Jump to content
 

Kallaroonian

Members
  • Posts

    349
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location
    Perth, Australia

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

Kallaroonian's Achievements

111

Reputation

  1. Its a good job this thread is here. The instructions for this are diabolical. I was trying to fit the flared hopper release panels from the underside, even though it was obviously wrong. I had zero thought to fit from above. I'm not sure what would have happened if I hadn't googled the issue. Why do people find it so hard to provide clear instruction. Despite being useless - and in this case based on the assumption the customer would figure it out from no text and no useful diagrams - it is still eclipsed by the Walsworth coal hoist, which requires divination, 3 hands and the abilities of both an expert sheet metal work and an expert brazer.
  2. Toy train pointwork is it? I think the ECoS is somewhat more advanced than that ;-) I tried it today and the method worked. I haven't tried the route setting aspect yet but can't see how that would not address the issue fully. I did hit a snag in that one polarity of one of the frog switching functions didn't work hence a Cl08 test loco can only traverse that point in one orientation. Will raise with DCC Concepts but a bit of a worry as I have heaps more yet to install. I have three other low grade epiphanies : 1. I thought I had ordered too few decoders because I based the use of SSlip on the idea that one output could drive both motors. Which is of course correct in principle 2. The complexity of the other ladders mentioned above is highly likely to make clever frog switching and allocation akin to the current works very difficult indeed. Given the preceding point also then I think frog juicers are going to be the solution 3. The other obvious use of one output driving two motors is a plain standard crossover. I can't see how this would be as convenient as people sometimes mention though - sure the ADS could drive two motors but the fog polarities are opposite so it would never be a solution /sigh. I suppose tomorrow I swap out the ADS with the fault and wire another one in its place cheers for the help, very helpful and much appreciated
  3. Yes I ad further thoughts this afternoon. It will not be possible to drive two motors off one outlet unless their frog polarities are always to be the same. The problem is they aren't - when 1 is red, 2 is black; and when 3 is black 4 is red. So the only solution here is to consider every switch as separate, arrange the polarities accordingly and then look at co-ordinating via ECoS Routes. I'm not sure if that will work or not but sounds promising ITG - I have asked DCC Concepts actually. Just awaiting their return from break No-one up for the mega ladder challenge?
  4. Also, interestingly, it does mean I won't be using the ECoS single slip icon since the two halves will be operated separately and in conjunction with others points.
  5. Thanks for the feedback all, keep it coming :-) Updates and responses : The point motors are basic solenoids – Peco PL10. The DCC accessory decoder is an ADS8sx; for anyone who is unaware this provides frog polarity switching and so it is this unit that provides this function rather than any mechanical switches attached to the motors. Control by ESU ECoS. The possible routes across this network are : - Left to right independently for all tracks and vice versa. In reality as drawn the top two tracks are Up, the next two are Down and the bottom one through point 4 is a Down Relief/bypass whereby there is a turnout connecting A to B off picture to the right - Ladder from 1 to 4 (long ladder) and vice versa - Ladder from 1 to 2 (short ladder) and vice versa The purpose of this ladder in RL must have been to get St Albans or Harpenden trains onto the KX Up line. The layout represents Hatfield Herts Grovenor – thanks for those thoughts. I sketched this out again and initially thought it was still a problem. However the trick is to have point 3 set to curved when all roads straight is required and point 2 set to curved when the long ladder is required. This is counter-intuitive because you would expect both slips to be set straight when either all roads are straight or when the slip is used as a diamond to get to point 4. However I believe this does solve the problem electrically. The possible issue that remains is that with the DCC control I have no idea whether interlocking conditions are possible; I didn’t think they were? Certainly 1 and 2 can be operated together and the polarities arranged accordingly. Likewise 3 and 4. The issue is keeping them mutually exclusive. Do you know how that is done with ECoS? Is it solvable by establishing and using Routes? Thank you so much for that input though because it will basically solve the problem I think. He he he he…. that said it was kind of and hors d’oeuvres. Hatfield of the 50s ish being what it was, elsewhere I have the main ladder and another medium ladder which intersect. The main one goes 3way-SS-SS-SS-SS-SS-DS-LXing-RH-SXing-DS-LH. You might argue it sort of finishes at the first DS. Or you might not. And then the other one goes RH-DS-same SXing-DS-SS-DS-RH Anyone fancy the challenge of thinking about all that? Or shall we all just say frog juicers together in unison?
  6. I looked back and was literally horrified to find I posted about this in 2010. Admittedly that was very extremely pre-emptive but even so.................. Anyway I am only now doing wiring. I need to up the priority on the layout or it won't be done before I'm gone if we're honest. The trackwork is all electrofrog using ADS8 accessory decoders and ECoS controller. I am struggling with frog polarity on a ladder with more than one exit point. I don't see how this is possible and worse I have a significantly more complicated ladder elsewhere on the layout. Look at the "straight" file attachment. 1 and 4 are LH turnout, 2 and 3 represent a single slip and there are two diamond crossings. The question remains, how to set the frog polarity. Note also that A and B are joined to the RH side not shown on the sketch. This means that when the ladder is in use its possible for a train to go 1 then 3 and 2 while theoretically at least another loco could be on track B and heading through point 4. So with all roads straight one might set the ladder polarities using the entry points. Then if you look at the "long" file this shows the polarities when the full length of the ladder is used. Again set by entry points now they have been thrown. In both cases I'll ignore the SS polarities because... ... we also have the configuration where the ladder is shorter and the loco enters at 1 but exits at 2 via the SS rather than going to 4 for the full length of the ladder per the "short" dia. This is where it all falls apart. Looking at the "straight" diag then Slip point 2 and 3 are set straight and 2 needs to make the opposite polarity red while 3 needs to make its frog black. But in long ladder mode the slip points are still not thrown but the frog polarities need to be the other way around. Perhaps a solution is to set the slip frog polarities using the entry points and that works where we are considering the long ladder But when we look at the short ladder then a) both slip frogs need to be black and b) point 4 need to be set to straight since its not part of the ladder in the short configuration. I don't think this is do-able and the only solution must therefore be a frog juicer for the SS. All thoughts welcome, thanks mark
