Working Lower Quadrant Signals

I have been asked in a comment on my last post if the signals are made to work and if so, do I intend making them work, the answer is yes on both counts.

I have had two signals working for about 6 years now and thought it was about time I pushed the signalling along.
I received the two brackets and two home signals last Friday night and have just started to work out their exact locations on the layout, hence the picture in the last post.
To make them operate I use cheap relays with a fine phosphor bronze wire soldered onto the 'clapper'? (the moving piece) the other end of wire is threaded into a hole in the bell crank arrangement to operate the signal. I also use a small weight on the crank to make the signal fail safe, i.e. a loss of power brings the signal to stop.
Now, you can use bell cranks available from model aricraft hobby shops that are quite cheap but I use the Circuitron Actuator (Part 800-8101) that is actually made to do just this job, although when I first bought them about 6 years ago I didn't realise that is what they were for.
I get them from the Model Railroad Craftsman at Blacktown and here is a picture from the Circuitron product catalog:

The actuator comes with 450mm (18") of wire in tube as shown above that would help with placement of the Tortoise motor if you are rich enough to use them for this.
The bell crank has limits placed on it's movement (adjustable with the two small screws) so that the stress is taken by the bell crank and not by the signal mechanism.
I will be mounting the signals on a piece of 3mm MDF and will set up the bell crank and signal connecting rod on it as well. I will lower the bell crank part through a suitably sized hole cut in the board and fit the relay underneath after. The relay positioning is easy as the phosphor bronze wire is about 100mm (4") long and has a lot of flexibility, it also takes up the excess movement at the bell crank.
I have previously installed the board under the layout by putting the signal up through a hole in the layout baseboard as this allows the signal, bell crank and relay to be set up and working but at the expense of having to fill the hole through the baseboard and around the signal. Does that make sense?


Simple enough really.

Back Again

I have just spent an inordinate amount of time removing a thin layer of 'plaster' and ballast next to the main near the Ulan Colliery branch junction. Now this may not seem much but it took me about 10 minutes to remove about a 1" square section to provide a flat area to mount a new bracket signal that Dale Richards made for me. Now this piece of layout was sceniced in about 1982 with plaster and ballasted using PVA (I think; it has been a long time). I have struck this same problem before with scenery around the Bylong station area which was originally done in 1979.
I don't have any answer to this riddle it just had me amazed at the difficulty.
I took this photo to check how the signal looks and am very happy with it.

I will soon be removing some of the plaster on the small bank in front of the white railway gate so that I can install a small sleeper built retained area for the signal box that will control the junction and the Sydney end of Wollar yard. Given the difficulty experienced so far this could be an interesting exercise.
I also contracted Dale to build another bracket signal and two home signals for the branch junction on the main beyond the Gulgong end of Wollar yard. just past the flour mill.
I decided that it was time I did something about signalling the layout and finally decided on the 'style' of signalling.
I went for homes signals outside of stations and loops, the two junction brackets and a couple of distants where there is room.
The next step upwards in signalling gets very complicated with brackets inside yards to indicate main or loop, starting signals, etc.
I have decided that the trains will be started by the signalman or stationmaster using a green flag (as they did) and yes, Bylong is operated with signalmen and stationmasters as we can only run about 4 - 5 trains at any one time and there are about 10 of us when we operate.
The 'green flags' in my case though will be green LEDs on the fascia of the layout opposite the ends of the loops or on the main. These will be operated by the stationmaster/signalman using a momentary contact push button. The button will be pressed for a few seconds and the train driver will respond by blowing the whistle before proceeding out of the station. It will be a momentary push button as I am sure that the real stationmaster would not hold his arm up forever (no there won't be any silver whistles issued either).
The purists will say this is all wrong but I am looking for something that appears to be more or less correct without all the complications that would tie up the operations too tightly.
Now, if I follow my usual work regime, it will probably take me another two years to finish this little exercise.

Hey, I'm back

I didn't go anywhere, I've just been doing lttle fiddly stuff that I didn't think was worth writing about.
One thing I have been trying though is to come up to Bob Stack's standard of Illawarra / Blue Mountains type scenery for the Coxs Gap area of my layout.
Just so you can compare and realise that I still have not made it, here is a video Bob has just put on YouTube from his South Coast Rail blog.
Having checked his scenery out you can now see my efforts.

What I see I need is more bushes, more shrubs, more weeds and to tone down some of the greens with my airbrush. Of course the tiny air bubbles in the rock castings are going to have to stay, I'm not the focussed.
Here is an unusual 'helicopter' shot of the area I call the tear drop as the line climbs from Coxs Gap to Wollar. The junction is to the Ulan No. 1 coal mine towards the back on the left behind the outcrop at the end of Coxs Gap loop.

Chris and I took our grandson Cameron to RTM at Thirlmere for his first trip to see the real thing recently, he loved it, so we will see if he keeps the interest over the years. No, I haven't been encouraging him to like trains, that would be Chris.

