Frankland: N gauge Southern Railway

[mumbles]

At the moment it feels like everything is taking forever and I'm lost in the preparation ... but on the other hand I do want the fundamentals to be 100% rock-solid so I have no regrets later.

Hi
Mark
Great update, that sentence says it all for me. Do it nice or do it twice as they say in the decorating game

Once you have a solid foundation the rest follows much easier

Cheers
Michael

[GROTLAND]

Yep. Taking your time in the early stages will be the best bet Mark. It's Ok. We will be patient as long as you promise to make some buildings next year at some point. You've got some lovely neat work going on at the moment, and nice ideas for soldering track feeds. The neatest work I've done in the past has always got to be ripped up because it's wrong. I know when I've got things correct, when It's rough as old rope...ho hum.
You are in the right company if excitement for you is a transformer shelf. I'd be over the moon too with such a cheeky blighter, and after all, who needs to go out? What's out there other than debauchery and a hurricane?

[guitardave_1]

Looking good Mark. The rotary switch idea is a good one (but then I would say that!). I have a transformer shelf too

You're obviously being very thorough, and hopefully you will reap the benefits of that for a long time to come. I currently have tens of loose wires, and without them all being carefully labelled it would be a real game identifying them all. I might follow your example with the electrical tape to keep everything a bit neater though.

[Thunderbird]

Some good work going on there, I'm very impressed with the finish on the track feed soldering very neat! your right to take your time and get it right, it will save you hours of frustration should you have any faults at a later date.

oh Nice transformer shelf and i love the little drawer for the control panel, very ingenious.

[SouthernBoy]

Thanks gents,

Do it nice or do it twice as they say in the decorating game ... Michael

Quite right of course - just I seem to have been stuck in this space for longer than I had imagined. Time to put more hours into proceeding at a faster (but no less thorough) pace i think

... What's out there other than debauchery and a hurricane? ...

Hmmmm, debauchery: No! I must stay focused

guitardave_1 and Thunderbird thanks also, your comments very much appreciated

Well the good news is I have a couple of weeks off at Christmas - so time to complete the wiring and move on to more interesting aspects I hope.

Stay tuned to this channel ....

[Tank]

...time to complete the wiring and move on to more interesting aspects I hope.

I hate wiring! If I could find someone local to do mine I'd pay them! I have lights, switches and signals all ready for someone to do them, although it'll probably end up to be me doing it.

[Sprintex]

I'm in the same position as you mate - taking the time to put feeds to every piece of track (nice tutorial by the way, exactly the way I did mine ) and it seems to take SO BLUDDY LONG!!! Be worth it in the long run though with better running quality

Once I've tested it all runs OK I have 34 point motors to install and wire back to a control panel, also yet to be built. But then where would the fun be in this hobby if you could finish everything in 3 weeks flat??? Excellence takes time

Danny - hint: work out where track goes BEFORE soldering wires and drilling holes


Paul

[SouthernBoy]

Thanks for further feedback, much appreciated

... I hate wiring! If I could find someone local to do mine I'd pay them! ...

ah, you forgot "If I could find someone local AND win the lottery in order to pay them!"

... I'll Just warn you of one mistake I made. I soldered the wires on the bottom of the flexi track like you have and then used the track on a corner, the wires went opposite directions spreading the sleepers! Danny

Thanks Danny - what I've done is used code 55, which is wonderful to work with because it more or less holds it's position once bent to shape. Additionally it's been in place for some weeks now, so has got settled in it's new configuration (if that's the right word ) ... so I can lift it and solder wires on with reasonable confidence that it will slot back into place fairly easily

... I have 34 point motors to install and wire back to a control panel, also yet to be built. But then where would the fun be in this hobby if you could finish everything in 3 weeks flat??? ...

34 point motors to install Yikes, I can't even start to imagine that much work ! At this point I'm really starting to appreciate why some people go for simple single line terminus layouts on a plank. For me the fun is the scenic side - if I could finish everything to do with baseboards, track laying and wiring in three weeks I'd be a very happy man - it'd mean I'd have even more time to spend on the scenic stuff - and believe me - I can happily spend forever lost in that side of things (plus, I hope in the future, kit built rolling stock too )

Thanks again all

[Mighty]

If you haven't purchased all the point motors and wiring, you could always use the patented 'hand of god' technique for points within 2-3 foot from the control area.

It saves on cash, and is guaranteed to work every time, unless too much beer is involved!

[SouthernBoy]

Frankland update No. 6

Welcome to update number 6.

I'd hoped to use the Christmas break to finish all my wiring. Instead I discovered that there was a lot more wiring to feed into my small control panel than I'd anticipated. The whole thing was starting to look like a plate of spaghetti with a life of it's own - so I bit the bullet: I'm now in the middle of making a wider control panel. Lesson learned: put as much thought and effort into planning the wiring and control panel as you do with your track-plan

Work to-date:






I'm using DCC Concept Masterswitches. Each switch (or you can combine them for more complex switching) is a one-stop-shop for controlling point motor, track polarity, signals, and panel lights, all from one little box without the need for resistors or accessory switches etc. Easy! For me the big advantage is that you can use DPDT switches where the lever can stay pointing in the direction you have set the points. So no need for panel lights on a simple layout like mine. I found the manufacturers to be very helpful when I had a couple of questions, and I got the switches from Bromsgrove models. Credit goes to Ironduke who pointed me in the direction of Masterswitch when I posted a question in the electronics thread of this forum. EDIT: This was the Electronics thread





I bought one of the Peco scale rules ... can't wait to start using it on buildings and other structures





Finally - third rail - which has to be 'hand made' in N gauge: How to hold the rail in place ?
I ran through various thoughts, such as soldering rail to track pins etc ... and after playing around a little found that isolation rail joiners cut in half length-ways could do the job. Here are a few pictures of a rough tester I did (no ballast, just old track and slap-dash paint).







