Fintona Station

[GNRi1959]

All previous discussions on Fintona will now be posted here as Fintona Station has been born. This morning I laid out my track, based very closely to new drawings I obtained during the week. My only sacrifice being the shortening of a siding, which will only be used to conceal the line emerging from my fiddle yard, as recommended by Galteemore. 

Edited November 5, 2021 by GNRi1959

[jhb171achill]

Nice flowing track layout, Tony. With your Omagh goods yard skills, it will give great scope for good scenery as well as interesting operational possibilities.

[GNRi1959]

Thanks, the track is cut but just sitting there loose. I came across around ten Gaugemaster point motors and CDU so I suppose the next step will be to paint the baseboards before I lay the track. Don't think I'll lay any Cork, there was no ballast shoulder I'm aware of at Fintona.

[jhb171achill]

Correct - the track was almost ground into the ground, and they used ash and cinders between the rails for the horse to walk on!

What little ballast there was, would have been worn and trodden down.

[GNRi1959]

Even though I have a good supply of point motors, I am seriously considering mechanical point control. Has anyone used DCC Manual Point controls, expensive but looks great.

[GNRi1959]

Bit of track laid today but not fixed, wired temporarily and ready to test loco. Runs pretty well too.

 

 

 

[GNRi1959]

I’m at a fairly important part of my layout where I have laid my track, fitted all insulated railjoiners and droppers and I’m now underneath thinking about connections and where everything should go.

I don’t envisage wanting to display it at a model Railway show just yet but l have made it in two sections, bolted together with 3” bolts, washers and wing nuts. What is the best way of connecting cable under the boards, with a view to quickly separating them if it does need to be moved.

Edited November 12, 2021 by GNRi1959

[Galteemore]

Use something like 12v car leads, or choc block terminals 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

On 7/11/2021 at 4:48 PM, GNRi1959 said:

Bit of track laid today but not fixed, wired temporarily and ready to test loco. Runs pretty well too.

 

 

 

Nice!!!!

[David Holman]

 I have always used tag strips and computer lead 'D' plug and sockets. Wires go to the tag strips from point motors, 12v feeds, track etch and where anything goes across a baseboard joint, you run wires from the tag strips to the plug/socket connector. 

 A wiring diagram means you don't need to worry about different coloured wires, just which tag goes to which feed, plug etc.

 Have been working on one for Northport Quay, so will post over the weekend.

[David Holman]

 Just realised I'd got a draft I did over the weekend, so here you are. Hopefully self explanatory. 

 F = Feed

Sw = switch

PL = plug

SKT = socket

M = Magnet

P = point

Edited November 12, 2021 by David Holman

[GNRi1959]

Your diagram was most interesting and offers ideas that will help. I presume the magnets are for uncoupling? Can these be used on Dapol type wagons for this purpose? Thank you for sharing David.

Edited November 13, 2021 by GNRi1959

[Colin R]

Hi Tony 

Out of interest as you are not going to lay any cork, how does it sound when you use a loco? My understanding for using it is to stop any drumming/ sound effect from the baseboard.

Colin Rainsbury

[GNRi1959]

Colin, glad you brought it up. I have used Cork on four layouts in the past and after all the care and attention I paid in chamfering the shoulder, there was little reduction in sound transmission. However, the noise is that of a moving train and to be honest sounds good.

Edited November 13, 2021 by GNRi1959

[David Holman]

The magnets I use are for Dingham couplings, Tony and as a 'hook and latch' type (basic solenoid), should be fine for Dapols, though have no experience of them myself.

[Mayner]

On 14/11/2021 at 12:26 AM, GNRi1959 said:

Your diagram was most interesting and offers ideas that will help. I presume the magnets are for uncoupling? Can these be used on Dapol type wagons for this purpose? Thank you for sharing David.

A Peco or Hornby uncoupling ramp or even a piece of flexible plastic  is probably the best option for tension lock couplers such as Dapol, which are not really suitable for magnetic operation without serious modification.

The Peco SL 29 "Decoupler" is designed to fit to Code 100 track https://peco-uk.com/collections/100/products/rh-decoupler but may be suitable for Code 75. We used Peco or possibly Hornby uncoupling ramps with Code 75 track under exhibition conditions for two days without a problem shunting and running round stock with tension lock couplers on a layout that otherwise used Continental style hook and loop couplers with magnetic uncoupling.

The advantage of the Hornby or Peco uncoupling ramps is that you can experiment by moving them around until you find uncoupler locations that suits the way you operate the layout.

A piece of flexible plastic as an uncoupling ramp, ends wedged in place by sleepers,  experimentation needed to identify plastic with suitable flexible properties and ramp length, that a pair of coupling hooks can rise clear of bar, but long enough and flexible enough to deflect when hauling a train across ramp.

Hornby also produce an uncoupler that can be converted to powered operation using a point motor.

[Noel]

Yes I used to use similar strips of clear plastic wedged between sleepers for TLCs before switching to kadee delayed uncoupling magnets. However I found kadee magnetic uncoupling significantly more reliable and predictable.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Noel

[GNRi1959]

Thanks guys for the useful guidance on uncoupling possibilities, I guess I am thinking ahead because today I started making preparations for the baseboard joint and soldering my track.

I decided to go with a tip Dhu Varren expressed back in 2018 where he suggested using his tried and tested method of inserting copper pins into the baseboard, tight to the outsides of the rails and soldering to these. I took the heads of my copper pins and inserted them into the baseboard, l then soldered the rails and made a perfect cut of the track using a brand new track saw, perfect job.

Edited November 17, 2021 by GNRi1959

[GNRi1959]

0 gauge model of Fintona Horse Tram that I built when my friend Norman was writing the book. Purchased by Folk and Tranport museum, plastikard and brass. Spiral staircase made from plastic and also, to perfection.

