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Jim's Garden Railway


jimbob
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So did all your winter projects go as planned? Nope mine neither. The station canopy plan was a bit of a faliure. Though it has the look l want my model building skill are not up to the job so will go with a plonk and play solution in the mean time l think.

The Dynamis still continues to show shorts when none are there and l've resorted to disconecting the main part of the circuit to be able to run trains. If l go back to DC everything is ok.....

Anyway l have plans a foot to sort that out , watch this space.

Rumblings about the state of the spare room means that the railway stuff needs to be moved to the train shed, but thats already overflowing  so decided to make some space in the garden shed for it. Moved everything out and realised that l had enough room for a fiddle yard in there down one side. Trouble is l cant bare to throw anything out as it may come in handy one day so what was two piles of rubbish on either side of the shed is now one big one on side of the shed!

Still limited service in operation today so not all bad. 

Weather a bit iffie for the weekend down here so may go down the Bluebell to watch Scotsman from afar. Told they expect mega crowds so may just do a bit of linesideing. Had the same problem at the Swanage Bullied weekend  could'nt get parked and ended up miles away,  then couldn't get on the train as it was packed, good for the railway but not for the passengers. 

Onwards and upwards as they say.

 

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Evening Jim, funny that you saying get all your winter project done, it is my turn to do so, cool morning here being down to 8 degrees earlier this wee.k 12 this morning to a nice day, we are still have days with 30 degrees.

DCC can be a pain may be you have to redo your wiring again but do it for DC as well, this time what I suggest is when doing you circuits for DCC you wire in a car light bulb if that comes on you then can find where the short is and the rest of your layout can still run trains

I don't have to do that with DC with the light bulb can pretty well trace the short  since each block is isolated or coming from the panel all my wires are colour coded, the main line having red and green, shorter passing loops red and black making sure I do a good job in connecting the wires to the plugs and rotary switches, I be using those block strips to save on soldering too many wires to the rotary switches.

This weekend I will finish the last station module bus wiring on the temporary mainline and the mini bus wire plug panel last module has three of them, the third one to connect to the main panel.

Hope you can sort out the issue with those shorts or stay with DC all that wiring and switches , just two wires coming in with DCC.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

 

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The light bulb thing is a very good idea and l shall look at that when doing any future track laying. Theres power to the tracks and then for no reason the controller says theres a short and everything stops, reset and of you go again. From what l read this may be a bit of a Dynamis problem, l was going to upgrade to a Z21 but looking at something else in a differant direction now, more about that when l've tried it....

I am not a heat person, so unless you can a/c the garden l'd be no use where you are! ln the south east where l am we have been enjoying some early spring sunshine and temps hit the mid 20's Sunday, even had to water the garden it's been so dry but the temps are back down for Easter and the forecast is it to be overcast. 

The trouble with a garden railway is you have to keep up the garden it's in and not being 100% recently l'm a bit behind. Still it might be a mess, but it's a colourfull mess and thats what matters!

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Yeah, I would agree on the whole idea of testing sections. I don;t have DCC right now, but if I had it set up I would likely run busses next to the mainline and isolate small sections with easy on off switches. That way if you get the short, you can turn off all the blocks and then begin turning them on until you notice a short. At least then you know… "It's somewhere in this 10 foot section!"

Certain Peco switches will give you a short if you aren't careful.

It's the big problem with our online train club; you can't phone Aussiemtrail, or myself, to swing by and help you fix the darned thing. I am sure either one of us would have the trains up and running in a jiffy. ;)

 

I don't know about the dynamis, but one should also consider the issue of resistance. If the load resistance is too high, it may show a fault as well. Try going around with some pliers and crimping all the rail joiners. It could be they are oxidized on the inside and creating resistance that combined with a single loco will tell your DCC unit that it is on it's way to over-heating.

-The added resistance from oxide on the connectors could make one engine seem like it is drawing the equivalent of 4 engine's power if it is far from the power source. 

-place all your points in the straight through position and test the track. Go around and flip each one to curved section and back to see if the fault is coming from a point. 

-Otherwise, since you do have a short, you may as well start making gaps in the lines every 6 feet or so, starting from a point closest to the power unit and working away. Once you get an isolated section that keeps shorting things, then you know the area of the short and can deduce what the cause is.

alligator-test-leads-500x500.jpg

I keep a bunch of these guys around for testing as I can jumper between circuit sections easily. 

-or, does your loco have a fault in it? Maybe hook the power to one piece of flex and test the loco by itself.

- Do you have a train car that has wheels that are causing the fault?

