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Camdale layout


aussietmrail
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13 hours ago, TheQ said:

Having lived in the Outer Hebridies, apart from trying to keep the trains on the rails in the wind, when it's not windy, then you get eaten alive by midges......

That nelevator If IIRC was £1000+ depending on model, I think the 00 gauge one was something like £1200.... ouch

 I've long been looking at a home built equivalent, possibly using some sort of rachet system to raise and lower the cassettes.

Hi TheQ ,had a look on the map up the top end of Scotland, nice place to visit.

That be awesome have an automatic vertical staging yard, ouch can buy a could of good two train sets for that price, would rather by DCC first, looks like I will have to scratch build one mine will have draw shelving to store a complete train, mine be 6ft to 7ft in length.

 

You will have let me know on what you come up TheQ I will have to scan a pic a drawing from a layout in the Model railroad Great model layout mag, 2005.

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

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Managed to do some work on the layout outside,, redesigned the spiral making it a foot longer to 10feet still 7foot  radius curve,, replaced a straight section with a 12radous quarter curve, plan to cut strips of ply for the sides of the spiral that will stop  any sagging, and new way for mounting the legs , all the curve sections have the ply strips, same with the large 6ft S bend on the lower level of the spiral be level with the third rail of the hand railing on the pathway around the house. Next week will be putting the level jig on spiral to mark and cut the legs, then paint them ready for track all over again, good if I had someone to help, does make it easier when I three drills, one for predrilling the holes, second one for countersinking the holes and third one for screwing  the  screws, doesn't take long to build a module, electric saw 18volt as well only one drill has a cord

I started painting the second station module today before it started getting too hot 37 degrees in the sun, 35 degrees in under the pergola, bought a indoor out door digital temp gauge, it is hot, hot, a week of February left, there still be hot days in March, pushing to get the construction out the way, the back door corner module is built and levelled ready , one more 7foot curve back to cut out  and a straight section will finish that off. Only needing the ply bases of the bridge to link up the whole layout decking, not far away now, aiming for April to run a test train up the spiral and June for the whole layout.

One thing I noticed with taking pics using a digital camera is especially a grade it looks steeper which it isn't as in the last pic second pic is ok, the level jig is set at 2 percent grade inch and quarter every 42 inches drop.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead,

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi roddy, how are you going you must be glad to see the end of winter a week left, same with summer as well we wont get too many more hot days over 40 degrees in the mid 30's sill too hot to work. outside.

Many thanks for that eBay link I have never seem those pilot hole and countersink drill bits will see if our Bunning sells, have you being into the Bunning over there, Bunning pretty popular.

I just have to paint the top of the second station module will tomorrow, move onto the third station module and the approach modules, get stuck into layout track, want to do the track module joins as well. like in this pic.

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

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Haha Tony, I think you have the wrong idea about our weather. Indeed I have seen snow on my birthday in June. Summer is warmer, Winter is colder, but rain and cold days can happen in Summer just as much as rain and warm days can happen in Winter. Snow is very much an exception and can be nothing more than a dusting, or full on blizzard. Here in the North, I have seen no snow (because I'm on the coast) and very few frosts. Yesterday was tee shirt weather with bright sunshine. Today is dull and a cold wind. It is said that we can have four seasons in one day. It's certainly why we always talk about the weather, even to strangers.

We don't have Bunnings, but we do have other suppliers.

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Roddy,

in the UK, you do have Bunnings.

 

 

 

They  bought Homebase early 2016....

They are currently experimenting with the formats in some stores, because Bunnings in Australia, is more practical than Homebase. Once settled, it's expected all Homebase stores will be rebranded Bunnings.

I remember snow here in Norfolk in June about 1977 I think, the RAF wouldn't turn the heating on!!!

Nowhere near as bad as RAF Boulmer in mid winter trying to patrol the site, 3 to 4 feet deep in snow.

For those elsewhere Boulmer is also in the north east...

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Homebase here was certainly taken over a couple of years ago, but re-opened as The Range. I had no idea of the Bunnings connection. I'm afraid that it's not a shop that I ever visit.

