Galgorm Hall 00 Gauge Loft Layout

[Dad-1]

Rolling along with a real quality look.
I ought to buy a bottle of fizz to crack when the first full circuit completed
and running.

Geoff T.

[carnehan]

Thanks Geoff, I hope there'll be an extra glass for me too!

I was up having a play with track earlier on and think I've settled on the starting point. Ground should be broken tomorrow or over the weekend with the first two points being laid. I'm using the Peco Pl-10 motors but rather than footering about under the baseboard trying to line them up through a 10mm hole I will cut a rectangle out to allow the motor to be dropped down through. A piece of plasticard sandwiched between the motor and track will then fill the void. With kids in bed early these cuts will have to be done in the day time.

Paul

[Bufferstop]

Re storage, if you are going to lay stock on its side, it would be better to have a sheet of tissue paper under it, just in case there's any interaction between the plastic of the bubble wrap and the finish on the stock. If you are in any doubt about the tissue paper look for the stuff that wedding dresses and the like are packed away in.
Point motors, be careful with the layout of fans of sidings, not to get a clash between the motors of adjacent points, one connected to two (on each leg) with no track in-between will probably cause a clash, or you end up with a slot that spans both tracks. Alternative is to put one motor on the surface. If you link it with a stiff wire you can place it far enough away to hide it.

[carnehan]

Im going to have to sit down some evening and replace all the photos lost due to PB's illogical madness.

I've been slightly distracted with much track laying being done. Much of this will have been seen if anyone is following the NRM tour as Guy made his inaugural visit to Galgorm Hall but to maintain the continuity of this thread I will repost again here. As a reminder, all track is Code 75. All flexi track has been laid on the mainline sections from Station end to end leaving only the incredibly mundane process of point laying to be completed.

Long sweeping curves are the order of the day as the lines weave there way round what will be the branch lines Abbots Grove station.

Pointwork is a little more laborious. I have the two points at the far end of the station installed and am working on the 9 required for the opposite end. It takes me about an hour to prepare one point for installation and another to set it in place and ensure it's fully working - if things go to plan. Occasionally, no often, I need to resolder wires to ensure the correct throw of the point is achieved or polarity issues arise. Pain In The Ar@e!

As it stands, I can run trains in an end to end type format. I'm on to installing the slip and once complete, I can add the last bit of flexi to make line fully operational. Perhaps, with luck, all track will be laid by Christmas.

Paul

[Dad-1]

Hi carnehan,

I hope you didn't get your feet wet in the recent floods around there.
Never a race so take your time & get it 'right', a few weeks on the
build is much less of a problem than years of poor running.

Geoff T.

[Coopslner]

I feel your pain with the points, I am using the gaugemaster seep point motors and already before I have even finished one section and moving on to another I am getting problems with either the throw or the polarity not switching correctly and I would agree it is a bloody pain!

I have had to take a break from wiring as it crushing the soul lol.

I hope you get yours going in a circuit though so you can watch a train loop soon.

Coops

[Ex-Pat]

Pointwork is a little more laborious. I have the two points at the far end of the station installed and am working on the 9 required for the opposite end. It takes me about an hour to prepare one point for installation and another to set it in place and ensure it's fully working - if things go to plan. Occasionally, no often, I need to resolder wires to ensure the correct throw of the point is achieved or polarity issues arise. Pain In The Ar@e!

Paul

I see that you are using Peco point motors, attaching them to the point and then dropping them into position. That is what I also did when I was tracklaying.

As far as the electrics go I found it helpful to wire up all the motors in advance and always used the same system - green wire for the common return, and yellow & orange wires for the directional feeds. The latter were of course always yellow to the left and orange to the right when viewed as in the photo.

Then, providing you always attach the motor to the point with the green wires (say) facing towards the frog of the point, after you have done one you will know which way the orange and yellow wires will throw the point blades, and it should then be most unlikely that you will have to correct any wiring.

As you will see from this photo I would solder on a 2 to 3 inches stub of each wire before dropping the point and motor unit through the holes. This meant I had a relatively easy job of soldering the main lengths of the connecting wires beneath the baseboard. (I did my soldering with the baseboard on its side, so if you can’t tip your baseboard onto its side and don’t fancy soldering upside-down, you could always use chocolate block type connectors. Whilst not as reliable as soldering they do have the benefit of enabling easy removal of the point should that become necessary.)

2ndBaseboard 004crop.jpg (70.48 KiB) Viewed 2107 times

Happy wiring!

[carnehan]

Thanks for the comments, chaps.

Geoff, feet well and truly dry, most of the devastation happened in the West. Slow and steady has been the approach. 7 months to get to this stage so I'm in no hurry - I've learnt that from the first efforts.

Coops, I'm so close I don't want to divert attentions to other things although it is the scenics I really want to be doing and the temptation is strong. As above, patience is my key.

Ex-pat, I've tried to follow that logic but I think electricity and me just don't get on. I'll perservere and get there. Soldering upside down has been a real joy. Burnt fingers, hot blobs of solder on legs and feet and I insist on doing it all in the nude! No matter how much prep is done before hand, some of those wires still need attached securely beneath the boards.

Paul

[railwayjim]

Can't wait to see something running along those sweeping curves, oh and any scratch building
you do, to your usual high standards.

Don't let the point motors grind you down, sounds like a Latin motto I know, nil il.... enough said!

Keep the pictures coming Paul.

Jim.

[carnehan]

Thanks for the supportive words Jim. The points really did grind me done last night though. Working on the slip I took more steps backwards than forwards. As the air turned bluer it was time to walk away and re-evaluate another day.

Paul

[flying scotsman123]

Glad it's not just me that takes forever doing points! Every time I go to do another one I think how hard can it be? Very

[Bufferstop]

After the laying and the wiring, comes the testing and then the ba............
Put in lots and lots of testing, to recharge your enthusiasm before you move on. I brought each board up to the ballasting stage and some basic scenery before moving on, I think it helped.

[carnehan]

FS123, I guess our skills lie elsewhere.

BS, the plan is for extensive testing before a drop of ballast is laid. All manner of locos in every direction just to make sure that everything is in full working order.

Paul

[carnehan]

Thanks Dave, things are ticking by a little better now too. A breakthrough last night on the double slip installation with guru Ex-pats words ringing in my ears. I stripped back all the wiring and started again and believe it or not, things operated perfectly on first testing.

I added a couple more pieces of flexi track tonight and have now completed that first loop.

https://youtu.be/fl-SP9kNCAs

Drinks are on me chaps.

Paul

[End2end]

Drinks are on me chaps.

I might drive a train later so I'd better just have a single......loop.
Thanks for the video. Very theraputic.
End2end