Looking good Ian ! I quite like the curved front. . . looks different and looks like it will be fun to shunt as well Cheers Matt
Thanks Matt. I always try to have very little track parallel on all my layouts and I thought a curved front would help draw people into the scene. I hope to do a video of operations on you tube some time soon so I'll post a link here when it is done (might be a while before that happens though). Ian
Hi Everyone! After a few quiet weeks there is finally some progress to report on this layout. Today I installed the bus wires and connected all the track droppers. I used an idea I saw on a layout build on another forum and installed bare copper wires the length if the layout and soldered the droppers to them. As you will see from the attached picture, I installed 3 bus wires - pos and neg for the track and the third one is for the common return on the point motors when they are wired up. I hope to get all the parts I need for the point control system later this week so that will be the next project. Ian
Nice and neet Ian Looking forward to having a train running day soon. Will bring up a loco as well to see what fun we can have http://www.click
Had a trip to Jaycar today and got all the bits for the point control system. I'll post some pics in the next day or so as wiring gets done. Ian
Hi again, I had a chance to start work on the wiring for the point motors tonight so I thought I would share where I'm up to and how it will operate. I wanted simple wiring with route indication that didn't need extra switches and leds connected to the point motors. The control panel also needed to be separate to the layout so it could be operated from either the front or back, so a minimum of connecting wires was essential. I did some searching and found a diagram online that uses on - on spdt switches to move the point blades and indicate the route set. The great advantage of this is that it doesn't need a separate CDU as each point has it's own capacitor fitted into the circuit. I did a test build last week and found it worked best with a minimum of 15 volts dc. Using a toggle switch shows which route has been set and I'll only need 8 wires running from the control panel to the layout. The attached picture shows the wiring for 3 of the 6 points so there will be 2 of these terminal strips fitted under to baseboard with just the switches in a separate box on a 1m multicore cable. I don't fully understand all the theory behind the design but I know that with the switch one way it charges the capacitor via the point motor and the other way discharges the capacitor into the point motor. I hope the above description makes sense and that the picture/diagram below helps to clarify how it all goes together. Ian
Hi Ian that is a really neat diagram And your description is good. I'll have a go at describing in basic terms how it works I'm sure someone else can probably describe in more technical terms Basicly the capacitor charges to capacity and balances the voltage over the coil in the point motor, as you change the switch it stops the Voltage charge via that coil, at this point the capacitor rapidly discharges into the opposite coil of the point motor before the capacitor starts to charge to balance the voltage again via the coil that it just discharged into, The Diodes stop the charge going the wrong way back feeding the wrong direction that would result in a short. Very similar process used to create a spark in a car ignition powering up a coil then breaking the charge resulting in the current rushing out of the coil and you get a spark as the voltage finds its way to a ground. Just happens thousand of times a minute. You can make a similar circuit without the diodes but need more wires to the point motors
Thanks Chris. The diodes only cost 70cents for a packet of 4 so for that little expense I think anyone building this circuit would be best to use the diodes and save on some wiring. The dearest things for this circuit are the 2200uF 50v capacitors at $3.25 each. All being well, I hope to have this all up and running by the end of this weekend. Ian
Well, I finished all the underboard wiring this morning. YAY! All that is left to do now is the control box & cable and then I can play trains! The wiring wasn't difficult, just time consuming with all the wires that needed trimming and tinning - at least the layout could be laid on its back and I could do it all sitting down. If all goes to plan I hope to get the switch box done this afternoon. Ian
Thanks Toto. I managed to get the control box wired up this afternoon and everything works nicely. I still have to do the track diagram for the panel but all the soldering is finished. Ian
Hi Ian, The fact that the soldering is done must be a boost right away. Crack on good Sir and we'll get a look at the diagram when you are ready. Cheers Toto
Ian I'm sorry but that doesn't count, as real wiring, I have a couple of packs of spaghetti which will help make it look like a proper model railway. I thought you were trying to set an example. Very neat sir, now that you've finished faffing around underneath let's see the real thing. Paul
Looking good Ian. Won't be long now before it's all operational. Then the fun begins with the scenery ! I don't suppose you tell us what particular diode you used in the build ?? Cheers, Gary.
Thanks Toto, Paul and Gary. The diodes are 1N4004 and capacitor is 2200uF 50 Volt. When I tested it this afternoon, 15volts was fine for some points but others were sticky so I upped to 20volts and they all worked fine (the power supply is adjustable from 9 - 24 volt dc). I think a couple of the springs are just tight but they should loosen over time and I can probably drop the voltage a bit. Ian
All clever stuff Ian. The kind of explanation that folks can get their head around a bit at a time. Magic. Toto
Hi Again. Had a nice day out in Sydney today and got to spend some money on train things - 2 kits to bash for the HO layout. Walthers Red Wing Milling Atlas Middlesex Manufacturing I hope to be able to get a few smaller buildings buy using these kits for parts rather then assembling them as per their design. Ian