PROGRESS SO FAR

This part of the site will be updated at regular intervals during the construction of the new layout. Any and all problems, with solutions, will be reported to, hopefully, encourage others.

16th October 1999. Construction has started with the cutting to size of all wood to be used in the building of the baseboard, storage and travelling cases, display tables etc. Slatwalling has been ordered together with other shopfitting accessories such as display stands and shelves etc. and will be collected on Moday 18th October.

8th December 1999. Construction of the display modules is now well under way using slat walling (a shop fitting item) which has been fitted inside each half of two paste tables which have had the legs removed. To these a hinged section has been fitted at each end to provide more space to display trams as they are completed. Shelves have been made and chrome brackets to hold them have been purchased, together with a number of clear acrylic shelves and display units.

8th January 2000. The first casting of white metal "heads" for the street lights have now been completed as has the first trial version of the brass tube lamp posts. The lamphead is shown with the grain of wheat bulb fitted and the wire going to the illuminated feature is seen going down the centre of the lamp post. The other wire from the bulb is soldered to the white metal casting which, when soldered to the lamp post will receive current via the lamp post which will be "live". Although the casting may appear very "rough" it should be pointed out that the photograph shows it enlarged 8 times.

The "masters" for the clear resin castings have now been finished. When the moulds have been made and the castings made from them they will be attached to the lamp posts and will have photographs of the real fittings glued on and bulbs fitted so that the models light up just like the prototype. This photograph shows the items at approx 40% of their full size.

  These are the brass masters for the illuminated features which will be fitted to the lap posts. There is a "cheat" here in that some features have an irregular shape which would require a master and mould for each individual shape so, to avoid that problem, a round or oval shape will be used with the "unused part" painted out with matt black paint. This will hopefully fool the eye into seeing only the illuminated portion. If you look carefully at the oblong shape at the top of the picture (you are actually viewing the reverse side of this shape) you will note that it has iternal bars. These will form compartments for the two bulbs which will flash alternately plus the bulb which will remain alight all the time.

4th March 2000. During January and February work has started on producing the scenic background for the layout. The first stage is to produce a composite photograph of each building to be featured. This is done on the computer using Adobe Photoshop software to import and join together the many photographs needed of each building (Mr.B's for example needed no less than twelve) and then remove unwanted features. The final "photograph" is then joined together with the other "photographs" to produce an ever growing backscene. The backscene so far produced has a file too large to be downloaded on a web site (its in excess of 400mb) so cannot be seen here. As may be guessed, the number of hours consumed by the task so far is in excess of 70 hours. With the brief break in the wet and stormy weather on the 19th February the opportunity was taken for a very brief trip to Blackpool to take photographs of the rebuilt and overhauled Centenary car number 642. Fortunately it was on service and it was possible to photograph the roof and windows in some detail. This will enable work to start on designing the parts to adapt our Centenary tram kits so that a model of 642 can be made. This work will have to take second place to the work on the layout for the next few months. The work on the backscene has now provided the opportunity to specify the number of light sources and other factors so that Derek Burdett can start work on designing the circuits necessary for the signs etc., on the buildings. Although not a lot of evidence to show on the site, a tremendous amount of work is going on "behind the scenes".

12th May 2000 Work has only just restarted after a longer than anticipated break which has been spent packing and posting model tram kits of Blackpool prototypes to fellow enthusiasts. With that task now completed work has commenced on the assembly of the baseboards for the layout. There will be four modules each four foot long by two foot wide. The outside framing is being made from 2" by 1" softwood with 1" by 1" softwood running the full length to support the backscene, light connectors and rear protective screen.

26th May 2000 The framework and trackbeds have now been completed and work has started on building the track. This is being made from SMP copper clad sleepers and code 65 rail with nickel silver strip 5mm wide by 10 thou being soldered inside the rail. This will give the appearance of grooved tramway track when the "roadway" between the rails is constructed. At this stage, the track being constructed is known as "half track", ie one rail and metal strip is soldered to the sleepers because if both rails were soldered on it would be impossible to curve the track. After being curved to size on the layout and lightly fixed, the other rail and strip will be soldered on. Straight track will be fully constructed before fixing to the layout. It is hoped that buildng and fixing the track will not take more than a week but.....!

14th June 2000 The cabinet which will be used to transport three of the four layout boards and act as the support for one of them has been completed as have the supporting trestles. The layout was fully erected yesterday at Plymouth Model Railway Club's clubroom. To everyone's surprise and delight, everything fitted together just as planned. Our reservations about the height of the layout - the trackbed is at a height of 4 foot 8 inches from the ground - proved unfounded. Although it was admitted that the height would prove a hindrance to viewing for children and wheelchair bound exhibition visitors, it was felt that this would be inconvenient rather than prevent viewing altogether. The next task will be to curve and fix the hardboard support for the backscene around the very tight curves at the end of the layout before the track is fixed in place. This has been a small change in the schedule as having the track in situ will, it is anticipated, be a hindrance to fixing the backscene support and could lead to track damage during the support curving proceedures. This shouldn't cause any great delay as its just changing the order of assembly rather than changing the overall timescale

30th June 2000 A major setback has occurred. After leaving the baseboards stored in the trailer for a week after returning from the model railway club whilst work on the backscenes was underway, when Len went to get them out to fix the backscene supports it was discovered that the MDF trackbed had "bulged" to such an extent that it had become unusable. The "bulging" resembles corrugated iron where the MDF has bent upward between the screws securing it to the framework by a couple of millimitres. Whilst this is a relatively small measurement, in 4mm scale model tramway terms its a 6inch high "bump" and, occurring as it does at baseboard joints would cause the derailment of every tram travelling over the joint. On other parts of the trackbed the track would rise and fall relatively gently and not cause derailments but as there must be a possibility of further distortion(s) it has been decided to replace the MDF with chipboard and this will take place over the weekend of 1st/2nd July. The reason for the distortion is not known at present but the high temperatures reached during the fine weather over the time the layout was in the trailer must be a prime suspect, even though the trailer is well insulated to prevent condensation. There hasn't been any major disruption of the timetable as a result of the mishap and steady progress is still being maintained. The backscene has been compiled from several hundred photographs on a computer and all lamp posts, bus shelters and people have been removed. The complete backscene has been printed and Jim is now using watercolours and has artistic skills to paint the pavements to match the pavements being laid and thus making the join between horizontal and vertical scenery difficult to see. He's also adding the side walls to a building which is in the middle of a block in Blackpool but is at the end of a block in the model, the real buildings missing from the model not having "interesting" light displays. Len has been drawing up a sequence chart of the lighting displays so that Derek Burdett can programme the microchips which will control some of the lighting on buildings and illuminations fittings. The masters for the "spaceships" have now been finished by Geoff Stevens and the masters for the "rocket exhausts by Len. Work to make the ruber moulds and resin castings will begin early next week. Although time is now getting short, just as in cookery, preparation takes longer than assembly so the layout is well on course for its debut.

The masters for the space ships. The top (on the right) is removeable to allow for the replacement of bulbs and maintenance if necessary. The large hole in the base of the spaceship is to allow entry for the 120x0.5mm and 8x1mm diameter fibre optic strands which will provide the lights in the "rocket exhaust" and circumference of the spaceship plus the eight electrical wires to power the light sources and the "zapper rays" which will link the space ships diagonally across the roadway. The white "rocket exhaust" masters form a channel for the fibre optic strands forming the lights of the "exhaust". There will be twelve space ships in total which will join the 28 other illuminated features mounted on lamp posts on the layout.

9th July 2000 The MDF trackbed has now been removed. While removing the MDF it was discovered that the MDF had - for want of a better definition - delaminated, there were many layers of extremely thin cardboard like layers exposed without any sign of a resin bonding or other bonding agent. The material has been returned to the dealer who will return it to the manufacturer for them to investigate the cause and as soon as this is known I'll pass it on. Meanwhile, the new chipboard trackbed has been fitted, the majority of the track laid and test running has commenced. Jim has almost finished painting the pavements on the backscene and is adding a fictitious wall to the left hand side of Louis Tussauds Waxworks as that building will, using modellers licence to remove some buildings without interesting illuminated signs, now form the left hand side of a block of buildings instead of being in the middle of a block. Work on cutting holes in the appropriate parts of the backscene support to let light shine though to form illuminated signs will start on Wednesday and should be finished by next weekend. Tracklaying should also be finished and tested by next weekend with work on erecting the backscene support commencing immediately after. This should only take a day or two whilst fixing the scenic backscene will take a further day or so. Drilling the holes in the backscene for the fibre optic strands will proceed on a building by building basis, the fibre optic strands being fitted as soon as the holes have been drilled and then being connected to the various light sources. The masters for the spaceships have been sent to Mike Hill of Beacon Models for the moulds and resin castings to be made and these should be ready for collection towards the end of the month. Sequences and timings for the flashing lights to be fitted to the spaceships have now been completed and sent to Derek Burdett for him to design and build the electronic circuits.

