Monday 24th February 2025

Geoff had been going through his 'stock' of various 3D printed components for the point motors and magnetic uncouplers, and decided we needed to check which designs were the most suitable for the new board units. The arrangement of neodymium magnets in particular needed to be confirmed. The main board was up-ended on the bench and a survey carried out. 

Point motor

A rather messily modified uncoupler

We then went straight into fitting the new mainline point. To match the existing track 'underlay' (make unknown) meant 3 layers of thin card rather than the thin cork we had anticipated.

The final position of the point showed that more of the scenery peninsula needed to be removed and the big belt sander had to be used to trim the plywood edges down.

Thin cork underlay was glued down and the refurbished point fitted in the siding area.

An old length of Peco O-16.5 flexitrack, with sleepers respaced, was used for the short siding.

Wednesday 19th February 2025

Worklist:

Start work on the new point cross-over.

After double checking the position of the new point, Geoff's first job was to cut the ends of the insitu point with a Dremel and cutting disk. Stephen then carefully removed the redundant point parts and the old track bed down to the chipboard base.

Matching rail was sourced from two old yard lengths of track. However, it was discovered that both had 1 side of nickel silver and 1 side of steel rail. Geoff's second job was to unsolder the NS rails for reuse.

With the new point offered into place, the unwanted areas of mounding and foliage were marked and removed. This also involved removal of some of the ply upstand.

Geoff constantly checked the track clearances to maintain their 'legality'.

The point on the extension board is located close to the existing board edge to allow the sidings to deviate from parallel to the existing trackwork, for visual interest. The final position will be agreed in due course. (We have a couple of lengths of Peco NG flexitrack to play with).

Wiring/electrics was also discussed. New track sections were straight forward. 

Existing board: 1 new point motor. 

New front extension boards: 1 new point motor and 3 uncoupling magnets across the 2 new boards (all servo controlled). Instead of buying a MERG master servo controller, Geoff suggested 2 of the new controllers (one on each board). These smaller/cheaper units that control 4 servos and would appear to suit our situation well. Geoff will investigate further. Plugs and sockets for local wiring and switches for the control panel will also be addressed in due course.

Wednesday 12th February 2025

Geoff had been busy making one of the two new points required and this was reviewed insitu, together with an old leftover point. We'll have to make sure the point 'motor' can be accommodated on the extension, but Geoff is happy it will work. We also considered the magnetic uncouplers - one for the short siding, but probably two for the long siding - TBA.

Next up was trimming the edges of the station board extension. After a long discussion, a decision was made, pencil lines applied and the excess jig-sawed away.

The road area is assumed to slope down further...

...and the route of the disused siding was accommodated at the other end. There are still lots of details to be resolved, but the basics are now there.

Platform board: The fence will be removed in due course, so there is a bit of scope for the alignment on the main siding. Geoff was keen not to just make it parallel, and after confirming the point end, soon had a couple of ideas brewing. An 'S' line was interesting, but we settled on a diagonal alignment as it offered options to accommodate the higher ground on the existing board which may also have to be reshaped. The face against the existing boards was marked just below scenery level and cut away. A retaining wall will be built around the base of the water tower. The outside face was cut down to a notional gently sloping line. 

 

The short head shunt length was fixed and the inner upstand cut down to match the existing ground.

The end still needs resolving, but we'll cross that bridge in due course (!!!).

Monday 3rd February 2025

Another Monday session.

The final frame had glued nicely, so the fixing bolt holes were drilled and ironmongery fitted. Alignment pins would not be required as there will be no 'active' trackwork laid over the board joint.

The pre-cut top strip was fettled to a nice fit and then glued and screwed in place. This left the road section to be added. The dropped blocks for the road were originally positioned to allow a full piece of 'something' to go on top. However, it was decided to use a matching piece of 9mm plywood fitted level with the block tops, giving more flexibility for the road construction. A piece was cut to size and with a temporary locating strip, it was glued in place.

Finally, we again experimented with a length of Peco flexitrack to investigate the disused siding route discussed the previous week. It still looked like a good idea.

Next week we should at least make a start on cutting the side uprights to their required profile. We are still not sure what the profile will be and whether alterations to the existing ground profile/construction will be required. Geoff is planning to get the new point work underway before next week.