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Camdale layout


aussietmrail
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Morning Thomas, year can't wait that is for sure, be single track from the car port to the pink curve before the large curve with the double track, making the passing loop over 30 feet in length, I can have a long spine car train  and my 28 car, two auto wagons and two locos be a awesome site indeed, who cares if the spine car train is Union Pacific , two  AC 4400 class locos upfront.

I will have t buy a couple more  of the latest US locos  in BNSF  logo and latest colour scheme.

Have started work on my bridge cutting out one of three strips of ply that makes up the tower of the bridge, double deck, be the center piece of the layout, 28 feet in length, main span 14 feet, in four sections why I the tower in two sections for, for easy storage.

The bridge is based on a Mersley gateway bridge. in Wales UK .

Today I be making the cradle for the new bus wire plug panel on each module and the other smaller section that make up the layout  to RCA plugs I be using all the speaker plugs first on the main module panels .

Those curves be as large as your curves, how is your layout going and what is the weather like in Germany, my two sisters have arrived in Germany to join the Rhine river cruse., is it still snowing, a friend in the UK said it was starting to snow again, I said to them to make sure they take enough warm clothing .

Getting exciting not far away now once I have made up those curves, there is two straight sections past the last curve in the port and onto a 7ft radius curve  to link up with the back car port corner module, am waiting to buy a full 12 mm sheet of ply have cut it down to the back door northern corner module and the rest for the bridge  and  start leveling the spiral,have the decking for the spiral.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

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Hello Tony

Weather in April is strange hier.

We say "im April macht das Wetter was es will" (in April, the weather does what it wants).

Last Thursday still snow, yesterday sun and 17 ° C, today stormy and rain ...

Hope your sisters have fun anyway.
From where to where do you cruise?

Thomas from the Rhine

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Hi Thomas, yeah very unstable wet Easter here, heavy rain for Sunday .

My sisters are in Paris at the moment site seeing, they are going to cruise on the Rhine, is that where you are now.

I had a busy afternoon, finely finished the first  new bus wire plug panel,  one more the same size, want to use up my speaker wire plus and switch to RCA plugs, for all the other sections and bridge.

First pic the finis the finished panel, haven't worked out the block numbers yet, 12 all up and two  25 way computer plugs for signal and point motor wires, I have a heap of point motors will use them especially the points at the other end of the layout, control panel will  link up this module.

Second pic now you on't see it and third, folded up in under neath the module, took some time to work out, those nuts are lock nuts, don't want to have to keep tightening up nuts., will have to start the bus wiring , they say going to be a wet April, good time to do that soldering job.

Yesterday I wan't feeling to crash hot, had a bit of a turn, must of being the humidity was very hot, was hopping to mow the  grass yesterday couldn't, stopped work on the panel  and packed up, finished off today, pure awesome.

Rest day tomorrow, get back to the bot build this weekend .

Happy waster everyone.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

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Discovered I made an overkill on the  bus wire panel , got carried away :o  forgetting the speaker plugs are double ones, some time to I will unscrew the panel off and  unscrew off 6 speaker plugs, set up the circular saw jig and cut the panel to the right size , cutting in half, will leave the other six on and computer plugs, easy fix still plan to switch to RSA plugs  smaller panels .

Yesterday after mowing I came up with a great idea, had to fix the way I was bending down trying to undo the wing nut  and look at the level when levelling the adjustable stands I am using as saw horses, bingo worked.

Will have to put some plu on the first pic where I bent the angle line to sit on the legs so I can push the angle line down when levelling the   stans making it heaps better,  pic two I will will cut and screw four pieces of quarter inch pine inside each stand, so all I have to do is move he angle line up and down without holding the piece of pine.

Tony from humid down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

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Hi Thomas, my sisters are leaving for there cruise today I think , going what they are wearing it is freezing there, does the Rhine go Belgium, that is where they are heading.

I would like to introduce  junior panel  here he is ha, ha xD¬¬, what the panel size should of being, turned out ok in the end , at least I will know that a bigger panel will work well with the the way I have worked out with the bolts, two more that size and will need to fill the screw holes with plaster and repaint.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have finished the back of the house back door corner module, next step is levelling the module and cut the legs to size then drill the holes for the bolts and screw in hinges and paint ready for the track laying and wiring, then I can set up the spiral. One more module to build car port back of the house corner module completing all the modules, then the big task of levelling all the curve and straight sections for the layout, and back to track laying and the big moment, nearly there still a way to go.

