aleopardstail

More on the station, one slight muck up aside (I didn't realise when making them that the final archway would actually be on the incline so its cut short, have more to build so will catch that as that section is being done. white edges to touch up on all but the right most panel, and the electrical string needs sorting out and connecting to something however I'm quite liking how this is starting to look, have to source some suitable printed backscenes

Now the track sensors are in place, and while waiting more parts to be delivered I've had a fiddle with signal logic stuffs in JMRI, all virtual signals at least for now, and only part of the layout set up as blocks so I can fiddle before trying to do the rest. the outer loop is split into four blocks, each with a four aspect signal to protect the entrance to it, the sidings having two aspects controlling departure and a single red aspect at the buffer stop, there is also a two aspect controlling the anti clockwise movement from the platform road (at the top) round to the sidings at the bottom. it mostly works, have clockwise running almost as I want it, can do a loop, and can follow that with another one but not yet the daisy chaining I want of "run x loops then stop, and repeat y times", though I gather that is possible, can also run out of a siding to the platform, and back again. have discovered one irritation though, JMRI doesn't seem to store the locomotives direction, so while clockwise is "forwards" running back into the sidings requires "reverse" selecting every time, and if I forget the train trundles clockwise into unallocated blocks but doesn't stop or flag that as a problem, I mean the blocks are unallocated so that bits fair, but then runs over points set against it, and falls over. may have something not set up properly. likewise into the siding when going the right way even though the bit at the end is set as the destination it stops as soon as its in the siding and not at the end. need to think a bit more on that as the intent is to be able to reverse in, now if this is stopping as soon as the previous block is clear thats actually fine as the way its set up its clear of the siding pointwork but it would be nice to have it run to the block its been told to stop at and not just into the section. that said for a few hours work I'm certain the issues are entirely of my own creation and I will be able to sort them out with time and practice, its certainly amazingly capable software

first section of retaining wall on the platform, only one section as the other three packs were only ordered yesterday and will be assembled as they arrive and not wanting to kill myself assembling and modifying them allows. wall has the height of the platform removed from the front section, the rear being the usual full height, then stuck down. this first section so that during the week the six installed lamps can be wired up for testing and then eventually full installation. once its all added will look at a bit of weathering to tie it all together, its a bit narrow as platforms go, too narrow for a shelter to be added though some seating and eventually a few signs and posters will be added as well

oh yes, feedback on the DTC-2 detectors, the second batch built with four turns on the coils pick up a coach with a single 10k resistor about as well as the iffy track connection can allow, the design of the detectors making it reliable for a moving train and slightly hit & miss for a stationary one - though thats down to needing to clean the track and wheelset a bit more have to say happy with that, though it does mean removal and modification of the rest at some point

island platform added, the edge stones stuck down and small bits of brick section used to mask the joins, through running tested on all roads. the gap is somewhat oversized, however only really notable from end on, side on it looks fine have single head lights which will do for the rear platform, and may be added tomorrow, double head on order for the island. each will get six light poles on 100mm spacing. the bit of greyboard is a 2mm thick spacer. more track cleaning and painting needed before final installation also, and the exposed bits of plywood need cladding. I do have stairways to add to the upper level so need to integrate all that somehow

Slow progress recently due to various work related issues, however Dingleberry now has its first (not yet completed) sitting in place while the glue cures before starting detailing it. Metcalfe kit, went together quite nicely, had to curve both ends inward slightly to handle the 2nd radius curves immediately at both ends to cope with overhangs, a MkIII coach goes round fine though. will gain modified retaining walls along the back (buttress sections cut down slightly), also needs lights, the front edge painting, the joins on the brickwork covering and similar general stuff, actually like how it looks though, next up is the island platform

