Mark Pelham

Morning All, Finally, a bit of time for modelling and a little bit of progress. Some time ago I assembled a small test board for the CANMIOs, but stumbled at the firmware loading stage. This evening I had a chance to hook up the laptop with all the necessary bits and have another go at it: At the top there are two lengths of track for occupancy detection, the tracks being connected to the dual block detector (lower left); the latter is just the MERG PMP7 duplicated on one board. This then feeds into the CANMIO at the lower right. For output testing I will use the two servos just above the CANMIO. So the "little bit of progress" is that the Green LED on the CANMIO now illuminates, and when the board is switched into FLiM mode (basically computer interface mode) the Yellow LED flashes, indicating that it is ready to talk to a computer. Okay, so it really is only a little bit of progress, but a fairly big step towards getting the electronics up and running. The downside now is that the laptop, or at least the software used to program the board (MERG FCU) doesn't see it. I have a second CANMIO now with the firmware loaded (would have loaded the rest if I could find them!) which displays the same issue, so I think i now need to look at the interface side of things, but it does seem to be forward progress! Cheers, Mark Oh, and how do you resize images so they don't overwhelm a post?

Hi Alex, I couldn’t remember at first, but checking the Kitlocker, yes they’re kit 921. At the time of planning I hadn’t realised the diversity of the CANMIO and would probably have used them on the scenic boards as well as the fiddle yard. Cheers, Mark

Hi Alex, Wow, last update on 5th September, I knew it had been a while, but didn’t realize it had been that long! Not much progress made on anything since the last post due to shifts (including a fair amount of overtime), a run of bugs through the Christmas period, and helping my Brother renovating his flat (which is also taking ages due lack of time). Typically, having purchased the resin casting gear for making the Southern-style concrete lamps, they’re now available from Osborn’s Models, so I now have few packs ready to install at the appropriate time. I’ve also been looking at the control panels, and am considering having the boxes and facias manufactured. I spoke to KS Laser Designs at Tolworth last year and need to get the artwork across to them for a quote. I might have some evenings coming up soon where I can leave the scenic boards accessible to finish the wiring and look to get the electronics working between shifts and kitchen rebuilding. I have a couple of mods to do to bring them in-line with the later fiddle yard boards, such as installing the district cutouts. I also need to fit the labels to the fiddle yard boards, so may try and get that done as well. Progress will be slow again this year with finishing the flat, an A350 theory course for 7 weeks from the beginning of April, plus a further week on A350 practical training training at some point, then there will be more overtime covering guys on the next courses - so a busy year again, but a few more modeling credits for the bank! Cheers, Mark

Afternoon All, A quick update from a small amount of work completed a few days ago, I have added the enclosed viaduct arches to the model behind the derelict factory site and added the retaining wall to the rear of the station area. I have also added the platforms and raised ground level where the station building will sit: It’s not easy to see in the photos but the arches and retaining walls all have the detail where the final articles will have a lot more 3D relief. The retaining wall is based on the style at Wolverhampton along the North side of the station by Sun Street and the Great Western Pub – see the below screen grab from Google Maps: This extends approximately half way along the length of the station before changing to a more ornate design with arches, although I will probably omit the arches on the layout given that it will not be easily seen. I think my next tasks will be to finish the retaining walls and bridges to complete the raised track areas, then look at finalising the ground levels and roads before adding more buildings. Cheers, Mark

Afternoon All, A quick update before work; I have made a reasonable start on the scale mock-up for Bridgtown, having assembled the base, first and second ground layers and track layer. It’s already starting to give a feel for how the final layout might/should look, and I’m feeling quite positive about how the plan is coming together: Next up will be to add some scaled Scalescenes sheets to show the viaduct arches and bridges, and start making some of the scaled buildings. I’d also like to get the ground levels finished where the road rises from the underbridge to cross the canal. Cheers, Mark

Hi Dave, Thanks for your comments - I’m glad that the design is looking right so far, that’s one of the main reasons that I’m taking my time with the planning. I’ve been working on the scale mockup; no photos as yet as I’ve only got as far as building the foam-core base and adding the first printed plan to build upwards from - it’s all covered in books at the moment weighting the plan down! Tomorrow I hope to prepare the next layer, which will be the ground level above the canal - basically another printed plan on 1mm card. Cheers, Mark

