Chris: My first layout

Hi y'all.

I am pretty well ready for next weekend's exhibition. I'd like to add a couple of extra routing diodes but will steer clear of that for now and see how I get on.

I thought I had trashed a double slip; after squirting some Servisol switch cleaner on it to help get rid of bad connections to the blades a couple of them wouldn't move. Fortunately they were both trailing blades so the operation of the layout would not be affected. However, after 12 hours they all work again - phew!

I've just ordered some high efficiency yellow LEDs to replace the so-called 'white' ones in the station buildings. The white ones are slightly blue and look like arc lights, which I am sure were not used in station buildings. I've got it down to a fine art wiring them up using a hot air gun with LMP solder and heatshrink (wonderful stuff).

Yesterday I ran a 22 wagon train (with two G8.1s as motive power) which is almost the longest that the layout can accommodate. I will go for 25 when I unpack for the exhibition.

I will try to get some photos sorted out next week when I will have access to all four sides of the layout (currently I only have access to the operator's side) and will see if I can find my tripod so that I can stop right down.

That's all for now. All the best to everyone,
Chris.

All the best for the exhibition Chris. I'd never heard of Servisol switch cleaner - what is it and how does it work?

Servisol is an Ambersil brand name. They make various chemical cocktails for the electrical industry (and the rest probably). I had used the switch cleaning lubricant and I guess that the lubricant was just thick enough to hold the blade activation strips to the base of teh double slip. Anyway, all OK now. We used to use it at work and I had to do the COSHH assessment for it. Not particularly nice stuff but the have since changed the formulation. Risk phrases, if you are into that sort of thing are R12, R53 and R66. Similar products are sold all over the world.

Well, that's the first exhibition out of the way. One down and two to go!

Everything went reasonably well with a few glitches with power routing and a few tail enders, but no collisions! The exhibition was very busy with virtually no let-up on the Saturday and very little on Sunday. I was exhausted!

If you are interested, you can see some photos from the exhibition on my website at < trains.manvell.org.uk/exhibitions/20090905-Inverness/index.htm >.

All the best,
Chris.

Dampflok wrote:

Well, that's the first exhibition out of the way. One down and two to go!

Everything went reasonably well with a few glitches with power routing and a few tail enders, but no collisions! The exhibition was very busy with virtually no let-up on the Saturday and very little on Sunday. I was exhausted!

If you are interested, you can see some photos from the exhibition on my website at <trains.manvell.org.uk/exhibitions/20090905-Inverness/index.htm>.

All the best,
Chris.

Chris, the ">." part was inadvertently included in the link, causing an error if you click it. If you can edit the link, so much the better. I was able to copy the link, modify it, and go the the page: nice stuff!

Mike

Thanks Mike. Each forum has different rules for handling links :o(

Anyway, I've done as you suggested.

Best wishes,
Chris.

i too deal with 2 fun loving cats,, a dog who loves to eat wires, and a 40 pound tortous that thinks wires are for chewing as well. so far the picture i saw, looks very good, your keeping your wires tight to the board, with lots of clips. i also find a small amount of silicone on any sets of wires, after attaching them to the board, is a great cat deterant,, they hate the taste of silicone i ve found, saving quite afew of my wires to be played with,, its that viniger chemical smell, even the turtle desided this was no longer fun. just an idea to share with you n others,, hope it ll help other with the same canine problems. canada mike:laugh:

Chris, thanks for the photos. Were there any other Z scale layouts at the exhibition?

What sort of reaction did you get to your layout? Do you think people still see Z as a bit of a novelty, or do some see the possibilities of the scale?

Chris-- Always fun to see other's layouts. We all can gain from other ideas. Thanks for posting.
Fred

Arrggggh - lost another post lost 'cos it took too long to write, and I didn't take a copy before posting. I never learn. Well, I'm not writing it all again so here is a summary.

Thanks for the positive comments.

ausman2001 wrote:

Chris, thanks for the photos. Were there any other Z scale layouts at the exhibition?

No. Just one T-scale that replaced another Z-scale.

What sort of reaction did you get to your layout?

Very positive.

Do you think people still see Z as a bit of a novelty

Not at all.

or do some see the possibilities of the scale?

Yes, several commented on the size of the layout and its complexity. Also, the detail of the small trains.

All the best,
Chris.

Dampflok wrote:

Arrggggh - lost another post lost 'cos it took too long to write......

Chris,
This has happened to me a few times, or at work I don't always have internet access, so I've taken to composing my thoughts in Microsoft Word and then cut 'n' paste.

