I thought back in 2024 that I would go hi-tech with two way centre off switches!

If you are a regular pursuer of this blog you will probably realise my bike rides take me past a canal on occasions. It is always a nice to take a look at what is a little bit of industrial heritage that now is a tranquil recreational place and over the years I have seen the canal almost burst its banks and then turn into little more than a tiny stream. It seems at a mid way point at the moment. It is definitely down in level but not at a level where there is more mud than water! Not sure why it is down so much though. It is not as though we are in a drought. One to keep an eye on during further bike rides. Which reminds me I am just 6 miles short of 1400 this year so far. I was at about 800 at this time last year so a better year so far!

Back at WMD HQ I am still working on the control panel for my Last Great Project Layout and I have raided the WMD Stores to retrieve the pack of switches that I bough back in 2024 when I first started planning this! Nothing like forward planning!

In the past I have used the stud and probe method to control the point motors but I thought back in 2024 that I would go hi-tech with two way centre off switches.  

To fit the switch I will need to drill holes of the right size (6mm) in the top of the control panel. Drilling through paper, even if it is laminated as I will do for the control panel diagram, often leads to tears in the eyes of the driller and tears in the paper! So I broke out my punch set that conveniently had a 6mm punch. I was not sure if it would actually cleanly cut through the paper but it did on the scrap laminated sheet that I had to hand!

And more importantly the switch fits the hole!

Next stage is laminate the track diagram and cut it to size and then punch some holes in it!

It has only taken me about four years to think that one up!

A few more hours working on the control panel diagram that I posted about yesterday. It took some time as I had to move some elements around to make way for the arrows indicating which way the point would be directed by the switch being pushed in one direction or another. I think I now have it sorted though that may change as I actually start mounting switched! 

You may notice a tentative name for the layout too - Woodsville Junction. It has only taken me about four years to think that one up!

Its all in the planning!

Its all in the planning as the experts on various things always explain. Well, for once but don't tell Mrs.  Woody, I have heeded that advice in my control panel project for my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. 

First off is to number each of the points with its own reference number. 

This may make things clearer on the top of the panel itself but the real advantage is under the surface so to speak. With each point having its own number I can then create the necessary wiring more easily as I can run wires from the actual numbered point and its motor to the control panel switch and be able to identify it much more easily. Well that is the theory! 

Next up I printed off the track plan which stretches across two A4 sheets. I then trimmed it down to see if it would actually fit the control panel top!

And it does! Just like I planned in the planning stage! The space on the right is where the DCC controller plug and socket panel will go - again, just as I planned!

Right, I better plan to do some of Mrs. W's jobs on her 'To do list' before I do nay more on the panel!

The loco runs great, the train looks great so all is well!

Having now got the coach pack to the Hornby EWS  Business Train Pack, I needed to actually get it all on the track.

But, before I could do that I needed to DCC chip the Class 67 loco. 

I have done this before on the Transport For Wales Class 67 so I knew it was fairly simple and with just four screws to undo the body came off easily.

With the body off, the DCC blanking plug was removed and replaced with a 21 pin chip from the WMD Stores.

It was then on with the body, programme the chip and then loco and all the coaches went on the layout.

The first thing that struck me was the beauty of the train. It just looked right! Second thing that struck me was the length. Normally I run 6 coach trains but this one is a seven coach train. One additional coach should not make much of a difference but it does.

The loco runs great, the train looks great so all is well!

It is certainly quicker to see results grass cutting then cosmetically restoring a loco!

What do you do when a local school offers some pupils for a day of 'Giving Back'? Well at the Rocks BY Rail Museum there is always plenty to do and that included wire brushing and painting anti-rust paint onto the footplate of steam loco Uppingham which begins its major cosmetic restoration this year.

The pupils also cleaned and painted some of the fencing which makes the place look smarter.

Talking of looking smarter, the new platform flower planters are beginning to come to life.

And also looking smarter was the grass after taking Morris Mower out for the day!

