Remote uncoupling Part 3

 

08/12/2023

Still no sign of the servo mounts on order from fair price models 8 days now 1st class Royal Fail! As I had one mount for evaluation purpose I decided to complete and test the first module as a pattern article, I’m pleased with the result mounting on the layout will only involve drilling one hole between the sleepers in the desired location and fixing the module underneath using 2 screws.





09/12/2023
Servo mounts delivered this morning sent 30th November 1st class Royal Fail!




10/12/2023
Servo mounts assembled and ramp modification completed.


11/12/2023
The 6 brass mounting plates that were previously cut and drilled have now got the 3.2mm square tube guide for the ramp lift rod soldered and 6 lengths of 2.4mm square for the ramp lift rod cut to size. That’s all for today

Remote uncoupling Part 2

02/12/2023

Time to revisit the uncoupling! Part 2

Having proven the electronic components and securely mounted them on a sub board it is time to finalise the mechanics.




I decided the abandon the cam design and just use the servo horns.





04/02/2023
I have 6 laser cut servo mounts on order from fair price models when these arrive I will mount them on 6 Doublers 80x46mm cut from 9mm ply for the 3.2mm square tube guide for the ramp lift rod. This will make the alignment with the ramp on the main baseboard easier. It was a little warmer today so I machined a relive shoulder on the 30x30 standoff blocks of plywood to clear the brass mounting plate for the ramp lift rod.










6 brass mounting plates cut and drilled ready for final sizing and assembling.

Remote uncoupling

22/11/2023

Time to revisit the uncoupling issue! I found a lot of my locos bellied on the Hornby/Peco sprung ramps. I bought a Job lot of micro servos a couple of years ago to drive semaphore signals which proved too fragile for motorise operation.
A start on modifying the ramp by reinforcing the underside with 2mm styrene sheet an drilling a 3mm hole to take a section of Albion Alloys 2.4mm square tube SSB2M this is made to slide into Albion Alloys 3.2mm square tube SSB3M.










25/11/2023
Testing the concept on a dummy base board a 4mm hole is drilled though the baseboard between the sleepers to take the 3.2mm square tube to act as the guide for the ramp lift rod it will be soldered to the 12mm wide brass plate to anchor it to the underside of the baseboard. Attached to the ramp is a length of 2.4mm square tube to make the ramp lift rod which will move up driven by the servo motor.

















A manual test proved the setup works as I predicted. In fact it does not matter where on the ramp the couplings are they uncouple due to the ramp moving parallel to the track base Currently I am waiting for a DCC accessory controller board to arrive from Heathcote Electronics.









27/11/2023
The DCC accessory controller board arrived from Heathcote Electronics this morning testing will have to wait. As I am working on the servo eccentric cam I found that 8 gauge white screw caps would make a suitable basis for the cam I block of plywood is cut to make the standoff to mount the servo.








I have a MegaPoints Servo Controller from the aborted semaphore signals project which I hope to interface with the Heathcote Electronics DCC accessory controller board to drive the uncoupling ramps located in the station termini 3 in each end of the layout. This afternoon testing the concept on the dummy base board using the MegaPoints Servo Controller worked lifting the ramp up by 2-3 mm see the video

28/11/2023
The finishing tape is almost in sight! I spent an hour or so in the loft wiring up the dummy base board to the MegaPoints Servo Controller [only the one servo]; programmed the Heathcote Electronics DCC accessory to address 100 and interfaced the two boards using the opto isolator output yes it worked now I have some fine fettling to do on the servo eccentric cam and lift rod before I make 6 identical units.


29/11/2023 07:45

Continuing refining the design I knew I had some clear plastic rod stashed away in the workshop, eventually I found the elusive ½ inch round Perspex bar; I will use this to replace the 8 gauge white screw caps I’ll part off several 5mm disks for the cams later today.


6 block of plywood cut to make the standoff to mount the servo.

Guess who bought a tractor from Great Eastern Models?

 

18/11/2023

I succumbed to purchasing another locomotive this time a Class 37/0 D6704 from Accurascale sound fitted from the factory like all Accurascale locos I have I can’t fault it. I have only run it in on the rolling road and taken it one length of the layout 24 feet!

https://www.greateasternmodels.co.uk/

 

Police declare a serious incident on the Pix Valley heritage railway.