14th July 2000Construction of the baseboards is now complete and track laid. The backscene boards are complete and in place. Work has now started on wiring the track, installing the many reed switches and relays necessary for controlling the running of the trams. The layout will use three controllers on each of the two tracks to control the speed at which the trams run whilst the operation of reed switches by magnets placed under the trams will allow up to eight trams on each track to run automatically without (hopefully) crashing into each other and avoid "operator error". Work is also continuing on timing the sequences of various illuminations features so that Derek can programme the electronic chips which will control the illuminations features.

In these two photographs, which were taken a short while ago, the new layout is seen under construction. Apologies for the "clutter" surrounding it, all part of the construction process you understand. The "master" backscene which is used to determine the position of buildings and fittings on the layout is shown propped in position, Carousel and Fun Palace are the two buildings at the front of the photograph, and this has now been "tacked" to the backboard with removeable glue. The two upright pieces of wood at the very front of the layout are supports for the end of the "box" forming the layout. Holes will now be cut into the backboard using the backscene as a template. The holes will allow lights fitted behind the backboard to show through the printed backscene to reproduce illuminated signs on buildings, flashing signs will be reproduced using fibre optic strands which will be fitted later. Work is, of course, continuing apace as the deadline for the Plymouth exhibition is fast approaching.

This is a small section of the backscene - part of the Mr.B's building - where a section has been removed to allow the illumination from the rear of a red square bearing the letter "S" similar to the extreme right hand panel. All the panels will be removed in this manner and then this "master" will be removed and be replaced by the actual backscene. After fixing, the backscene will be covered by a self adhesive transparent plastic cover to protect the backscene from damage during the layout's existence and the holes for the fibre optic strands will be drilled. Each of the dots shown on this photograph are the bulbs on the real building so a 1mm diameter hole will be drilled through each dot to allow the insertion of the fibre optic strands which will then be connected to the appropriate light source.

30th July 2000 A quite hectic time since the last report. The backscenes have been finished and are ready for final installation on the layout. The track has been wired although the sections have been through wired to allow a single controller to control each circuit to allow running at the Plymouth exhibiton next wekend. The "electronics box" has been constructed and the seventeen mains sockets fitted. This may seem a very large number but to minimise the effects of a circuit failure, each circuit will have its own separate mains supply. Thus there are three mains sockets supplying the Duette controllers, another three mains sockets for each of the low voltage lighting transformers, six mains sockets for the twelve 110v motors which will power the revolving "aliens" heads in each of the twelve spaceships whilst the other five sockets will power the mains current Christmas tree lighting sets although two or three sets will share each socket. Although this sounds as if a lot of electricity is being used, in fact the total is small in terms of amps. It has also been necessary to devote some time to repairing the trams which sufferred damage due to the high temperatures reached inside the diorama whilst at Truro in March when the low melt solder holding the brass drive shaft bearings melted whilst the bodies of some trams assembled using low melt also suffered. There still remains some woodwork to be done on the layout as the end scenes still have to be constructed but this work won't be done until a later date. During the coming week all efforts will be concentrated on drilling the holes in the backscene for the fibre optic strands and connecting them up so that there will be something of interest to show and also indicate what the finished layout will look like.

7th August 2000 Well, we managed it! The layout appeared as scheduled at the Plymouth Model Railway exhibition and despite one or two technical hitches during the show - mainly due to temporary track wiring - attracted a fair amount of interest. Fortunately, Mike had managed to get the resin castings of the spaceships down in time and it was possible to mount one on a lamp post as a part of the display appearing with the layout. The working street lamp with the illuminated spaceship and rocket exhaust (exhaust in static mode only as the circuitry hasn't been finished yet) were the source of many questions as were the (fully working) lights on the tower and part of Coral Island. At the moment the backscenes and "roof" cover have been fitted although there are problems with both. The sticky back plastic which is used to protect the printed paper backscene - essential to prevent tearing whilst drilling the holes for the fibre optic strands - isn't adhering properly to the plywood and is starting to become detached although staying firmly attached to the paper. A fellow exhibitor was having similar problems with the same material on his layout so it doesn't appear to be due to anything we've done wrong. The top cover of the layout, or "roof" as we call it, was designed to shade the layout and provide a dim light to give the impression of darkness. However, although a foot deep, it doesn't even provide a shadow - never mind darkness! Although the lights of the "illuminations" are bright enough to be seen easily, it must be admitted that the "atmosphere" of the illuminations was missing although this didn't seem to worry the audience. After a brief rest to consider solutions to the problems with the plastic and darkness (or, rather, the lack of it) construction will be resumed. All in all, an encouraging start which was made more so by some visitors from Blackpool who were very enthusiastic about the layout.

15th August 2000 A great deal of thought has been given to the problems encountered at the show. It has been decided to completely strip the printed backscenes from the backboards and cover the boards with black cartridge paper, cut out the necessary holes for illuminated signs and then fix new printed backscenes in place. It will be necessary to replace the backboard which featured the lit Tower and Coral Island as it would be impossible to accurately line up the several hundred holes drilled for the fibre optic strands. Experiments on the ferasibility of this have already started. The lack of "darkness" is a more difficult problem as it will involve the construction of an "add on" section of some sort, whether plywood or a cloth "tent" hasn't yet been decided. In addition to the obvious problem of requiring more space at exhibitions, problems with transporting the "add on" in the trailer will need to be solved as will the problem of supporting the "add on" when it is in position on the layout as well as avoiding the problem of the exhibition visitors bumping into it where no barriers are provided, as is beginning to happen at some shows. Hey ho! who said that modelling isn't fun!

21st August 2000 A great deal of thought and experimentation have taken place to discover a means of producing a nigh time atsmosphere on the layout. Ideas tried have included extending the "roof" cover and the two ends by two feet and introducing a two foot wide "floor" at baseboard level. Apart from causing problems with stability of the layout and support of the extension it wasn't too successful although our efforts in this direction continue. Experiments with a tinted perspex screen haven't been very successful either due to the fact that as the light inside the layout isn't as great as the light outside the layout all one can see is a reflection of oneself, the screen acting like a mirror. Although we are now embarking on an experiment by removing the "roof" of the layout and installing a tinted screen which will hopefully overcome the reflection problem its uncertain whether this will produce the atmosphere we're looking for. Work on making lamp posts and illuminations features continues whilst the experiments are continuing so work isn't at a standstill.

25th August 2000 Unfortunately, none of the experiments to produce a "dusk" effect have proved successful and there doesn't seem to any plastic or perspex type material which will do the job for us. Following suggestions that if you can't change the ambient light levels then create your own led to suggestions for a totally enclosed area comprising the layout and display. The only way in which this could be achieved, given our limited transport resources, was to make a "tent" from suitable thick cloth. This seemed quite possible to make and plans were thus made and these showed that the idea was feasible although it would cost quite a lot of money. When the idea and size was put to several exhibition managers they had reservations, not on size or concept but on health and safety issues. These concerns were such that advice was sought and the scheme was vetoed by the fire brigade who perceived a fire hazard with the danger increased by the "restricted nature" of the eight feet wide entrances/exits. We are now in a situation where there doesn't seem to be a solution and, as it seems ridiculous to show a layout designed to show a scene at dusk or just after dark as well lit as a bright sunny day there is serious deliberation as to whether to continue construction and abandon the idea. This is a decision we shall be considering very carefully as there have been many practical problems which have been overcome so far and to give up would be a massive disappointment to all concerned. However, it would be foolish to proceed with a layout which didn't give enjoyment to the operators even if it satisfied the majority of exhibition visitors. There are just two avenues left to explore and both depend upon the goodwill of people unconnected with the layout. Whether they will be successful in their search for a source of a suitable material will be known early next week, after the bank holiday. On Tuesday 29th the layout will be assembled at the College of Further Education in Plymouth and final experiments made and the decision made. Do you have any thoughts on a suitable material and, if so, where it can be obtained? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Please note that "smoked glass" as used in coffee table tops has already been inverstigated and, while its tinting was just about right for our purpose, the weight of enough pieces to cover the front of the layout was considerable and would place an unacceptable strain on the layout framing as it now exists, the width of the layout framing would also have to be increased to provide room for the framing for the glass and there would be difficuties in providing access in case of derailments or other problems on the layout. The final reason why glass wouldn't be suitable is its fragility. It simply wouldn't stand up to the rigours undergone by an exhibition layout without breaking and, in todays conditions, it is viewed as a health and safety hazard. Please contact Len with your suggestions as quickly as possible, and certainly before Tuesday 29th August. Thanks in anticipation.

