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chris

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Everything posted by chris

  1. Very quiet year for Amblethorpe. Only had one running session. On the plus side, there was only one problem with the track. Two bonding wires had failed. Both on the same price of track. Fixed it yesterday when I had my iron out to do similar work on the PR&PR.
  2. General sorting out was the order of the day. A turnout motor had detached from the tie bar. A software update meant a couple of wires needed swapping over. And with that I could operate trains. I added the Snicket Way baseboards to the house end of Platryville. I had a classic loop railway at that end and the return loop in the shed. With a passing loop on the single track in between. It was great to run a train from the Snicket Way and a couple of minutes later it return, all on it's own. I'm now planing a return loop for the house end. It's complicated by the fact that the loop will need to have a diameter greater than the raised bed of Paltryville and that I still need a connection to the Snicket Way. I've figured out the track plan. Still working on the engineering of the baseboard.
  3. I've completed the return loop and in-shed sidings. All the turnouts are driven by servos and controlled by 7 push buttons inside the shed. There are 3 push buttons on a panel outside which means that I can change key turnouts without having to pop into the shed. I have train on track detection. I use this to automatically throw the balloon loop turnout so it is set correctly for an exiting train. The DCC polarity is tide to the turnout position. Polarity is flipped by a relay whenever the turnout throws. All this is controlled by a single Arduino Nano. I've made covers for the track portals. They slide up and are held open by magnets. There is a turnout at the rear. This will allow a track to run along the back wall of the shed. This could become a long storage siding. Ultimately it is there to enable an extension through the shed and out to the other side of the garden.
  4. I got the track down and the electronics connected yesterday. Trains can run round the balloon loop and return to where they came from. The next job is to get the turnout motorised so the loop can operate automatically. After that I'll get the fiddle yard sidings installed and wired up. I will add motors to the turnouts on the loop, of which there are three. The other two fiddle yard turnouts are in tight locations so I may leave those manual. The only issue would be automation, but I can concern myself with that further down the road. I'm starting to distract myself with making plans for the other end of the line. A second balloon loop will enable continuous running which makes a huge defence on a garden railway. I added an O-16.5 turnout into my last order of track and I have 3 yards of O-16.5 flexi. I think have enough to make a second loop.
  5. The circuit you have draw is not going to work! some thing like this will work. The 4 way switch might be tricky to source. Push buttons you hold down until it's thrown would work. But you'd have to watch them to see that they have thrown, so not practical. Possibly a push-button and a CDU, but I've not thought that through. A relay is also an option. But then you will have to think about how you would trigger the relay. I'd use an Arduino, but there's a lot to learn if you are going down that route.
  6. Last week I cracked on with the baseboard and bridge. The last of my trackbed aerated blocks needed realigning to create a straight run onto the bridge and to land on the new baseboard in the correct location. I had to dig out all the stones and soil base, it was't much of a chore. I used a chunky off-cut of block to create an abutment for the bridge to rest on. The bridge deck is 6mm correx with an Aluminium T girder (from a dead greenhouse) under for strength. The sides are from an old (Triang??) OO bridge. I may replace the sides and put a covered bridge on there. The track is pinned down as far as the turnout. It switches from Peco O-16.5 to OO as it passes over the bridge. I see the bridge as the end of the scenic section. Everything upstream of it is fiddle yard. I've ordered some set track for the loop and the turnouts. Everything is second radius. I've started the job of soldering the bonding wires. As ever, I'm getting as much soldering as I can done before I take it outside and pin it down. This location isn't easily accessible, so I don't want my bonds failing too often. I hope to get the return loop installed this weekend. The electronics on the return loop is relatively simple. I've ordered some train on track detection kits. These will allow me to run the system automatically, with the train changing the turnout as it goes round the loop so it is set correctly by the time it gets back to the turnout. It will also flip the DCC polarity to avoid a short circuit. I may have trains running round it in the next few days.
  7. The weather is finally getting to the point where work in the shed is possible, that said I did get rather cold yesterday. I've returned to working on my loop. 2nd radius with set-track points is the plan. Baseboard outside and inside the shed. There has been lots of rearranging shed contestants to make space for the railway to pass in and out. After a couple of weeks on enabling works I fitted the internal baseboard. At this point I had a revelation. I had room for a fiddle yard. I played around with some 40 year old set track. I can fit in 4 roads. They are short sidings, but this isn't an issue. I don't have much On30 stock and a lot of it is 4 wheeler. The green is outside, brown inside. The sidings being on the return loop means that I can turn my trains. This is a huge bonus for operation. The grey track on the left will run along the back of the shed. I was going to have this as the siding with a cassette based fiddle yard. Thats no longer required. I'm still going to install that turnout and track. This will provide a long siding and a route for possible extension through the shed and back into the garden!
