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Craigs Garden Railway


doublecee
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So, the dapol arrived today, and at first I was sceptical. But after going through the recommended cleaning pattern I sent it round the circuit for three rotations... and look what happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLCxsYvXJJw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am amazed, and also a little worried about the consequences had i just continued to use the peco rubber because it is inevitable that some of that muck would have found its way into my loco's.

AMAZED! It does just what it says on the tin.

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Looks spectacular.

Have you sorted anything with the recharging of the lights? After you'd mentioned it earlier I had a quick look round at solar panels - they're not quite as cheap (affordable) as I thought they would be.

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http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?criteria=solar+panel

The 5W one looks like it may do the trick

Worth a punt?

I could get really interested in this sort of stuff if only I understood it better. I've seen the 150 watt panels as complete kits (£1300 approx) with an inverter that could be used in the shed to power the whole railway and domestic power/lighting. I'd love the idea of producing my own electricity (maybe I could couple up the old wooden garden windmill :) and use the power of the wind too). I'm not sure how useful a 5w panel could/would be or how much power it would produce.

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today was a day off.

I told work in advance that I was not to be disturbed for two whole days.

The sun was out, and I had some tinkering on my mind.

So, now that the basic structure is complete, I have to set my mind towards the feature I want in the middle (bridge) and a station. Its only really going to work if both can be illuminated. So today I placed a few weather proof boxes on the layout and fitted two color light signals to see how they looked. I weather proofed those with Silicone Gel on the back plate and around the bulbs. I also coated the main houseing with a very thin application.

Only time will tell if this worked.

I then added the signal box and some dressing around that area. Just north of the box is where you can either dip behind the signal box to the station, or just a little further north you can cut across the garden on the bridge. Tomorrow I start the turnout work in readyness for the bridge.

The bridge will be illuminated, and Im thinking of having a seperate power supply just for the lights etc.

Today, the gaugemaster controller kept going into protection mode. At first I thought it was a short... but it wasnt. It was just that the lights and then the long pullman rake and Class 47 may have been a bit too much. I greased the axles on all the pullmans and that helped a little. But tomorrow I think I may clip off all of the bogie contacts for the pullmans and use the DCC Concepts pickup springs. They are practically friction free. Has anyone else had a similar issue with the Gauge Master control? Is it possible I was asking too much of it?

Well, here is a vid of todays exploits once all the wiring was done.And yes, I ran a red!

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So, the Dapol works great as a surface skimmer and vacuum, but due to the spaces required between rail joins for expansion in heat, the solution applicator foam just gets ripped to shreds

So, hows this for a brain wave...

Fill this puppy with some Isoprol alchohol

Not too much, just enough for the session...

http://blog.caraselledirect.com/wp-content/uploads/dishmatic_washing_brush.jpg''>http://blog.caraselledirect.com/wp-content/uploads/dishmatic_washing_brush.jpg'>http://blog.caraselledirect.com/wp-content/uploads/dishmatic_washing_brush.jpg

The pads are easily found, dirt cheap and not that abrasive. This is my project for the weekend

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todays other project was to address the gaugemaster thermal protect issue...

I think it was down to the strain of the hornby pullmans.

The lights, but most importantly, the lagg and friction from the axle pickups. None of the wheels were ever free wheeling, and across a rake of ten, thats a lot of drag on a single loco. So, armed with 40 spare pickups from dcc concepts, I went ahead and addressed the issue. I cleaned up all the axles, replacing the worst with new spares.

Wow!!

pullmanBogie.JPGT ... nBogie.JPGhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYTP7fQPjhA/T3TYAdjzyRI/AAAAAAAAA-A/H-Xq6sRu-4g/s320/pullmanBogie.JPG' alt='URL>'>

What a difference. Why hornby opted for such a poor contact is anyones guess! These now run quieter, smoother and the quality of the contact is awesome!

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Awesome video. Interesting color correction on it.

You really have set a record for building from nothing to a working set of lines on the layout. Love the 10 car steam train. The diesels were cool , but the minute the steam rolled on the screen... bell ring... Drool!

It's pretty funny how we are all sort of programmed to think trains go indoors. Then something clicks in our heads and we figure we'll try this out doors thing. Once you go out doors it's just so much more fun and in many ways less stressful, you sort of wonder why you wasted so much time with all the limitations of indoor railroading.

Is your signal automatic or were you tripping it by hand? What sort of control is it if it is automatic? I really want to get some running on my layout.

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Thanks. I like to tweak. Its just done on the macbook pro. Nothing special (after all, the aim is to spend less time on the computers)

Yes, it sure was a record... but work is ongoing... plans are afoot.

spent ALL day in the garden today. 9 am till about 7. Mrs Doublecee says that I have color in my cheeks and look very well. I had a visit today from my uncle. He was down with his family. Eddie (thats his name) is 67, and ever since i was 4, he was always promising to set his very large collection up in the loft. He never got round to it, but the collection just grew and grew.

Last week, I joked I would have my layout set up before him (he was oblivious to my plans and what I was doing). Anyway, long story short, his daughter nabbed his Scotsman without him knowing and brought it down too. So, not only did he not know I did have a Garden Layout, but he was also able to run something of his own.

Can you beleive that the man with about 6 Tea Chests of Hornby, all mint and boxed dating from about 73 onwards has not run one single item in all that time.?? Today was the first thing of his he has run.

As he left, I reminded him that now he was retired, he not only had the trains and the space but now also the time......

So, ran a mixed bag today. Will upload the video in the morning to Vimeo so you can have a look...

Also made good use of an old Hornby transformer for those big heavy trains... The Gaugemaster doesnt really do 12 car rakes that well... But the old Hornby supply that came with the old APT set does. 14 volts of pure Ooomph! Not sure on the ampage... but I would say its more than the Gaugemaster Model D's 1 Amp.

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