GNRi1959

Silly question, when wiring a layout do I bore holes for 'droppers' and feed the cable from under?

I've returned to this thread because I cannot walk away from trying the rod and crank system without giving up on it.

Good point, to be honest the Gaugemaster Twin is a bit of a beast of a controller. I bought it new for £50 which was a real bargain, otherwise I would have shopped around for something more compact. Anyway, I'm planning on doing the wiring this weekend hopefully and will look at that too, thanks

Here is my plan, hopefully someone can tell me if I am correct in doing this. I intend wiring my layout below surface next week. The plan is to soldier the cables to the track and drop them through the baseboard where they were go via block connectors to three separate DPDT switches. I intend recessing the DPDT switches into an panel of black perspex and mounting this on the top of my baseboard in a place where I hope to operate the layout from.My gauge master twin controller will sit below the baseboard tables in a small shelf.

My baseboard measures 2metres x 500mm and sits nicely on a trestle style table of similar size. During the construction phase I didn't really think about where I would place my controls. I have a Gaugemaster Dual Control, a super controller and three DPDT switches to consider. Should I mount them on a hanging bracket and shelf under the table, otherwise it will look out of place on the baseboard.

Are Peco PL-80 Powered Joiners a waste of money?

To be honest, possibly once a year for the local Modellers Show and nothing more. The ideas you mentioned will be simple and effective. Ta

Thank you, that will help. Is there a male/female connector that I can use to carry the power from one board to the next?

I'm buying Peco branded wiring cable (PL-38) at the moment on-line but would like to buy an equivalent in the local electrical stores where its convenient and I don't need to wait for it by mail order. Whats the standard cable to buy for 00 gauge.layouts.

Meanwhile, back at Omagh North, I have started the wiring of the layout. I am wiring and testing the entire layout on the surface, using masking tape to fix cables between and under tracks. When everything is wired, test and running well I will have to come up with a plan of getting it all wired permanently under the baseboard top and out of sight≥

Just out of curiousity, here are two pictures I found of Omagh General Station that I built in the 1990s. The completed model was purchased by the local library when they opened their new headquarters in town. It has since been moved to Omagh Station Centre which is a youth club built on the site of the old goods yard. The photographer used photoshop to blend in a recent background picture of Omagh town.

Broithe, can I ask what paint you used to achieve this rust effect on the rail?

Its nice to have so much support both here and within the market at the moment for Irish stock. Does anyone know of a suitable kit that can be used as a good starting point for conversion to Irish?

Probably 1950s, the steam era on the Derry Road. I hope to spend some time scratch building GNR(i) wagons with long terms plans for a GNR(i) loco.

Thank you, next step is to wire it and test it. Thats the part I'm looking forward to. Do you normally solder for testing or use crimped connectors to Peco power connectors, I have to employ 2 DPDT switches also.

Peadair, yes I got the photo. I really am sorry I couldn't figure out who sent it but yes, thanks for that.

Well, why not. Hopefully, a bit of feedback will improve things for me. Two points to note.... The track in the top of the picture is just sitting there, it is not fixed. There is a short section of track between the curved crossover in the foreground, it is a bit short in length and after testing , I may replace it. If wagons run over it ok, shunting at slow speed I may leave it. What do modellers do with end to end layouts. At the North end (bottom) there was a road bridge over and at the top just short of the passenger platforms. Any ideas?

Track is now almost laid, really testing time getting points positioned and infill pieces laid between crossovers. Had to leave it yesterday evening room lighting started to prove inadequate (nice to be in a cosy room though with a radiator nearby!). A good hour should finish track laying today!

Laying track today, it is hard work.I'm boring a hole under each point for connection to whatever system of point control I'm happy with.

Are the commercial rod and crank point rodding systems available actually to scale?

I also thought of concealing the joint and break in the ballasting with sleepers as can be easily seen here in Omagh. This is the area I am modelling so its pretty close.

Thanks for that Noel. I happen to plan on cutting short sections that are around four - five sleepers wide. I don't want to make it look obvious so may make one of them slighter longer to stagger the joints.

Noel, does the small piece of track have to be a Peco set track? Can I use flexi that is well fitted?

Junctionmad, you are so right. Someone else pointed that out to me in a PM earlier today. However I have made some forward movement today before I lose the plot. I ran the loco today for 20 minutes. 10mins with cork and 10mins without. I recorded the sounds coming from both options and played them back. The corked board was much quieter so I coated my baseboard with PVA, spread evenly, and placed the cork on top. I chamfered the cork edge along the suggested distance from the sleeper ends and it dried quite quickly. I like it.

I'm hoping to start fixing some track this weekend and from the many things I have read and digested I think I'm happy to go along with this...... 1. Laying the track directly onto the birch plywood baseboard (cork has minimal influence on sound/noise) 2. Baseboard joint will employ Noels method of a short piece of track bridging the joint with fishplates either side 3. I will bore a hole for each point so that point control (underneath) can be an option later if I change my mind. 4. I hope to explore road and crank changing on the surface 5. I will wire the layout and run it for some time before final fixing and ballasting