A great week for getting to the To Do List

The second week of leave was a great for getting a few things knocked off the To Do List. The weather was not too hot to be in the shed. Wednesday came along and I decided to forego going to the club so that I could get a few things done on the layout. Well great plans as they say. I spent the morning working on Lachlan's layout but the afternoon was all mine!

I got the third MRC and third DS64 accessories decoders mounted on their perspex boards, installed and wired in. The USB interface card was also similarly treated. However I haven't had a chance to test it by connecting it to the laptop. Hopefully soon.

The street and platform lamps were wired into a piece of copper strip project board to provide the parallel connections to the common MRC subdecoder. I also used liquid electrical tape for the first time to cover up the soldered connections of all the wiring (which was a lot) that were too small for heatshrink. The stuff worked a treat and I am sold on it.  Underneath the layout is looking like spaghetti junction but at least it isn't too onerous. I also installed a momentary ON-OFF-ON DPDT switch to try with the Minipanel to control the lights. This works perfectly. I am only using on half of the DPDT function (SPDT) at the moment for the KH side lighting, the other half will be for the Bray MPD side.

I finished off the signal box and temporarily placed it on the layout. The original place near the tunnel mouth did not look quite right so I moved it first near the station platform. This looked better. Then I moved it up the line a bit to the first point and this was the spot. I placed some cork down and painted it gray to imitate a concrete base, then installed the box. Looks great, especially when the light is on and you can see the signalman.

Having cleaned up the shed has allowed me to move a lot of stuff from the BMPD side off the layout into other shelving, so I can now run trains.

So what is next. I am hoping to get to wiring in the remaining points (6-12) into their DS64 decoders to get that out of the way. Then I can concentrate on some more KH structure / scenery work.

The hot weather arrived yesterday and today is particularly hot, so how much I can do in the shed this week will depend on when it is bearable to be out there. Even with one of the tilt a doors open it is hot without a south-easterly blowing in.

I am happy with the work done over the last couple of weeks.

Club on Wednesday and again on Saturday for the monthly meeting. Unfortunately this will be the last weekend before heading back to work to pay for the holiday spending!

Lights finally on

Platform and street light on

Original location of signal box

Near the station...better

Near the platform from a distance

Near the first point...a lot better

Yes this is the spot

KH signal box installed and light on

See the signalman?

Xmas-New Year week

Tuesday was the day trip to Mr Mackie's place for an arvo of NSWGR running session. I was North Coast Control for the first time and didn't mind it. Hopefully I got the trains to their right locations?

Wednesday was club day. The gods smiled on me as the boys were invited to a birthday party at the last minute so I was dropped off to the club by the missus enroute to the birthday party. I had a couple of productive hours at the club discussing the new HO layout with the Coordinator and fellow club members.

Sunday (New Years Day) we went to the Thomas and his Friends 2012 show at the Ipswich Workshops museum. It was the day to go as the weather was perfect (no humidity or high temperatures) and there wasn't many people there.

I didn't get around to installing the MRC and DS64 decoders, or the USB port this week due to other things getting in the way. As part of the deal with the missus in undertaking the club VP position, I have to clean up the shed. I started this on Friday and cleaned out the big, heavy stuff to take to the dump. The cleaning continued today and lasted all day. Wow what a lot of crap I've collected (pack rat!) over the last 13 years. I have also started cleaning up Illavearf's BMPD side as this has gone a tad feral with stuff to build the KH side. I might now be able to take a train for a spin around the layout!

I did however finish the signal box and put a name board on the front of it. I just have to install it and wire it up to the MRC accessory decoder for the LED to turn on.  The street lighting might then get a guernsey as well.

Once again, lets see how this week goes. I still have two weeks of leave to go.

But Dad what about the Thomas stuff & signal box so far

I made a mistake about the 'no trains' comment in the previous blog. Son Number 2 received some Thomas related wooden train vehicles (Flora, Alfie, Hiro and something else I can't remember!). Just overwhelmed with all the Lego!

I bought my compressor today at Supercheap, along with a dual action airbrush and assorted bits and bobs. "Some minor assembly required" must be the biggest joke the Chinese play on the West! Eventually got it working but ran out of time to actually play with it.

