
Assess the new control panel.

A full house today. The two new exhibition boards - engine shed and masons yard - were set up on some trestles to allow Geoff and Stephen to work on a board each. The tails from the two 20-way cinch plugs needed to be terminated in basic connector strips, screwed to the baseboard. Geoff quietly introduced a new tool - a box of 'bootlace ferules' and a crimping tool. After giving Stephen and Laurence a demo of the wonderful system, he rapidly completed securing the tails and went on to wring up the sections. Getting right into the wiring schedule, track breaks and sections, a few minor mods were made. Stephen followed suit with the engine shed board, although a little way behind.

The different sized ferrules receive the stripped and twisted cable ends, which were crimped in the bespoke tool. Multiple wires can be fitted in the larger diameter ferrules. A very fast and secure system.

In the meantime, and using Stephen's various sketch options for the control panel, Laurence started to work out an optimum size for the new panel case. The result will be laid out full-sized, next week. When agreed, the casing and a mock top to test the switch layouts will be produced.

The 6 new boards now have a home, albeit in temporary format. After selling his beloved Standard 10 car, the garage now offered more storage space. A rack has partly been vacated and the boards can be stored in their non-scenic guises until the rest of the rack can be freed up. The two exhibition boards and two of the adapter boards will have scenery, and will require appropriate vertical space, but the 2 'exchange' boards can be stacked together.

Wednesday 9th June 2021

Worklist:

Assemble the layout and let Laurence drive a train around the adapter boards.

Start wiring-up the tails fitted the previous week.

We were back to a full complement and raring to progress the new boards. While Stephen and Geoff put the layout together, Laurence readied some rolling stock. When all was ready, Laurence's train advanced through Worton Court station, into the tunnel and onto the first adapter board. However, it immediately stopped when it crossed onto board 2. After some jiggling of the din plugs, these were found to be the culprits. After further investigation, the pins were found to be too small for the socket holes and so the contacts weren't always 'in contact'. Geoff produced some 7 pin din units where the pins were much thicker, although the socket holes were exactly the same size as the 'faulty' ones. Bad manufacture or mis-packaging - we'll never know. A team effort replaced the 5-pin units for much more solid 7-pin units. Laurence was finally able to progress to the end of Adapter board 4. A minor milestone. However, nothing more was possible in the remaining time, so, next week...

Strangely, Laurence's Bachmann 0-6-0 switcher conversion made an uncharacteristic racket. The two centre wheels/axle were found to be slightly out of alignment to the outer axles. An investigation will be undertaken.

Aligned on the front two axles, the rear Kadee is right out of alignment.

We would remind our followers that the email publication notification system is being withdrawn from Blogger, so manual checking for posts will be necessary at some point.

Tuesday 1st June 2021

Worklist:
Insert an extra track break on the engine shed board.

Wiring the new boards.

Point control discussion.

Yes, a Tuesday, as Geoff had commitments on our usual Wednesday, but, unfortunately, Laurence couldn't make the only alternative date.

Firstly, an extra track break on the engine shed board had been identified as an asset to shunting on the stonemasons board and this was formed.

The Bridge board and the 4 adapter boards were set up. The four 5-pin din leads were temporarily connected together in a connector strip. This will allow power delivered from the main control panel to adapter board 1 (AD 1) via the fiddleyard loom plug, to be fed to boards AD 2-4. These leads will eventually feed into the switch box, but this temporary measure will allow running through to the two new scenic boards, for basic testing.

The Cinch plugs and sockets for the new boards (engine shed and stonemasons) were selected. These were fixed to wooden blocks to accommodate the wires underneath. The engine shed board required two. An 8-way to accommodate connections from the switchbox/main loom in the two layout configurations and a 20-way for track feeds, points, lights etc from the new 'Local' control panel. Female plugs are normally fitted on the loom as they carry live wires, so a 20-way male plug was fitted. However, an 8-way female was required because the existing fiddleyard lead had been fitted with a male plug!

Full sets of tails were soldered for later connection and the blocks screwed down.

The stonemasons board was fitted with a 20-way, as one was available.

The previous meeting had included a viewing of progress on Geoff's 4mm layout and his use of servo-operated points using MERG controllers. These use unadulterated servos (unlike WC) which allowed control of rotational travel and speed. The possibility of them being used on the new WC boards was now discussed further. Geoff had used 12-servo control units on his layout, but a 4-way unit using a different control method was also available, which would suit the new boards. If successful, a 12-way unit might be employed on the main layout in the future. Geoff to investigate 4-way units further.