Bricklington (formerly "I've reached Minimum Viable Product status")

[potatan]

I've finally got everything together, fitted a decoder, fixed the loco I accidentally broke, fully digested the entire 68 page NCE PowerCab manual (okay, the 2 page quick start guide), plugged everything in without electrocuting myself and have been immensely rewarded by my new Class 42 going round and round while I run it in, plus I've been playing with the momentum for some fun.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1034979604

Next step I think is to assemble the rest of my track on the desk and check it all connects before starting a crash course in carpentry and soldering.

Thanks for all the help from everyone so far

[aleopardstail]

I've finally got everything together, fitted a decoder, fixed the loco I accidentally broke, fully digested the entire 68 page NCE PowerCab manual (okay, the 2 page quick start guide), plugged everything in without electrocuting myself and have been immensely rewarded by my new Class 42 going round and round while I run it in, plus I've been playing with the momentum for some fun.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1034979604

Next step I think is to assemble the rest of my track on the desk and check it all connects before starting a crash course in carpentry and soldering.

Thanks for all the help from everyone so far

oh excellent stuff, welcome to the dark side, we have biscuits

[Mountain]

Well done!

[potatan]

Strippers, knobs, drawers – quick update

Following the resolution of the soldering iron fiasco I thought I’d get loads done over Christmas break but a) I was working for a lot of it and b) then when I wasn’t working I was ill. But nevertheless, progress has been made.

I took the opportunity to tidy up the rapidly expanding tool pile by attaching some plates to this old repurposed chest of drawers with some new knobs, and ordering the tools by “things with 1 handle”, “things with 2 handles”, “things for measuring” etc. Helps me find things

Then I had a corking time trying to make curves to a specific radius. When I realised that my school compasses wouldn’t stretch to a 2nd or 3rd radius I drilled some holes in my wooden school ruler to make a Really Useful Thing for drawing curves. Then glued down (with copydex) enough track to realise that I needed to rethink.

What I had determined was that if I wanted to pre-drill all the holes for the wires then I’d better solder all the droppers to the rails first so I knew where to drill the holes, for the wires, that weren’t yet attached, to the rails, above the holes. Etc. So I paused for a little bit of a think about the process.

By pre-soldering the wires I was making a bit of work for myself in that I would have to cut the wires to roughly the right length to reach the bus, so I split the track droppers into short, medium, a bit more mediumer, and long sections then got cutting and stripping. 40 pieces of track, with two wires each (+/-) and two ends to each wire equals a lot of stripping and tinning. I’ve got a bit of a production line going while I tackle the wires in batches.

Continued...

[potatan]

Then I had another holdup while I figured out which would be red and which black. There’s a mnemonic of some sort that goes Black-to-the-Back or is it Red-to-the-Rear? But the problem was that with a loop of course, the red wires and the black wires will swap sides as they pass the centre point of the loop meaning I’ll need a second mnemonic for the back of the layout. Something like Rrrrrred-to-the-Frrrrrront and Black-to-the-Future or something. That’s the trouble with mnemonics, they’re difficult to remember. So I hit on the idea of splitting the track into Front half pieces and Rear half pieces, so that I had a fighting chance of getting all the track with a red and black wire attached in the right attitude, with everything powered up and working.

So now I just need to match all the pairs of wires by length, to their corresponding piece of front or rear track. And then attach the wires to the track so they don’t foul the baseboard framework. It’s going to be like 4d chess for a while.

For attaching the wires to the rails, I’m going to start with a method that has worked for me as an N-Gauge novice, and that’s to cut two sleepers out giving me room to work while I solder. Then I can cut the excess webbing off the rails and sleepers then re-attach the sleepers to the track by squishing the rails gently into the chairs until they click, then sliding them up close to the wires. I’ll see how it goes and probably adapt the process as my soldering improves.

See you in a few weeks when I’m fully corked and wired.

[aleopardstail]

this looks dangerously well organised

[Phred]

potatan wrote:
drilled some holes in my wooden school ruler to make a Really Useful Thing

Now you're talking my language...

[Dad-1]

Posh drawers !!
I'm smiling now, progress is being made and I'm delighted.

Geoff T.

[potatan]

Posh drawers !!

I've had them about 27 years (from Ikea originally), but I bought the little index plates for them and had an immensely enjoyable time measuring and lining up the screwholes as well as cutting 75 x 40mm pieces of card to slot in. Who needs DCC Sounds and steam generators when you can have this much enjoyment with a bit of old furniture.

[potatan]

this looks dangerously well organised

Rare, for me!

[aleopardstail]

this looks dangerously well organised

Rare, for me!

I have some shelves and some drawers

under so much crud I can't find them

an entire N gauge layout has vanished in my office, I'd not mind but its not a large office

[Phred]

aleopardstail wrote:
an entire N gauge layout has vanished in my office, I'd not mind but its not a large office

It's not behind the door is it? That's where I keep my OO9 board.

Apropos of nothing, my sister-in-law (who is a hoarder) once lost a twin-tub washing machine.

[aleopardstail]

aleopardstail wrote:
an entire N gauge layout has vanished in my office, I'd not mind but its not a large office

It's not behind the door is it? That's where I keep my OO9 board.

Apropos of nothing, my sister-in-law (who is a hoarder) once lost a twin-tub washing machine.

its on my desk

somewhere, I can see bits of the edge of it, its just suffered from being reasonably flat and thus had 'stuff' pile up

[Dad-1]

There is adventure in erratic storage.
You know you have 'it' somewhere, so the search begins.
Then you find some other parts, or a stalled project. Ahh yes I wanted to do that.
By the end of the day you're working on a different project.
The moral is you never know where life will lead you !!

Geoff T.

[Mountain]

There is adventure in erratic storage.
You know you have 'it' somewhere, so the search begins.
Then you find some other parts, or a stalled project. Ahh yes I wanted to do that.
By the end of the day you're working on a different project.
The moral is you never know where life will lead you !!

Geoff T.

Done it myself a few times. Then one forgets what it was one was trying to find in the first place as one gets absorbed into something else!