5th September 2000 First of all a heartfelt "thank you" for all the e-mails received following the last update. Jim, Roger and I were astounded when over 800 e-mails arrived between the 25th August and 4th September. To receive such support and encouragement was extremely gratifying to say the least and we hope that you will understand if I can't find enough time to reply to each one individually. Amongst the e-mails were a number which made very useful suggestions of materials and suppliers. The Plymouth College of Further Education kindly allowed us the free use of a room to set up the layout and which had blinds which allowed us to vary the ambient light levels and, having contacted a supplier of "tinted window films", he came along and spent over an hour with us helping to discover a film which would suit our purpose. Although a final decision on which strength of tint to use will have to wait until construction of the layout is finished so that the effects upon the coloured lights can be ascertained, what is certain is that we have the solution. It will be necessary to apply an anti-reflection coating to the acrylic sheet as well as the tinted film but this shouldn't present any problems. Work has now restarted with the first task for Jim being to redo the backscenes and for Len to make the forty lamp posts required for the layout. Work is also being undertaken towards programming the micro chips which will control the electronic circuits for the signs on the buildings etc. This will all come together during September and October and a well advanced model with a great deal of the electronics completed should be available for viewing at Wadebridge.

19th September 2000 Once again a big "thank you" for all the encouraging e-mails which are continuing to arrive. We now have the solutions to all our known problems (although, no doubt, there are problems unknown and unsuspected in the pipeline) so work is continuing and progress being made in all aspects of construction of the layout and display. Some work is also taking place on model trams for the display.

15th October 2000 The problems reported with the "sticky back plastic" has meant that the part of the backscene already completed is having to be replaced and Jim is stripping the remaining boards to bare wood and then covering them in black cartridge paper. The computer printed backscenes will then be glued to the cartridge paper and new plastic applied which should adhere to the cartridge paper and the printed backscenes and so resolve the problem. Work on drilling the whole backscene for fibre optic strands will then start again, the fibre optic strands being connected up as the work progresses. This setback shouldn't affect the timetable too badly as the replacement of the backscene is being undertaken by Jim who wasn't due to do any more work until all the lamp posts had been fixed and wired up. Work is proceeding well on the construction of the lamp posts and tests on the first one (not utilising the flashing circuits) have been satisfactorily completed. The theory and drawings have worked out in practice and the 8 elctrical wires and 100 strands of fibre optic cable have fitted in the available space as hoped, a great relief to all concerned! Photographs have been taken of the lamp posts featuring the space ships and these will hopefully be uploaded when the site is next updated. Work on finishing the trackwork by soldering on nickel silver strip to simulate the groove of tramrail is well underway and wiring up the track is being undertaken at the same time. Initially, this will only allow one tram to run on each circuit until the reed switches and relays are wired in which will happen in the New Year after the exact positions for the reed switches have been worked out.

30th November 2000After a lot of hard work to strip off the old backscene,the layout appeared at Wadebridge as promised with the new backscene in place - although the "sidescenes" for the ends of the layout haven't been constructed yet - and with the lights on the Tower and more than half of the lighting effects on "Coral Island" in place and working. The layout created a surprising amount of interest given that it is still in the early stages of construction. Although construction is now behind schedule it is hoped that construction will now continue without any further disruption due to unexpected problems. Apologies for the fact that the photograph of the lampost hasn't been processed yet, but here are some photographs of the layout taken at the Wadebridge exhibition. As they were taken using a flash gun there are areas of white where the flash reflected off the layout. The white oblongs pinned to the front of the black "skirt" of the layout give visitors details of this website and the next show we are attending. The upper photograph was taken from the left hand side of the layout and the lower photograph was taken from the right hand side.

5th January 2001. Due to the Christmas holidays and being away from home plus the need for some repair work to the house, no further work has been undertaken since the last update. Work will restart shortly once the backlog of correspondence etc has been dealt with.

4th February 2001.Illness prevented an immediate restart after the Christmas holiday and work only restarted two weeks ago. A "test track" 6 feet long has been constructed and wired up with reed switches and relays incorporated into the track wiring and magnets have been temporarily fitted to some trams in order to test the circuits designed to provide automatic operation of the trams. The differing speeds of the trams at the same control setting has proved to be a problem as some trams over run the reed switch whilst others won't run. The solution is simple in theory but time consuming in practice. The answer is to fit a resistance to the trams running faster in order to slow them down. To find what value of resistor is required is a matter of trial and error helped in our case by using some "eureka" wire which was at one time part of the element of an electric fire. A length of eureka wire is connected to the positive output of the controller and a wire with a crocodile clip attached is connectedto the eureka wire and the track. By attaching the crocodile clip at various places along the eureka wire a variable resistance can be created. The time taken for the slowest tram to travel a measured distance is noted and then other trams are tested over the same distance until, by varying the resistance of the eureka wire, it also takes the same time to travel the measured distance. The resistance of the eureka wire is then measured (in ohms) using a meter, and the length is also measured. A resistor can now be made from a piece of eureka wire of the same length or a resistor of the appropriate value fitted. If its necessary to fit a commercial wire wound resistor it should be monitored during a long continuous running session to ensure that it doesn't get too hot and cause damage to the model. It may not be possible to obtain a commercial wire wound resistance (the only type which should be used for this application) of the exact value required a fairly close approximation will suffice, after all, the prototype trams don't all run at exactly the same speed. Work has also been undertaken to produce a "universal joint" for use on the spaceship to take the drive from the motor to the aliens head in the dome of the spaceship. This is necessary because, as will be seen from the photograph above, the spaceship is at an angle to the vertical. There are several types of universal joint which can be used in this location, they're all very simple as can be seen from the drawings below and don't call for any "engineering" skills which the name may suggest. Tests are being undertaken to find the method which produces the lowest amount of friction.

13th March 2001. A very enjoyable time was spent at the Truro Exhibition last weekend with a lot of interest shown in the layout and display. The lighting effects on the Tower have been completed and are fully working. Thanks to Derek Burdett who has sent the circuit which controls the sequence of lights of the parrots wings over the entrance, the lighting effects on Coral Island are also complete and fully working. Work has now begun on Mr.B's with the canopy at the side (ie in Bonney Street) finished and fully working plus the holes for the lights on the arches at the side and the left hand portion of the "fan" over the main entrance have been drilled. During the next few days the fibre optic strands will be installed and Christmas tree bulbs connected to complete the lighting effects on the first board. In order that trams could be run during the exhibition, the tracks were wired up to controllers to allow a single tram to run on each track. This was useful in two ways, firstly it gave visitors the oppotunity to see trams running on the layout and secondly allowed us to discover any problems with the track - fortunately none became apparent during the exhibition. As the temperature in the hall had been fairly high it was a good test of the track as we now know that the expansion gaps are sufficient when the room is hot and small enough when the room is cold. Two Corgi trams had been motorised using Bachman units from an American switcher type locomotive and these ran non-stop from the time the exhibition opened until it closed on both days - quite a feat of endurance for such small units.

19th March 2001Work has continued on the "dying" and installation of fibre optic strands "lighting" the "fan" over the main entrance to Mr.B's on the first board. This part of the "fan" will require more than 500 strands of 0.5mm fibre optic alone connecting to 16 different Christmas tree lighting set bulbs. Although not difficult, this is a time consuming task but, then. what do we have a hobby for? At least progress is being maintauined. Tamiya clear acrylic paint is being used to "dye" the fibre optic strands. For speed, a number of fibre optic strands are simply dipped into the jar of paint then, after the surplus paint has dripped off, the strands are separated and hung out to dry by attaching them to the sticky side of masking tape. Simple, but like everything on the layout, effective.

13th April 2001. More fibre optic strands have been installed on the "fan" over the entrance to Mr.B's on the first board. There have been problems with the 0.5mm diameter fibre optic strands becoming detached from the connector and light source. Unfortunately, the small number of strands and the small diameter has meant that the cable ties used to secure the strands haven't been able to be tightened enough to grip the strands. To overcome this problem a "top hat shaped plug" has been designed. The "hat" part of the plug is a tight fit in the connector whilst the "brim" is the same diameter as the outside of the connector. A hole is drilled through the plug just large enough to take the fibre optic strands which are then threaded through before being "blobbed" with a hot soldering iron - just like the visible end - which will secure them in the plug. The plug is then pushed into the connector. The light source is then inserted into the other end of the connector and a piece of polythene dustbin liner is then wrapped around the plug, connector and light source and secured at each end with a cable tie. Masters for the plug have been made by Geoff Stevens as has the rubber mould. Len will be casting the plugs in resin with production starting in the next few days. On Wednesday 11th April the layout was taken to the Plymouth Model Railway Club headquarters where Len gave a talk about Blackpool in the box and showed the layout to a visiting group. The layout will remain where it is for a couple of weeks whilst the reed switches and relays together with all the associated wiring will be undertaken by Bernard Webb. Completion of the work will mean that the layout is fully operational. Work will then be concentrated on installing the "z" gauge rail to give the appearance of the correct grooved tramway rail, this being delayed until after installing the reed switches to allow better access. Work will then be concentrated on installing the fibre optics and building more trams to run on the layout.

