Chris: My first layout

Fred,
Thanks for the info about Charlie & Dribbles. Chris is correct, we need a RAILCATZ
forum.
Thanks & the best to you.
Stojiny

Hi All.

It's been quite a while since I posted here, what with one thing and another. Following on from the Elgin exhibition in November not a lot happened for several weeks. However, I have another exhibition in Elgin coming up in April so have started working again. You can follow my progress (or lack of it) on my website (trains.manvell.org.uk/z-scale/layout/) but, putting it briefly, I have installed most of the signals now and have them wired up. As a result I am installing the control circuits that allow the signals to control the trains and vice versa. Currently struggling with a short circuit in one of the block but I will sort it!

All the best,
Chris.

Hi everyone.

Well, the short circuit turned out to be a defective detector track. I don't really need it anyway so it will be removed (eventually). I've learned a lot of lessons here and may make a few mods to the trackwork after Elgin.

All the signals work well now but the voltages drop from the logic diodes cause noticeable speed reductions due to the forward voltage drop of 0.7V (approx.) which is annoying. As it is now less than a month to the Elgin show it'll have to stay as is.

Current task is fixing the railway infrastructure buildings in place. As I want them to be lit, each one is being modified by having a 1/2" hole in the floor that aligns with ditto in the baseboard. This will allow me to insert the lamps later and, in the unlikely event that it happens, change any that burn out. This is fine for the 'normal' buildings but the gantry signal box (new one to be built) will have to have three lamps built in so will have to use led's.

My 11 year old Ford estate failed it roadworthiness test a few days ago (terminal rusting under rear end) so have had to buy a new (used) vehicle. Principal specification? Must be able to take a 6ft by 2ft model railway! Solution? A 2003 Renault Scenic. Moral of the story - only buy cars with underseal.

I promise that I will (eventually) post some decent photos once the station is in place.

Best wishes to all,
Chris.

Just a short note to say that I have updated my website (trains.manvell.org.uk/z-scale/layout/). Do have a look but bear in mind that the 'high street' is just a temporary fabrication for the Elgin exhibition next weekend.

All the best,
Chris.

Chris, I always enjoy Breitefurt updates. Thanks for sharing. We missed you during the March photo contest. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Hi everyone.

Well, some great progress, but not without frustrations. All the signals do what they are supposed to do and the layout is ready for its Elgin outing, but not with out considerable effort in the wiring and track relaying departments. As usual,you can see the full story on my website (trains.manvell.org.uk/z-scale/layout/). I don't, at this stage, feel that there is anything worth uploading to the forum gallery.

All the best to all Zedders,
Chris.

You've made real progress Chris. I hope all goes well at Elgin.

Chris, very nice. Coming along nicely.

(Most of this a cut and paste from a post to another forum.)

Hi Guys.

Well, from my POV the exhibition was a great success with lots of interest and favourable comment. So all the heartache was worth it. At times the crowd was so big that the ended up round the ends and even, on one occasion, on my side of the layout. (I must make end security boards to keep small kids' fingers off the baseboard.) But no awards. :o(

To my delight, the layout fitted into the car with two inches to spare. The only problem, from the Moray MRC's pov, was that superb kept the visitors away as they enjoyed the weather instead of the trains. I hope that they didn't lose money on it. Shame really - they put so much effort into making it a good exhibition and lots of dealers had come, some from a considerable distance. I've had an invite to take Breitefurt to the Falkirk MRC exhibition in November but am not sure if I will be able to go as it may conflict with the final rehearsal before our Christmas concert (I play first horn).

As far as the layout was concerned, the trains worked almost perfectly with just the occasional stall and a few derailments (mostly due to reversing over pointwork that had been set to the wrong route. The semi automatic signals worked fine except that I kept forgetting which track sections each signal covered. (That will be resolved when some of the track supply switches get replaced by push buttons.) I do need to get the signals to select the routing for the double slip at the up main exit - that caused problems.