Touch more progress, the layout has once again been on its side, have now added the remaining DTC-2 boards and thus the control panel is now like this: the central TMD sidings (lower middle group) are not block detection equipped as that is for pure manual operation, though the points in this area are motorised and controlled from this panel. one siding in the upper group (this is the parcels bay area) is shown shorter - this due to the final length of track appearing to be lacking a block connection, not sure how but assuming I have missed a wire somewhere and the feed lacks a sensor - would also explain why I have a spare DTC-2 board (well actually two, the TMD and programming siding were going to be wired as large areas but I don't really see the point so didn't in the end). this is a bit of a small milestone (yardstone?) as now all the track and pointwork is fully controlled by JMRI and can be monitored, I can thus now start to fiddle with automation and signalling - once I have all the track operating reliably which the inner bay and all the sidings do not yet do (heavy cleaning needed) overall, status: happy

Lighting controller code now fixed and after much faffing in JMRI I now have this crude but for now it will do, the globals are controlled via the main Arduino Mega base station as DCC-EX outputs on a couple of the Megas pins read as inputs by the lighting board. four options, only two coded currently, likely to be joined by "All Lights Off" and may use two of them as a two bit value for the brightness or split to have internal/external lights so the street lights can have brightness set independently from the building lights. either way it works. hint: it helps if you call the .begin() code function on the controller.. gun-foot-aim fire, also an issue with a C Macro that needed brackets around it as without them it always returned true - which meant all lights on, always, also fixed. the remaining 8 DTC-2 block detection boards are now also ready to install, which will give me block detection on the whole layout, well the TMD excluded but that won't be run under automation so doesn't need them. Not sure if I will be able to install them prior to next weekend though

Track is already down otherwise I would, I'm actually considering doing the railway practice of making the red light on the buffers part of the signalling system - dead easy to create a little extra block at the end of a siding that has its occupancy sensor hard wired to show "occupied" either in JMRI if thats possible of by having the occupancy Arduino report it as a "1" that never changes. should have had them as separate sections in the first place nicely isolated, something else to add to the list of things to learn for the next one. while the way I'm driving them, or will be when built & installed, allows for the brightness to be controlled for day/night mode they are going to be one of the things thats virtually always switched on, but hard wired to the track power bus is an excellent way to see if the track power is on and provide indication as to possible wiring faults if some illuminate and others don't. all the stuff you only think off after the fact

Always the same, ordered more bits to replace those previously bought that were put "somewhere safe" and as such may as well not exist.. 0805 red LEDs needed to create buffer stop lights, plan is they get thin enamelled wire soldered to them, glued to a thing plastic strip, one wire over the top then down the back, one down the front. painted then installed. (no resistors as using a current limited source, and can't use the nice pre-made ones that power from the rails as that will trip the block detection stuff).. can I find the LEDs? can I fork heck.. had a bit more of a think now the first lighting control board is in, at one end, I think I'll make a third one for the main board at the other end. basically reduces the amount of wires for lighting as the boards underside is a proper rats nest already, have spare channels for the RS485 data bus so not a massive issue - means a range of unused channels but thats hardly a problem as they can be deleted from JMRI and forgotten about bit of a wash as a weekend really, had hoped to get quite a lot more done but due to stuff being missing and stuff flat out not arriving when it should have delays until next week and next weekend. still, bonus result, cleared the layout of the rubbish that accumulates on any flat surface. I suspect this principle is where the idea of actually adding scenic elements came from, to avoid there being space for "I'll just put this here for now"

Partial success with lighting circuit lights on and looks decent, overly bright though. but what, I hear literally nobody asking, about the brightness control circuit? well its installed, and communicating with JMRI nicely, the on board test LED lighting nicely under JMRI control. there is a bug somewhere though, I suspect I know where, meaning all lights are on at full intensity at all times. so why, again literally no one is asking hasn't the muppet responsible fixed things? doesn't this muppet know there is a war on? *cough* my USB lead isn't long enough, there is a 5m one on order, which should have arrived today but didn't.. Grr.. once that arrives can flip the layout onto its side again and plug in to reprogramme & experiment to see if it is indeed a software bug or if something is actually wired up backwards somewhere - software suspected as the hardware was tested before it all went in - though its possible a wire is wrong somewhere. still, lights up nicely. not installing the second upper level board until this one is working properly, no urgency really on that as there are no buildings going on the upper level until I've got the paving done