All, I agree that in this scale repeated numbers isn’t really an issue, having numerous rakes of identical-numbered stock myself. I just thought I’d play Devil’s Advocate as some can be pretty pedantic about such things. To some extent, given the quality of close-up photos these days, I can see where they’re coming from, and thought it may be worth posing the question before they go into production. I’m just glad the model is going ahead, and hope that my chosen livery makes it into production. Cheers, Mark

I agree with Bomag - I placed an order for the Silverlink livery 321 which would suit the planned era for my layout, although not the location. I think if it were a case of having to change my livery choice should the Silverlink livery not pull through at the last minute, I would rather have an undecorated model rather than something out-of-period as well as out-of-location. It may be the same for others, where orders could potentially be lost if their preference were not to go into production, and granted the wrong livery could be oversprayed/repainted, but would be easier and perhaps more appealing using the undecorated model as a basis. Additionally, is there any benefit in producing the decorated models with two running numbers, with sides and one end each representing a different unit. That way two could be coupled together in opposition and would resemble two different units. Either that, or unnumbered with decal sheets? Just my two-pence worth! Cheers, Mark Edit - took too long composing my reply, and Ben jumped in first!

Evening All, I have made some revisions to the RH Rear scenic plan, having considered how the buildings would sit against the backscene, and more importantly how the gaps between the buildings would give a clear view of the backscene. I think that an undisturbed row of buildings as "modern" medium-sized retail outlets (Halfords, Screwfix etc.) should look okay, and will better disguise the backscene/join. Anyway, this is what the plan looks like now: Still not had a chance to start on the scale model yet, but hope to do so soon. Cheers, Mark

Morning All, I have now revised the platform road alignments and updated the Xara scenic plan to incorporate the changes. The scenic plan has now developed, with the inclusion of more building outlines and scenic details: The left-hand end of the layout has seen little change, apart from correcting the track and platform alignments, although a few detail items have been added: Plans for the station building and overbridge have been started in a separate file, which will be incorporated in the overall layout plan once developed further. All the buildings are being planned in a similar way – created in separate files, then copied into the overall design: The centre-left section has seen some realignment of the roads, the addition of a part-derelict office building in the network Rail yard, and a lot more detail added: The centre-right section has had more detail added to the derelict factory site to resemble the concrete sectional ground cover, old foundations and overgrown appearance: The right-hand end has seen the development of the industrial area around the railway with the addition of Scalescenes Industrial units for retail outlets behind the viaduct. I also plan to model a building that will be based on a tired-looking structure I spotted between Terminals 3 and 5 when working at Heathrow, that is packed with detail and character. In front of the viaduct/embankment will be a structure based on the demolished “Bradburn & Wedge” building that used to be on Darlington Street in Wolverhampton. It will be modelled as offices rather than a car retailer, so smaller windows on the ground floor. Filling in the gap between the main and service roads will be a small car repair/MOT test facility, with all the clutter and paraphernalia that accompanies: I now have some A3 foam board, so plan to start assembling a scale mock-up fairly soon. Cheers, Mark

That will be quite some extension, will it still fit in your workshop? Cheers, Mark. P.s. absolutely stunning layout, although still yet to see it for real.

Afternoon All, A quick update before heading in to work tonight... I have been working on the scenic plans for Bridgtown, adding detail to various aspects. The below images show the progress to date: I have also started adding plans for the catenary installation, not something that I have given a great deal of thought to yet, but equally I have not been completely disregarding it. My intention is to give the appearance of an installation that has been added around the track, rather than what I expect would happen for modern realignments where I suspect the catenary installation and track alignment/geometry is planned as a whole. One feature that is nice in Xara, and probably applies to other design packages, is the ability to switch layers' visibility on and off - in the above case hiding the 'ballast' layer shows the catenary a bit more clearly. I have roughly positioned the masts/portals to ensure the contact wire remains within an appropriate tolerance of the track centre line. I need to do a little more research into the positioning of the anchor points/tension weights for the 'out of running' wires, but I think the basic principle is there now. I also need to finalise the positions of the portals at the left hand end of the layout, but this will be completed once I have the station structures designed and positioned. Lots more still to add, and it's very time consuming, but I think worthwhile to ensure I get the right feel for the design - so far I think it's heading in the right direction. Once the plans have developed enough, I'll start constructing a scale mock up to get a 3D impression of the design. Since I'm not in a position to actively start building the layout, this does all keep the enthusiasm going! Cheers, Mark