Here is a photo of the inside of the signal box and the LED (with clear orange painted lens) in place prior to the roof being glued into position.

Ho, Ho, Ho and all that palava

Well I didn't get around to updating the blog last night as I was stuffed (both in the meaning that I was full as a goog and dog tired) from the Christmas weekend. Saturday was the In-Laws Christmas which was great. The father in law won second prize in the local Rotary club Christmas raffle, a 6 burner + wok burner BBQ. So I spent the arvo with him putting it together. Lucky bugger!

Sunday and the big red guy arrived with lots of pressies for the boys, but not one train related gift! Lego Star Wars, Fireman Sam, books and a Wii game console, which went over a treat. Personally I got George Dent's "Airbrushing for Railway Modellers" book and the accompanying DVD "The Definitive Airbrush Expert" from Model Rail/Telerail. It was then getting prepared for Christmas BBQ lunch with my Dad and the immediate family so just the five of us. Then it was playing some of the Wii games in the arvo before Dad departed. It was such a pleasant day yesterday, no humidity or rain, just blue skies and a lovely breeze that I went outside later in the arvo and potted around the garden and chilled out in the pagola until it was time to get a light dinner going. I watched the DVD and read the section on Compressors from the book last night for some pointers on compressor selection as I intend to hit the shops today for the Boxing Day specials. Supercheap Auto seem to have a nicely priced unit so I will be up there very soon to check it and the accessories out!

Through the week I did some more work on the signal box. It looks pretty good on the inside (photos to follow in a future post).

This week I am hoping to install the USB, third MRC and third DS64 decoders, as well as wire up some of the street lighting etc, as well as install the signal box. Time will tell.

Tuesday I have a day pass out to Mr Mackie's for a running session, and then Wednesday is Club Day so I might pop down there with the boys for an hour or so and see what is going on and have a chat.

Until next time.

USB interface card arrived

As expected not much happened this week, due to two main reasons. The first reason was during the week the youngest son was coming down with an illness which became tonsilitis, so he wasn't a happy camper. As the missus was not feeling well as a result of him hanging off her most of the time, I was up to bat most evenings looking after everyone else! The second reason was Saturday was my family's Xmas lunch up the Sunshine Coast at my Dad's place. Weather was comfortable and my brothers behaved themselves for a change. By the time we got home in the late afternoon there was no chance to do any shed time. Sunday was spent at the shops in the morning, mowing the grass, and napping with the still unwell Son # 2 in the afternoon to give his mother a rest (any excuse!).

As the title line mentioned, my order for the NCE USB interface card arrived from the States in PK's MB Klein order during the week. I have downloaded the relevant USB PC driver and purchased a USB 2.0 A B cable to connect my laptop to the interface card. Now I just have to do all the installs (USB card, driver, etc) and then give it a whirl. Some how I think this might be a Xmas leave activity.

I also decided upon my NSWGR wagon orders. Two BSVs (Bogie Sheep Vans) packs (six all up) and one BCW (Bogie Cattle Wagon) pack (3 all up). These will complement the rollingstock fleet intended for Narromine when it finally gets underway sometime in the next few years.

I didn't have any opportunity to progress with the signal box this week.

Well Christmas is not far off. Next weekend will be a similar write off. Saturday with the in-laws and Sunday with Dad at our house. I'm looking forward to getting some stuff done on Illavearf and Beaver Springs over the three weeks I'll be on leave, but I also have to do a few things around the house and shed.

Merry Christmas to all my followers.

Amended mini-panel doco

As a result of yesterday's logic correction here are the amended docs.

Damn!

Well my good friend Mr Mackie has kindly pointed out that my usage of the junction feather on KH-1 is incorrect. My (mis)understanding was that the feather indicated the through route, but in fact it indicates the divergent route. Hence it shouldn't be to control the Mainline but rather what will become known as "the sidings loop". I will have to make the station track the mainline.

Not a big problem. I just have to change my documentation to reflect this.

You learn something new everyday!

Thanks Craig