Electrical Work - FAM and the Layout

With Tuesday ANZAC Day I was able to spend some time in the shed with the ANZAC Day March on TV.  I did some plastering of the Rocla Siding to Grafton Loco.  I am about 1/3 of the way complete in that task.  Later on, I installed the wiring from the bogies on my FAM up into the wagon to my power supply inside the coach.  I was missing a capacitor, and with JAYCAR closed, I could not pick one up.  I had to wait until Thursday as I could not get there before they shut on Wednesday due to late running meetings, and no JAYCAR store in the city. 

I also painted my internal wagon partitions in the FAM an extremely unpleasant drab colour just like the original coaches.  So I might be able to close up the wagon on this weekend.

I also sent out invitations to a mini running session at my place for next Thursday before the May Show.  So far I have two 'Yes'es and one a 'No'.  Still three more responses yet to occur.  This session will be for a small 6 person invitation session.

Friday I was still working on the FAM coach lighting.  I gathered 3 x 0402 LEDs and thought about using them for my internal lighting.  Two for the side corridor and one inside one of the cabins.  I then wired the lights up and decided that I needed three for the corridor.  All of these had a 1K resistor in line with them when purchased.  I joined them all together added another 3.6K resistor in series and the lighting looks reasonable.  You can see it through the windows.  I then had to work out how to position the LED lights in position inside the coach.  I used two pieces of styrene close together at every location for an LED and hung the LEDs between the two pieces of styrene.

I placed the coach on the track and gave it a test.  Every now and again it shorted out.  Upon closer inspection I did have an issue with my FAM and it wheel pickups.  After using a multimeter on the resistance setting, I determined that one wheel on one bogie was turned around.  So I had to pop it out, turn it around and re-install it.  That fixed the issue and the lights then continually lit and did not cause any more layout shorts.

I did get around to trying to fix some other electrical issues on the layout.  I had lost power for the Cassino to Fairy Hill Staff Section.  No it wasn't a lightening strike.  I figured that a wire had some off somewhere, but where?  I switched various staff switches and could not find the issue.  It appeared that the staff switch bus had 14V going through it.  But no LEDs were lit.  I took the switch panels off the fascia one by one trying to identify the location of the connection issue.  I thought it might have been the power supply connection, but it was a switch behind a chair that when switched one way, caused all the LEDs to go out.  I switched it the other way and they all worked.  There are actually 8 staff machines in this section as some of the crossing loops, or sidings, are accessible from both sides of the peninsular, so they have two staff machines - one on each side of the layout.  I re-soldered that connection and it was all good.

I also attached a couple more signs to the layout describing the name of the staff machine like Cassino Meatworks Staff machines. 

While running the layout, I had the power district number 6 (controlled by an EB1) just go out while nothing was occurring on the layout.  This is the shortest power district on the layout.  It is from Dutton Park to Fisherman Islands.  There happened to be about 6 locos just sitting there pulling less than a couple of hundred milliamps according to my Amp meter.  I have no idea why this short was occurring.  I would turn power off to that section, and back on again and the power would come back on, but after 30 seconds it would go out again.  But it did appear that a bogie from one ballast wagon sitting in Fisherman Islands Yard had run into a Peco electrofrog point in the yard.  That was moved and the short did not re-occur.  I also did not check to see if the lights were still on the EB1 while this short was occurring.

However, my general short that occurs when I turn the layout amp metre on, has re-appeared.  I turn the amp metre off and it does not occur.  I think that my bridge rectifier has bit the dust when it gets too hot and causes a shutdown.  I know that the short is, because it appears to occur before the power gets to the power districts, as if it was to occur here, the NCE EB1s would retry the power after a few seconds, and the power would – power cycle.  I just get no power at all.  The power cycling is not occurring when the short occurs on the layout now.  So the short is upstream to the EB1s.  So I purchased another 6 Amp bridge rectifier today from JAYCAR to be used as a replacement, but I have not installed it yet.  I will give it another chance.  It appears that if I just unscrew the old bridge from under the layout, I have not had a re-occurrence of the shutdown.  I will continue to monitor it.

I have started to get my things ready for next weekend at the May Show.