3rd May 2001.After three full-day working sessions the reed switches for the outer track have been installed and the wiring up of them to the relays is almost completed although test running has been undertaken as each section is completed. At the next working session this wiring will be completed and the relays moved from their temporary position and fixed into their proper positions beneath the baseboard. Work will then start on wiring the inner track. The chassis/floor units for a further three Centenary cars have been constructed with motor and unpowered bogies fitted. It will be necessary to add the internal detailing items and paint the bodies at a later date; at this time it was necessary to have a number of trams fitted with the same type of motors running in order to test the circuits being installed. Work is also underway constructing a model of one of Blackpool's first trams, the 1885 conduit car No.4. The body has been built and its now awaiting the fitting of a Bec motor unit and brass handrails. This model is primarily intended for the display but will be capable of running on the layout if required.

12th May 2001.The wiring of the relays and reed switches has now been completed and test running over the track commenced as planned. However, there have been unexpected problems with reliability. Although everything works when the reed switches are activated by hand held magnets and confirmed by meter readings, when trams are run over the track there are times when the reed switch or relay doesn't activate properly. The cause of the problem hasn't been identified yet as any tram may activate the switch on one journey but not on the next but activate it normally on the third journey and the problem isn't confined to any particular tram. It appears that this problem occurs in other model applications and can be very difficult to resolve. Another set back has been the news that Roger is having to leave the team due to a worsening of his health. His contribution at exhibitions has been invaluable and at the moment there is nobody to take his place on a regular basis.

2nd June 2001.The problems being experienced with the reed switches and relays are still unsolved. Thought is being given to incorporating capacitors into the circuits to give a longer lasting pulse from the reed switches to the relays but until the cause of the problem is discovered it is difficult to find the answer. Whilst the problem is being investigated by Bernard, Len has moved onto creating the photographic "side scenes" at each end of the layout. Once again, unexpected problems have arisen. Because the side scenes are veiwed from different angles than the backscenes, the problems with the perspective are different and the photographs of North and Central Piers which Len has taken do not "look right" when in position on the side scenes. A trip to Blackpool will be necessary and a lot more photographs will be taken until the correct angles are achieved. Meanwhile, work is continuing on construction of trams and motorising of Corgi trams for use on the layout or for the display. To speed up the process of motorising the Corgi trams Len is creating white metal castings which will considerably speed up the process of motorisation using Bachmann units, these will be made available to anyone motorising Corgi trams. This illustrates the advantage of undertaking such a large project, that when problems arise in one aspect work can continue on other aspects while solutions are found.

5th August 2001.Unfortunately, the problems with the reed switches and relays is proving more difficult to overcome than at first thought and a solution is still being sought. Len has now been taken ill so all work is "on hold" for a while until his health improves.

21st September 2001. With Len's ill health continuing there is no progress to report since the last update. Many thanks to all who have sent "get well" e-mails, Len will reply to all of you in time but as there have been so many it may take him a while. Your messages are greatly appreciated. However, work is not completely at a standstill as Bernard is still seeking a solution to the reed switch/relay problem. Once again, thanks to all who have written, your suggestions have been most helpful. Some have suggested the use of infra red detectors and other optical detection devices and these have been noted but until all the options on the reed switches have been exhausted Len wants to avoid the cost of purchasing such devices. Derek is also continuing his work on the electronic circuits for the "illuminations" and hopes to supply another one shortly.It is still hoped that Len's health will improve enough to allow him to attend the Barnsley show as detailed in the "Display" section. If the situation changes a notice will be posted on this site.

18th December 2001. Thanks to help from his wife and Alan Kirkman, the layout appeared at Barnsley as planned and thus maintained our proud record of never having cancelled a booked appearance. The photographs of North Pier and Central Pier have now been printed, the plywood for the sidescreens has been cut, covered in black cartridge paper, the photographs fixed and covered with sticky back plastic and the completed sidescreens fixed in position on the layout. The lighting effects on the buildings on the two left hand boards are now complete and were working at Barnsley. The circuits for the space ships rocket exhausts are now to hand but tests have shown that some slight modifications to the power supply and switching are required and these are now in hand. Photographs of the "lit up" buildings can be found on the "New Layout" page.

21st January 2002. The newly designed electronic circuit for the lamp post mounted illumination feature of the Blackpool Zoo animals has now arrived and testing is underway before making the features and installing the electronics. The electronics suffered a small amount of damage to the electronic control box of one lighting set during the journey from Barnsley and this has necessitated the replacement of the complete set of 60 lights. Not difficult but time consuming. This is the first ever failure of a lighting set on either the diorama or the layout, one failure in more than ten years isn't too bad is it? Work is continuing on the amendments to the electronic circuits for the "zapper rays" linking the space ships as it is necessary to run this circuit at a higher voltage and current.

25th February 2002. This month efforts have been concentrated on the electronic aspects of the layout. The new circuit for the Blackpool Zoo animals lampost fitted illumination features designed and built by Bill Jagger of Langheight Crafts was found to be flashing at the wrong frequency - something very difficult to arrange over the phone - and returned to him for adjustment. Upon its return it was flashing exactly right and was then subject to "soak teasting", that is switched on and run non-stop for 12 hours a day for three days in this instance to check that it wouldn't get too hot when in use at exhibitions. All tests were passed with flying colours. Bill is now working on other circuits for the layout which should be ready in a couple of months time.

2nd April 2002. Ill health still prevents Len from standing to work on the layout so activities this month have concentrated on testing the electronic circuits, updating the website and making more model trams for the display as well as photographing them for the website updates. The major problem with building a layout virtually single handed is the disruption which can be caused when work cannot continue for one reason or another. Hopefully it won't be too long before work on the layout itself can restart.

28th April 2002. Some good news on the health front, Len can now stand up and walk for short periods although not yet sufficient to start work on the layout again. The masters for the "spaceships" have been remodelled to reduce the outside diameter to slightly under 2.25 inches from the previous diameter of 3 inches. They will be going to Mike Hill shortly for new moulds and resin castings to be made. The need for the remodelling became apparant when the existing ones were placed on the layout. Although known to be overscale due to the need to fit led's and the mechanism for the moving alien's heads, it wasn't appreciated how poverpowering they would look. Because of space restrictions it will not be possible to fit the mechanisms for the alien's heads so they will now have to be fixed rather than rotating. What with having to reject the idea of moving "shutter adverts" on North Pier due to lack of room caused by the amount of fibre optic strands this is another blow to the overall plan but does indicate the problems faced when endeavouring to achieve an idea and also proves that it isn't always possible to achieve one's goals. However, all may not be totally lost. It was only a few years ago that it wasn't possible to create Blackpool in the box so, as the spaceships will be capable of dismantling to replace any led's or grain of wheat bulbs which fail, should it be possible to motorise the alien's heads this will be done as the "makings" are already in store. Likewise with the working adverts although that will be a more difficult operation. Work has continued on constructing trams for the display, creating decals for some all-over advertising liveries, plotting the basic layout for a sheet of brass etchings for various parts for Blackpool trams unavailable elsewhere such as the trolley tower for the sun saloon and the lower body side for a 4 wheel de-luxe car, the platform gates for de-luxe cars, the bogie sideframes for the Motherwell cars plus some other items as well as other mundane tasks like answering correspondence and updating the web site. There's also progress to report on the elctronics front with work progressing on the circuits for use on the spaceships. All in all then, a satisfactory month's progress on the project overall if not on the layout itself.

2nd June 2002. Unfortunately, Lens health suffered a sharp set back a few days after the last progress report and he has been virtually confined to bed since and the situation looks unlikely to change for the next few months so no progress has been made although a very small amount of work has been done on painting trams as well as making and applying decals to them.

7th September 2002. Many thanks for all your emails, get well cards and phone calls, your good wishes have been gratefully received. Although improving very slowly, Len's health is still poor and his medical consultant feels that progress will continue to be slow (and hopefully sure) over the next three months or so. Still, things could be worse and at least he's getting better. Although physical progress on the layout and display are at a standstill, Bill Jagger has completed his work designing the ciruits for the lamp post mounted spaceships and sent them to Len. These will be tested as soon as Len can manage it. A tremendous amount of time is being, and has been spent, on the telephone (one of the activities which can be carried out from bed) discussing with a number of people new and better ways of producing waterslide decals using home computers and printers, new methods of making model Blackpool trams involving laminated computer print outs to the correct scale etc., plus many other matters relating to tramway modelling. Hopefully it won't be too long before limited amounts of modelling can once again be undertaken.

26th January 2003 Once again, many thanks for all your e-mails, cards and tramway calendars which have been gratefully received. Len's health is continuing to improve although there have been minor setbacks along the road. Thanks to the loan of a laptop computer it has been possible to respond to e-mails, albeit with some delay, and to do some work on a model tram project and now to update this website.

