Construction

Level crossing

My first attempt proved to be rather unreliable. So I started all over again and now Level Crossing Mark II can be presented:  Fig. 1 Fig. 1 & 2 are plans of my level crossing, viewed from aside and from below (in rest position). I used -just like in Mk1- a hollow axle for the levers, that are connected to the gates with a wire (red) via that axle. The levers are moved by the two yellow parts. Through the yellow assembly there are two axles: a long bolt (dark blue), that can be rotated bij the motors 1 and 2. A nut is soldered to the yellow assembly, that will move slowly back and forth with the rotation, like a worm. The yellow part is guided by a sleeve around the second axle (light blue). The parts marked with 'F' are there to make sure the rotating bolt stays in the right position. I hope the drawings make it all clear.

Fig. 2

In Fig. 2 the desired cycle of motion is as follows:

1.	Yellow part 2 moves in the direction of switch 2B, in doing so it releases switch 2A.
2.	When switch 2B is pushed, motor 2 is switched off and motor 1 is switched on.
3.	Yellow part 1 moves in the direction of switch 1A.
4.	When sitch 1A is activated, the cycle stops: motor 1 is switched off.

Fig. 3

If pushbutton 'Start' is activated a new cycle will begin. Relay 'cycle' takes over from the pushbutton until the cycle is completed. The table gives the direction of movement given the polarity on the points A and B. The polarity could be changed with a simple switch. The diodes should be able to stomach the currents involved, I used 1N4001, which are able to deal with 1A.

I used some electronics to operate my level crossing. The diagram is shown in Fig 4. Basically it is a timer which is used to make sure that the cycle goes on, even if the pushbutton is released before the yellow assembly no longer activates switch 1A or 2A. I made this for Level Crossing Mk1 and decided to use it again. Switch S1 is used to change the polarity of A and B. The two contacts of relay LC-1 replace the 'start'-button in Fig. 3.

A cycle can be started via switch S2. On my layout this switch is disabled when there is a train running (this feature is not included in the diagram). I don't want to see my precious models crashing through the gate because anyone pushed the wrong button! But again, a simple polarity-switch and a pushbutton will work OK.

Fig. 4

The signals

Finial construction:

1.	Solder 2 mm tube and a square (2.5 x 2.5 mm) piece of .5 mm brass sheet to brass pin (1 mm dia)
2.	Make a 'ball' of the piece of tube and a spike of the pinpoint (turning with drill-stand but keep the square piece of brass square)
3.	Drill a hole in the top of the post and superglue the finial in place. Paint in the appropriate colours.

I made the signal-arms of a piece of .5 mm brass. It is soldered on a piece of 1 mm brass wire which serves as axle. The axle goes through a piece of brass tube, glued onto the signal-post. On Wilverton I had to make six arms, I duplicated them by soldering a prototype on a piece of brass and sawing and filing it to the correct shape. After that I seperated them again. The tube was soldered onto a small piece of brass to make glueing it to the post easier.

The signals on Wilverton have working lights. I made them from 1.8 mm LED's, which give a yellow glow. The 'glass' on the signal-arm is coloured maroon and blue. The combination with yellow light gives bright red and green. Fairly prototypical, I think. The wires of the LED are hidden in the signal-post. I made a cut-out, glued the wires in it and filled it up again. After some sanding they were completely invisible. I used thin laquered wires (as found in coils) to avoid any short-circuit. The LED's were covered with a piece of brass tubing with a 2 mm hole to take the lens of the LED. Then I soldered the thin wires at the back and covered the lot in epoxy. After hardening I cut off the leads of the LED and filed the assembly to resemble an oil lamp. With a few layers of black paint the light will only come through the lens.

This method has only one snag: you have to be very careful with your soldering iron. The LED's are easily overheated when you are soldering close to the housing. To prevent this you have to use a small soldering iron (12-15 W) and only cut off the leads after soldering. I checked the LED's after attaching the wires and before putting more work in them. It's frustrating to discover that your LED has been demolished by overheating after completing your lamp!

The ladders were soldered up using a jig and brass wire. The signals are driven by relay-coils below the baseboard. I can recommend the books by Stephen Williams: Great Western Branchline Modelling Part 1, 2 and 3. I based the signalling on Wilverton on information from these books. Part 3 contains a description of the building of signals. You do not need etched parts in my view, they can be scratchbuilt easily. I built six of them, including a bracket signal, and they look very nice with their real wooden posts.

Trackwork

To enable the track soldering I made a jig, in which a number of sleepers can be placed with the correct spacing. Only one rail (SMP code 75 bullhead) is soldered to these sleepers. This assembly is glued to the baseboard with the appropriate curvature. When the glue is dry the other rail is added, using a gauge to ensure the correct width. Pointwork is made with the same method. After soldering the ballast is added and when dry the rails are painted in a rustcolour (the top is cleaned again, of course).

Making the trackwork this way is a time-consuming exercise, but the result is quite acceptable. In my view there is no need for super-detailed chairs on which the bolts are countable. These are only visible keeping your nose on the track and at Wilverton that is not allowed!

On the non-scenic part of Wilverton I used pre-cut copperclad sleepers for track and pointwork. A cheap, reliable and quick tracklaying method. But it does not compare to real wooden sleepers!