Ready to install, should be tomorrow, needs the software adding but not expected to take long. (just need to install them to really test the C/MRI connection over RS485 as due to %MUPPETDESIGNERROR% I can't get at the RS485 bus without flipping the layout on its side very basic, Arduino Nano (cheap clone), a 5v interface with a diode so when powered from USB it doesn't try to power everything from the USB. a RS485 interface chip, with some header pins to make disconnecting it for programming easier then an 8 pin header - four pins of which drive the TLC5947 PWM board (one of three to install also shown) and four pins will provide input from the main Arduino Mega that can be driven via JMRI to control behaviour, not all decided upon and may not be used initially but can't hurt to have the capability.

bit more work today, this is at the right hand end of the layout, the little crew hut for the coach storage/cleaning sidings has now been glued in place after gaining a roof. This required the roadway for this area to be completed, which is 1mm plastic sheet primed "Uniform Grey" then given a sponging and smearing of various other grey shades. Not perfect but it will do, needs bedding in with ballast and some generic dirt scatter behind it to the retaining wall. also installed a street light, which does illuminate, its had three coats of Tamyia clear orange to tone the colour down a bit but its still just a warn white not the low pressure sodium orange I had wanted, again it will do. not pictured lit up as I have yet to actually wire it all in an add the lighting controller. Fencing is the wrong sort, GWR spear fencing, not stuck down yet as it needs painting, may look for something a bit more modern. it ends where it ends as the tracks converge and there will be a signal a little off to the left anyway, needs a suitable car or van adding too. once the lighting controller is in also need to get round to adding the red LEDs on strips behind the buffer stops and can then ballast that whole area as well. the little compound behind the hut, accessible by foot and barrow down the side of the building is likely going to gain various odds and sods of clutter finally the bridge girder has been returned after having a basic paint job added

More on the buildings, Dingleberry got a visit from the LED fairy single 1.8mm warm white LED Station building currently has 7 1.8mm warm white LEDs, a little light bleed through can be seen, however the LEDs are driven by a TLC5947 Pulse Width Modulation board, providing both a current limit of about 5mA without additional resistors but also brightness control - currently each LED driven individually. The will be run at a lower brightness generally to avoid bleed through. The canopy needs adding, this will have a pair of LEDs in series hidden under it for an 8th channel. the point of using the TLC5947 is basically so as to allow three brightness levels, "off" somewhat obviously, then two "on" settings, one intended to use during the day with the lights bright enough to see, and an "evening" mode for artificial light where they will be turned down a fair bit. likely won't matter so much for buildings but will for other lights. need to build the arduino nano board with the C/MRI interface. While each LED can be set individually the idea is to have common brightness levels and group them, so say 1 output drives all the ground floor station building lights, the upper floor light on a separate channel and the external lights the same. the Arduino will then have a few inputs which control the day/night mode, and one that sets some channels to either be on or off as set individually or to perhaps turn on and off in a semi random pattern for things like office and house lights, basically because its easy enough to do. Also have the CT coils on the rest of the DTC-2 boards, just awaiting the terminals and some sticky pads so hopefully installed at the weekend - which will I hope also see the two lighting control arduino added so stuff can be wired up as and when. update: Canopy lights added (had to be done prior to fitting the roof)

was looped five times as it was, problem is the coil the circuit is designed for is 1:200, the blue ones I have are 1:2500.. ordered more of the designed ones, will be trying those with three and then four turns. Expect that will do it as the current ones have two turns and sometimes some of them pick up a single 10k axle so its obviously close. also moving to single core hook up wire from the wire the kits come with, mostly as thats the wire that feeds the circuits anyway and that way its easier to coil up in the first place