These three photos taken by Alan Kirkman show what Len has been up to during his time in bed. Alan kindly made a model of Blackpool no 718 from a Hadfield (Now Tram City) plastic kit and a Tramalan white metal conversion kit, assembling as per instructions, all detail was then filed off the plastic sides and the window bars of the lower deck were removed. Using a side on photograph of the tram, Len changed the size and shape of the tram side in the photo using a computer programme so that the photo fitted exactly onto the plastic sides and then printed the result onto photo quality paper. After the prints had been cut out Alan then glued them onto the sides of the tram. All that now remains is to cut out the white windows, glaze them and find a paint to match the colours of the advertising livery.

3rd May 2003 Len apologises for the long delay in updating the website due to his ill health restricting his activities and the need to prepare the layout and trams for a visit from the film cameras as Blackpool in the box is being featured in a programme to be transmitted on the Discovery Channel although when hasn't yet been decided. Once again, many thanks for all your e-mails and cards which have been gratefully received. Len's health is continuing to improve slowly although there continue to be minor setbacks along the road. Work has continued on another model tram project to relivery Corgi trams using decals. Details of this project will be found below

The process for applying the City Sightseers livery to 718 has now been upgraded with the livery being printed onto overhead projection film which means that the windows are now transparent and there's no need to cut them out. The OHP film is stuck to the plastic sides using double sided white carpet tape. The remainder of the tram has been painted using Humbrol enamel. This photograph, courtesy of Alan Kirkman, shows the finished model. The good news is that before too long the printed livery will be made available to all.

The other project that Len has been working on has been the creation of new overall liveries for Corgi trams, although the process could also be used for kit and scratch built trams.

The tram as made (photo left) Then, using "Oily Nail Varnish Remover" the tampo printng is removed from the sides and, as the overhead will be used to power the lights in the tram, the Corgi pantograph has been removed and will be replaced with a working one.

The model illuminations features for fitting onto the lamp posts have now been finished and are now being tested.

In this photograph the "test bench" can be seen with two circuits and features undergoing "soak" testing, that is being run continuously for many hours to simulate exhibition conditions

The features are secured to the lamp posts using specially designed etched brass brackets which are bent to shape, see photo on right, at each end of the bracket is an etched hole through which passes a 14BA bolt which screws into a captive 14BA nut which has been cast into the feature.

The Space Ships or Flying Saucers are quite complicated structures to model, being made up of four separate castings, the top dome, the base and two "exhaust" castings (one for each side). The base is fixed to the lamp post using etched brass brackets whilst the "exhausts" are fixed to a bracket soldered onto the lamp post. Four white LED's are fitted into the base of the feature, see photo below left, to provide the lights for the "chase sequence" which run down each exhaust, the light being transmitted by 0.5mm diameter fibre optic strands. The street lamp at the top of the lamp post is a 12v grain of wheat bulb which is connected in series with three 3v grain of whet bulbs which light up the interior of the feature. The wiring for the bulbs and LED's is carried up through the centre of the lamp post and the "exhaust" casting as seen in the photo on the right.

All the other features which will be fitted to the lamp posts - Coronation Street Stars, Drinks Cans and Rosettes - do not use any special lighting effects having just three 3v grain of wheat bulbs in each to illuminate them.

Each of the fifty illuminations features on the lamp posts is made from clear cast resin and the details on them (except the Space Ships) are made by printing the details onto decal film and then applying the decals in the same manner as ordinary waterslide decals to each side of the feature. The join between the two sides of the feature is then covered with black plastic insulating tape to prevent any unwanted light leaks. The Space Ships have a different arrangement, all four parts being joined together with adhesive (permanent for the exhaust and white PVA for the two parts of the Space Ship (in order to be able to change bulbs or LED's) the whole then being painted in the appropriate colours and patterns using transparent paints.

23rd July 2003 Len has, once again, been confined to bed recently so progress has almost stopped. Not quite though because he has spent the time cutting lots of white drinking straws into short lengths to be used in lighting the trams and, using a borrowed laptop computer, has continued with the remaining artwork for the lamp post mounted illuminations features and the artwork for the new Metro Coastlines livery for use on Blackpool twin car sets.

5th October 2003While Len has been working on the artwork for the livery and logo waterslide transfers there has been no progress on the layout although work continues on designing and fitting working illuminations to the Tramalan kit of Blackpool's well known illuminated tram "The Rocket".

7th March 2004Len apologises for the fact that a major problem with his computer software has prevented an update to the site for several months.

Since the last update he has continued design work on the conversion kit for the Tramalan whitemetal Rocket illuminated tram. The parts for the conversion are as shown in the photo on the left. These include the fibre optic bunch from an "Alien lamp", parts of the Tramalan kit, a motor unit from Bec Kits the electronic circuit for the flashing rocket exhuast and the replacement sides which have been cast in optical quality resin to avoid the brittle nature of clear resin. The photograph on the right shows the replacement sides fitted to the whitemetal ends with a part of the whitemetal end sawn off to allow the fibre optic strands to pass through. After all the "bulbs" on the whitemetal kit parts had been drilled through and parts of the castings cut away or modified, assembly was commenced.The rocket base was fitted and then the two parts of the nose cone were fitted - as seen in the photo on the left - before fibre optic strand was passed through the various holes in the tail assembly parts and these too were assembled and then joined to the main assembly, taking care not to melt the fibre optic strands with the soldering iron. It was now necessary to "fit" the top part of the passenger saloon into place having made provision for it to be removeable for bulb changing etc. Because this part wasn't being permanently fixed it was necessary to build up the body ends with low melt solder and then file that back in order to produce a close, hardly visible join between the aprts as shown in the picture on the right. Work is continuing on the project and once assembly has been successfully completed, instruction sheets will be written and a very small number of conversion kits will be made available for sale at cost price.

The artwork for the waterslide decals of Blackpool Transport and Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramway has been completed as has that for the Metro Coastlines Twin Car Livery. Printing has also been completed and they are now available from Derek Lambelle (see Contacts Page)at non-profit making prices as usual. Len is very grateful to Blackpool Transport Services Ltd., for granting permission to reproduce their liveries and logos.

Work on the layout itself has involved constructing two pairs of trestle legs to support the layout instead of using the transportation box as a support as this was beginning to "sag" at the sides and making it difficult to align the layout throughout its length. The two final backscenes and the right hand sidescreen have been removed from the layout in order to drill all the holes necessary to fit the fibre optic strands for the "illuminations" on the buildings and the specially designed electronic circuits have been received in order to complete the work. The task currently in hand is cutting the fibre optic strnad into suitably sized lengths ready for "blobbing" and installation. Plywood for the surrounds of the layout has been ordered to replace the pieces applied as a temporary measure and these will be fitted as time allows.

12th June 2004. After another longish period without a computer it was impossible to do any work producing the decals needed for use on the lamp post mounted illuminations features. Lack of other materials due to delivery delays has also frustrated progress in the past couple of months. On a happier note, the introduction of a computer type plug and socket rated at 250volt 5amp has allowed work to start - and its almost completed - on replacing the "chocolate block" pin and socket connectors used to connect the Christmas tree lighting sets from the control panel to the layout and between the boards of the layout. When this task is finished it will be necessary to do a soak test, ie connecting up all the electrics and running them for at least twelve hours to ensure that theres no overheating anywhere and that the electricity supply is safe throughout. Another task which has been undertaken is the drilling of many, many holes in the backscene as well as cutting the best part of a kilometre of fibre optic strands into 16cm lengths and "blobbing" one end of each length to create the crude lenses necessary to increase the viewing angle so that visitors can see the lights. With the return of the computer work has now been able to recommence on the artwork for the illuminations features. All photos have been scanned and the current task is re-sizing them to suit the resin mouldings.

10th July 2004. Work has now gone on apace, especially as items on order have now been received. The backscene on board three is now almost finished and will be tested on Tuesday next - 13th July - lets hope that the date isn't unlucky. The image resizing necessary to make the decals for the illuminations features on the lamp posts has also continued and those for the cans are now complete whilst work is now starting on the Coronation Street Stars. Its hoped to start work fitting the fibre optics and lighting to the backscene for board four should the test on board 3 backscene prove successful.

30th August 2004. Work has continued apace.The backscene on board three is now finished and the electrical connections have also been completed. Work on board four and the Central Pier end scene is also complete and work on the electrical connections is underway. The plywood covers at each end and rear have been cut and fitted whilst those on the front at each end and the "top covers" have also been finished and are ready for fitting. All this will, it is hoped,be finished this week enabling the layout to be dismantled and packed into the trailer ready for transporting to Blackpool for the Depot Open Day on 12th September.