Still Working on my FAM

This week I had planned to do quite a number of tasks.  Last Tuesday Night we were at Arthur’s place.  We had about 9 in attendance if my memory serves me correctly.  As it was probably the last time we would be at Arthur’s place for a while, and in the next month or so one of the younger Tuesday Nighters was to reach a milestone birthday.  Clinton will be 50 soon.  So Arthur and his wife provided a birthday cake for Clinton which we all got to partake in.  I was thinking of stirring Clinton about being 52, or even reaching 60 but I thought I would be the ultimate professional and tell the truth and then stir him at the upcoming May Show in private or in front of a few NMRA mates. 

Friday night was a happy hour at work so I didn't get home until late. Saturday was a bit slow as we had a visitor.  I had planned on doing some work on my FAM coach.  I did do a bit.  I added break pipes.  I added some under floor piping.  I also added some more toilet down/escape-pipes under the floor.  I also re-glued my brake hangers that seemed to be not properly connected.

Today I got up early as there was some weekend work occurring at work, and not that I was doing anything, I was interested so got up wo watch all the comments occurring in the Microsoft Teams chat.  So when I logged onto the PC early in the morning, I realised that there was an NMRA-X session on.  So I logged on and watched the last half of that, with one eye on the chat.  I also logged into the breakout room and chatted with el-supremo Gordy for about 3 hours, as well a few other reprobates, you might know them as Marty and Brad and there were some others from the US. 

Also today I did do a couple more tests on my Shelton the Photographer.  The first proved my theory and the next test did not solve my conundrum.  So it will end up being a single direction Shelton the Photographer for Bob, as he operates with the old fashioned DC control and that serves him well.  Although just as I write this update, my brain has shot into gear again, and I might be able to put a detection section on the opposite rail to trigger Shelton in the opposite direction.  So that looks like that is Tuesday’s job to test that theory.

I think I have some pseudo code roughed out to allow me to re-write the Shelton the Photographer sketch, so I will work on that later this week.

Later tonight I will continue to work on my FAM. 

The time until the May Exhibition is reducing.  I will need to work out what I will do on my stand and what I will take along.  Still one weekend to go before then.

Working on Some Projects

I have been trying to get a piece of hardware and software to work for my DC powered Shelton the Photographer for a mate’s layout.  But I cannot get it to work.  It is driving me batty.  It sort of works but not consistently.  I will keep scratching my head.

Saturday was an NMRA meeting at a local hobby shop in Brisbane.  I was after a set of KD couplers but he did not have the type I was after.  I bit annoying.  Not sure any of the local shops have that type.  The NMRA meeting was packed full of good stuff.  Three presentations that were very informative.  I also had quite a few good conversations with various people.

Following the NMRA meeting, a few of guys came back to my place, as it was sort of on their way home.  Two had never been over previously, but they are fairly local so it was not far out of their way home.  While showing the guys the layout, someone spotted a KD up a tree.  I wonder how that got there PK?  I also found what I thought might have been a new person in the cemetery, but I do not think this person was there previously.  I also found a few cars running on the wrong side of the road.  Probably another PK trick.  What are friends for?  The Tuesday Nighters were at my place the week before on Tuesday night.  That would have been when the crimes were committed.

During the week I received a scale plan for the NSW FAM airconditioned sleeping coach.  So I scaled it to HO and printed it out.  Today I was making the corridor internal detail on this sleeping car.  I also soldered up the wire pickups on the bogies.  I plan to eventually install some lights inside the coach.  This will go on for a couple of weeks I think.

I MIght Have Finally Fixed My XPT

On Monday this week after getting home from work early I painted 40 pallets a Chep blue colour.  On Tuesday before the guys came over, I painted another 20 pallets Chep blue and then painted 20 pallets a wood brown colour.

Later in the week, my painting activities resumed.  I painted another 40 pallets various shades of wood brown, and 20 pallets Luscom red.  On Friday I assembled 15 HO scale clothes lines.   After they were dry I painted the posts and the clothesline tops a galvanised silver colour.

On Saturday I visited a hobby shop and delivered some pallets, clotheslines and some tarpaulins.  Next stop was the Hobby Shop at Brendale.  I picked up another selection of styrene so I can assemble another approximately 80 pallets at the upcoming Brisbane Model Railway Exhibition at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds in about 4 weeks - on the first weekend in May. 