I have decided to widen the rail bridge over the road 4 inches to 24 inches so I can out in a tram track, buses will be coming in where the trams would of being if I was modelling Sydney station not to be, a cross between New Orleans and Dallas station building, the modeller that build the New Orleans layout in Model Railroader Great Layouts 2013 mag is on Facebook,

I be  sorting out an account and join myself so I can contact him which he is on Facebook

The spiral will start after the  corner module on a 7 foot radius diameter curve, 24 feet in length and feed onto the bridge, based on the   Williams loop spiral Feather river route California, single track 

Next pic of the module upside down , didn't take me long to build, down to a fine art now, using corner clamps  to hold the sides in place while I screw the top down, I am glad I made that circular saw cross cutting jig, makes light work when cutting strips of ply or any other timber the fits in, can cut up to 42mm square pine posts with east, saves having to buy a drop saw.

Layout is on track, the bridge being a challenge, to speed up the  building of the bridge will use the third pier for the middle till the arch is built later, can't wait for the big day,gee being at it for 4 years now,edging closer and closer, to filling the last deck section bi day as well.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

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I am now under way beyond the corner module did a mock-up of the spiral to see how it will sit in the space I have, wow, can't wait to actually get stuck into working on the grade of the with my special level jig to measure and cut the legs for the spiral  curves, will be a lot easier when I level the corner module this week.

Pic 003 I set up the spiral with the module, wasn't easy, pic 004 I moved the module out the way and moved the spiral down 6 inches, which worked out better with the lower level deck of the spiral onto the module.

Tomorrow I will do a mock-up of the points to the track plan, 5 tracks on that module , running of the single track, pic 005 taken through the plants in the garden, of course the curved deck be higher than the balcony bottom railing..

Next job to paint the module after screwing in place the module legs, the spiral will begin after that in between working on the bridge,never ending.

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving a head 

 

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One step closer to running a train the full length of all the station and approach modules hopefully from   section of the spiral to the car por end after levelling the back door corner module today, getting excited, the first train be a Bachmann Virgin three car DMU set .

 All my hard work is paying off, will be so easy to sit the module in the right marked place on the pergola floor, so easy ofcourse facing the right way as well so what I have done is an extra screw on  each of  side  of  northern end of the module, the station modules are the same as well right to the car port corner module.

It has being pretty tricky to work out the bus and where the block end, the third block will end where the curved point is to the right of the pic  and longer feeder wire to the third point to the right of the pic and the second point plastic track joiners , the track to the left of the pic is to the suburban platforms and passing loop.

Tomorrow I will pull the track and point up nd Friday paint the module and nail the them back down and the the bus wiring.

The first station module the outer track to the right of the pic can straighten it and nail in another piece of track to link up with the track closest to the tape measure to the right of the pic, be an island platform and side platform, on three 7 foot lengths.

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead. 

 

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MOre progress on the spiral corner module, thrak and points are now nailed down and holes drilled for the point motors, I have a lot of Peco point motors and an Altas flat under neath point motor I will test run, if it  works an switches the Pco point I will buy some more if I can get them, they have three hook up wires , hopefully easy to connect signals to them.

Today I made up the bus wire harness with the the feeder wires, coded then ready to solder onto the track Tuesday, hope to get enough time tomorrow afternoon after the doctors appointment to ch the ply to fill the gap between the first station module and corne module, paint it and nail the double track down.Six blocks at this stage till I start on the suburban station extension, three blocks, I also drilled and screwed in place two bus wire plugs on the front of the module, need to drill a hole for the point and signals from the point coming off the bridge passing loop.

The point and track on the edge of the module left hand side of the pic is the siding for the  auto carrier wagons  loading and unloading dock beside the platform , another bridge.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

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The spiral corner module has being completed, I have to make up bus harness wires for the middle station module and the same for the approach module, then I  run a test loco on all the modules be awesome, would like to make a start on the spiral setting up so I start the loco from the spiral and the same at the carport end, be pure awesome, Running out of wire, a cont to get some more, the trouble with DC wiring double the wire, the first two blocks having to bring  four wires all the from the front all the way around the spiral through three modules to the control panel, be worth the big effort to see the first train run all the way around the layout without a hitch.

The pics are of the lift out bridge bridging the gap between the fist station module and spiral corner module,there be a 6 lane road between both modules, tram track and bus lanes, the tram track be a seperate circuit all together.,trams could ban automatic set up.

On a high not that far away not, thought I had a piece of 18 inch wide by 6ft long  ply for the back of the house carport end, will have to go to the timber mob on the way home from my hospital appointment Tuesday and buy an of cut piece of ply to do the job, that will complete all the decking for the layout and modules, nearly there, still a lot to do before the big day.

Will have to make a start on planning the control panel big job, at least I be able to do the soldering a night .

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

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  • 3 weeks later...

Has being a short while on the latest Camdale update,I took the control panel over to a friends house for him to show me how to wire up the first 3 pole 4 way rotary switch, to my surprise he offered to wire all of the rotary switches, very nice of him to do that, I was going to build him a turntable so he can paint his locos, showed the main piece and he said he could not find that anywhere, a double hand shake and he said he wanted to make it.

