Wires, Wires ...

I have finally, FINALLY, finished wiring every piece of track on the new baseboards, all colour coded to match the switch panel and using copper strip bus bars.  I have discovered hate wiring.  Even the thought of it makes me want to weep now.  Plus I have a blister on my foot courtesy of lying under the baseboard and trying to solder to a bus bar directly above me.

Perhaps now, moving into year three, I can get on with some scenery...

Switch Before and After Panel

From Evernote:

Before and After

"We're not about to make the same mistakes twice".  Ronald Reagan

And while Reagan may have been referring to Nicaragua, the same can be said of the switch panel in the Summer House.  (Too tentative a link?)  Anyway, refreshed, laminated and now in place (but yet to be completely wired), the whole layout is benefiting from a total rewire - with a 'power to every track piece' policy - and this time it will be in colour!  (My eyes were hurting after trying to trace one red wires path in a sea of identical wires.)

From Evernote:

Building Works

One of the reasons Mulberry Junction is taking a long time to get anywhere is the nearby 1:1 scale building works (about to enter their sixth month).  Clearly, it's infectious, so ... take one badly glued together cheap buy off eBay ...

... give it a 'wash' and a bit of detailing / weathering ...

... and hey presto.

(And clearly no-one's doing anything on this site, either.)

From Evernote:

Mulberry Junction Regrets To Announce ...

With little more than 30 minutes a week to fit it all that needs to be done on the layout, focus is normally pretty sharp so no time is wasted.  But I've completely stalled.  For weeks.

Essentially, while track cleaning is a fact of life*, it's quickly become clear that to maintain smooth running, wiring each piece of track will be required.  This wouldn't be so much of an issue if the wiring hadn't been designed to make use of strategic areas which are isolated when points are set against them.  So new wiring diagram - and therefore switch panel - are required.

The switch panel will, this time, be laminated (hurrah for Rymans) instead of in a clear plastic wallet taped onto cardboard.  I'll need to check it will take being drilled ok (and the paper sandwiched inside doesn't get whipped up by the drill bit, as kept happening with the plastic wallet) but if successful and once mounted on a strong piece of card, it should be stronger than what is there at present.  Rewiring will also give me the chance to correct the mistakes of the original wiring plan, the reality of which has resulted in a sea of red wires and few other colours under the baseboards.  

So why the big delay?  Simply put, the layout is working at present and, as I will not have the opportunity to rewire it in one go, it will mean de-comissioning it for an indeterminate period - which is going to be a problem for a certain six-year old and his Cross Country Voyager time-table.  Plus, being in a summer house, this is the time of year when it is essential to have everything working to make the most of the weather (ho! ho!).  And the problem with leaving the wiring is that I can't start the scenery in ernest until the wiring is completed, so everything is held up ... aaarrgghh.  (And I still have no idea how to 'scene' / layout the small goods yard, below.  However, am more impressed with my 'free' Scalescenes workshop attempt than I thought I would be - pics of almost completed one below below.)

*Track Cleaning: It's been best part of a year since the No-Ox went down on the curve behind the back scene and the trains runs slowly and smoothly over it with no hint of a track-rubber going near it.  Will still keep this as an option, may introduce another area with No-Ox and see how it goes for a while - though will apply less as the Class 220 only has to run a dozen times over the area before it's tiny wheels are blacking-up.

From Evernote:

57xx Reborn

(With apologies for the arty in-camera effect.)

Most excited to receive replacement Bachmann motor in the post today for the beauty above.  Disappointed with performance, though. Motor which packed up was silky smooth, this one's jumpy from stand still and a litte lumpy with slow running. Still, it's only had five mins running free round the outer loop so hoping will settle ...

From Evernote:

This train ....

... won't pass between tracks if they're even fractionally uneven (and I mean fractionally - the drive wheel bogie needs the four wheels in each corner to be absolutely flat or it doesn't get traction) but, more annoyingly, it lists to port.  I have had the whole thing to pieces using Hornby's original data sheet but not even the mearist hint of why it should be doing this.  Ideas welcome.

From Evernote:

Breaking Wires

Minor disaster earlier when the switch panel look a tumble after the hinge broke.  The Expo 7/0.2mm wires made a valiant attempt at breaking the fall, but only for a nano-second, leaving me with a lot of unlabeled wires. 

(Did I learn nothing from data centre installs?)

A two-hinge and gaffer tape solution is to be implemented.

(Clearly not.)