I took some models over to the Clubrooms to show to Laurie and get some constructive criticism.  However, he was not there.  But I was able to talk to PK, Greg, and Darryl and Chris and have a few laughs with some other members.

So when I got home from the Club I decided to get online and send an email off.  I got onto Laurie and we met up later that night on the NMRA Australasian Discord Channel.  I was able to show off the models to Laurie, and I was able to get some really good feedback.  Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees.  Some really obvious things need to be done to some of the models.  I painted some wheel sets Grimy Black instead of their new brass colour.  Some of the brass wire that I added for brake pipes and handrails was also a very prominent brass colour.  So these were also painted Grimy Black.  Copious amounts of notes were also made following all the discussions about all the types of wagons that were presented and discussed last night.  I have some tasks for the next few weeks.  Laurie has also sent me down a rabbit hole for one of the wagon kits I had built.  There is lots of works to do on this wagon, after he planted two seeds.

On Tuesday evening the Tuesday Nighters crew came over.  I found a couple of items that needed to be fixed on the layout.  So today I fixed a switch on the Acacia Ridge to Glenapp Staff section at the Acacia Ridge end.  I also found a nail head that was sticking up slightly too far following some track changes at Acacia Ridge.  It was giving one of my XPT carriages an issue.  So that was fixed.  I also replaced one KD on one of the XPT coaches.  This one kept losing the KD spring and allowing any slight bump in the train from the power cars to uncouple.  I also had a rather large discrepancy in KD heights on two XPT coaches.  So that was eventually remedied.  The XPT then ran another successful trip from Grafton Yard to Cassino and return.  Who knows, tomorrow it might even go to Acacia Ridge Yard, or even to Murwillumbah.

I went down to Jaycar today to pick up some items for my project for Barnacle Bob.  I will continue to test this tomorrow.

Working on Pallets

The well laid plans of mice and men went out the door this weekend.  During the week I was given an order for some clotheslines and pallets.  On Friday afternoon after attending a retirement lunch for a work mate (40 years he had worked with us), I cut up most of the items required for some HO scale clotheslines.  I caught up with Al from AR Kits online on Friday evening and asked him to send me a set of NOCY decals that I need to finish a scratch built NOCY.  I have plenty of NOCY boxes laying around at home from AR Kits but I cannot find any decal sets.  You know the drill, I must have put them aside for safe keeping.  Now I can't find any.  So hopefully sometime next week I will get a decal sheet for the NOCY from Al and I will install these on my NOCY wagon next weekend.  

On Saturday while watching the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix on TV, I cut up and built about 130 HO pallets.  That is 5 strings of pallets.  This morning I had some finishing off work on the last string.  Then I decided to build another still because I still had some styrene left over.  It works out that I have made about 159 pallets this weekend.  During the week I will cut these up into individual pallets and paint them on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.  I might be able to deliver them next Saturday in the ordering shop is open.

I will finish the cutting up of the styrene for the clotheslines during this week and I might have them available for delivery by Saturday as well.

Early this morning I had to wash all the chairs in the pergola and I also washed a two tables.  I did get down to the shed this afternoon and cleaned up a few items, as the guys are coming over here on Tuesday Night. 

Next weekend on Saturday afternoon and then again on the Sunday, I will revert back to working on my scratch built NHBF Ballast Wagon and also my scratch built NHWF Ballast Plough.  I do need to do some painting touch ups and some decaling of these wagons as well.  At that point I might have 5 of my 8 wagons completed for my AP certificate for mast Builder - Cars.  That will just leave me going back to my kit built FAM passenger wagon, which does need some tidying up work, air hoses and under floor detail and I have seen a decal that needs replacing.  Then I will be able to go back to the last 2 wagons I need to complete of my required 8 models.  I started scratch building two QR Open wagons about 12 months ago, and I just stopped working on them, as I had more important things to do.  I will circle around and strip those wagons back, as I had some feedback from Young Arthur about using some brass rod instead of some 0.020” styrene rod.  I always realised that they would look better with brass details instead of 0.020" styrene, but I was just being lazy.  I have quite a bit of 0.010”, 0.015” and 0.020” brass rod that I will now use for all the various stirrups, handrails and various external items on these wagons.  I did not have this brass supply when I originally started the wagons.