And thanks for confirming my description of British weather to Tony. 

Edited by roddy
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On 18/02/2017 at 2:56 PM, roddy said:

Haha Tony, I think you have the wrong idea about our weather. Indeed I have seen snow on my birthday in June. Summer is warmer, Winter is colder, but rain and cold days can happen in Summer just as much as rain and warm days can happen in Winter. Snow is very much an exception and can be nothing more than a dusting, or full on blizzard. Here in the North, I have seen no snow (because I'm on the coast) and very few frosts. Yesterday was tee shirt weather with bright sunshine. Today is dull and a cold wind. It is said that we can have four seasons in one day. It's certainly why we always talk about the weather, even to strangers.

We don't have Bunnings, but we do have other suppliers.

Hi Roddy, keep on forgetting you live on the coast where about again but you can get some pretty bad Channel storms have seen then in doco's, Perth Adelaide, Melbourne, and Canberra are the same as your weather they can have three  climate changes in one day especially Melbourne, it is freezing down there, they are all rugged up watching T 20 cricket Sri-Lanka- Australia crazy.

We have cloud cover as well, had a very heavy rain over night, storm predicted for tonight..

Bunning do sell those drill bits different to the ones you sent me a link of, don't think you can get one in 1/16 drill bit what I use , don't use those large gauge screws.

I painted the module top this morning, needs a second coat, I was looking at the track plan as well and have decided to cut the extension of the station module three inches wider to 9 inches to give better clearance with track beside a building.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

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Hi The Q and Roddy , I thought Bunning build a whole new wear house, what they are doing over here, two in Ipswich , fully air conditioned, that is all we have here now, they are the only wear house that sell Ryobi, all my yard tools are 36volt battery power even the mower and I have 18volt +one tool as well, got to do something to help this planet.. One of my to do thing list is go on a holiday to the Snowy Mountains, never seen snow want to feel it and even have a go at skying..

 

That would be tough having to walk through the snow on patrol around the RAF base in full kit.

Not much happening tomorrow on the layout , sleep study, over night stay Monday night in Prince Charles hospital two appointments on Tuesday.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finely got the track nailed down on the  first station module well under way, did well with the track gang even soldering those brass face plates to hold the track down on the module join, next job is to solder in the feeder wires to the joiner track on the spiral module and continue on with bus and feeder wires.

The track on the station modules be only temporary main line till  I extend past the  front station module, be three track and a island platform next stage after the layout is up and running

The very first passenger coaches across from the  spiral module, pics one and  two  no loco till I solder in feeder wires to the bus wire, pic three is the module track join.

 

If you notice I have the module up fairly high this way I am not on my knees getting a sore back and legs, much easier and same with doing the wiring, I used a Dremmel to cut the track on the join, want to finish off the three station modules and approach modules so I can up them away in the shed then continue working on the  layout curved decking and spiral nearly there, on a high will make the most of the perfect weather.

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

 

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Evening Mick yes you sure be welcome just a matter of a plane fair over and back , many thanks this is what keeps me going, I am hopping to at least have the spiral, station modules car port around to the back corner module  up and running by April and the whole layout connected by June on my birthday, will be doing a video on the big event, nice to have one of those small can cameras  set up on a flat wagon,. Our Jar-car electronic stores has one I got in mind buying at a good price has a remote as well what you need.

Keep an eye on my post as I have pics that tell the story of  my plans for the extension of my  suburban island platform with a passing loop in front of the station modules, I have modified the module in the last post that has the points and cross over on it. and now has a an extra point siding for the auto wagon  unloading and loading dock.in the next post

It's 9pm your time now, hopefully you see it before you head off to bed, still cold over there, we had a perfect autumn day yesterday, no work on the layout, not to Sunday now Saturday be my last duty office at my train club and last day as well not renewing my member ship, be leaving early early want to drop in to the hobby shop on the way home, looking into remote controlling a throttle that has a slide control seeing what servo to buy to do the job.

The other option is going DCC so I can set up Wi-Fi  so my son can control a train on his computer using his mouse like the same you will use the engine driver app on your phone.

