Progress on the Rebuild

Little progress to report. Trackwork nearly complete on the depot board and in parts the road surface has been restored. 

The design of the new layout had been completed with the emphasis on a new control system. However other possible developments that may provide a more interesting layout are being discussed whilst the rebuilding progresses. 

The plan has started with necessary trackwork and a complete re-wiring, then an altered overhead and lastly new scenery in the  areas that have changed with upgrades elsewhere.

In practice working on track and wiring is better undertaken together!

A new plan has been devised for the stub ends. 

The photos show the facing junction board with track detectors fitted. These automatically set the point.

The new control box and wiring is shown. Switches are recessed into the board itself. These replace the 3 previous control boxes.  

Cross board umblicals have been made. These allow easy fault finding and higher amperage to be fed into the track. Each board has bus bars capable of delivering up to 17.5 amps although only 8 amps is being supplied.

Final tidying of the wiring won't happen until all wiring has been done.

Automatic point controls under test. Check-rail still being added.New track work has been added since this photo was taken to allow trams to enter the depit from the rear.

The automatic control for the facing point at the junction has been built and installed. Manual override is possible to allow an operator to choose the route rather than rely on a magnet mounted under the tramcar triggering the point. The downside with automatic point control is that the tramcar will always follow the same path. 

Work on designing and building a control system for the junction has been completed and installation work is in progress.

The system operates so that conflicting movements are not possible. This is achieved by introducing a time delay such that  a tramcar is held at the junction using relays. The time interval for a section was determined by experiment. However, the amount of the delay can be adjusted if necessary.

Alternatively this sytem can be switched out and trams can be operated manually. 

Update October 2023

The automatic control system for the depot board is now installed and debugging is in progress. 

The track has been checked and any inaccuracies and breakages that have crept in over time to the gauge have corrected on the first three boards.  The completed work at the junction included the electrical work as the new automatic point control and track had to work together. 

Existing check-rail is being upgraded using code 75 rail as this looks more like tram track.

Track changes on three of the four boards are nearly complete. An intermittent fault remains with some trams, particularly long wheel base 4 wheelers, refusing one curve.

However the stub end board will need the most work if the plan is to succeed.  

New track at the depot entry has been laid to allow trams to run in from the stub end board. A slight increase to that board is being built to allow the new track-work to be installed.

Shortage of materials is still preventing further progress.   

The design work for etched overhead components is at an advanced stage. These include overhead joiners, ears, pull-offs and frogs.