That's about it for now and I am going to be off the air next week as we go on a short vacation, no trains, no internet, horror! Well they tell me there is other stuff you can do to while away the hours pleasantly.

A Great Weekend

As you have probably noticed things have been a little slow on this blog of late. I think it has something to do with winter and that it can get cold in the garage. Now, that's not the whole truth as I can turn on the air conditioner to fix that. I some how manage to fall into a creative hole occasionally and this has been one of those times.
Saturday Night
About two weeks ago I got an email from Andrew Campbell of Bowen Creek fame asking if he and Ian Millard (Liverpool Range) could drop by on the Saturday night of the Epping Exhibition weekend to see Bylong. Note that I related the weekend to a model railway exhibition and not the Queen's Birthday, must say something about me I think?
Anyway I agreed and they turned up at 7:30pm on Saturday night having spent the day at the exhibition. I had only met Andrew for a few minutes at last year's Epping exhibition when he and Ian exhibited Bowen Creek and had not met Ian at all.
After the introductions to Chris and my 3 year old grandson Cameron we moved into the garage (yes, I did have the air con on). I then talked them through the railway from the lower Muswellbrook staging through the first tunnel to Kerrabee loop and station then across the Goulburn River into the second tunnel, up the 1 in 40 grade to Bylong then the third tunnel to the 1 in 80 of Cox's Gap loop, then more1 in 40 around the tear drop, past the junction to the coal mine, across the Wollar level crossing, through Wollar, past the Cassilis Branch junction then up the final 1 in 40 to the upper staging at Gulgong.
After this introduction I suggested that they should take a goods from Muswellbrook to Gulgong and of course in keeping with one of the main operational reasons for the layout, the train needed to be banked from the rear. Andrew volunteered to drive the banker with Ian on the head.
After a quick introduction to the NCE radio Pro Cab throttles Andrew took 5085 from Wollar loco and descended all the way down grade to Kerrabee where he moved to a short siding off the Muswellbrook end of the loop. Ian then selected 3532 on the goods in Muswellbrook staging and slowly proceeded to the Kerrabee loop. Andrew moved 5085 up to the MHG and gave a long, short and another long whistle which Ian responded to with a long whistle and the throttles were carefully opened up as the train began it's journey.
After crossing the Goulburn River bridge and passing through the tunnel, the 1 in 40 grade began with an easy climb to Bylong. They drove on slowly through the Bylong tunnel and through Cox's Gap loop until they were about 3/4 of the way around the tear drop when they slipped to a stop. It seemed that the extra two wagons I added to the train that afternoon were too much (one was a Protype white metal CV!). I suggested that they back down to Cox's Gap loop and then make a faster run at the grade. This was tricky as they didn't have a very long run before the 1 in 40 'S' curve at the start of the tear drop, however with a little bit of wheel slipping they managed to top the grade, whistling for the level crossing at Wollar as they moved into the station.
Realising that they would not make the final grade to the Gulgong staging I suggested that we cut in a C32 which I would drive. Once the 3390 was in train, whistles were exchanged and three separately driven locos took the train up the grade and into the staging. As the train crested the grade Andrew driving 5085 dropped away from the train and coasted to a stop then drifted back into Wollar. He then put 5085 away in the loco depot after dropping the ash, coaling and taking water.
This was the first time that three locos had been used this way on Bylong and I enjoyed taking part, it felt like the real thing as we battled to lift the train up the grade and the feeling of accomplishment when we crested the hill was very real.

In this picture I recreated the last climb this morning by backing the train down from the staging so that you can 'see' the action. I have calculated that the train would have been 590 tons with the RUs and BWH being empty and all other wagons loaded. The load allowed for a C35 + C32 on 1 in 40 grades is 480 tons and a D50 can haul 295 tons on a 1 in 40 grade giving a total capability of 775 tons so this load was certainly prototypically correct. Please note that I weight my wagons to 2 grams / foot which gives these prototypical hauling capabilities (not counitng the Protype CVs of course).
I can only say that we had a very enjoyable time running the layout and discussing all those current topics doing the rounds of the hobby at the moment. After a top night I feel that my circle of hobby friends has just expanded and the offers of visits to Port Macquarie that were extended to Chris and myself were truly appreciated.
Sunday Morning at the Brickpit - Epping Exhibition
I went to the exhibition on the Sunday morning for a couple of hours and found a well lit spacious exhibition with a nice range of layouts and commercial stands. I won't say too much more as a number of attendees have already done so on the web with their reports but I will add a few photos.
Those who know me must have been more than a bit surprised when I proceeded to photograph various scenes on the layouts using my mobile phone. I find that exhibitions are not very good for model photography ( the trains are moving) so I had left my camera in the car. I started to go back for it when I saw Geoff Knott's latest On3 timber layout but decided to see what my phone could do.
Here are a few pics, sorry, no trains.