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

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The latest update, I have being busy laying track and changing points around on the spiral front corner module, be lots more fun with the added siding for the Indian Pacific auto wagon unloading and loading dock will have a working car ramp as well.

Pic 2 and three join up , the track join is where the orange cutters is, be too much work in modifying the module, this is the easiest way, the flexi track comes in handy for that connecting of track, pic 2 and  pic 4 are connected, in pic four is the changes to the points and adding a siding point, lots of fun with shunting the locos  an auto wagons the cross over is a single slip.

And the last pic is the reason I modified the points for, so where the track on the mock-up module goes on a curve the be an access ramp from the road level up to the platforms beside the small building I think that is where the station masters office is

Going back to the second pic 2a at the module joins, the bottom of the module be a road level and the module front will have cut out arches  and path way access to the bus station, this is the only way I can have that scene added is make the front extension a foot wider, would like to cut out the ply between the two sets of track  in the second pic 2a be a big job will have to move the bus wiring, after the temporary main line is up and running

Enjoy the latest pic update, more to come.

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

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Hi Tony! 

I use DCC with Roco's Z21 and with that I can set up a Wi-Fi (or W-Lan as that is called in Germany) and controll my trains with every smartphone or other device using Android. 

And with a powerfull Wi-Fi-repeater on my roof terrace it works fine in all parts of my garden. 

I can recommend that. 

Thomas 

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Morning Thomas, is your layout up and running now, would love to see those pics, yes I am thinking of DCC and  Wi-Fi, hoping my son can use a mouse to control the Wi-Fi throttle.

I will check out the remote controls and servo's first up, last day at the train cub too far to drive, if I have any health issues and end up in hospital close by be hard for my wife to come and pic the car up, give me more time on my layout and no need to get up early to get there by 9am hour drive each way.

I replaced the kadee's on my dual tender drive Flying Scot 4472 with a solid draw bar, the tenders are permanently connected now lift both out of the box together, did you also have the your model railway layout mag in your news agents too, I bought 6 of the coaches, they are not good runners need a lot of work derailing on points on the clubs layout, problem is the swing of the bogie getting caught.

I will send you a PM about the add on set with the bar car, Thaly's TGV.

Get back to my layout on Sunday track laying gang, once the track is down on the station modules I will shift to the spiral and finish it off, cutting new legs, and all over again track laying and the bus wiring.

The days are still warm here in Autumn 38 degrees in the sun 34 in under the pergola, morning have that nip in the air, make the most of it before it gets too cold and the westerly winds plays havoc with my asthma, must be warming up for you to get back out into the garden railway.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

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I decided to last out and buy an Irwin wire stripper saw it on  you tube  while looking for wire strippers that could strip a bus  mid stream, WOW then checked out Bunning yep they had them today took a couple of bits of wire to a demo and was sold , there wire strippers are going to speed up making up the bus wires with the feeders, I have to finish off nailing down the track on the last station module and I can start on the bus wiring. The wire stripper is a crimper as well so I can get rid of the big one given to which I don't know how to use no need for the knife and older wire stripper.

Here is the new way I mark bigger radius curves  this is a 4foot radius curve will join up the large S bend on the lower level of the spiral linking up to the back corner module, I now have all the curved cut out plus this ready to cut, matter of joining up all the curved decking, that leaves the bridge at the back of the layout 12foot span and 2 6ft spans the other side of the towers, bridge is modelled on the Demark to Sweden double deck cable stay bridge

The compass is a beam compass , I found using a length of 12mm ply has worked well.

It is raining here bad weather coming in by the weekend so wont be able to any work on the spiral or set up the station modules good time to do the bus wiring, nice if I had a shed big enough for a work shop.

Tony from wet down under keeping on moving ahead.

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That type of wire stripper is the best to use for the size of wire we use on model railways. I've had one for years but then it is part of my job to wire things, so I've gathered the correct tools for the job over many years... Unfortunately they are a bit small for the 100A cable I was working on last week end....

 Nice to see you making progress...

