Paperclip (Indoor-Outdoor Layout by Keith. Great Western Railway in 7mm Scale
Keith's O Gauge layout is based on a Paperclip shape, with an internal complete circuit, then a loop running outside on an elevated section due to the ground slope at the property. His New Station building, The build shape might be of interest to those who do not have much room! Like the Great Central stations, the buildings are in two parts, with a variation of doors and windows. The complete building is 600 mm with a 60mm divide, I have made use of LCUT'S full range of products. Progress is being made. DCC operation with Lenz control.
All Change for Clipstone Junction
Many of you will be aware that I have an 0 gauge garden railway which commenced construction five years ago when Ruth & I moved to Devon. The layout is in two parts one being in a Log Cabin and the other around one side of the garden returning inside the Cabin. The complete operation was to be under the control of the Lenz DCC system, which I had used before moving down to Devon.
The configuration of the railway is like a paper clip the small part being in the Cabin, and the larger being outside. It followed therefore, that my layout should be called
“ Clipstone Junction”.
Traffic would be Great Western with passenger & freight trains with various track configurations to give entertainment. The construction was to use treated wood with roofing felt topping, giving the impression to be ballast. Those of you who know anything about how DCC works will know that a main cable, like a house ring main
is installed and many cables known as “droppers” are installed from every yard of track. This being a guide to good performance.
Things were going well UNTIL we had a very bad wet winter two years ago! Although everything had been covered the “exterior” ply timber didn’t perform as I thought it would and this meant that the further part of the layout would have to be rebuilt!!
This part contained a viaduct and looked well within the foliage. Not only had the wood to be removed but also the cable system, together with the track, and supporting frames. After much heart searching it meant that a new form of construction must be adopted using angle steel and protected treated decking. This decking was called composite decking made from plastic milk bottles and would last
25 years. This would certainly see me out!!
My plan was to build on from the treated decking, constructing a metal frame, a bit like a child’s Meccano Set. The composite decking would be cut into pieces like treads of a ladder. All went well and this work was completed within 8 to 10 weeks. To complete roofing felt was glued down with adhesive that would bond onto to decking. The next major item was the track. I had accumulated set track from Lenz which gave me a 6ft radius curve and this was screwed and bolted to the decking. As this type of track was in short lengths then each joint would be soldered across, and as I progressed a multimeter was used to check receiving full coverage of
power. I had calculated over 250 joints were soldered. This was a major job, considering I was working over 48 inches above ground level, and a picture helps to
illustrate my method. This work had been carried out over a period of time particularly when weather was on my side!! I had reached the early days of 2020, BUT unfortunately I had also moved into lock down!! Now started the largest part of the job, to completely rewire a double track with bus cables and extra wires just to make sure I contained a full 6 to 8 amps from one end of the layout to the other. Of course, a Lenz booster had been incorporated within the system over two years previously.
So where to start, would the covid virus cause a problem?? There were indications of a complete shut down! I decided all cables would run in a 20mm tubing, and there would be junction boxes together with T section and curved access section. Inside the tubing would run 2.5mm cable for the bus together with 3-amp 1.6 mm for the power leads to the track. Colour coding would also play a great part ascertaining where the cable was actually running!
With all the previous cabling removed I started to install new tubing by the Log Cabin. This tubing conveyed a direct cable link from inside the cabin which housed the Lenz command units, to the track. I had decided for neatness, that all tubing would run on the inside of the layout. In some cases it would run on the top of the decking, this was important, so that full access could be gained to cables etc.
This work took many hours but on one occasion a fault developed causing an electrical short. This put me back but suddenly the fault was found. Although I had been very careful in making sure all cables joined their respective colours, this had not happened. Unfortunately, this junction box was in the middle of a bush which had grown above rail height. From this point on I made sure red went to red & black went to black!! You will notice from one picture these super cable “joiners” which clip the cable. They are supplied in several modulars and I would recommend them to any person who has many cables to connect.
I have included two photos which show the S % T in full operation mode in the “undergrowth”. I can assure you many days were spent on my feet!!
So to conclude I have spent many hours during the covid lock down on this project, and have been very pleased in the operation of Clipstone Junction. Trains have performed with full power to the furthest point on the layout. There were two areas where the train did drop power but with the new wiring this has gone away.
