Not The Hill in Wales

Jon Fitness

Jon Fitness

Western Thunderer
SimonT said:
Rob - tacit! Your Brightwell Challenge is accepted as I now have a design and a model of a model (but no name). Best that I do some building

Jon, thank you. The signals are the work of Peter Kibble and all work, even the triple stacker doll. The four gantrys are underway at Kibble Works. The operation of the signals suffers from the curse of the Chinese. I use the same operation method as Peter used on Seven Magna - a specified Maplin relay with a brass arm that engages into an upside stirrup on the operating wire of the signal arm. These worked perfectly on Magna. We have constant problems with the relay rocking arm jumping out of relay frame or sticking. None of the 40 relays in stock are assembled the same. Maplin may give a low price but the quality is appalling. I am looking at servos as Post Office relays seem to be like dragon teeth.

All the Wotsit

Simon
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I've been using servos on my signals for about 5 years now and they seem fine mechanically. As the ones I use (SG90s) are quite small they are easy to stack under the signals. I tend to fix them directly to the signal base so the whole signal/servo assembly can be removed for maintenance/repair. I use the MERG servo4 boards as they are quite good value (build them from kits) and appear to be reliable although (and this is the only major drawback of servos) they will quickly let you know which of your locos has poor pickups! The wires can pick up stray messages from them and make the servos twitch a bit:confused:
Jon F.
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
Jon,
this is very interesting. I have concluded that SG90s are the way to go and again, I am moving towards the MERG solution. A couple of questions:
1. What form of control are you using? I use DCC (Lenz and SWD/ESU chips) and as yet I haven't seen anything to indicate any from of interference between the systems.
2. Do the MERG boys know about the problem?
Can we mitigate the interference?
3. How close are the power supply buses, including rails, to the servo control wiring?
4. Have you tried placing a capacitor across the pick up wiring to suppress the effects of the arcing/interference?

As a large number of the signals are now permanently mounted to the baseboard, I am going to have to come up with a method mounting the servos on the baseboard. This will be complicated on the triple doll. All the signals are operated by .7mm wire droppers that push the signal off. The yard starter and the gantrys will need to be removable from the layout to protect them in transit; this will need some very careful mechanical design, not to say building.

Simon
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Simon,

If I can come in here.....

I use servos and Merg control boards for the signals, and have had no interference whatsoever. To answer the questions you raised as applied to Heyside.

1) NCE Power Pro plus 10 amp system.
2) No idea.
3) We paid no attention to how close or not they are to the 4 district Bus circuits.
4) Yes, we had to put snubbers across all end of circuit tracks - but that was as a belt and braces approach to deal with some track control problems and run away locos rather than signal/servo issues.

Richard
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Forgot to say, Simon

We have the signals permanently fixed and had some laser cut servo mountings made for us, each one holds 3 servos. we have 9 servos under one leg of the gantry.

Tony Geary (Dibateg) had a number of spares produced and is selling them at £3 apiece last I heard.

Richard
 
P

PMP

Western Thunderer
Just a thought the Retford guys are using an etched mount for servo's, I'll be in touch.
 
Jon Fitness

Jon Fitness

Western Thunderer
I'm all DC on our layout and the signals are just operated from simple on/off switches. The wiring for the signals is kept as far as is practial from track feeds but some clashes were unavoidable. There's only 2 remaining out of about 30 locos that seem to be a problem but we'll sort them eventually!
JF
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
Richard,
if it works for Heyside, it will work for me! Thank you for the lead to Tony, I'll follow it up and look at what Paul comes up with. I'll remember your 9 servo gantry as I am doing my 6 servo gantry and modify my language appropriately.

Paul,
Cheers! Sorry that you didn't make it, you missed A Level Titting About with a triple headed coal train.

Jon,
thank you. As I am already using DCC I may well get away with the interference problem. I'll report back when it's all working.

All the wotsit
Simon
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
It is about time that I brought things up to date on Aberbeeg. The project to back date the layout is making progress. PMP has already posted a photo of the 56XX getting a run at Nottingham last month. Here are some shots of the latest arrivals.
4294.jpg

4294 running through Aber on the way to Ebbw. It is weathered to catch the neglect in the last days of steam in South Wales. Built from a David Andrews kit.


4295.2.jpg

4294 still needs plates adding and then a bit more weathering. Should the bonnet be brass or black?

6415.jpg

Sat at the down branch platform is the up local for Ebbw headed by 6415. It really did depart wrong line to the up crossover. Built from a MOK kit, like the 42XX it still needs plates and at the moment it too is missing a backhead, but keep quiet about that, ok? The kit is a pleasure to build.

There is another 52XX under way and I am about to start on the underframe for which a parcel of shineness arrived from PPD the other day - a set of etched frame spacers for S7. This 52XX will have the correct frame joggle to provide side play on the rear drivers. At the moment the kit is on the shelf as a rebuild of the Peak bogie has taken priority. I need to start on the water tank and water column which are the only alterations to the layout.

The layout is next out at Wigan and I might bring these along for the final hour, or we might run double/triple headers of all the mineral stock up and down the hill.

All the wotsit
 
Compton castle

Compton castle

Western Thunderer
That's looking really good, will you be going for a pair of MOK 9Fs for the docks to Ebbw vale iron ore train???
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
a pair of MOK 9Fs
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Sshhh! I am trying to fight off that particular temptation. There is the small matter of all the iron ore wagons needed for the train, a matter that I am looking at. If anyone knows the whereabouts of any proper drawings, they would be very useful. I've got the diagram sketches but I have got nowhere with York.

Simon
 
Compton castle

Compton castle

Western Thunderer
Paul bartlets site any good,
Richard Thomas & baldwins first brought them in. Bachmann did them
In 4mm.
MOK are only doing 75 9Fs so you best decide soon.
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
MOK are only doing 75 9Fs
Click to expand...
I know and there are some left,

Paul bartlets site any good
Click to expand...
good for photos, no use for dimensioned drawings to produce wagon kits.

"If one needs to ask a rough price then one cannot obviously afford one :oops:"
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Made I laugh, you did. It's more the scale that is starting to hit, the blue diesel 70s are more economical to model. For steam I need the 9Fs, the iron ore train, the oil tanker train (green 37), 3 x 45/52XX on the minerals, a 72XX, a 56XX, a 45XX and then small flotilla of panniers (mostly 94X by '63). It is a matter of thinning out what I can, to allow time and money to still provide a convincing view of operation up the hill. Imagine three pannier bankers coming down the hill under permissive block in convoy while yet another long mineral goes up.

Got to do it properly.

Simon
 
eastsidepilot

eastsidepilot

Western Thunderer
SimonT said:
Made I laugh, you did. It's more the scale that is starting to hit, the blue diesel 70s are more economical to model. For steam I need the 9Fs, the iron ore train, the oil tanker train (green 37), 3 x 45/52XX on the minerals, a 72XX, a 56XX, a 45XX and then small flotilla of panniers (mostly 94X by '63). It is a matter of thinning out what I can, to allow time and money to still provide a convincing view of operation up the hill. Imagine three pannier bankers coming down the hill under permissive block in convoy while yet another long mineral goes up.

Got to do it properly.

Simon
Click to expand...

"Yep"....:thumbs::D

Col
 
Compton castle

Compton castle

Western Thunderer
The seven model would make in too a nice kit, I want one of there duke of Gloucester kits, although I will substitute a lot of the cast white metal parts for new ones from laurie griffin and ragstone.
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
Phil,
I need to take a look to remind my self! I will report back later.
Simon
 
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