Silver Sidelines

A few weeks back I posted somethoughts on the need for and the use of Capacitor Discharge Units (CDUs) with Peco solenoids. I reported that after some thirty years of model train operation I had now installed my first Capacitor Discharge Units. Under baseboard Gaugemaster Capacitor Discharge Unit At the time I did not see a great improvement in point operation. In a couple of cases the operation was worse after installing the CDU than previously with the power supplied directly from 16v auxiliary supply from my Gaugemaster DS controller. I suggested that the there was a problem with the quality of the push button momentary contact switches that I was using. Some of these switches had been in use for over thirty years on three different layouts. It was explained that without a CDU there was likely to be problems, not with operating the solenoids but with switching the current off after solenoid operation. Further that switching off larger currents as needed to operate two p...

I recently added my two-pennies-worth to an RMweb question about motorising Peco points. As a consequence and after some thirty years of playing with model trains I have now installed a couple of Capacitor Discharge Units (CDUs). What do I think? Well I have mixed feelings.  First some pictures (scanned images) going back in time to earlier layouts. Control panels with push buttons Bracken Ridge This was the Bracken Ridge layout from the early 1980s. I cannot remember but I don’t think model railways had heard of CDUs in the early 80s. Certainly I didn’t use a CDU and the Peco solenoids attached to my points were operated by momentary contact switches wired in parallel directly from the 16v auxiliary AC supply from my Hammant and Morgan controllers. Control panel Park View NB Hi-tech wire connectors to controller By the 1990s we had moved house and all the track, point motors and switches were reused in the new Park View layout. Again it never occurred to me...

The Peco Streamline 3 Way point is an extremely useful space saving device. This Post is prompted because I had to sort out a couple of problems with the installation of my own three way point. I was also aware that other modellers   were finding difficulties with the operation and installation of their 3 way points. The design of the point is symmetrical and has the appearance of a LH point being placed directly on top of a RH point. As a consequence the construction of the point is quite complex and the point requires careful handling especially during installation. When first marketed by Peco the point was only available with ‘Insulfrog’.  The view below shows my first ‘Insulfrog’ point but reinstalled on my second layout. Peco Code 100 3 Way Insulfrog Point – the Park View Layout 1990s The big advantage of the ‘Insulfrog’ point is that it does not require any separate electrical switching and hence is suitable for manual or simple mechanical operation. My...

Onwards and upwards – well I guess it depends on the direction of travel. The Branch Terminus and the Branch Junction described in my last posts are actually the highest parts of the layout being 158 mm higher than the original Main Terminus. Continuing our journey from the Branch Junction the title of this Post should probably read ‘Downhill all the way’ – I think not! The Main Junction –wide angle The Main Junction –panoramic There are two single track lines from the Branch Junction, one supposedly being of GWR origin and the other having LNWR roots. The later circles round and down in true train set style to emerge at a lower level station immediately beneath the Branch Junction. I refer to this lower level station as the Main Junction. The track layout for the Main Junction is shown below diagrammatically. The station and the adjoining curves occupy a length of some 12 feet. The Main Junction – not to scale The majority of my stations tend...

Time to inspect progress at the main station. All the ballasting is complete, just need to get on with some Station canopies. This is a view of the 'bay' platforms with a Bachmann 22xx on a branch train. As originally conceived this was The Terminus for an 'out and back' layout.   In fact an 'out and back' double track mainline and a single track branch line accessed from both The Terminus and a junction on the mainline : The layout was constrained by the flue from the Aga and I long coveted the space beyond to form a continuous run.   After much negotiation a plan was drawn up and approved and the main terminus platforms were swung to the left using 5 ft (1.5m) radius curves to allow the lines to just skirt the chimney breast, much in the same way that Brunel's original Temple Meads station was extended westwards. Interestingly as soon as the woodwork and track laying for the extension was completed, the Aga wa...

No heat wave here in the west of Scotland.    In the meantime ballasting has passed under 'the bridge in the middle'. Two pictures looking up and down the line. And a more general view which highlights where some of the 'civil engineering' works have still to be finished off. The bridge itself lifts off to allow access to the tracks beneath. I have added a picture from the past to show how plans change.   The diamond crossing with 'insulfrogs' was replaced with a single slip with a switched frog for infintely smoother running.   Also a loco spur was provided at the end of the goods sidings to hold spare engines. A good example of where allowing time to reflect (play trains) highlights where improvements can be made to the track layout prior to casting everything in stone i.e.ballasting!

Not so much ballasting more a bit of history: My old Superquick engine shed in its latest position - a rare picture with no engines. The shed dates back to the early 1980s and my Bracken Ridge Layout.   It was part of a pair of sheds which were customised to fit my track spacing.   The sheds were made narrower.   This was achieved by separating the gable ends from the walls.   If you look carefully you can see where the brick arch from across the entrance was separated from the rest of the gable wall to enable the new narrower gable to be lowered back onto the side walls. Another scanned image from the past with Airfix Castles, a Lima Crab and some Mainline ex GWR and LMR types.   There is also a Hornby Dublo 8F which lives on with handrails and tender 'borrowed' from an old Mainline 'Scot'. The Bracken Ridge layout was never completed (as with so many layouts) and everything was packed away and moved   to Park...

The ballast has reached the loco yard:   Where there are to be buildings I have glued a piece of cardboard down to the board prior to ballasting.   The cardboard is cut ever so slightly smaller than the building footprint so that it doesn't show beneath the finished building.   I also took the opportunity to make a 'concrete' floor for the engine sheds. Here is the footprint for the old Superquick shed: And here the footprint for the Skaledale Shed: And then the finished product: