WEST ORTON

[Steve M]

Photoshopped !!!

I have never been able to make head or tail of that program. I’m reasonably computer literate bit that one had me beaten years ago.

[darkscot]

That’s the one Barry. I think it would fit well on Wykeham but we don’t want a bidding war on eBay, do we?

There is a new one eBay at the moment with a buy it now price of £85. But it does NOT include the corner office!
https://ebay.us/hCTDP5

[Steve M]

Thanks for the heads up DS, I had seen that one and contacted the seller when it first appeared as there was no photo of the office. A simple inquiry - is the office in the box.

He didn’t even bother to reply.

However he has amended the listing and put in a lower offer price.
Sorry, but to not have the courtesy to reply means he will not be getting any of my money.

I am notoriously impatient but in this case I will make an exception.

[Carl L]

Well I was going to watched the football tonight but once more feel shamed about woefully slow progress, so it'll be the shed instead!

Cracking progress.

[darkscot]

Sorry, but to not have the courtesy to reply means he will not be getting any of my money.

I agree, it suggests to me they were hoping potential buyers would not notice the missing office. The pictures of the actual model do not show the shed, but it is on the box.

[IanS]

You can buy elsewhere for less: http://themodelcentre.co.uk/44-062z/prod_674.html

This includes the shed & office as per the picture.

I randomly picked another item from your 'potential' seller. Their total selling price was £49.99 + p&p Hattons, not known to be the cheapest were £41.50 + P&P

They're out to make a killing on Ebay!

[Steve M]

You can buy elsewhere for less: http://themodelcentre.co.uk/44-062z/prod_674.html

This includes the shed & office as per the picture.

I randomly picked another item from your 'potential' seller. Their total selling price was £49.99 + p&p Hattons, not known to be the cheapest were £41.50 + P&P

They're out to make a killing on Ebay!

That's a very old link to TMC. Thanks for looking but definitely not in stock.

This shed hasn't been in the catalogue for some years but a new one is coming out later this year (maybe). I was hoping I might pick one up in the meantime.
But (there's always a but with my plans) if I develop the MPD on the spare baseboard I will need a much bigger shed!!!! Modular laser cut versions are currently figuring quite strongly in my thoughts.

[Walkingthedog]

You won’t be disappointed with laser cut buildings. They are very strong and you can improve there appearance if necessary

[Steve M]

The plans for the yard are coming together. This is effectively a scenic fiddleyard but has the potential for up to six lanes in the shed itself. Laying out some point templates revealed a large space just crying out for a turntable so I have spent some time trying to make the venerable Dapol kit look like a well type TT.

As many will know the Dapol kits are ancient ex-Airfix and are plagued by ill fitting parts. Sandpaper and files can correct the worst of the faults but the plastic guide wheels are a lost cause. The answer is N gauge A4 tender wheels.
I still have to engineer a solution for getting power to the rails but surprisingly there is little online to offer any help.

I’ve also managed to find some NOS Peco points on eBay to move this area on a little further.

20210708_115626 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

20210708_115613 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[Steve M]

I’ve fitted all the points and track in the new engine yard and added droppers. The track still has to be pinned down and cleaned but it’s a good start.

I’ve been working out how to get power to the rails of the Dapol turntable, here’s how I did it.

I started by cutting two discs from a sheet of copperclad sheet and trimmed them to fit in the central pivot well of the turntable. I milled two very shallow slots across the face of the copper, just enough to remove the copper but not bite into the board itself.
This allows the lower disc to switch polarity while on the upper one, the slot is just to isolate the two halves.

20210711_102319 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

Two holes are drilled near the edge of the lower disc and two wires soldered to the copper. This needs to be filed flat for clearance once it’s cooled. The disc just sits in the well with the two wires routed through holes in the baseboard and connected to the DCC bus. The picture shows my proof of concept pieces rather than the final ones I milled.

20210709_113534 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

I had contemplated copper wipers or Scalextric braids to transfer the power to the TT but then I found these things - spring loaded electrical contacts or ‘pogo pins’. These are 6mm long and 1.5mm across.

20210711_110333 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

I drilled two holes carefully through the TT platform and the PCB disc to fit the pins. I soldered two short lengths of phosphor bronze strip to the base of the pogo pins. I glued the upper disc in place, copper side up then pushed the two pins through from the TT bed and he’d them in place with another drop of epoxy.

20210711_110404 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

Once the epoxy had set I set the track in place and bent the phosphor bronze strip to meet the rails then soldered it.

20210711_144136 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

After cutting the rails, I added some coffee stirrers to the TT bed to simulate planking and lined the shallow well with Redutex brick sheet.

20210711_151212 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

Ok, it’s not motorised (not really an issue) but it actually works better than my Peco TT on the other layout.