So, all in all it was worth all the effort. I will put up pictures from the exhibition on my website later.

With best wishes,
Chris.

My report on the Elgin exhibition is nearly complete and can be found on my website (trains.manvell.org.uk/exhibitions/20090411-MorayMRG/index.htm). Enjoy.

All the best,
Chris.

Chris,
the pictures look great, and really like this one

trains.manvell.org.uk/exhibitions/20090411-MorayMRG/Breitefurt-DSCN0227.jpg

That is one complex Marlin track setup you've got thier, very impresive. It looks like you've got four transformes, is that right??? So four trains running at once, or is it more???

Very cool, and i bet a real treat to watch in action with all those signals.

Tony B..
Wasatch Z Club
Utah, USAB)

[rant] Arrrrgh! Why is it that, when it Says 'Welcome Chris Manvell" at the top of the screen, it then tells me, after I have typed a long reply thay=t I have to be logged in to post. Grrrrrr! [/rant] So here is a summary.

zmon wrote:

the pictures look great, and really like this one
trains.manvell.org.uk/exhibitions/20090411-MorayMRG/Breitefurt-DSCN0227.jpg

Thank you.

That is one complex Marlin track set-up you've got there, very impressive. It looks like you've got four transformers, is that right??? So four trains running at once, or is it more???

There are five controllers, namely 1: Down Main + Relief (i.e. outer oval), 2: Up Main and Relief, 3: Branch line, 4: Shunting (switching) and 5: Loco shed and turntable. At the exhibition I ran 3 trains, as can be seen in one of the pictures. In some cases I had 4 running as I could bring a train out of the 'hidden' sidings on the same controller as one leaving the station in order to swap what was on show. Really it needs two operators to work to capacity but I attend exhibitions alone. The complexity of the pointwork at the up end of the station is due to its function as both a junction and a terminus. (See trains.manvell.org.uk/z-scale/layout/ .)

The 'hidden' tracks are also an interesting design that can be extended indefinitely. For exhibitions I have them set permanently to UP, UP, DN, UP, DN, DN (Inner to outer tracks) but it is more flexible than that.

Very cool, and I bet a real treat to watch in action with all those signals.

The signals worked a treat though they were a nuisance when talking to viewers so I would set them to "Manual" and leave the trains running.

Once again, thanks for the compliment.

All the best,
Chris.

PS. What does USAB stand for?

I really like your setup. glad I didn't wire it. LOL. Your control panels are super and the web site is loaded with great photos. Thank you very much for posting.

Chris, it looks fantastic. One thing I didn't get, or missed through looking too hard, were the "hidden tracks". Can you please explain?

ausman2001 wrote:

Chris, it looks fantastic.

Thank you.

One thing I didn't get, or missed through looking too hard, were the "hidden tracks". Can you please explain?

That's why I put the word 'hidden' in inverted commas; 'cos they ain't at the moment. The hidden tracks are the six in front of the control panel. Ultimately, when the layout is complete, there will be a background board that will hide them from the public. The other name for hidden sidings is 'fiddle yard'. Not sure if that is common parlance worldwide tho'.

There is going to be very little progress in the next couple of weeks as I have two concerts coming up and need to practice like mad to build up lip strength as the first horn parts have a hell of a lot of high notes.

Best wishes,
Chris.

Thanks Chris. I see it all now (pun not intended). In case you don't get back here before the concert I hope it all goes well.

Hello Chris,

May I also say that I am very impressed with the layout. I would like to know what the difference is between HO and OO in the UK? I am into Swiss on my home layout so I liked the N scale layout "The 3 bridges". I just received 2 PRR GG-1 engines so I can doubleheader them to pull my 40 MTL American freight cars on the Zo Cal club layout.
Have you had any problem running the Henschel-Wegmann (81436)through curved switches?
Mine hangs up occasionally and I cannot figure out why.

Robert

On the "Left Coast"

Thanks Ausman.
I will be around, just not working on the layout.