  7. And for anyone who hadn't twigged it there is a Digswell viaduct. Not full length but not too bad
  8. And that, aside from the large amount of work, is my key concern right now. I'm about 500m from the Indian Ocean and Perth is a windy city so while all of the relevant upper parts of the loftspace are lined there is a fair amount of dirt blowing around plus a slightly salty atmosphere. Great combo I have a Dapol and a CMX. Neither really used in anger yet. My belief - and test results bore this out for quite a while - was that a layer of graphite pencil on the tracks kept everything quite good. Over time - and with no reapplication or any significant running - this has diminished disastrously. Again my theory is not that the graphite concept doesn't work but that over time it is the dust/dirt on top of the graphite that is causing lack of connectivity. I say dust/dirt and it makes it sound like a coal yard - it's nothing you can see, smell or otherwise sense; but its their as one can see from the years of build up of grey dirt on those household boxes you put in the loft and never touch again :-) The current experiment phase is to cover with a man-made fibre close-weave dust cover sheet and see what the results are.
  9. Thanks all and I agree light at the bottom . The Wales photo I think is cloud. As you would naturally expect, the only surprise being that it hasn't yet arrived :-)) I tried using spray contact adhesive the first time with the Peco backscenes. They went on ok but didn't stay that way. This time, with the Gaugemaster backscenes I will be using "Deluxe Material View Glue". It had better work as well as people say / it is claimed. cheers
  10. You may be right. It's too late, I bought it :-) You agree with the orientation issue?
  11. Well maybe 6+ people. I'm more imagining trains going North and South on the fast line "by themselves" and then me stuffing around with slow trains and shunting. Perhaps I'm over optimistic. Control is DCC using ECoS. A critical issue is totally avoiding the gofer aspect. Some experiments are underway cheers
  12. I have to admit I only skip-read this thread. Much of what leapt off the pages I can relate to, possibly all of it. Let me first of all congratulate The Johnster for the use of the word cromulent which I have never heard of but will certainly be using in the future. See my old threads about Hatfield - I forget the exact title of the first one but the current is Hatfield : Part the Second. This things is ridiculously huge. It was all designed with Xtrkcad ages ago and is intended to be a scale size slightly romanticised model of Hatfield Herts. One photo shows the whole thing including under board storage yards, the other just the top sections. I started the idea of this when my son was probably say 4 or 6 or something like that. He is now virtually 17. Finding the time and the money - what with various periods of unemployment - and doing all the work myself means it has just taken ages. And its in a loft space, access won't get easier as I get older, there is much much much left to do and I have currently unresolved problems with keeping the track clean (but there will be a solution.....) Plus of course while it is theoretically removable - there are separate boards either supporting themselves or laid across huge spars - the practical reality of points on joints, wiring, size etc etc all means that if we move it would possibly be finis. Aside from anything else any move would be a downsize so that would really be a problem. Why did I embark on this? I wanted to get back into model railways. I had the space. I wanted to run full size trains and build essentially a real model (its the extra engine shed that is a romanticism). So would I do it again. For sure. I've enjoyed building it, and that's really the point I think And where I'm at right now I'm fairly optimistic that all the wiring will be done before too long. With that and the clean track solution I can run some trains and get into some scenery. Whether the viaduct ever gets a scale brick coating or stays as extruded polystyrene blue is a question though..............
  13. Yes lighter to darker was where I was at. These are Gaugemaster products; it was Peco the first failed time. There will be some type of scenic break, no-one needs to see the "edge" pf the sky thanks
  14. This is a dumb question because I am quite sure I already know the answer. But I have already had plain Peco non-event blue backscene paper bubble up on my loft layout build and when I do the job again it will be once more only and needs to be right ! This time around I got Gaugemaster cloud backscenes. My um, duh, question is - which way up do they go? There are three different sheets per pack and I think its obvious with the images below; this therefore confirms with the other two per pack. But I'd like to be sure and welcome feedback please cheers
  15. And I finally renovated the hand built curved platforms. I say renovate because the paper top surfaces suffered in the damp or the heat of the loft space. Most of the surfaces have now been replaced with hand-skimmed fine interior filler which looks much better. A technique I seem to recall I used as a teen and which I think will still stand the test of time now. Other than that I am lucky that the Hatfield platforms I have seen in photos looked awful. Rough here, paint dripped there etc etc. Which goes a long way to not having to take quite as much care with the edge lining or finish in general, thankfully. Which is good as one of them is about 6ft long. Any loose brick papers are re-glued and the other lesson learned is to varnish the whole thing before returning in situ You will see the section in front of the yet to be built station building has no top but notwithstanding that the staggered nature of the whole location is evident. So much to do..... The worst current issue is that the plan to avoid track cleaning by coating track with a graphite pencil basically doesn't work. This is a huge issue. I am now experimenting with the always planned never executed cloth covers because my suspicion is the track is protected by the graphite layer but the whole ploy goes South due to airborne dirt accumulating on top of the graphite over time. I hope that is the reason because otherwise the whole thing is a bit stuffed. The other plan is to build a battery powered cleaning train that hauls wagons with spring loaded graphite pencil cleaning tubes ! I'm hoping it doesn't come to that cheers
×
×
  • Create New...