Switching Over

Tie bar extended and point motor tried for size.

I decided to start relaying track from the control (Lynton) end of the station board, as I would be able to try out the electrics without wasting too much wire. That meant beginning with the one right-hand turnout (operated by lever 3 in the real Chelfham ground frame). Soldered under the PCB tie bar is a brass extension drilled for the point motor (Seep): I fashioned it from a truss rod etching from a brass carriage kit that has obviously been blown up from 4mm to 7mm!

Dry-run fitting of turnout.

I had intended to mount the turnout as close to the board edge as possible. Having discovered that the prototype's EFPL locking bar extended over 6 sleepers at the toe, starting just up from the tie bar, I chose to solder an extra bit of rail each side so as to bridge the break while laying the track to the fiddle yard.

The original wiring for the Seep point motor was to its coils only, and the turnout was simply fed at the toe. I'm going to use the Seep's built-in electric switching, so I soldered feeds to each end of the straight and curved stock rails and to the crossing vee. The feeds at the crossing end will link via the switch to the crossing vee. The dry-run showed I'd drilled two holes too far 'up' the track; re-drilling eased the tension on the wires and allowed me to line up the tie-bar more accurately.