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Evening The Q, many thanks  I thought they were fairly new thing out, glad I bought one then, are you a Sparky by trade, handy to have that to with wiring, on the layout you can also make your own trannies, after seeing that you tube video it is amazing what that stripper can strip.

How is your layout coming along got the trains running yet, mine still a way off but getting there, can't do much outside with the weather being unstable and storm predicted for this afternoon, good time to finish of the track laying on the last station module and make a start on the bus wiring making full use of the new tool.

Tony fromwet down under keeping on moving ahead.

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My layout is a long, long way from running anything, thats the problem with building  such a large layout. I am working on a section of the indoor part of the layout which is removeable and therefore I can work on it down the Model railway club. That will form part of a 12ft by 8ft roundy layout for exhibitions. Tomorrow  Now next week, I was going to get 8X4 sheets of Foam but with tomorrows forecast of gusting 40mph winds......

I'm wiring the mains supplies and electric lighting in the shed for the main layout at the moment, when that is completed, I have to line / insulate the shed in the last 20ft by 10ft area and then build the supports for the layout.

After that I finally can start building the layout itself. Meantime outside the ground has been too sticky to continue working on the foundations for the viaduct wall which will be 3 to 4 ft high where the line will come out of the shed.

I'm an Electronics Technician  / Engineer. Originally on radar, but later on installation and commissioning of radar test systems. These days I sit in a lab at 23+0.5C, I measure test equipment, for instance I'm at this very moment I'm  measuring three  1 Giga Ohm resistors to an accuracy of 1 part in a million, although we only certify to 18 parts in a million. The readings take 20 minutes to settle, during which I can't move much or the readings change, giving me to have a quick look around the net:-D....This is a break from what I've been doing over the last couple of days,  which is writing the software to test  and creating the spreadsheets :S to process the results, of  testing, a new test equipment, testing station.

We have stormy weather forecast for this weekend as well, just as the ground was looking dry enough to work on, my garden is very exposed to the North Sea!!!  It's looking very windy for my winter sailing club's end of season event on Sunday as well....

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G'day The Q,, nice working on your own module that is part of a show layout, a club I belonged to years back I tried to get them to do the same everyone have a module that was to the same standards and join up as a show layout, that is why it is taking so long to build my layout being modular can't be a permeant layout., if there is an issue I can and  one module being the cause easier to sort out, I bought a multi metre not a dear one come in handy when checking if the track when I do a test run.

That is a decent size shed I would love to have one that size for my work shop can have the wood lathe set up permanently, I wish when we had the pergola build should of had  the roof sheets insulated, gets too dam hot in summer, the length is 8.8metres long by about 4metres wide then there is the car port and a 11foot gap and that is roofed as well, all the station complex is in under cover, spiral is outside and runs into the garden and there is a 7ft curve that sticks out past the car port .

Nice being a Electronics Technician /Engineer especially with the hobby can build all the circuits for DCC as well computerising the layout which I would love to do, get my son involved one day.

I used the new wire stripper yesterday nice, so much easier and you can strip two wires at once, all I did yesterday was cut the bus wires coming from the first two blocks on the spiral through, I couldn't staple the wires permeant to the cut out  lift section on the first station module used those U shape mounts that as the nail so I pull the wires through them . The spiral corner module I will have to rewire the bus and feeder wires form where I changed the points around..

Yeah that is the trouble living so close to the bay you cop all the bad storms especially if you live on the Channel side, seen some pretty bad storm there on the news.

My power supply will be four Dc throttles two are radio and other two walk around throttles I have two 6amp Trannies and one 2amp trannie , one 6amp will share a remote and walk around throttle other 6amp control one remote, the LEDS and point motors plus lighting, controlled by 3pole 4way rotary switches, once the station modules are wires I be working on my control panel,, I have learnt to wire the basics in DC wiring, even make my own signals.

My step dad was a Technician during the war in the RAAF mainly radios he see active service but was grounded because of his eye site, he had his own TV repair  shop till he retired.

Nice morning here but predicted to go as high as 34 degrees and a storm predicted for the afternoon wont get much done outside.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

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