 

15/11/2023 Police declare a serious incident outside Arlesworth model railway society on the Pix Valley heritage railway. A club member noticed something strange lying inside the burnt out railway van. Fearing the worse Mr Alfred Notstanding called the police and ambulance. When the police arrived they discovered a body inside. The ambulance crew on arrival provisionally declared a man had deceased inside the old railway van. It is believed the deceased man was a rough sleeper, foul play is not suspected

Card Cutting Jig

11/11/2023

Cutting parallel strips from Styrene Sheet keeping them uniform size is not the easiest task to perform. I need to cut many strips of 1mm Styrene Sheet 17mm wide for the carcass of some platforms I am building. 

Starting with some 12mm MDF I glued a well used cutting mat face down using spray contact adhesive to make the cutting table. 2 strips of mild steel 3 x15mm and 3 x 25mm are cut to 420mm the width of the cutting table. The narrower strip will be the datum stop and the wider strip the cutting fence. The datum stop is screwed to the cutting table while the cutting fence has the indexing holes reamed to 5/16” and 3/8” brass tube press into the cutting table again reamed to 5/16” to accept the mild steel locating pins. NB.I used imperial stock bar as that is what was to hand in my workshop!

12/11/2023 Temporary fixing screws holes drilled screws fitted to set the cutting fence to 17mm the pilot dowel is fitted into the left to drill pilot holes of 4mm diameter to enable the 3/8” brass tubes to be pressed into the cutting table.

Pilot holes of 3.5mm diameter opened up to 9.5 mm 

Brass bushing pressed into the cutting table 5/16” dowels fettled into place. Oh the “Align Here” label covers two holes that are not required! Okay hand up I made a miscalculation. 

I finished off today with keeper plates and rubber feet to the underside of the cutting table. 

13/11/2023 Again temporary fixing screws holes drilled screws fitted to set the cutting fence to 50mm the pilot dowel is fitted into the left to drill pilot holes of 3.5mm diameter to enable the 3/8” brass bushing to be pressed into the cutting table.

Pilot holes of 3.5mm diameter opened up to 9.5 mm Brass bushing pressed into the cutting table 5/16” dowels.

A loose datum stop marked 30 will be used to cut strips 30mm by placing it against  the fixed datum stop I have ordered a 25mm bar so strips 25mm can be cut.

 

BR 15xx Pannier Tank 1501 Part 2

Well what can I say the outer packaging looked as if it had been used as a football! The locomotive box did not show any sign of damage. Unpacking reviled the chimney had fallen off! Oh dear to be honest not a show stopper. Setup on the rolling road loco address set to 1501 off we go sound on hang on its going in reverse!  I had to reset the polarity and run to loco on the rolling road a total of ½ an hour in each direction. Most defiantly a massive improvement on the 1st lemon. Chimney reattached using Glue N Glaze.

“Fringford Manor”

19/10/2023

She may be a plain Jane; I watched her for over year and a half but she kept at a respectable distance. Then out of the blue a knock on my door and there she was. I invited her in and took her upstairs, I carefully removed her outer wrap; my heart was pounding with anticipation what lays underneath her well padded exterior my trembling hands removed the top covering and there she was in all her glory “Fringford Manor”. Gently lifting her up I was besotted by her slender body I gazed longingly at her exquisite lines unlike her siblings her body art is minimalistic but perfectly applied truly she is a work of art.  Now I wanted to see how she performed with her belly full of fire! Running in on the rolling road at half speed you can only hear the faint purr from the motor and drive train, a quick play with the sound switched on didn’t disappoint me ether. Closer examination revealed all her fine details; I could wax lyrical about what I see but to put in into a nutshell Perfection! Time to ft the footplate crew, I bought the Modelu crew but had some difficulty in setting the driver at the correct angle. I had to resort to some drastic surgery and amputated the driver’s right leg!  Fortunately the fireman escaped surgery. My only reservation is the rivet size looks a little on the large size, but this is hardly noticeable.

 

Planting people 02/10/2023

Over the last couple of weeks I spent some time painting OO gauge figures from various sources. Some good some well “could have done better”! I must have a good look at the traders at the Great Electric Train Show for some loco crews. 

As you van see the camera highlight the imperfections particularly the “hikers” Boots need tweaking

If you want to be on TV stand on one leg outstretch your right arm and repeat “I’m a little teapot....”

NB . No loco crews at the Great Electric Train Show I ordered 4 direct from ModelU