Nah I am not a runner of trains going round in ever decreasing circles, bores the asp of me.
Loft Railway build.
- Thread starter dunnyrail
- Start date
I was up in the loft the other day and made a start on the North Side Station, the through line has been laid and is all wired up. Below view from the West end.
View from the East end.
Just 3 more points and some rail plus wiring to tack in now. As you can see I have been laying the wire as is my norm these days in electricians trunking with a removable top. Makes life so much easier for fault finding if any needed plus I can see the joins back to the panel hiden inside as well. I have been using the connectors from RS Stock No. 8837544 which have a push connection to hold the wires in place . Not sure how they would fare outside but I imagine would be Ok if placed inside a dry building or some other such place. There are 2 push ins per connector so the main wire from the pannel to the outside track goes to the outside screw terminal and subsidery wires to the track in the other one. The inside wire from the panel goes to a second connector to the inside screw terminal with the track wires heading out on the other one.
You can see that I have terminated the main wire from the pannel and run another out to the other end of the board. I also use the stripe for the outside rail and have splogged some white paint on the outer rails wires to help out keeping track of things. When the top is placed back on the jumble of wires beneath is lost. I tend to cut the top up some so that I have short pieces to put in place to keep things inside when wiring up.
Once that was all done I ran the set you can see with 3 carriages round the circuit a few times to see for any dodgy joints etc. A few issues came to the fore which will be attended to once all of the track is laid. However a puzzling one was a coach derailing on a trailing point on every pass. Looking at it from track angle it became clear that it was more of a decoupling that was causing the issue. As I do not have hooks on locomotives clearly it was the carriage and the following pic shows that the spring had weakened causing the hook to be low.
After removing the hook you can see the problem.
This coach and the others had been stored on a shelf in my tin shed so likely this hook had been pressed against the end wall and pushed the hook down eventually weakening the spring. This is something that can occure with badly packed stock and home made buffer stops that do not have space for the hook to sit in the correct manner. The resolution is quite simple, just turn the spring over and all is well again as seen below.
This pic shows just how the issue can be created.
Next time we should getbonto the rest of the track laid and wired up.
View from the East end.
Just 3 more points and some rail plus wiring to tack in now. As you can see I have been laying the wire as is my norm these days in electricians trunking with a removable top. Makes life so much easier for fault finding if any needed plus I can see the joins back to the panel hiden inside as well. I have been using the connectors from RS Stock No. 8837544 which have a push connection to hold the wires in place . Not sure how they would fare outside but I imagine would be Ok if placed inside a dry building or some other such place. There are 2 push ins per connector so the main wire from the pannel to the outside track goes to the outside screw terminal and subsidery wires to the track in the other one. The inside wire from the panel goes to a second connector to the inside screw terminal with the track wires heading out on the other one.
You can see that I have terminated the main wire from the pannel and run another out to the other end of the board. I also use the stripe for the outside rail and have splogged some white paint on the outer rails wires to help out keeping track of things. When the top is placed back on the jumble of wires beneath is lost. I tend to cut the top up some so that I have short pieces to put in place to keep things inside when wiring up.
Once that was all done I ran the set you can see with 3 carriages round the circuit a few times to see for any dodgy joints etc. A few issues came to the fore which will be attended to once all of the track is laid. However a puzzling one was a coach derailing on a trailing point on every pass. Looking at it from track angle it became clear that it was more of a decoupling that was causing the issue. As I do not have hooks on locomotives clearly it was the carriage and the following pic shows that the spring had weakened causing the hook to be low.
After removing the hook you can see the problem.
This coach and the others had been stored on a shelf in my tin shed so likely this hook had been pressed against the end wall and pushed the hook down eventually weakening the spring. This is something that can occure with badly packed stock and home made buffer stops that do not have space for the hook to sit in the correct manner. The resolution is quite simple, just turn the spring over and all is well again as seen below.
This pic shows just how the issue can be created.
Next time we should getbonto the rest of the track laid and wired up.
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I've decided I'm moving up my whole collection up in to my loft, since moving house it isn't really viable having the railway in the garden (I've tried it for the last year and it just gets in the way as its such a small garden!) Kind of glad actually going to have about 3.7m x 1.8m space to play around with (There is more space but that's what I'm starting out with). Seen plenty of OO Gauge etc loft layouts but not many G scale come to think of it! I'm laying mine directly on to the chipboard flooring I've just put down, hopefully should have space for a decent tunnel where it goes under a purlin. Looking forward to it! Shall probably make a thread on it once I get the remaining floor put down etc..
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As you are having your line on the floor you will certainly have more space for larger curves etc. Suggestion if I may, good set of knee pads or a good quality kneeler or two would be good additions to the loft.
Yes you need to make the loft space a warm, dry, light and pleasant space to be in and get in to otherwise you won't enjoy it after the initial burst of enthusiasm and then will feel guilty because you don't use it. I talk from experience of an OO loft railway. Velux windows, insulation, cladding over the rafters, proper wiring (not extension leads through the loft trapdoor) and lighting, etc. Time and money in preparation for the railway but without it I think you'll end up wishing you had.
Reminds me of that well known Scottish song 'You build a high road, and I'll build a low road, and I'll have a layout before ye'. I'm only jealous because, living in a fairly modern house, my loft space is all roof trusses that exclude the prospect of any kind of layout. My parents bungalow in Broadstairs had a cavernous loft space with not a roof truss in sight and the whole area was boarded over, it was a railway modellers dream.
David
David
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An interesting read.
Will you paint the spray on insulation and rafters sky blue with a spray gun ?
Will you paint the spray on insulation and rafters sky blue with a spray gun ?
Im gonna get some old carpet from somewhere, I’m only 22 so it doesn’t bother me that much, more just to have warm feet! I’ll see what space I end up with, mainly depends on money and far I can reach as it gets quite tight for space once your under the purlin! This half is being used for storage. And before someone tells me about insulation I’m working on something! It’s not that chilly in winter though I should add!
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Will, if it is warm up there it is likely that there is inadequate insulation between the too of the rooms and the loft so insulating above your head is a good idea. My first Loft Conversion back in the 70’s I insulated with soft rolly stuff of the day. Horrible to do but it was the cheapest option when I was penny poor. That was covered with Hardboard so that it did not constantly keep dropping fibers but also to keep it in place. Not the cheapest of jobs these days and not too easy getting the covering sheets through the hatch. I modified mine to be 2’6” to assist in that regard.
As for your knees, protecting them now will pay dividends in later life. Trust me I used to be on my knees all the time when I was your age and regret it now!
Can't agree more, its not until you are older you realise that you should have treated your body better when you were young
Couldn't agree with you more Jon. I wonder how Monica Lewinsky is getting on these days?
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I
David
I wonder if Bill Clinton splashed out on them for her.Possibly, she now wears dentures?
David
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In our last place as well as the usual loft insulation up to 270mm under foot up there, I also ran some reflective insulation across the rafters, stapling it to them. The loft temperature after that remained constant pretty well instead of being boiling hot in summer and freezing in winter. I left a gap of just above the top of the wall for ventilation purposes.
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