 

These are obvious suggestions, but this kind of testing is actually that easy. Not assuming you are daft or anything, mind you. :D

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Well got part of the line up and running so did have some play time today. Have now put a couple of isolater joints in at certain places which may or may have helped, mainly today was a clear up day. This meant taking everything not screwed done out of the sheds and putting it back again. Yes of course it didn't all fit back, l'm sure the garden shed is part Tardis the amount of stuff thats in there!

Any way had a bit of a stock take of the track l've been buying over the winter. Now got over 100 meters of fleixable track, new and used, more points than you can shake a stick at and six double slips! Time for a stock day clearout sale l think! The only thing about buying and selling track is it did make the railway self financing last year.

The proposed fiddle yard in shed 2 is on hold until l can clear more of my "might come in handy" items from the shed though.

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Happy Easter Jim, great you got some of your layout up and running to run trains, don't forget some  pics and video, what was causing the issue, my friend was telling my that points and cause havoc with DCC , he said he is using fog points will ask him again when I see him next.to make sue.

Tony from  cool 16 degrees down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having a garden railway is a way to relax and ease away the stresses of life, thats of course until you need to take apart anything to do with them.

Todays blood boiling/pressure raising problem is how do you get the body off a Bachman Warship! 

Need to do some DCC chip fitting and although l have taken out the two obvious screws even pulled out the buffers, it still seems attached at either end. I know it will be something stupid that a 5 year old would know but l dont have one handy so...

HELP PLEASE!

The next one up is the Bachman 2H and l cant see anything to unscrew at all there so help needed there as well please.

If companies are going to sell stuff that they know will need chipping you'd think they would make it esay to do!

Off to lie in a darkend room and get my blood pressure down now.

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Who needs a 5 year old, just use the web dahhh!

Several sites on how to take things apart, hope theres one on how to put them back together!

And yes l did take out the screws that they say do not take out!!

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Hi Jim, yeah have to agree what you are saying , I find building the layout the layout is relaxing blocking out all the troubles and knowing at the end and the big effort to see the firt train run around the whole layout without any problems.

Didn't the loco come with paper work, some locos are real tough the get the shell off, my TGV is a pain screws and clips hold  the body in place, Lima have just body clips, that's nothing I have a Piko German diesel loco it has a main screw and side clips holding the chassis weight down , the bogie fell out and I can't get it running again no paper diagram.

I did a fair bit today cutting out the pedestrian tunnel and one side of the 3 lane road, is a challenge as the bridge is on a angle and road straight stuffed up a bit but can hidden with plaster, ran out of time will take some pics tomorrow, I decided   to the modify  the front corner module that bolts onto the first station module, building the bridge over a road solves that, to much module top.

Still cold over in the UK seeing on the  news everyone rugged up, cooling down here pretty quick very cool morning, today was warmer than yesterday.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

 

 

 

 

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Well got part of the line up and running so did have some play time today. Have now put a couple of isolater joints in at certain places which may or may have helped, mainly today was a clear up day. This meant taking everything not screwed done out of the sheds and putting it back again. Yes of course it didn't all fit back, l'm sure the garden shed is part Tardis the amount of stuff thats in there!

Any way had a bit of a stock take of the track l've been buying over the winter. Now got over 100 meters of fleixable track, new and used, more points than you can shake a stick at and six double slips! Time for a stock day clearout sale l think! The only thing about buying and selling track is it did make the railway self financing last year.

The proposed fiddle yard in shed 2 is on hold until l can clear more of my "might come in handy" items from the shed though.

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ln the past l've suggested that powered coaches my be an idea to help those that dont have the pulling power there full scale versions have.

Well help is at hand. At last weeks Epsom and Ewell show Replica Railway had there powered coach chassis on there stand. They come in scale 64ft or 54ft lenghts and are weighted for extra tracksion. All the working gubings are below window hight so no big lumps on view. DCC or DC use. Costs around £55. 

Might interest some here.

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Morning Jim , yeah I though of powered coaches as well to use as a helping hand on the tender drive steamies, if my idea didn't work.

What I came up with will blow you away and hiding  the second motor, I always wanted a Flying Scot  4472 with two tenders, found a good one on Uk eBay new old stock grabbed it and with the help I powered the water tender swapped the first motor with a 5pole motor and bought the second from Peter's spares , now I have a tender drive steamie that can pull 11 ++ coaches need to buy 5 sleepers now to make up a 16 car train.

I am hopping that I don't have the same issues on my layout with those cheap coaches I bought from my layout mag, the coaches didn't like some of the points on the x club's layout, most of my points are the long points, I have them on where the cross overs are.

This idea isn't new an member a few years back did it with his but he managed to wire the tenders up where they worked on their own, the only way I could do it was jump wire from the first tender it worked and hid the wires as air hoses and permanently connected the both tenders together with a draw bar, there are pics and a video  a couple of pages back on my post..