tried one of the ZMCT103C coils, short answer: it doesn't work, well it will detect a 1k resistor or locomotive but not a 10k, nor a 5k. coil is far out of the required spec.. got some on order from the states, for somewhat less than a UK supplier, including duty & postage. should be here in a few days so will experiment further. starting to take a serious look at some of the running issues though, specifically running through the set track points. I suspect back to back clearances may be a tad tight and for example my Class 47's tendency to derail every single time on one specific point in the trailing direction is I think its hitting and climbing on a check rail (turnout just off a curve so locomotive will be hard over one side and likely the inner wheel climbing the flange way) - batteries for the digital callipers on order, if not may take a knife and shave the check rail slightly to capture the wheel instead and see if that helps. guessing all part of the fun with old rolling stock

A bit more progress today, the remaining DTC-2 block detection boards largely assembled, I still need to fit the CT coils, which need removing from some stripboard first and add the DCC terminals (on order) MERG have revised the PCB which now appear to have the transistor outlines the correct way around trying a different coil as the recommended one is not easy to get hold of in a cost effective way (e.g. Farnell want to charge an addition £16+VAT to bring them from a US warehouse, RS have them but want some £35 for 16 of them) - I have ZMCT103C type coils already so have bodged one board with them - can remove if its a problem, once the terminals arrive this one board gets installed as a test, the other seven will follow if it works. and indeed if it picks up my coach with a single 10k resistor accurately the existing ones will get additional turns of wire added still no sign of the 1,8mm warm white LEDs for the building interiors though

there is something very appealing about a layout where you can just watch a train go past, no worrying about platform lengths or anything like that as you only have the yard lengths to worry about - and even then a bit of manual operation off stage can see an overly long freight train split and reformed. and this one is clever, that fiddle yard design and the end curves as others have noted is excellent. and the overall design makes it easy to hold a train on the slow lines in view while a fast one goes past so even better loving it, the scenic bit looks good too, especially since you have the end curves off stage so no need to even pretend why there is a sharp curve like the concept and the execution, shows what N can do

Girder removed for painting, however the rest of the retaining walls round to where more custom parts are needed is in place now, also scratch built (well from brick card) a small building for the carriage cleaners to use - the roof will be added once the lighting is installed hopefully this week after the flipping LEDs arrive. needs more work in this corner, it is however coming along the little building, it is as you can see very basic but I'm happy how it turned out. Pity Metcalfe don't do a generic pack of doors, windows, frames etc really

small update, made a start on building the bridge in, still have the other side and the top caps to add a bit crude but to coin a phrase "it will do" Edit: Boredom struck forgot the Agrax Earthshade on the white edges prior to installation, that can be done tomorrow once the glue has cured. not bad for something I've not tried in over a decade

never thought on a wooden box with brass fittings.. would be possible, beyond my woodworking but possible. the software and electrickery stuff is actually quite simple, its basically an ESP32 module (off the shelf), a 1.5" OLED screen (also off the shelf, and there are many styles of screen, larger, smaller, whatever), a rotary encoder, which was on a shelf until it fell off. then some push buttons - I'm using port expanders to keep the wiring sane but no real need to... Will expand on it more though as it gets more useful, hopefully the ESP32 with battery modules integrated will be here soon and the thing can be an actual wireless controller. In the mean time while watching a mahoosive silver rocket just sitting there, I made a thing needs sanding, and painting, and abutments etc making, but now have one of the plate girder bridge frames made. will let the glue fully cure then lightly sand it to get the front and rear work to be flat, add a further strip after to glue it to the removable deck properly and can then paint it up. Abutments will be made from the Metcalfe brick sheet and will likely be quite basic but will be nice to get them done.

