North East model railway – Matters Arising 4

Continuing to discuss the points brought up on the video comments on the YouTube channel, I have expanded the explanations in this blog because it is not always possible to adequately answer the questions in the  limited comments space.

Long Trains

One of the design requirements for Trenholme Junction was 'the trains must be of prototypical length'.

Quite a short sentence, but hidden in there are quite a few other considerations to take into account. 

The  recent (last 10 years) crop of super quality locomotives has meant that we can now run trains of a length we could only dream about before that. I'm talking here about locomotives in the UK, in America their market has had this capability for a long time. The American influence on this section of the hobby is very good for us here in the UK. 

The videos below show a couple of examples of long trains. To see the Channel, the link is at the bottom of this page.

Tests on my layout have have been truly amazing, one Hornby Stanier 2-8-0 locomotive pulled ninety Bachmann mineral wagons. You only have to marvel at this when you grip the coupling on the first wagon and pull it yourself, the weight involved is really surprising.

Track

'....it amazes me the amount of wagons and or coaches propelled over double crossovers with no derailments....' is a quotation from a recent video comment.

There are quite a few things in response to this, one is of course the boring but absolutely vital subject of track laying. You really need to make sure that the points are laid absolutely flat and the approach tracks are not under any stress. Stress, where the connected tracks are not in line will distort the turnout and unpredictable running will be the result. Neglect in this area may not be too much of a problem if you run very short trains, but once you multiply the numbers by ten or fifteen the problems are amplified accordingly.

The second and equally important point on the subject of track laying is the selection of the type of points (switches) you use. On Trenholme Junction two sizes of points were selected. Large and Medium. Ideally, Large radius points should be used wherever possible, but practical considerations forces compromises. Most of the points on the passenger carrying main lines and the major junctions all use large radius components. All the remaining points are medium radius. I dwell on this subject of the size of the points I used because smooth running, if you wish to perform complicated movements with lots of rolling stock, is determined by this selection.

On small layouts it is usual to use setrack components because the space available. These components perform well on a limited space layout, but the diverging track geometry is pretty severe and are not affected by long trains.

Couplings

There are many different sizes and types of couplings in OO gauge but most are variations on Triang's 'Tension Lock'. Its a good thing that most manufacturers rolling stock can be easily coupled together but on long trains they can and do cause problems. On Trenholme Junction the long mineral trains of fifty or so wagons are all Bachmann and they run very well, with one point to note. It is important to make sure the couplings have hooks on both wagons especially if the wagon is at the front of the train. If the hook is missing from one wagon, it will twist as it runs and is prone to derailment.Trains of mixed manufacturers' couplings are a little more unpredictable, generally I find probably ninety percent are fine but the longer the train the more prone to misbehaviour where mixed types are at the front of the train.

Speed

The final part in this piece is to deal with speed. It is surprising how many layouts I look at and have to cringe at the speed the trains travel around the layouts. Its not easy to get the speed right but you can make some rough comparisons by sitting next to a real railway and just count how many seconds it takes a train to pass you by. Take a note of the number of vehicles in the train and then do they same thing on your model with a similar length train. Most surprising.

The already mentioned super locomotives together with DCC control make speed control an easy thing to achieve.

To say there are no derailments on my layout is of course untrue but aren't many, most are caused by trying to run over points set against the train or by a fault which shuts the power off to the track abruptly, fast moving trains and those on curves being particularly vulnerable.

In conclusion, correct track selection, track laying and appropriate speed will allow the model railway to behave in the same way as the prototype.

To view the channel, follow the link below
http://www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

North East model railway – Matters Arising 3

Amongst the popular questions asked about the layout, probably the most common is about wheel and track cleaning. This week there has been an exchange in the video comments of the video above. Further information to the exchanges are below, mainly for the benefit of beginners.

If you don't want to watch the video, link is directly to comments
www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=wc2wvnhAhvU

Wheel Cleaning

One question, is asked about the types different items, the photograph below is of what I use on Trenholme Junction.

The top item is the Triang Triang/Hornby original Loco Wheel Cleaning brush which you clip the wires to the track and place the brush across the driving wheels. The wheels spin and the wire strands very effectively remove even  the most stubborn dirt. This item ceased production in the 1970's but can still be found at swapmeets and ebay.

The Peco PL-40 two piece brush and scraper set is to the right and works in a similar way to the Triang brush. This item is currently in production. The brush part of this set is very good but I find the scraper part to be pretty useless. I bought a second set and use the two brushes together. Cleaning one wheel at a time is very frustrating.
The down side of both the above items is they don't clean wheels other than the powered ones.

Track Cleaning

There has been a few attempts over the years from various manufacturers to automate track cleaning with probably little success. All products seem to go out of production without any rave reviews and all seem to rely on the principle that expensive consumables will be bought each time the track needs cleaning. I have to say I haven't tried the Dapol offering so would exclude any opinions on this product. If anybody has tried this product let me know, I would be interested in their experiences.

The third item in the photograph above is the Rail Cleaner. This item is a simple rubber block with abrasive particles. In my opinion this is the most effective way of cleaning the track. All track rubbers leave some residual bits on the track especially around the points and I find the best thing to do after using the rubber is to use a small dry paint brush and simply brush the track to remove the particles from the running surfaces. One of my subscribers has suggested using a vacuum cleaner to remove particles, I do do this infrequently, I find the paint brush method to be adequate.

Prevention is better than cure and its worth pointing out and emphasising the two very important points I raised in the video exchange about not using locomotives with  traction tyres and to use metal wheeled rolling stock. The two measures do not eliminate track cleaning but do seriously reduce the need for it.

If you are planning a new layout, track cleaning is not an optional extra but is a major part of the planning process. If you measure from you armpit to the middle of the palm of your hand, this is the maximum reach you have. You must consider being able to reach ALL the track on your layout. On Trenholme Junction around 98% of the track can be reached standing on the floor. The other 2% I have to use a small pair of steps. Don't forget that if your layout is to be against the wall, the maximum reach will be half of the reach if you can access it from both sides.
However clean your railway room is, sooner or later, you will have to clean the track.

To view the channel, follow the link below

www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

North East model railway – Matters Arising 2

Signalling the layout.

In respect to the question of the signalling on the layout. I do intend to signal the layout and as 48firefox points out this will be a mammoth task. Not only to design the signals required, but also to source decent models which are typical of the North East area. I have tried to find a signal man to help me with the design, but most run away once the size of the task becomes apparent.  

Around the time frame of the layout there was a mixture of both semaphore and colour lights and I would see as the ideal representation. I know there are kits which will fit the bill, I don't relish the thought of making up hundreds of fiddly kits, with bits that fall of every time you breathe near them.

There is a market for a manufacturer to really get to grips with this poorly represented part of the market and produce some decent 'ready to plant' working signals at a reasonable price. There needs to be a range which is not just the home and distant single poles, but gantries, junctions and ground signals as well.

A few years ago I started to collect colour light kits from the Eckon range and simply could not find anywhere near the quantities I needed, and after a dealer told me they were only produced in small numbers  I gave up.

DCC operation obviously allows the interlocking with the points and this is a desirable installation requirement.