I do get a sense of satisfaction as unruly grass grass turns from this to this over a comparatively short time.

It is certainly quicker to see results grass cutting then cosmetically restoring a loco! I just need to cut round the wheelsets but that is a job for Sammy Strimmer once he is better and out of the Strimmer Hospital which is hopefully next week!

It may be an old utility but it is simple just like me!

 Back to building my control panel for My Last Great Project 00 gauge layout and I have had to put together a track plan so I can position the various switches. This is the first time I have actually drawn out the track plan which shows just how much track and how many points there are. 

I drew this out using Paint - it may be an old utility but it is simple just like me! I need to add some arrows and wording which should try my patience but at least I have a base to do it on!

Well worth the wait!

Last year Mrs. Woody gave me the Hornby EWS  Business Train Pack which has a Class 67 and three coaches and very nice it is.

On the back of the pack it shows the loco and three coaches and also the four additional coaches which it states are 'available'.

'Available' obviously has differing meanings and in this case the 'available' was actually 13 months after I got the train pack! 

And here it is!

The coaches do look good and will make up a significant train once I get them on the track! Well worth the wait!

Bag of nails or harmonious sounds? The film!

Bag of nails or harmonious sounds? Well to move on from yesterdays post and cut a long story short it all worked out and the Bachmann Class 37 is back to sounding like it should! What is more, is that the WMD Film Crew were on hand to record the process and that is now on YouTube.

Sounds like a bag of nails!

 This is my Bachmann Class 37 with DCC sound and very nice it is.

Up until a few days ago it sounded as good as it looks but then it started to rattle and soon sounded like a bag of nails! I had a feeling it was the speaker rather than anything else as the 'bag of nails' noise stopped if you turned the sound off. Never having had this issue before I thought that I would need a new speaker but decided to investigate further by dismantling the loco and seeing if there was something mechanically wrong with the speaker.

It took a bit of time to get into the loco's innards but eventually the speaker was out and taken apart. That copper coloured ring had come away from the rubber diaphragm under it as evidenced by the strip of loose silicon that I found inside the casing. The use of some UHU general purpose glue seemed a good way to go reattach the copper ring so a bead was run around the edge with a cocktail stick and the ring was pushed into the diaphragm. I decided to leave it over night to dry so tomorrow will be crunch day to see if harmonious sounds have been restored or that bag of nails is still there!

Sound but no chips!

Going back through the photos that I took at the Market Deeping Model Railway Club Exhibition I can only reiterate what I said yesterday that there was no WOW moment. Mrs. Woody is a good indicator of whether a show has that WOW factor when she becomes interested in a layout or two but not this time. That is not to see the layouts were not all really good quality, they all were and my hat off to those who actually put their layouts on show to the public. 

There were a few interesting things though, such as this Swiss based layout, Brusio Viaduct.

Certainly different being Swiss based and set in the Winter. However, this and one other layout were the only overseas layouts at the exhibition.

An 00 gauge layout that I did spend some time looking at was Long Road TMD.

In effect a very large oval with a loco depot. Looked good and ran well with a variety of modern day traction such as this Class 37.

My favourite loco was this Class 66 fictitiously painted up in Rail Freight livery but it looks so right!

Wedmore provided an unusual setting with a preserved line with both standard and narrow gauge in 7mm scale.

Lastly, an n gauge layout that caught my eye and curiosity, Braughing and Standon. 

Based on a real location and utilising the space that modelling in n gauge can release, this 18 foot long layout featured a small eastern region branchline. 

What got my curiosity was the sound system which was not DCC on board the locos. It was sound clips edited onto a mobile phone and then sent to a Bluetooth speaker mounted just above the back scene with the sound then tied in with train movements. All very clever and worked very well. Something to look into!

The layout does have its own website located at https://braughingstandon-railwaylayout.uk/

It will be interesting to see what next years show will be like but as always, Mrs. W and myself should be attending!