7 - Building a switch panel (part 1)

[@davidhudson391]

After a year’s break, it time to start modelling again. Thank you for the inspiration.

[@rydermike33]

That really is a lovely looking panel. Wish I had your expertise. It will look fantastic in operation. Many thanks for sharing the build with us.

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Thanks, Mike. I mostly replaced the switch panel in recent videos as I moved away from the Seeps PM-1 point motors and used DCC-based point motors. It's all using JMRI as integrates with signal light control and setting routes to throw multiple points for the different platforms. I was proud of this build though, so have left all the videos up for people to learn from and use, as it's a fine system and approach. Good luck. Iain

[@riff2072]

12:00 Drill the smaller holes first, so if you make a mistake you can enlarge the hole. The time and money spent was well worth it. Looks great!

[@WirenwoodModelRailway]

Really enjoying these videos. I'm doing roughly the same stuff at roughly the same time so it's fun to watch your progress too. Thanks - keep them coming!

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Vintage 80s Loft Model Railway Thanks! Looks like your layout is coming along nicely, too. This is a fun way to share ideas and see what others are doing.

[@BarnabasJunction]

WOW that looks amazing, really looking forward to seeing it lit up and operating. You got me thinking now 💭 💭 💭

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Barnabas Junction Thanks mate! This is a fun part for me, I really like electrics (ask me again in a couple of weeks...). I need to make sure all the point motors are going to work when wired up before moving on, and didn't want to spend the time building a temporary panel. So, figured I'd just go all-in and get stuck in!

[@hukcoi]

Just stumbled across your great youtube channel, what a mine of information. Looking forward to going through your videos to get up to date.

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Thanks, glad you find the channel so helpful! I won't spoil the surprise with the latest switch panel updates, but don't rush out and follow what I did here until you've watched some of my more recent videos ;) Iain

[@hukcoi]

@@NewcastleCentralOOGauge I am currently working with Megapoints servo controllers, Relay modules for frog switching and their mimic panel controller but I haven't got a handle on the front, what I look at yet 😫

[@karguy1720]

Very well done. Your work is inspiring!

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Thanks, much appreciated! It's slow going, but gradually making progress. Iain

[@kacperzawadzki9408]

Looking great mate

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Kacper's Model Railway Thanks! I should have part 2 uploaded tonight. Slowly making progress!

[@riggziestrains8082]

Awesome job!!! WOW!!!! you have sold me on what I need to do!

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Glad you like this approach! It definitely served me well. Depending on your needs and switch motors, this is a good approach. That said, I've switched away from the Seeps PM-1 point motors and so have moved away from this panel and now use JMRI for DCC control of all the points. Look at some of my more recent videos for my journey down that path. I don't regret building this panel at all, but as my operations grew more complex, and the Seeps point motors didn't perform very well, I had to adapt my layout. JMRI and the ability to set routes that would control 6 or 7 turnouts at a time along with signal lights in particular, was what sold me. All the best. Iain

[@riggziestrains8082]

@@NewcastleCentralOOGauge I was originally just going to setup my DC setup. I have never setup a layout and was going to do a 4x8 dual track layout with an atlas 305 turntable. I have the turntable and 11 trains that I got from craigslist. Actually about 12 years ago I bought a ton of stuff and sold 90% of it to recoop costs and keep what I wanted. so I just have to buy track. I was then trying to figure out how to do the track switching to which I found your video. I agree that I looked at an older one but also I am now seeing I am going to bypass DC and go straight for DCC and go the JMRI way on an ipad or android phone. This is going to be cool and now going to look at your videos to watch your journey. While I will not do the journey you did, I appreciate what you have done and I bet it was a lot of fun. I typically am one that does the journey and changes so many things around.... enjoy and keep up the good work!!!

[@davidhudson391]

I’d forgotten about the very simple charting facility in Excel. Thank you.

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Glad it was helpful! I've mostly moved on from this particular switch panel, but it was a great learning experience, and I had a lot of fun building it. Worked well for what I needed at the time. Good luck with whatever you're working on. Iain

[@stephencarey5074]

I made a similar one using CAD and an A0 plotter. I didn't laminate it, just used perspex on top and wood underneath, but it was a bit thick, so I just used a pointer and studs to change the points. In those days LED weren't available and grain of wheat burned too hot (can still smell them now, 20 years later), so I was a bit stuck on the lights. Good intentions but technology didn't match them at the time. I have a question about the point motor switches - won't they burn out unless you return them to the centre point each time? Seems a bit of a risk that you'll catch one with a sleeve and not notice until your point motor starts melting...

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

The point motors were connected to a capacitor discharge unit (CDU), so there's no way they could burn out. The CDU would quickly discharge, which also helped in giving the point motors a quick surge to throw the point, and once drained, wasn't a problem if the toggle switch would inadvertently remain thrown since no power was being sent to the motors. Iain

[@lms_steve6693]

Wow thanks for that, I was going to ask the same re: points burning out. I'm still trying to understand how the LED's work though, presumably via a switch fixed to the point motor? @@NewcastleCentralOOGauge

[@slopedouche5460]

Are these “momentary” DPDT toggles?

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

It's been a while, but I don't think so, and it's since been replaced with full DCC control for the turnouts now. I know they weren't spring-return to center. These were just a bunch of switches I had for use, so your setup may differ. I was running through a capacitor discharge unit (CDU) to be able to power throwing multiple point motors at once, so I wasn't as concerned about needing momentary or spring-return switches to prevent burnout. Depending on your layout, it may matter. Good luck. Iain

[@kropotken]

Great video and good looking control panel. Any tips for drilling plexiglass? And what glue did you use? Thanks.

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Thanks! I didn't really have to do anything specific on the plexiglass other than a slow-medium drill speed and gently using a pin or punch tool to make a small indentation first to stop the drill bit from slipping. The plexiglass is rather soft material so you go through it pretty quick, and there's no bite on the drill bit to get started without a small marker to help it get started so would slip around. For glue, honestly I think I just used a thin layer of regular white PVA glue. I knew it would be fairly harmless and and haven't seen any problems since it's on the underside of the laminated panel. The switches would actually hold it in place, but the thin layer of glue makes sure it's even across the whole panel and lays flat.

[@kropotken]

Thanks for the info - much appreciated.

[@joeolivo4093]

How can I find the Excel instructions on how to create the board layout?

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Sorry, I don't think I'd originally shared the board layout. I've now shared this here - 1drv.ms/x/s!Au5wqQ62M7CTiqx16xqyGm2MuI6wtA. The Excel part was more to make it easy to align the text for the platform names, then it's using the draw tool for the lines. Hopefully looking at this version I used gives you an idea how to form your own. Let me know how it goes! Iain

[@joeolivo4093]

Thank you

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

You're welcome!

[@stephencarey5074]

I used a CAD system (AutoCAD) to draw it out, then a plotter to plot on tracing paper which I sandwiched between plexiglass and plywood. Too thick for point switches, but I was using a pointer and studs to change the points anyway, so no problem at the time. I like the idea in the vid of laminating it and sticking it to the plastic stuff. I used tape on the plexiglass so that it didn't crack when drilled. Any drawing package that you know how to use will do - never thought of using Excel, and in those days it didn't exist - it was Lotus 123.