21st September 2004. The work on the illuminations on the buildings was completed in time to take the layout to Blackpool for the Community Open Day at the Bus and Tram Depot. George, Jim and Len were overwhelmed by the huge number of visitors asking questions or commenting on the layout. It was a great day out for all concerned and your interest and very kind comments were greatly appreciated. It was very gratifying to hear from a number of you that its appearance on the Model Town television series "didn't do it justice". However, back to reality! The layout has been re-erected and work has now commenced on phase two (installation of the working lamp posts and illuminations features). Photographs of the illuminations features mounted on the lamp posts have been scanned into a computer and a photo manipulation programme is being used to make them fit onto the clear cast resin shapes which will hold the grain of wheat bulbs. This is a time consuming process which it is anticipated will take several weeks. Work is also underway on constructing the fully illuminated and working "Rocket" tram and designing the electronic control circuits so that as many as six trams can run on each oval of track.

13th November 2004. Work has continued on the artwork for the decals for the illumination features on the lamp posts. Family misfortunes have slowed the process somewhat and as each piece of artwork can take up to 12 hours to manipulate for size, and correcing distortions due to the photographs having been taken from ground level with the camera pointing upwards, its taking longer than expected.

9th January 2005. A critical family illness and bereavement followed by Christmas has slowed progress almost to a standstill. The major problem when tackling a project as large as this almost single handed is that progress comes to a standstill when circumstances change. The artwork for the decals for the illuminations features is almost finished and work is now continuing at normal speed. Drilling the lamp posts to take the overhead line equipment brackets and for the electrical wiring for the illuminations features is the next task to be tackled. Drilling small and very small holes in brass tubing can be very difficult as, even using a pillar drill, the drill bit tends to wander and, particularly when using 1mm drills, tend to break. Its hoped that this problem can be overcome by using a jig, although this has yet to be designed and made. Hopefully in the next update Len will be able to report success and publish full details of the jig and how it was made in order that this awkward task can be made easy for everyone. I'm advised that the Model Town series of programmes broadcast on Discovery Channel, and which featured Blackpool in the box, is now available on video as a 3 volume set.

5th February 2005 Shortly after last u[pdating the website, Len heard about some new light emitting diodes just coming onto the market. Its understood that these will be available in red, green, yellow and several shades of white. As these are the ideal size to provide the "strings" of lights between the lamp posts both beside the tram tracks and also along the pavement investigations are underway as to their suitability and cost. This may take a while as the only known source at the moment is in Australia. It would be foolish to continue work on drilling the lamp posts, mounting the illuminations features, painting them etc., until the suitability and affordability of these leds is known as it will be necessary to drill additional holes in each lamp post to fit them. However, the manufacture of the jigs to drill the lamp posts is progressing well. The use of square brass tubing of the same sizes as the round brass tubing forming the lamp post has worked out very well. The square tube is a close fit to the round tube so its anticipated (and hoped) that there won't be any problems when using a pillar drill to make the holes in the lamp post. Unfortunately, problems with my computer have prevented me from importing and uploading the photographs taken during the construction of the jigs for the moment. As soon as these problems have been rectified the photographs will be uploaded and appear here. Another anticipated problem was how to drill all the holes in the baseboard for the lamp posts. These holes have to be absolutely straight and at right angles to the baseboard otherwise the lamp posts will be tilted one way or another and look as if they're falling down. Although it sounds quite easy to drill straight holes it is actually more difficult than it sounds. Once again the answer is a jig. This consists of a length of 2 inch by 1 inch (50mmx25mm)hardwood drilled through using a pillar drill. Into this hole is inserted a length of brass tubing which has a hole which is a snug fit for the drill being used to make the hole for the lamp post. Held tightly against the baseboard the drill is guided through the baseboard at the correct angle. Again, photographs will be uploaded as soon as possible. Work on the artwork for the decals is now complete and printing of the decals will commence shortly.

5th March 2005 First of all I must include the images which I promised to upload last time.These are for the jig to drill the round lamp posts without breaking too many drills.

The past month has seen little actual progress on the layout as Len has been away from home for a couplke of weeks. There has been progress though, although this has been confined to experimental work. Happily the experiments have proved successful and it will now be possible to move onto the drilling of the lamp posts and completing the illuminations features plus the strings of lights running between the lamp posts. These strings are known as festoons incidentally.

The light emitting diodes on order from Australia have arrived but have proved to be unsuitable for the task. Following discussions with "the experts" it was decided to use the 1.8mm sub miniature axial leds which Len had in stock but use a different method of soldering them together. Instead of soldering the "arms" of the leds together in a straight line, the arms were bent back at right angles close to the led and then soldered together. This reduced the space between each led to approx 3mm which is almost exactly the correct scale spacing although the leds are, admittedly, slightly overscale being almost a scale 6 inches wide rather than the 4 inch width of the prototype. However, this discrepancy isn't really apparant. Strings of twelve leds with a 330 ohm resister gives the right degree of brilliance when run on 18v AC (yes leds do run on AC as well as DC but can only use half of the available current. These leds are therefore running on 9 volts) The photo on the left shows the test rig with one string of lights temporarily taped into position on the lamp posts. The photo on the right shows the string lit up in close up. Apologies for the darkness and lack of detail in this photo but the lighting had to be turned down in order for the light from the leds to be seen. On the layout there will be three strings of 12 leds strung between each lamp post both on the pavement and on the reservation between road and tramway. Sub minature resistors, approximately the same size as the leds, will be mounted behind the first led of each string. Just as on the prototype, there will be two wires running between the lamp posts, those on the layout supporting the leds and supplying current to them.

16th April 2005 Progress has again been stalled due to poor availability of the 1.8mm axial light emitting diodes. These have been ordered but delivery isn't expected until the end of May, just at the start of the holiday season. Work and testing on the automatic control circuit is continuing and a jig to hold the leds in position whilst soldering them and glueing on the supporting 0.45mm brass wires to the top and bottom. Its necessary to hold the leds in position due to their very small size and the very small size of the resistors (approx 2mm x 2.8mm) plus the fact that it will be necessary to construct almost fifty "festoons" to mount between the lamp posts on the layout, each festoon consisting of three "strings" of 12 leds. Its anticipated that this jig will be made from aluminium.

16th May 2005 Having built and exhibited the original diorama since 1991, when Len started work on the full size layout in 1999 he anticipated only a few minor problems. However, as time and work has progressed he has found that there have been many unexpected problems and, even more frustrating, each "solution" to a problem has only resulted in even more problems. The latest example of this is the strings of "festoons" which will be strung between each lamp post. It was anticipated that the sub miniature light emitting diodes (leds)would be mounted on 0,45mm brass wire fixed to the top and bottom of each led. This is necessary both to prevent breakage of the leads joining the leds during transit to and from exhibitions when the layout is bounced around in a trailer, and because there will be three "strings" of leds betwen each lamp post and there has to be a means of supplying electric current to each string. It was anticipated that the wires would be melted into the plastic bases of the leds. The concern was that the heat generated would damage the led beyond repair so initially an experiment (using the experimental string illustrated on this site)was carried out. It was found that the heat hadn't affected the working of the led, but that it wasn't possible to melt the brass wire into the plastic base. The next experiment was to use Evo-stik and after leaving the joints 24 hours to "cure" it was found that the glue hadn't adhered to the plastic and the brass wire just fell off. Superglue likewise failed so experimentation continues.Its hoped that an epoxy resin will adhere to the metal leads of the leds and that this will provide an anchor for a coating of epoxy resin covering the rear of the led and that the brass wire can be fixed to this "anchor" using epoxy resin. Time will tell whether this will successful. On a brighter note, initial bench testing of the automatic control circuit has been completed and it will be temporarily installed shortly. Initial testing will use only two sections and one tram. It is anticipated that these initial tests will show a lot of problems, particularly with the light dependent resistors, due to the low ambient light prsent on the layout and necessary in order for the "illuminations" to be seen. Even when working reliably in one hall, the differeing light levels in exhibition halls could make the control system unreliable so some form of adjustment to the light dependent resistors sensitivity will be necessary. Its hoped that the testing can be concluded quite quickly once the holiday season is over but everyone is prepared for, and expects, setbacks along the way.

29th June 2005 The problem with anchoring the brass wire to the light emitting diodes has been resolved. A coating of Evostik on the wire terminals at each side of the led has provided both insulation and a means of fixing the brass wire using another "blob" of evostik. Work is now underway to construct a jig which will provide an evenly spaced array of lights and in a straight line, albeit curving downwards toward the middle of the string. After returning from holiday and a bout of ill health, the circuit to provide automatic control of the trams has been wired up and tested. Although great problems had been anticipated, the only problems encountered appear to be of an easily rectified nature (how often has that been said before?). The basic circuit worked well but it will require a "latching" circuit to keep the relay open long enough to enable the stationary tram to move forward. Work on this amendment is now underway. As power for the circuit was taken from the auxiliary power circuit of the Duette controller there was some difficulty with the power supply when the tram crossed the track joints at the baseboard joints. Its thought that a stabilising circuit will cure this problem although when tests are completed the automatic control circuits will be powered from their own independent transformers. Nonetheless an encouraging amount of progress during the period. Time was also occupied in motorising a number of Corgi Balloons including the Eclipse (2) liveried model recently introduced.