The layout is now covered up for the winter, but trains will run in the Log Cabin. I have plans for scenery development and additional sidings/storage.
In conclusion – all’s well that ends well.
Happy Modelling Keith Gowen October 2020
Many of you will be aware that I have an 0 gauge garden railway which commenced construction five years ago when Ruth & I moved to Devon. The layout is in two parts one being in a Log Cabin and the other around one side of the garden returning inside the Cabin. The complete operation was to be under the control of the Lenz DCC system, which I had used before moving down to Devon.
The configuration of the railway is like a paper clip the small part being in the Cabin, and the larger being outside. It followed therefore, that my layout should be called
“ Clipstone Junction”.
Traffic would be Great Western with passenger & freight trains with various track configurations to give entertainment. The construction was to use treated wood with roofing felt topping, giving the impression to be ballast. Those of you who know anything about how DCC works will know that a main cable, like a house ring main
is installed and many cables known as “droppers” are installed from every yard of track. This being a guide to good performance.
Things were going well UNTIL we had a very bad wet winter two years ago! Although everything had been covered the “exterior” ply timber didn’t perform as I thought it would and this meant that the further part of the layout would have to be rebuilt!!
This part contained a viaduct and looked well within the foliage. Not only had the wood to be removed but also the cable system, together with the track, and supporting frames. After much heart searching it meant that a new form of construction must be adopted using angle steel and protected treated decking. This decking was called composite decking made from plastic milk bottles and would last
25 years. This would certainly see me out!!
My plan was to build on from the treated decking, constructing a metal frame, a bit like a child’s Meccano Set. The composite decking would be cut into pieces like treads of a ladder. All went well and this work was completed within 8 to 10 weeks. To complete roofing felt was glued down with adhesive that would bond onto to decking. The next major item was the track. I had accumulated set track from Lenz which gave me a 6ft radius curve and this was screwed and bolted to the decking. As this type of track was in short lengths then each joint would be soldered across, and as I progressed a multimeter was used to check receiving full coverage of
power. I had calculated over 250 joints were soldered. This was a major job, considering I was working over 48 inches above ground level, and a picture helps to
illustrate my method. This work had been carried out over a period of time particularly when weather was on my side!! I had reached the early days of 2020, BUT unfortunately I had also moved into lock down!! Now started the largest part of the job, to completely rewire a double track with bus cables and extra wires just to make sure I contained a full 6 to 8 amps from one end of the layout to the other. Of course, a Lenz booster had been incorporated within the system over two years previously.
So where to start, would the covid virus cause a problem?? There were indications of a complete shut down! I decided all cables would run in a 20mm tubing, and there would be junction boxes together with T section and curved access section. Inside the tubing would run 2.5mm cable for the bus together with 3-amp 1.6 mm for the power leads to the track. Colour coding would also play a great part ascertaining where the cable was actually running!
With all the previous cabling removed I started to install new tubing by the Log Cabin. This tubing conveyed a direct cable link from inside the cabin which housed the Lenz command units, to the track. I had decided for neatness, that all tubing would run on the inside of the layout. In some cases it would run on the top of the decking, this was important, so that full access could be gained to cables etc.
This work took many hours but on one occasion a fault developed causing an electrical short. This put me back but suddenly the fault was found. Although I had been very careful in making sure all cables joined their respective colours, this had not happened. Unfortunately, this junction box was in the middle of a bush which had grown above rail height. From this point on I made sure red went to red & black went to black!! You will notice from one picture these super cable “joiners” which clip the cable. They are supplied in several modulars and I would recommend them to any person who has many cables to connect.
I have included two photos which show the S % T in full operation mode in the “undergrowth”. I can assure you many days were spent on my feet!!
So to conclude I have spent many hours during the covid lock down on this project, and have been very pleased in the operation of Clipstone Junction. Trains have performed with full power to the furthest point on the layout. There were two areas where the train did drop power but with the new wiring this has gone away.
The layout is now covered up for the winter, but trains will run in the Log Cabin. I have plans for scenery development and additional sidings/storage.
In conclusion – all’s well that ends well.
Happy Modelling Keith Gowen October 2020
