For once I've done what I set out to this week, it was out with the soldering iron and after a bit of head scratching I sorted out the non working point at the quarry. I found the relevant wires which lead to the motor and cut them, after extending them back to the control panel I attached them to the switch. Nothing. I concluded that the problem was actually the return wire had been cut, unfortunately that meant that I had to find a new place to supply the feed. The simplest answer was to go straight to the output of the CDU hidden in hillside behind the quarry. Voila - working points.
The filthing up of the SR Baldwin continued
I built the second of the sheep wagons, this time adding vacuum pipes
The trio of dirty Baldwins
Eva in action with both sheep wagons in tow
So, it was time to bite the bullet and attempt to untangle the muddle of temporary wiring under the Rock Beach board. I decided to reuse a plastic enclosure from a previous layout which handily had an indicator lamp already in it. It isn't a complicated control panel with just four switches, lots of wires though.
The first things I connected were the point switch and the section switch, unfortunately the 16V AC supply I bought to run the CDU and the drinking fountain was faulty so for now they remain un-powered. Next came the complexity of the building and street lighting, I soldered all the positives to a length of rail and then made a similar nasty bodge for the negatives. It all worked. The other switch controls the flashing light circuit in the lighthouse. Once the replacement 16volt supply arrives the point and the water feature should also work. Fingers crossed.
Job done
Spurred on by getting things working, I dug out the trailer unit for 'Lady Susan' the steam tram. I've always had a bit of trouble when propelling the trailer so gave up on it, however with the gentler curves of this layout it appears to be ok... mostly.
Playing trains with a pre war look
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