How is your layout going sorted the wiring problem,, I suggest you buy the June 2017 issue of Model Railroader it has an article on using 12volt  bulbs with DCC I will check to make sure that  the month is correct and change it .later, the mags I have a the digital format from Zinio.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

The problem with having a garden railway is having to keep the garden its in tidy. Spent most of this week weeding ,pruneing, and planting and it still looks like l have not done a thing! Anyway this morning was a railway day.

Beside the ongoing electrical problems it was all going well but l have found that track joints are popping apart. Although it has been warm most of the track bed is in the shade so expansion isint so much of a problem but my track seems to be contracting.

I can only assume that the wooden baseboard is contracting. Anyway, an enjoyable (not) morning closeing the gaps up on the shed to shed loop, about 60ft of double track, stations and sidings. In the end l've had to insert two one inch sections to bridge the gap. Everything now secured back down and hopefully it will stay that way. l am doing some ballesting so hopefully that will help as well.

Lots to do and so little time to do it. Am l the only retiree here who is busier than when they were working?

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I know the feeling about garden work. Did some of that myself.

My old layout developed some big gaps as well. I'm not sure what was causing it. I think rails will just creep over time and cold to hot weather. It's just part of the joys of "Real" modelrailroading. :D

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On 4/26/2017 at 6:04 AM, jimbob said:

Who needs a 5 year old, just use the web dahhh!

Several sites on how to take things apart, hope theres one on how to put them back together!

And yes l did take out the screws that they say do not take out!!

Ah ha ha ha ha.... Oh crud!

I know this pain. I have one of these an I can't figure out how to get it apart yet. Things screams when I run it from lack of oil.

857f7712-d19a-11e5-8121-63435dee3566.jpg

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Hi Jim, you are not the only one with that base board issue, ba14eagle is having the same problems, too, I am glad I went modular with my layout where it isn't permeant set up, the station complex of my layout  is under cover, only two ends of the layout is out in the open. When I build the second stage will be outside, making sure the points are  protected from the hot sun.

Griff that is a pain having problems pulling off the  shell, probably something simple held in by a clip, my TGV locos are the same as well undo the screws and you need to release the shell clip for it to come off, what brand is the loco.

I am at a stand still with my layout it is raining and I am still getting over my asthma, on heavy antibiotics, coughing isn't as bad today, pain.

Can it get quite hot in the UK in summer, I don't like over here where we can go as high as over 40 degrees for a week.

Tony from down under.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Three weeks ago l was doing some easy work in the garden, turned round and hit the ground like a sack of spuds with pain shooting up and down my back and legs. Anyway cut a long story short l have a slip disc. Today, has been the first day my physo Nurse Ratchet has let me walk about although l feel about ninty and have two sticks!. May need to have an op if it does not go back on its own. So at the moment l am on my back and bored out of my skull.

So come on everybody l need videos or pictures to keep me going.

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HI Jim, not good you did your back in while working in the garden, can be easy done, touch wood I haven't done the same had same, had some bad falls cutting my legs.

Good your Physio has let you to start walking even though you are using the aid of two walking sticks, best medicine to get up on your feet quickly, my son is seeing a physio this afternoon.

Want to see some pics, I have been progressing well on my layout and will blow you away, I just finished building a cross cutting jig for my circular saw perfect square every time.

Take it easy, can you sit down to work on your indoor projects..

Take care Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

 

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Sorry to hear  of your problems, I did something similar 35 years ago playing baseball, Being in the military it was 1 weeks light duties and get on with it. 

This may be why these days it's coming back to haunt me, as I sit here with very light pain from my back. Though probably not helped by laying 3/4 ton of concrete at the weekend. :/

 

Look after yourself

 

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Oh crap. I had bluging discs for years. NO fun.

Ask about the surgery. They try to sell you on things that aren't necessarily perfect. A lot of studies say that after 4 years a surgery patient will be in the same place someone without it is. Be critical of doctors. Ask a lot of questions! I have a relative who opted for surgery, and now he is back to being in pain.

My experience was of great pain and suffering for several years. Then what worked best for me, for a while, was a steroid epidural right into the area affected.

A few years later it started coming back. I began by riding a bike. I also explored accupuncture for pain. It worked!

The primaty thing to consider is that any kind of injury causes inflammation and swelling. Applying heat can reduce that. Moving around helps. anti inflammtories help. Cherry juice is a good anti inflammatory by the way.

In your case it may be more severe than what I had, although I can tell you the blinding pain was as bad as I have ever experienced.

The one thing that does no help is drinking, I'd polish off a whole bottle of whiskey for the pain during my first few months of it. Sitting, or lying around only makes it worse. As hard as it is, get yourself up and around.

 

Ok, I am done ranting.

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