17th July 2005 Not much work has been done since the last update. Corgi Balloons in what is described by Corgi as Eclipse (2) livery have been "stripped" using nail polish remover to leave completely black trams whilst photographs have been used to produce decals for the black based original 1998 and 1999 liveries. These were the same livery but with different dates on the lower rear side of the tram and above the top deck windows. These are currently being applied to the models. Although the process is quite simple it is quite time consuming to re-size the photographs so that the decals, when printed, fit exactly onto the side of the tram. Some painting has also been done on other trams.

27th August 2005 The time since the last update has been spent analysing the changes (if any) needed to the electronic circuit for the automatic control system. It is believed that some of the problems encountered arise from using a straight 12volt DC current. It has been decided to try again using a "smoothed" current but before changing the elctronic control circuit to incorporate a smoothing circuit tests will be undertaken using a 12v battery. The battery will proveide a smoothed current so it can be established if the current supply is, in fact, a problem. It has also been decided to incorporate an additional section and sensor prior to the section where the tram is due to stop at a "tram stop". This is intended as as a safety precaution which should prevent a following tram from colliding with the tram at a "tram stop" should a relay not operate or the stationary tram not move away quickly enough.

8th October 2005 As feared, the trials with the experimental automatic control system have not proved successful so its "back to the drawing board" again. Because it will be very difficult to install an automatic control system once the working street lights with their attached live overhead and illuminations features have been installed no work has been undertaken on the layout itself. A complete rethink on the methodology of running the trams automatically has resulted in a scheme to set all trams running simultaneously at fixed intervals but running into dead sections where tram stops are situated. Hopefully light detecting relays will protect the trams in these sections by not allowing a following tram to enter the section, being stopped at a "safety" dead section section immediately behind each stationary tram. The "safety" section being made live when the stationary tram leaves it's dead section. Work is now underway to design a suitable timer switch circuit which will switch on the sections for a short period before switching them off for a longer period.

5th November 2005 A time switch circuit has now been designed which, via a relay, will switch on four sections simultaneously and keep the section live for four seconds. This should allow all four trams time to clear the section and start their journey to the next "tram stop" or dead section. As the tram should take more than four seconds on its journey it will automatically stop on reaching the dead section and stay there until the section is switched on again. The "tram stop" dead sections will be dead for forty sections before being switched on again. This should allow time for even the slowest tram to complete its journey between the sections and remain at the "tram stop" long enough for the imaginary passengers to get on and off. If a tram doesn't move from the "tram stop" whilst the section is live - movement being detected by a light dependent resistor - a "safety" section behind it will remain dead and prevent another tram running into the stationary tram. Its hoped that this circuit can be wired into the layout for testing within the next few weeks and that it will prove successful. However, discussions are now taking place to investigate the possibility of using an old computer, which could be bought very cheaply, as a means of controlling the layout using light dependent resistors as sensors but this "solution" will only be fully investigated if the timer circuit system doesn't work.

15th December 2005 The electronic timer circuit has now been received and work is now in hand to incorporate it into a control circuit which will prevent collisions should one tram fail to move when the section on which is it standing is switched on. This will involve the use of relays and will take a while to devise the electronic interlocking so that everything works but "fails safe". Until the automatic control circuits are working properly with the sensors installed in the tracks it would be rather foolish to install the working overhead, street lamps and illumination features as they would interfere with the work on the track and would be liable to breakage as well. With the Christmas holiday now rapidly approaching it is unlikely that any progress will be made before mid January 2006.

22nd January 2006 The Christmas and New Year holidays combined with a bout of illness and a hospital visit conspired to slow down the testing programme of the new electronic circuit for the automatic control of the trams. Unfortunately, once again practice defeated theory and the trials weren't as successful as was hoped. The difficulty occurs in making everything "fail safe" but it seems impossible to achieve this 100% of the time. The major problem appears to be that the sensors don't always sense that a tram is in section or possibly doesn't send a long enough pulse to trigger the relay each time. Thoughts are now turning to sensing the tram using the electric current feeding the section and using electronic relays instead of the present mechanical ones. If this is the solution it will entail quite a hefty financial outlay to purchase the many electronic relays required. As the layout is too big to set up at home, for the last couple of years it has been set up at the model railway club's premises but as they have now been given notice to quit and have not yet found new premises there is an added urgency to solve the control problem. Hopefully the control circuits now being designed and built will solve the control problem and can be installed together with the overhead wiring before the club has to vacate its premises as the remaining work could then be carried out board by board at home as it won't be necessary to set up the entire layout.

19th February 2006 Having so far failed to achieve 100% reliable running using a number of different circuits so far, in an endeavour to control the whole layout, it was decided to try the commercially available circuits which use infra red beams to detect the trams. As these work by using a separate circuit board for each isolated section of track, instead of one circuit board for the whole layout, three were ordered for experimental purposes. Using only three sections it was only possible to run two trams at a time. Over several sessions of testing these units have performed well and it has been decided to standardise on these units to control the running of the trams on the layout. It is proposed to run five trams on each track if it is possible to provide enough "running space" between each section. If there isn't then there will only be four trams on each track. These circuit boards also have provision to work model railway signals using bulbs or leds. Instead of signals, these outputs will be used to provide indicators on the control panel showing which sections are occupied and which are vacant and so be able to monitor the progress of trams. The necessary circuit boards and leds are now on order as are the additonal transformers and circuits to provide two 12volt 2amp smoothed, stabilised outputs to the circuit boards - one power circuit for the five or six circuit boards per track - as each requires 200mamps to function. There will be a considerable amount of wiring to be undertaken so it will be a while before everything is running as desired. However, this is thought (and hoped) to be the last major problem to be solved and future progress should not be hampered by problem solving, only by time constraints.

19th March 2006 All the automatic control circuits have now been received. The two 12v 2amp DC smoothed stabilised power circuits (one for each of the tram tracks) for the five control circuits on each track are powered from an independent 12vAC 4amp transformer. The smoothing circuits have been installed on the control/distribution desk together with the five automatic control circuits on the inner tram track. These are all now working satisfactorily although it took some trial and error to find the best locations for the infra red sensors on the automatic control circuit boards. It still remains to install the inter board connectors for the inner tram track and then test everything over several hours of non stop running. Once this has been completed work will commence on installing the five automatic control circuits on the outer tram track. This should be slightly quicker as there won't be problems deciding the locations for the sensors but there won't be any reduction in the time required to wire them up. The two new Corgi Blackpool trams have arrived (Hot Ice and Mystique) and are now in the process of being motorised. Work has also started on the re-livery of a Mystique into the Transport & General Workers Union livery which is also white based.

16th April 2006 Holidays and other commitments have restricted the time available to work on the layout. When returning to work on the layout after the holiday it was found that the trams were not running accoding to the required sequence. Instead of the tram passing over a sensor setting off the tram to its rear it was setting off the tram to its front. Due to the arrangement of the sensors, this resulted in trams crashing into each other at the back of the layout. At the moment the cause of this is unknown and, as this phenomenom hasn't been reported to the manufacturer before he isn't able to advise where the problem lies. As Len has other commitments for the next two weeks nothing can be done to sort the problem out until then. Meanwhile work on the layout is, once again, at a standstill. However, the work to re-livery the Corgi Balloon from Mystique livery to T&GWU livery has been completed and the photos show what has changed.

The change was effected by removing the tampo printed livery on the "spare" Mystique livered tram with Nail Polish Remover but be careful not to get any of this on the windows as they'll become "misty" or "frosted". Using dead side on and dead end on photos, scan these into a photo manipulation programme on your computer, resize the images to fit the model and then print onto your chosen decal film. Follow the instructions with the decal film and apply to the model. Simple but it can be time consuming. As can be seen, it is still necessary to apply decals to produce a new destination blind on the TGWU liveried tram.

29th May 2006 Every so often a problem is encountered to which there is no obvious solution. With good support from the manufacturer a test programme was initiated on the automatic control circuit. This has taken a great deal of time but at long last it seems that we may have found the solution. The circuit boards were found to be taking more current than expected, more in fact than the 12v 2amp smoothed, stabilised outputs from the transformer could supply. A new toroidal type transformer is on order which will have two outputs which should be more than sufficient to meet the demands of the automatic control circuits for each track. A circuit to provide the smoothing and stabilisation of the two 12volt 5amp outputs (one for each of the two tracks) from the transformer is also on order. The task of installing and wiring up the transformer and smoothing/stabilisation circuits will take a couple of hours. Hopefully, this will be the end of the problem and work can then start on installing the same circuits on the outer track. As each circuit board requires no less than nine wires to be connected to it plus a resistor and involves cross board connections as well as interboard connectors this will take several weeks as work can only take place for three hours on two eveningsa a week.