Hi Robert.
loadmaster wrote:

May I also say that I am very impressed with the layout.

Thank you.

I would like to know what the difference is between HO and OO in the UK?

Very simple really, HO (half O) came first. so:
Name Scale ======= Gauge == See
H0 = 1:87 (3.5mm/ft) = 16.5mm = en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HO_scale
OO = 1:76 (4.0mm/ft) = 16.5mm = en.wikipedia.org/wiki/00_gauge
The reason that the British came up with this bastard scale/gauge was quite simply because the British locos were smaller than their continental cousins and the clockwork mechanisms of the time were too large to fit in an HO body. A couple of European have issued HO British outline but it was never a success - we are too entrenched in our ways. To get round this anomally, real enthusiasts use either
EM = 1.76.2 = 18.20mm = en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EM_gauge
P4 = 1.76.2 = 18.83mm = en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P4_gauge

If you go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_Railway_Scales you will see that the same anomalies occur with N and other scales!

I am into Swiss on my home layout so I liked the N scale layout "The 3 bridges".

I tell you, it was impressive, especially when all the lighting was on. The whole layout was built on a single board and weighed a ton (I helped lift it into place).

I just received 2 PRR GG-1 engines so I can doubleheader them to pull my 40 MTL American freight cars on the Zo Cal club layout.

My only double heading was a couple of Prussian P8s - cannot remember how many wagons tho'. But it worked OK.

Have you had any problem running the Henschel-Wegmann (81436)through curved switches? Mine hangs up occasionally and I cannot figure out why.

No, it has always worked perfectly. However, I did have problems with one curved point. Pretty well all my track is second hand and most locos would stall on the down entry point unless they were going fast. No amount of cleaning would cure the problem. After a close look at the exact point of failure, I noticed that it was when all three driving axles were on the blade and a quick check showed that it was not supplied with power - the phosphor-bronze contact was not touching the blade. Replacing the turnout cured the problem and trains can now come in at a scale speed. (BTW, it didn't affect Bo-Bo or Bo-Co locos as they always had contact somewhere, but I run steam almost exclusively.

All the best,
Chris.

Hello Robert,
loadmaster wrote:

Have you had any problem running the Henschel-Wegmann (81436)through curved switches?
Mine hangs up occasionally and I cannot figure out why.

Did you check out if those small springs that create downforce for the pilot and trailing axles are existent? They are shown as number 12 here . When they are missing the pilot axle will much more want to climb up in the turn outs. Those parts were missing in those trains as I first have heard through others in the ZFE board, and when I checked it out they were also missing in my train. I wrote to Maerklin and I got the replacements within a short time but without any comment...
That was back in 2006. According to the spare parts list at the right side of the drawing linked above those parts are available, besides the BR61 loco in black is in the list for new items in 2009 as item 88610 .

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night everyone. (That should cover all time zones!)

After Elgin I put the layout to one side while I pursued other activities. However, over the last few days it has been tipped up again so that I can work on the under board wiring. A dead section (up end of the relief road) turned out to be a loose wire. All my wires go through screwed terminal strips (chock blocks) and the very fine wires used by Marklin for point motors etc. can slip up the side of the screws; obviously this time I didn't check.

I had decided after Elgin to redesign the power routing for the two exit roads at the down end of the station and this is now complete though the reverse running diodes may still need a bit of attention. So, a typical operation just requires that I apply power to the down main just where it approaches the hidden sidings, pull off the signal and start the train. All the signals are reverted to danger once the train has passed the down advance starter.

You can see the tracks involved and the circuit diagram at the usual address (trains.manvell.org.uk/z-scale/layout/). Any queries or suggestions can be sent through the forum or, better still, via the 'Contact Webmaster' link on the home page (trains.manvell.org.uk/z-scale/). Do have a look, you may get some ideas from there as I have never seen this technique anywhere else.

With my best wishes to you all,
Chris.