Trains are finally running, so here is a quick work-in-progress video.
The basic wiring has been completed and tested, the turntable has been installed and tested, and trains are running over the whole layout. It is using a temporary control panel for now, but everything is fully functional.
Back on it after a two month break. All the circuit boards are built, tested and provisionally installed, and the road loop is up and running. Next come the 100+ 3-wire cables needed to connect the track to the electronics. I have done this with plug-in connectors at both the track and board ends, so it should be straightforward but tedious.
Back at things again after a break... The timberwork and all the track are now done, although not yet finally installed. The track includes a simple road loop along Chyandour Cliff.
The trackwork for the station area is now complete, all soldered together into a single piece. These are the live tracks, and additional dummy tracks for the rest of the loco depot and the headshunt / carriage siding next to the main line will be added as part of the scenery. The next tasks are cutting out the plywood trackbed to support it and attaching the electrical connectors to the underside of the track.
Since Penzance is a terminus station, departing trains need to be turned around so a reversing loop is necessary. The station also had a short turntable, before the loco depot moved to Longrock (Ponsandane) the next year.
The layout is now (more or less) finished. Some more scenic detailing, minor software improvements, and another 80-odd goods wagons are in the pipeline, but these updates will probably be delayed until model railway exhibitions resume again down here in Australia, hopefully sometime in 2021 .
After considering several possibilities for the next layout, I have settled on pre-1914 Penzance. At this time the station had only 2 platforms, but still had its small loco depot with turntable and the single-track timber viaduct running along the beach.
The size will be 6' x 2' and the scale 1:480, the same as Dauntsey Lock. It will be set up for automated exhibition running, both passenger and goods. Chyandour Cliff will have working road traffic, mostly horse-drawn at this period. The layout now has 130 or so goods wagons, about 2/3rds of the final number.
All the locos and passenger stock have now been built, including mail and milk vehicles. The video shows a parade of all the different types, about two-thirds of the total number built. A few minor cleanups are still required and, as usual, the close-ups are cruel.
Everything is 3D printed then hand painted, with paper sides on the coaches. The milk tankers use decals for the lettering and ladders. |
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April 2024
AuthorMartin Kaselis |
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