Geoff Knott's Charging Moose Mining & Lumber Co.

A-tractiv Effort Newcastle suburban layout

A Bavarian layout - nice scenery

Sunday Afternoon
I left the exhibition at 1:15pm and drove to Bob Stack's place for my first look at his South Coast Rail layout. I have been looking forward to this as I believe Bob is one of our finest scenery experts specialising in Illawarra escarpement / Blue Mountains style of scenery. Bob uses many different products both commercial and natural to produce the vegetation that grows profusely over the cliffs and hills of his layout.

Bob's brilliant rock work and vegetation (note the wet rock)

Bob's gorge (see his blog for a more complete photo)

Bob explained to me how he does his sandstone rocks and cliffs and I don't think I have seen his method in any magazine in all the time I have been in the hobby (since 1966).
Bob uses an almost dry plaster mixture (I am thinking pie pastry before cooking - ask your wife, girlfriend or mum) over a chicken wire former and he includes pieces of white expanded polystyrene foam which he covers with the mixture for outcropings. He then puts a basic wash of brown oxide over the rocks and I am sure he does some carving, texturing and shaping as well. When dry he then uses matt hobby paints and dry colours to add the myriad colours that are present in a sandstone cliff face (just have a close look next time you are in the bush).
Bob was very free with his information but I am not sure that I could reproduce the quality of his work. Those who are attending the Modelling the Railways of NSW Convention in July will have the chance to see Bob talk about his scenery methods.
I left late in the afternoon heading south across Sydney thinking what a real gentleman Bob is.
All in all, a great weekend, batteries charged, now to get back into the garage.

4206 arrives at Bylong

In case you were wondering if the Trainorama 42s have arrived, the answer is:

A Video of the Bylong Main Line

Here is No 83 conditional empty wheat train as it traverses almost the full length of the main line on my Bylong layout. The first 20' of line through Kerrabee wasn't good enough to post (in and out of focus, I got too close).

This gadget seems to only be 4 x 3 format so here it is on YouTube:
16 x 9 video.
The video was taken in one go as the train climbed from the lower staging yard at Muswellbrook to the upper staging at Gulgong.
Some sections have been cut out due to too much camera movement as I tried to keep up with the train. Almost all of the main line is shown except for the Cox's Gap loop and signal box, way too much movement.
If I ever build another layout then I will be aiming to have a lot more vertical space between the decks as it is difficult to take photos and videos in the current 10" or so (250mm).
One thing I have learnt is that using a video camera is an interesting challenge and good lighting is essential. To this end, I added four more low wattage flourescent lights to the lower deck under Wollar on the climb up into Bylong.
After installing the lights my HD digital video camera decided it didn't want to turn on last weekend and is in being repaired at the moment, well I am waiting for a quote anyway. It will have to be repaired as it is only 26 months old and it cost about $1400, of course it is out of warranty.
This video was taken with a small hand held Sanyo HD digital video camera shaped like a pistol so I couldn't put it down on the layout. This camera is my daughters and I did this video to try out the camera and the lighting.

Bylong Operating Night

We held another operating session last night and all concerned felt that it went very well and that the layout operated very well which was a relief.

The layout is run to a 12 hour timetable that starts at 6:00am and concludes of course at 6:00pm. The timetable is run at a fast time rate of 6 to 1 so that 1 hour on the fast clock is 10 real minutes. This was made easy by the use of the clock facility in the NCE DCC system where the fast time is displayed on the Pro Cab throttles. Marcus Amman was also kind enough to bring along two fast clocks that plug into the cab bus and display the fast time in large red LED numbers. One clock was placed at Bylong and the other at Wollar for the Station Masters.

We ran again using NCE radio throttles as since the previous operating night a number of the Ramblers had their Pro Cabs converted to radio. There more than enough radio throttles to run the layout. The radio throttles performed flawlessly with no one complaining about delayed response or missed keystrokes.

We ran 25 trains during the session and finished the night at 6:00pm fast time one train movement behind the timetable which all agreed was pretty good, better than last time.

We didn't have a dedicated Station Master / Signalman at Bylong this time. That was my fault as I didn't ask for volunteers and we did have one instance of two trains in the section between Bylong and Cox's Gap Loop but not a cornfield meet due to that lack of control. There was one other instance when I was shunting the branch mixed in Wollar and I gave permission for a passenger train driven by Dave "Rowdy" Allen to leave Wollar down the grade to Bylong as a coal train was climbing the grade. This of course was very wrong of me as I had usurped the power of the Wollar Station Master, Layne Hardy. Layne has been the SM for the last two sessions and has done a really good job although he did say that next time he would like to run a train or two.

I will leave you with this YouTube video of 3532 on 81 Goods banked by 5085 as it passes through Bylong in preparation for the climb to Cox's Gap and Wollar. Apologies for the quality of the video but I quickly grabbed the camera and took the video without having the chance to set it up so that the focus was better. It is however interesting to listen to the discussion going on .