Jerry,

Hi All.

There has been no progress on my layout; in fact far from it. I have discovered two turnouts that no longer work. It may be a dud supply just to those two as they are both controlled by a single button pair, or it may be solenoid problems. This is very annoying with another exhibition coming up. I do have a spare new trailing point but have had to order a new facing point (the important one). As dealers in the UK are no longer allowed to import direct and are not allowed to hold more that a minimal stock, the waiting time could be up to 3 weeks, which is getting uncomfortable close to the next exhibition.

However, there is some good news. For those, if any, who look at my Z scale pages, I am delighted to be able to announce that they all now include a Google translation facility to allow readers to view then in up to fifty different languages from Africaans to Yiddish. The translations are not perfect but they are readable. The rest of the site will be updated in due course.

With best wishes,
Chris.

As dealers in the UK are no longer allowed to import direct and are not allowed to hold more that a minimal stock, the waiting time could be up to 3 weeks, which is getting uncomfortable close to the next exhibition.

Second hand ones?

I trawled whole of Europe for one, used or new, on eBay but nadda. I've got a couyple of manky ones that I don't really want to use but I can put one in for time being.

Chris.

Hi All.

I thought I had better bring you all up to date with what's going on with Breitefurt.

First of all, there was no problem with the two turnouts that weren't working. I think it was a solder bridge on the matrix board. Whatever, the problem has been solved. I haven't yet thought about tackling the lock-up on the station centre track. I suspect that some extra logic will need to be added.

Feeling a bit guilty that nothing had happened to the appearance of the layout since the Inverness exhibition, I thought I would add a bit of '3D'. So I have added darkness to the tunnels and cuttings where the track approaches the tunnel mouths. These are purely conceptual. They have no been painted but have been planted with trees as well as a (3 in 1 / 33%) hill being added to bring a road access. I took some photos but, as I do not have front view access when working on my layout, they are pretty rough. However, you can see them on my website if you are interested.

All the best,
Chris.

Chris, This is good news and the photos are good as well. Thanks. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Hi All.

Just posted some last minute photos prior to loading up the car and heading off to Elgin after lunch. I will try to do my usual report of teh exhibition after the event.

All the best,
Chris.

Well, things didn't go too well. Several times I had to deal with multiple derailments. And when the guy turned up with the video camera nothing would work. Sunday was a bit better but, for some reason coaches kept derailing as they entered the station from the up end. Initially it appeared to be because the two back-to-back turnouts weren't pinned and were forming a slight hump. However, it took a couple of days to run down the real culprit. It turned out to be the facing point at the frog. The two metal plates that give continuity as locos pass over the frog were sticking up at the leading edge and that was causing the coach wheels (only the front ones) to go down the wrong side of the frog. I was a bit loathe to change out the turnout before the next exhibition so just pressed down very hard on the leading edge and that appears to have cured the problem. (Well, I did run a train through it continuously, and at varying speeds, for about 30 minutes.)

I haven't put up a web-page of the exhibition yet but will try some time in December.

Next exhibition is in Falkirk on 28/29 November.

All the best,
Chris.

Hi everyone.

Well, it's a week since Falkirk and I've recovered! The exhibition was excellent and Breitefurt worked well (most of the time). None of the major problems of Elgin so am a happie chappie. I've put up a page of over 70 photos from the Falkirk exhibition (see trains.manvell.org.uk/exhibitions/20091128-Falkirk/index.htm ).

A few modifications are to be made to the layout, principally as I have decided not to go for a second board. This makes it unnecessary to have tracks going off the right hand side and some of these are being removed/altered. You can see the changes on my website.

It has become very obvious that this is not an exhibition layout; it is far too complicated. Having looked at a lot of one-man layouts, I note that they are very simple; Breitefurt is complicated. I have to work alone; Breitefurt needs two operators (basically up and down).

Other lessons learned are that the sidings at the up end (right on the track plan) are pretty useless; it would have been better to have the loco shed there and the sidings at the down end. Why? As they are the loco tends to be at the buffer end of the siding. I will use them as static displays in future.

No more exhibitions booked up yet so I am giving the layout a rest once I have made the mods.

My best wishes to all,
Chris.

PS. Several updates on my layout diary as well.

Hi All.

In addition to the Falkirk exhibition, I have also just uploaded a report on the Elgin one earlier in the month (see trains.manvell.org.uk/exhibitions/20091107-Elgin/index.htm ). Enjoy.

Best wishes,
Chris.