Finishing Off Some Jobs

This weekend I started off with a short visit to the Redlands Model Train Show.  This is a nice little show.  I got there about 3 minutes after start time, and walked through the door and immediately got hit with a question about an NCE DCC system.  Anatol was trying to put a cab address of 10 into a SB5 system and his throttle was hanging.  So that was soon rectified and his layout was back operating.  I then took a photo of The Wuiske’s for their Facebook page to advertise the show and then had a good talk to our local El Supremo in Div 1 Super Duncan.  I then moved around the layouts, making my way over to George at Aurora Trains and then made my way back.  I could not believe the number of people I stopped and had a natter to.  I had a two hour self-imposed limit that I had at the show before I had to leave to visit a local shop on the way home and then get home to take my daughter out (driving lesson) to the Uni of Q for a lecture/information session for 3 hours.  This is so she can make her selections for tertiary entrance in the next few weeks.

I had a nice talk to Ron with his new layout, that man is amazing.  I then saw Phil and Den from the Philden layout fame (that was an attempt at humour), and then made my way over to see Col at the second hand stall.  I was after a RH curve point (insulfrog point to replace an electrofrog point that I have in Acacia Ridge Yard and a LH medium that I thought I might install in one of two places on the layout (Acacia Ridge Yard for another runaround or to replace a dual gauge point in Fisherman Islands).  The LH medium point will be enhanced to a dual gauge point if I install it in Fisherman Islands.  I had plenty more conversations with various people before I had to cut my visit at the exhibition short.  I could have stayed there for another couple of hours.  However, if I had, I’m sure that I would have ended up spending too much money.

On the way home from the exhibition I stopped off at Austral Modelcraft and picked up some code 83 rail for some more point making, some piano wire to control the narrow gauge points I am currently working on in Fisherman Islands Yard, and some more track joiners.  I just go through these things.  I prefer the Atlas code 100/code83 ones at 48 per packet.  I thought I had completed buying these things about 3 packets ago.  Although it might be a reason that I keep installing more trackwork on the layout.

Today we had a local fete at my kids primary school for the best part of the day.  I did get down to the shed in the afternoon and started off trying to complete a few jobs.  I installed the piano wire under three more narrow gauge points and installed some conduit at the baseboard fascia for the piano wire to run through and nailed the track down so everything worked well.  I installed the last 12mm point purchased a few weeks back and the track work looks good.

I did have an Alleluia moment during the week.  It was not a good one.  I have gone to the trouble of putting these new 12mm points in place in Fisherman Islands to facilitate some shunting and running around trains in this yard, but it finally dawned on me, no one can reach these tracks to couple of uncouple the trains – Doh!  I might have to come up with some manual magnetic uncouplers similar to what is used on Anthony’s Border District layout that we operate on.  I will see.

I also then started to add all the track jumpers back to the bus for the track either side of the new points and for the new siding in Fisherman Islands.  After all the wires had been solder up, I turned on the track power, and yes you guessed it - I had a short in the Fisherman Islands Yard.  So I checked everything, I double checked everything, and then unsoldered all the wires.  Sill a short.  I decided to check all the new points.  One set of Peco 12mm points, had the wire that is soldered to the frog, hidden from display.  This wire had been wrapped around the third rail (dual gauge track at this point on the layout) and was causing a short.  I untangled that wire and left it separated from everything and turned the track power back on.  Guess what?  It now worked.  So I then had to reconnect all the other jumper wires back to the track bus wires.  So that was done and everything seems to work.  No trains have run over the new 12mm track under their own power as yet, but at least there is no short.

A job well done for the weekend, if I do say so myself.  I still have another job next weekend, to install those HO points I purchased yesterday.  My phone has not rung yet after all the raffles I entered yesterday and today.  Damn.  I guess I am just not lucky.