Had the builders in! the roofing contractor is due after the lighting technician has paid a visit. the rest of the town is suffering from incomplete paperwork found the GW shade "Agrax Earthshade" works quite nicely for the exposed edges of the brickwork, and diluted not bad for a bit of first pass weathering. I was planning on adding SMD LEDs, however having now actually assembled the model given the internal floors and roof structures some 1.8mm THT LEDs are on order which can be easily mounted to the bits of greyboard and then wired up. nice kits actually

back to the actual layout for a bit, have now assembled and added the deck for the "town", which in practice will be the station building and likely a few low relief shops opposite and thats about it, little scenic break really as annotated the town deck is removable by lifting vertically. the bridges will eventually gain metal girders which will be attached to the deck to make removal easier. once the glue is set the visible screws which hold support pillars on the underside of the deck will be removed, countersunk and refitted. the idea is the deck mostly rests on the walls, which inturn are glued to small pillars visible behind them (the one of the far left is not yet glued as it needs a bit of reworking to position it properly. but the deck when removed then also has legs to stand on - this because its going to get some electronics stuff on the underside to control lighting for that module. the connections yet to be designed. also shown are a few of the Metcalfe retaining walls which will be used to line the fixed walls, note "fixed" is an interesting concept given they are just glued to paper which itself is glued to XPS and then in turn glued to plywood.. so a tad fragile, will work on that a bit more. obviously its removable to allow for maintenance, track cleaning, recovering stalled/derailed stock, entertaining the cats, removing cat hair but will also allow working on the thing as a separate module. still, its progress :)

development, there are some parts on order to tray and make this more usable as a proper circuit board.. the encoder controls the speed, the library has a nice acceleration function so has fine control without having to turn it several times for full speed. yellow buttons manage reverse/forwards, and can also adjust the speed up and down (eventually will drive on screen menus as well). one of the white ones is codes as "set speed zero", the other is unused, the red is "all stop now" and the blue ones act as shift keys for the keypad so when running the 0-9 can activate function F0-F9, shift to F10-F19 and F20-F29 (well F28 as F29 doesn't exist) a cludge but so far it works, will be swapping the keypad for two banks of 8 actual buttons which will simplify the code an allow pressing multiple buttons at once now the wait for the bits to arrive on the China slow boat

More progress! up to now driving trains has been via JMRI on a PC, using the on screen throttles. I have WiThrottle set up however my phone is ancient and not up to the job, even if the battery lasted, which is doesn't. have been fiddling with an ESP32 and a modified version of the WiThrottle Arduino library, modifications that are not really used yet (have added turnout control handling), but the locomotive stuff worked. so this evening the following crude prototype has been created yes a bodge, and its got a few software bugs to iron through however when its behaving it allows selection of a locomotive: press "A", type the DCC address, press "#" and the address locks in, then the rotary encoder controls the speed and the two outermost yellow buttons control the direction (the middle pair will be set to +/- 10 on the speed at some point). all a bit simplistic, the attached 128x128 OLED display (bought to be part of a scalextric start light gantry but repurposed as that project is going nowhere fast) is crisp and easy to read, will need to add an E-stop, and seriously re-write the code and likely a couple of the libraries used to streamline them to be just what is required but its not bad so far. the code takes the roster list and the turnout list, currently doing nothing with them but the plan is when setting a locomotive to have the top half of the screen for typing an address and the bottom half with a scrolling list of the "known" locomotives to pick from. then with the turnouts allow picking from a list by scrolling through then just using the two outer yellow buttons to throw/clear. It not being practical to type the turnout addresses as they need a text prefix that keypad doesn't have (could bodge it though) but frankly the ID numbers mean a lot less than human readable text anyway. not bad for a nights work on the hardware with some of the code work done last week. when its working and cleaned up can post the code if anyone cares, the hardware is using PCF8574 I2C port expanders to stick the keypad and the buttons on an I2C interface for slightly less spaghetti