  8. Finally got the Steam Yachts built and working. They need a bit more detailing, but they look great swinging back and forth. I'll do a YouTube at some point.
  9. Work continues. Cinema rebuilt. Next up is to finish the beach. The baseboard has looked this this for 3 or 4 years.
  10. A reminded of how the back scene looked.
  11. Wow. I didn't realise it was so long since I rebuilt the right hand side of the back scene. Or more to the point, that it's taken me over 2 years to get round to doing the left hand side. A few mates and I are putting on a Show on Feb 25th. I've been flat out modding for a couple of month now. I'm taking The Snicketway and Ledston Tramway. Both are getting upgrades. I'm also helping a mate with his layout. Building him a bespoke controller. Busy, busy.
  12. I was having problems with damp in my shed. The wood is old now and it soaks up the rain. Which then evaporates when the sun warms it. This increases the humidity, which condenses on everything when things cool down. Long term solution is to clad it in steel sheets! The humidity and condensation was bothering me. I had a tiny fan blowing air out the shed. This wasn't effective. I stripped out a larger fan from a dead video projector. Screwed it to the shed wall, so it blows out through the whole the trains come though. A 12V power "brick" supplies it. It is very effective. I tried putting on a timer so it came on an off throughout the day. I found that there was condensation on the window. I decided to leave it running all the time. It's only a few Watts, so I doubt I'll notice my electricity bill going up.
  13. Things were working well. The running season is now over. A couple of turnouts need replacing. The big job is to replace the baseboard that remains from the original construction in 2010. I've been putting that job off, because I want to re-roof my shed beforehand. But I'm procrastinating over the new roof. May be next year.
  14. Picking up this thread again, I'm pleased to see that Smokey Joe has only been stuck in the "Active Projects Box" for a 34 months. I thought it had taken a lot longer. I think it was in the "To-Do Box" for a couple of years. The push I needed to get going again came in the shape of rectangular brass tube. This enabled me to create a working link between the chassis and the rear bogie. The next challenge was couplings. Last year I bought a working coupling for one of my locos, to replace the dummy it is supplied with. Annoyingly the replacement was only sold as a pair. This annoyance turned to be a godsend. With a bit of fettling I fitted it to Smokey Joe. I designed a NEM pocket for the rear and my mate 3D printed it. I put a Kadee in. I added running boards and a coat of black aerosol. Almost there. But the chimney was chronically undersized. More time was spent in Tinkercad. I designed a new Chimney and a lamp for good measure. Again the files were emailed to my mate for 3D print. I could add more details, but I think that will do for the construction. Just need to add a number plate to match up with the rest of my fleet.
  15. Voyager is Bachman. Not their finest work. But fits my period very well.
  16. The sun was out for this weeks running session. I finally got round to buying two more JNA Network Rail gondola wagons. I now have a rake of 5 which is prototypical. I gave them a run out with my 5 Auto-ballasters. A formation I have seen go passed the bottom of the garden. It was nice to have the Voyager running.
  17. The green is a grass mat from Lidl. Unfortunately they have changed the design and the one they now (occasionally) stock is more grasslike and thus over scale for OO garden railway use. I bought two 2 metre by 1 metre rolls. I've about half of the second roll left.
  18. I decided that we'd have 1980s running session yesterday. Lots of BR blue.
  19. There has been an unexpected, but much desired addition to the Paltryville fleet. I've wanted a Shay since I started down the On30 road, but they are rare. It was a great surprise to find one on the secondhand model stall at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Steam Gala. This throws a spanner in the return loop plan. I was going to make the ballon loop with an 20cm radius, with a loco release for the one train that couldn't cope with the tight turn. A second loco that won't make it round a 20cm curve calls for a rethink of this plan. It appears that the Shay will get round a 38cm radius. When I get home I'll see how it runs on 1st Radius track, which is 37cm. If it will get round, it will still be wider than the space I have, It may have to go in and out of the shed. The length of the loop also becomes an issue. I was hoping to get it in 90cm, but it's now looking like it will need 120cm. On the plus side, the loco release will no longer be required. Having though I was passed the planning stage, I'm back at the drawing board.