On a happier note, Len took a trip to the model weekend to meet a gentleman who has produced models of two Blackpool illuminated trams. Where Len has used fibre optic strands to replicate the bulbs, Peter has used extremely small surface mounting LED's (1.6mm x 0.8mm overall) which have no wires attached as in the larger sized LED's. To see photographs of these trams go to the Gallery page of this website.

Work has also continued on motorising Corgi Brush Cars and producing decals to relivery them.

20th June 2006 The toroidal transformer has now arrived and is awaiting the arrival of the two 5amp smoothed stabilised output circuits. Meanwhile, testing continued using an alternative power source and this proved successful with the inner track circuits working as they should, a further circuit board was added so that five trams could run on the track at the same time. This was also successful.. The six circuit boards needed to control trams on the outer track were then installed. As each board requires fifteen wires to be connected to it and there is only a couple of hours a week available this task is quite time consuming. It was completed last Thursday evening (15th June). Five trams were positioned on each track and power turned on. It was an impressive sight to see all the trams running at once and a small crowd gathered to watch. All went well for just under an hour and a half when all the trams on the inner track stopped with the indicators on the circuit boards all at red. It wasn't possible to undertake any testing but in a conversation with the manufacturer, as the time scale of the failure was similar to what happened previously, it was decided to remove all six circuit boards and return them to him for in-depth testing as there may be a "rogue" component which is failing after working for a period of time. The task of removing them will start this evening.

Work is continuing on motorising trams and creating decals to relivery them - and with more new liveries appearing on trams in Blackpool recently these activities will obviously continue for some while to come.

16th July 2006 The smoothed and stabilised 5 amp circuit to power the automatic control circuit boards have not arrived, and are unlikely to as the most critical component is not available in a power greater than 2 amps and they cannot be coupled to produce a five amp circuit. Alternative solutions are now being pursued! The circuit boards from the inner track were returned to the manufacturer and it didn't take him long to test them, find that there was a faulty component on one board and send them back by return of post. Despite the best efforts of Royal Mail to destroy the package on its return journey, the six boards were installed over a couple of evenings and a test with one tram showed that all was well. Following discussions with the manufacturer, its probable that the circuit boards don't "know" that they have a tram in section unless they are "told". To this end, push to make switches will be wired into each circuit board and installed on the indicator boards at the rear of the layout, together with the "tell tale" LED's. It wasn't possible to have a full scale testing session because the Model Railway Club clubrooms, where Blackpool in the box was residing, have to be vacated. Until such time as new premises have been acquired Blackpool in the box will be in store although work can be done - on the dining room table - on one layout board at a time. This will obviously allow some work to proceed but it will be impossible to test run the layout as a whole. On the broader front, work has continued - albeit slowly - on motorising Corgi trams and giving them new liveries. The production of decals for these new liveries is a time consuming exercise - but surely thats why we enjoy the hobby - we can take our time producing models which are different to the run of the mill ones which "everybody" has.

6th August 2006 With the layout in store, and a short holiday taken, not a lot of work has been done. Decals for the "Kodak" Brush car have been completed and applied to the tram as have the decals to complete the "Asda" liveried Balloon and Balloon 715 in the very short lived "Come on England" white livery. Next week (12th & 13th August)Len is helping out at the Plymouth Model Railway Exhibition before going into hospital for major surgery. For this reason in will be a while before more work can be done and the site updated.

3rd December 2006 Happy to report that Len's heart surgery was 100% successful, his receovery is going according to schedule and it shouldn't be too long before he is able to resume his modelling activities in full. He has now started work on producing the decals for more new Blackpool liveries such as the Isle of Man promotional livery. He's also catching up on his correspondence and updating this website.

25th March 2007 Len is still in an extremely frustrating position as his ribs are steadfastly refusing to heal and he is under very strict instructions to do nothing at all except rest! As a result there has been no progress on his modelling activities. He sends his apologies for the long delays which sometimes occur in responding to e-mails and snail mail. Hopefully, it won't be too long before the situation rectifies itself and "normal service" can be resumed.

28th May 2007At long last there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. A friend has bought a new house which has a garage just big enough to erect the layout in and has given me the use of it for three weeks until he's ready to move in. Hopefully this will give enough time to get the electronic automatic control system working. If everything goesaccording to plan - and it hasn't so far - then progress can be resumed again even if the layout is in a dismantled state as everything can be done on a baseboard by baseboard basis.

30th June 2007Oh dear! More dashed hopes to report. Having spentmany hours installing the switches and additional light emitting diodes recommended by Heathcote Electronics it was with great disappointment that the first test revealed a worsening of the situation rather than an improvement. During several lengthy mobile phone calls from the garage where the layout had been temporarily erected to the manufacturer tests he suggested were carried out but the results predicted were not obtained and the reasons for the results actually obtained were unknown. Before the matter could be resolved the layout had to be dismantled and put back into store. Its beginning to look as if there isn't a satisfactory method of controlling the layout automatically and reliably. The gift of an old (very) laptop computer, plus a friend having the acquintance with a retired signalling engineer with experience of signalling on British Railways has opened the possibility of using a computer to control the trams. Hopefully, the Irdots - which detect the trams with 100% reliability although not switching relays as required - can be used in conjunction with the computer to switch external relays controlling the isolated sections. Just how long it will take to design and write the software and wiring diagrams remains to be seen - thats if its a feasable proposition.

12th August 2007 What with going to Totally Transport at Blackpool at the end of June, updating the website (which I omitted to upload in the excitement)and then going to Norway for a short holiday not much has been done in the past few weeks apart from cataloging and filing the photographs taken in Blackpool - of the newly reliveried trams of course - before starting work on making decals for them and setting to work on more Corgi models I have found the odd few minutes to varnish the reliveried Corgi Balloon in Eclipse livery as shown in the photograph on the right. This will be one of a pair in this livery, the difference being the dates shown on the model. This one has the 1999 dates while the next one will have the 1998 dates. Whilst not contributing to the layout, although motorised as all the model trams are so that they will be available to run on the layout, this ispart of the overall "Blackpool Trams, A Model History " display which will be featured alongside the layout at exhibitions if the automatic control can be sorted out. If however it becomes necessary to utilise manual control a larger operating team will be necessary or the display will become a stand alone exhibit.

23rd September 2007. Poor health has once again meant that work on the layout and trams has been delayed. What has been done is to do some work on the computer on the new all over liveries. These are causing some difficulty in getting the decals to follow the contours of the trams without crinkling or tearing. Searching for a solution to these problems is proving both difficult and frustrating

4th November 2007. As there is still no answer to the problems with the automatic control system no work has been done on the layout since June and if no solution is forthcoming by the New Year it has beendecided to implement a manual control system using push button switches to control isolated sections. Full details will be given when the controls have been designed, built, installed and working. In the meantime work has concentrated on making the moulds for the "skirts" for Blackpool Balloon car 713 and it is hoped that these will be available very shortly. As these are designed to be used on Corgi trams they will be made in whitemetal. Work has also continued on making the decals for Blackpool Balloon 719's new overall livery for the "Fusion" ride at the Pleasure Beach. This is presenting great difficulty in fitting the decals around the roof dome and the curvature between the sides and ends. Although work is ongoing, it was encouraging to learn the Blackpool Transport Services had the same problem on the prototype! Its amazing just how many hours of work it takes to create these decals, but at least Len can have the unusual liveries on his models. No doubt, having eventually solved the problems Corgi will introduce their own die cast model!

24th February 2008 Another bout of ill health has once again prevented any work on the layout and very lettle work on anything else. However, Len has managed to cast the first few "skirts" for use on Corgi Balloons and has almost finished work on new moulds for the adaptor sets to convert Corgi trams using the Bachmann PCC chassis, motor and trailing bogie unit. Work has been ongoing on the "Fusion" livery for Balloon 719 with the outstanding problems gradually being overcome. It now seems that the model livery cannot be 100% accurate as some problems may eventually prove to be insoluble. Work has been completed on the new Karting 2000 livery as applied to 630; hopefully a photo will be forthcoming shortly. Work is also being undertaken on other liveries but due to continuing poor health is still very slow.

19th April 2008 Len's continuing Ill health is preventing any work being done on the layout which is very frustrating to say the least. Had everything gone to plan - but when does it? - the layout would have been completely finished by now. The situation shows the hazards of undertaking a major project virtually single handed. The white metal castings for the "skirts" now being fitted to an increasing number of the prototype Blackpool trams have now been cast and are now available, details will be found on the "Latest Product News" page. The moulds for the adaptor sets are now nearly ready so these should be available in two or three weeks from now. Work has continued - albeit at a much reduced pace - on the decals for the Fusion livery which will be used to relivery a modified Corgi "Walls Ice Cream" tram as well as on decals for other liveries. A photo of Alan Kirkman's reliveried Corgi Brush Car as number 630 in the new (introduced 2007) Karting 2000 livery is now on the "Gallery" page.

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