PERTH SHOW 2016

 I was up at the Perth Model Show yesterday.  I had a good day catching up with a lot of different people that i had not seen for while.

There was one or two new layouts, most i had seen before,  and for my scale there was not a lot selling wise to buy, so my Wallet didn't take as big a hit as it did at the show in Glasgow.

This small On30 layout caught my eye as they were using real water for the waterfall along with a mister at the bottom of the fall, was very well done.  But i am not sure the guys in the boat enjoyed it much......

So on to my very least favorite part of the Hobby, wiring is the Wiring. I managed to finish the last point on the layout, so they are no all wired up.  I have made a start in running all the track droppers to Copperclad ready to take the Power Bus.  I am using the Gaugemaster Seep PM1, I find them to be very cheap and very easy to use.  Next steps will be lay a few more lengths of track then i need to sort the bridges out.  I picked up a few Detailing parts, some people, animals and Windows and Doors.  Along with some ballast.  

Track Laying and Point Wiring

I am off to Perth Model Railway Show tomorrow....

I can't believe it was a year ago at this show that i bought the first lengths of track and the points i am now just getting around to fitting.
Talk about slow progress...

 Well a lot has been happening over the past few weeks,  i have a lot of the papermashie base on, and i have now finally started to lay track and fit points.

I had some help working out the wiring as this is my least favorite part of the whole model railway experience.  But i now have a very easy to follow wiring diagram and a colour system to follow.

 Over the past few days i have managed to fit 2 points, The first on the bottom of the layout at the back.  With will be my take off/put on track.  and because i am using the ECOS system it will also be my Programming track.  This will be the only point on the layout that is under the layout, with the rest being placed directly under the point.  This part of the layout was not on the original track plan, and was added only when i came to lay the track in this area.


The Second point i have fitted Takes you from the main loop up to the big white hole, which will become my Turntable pit.  I have fitted a clear piece of plastic card between the point motor and point, this will allow me to ballast around the point with out fear of affecting the motor.

There is quite a few gaps between the rails where i have soldered the droppers to the underside of the rails.  once i have played with the trains for a while or to give its official name 'test run'  i will add these in where needed.

I have a small shopping list of urgently required items for tomorrow, a right hand point, ballast mix, and some coloured wire.  I am also hoping to pick up some people and bits of scenic's but i shall see how things work out.

Anyway i am very happy with the Progress so far,  it seems to be moving along well.

Yes that Is Track you See........ (Track Laying)

Well i took the leap, i have been putting this off for ages scared i might make a mess of it.  But finally the first 2 lengths of Track are down.

I now have all the Landscape base in place, and before i could do much more i needed to have the track laid where it will disappear into the Tunnel.

I drilled two holes in the baseboard to drop the wires through, and soldiered the wires to the underside of the rails.

Once i have  the ground cover and ballast in place these will not be seen at all.

I laid the Track using PVA (white glue) on to the cork base.  Using Panel pins to help hold the track in position and weighted it down with anything i could find. (My drill, some spray cans and a bottle of Limeade..)

                                                                              At both ends of the track will be a point so that is the next stage for me,  I need to look out the wiring diagrams  for the point motors also. once i am happy with the track position i will add the extra sleeps in to close the gaps up.  

I hooked up my Roco DCC system as a tester to see if things ran ok, and put my Little Porter on with a few Wagons to see how it would hand the curves and the slope.  The Porter had no problems but i think my Forney might struggle,  The Layout has been Designed to run Porters only, but i was looking for an option with the other types.  I will give it a run later to see if it will work, It might mean i need to tweek the track a little, but i would be worth it.  If i can't get the radius of the curves to work, It just means i will have to built another layout to run it......

So this is the first Video on my Porter Running up and down the track ;-)  No holding me back now.

And the Paper Mashie Continues......

AND THE PAPER MASHIE CONTINUES......

With a Saturday morning free, i managed to get a few more layers of Paper mashie on the layout. I am now at a point where i can add track to the layout and might even see a loco run around the layout before the end of the year....

 

In this last picture i have added little rock outcrops, around where the trestle bridge will be (Honest....)  Once this has all dried of course ;-)