Electronics was never a strong point...

I figured I should roughly draw out the track sections and what will be wired to what on the underside of the baseboard. Trouble is, even with a simple track plan like this I'm struggling to figure it out - but I'll get there eventually!

I've cut some copper-clad circuit board into strips, which I'll glue to the underside of the baseboard where the dropper wires protrude, so they can be soldered to it. This should increase strength as well as providing a connector point for the wiring.

(Oh, and don't worry - I glued some pieces of cork onto the corners of the baseboard surface so I could turn it over without damaging the trackwork!)

Turnout wiring - 3

I'm just wondering... is the reason for the conventional 2 pieces of copperclad on adjacent timbers at the heel of the switches and 3 pieces at the crossing so that each rail can be soldered to a different piece of copperclad to avoid having to try and solder both/all the rails to the same small piece of copperclad??? Anyone?

Turnout wiring - 2

Here's a revised (and clearer!) version of my turnout wiring diagram. I realised that only the frog/crossing itself need actually be switched, not the rails beyond the turnout.

The blue line represents the wire/rails that will be switched depending on the way the turnout is set. The brown colour represents the copper-clad strips: one piece connecting the rails of the crossing, and one connecting the switch/closure rail with the adjacent stock rail (no need for multiple copper-clad strips at each location is there?).

Insulated rail joints are shown in black - all other rail joints will be represented cosmeticly.

Rather than trying to pass the dropper wires up through the sleepers/copper-clad, solder on top and file flat (which I tried and found that filing the joint flat basically removes the joint!!), the wires will come up immediately adjacent to the timber/copper-clad and be bent over and soldered on top of the copper-clad where it protrudes slightly from beneath the rail. (This will be on the non-viewing side of the rail to hide it from view, and further disguised with the general dirt, grass and weeds that will encroach on much of the trackwork anyway).

Turnout wiring

Electronics has never been my strong point, so I'm having to think this through carefully before I do it all wrong! I think the diagram below is correct...

The insulating gaps are represented by the double lines across the rails. The connections between the stock and switch rails will be copper-clad strip stuck to the top of the timbers (with the wire coming up at the side and soldered flat along the top behind the rail out of sight - I think this will work better than what I was trying before), and the connections between the various rails at the crossing will be thin brass strip soldered directly to the bottom of the rails before laying, with the wires soldered to the bottom of this.

I'm not 100% sure if I've got the wiring diagram correct or if there's a simpler way - my thinking is that when the main road is set, the red switch will be 'on' and the black switch 'off', and when the turnout road is set, the black switch will be 'on' and the red switch 'off' (to use complete layman's terms!).

If I've got any of this wrong, can someone please tell me!!!

Wiring diagram

(Click the image to open a larger version in a new window)
The green markings show where power breaks will be introduced with switches to isolate locomotives beyond these locations - namely, at the buffer end of each platform, loop and in the shed road. The latter will have two breaks allowing up to three locos to be stored at any one time (whether there will ever be a needed is another matter although two is likely).

As far as I can see, turnouts 'F' and 'G' must be electrically (and operationally) interlinked so that there is no possibility of a short-circuit developing. I can't see any other potential problem areas. From a prototype operational point of view, I'm not sure also whether 'B' and 'C' would be interlinked to avoid potential accidents! It also makes sense that the main power feed is automatically switched to the shed road when point 'C' is switched to the shed road.

While I'm not yet 100% sure what all this wiring and switches will look like (i.e. how exactly I'll construct it all, connect the power to the rails - including across rail joins etc.) I do anticipate that the electrical switches for each turnout will be linked directly to the point motors, obviating the need for a seperate switch and eliminating the possibility of further accidental short-circuits. I believe the Fulgarex point motors have two built in auxilliary switches which makes them ideal, as well as the fact that their slow motor-driven action (as opposed to the more forceful solenoid type motors from manufacturers such as Peco) is a lot more forgiving on delicate hand-built pointwork! Also, the Fulgarex is apparently smaller than Tortoise motors and slightly cheaper. the only possible drawback I'm aware of is that I've read that the throw of a Fulgarex motor is about 10mm which is a lot more than the actual throw of a turnout. I'm not sure if there has to be some sort of compensation built in or whether the extra distance is taken up by play in the mechanism???

Track and electrics

I got my EM Gauge Society manual through the post today. I decided to join even though I've decided to build the layout in finescale OO, because I'd heard that the information is worth having anyway. There are 3 rin-binders worth of information sheets covering everything from baseboard construction to prototypical railway operation.

Tonight I've been reading up on electrics and made a start at doing some rough wiring diagrams for the layout - not as easy as I remember it being, partly due to the fact that in my teenage modelling days all the tournouts I used were 'dead frog' which made the whole thing a lot easier to understand!

I'll post a wiring diagram on here soon so those of you with a better understanding of these things can point out all my errors!!

I also ordered some point kits from Mainly Trains yesterday, one from C&L and one from SMP, to get some practise at building track and also to compare the two makes before splashing out on track for the whole layout. I'll report back on progress when they arrive.