2017_04_24 Gangs of workers today....

2017_04_24   Double crossing diamond crossovers and track gangs and more

 Graeme came over and worked on the new section around the Murray River



As well he put the final filler coat on the curved "infinity" corners. Just need a light sand and a paint after it dries :) Cant wait to see it painted

See where the tunnel mouth is? That will be the edge of a large hill rising to the right. The lower level double line will come out of a cutting and cross the Murray bridge. Joys of compressing the layout, I guess.

Al was ripping up track....

At first it was just a small repair job at Bullarto. But like anything  on this layout nothing ever goes so easy and it turned into  a total relay of the yard. Grey gap-filla tried this time to restore the roadbed on top of the caneite, level out a few bumps. As well Al helped touch up the branchline approach on Trentham side.  Again a lot of work that is hard to picture.

I turned out in my usual 'gofor' role. finding stuff and telling all what I wanted. As well I returned to the problem crossover and undid all the wiring around it. Even removed the crossover.
I tested the crossing and found it to be sound and fully isolated. I then checked out the wiring of the four sides of the crossover. Making sure all insulating joints were in place. Tested juicers and everything worked ok. Put it all back together and the BG still worked, however the SG shorted, still!.

I spent about three hours on it and finally started a final check of the wires, adding one dropper in at a time until I got the short back. I then changed the dropper from connecting to SG feed and then to BG feed and short remained. I moved dropper to the other side of the crossing tried BG feed and short remained. Moved it to SG side and short disappeared. Why ? DCC is just a power feed ?  Positive wire is common to the DCC bus, as is the negative wire?  But lets not dwell on any questions, just be glad it worked. Tomorrow I move to the sale yards at Wodonga where I have a double slip and two crossovers to wire in... Hope I finally get a break this time :(

You want proof? Ha Ha you got it! Al... I got it done while you were heading home. How about that :D
Cheers
Rod