Now I concentrate on the layout , building the last  corner module tomorrow, am not sure if I will make the deadline of the end of June to run the first train will give it a go , Friday I did another mock-up point plan on the car port corner module, took a while with the points I have, a big fan of mock-up planning.

After building the module, I will set up the approach and last station module and level the module, cut the legs,screwing them in place, they I will get out all the decking and join them up where they go including the spiral and start leveling them  so I can paint and allover again track laying  .

Deano, I made a circular saw cross cutting jig to save some money and space, knowing that after the layout I wont  have a use for i, can cut angles as well, a lot of mucking around though, just as easy to use the circular saw on its own. 

 That saw is a 18volt Ryobi saw now worries in the cord getting in the way, 45mm cut does what I want to to do.

Tony from sunny down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

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Finished building the last module, still have a bit more work ahead in filling the gaps, I used off cut ply not a full sheet, will look ok when painted with track down, next job is to get the approach module and level the corner module to clamp and drill the dowel holes, them set them up on the floor to level the corner module mark and cut the legs, paint, mark where the track and points go to the track plan.

Pic three I used two 12 mm beams, cut them out for the bus and point wires, screwed them together, didn't bother in having two beams spread out, module is quite light to pick up, I use 42mm pine blocks to strengthen the corners which does work well.

Over the weekend will set up all the modules and decking will look awesome, I don't know if I will having trains raining by the end of June, my friend offered to wire up the rotary switched for me, he said I will have problems, that will hold me up, can't rush him.

We powered up a couple of the LED's going to look awesome when wired up.

Tony from coll down under slightly warmer tonight 6 degrees, keeping on moving ahead.

 

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Afternoon Deano,  the  morning here is your after midnight, good time to answer now, my layout is 54 feet in length by 23 feet wide , the year I was born, with 19 in front.

Rest day today, hair cut appointment, tomorrow I will fill in the gaps on the module , can't paint till I join the module up with the approach module to drill the holes for the dowels that will line up the track, then level and cut the legs then be able to paint, I use spring loaded clamps to hold the modules together .

r time 

 

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I had a very good day in the carpenters department, drilled the the holes for the dowel in stead of using bolts, worked out well and much quicker in setting the modules up, don't have to get right down to tighten the wing nuts up. 

Pic 4 the two dowels and you can see the clamp I be using to hold the modules together, pic 5 looking down the three modules, pic 6 close up of  the approach module and you see the curve section, the track be  in the middle of the curve, pic 7 a close up pic of the points and cross overs, closer pic of the curve, Final pic the tape measure measuring the single track of 7 foot half curve has worked out well.

Tomorrow I will be finishing off plastering the ply joins on the inside of the module and start painting after brekkie , allover again tack laying and wiring , on the curve will have one point and two tracks a foot from the point,  maybe two points for the reverse loop, to add later.

Coming along nicely, next week will set up all the decking to the bridge and on to the spiral and stat working on the spiral, I am looking into running a track off the spiral to a vertical staging yard on the other side of the balcony rails work out well , each level two or three tracks wide depending on the coast, 6 to 8 foot long.

ON a big high not far away now 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

 

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Hi Deano, yeah thanks, I may back the out when running the trains to give  some space to get around and will open up for siding in the car port and a loco servicing facility and work shops.

Waiting for it to warm up so I can go out and paint the corner module, always paint under neath the module first, a bit of sanding on top before painting, back to track laying .

Tony from windy down under keeping on moving ahead.

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Track and points are down now, I need to fill in at the end of the approach module will do that tomorrow,  before joining up the main line on bother modules.

Pics 10 and 11 the points, pic 10 when I join up the curve section be able to line up the single track better, pic 12 is where I will filling in  the ply top at the join and pic 13 I be doing the same  with the train on an angle, will drill the holes for the motor shaft if I decide to power the points , the first point is an express point.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

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On a high the last module is complete other than the bus wiring being the next job, I decided to swap the  diamond cross over from the approach module  in pic 16 to the corner module in pic 14, looking heaps better, pic 15 a close up of the diamond cross over.

Pic 16 swapping the crossover with two points giving access to the middle and out track, when I have the terminus station set up the third track from the edge of the module be covered with a platform . The  cross over is a single slip will give access to track on the outside of the platform and access to the outside main line, stage two of the suburban platform three extra tracks,the third outer track will link up with  pic 14 before the point close to the corner of the pic.

The first two point s are the long Peco express points, drilled the holes for the point motor shaft.

Tomorrow I will solder in place those fiver glass brass coated strips and  cut the track, before that I might test run my sons Thomas tank loco, hope it is still running.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead getting closer and closer to the big day.

 

 

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