The rail joiners could do with being cut more narrowly - but in principle they could do the trick. I chose the plastic insulated joiners over the usual metal joiners because I think they'd stick more easily (and more permanently) to plastic sleepers than metal joiners. But what do others think ? What glue do you think would be best ?

I'm going to try the same experiment with code 60 and/or code 40 rail as well - and here's why - in the following two pictures you'll see that the third rail seems quite high in relation to the bogies on the carriage (or is it just me ?)





btw - looking at the carriage in those last two pictures has made me realise I need to weather my stock and add details like running boards (if that's what you call them on trains ) ... so much to do ... but just one life to do it in


Comments and suggestions always welcome

[beerandpies]

The third rail is excellent. I'd love to try something similar with the Merseyrail lines at some point one day.
Though finding the rolling stock would be a challenge.
That ruler looks very useful too.

[mumbles]

Hi
The 3rd rail looks great without the rolling stock there but it seems a little over sized when it is. What code is that rail? Maybe the code 40 will be better. The stuff for 00 is code 60 which is Z gauge rail.

The track colour is fantastic, what colours have you used?

Cheers
MIchael

[SouthernBoy]

Thanks gents:

beerandpies - ever thought about the Liverpool overhead railway ? I often thought that could make an interesting project

Martin - I used some code 80 for the tester, but as you suggest, code 40 is probably nearer the mark. I think the only source is the 2mm Scale Association, so I'll be joining up. I'm sure there'll be other benefits to Membership

The track is just Railmatch Sleeper Grime.
The third rail is Railmatch 'Weathered Black' ... it's a little too blue/green/turquoise to my eye though ... so am getting some 'Rail Black' and 'Oily Steel' to experiment with too. The 'Oily Steel' I thought I'd try because the top of third rail is usually quite shiny compared to the sides.
I know I can mix my own colours - but thought I'd try some proprietary brands for a change Everything will get weathered down afterwards anyway.

[Tank]

Great idea with the 3rd rail SouthernBoy. I hope to do that in the future too.

I was in the 2mm Scale Association last year, but never renewed my membership. I wish I had! A great shop, and good magazines.

[SouthernBoy]

Frankland update No. 7




Hello and welcome to update number seven.

Since my last post I've completed around 70% of wiring, with just the junction at the back of the layout remaining to be done. Similarly, the control panel just requires wiring for the last junction.



At some point I'll build a scenic section to drop over the control panel for when I just want to sit back and watch trains go round ... current thinking is that this section will contain a deco-style Lido. Something like this would be quite nice:



I've tinned and soldered wires and connections throughout (which has taken quite some time, but probably worth the effort). Points are now wired for polarity. Here's one of them:



I worked on the junctions as a whole rather than working on each point separately. This was because I found lifting and repositioning individual points was causing rail joiners to bend/become loose, plus I don't like having to keep wriggling track/points in and out of position more than necessary. Here's a junction dropping into place:



I needed to take a break from wiring for a while so over the last week have started making the foundations for the scenic areas. For inspiration and to get a sense of scale I made a purchase





Strictly speaking the coach is a little late for my period - but it has the right look and feel and I'm happy with that. I've also got the Southdown version on order

Last weekend I positioned the board which carries the hill up the centre of the layout and roughed out the route of the road. The board isn't fixed yet, I'll do that when the remaining junction is wired in. Anyway, here's an overview:



You'll see bits of card which represent various buildings placed along the roadside.
Whilst I plan to scratch build many of the structures on the layout, some I will construct from kits. I can't wait to get started on these 30s semi-detached houses from Kestrel.



And here's a view down the hill:



At the bottom of the hill there's a road junction where the road diverges to the left and straight-ahead and disappear under the viaduct:



These are not the buildings I will use - they're just to help set-the-scene.

Yesterday the final board at the bottom of the hill was put in place allowing the road to continue through under the viaduct to the far side of the layout:



Today I've worked on the top of the hill where the road turns and crosses over the railway at the back.



Again, buildings and blocks of wood are used to rough out the scale and position of structures.
I'm considering a couple more bridges here as scenic breaks for the roads (so the roads don't just 'drop off' the side of the layout or run into a blue backboard).








I've been reading recently about the LBSCR AC electrics - and depending on space - may use these bridges and a short length of viaduct to model a stretch of overhead track and a train (static, not powered). I think a future layout will have to accommodate AC EMUs as well as third rail



I've also been reading up on the history of railway developments in South London and it's got me quite intrigued: For example, Waterloo was originally planned as a through-station en-route to a terminus near London Bridge, and the LBSCR may have shared Waterloo with LSWR. Similarly, proposals were made for a terminus at Millbank (Westminster).


Millbank Penetentiary, proposed site for Westminster Terminus

This got me thinking about various 'what if' scenarios and I have started drawing up a timeline of railway construction in South London. Later I'll draw up an alternative timeline to see how routes, stations and junctions could have turned out differently had some of those earlier proposals come to fruition... and somewhere in there perhaps we'll find Frankland. It would be nice to have a sort of history

Saving the best for last: On Friday my Membership of the 2mm Association finally arrived - which means I can now order the Code 40 for my third rail.

So that brings us up-to-date with the latest work, news and thoughts from the wonderful world of Frankland

Thanks

Mark