00-gauge Inglenook Shunting Puzzle

Hi,

An Inglenook puzzle can of course be done with only 1 uncoupler but i don't mind doing it with 3.
And with only 1 uncoupler you have to shunt the wagons every time back to one of the tracks.

The progress so far.
First tracks are nailed to the baseboard and the first hole has to be made for the Kadee magnets.


These holes are closed with a thin sheet of plastic so the ballast won't fall through.
First applied some thin double sided tape on the surface and then sticked the transparant sheet on it.






The layout so far.


Some of the new rolling stock which i managed to buy in the Netherlands and Germany for a very reasonable price.
Modellbahnunion now sells the Hornby Sentinel shunter for a bargain price of €60,70.



Next jobs to do in random order,
Some buffer stops
2x Manual turnout controls
3x Hinged Kadee magnets
Electrics

Quit a lot of work for such a small layout, love it.

The electrics,
This little layout runs on a PWM controller and a toggle switch to change direction, more we don't need.
Turnouts and hinged uncouplers are operated manually.
A 12v power supply can be plugged into the baseboard by using an old fashioned DIN connector.


This 12v dc goes to the small voltage regulator to set the max speed for the locomotive.
My Hornby Sentinel runs fine with only 6,5v.
On the left the voltage regulator, on the right my trusty old PWM controller.
This controller was designed by Mr Weistra and was first published in a Dutch model railway magazine (Railhobby) in 1984.
I am thinking about making a video of this controller for my Youtube channel.


A 10kΩ potentiometer is used to regulate the speed.
The sliding potmeter and the toggle switch mounted.






The layout so far.


In next update some pictures of the point control and Kadee uncouplers.

Hi,
Back again with a little update.
I have many pictures to post, pictures says it all .

On my last layout i used this system to operate the turnouts. Manual turnout control


Small drawback was that the M3 rod can rotate a bit and cause too much play on the switch.

Here's my new setup.
Used some brass square tube to prevent unwanted rotation.
The outer part is fixed in the baseboards frame, now the puss rod can only slide and no more twisting.
The knob is just a 20mm wooden bead with a 4mm pre-drilled hole, made the hole on one side a little bit larger
and forced a M3 nut in.






New to this setup is the white M3x15 spacer with the M3 threaded rod on one side and a short M3 screw on the other side.
This screw holds the 0,8mm rod in place after hight adjusting.

Drilling a 0,8mm hole in the spacer and lever cap.


And a piece of copper wire to keep things in place.


I am very happy with this setup, works like a charm.

Next the hinged Kadee #308 uncouplers.
First i drilled and countersunk a 3mm hole in the "Steel Intensifier Plate".




Here the same M3 threaded rod, unlike the above this rod has to rotate freely.
Therefore on the white angle profile some self locking nuts are used.




That's all for today, tomorrow more pics.

Hi again.
Made some cards with pictures of the wagons.
All wagons are from Oxford Rail, really like them.
They are very nice detailed and very affordable.
Used some pictures from the Oxford Rail website (think they don't mind), and resized them so they have the same dimensions.
Pictures are printed by an online photo print service.



Then they are cut into small cards.
My collection of wagons from different eras and regions, i don't mind.


The little shunting layout is operational now.


Mayby a little video next time?

Berrychon said:

Could you post the wiring diagram of your controller? It would be very interesting. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hi Berrychon,

Here's the wiring diagram.
This is a very good controller, like any other PWM controller it changes the duty cycle from 0 to 100%.
But it has a party trick, it also varies the frequency from 30 to 100 hz.
It starts with 30 hz and with full throttle it is 100 hz. This can make your engine crawl very slowly.
Still a very low frequency but this design is from 1984.
It works very good with 3 and 5 pole motors, not sure about the new coreless motors.
And also it has a built in short circuit protection.



And here's a link to a Dutch model railway forum (Beneluxspoor) with a part list and more pictures.
It's all in Dutch but i think the schematics are clear enough. PWM controller

Maybe i will start a topic in the Tips and Tricks section.

André

Hi,

The shunter i recently bought is the green Hornby 0-6-0 Sentinel.


I read several reviews and many were not very positive, poor runner, 3 pole motor, no flywheel etc.
But i just had to buy this cute shunter.
Fresh out of the box it wouldn't even run.
The backside of all wheels had some black residue on it so the wipers made no electrical connection at all.
After cleaning all wheels with a glass fiber pen the Sentinel came alive and now it's running very good.
It even crawls very slow in reverse, forward crawling is still a bit jerky.
Maybe the coupling rods need adjusting a bit but for now it's fine.

Short video of crawling Sentinel