  20. I decided to motorise the turnouts on the PR&PR before I started work on the return loop baseboard. It turned onto one of those jobs where so many decisions had to be made, things ground along very slowly. I got two points motored before the frustration become too much and I decided to step away for a few days. This did give me the time to realise that I have space for a return loop at the other end of the line as well. Getting a bit carried away with my thoughts, I've figured out how I can make a lift-out return loop which can connect to both the PR&PR and Snicketway. Twin return loops will enable continuous running, always a nice feature on a garden railway. Yesterday I decided to focus. I need to crack on and do the shed loop first. Today I searched the house high and low to find all the suitable pieces of wood I could use to make a baseboard. Moving the bits round on the lawn, like a tile puzzle, I figured out which bits would go where. I then took on the task of clearing out decade of cobwebs that have accumulated on the junk I've been keeping in the corner under Amblethorpe. I think I've got to the point where most of the figuring out has been done. This should mean that progress is quicker. But it will now have to wait, tomorrow I'm off to Pickering for a 5 day break.
  21. Focus on Amblethorpe has kept me from playing with The Paltryville Ridge & Peak Railroad. Earlier this week I decided to leave it alone this year and postpone works until 2023. Yesterday inspiration hit. The PR&PR is back on the to do list. I connected up the Snicketway baseboards. I couple of issues need resolving. A loose leg required a dab of epoxy. Trains were shorting as they bridged from PR&PR to Snicket. A minute with the soldering iron switching the the red and black wires on the socket sorted that. DCC comes from the Amblethorpe feed. I can run with iPhones and iPads through the same JMRI setup. At some point I'll create a JMRI profile specifically for it. All locos and street cars ran straight out of the box. That was a very pleasant surprise. On to the Inspiration. The PR&PR is an end to end railroad. Garden railroads lend themselves to continuous running. With the Snicketway at one end I have a loop that trains can run on to. But the other end is a railroad into thin air. In the back of my mind there is an extension into the shed. This will require a major reorganisation of the shed. Shed improvements is a different project which i've been mulling over for half dozen years... The new idea is a return loop. There is a 700mm wide space outside the shed (over 2m long). This is wider than the Snicketway baseboard. This means that anything that any rolling stock that can loop round the Snicketway can could navigate round a return loop outside the shed. I'll also need to squeeze a loco release siding into that space and allow for that possible extension into the shed. The next job is to come up with a track plan.
  22. Reading back though this thread I've had the same setup in the shed for 11 years. This small differences are that I've replaced the PC with a Raspberry Pi and I have multiple iPhones and iPads to use as throttles and signal boxes. The panels shown above are still much the same, tweaked for a remodelled junctions. I've added another small panel, designed for use on a iPhone. It enables control of the turnouts at Colwick and Emble Junction. Turnout control is now a mixture of DCC Accessory decoders and a CMRI Layout Control Bus. In the shed points are still DCC operated. The garden junctions have Arduinos driving them. The vast majority of the time I'm running with the Raspberry Pi powered up and JMRI controlling the show. I can operate trains with just the PowerCab and the 5 Volt supply to the Arduinos, but that only happens when I'm doing quick test of a train or some tweaked track work. I may set up a DCC-EX command station to free up my PowerCab. That would commit me to only using phone throttles, but I don't see that being a problem. The Layout Control Bus provides two way communication. I'm using this for turnout feedback. JMRI knows the position of turnouts. I could add train location feedback as well. I've got loads of infra red sensors. I could add these to Colwick to detect when a train is reaching the buffers. But infra red sensors don't play well with sunlight. Train on track sensors will be more reliable. I don't think I'd use them for automation so there usefulness would be limited. I'm getting towards the end of the running season. So it may be six months before I start to consider these kinds of improvements.
  23. Over recent months (years) a few units and locos have devolved faults and been put on the shelf. Today I had time on my hands and it was raining. It was time to tackle the Stored Unserviceable. First up was my mates Dapol Class 122. It's new, but arrived with a fault. I'd managed to get it working, but the fault returned. Today I took it all apart. Found the problem, made the adjustment and put it all back together. I even glued the exhaust pipes back on, which I'd snapped off the first time I'd fixed it. Next up was a sound fitted Class 37. It's TTS fitted. A better quality speaker had come into my possession. I fitted it. The sound has improved, but I'm not a fan of sound, so i wasn't particularly impressed. My MPV has been plying up for a decade. It didn't like starting. Last time I tried to give it a run it didn't do anything. I had it apart resoldered the wires in place. That didn't help. Switching out the DCC chip sorted it. I'd dropped my 156 a couple of years ago. The boggie of one car had popped out. Not a big job to fix, but it had pick ups and the wires had come off. I looked at my options and decided that I could live without the pickups. Clipped it back together and it was back in service. Scots Guardsman sat down a few months ago. Bits around the piston had fallen apart. Careful dismantling and reassembly got it back on the tracks. Great to have my fleet back to full strength.
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