[jhb171achill]

38 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

0 gauge model of Fintona Horse Tram that I built when my friend Norman was writing the book. Purchased by Folk and Tranport museum, plastikard and brass. Spiral staircase made from plastic and also, to perfection.

Superb!!

[GNRi1959]

Things were going well up until a few days ago..........

I decided to change my control are to the opposite end of the layout so I could facilitate manually operating my points. In doing this I decided that my attempts at inserting two additional droppers were far from good.

(a good workman never blames his tools!)

well, I proved myself wrong in this case. I bought a really good soldering iron that can achieve temperatures up to 450degrees and I set about replacing two sections of track and my baseboard joints using this new gadget.

After watching a new videos, I was so proud of myself, making up wired railjoiners and getting shining bright silvery solder joints. I was amazed at how easy it was, all down to a much better iron.

[Galteemore]

Good work Tony. Soldering scared me for years. If the iron’s hot, the metal’s clean, and the flux is flowing, there is much satisfaction to be had. Change one of those factors and it does your head in! 

[airfixfan]

On 20/11/2021 at 12:46 PM, GNRi1959 said:

0 gauge model of Fintona Horse Tram that I built when my friend Norman was writing the book. Purchased by Folk and Tranport museum, plastikard and brass. Spiral staircase made from plastic and also, to perfection.

One Horsepower!

[GNRi1959]

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

Good work Tony. Soldering scared me for years. If the iron’s hot, the metal’s clean, and the flux is flowing, there is much satisfaction to be had. Change one of those factors and it does your head in! 

Does solder come with flux?

I didn’t use any and the solder just melted into the joints.

[Broithe]

5 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

Does solder come with flux?

I didn’t use any and the solder just melted into the joints.

It will usually say so, if it has flux incorporated - terms like 'cored' or, more usually, 'multicore', will refer to the hollow part of the solder, filled with flux.

They will look like this, although you can't usually see the cores on a melted end.

[GNRi1959]

I tinned the wires and used a fibre glass pen on the underside of the rail joiners and also on the sides of the rails at the baseboard joint. When I tugged on the cables they were sound.

[Galteemore]

Multicore is grand for light electrical work, and what you have described is sound practice. You only really need separate flux when doing brass kits etc, which then need washed after each work session to remove excess flux. Washing electrical stuff doesn’t really work ….;) 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Galteemore

[Broithe]

17 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

I tinned the wires and used a fibre glass pen on the underside of the rail joiners and also on the sides of the rails at the baseboard joint. When I tugged on the cables they were sound.

That's exactly right - it's nice to put a coat of solder on each part, if you can, then melt those coatings together - but cleanliness is the key and a 'new' surface will always be easier to get a decent attachment of the coating to.

With experience, you can almost 'see' when a joint is sound - it's hard to describe, but you will see it if you do enough joints.

 

'Structural' and 'electrical' soldering are similar, but rather separate subjects.

[GNRi1959]

I think I was pleased with the look of the joint as it looked like a ‘blob of silver’.

[David Holman]

Sounds like you've cracked it, Tony. Downhill all the way from here! Just remember, if the solder  won't flow, it's not hot or clean enough. My go to iron has always been a 100 watt jobbie, which is great for brass kits, though also have a 25watt for electrical joints and a 50 watt temperature controlled one which now gets used on loco building too. 

 Whatever, enjoy!

[Northroader]

If you’re joining two pieces together they need to be both at around the same temperature before they will join, so always have a bit of solder on the end of your iron which will help the heat to flow where it’s wanted. No solder and the heat won’t flow as well, besides the need to have some flowing into the join and filling the gaps.

Another thing is if you’re having a long session, more than a few joins, switch the iron off for a while. The iron can get too hot and you’ll have more trouble getting a decent joint.

[Mayner]

The Tram looks impressive, should be an interesting challenge in OO

A thing to watch out for if you use Hornby (coated steel) rather than Peco (nickel silver) railjoiners.

Peco railjoiners were un-available and I use Hornby fishplates on East Dock.

I had to sand/file the bottom of the fishplates to remove the coating and use phosphoric flux to solder the droppers to the fishplates as I could not solder directly to the coated steel.

I have installed all the droppers and now need to install the point decoders  and the track and point power bus wiring.

[GNRi1959]

My complete lack of understanding in the past when soldering was solved by a few YouTube tutorials. My failed joints in the past were because I was carrying solder on my iron to a cold surface. Now I heat the object enough to melt the solder, allowing it to flow between and around joints.

On 26/11/2021 at 7:22 AM, Mayner said:

The Tram looks impressive, should be an interesting challenge in OO

A thing to watch out for if you use Hornby (coated steel) rather than Peco (nickel silver) railjoiners.

Peco railjoiners were un-available and I use Hornby fishplates on East Dock.

I had to sand/file the bottom of the fishplates to remove the coating and use phosphoric flux to solder the droppers to the fishplates as I could not solder directly to the coated steel.

I have installed all the droppers and now need to install the point decoders  and the track and point power bus wiring.

The tram was built in 0 gauge because I thought back in the 90s that it would have been an impossible challenge in 00. Norman (Johnston) and I were in Cultra to photograph the tram for his book and I got the idea to build it. He launched the book and I launched the tram!

Edited November 27, 2021 by GNRi1959

[GNRi1959]

Over the next couple of days, all going well, I will have completed wiring of all point motors. These will be brought back to bank of switches I am awaiting the arrival of.

 

is my next stage the ballasting?

[David Holman]

Possibly, though you might want to paint the track first and even before that indulge in plenty of trial running. Faults are easier to deal with before everything is covered in ballast.