Afternoon All, I spent last weekend at Telford operating 'Newhurst', and despite being the 7mm pinnacle show I did manage to make a fair few purchases for both Bridgtown and Robertsfield; mostly tooling and materials from Squires and Eileen's Emporium, but also some scenic details from Severn Models and scenic materials from Treemendous. I have been pondering how best to produce Southern style concrete station lamps in 2mm - one of my purchases at Telford was materials for latex moulding, so I can have a go at making a master of each single and twin lamp style, then I'll have a go at resin casting. If that fails, I did briefly speak to Alan Butler from Modelu at Telford, so could look to get them produced by him, or alternatively have a go at producing a CAD file and getting them 3D printed. Other than that progress has been slow of late, I have managed to get the Pickit3 working with my laptop, and think I may have found what has been causing earlier problems loading the CANMIO PICs - I think I may have to load another piece of firmware (Bootloader) first. I need to read-up more to get my head around it properly, but it sounds like it may be where I was going wrong. I think I need to stop flitting between projects, and concentrate on one at a time! Cheers, Mark

Afternoon All, I spent last weekend at Telford operating 'Newhurst', and despite being the 7mm pinnacle show I did manage to make a fair few purchases for both Bridgtown and Robertsfield; mostly tooling and materials from Squires and Eileen's Emporium, but also some scenic details from Severn Models and scenic materials from Treemendous. I have slowly been working on the scenic plan and have progressed to a stage shown in the images below: The first image shows the left-hand end of the layout with the two earlier-built platforms towards the front, and the later-built platform at the rear. The bay platform will not be operational for the full length, with an old parcels building and enclosed canopy covering the end of the track, with a buffer stop at the entrance to the covered section. The station building and forecourt will be to the rear of the station, with a large over bridge structure providing the visual break to the fiddle yard. The remainder of the scene to the rear of the station will be occupied by the station multi-storey car park and various taller structures such as hotels, offices and apartments - all to be defined. The middle section of the layout will have the canal junction on the lower level with an area of scrub land at the front. The ground will remain low behind the railway, with a service road providing access to surrounding facilities/structures. The road will pass under the railway, then climb to cross the canal, also providing access at this point to the Network Rail depot and station staff car park. The road may end up being re-routed in a straight line if the curves end up looking too contrived, but it is intended to have an appearance similar to "Corn Hill" in a similar position in Wolverhampton. A network of towpaths and bridges will be included around the canal, which is all being designed to fit on one baseboard to avoid joins in the water. I am considering included a disused/derelict girder bridge on the supposition that it once carried the third steel works line across the canal to a more complex junction. I think keeping the viaduct section (between the canal and road to the right-hand end per the below image) at a constant width will look better than a step in the width from three to two tracks. The Jury's still out on this one, so if anyone has any suggestions... The final image shows the right-hand end where the front area will have the derelict foundations of a large factory site, possibly with a small scene of builders and equipment in the early stages of clearing the area for development. The railway will run across the low ground on a viaduct with enclosed arches, beyond which will be a number of smaller buildings/lockups with the typical small businesses found in such locations. The far right hand end will have a busier road passing under the railway surrounded by various industries. I will need some form of view blocker for the fiddle yard exit, so a tall building will be the most likely candidate. I have also received 10 yards of flat-bottom rail concrete sleeper plain track from British Finescale, which looks great as supplied, I'll assemble a length of it when I get some more free time. I look forward to seeing the turnout kits develop. Cheers, Mark

Hi Paul, The layout is based c2004 to accommodate both the 'AC Electrics' and Pendolinos, I have some 86s and a 90 in the stock box, awaiting the newer spec Mark II Air Cons. When I add the scenic plan (still adding the track to Xara) it will show the alignment of the canal and the reasoning for the dog-leg. Ideally would have liked the long sweeping curve past the old crane works, but not the easiest to fit in the footprint I have available. Cheers, Mark

Morning All, I have had a bit of time with the house empty, so have taken the opportunity to do some work on Bridgtown and Robertsfield, in between sessions reorganising the office. I had plans to assemble Robertsfield in the lounge while I had the house to myself, but time has been against me and I can see this not happening. I should still be able to make some progress though; I plan to revisit the wiring on the scenic baseboards to make some changes/corrections. I had not originally installed the District Cut Outs, these being a later addition to the design, so they will be installed and the necessary wiring modifications made. I also need to review the CBUS connections in the baseboard connection boxes, I think I may have used a diagram for an alternative proposed spec for the connector pinout, so appear to have a discrepancy between the scenic and fiddle yard baseboards. I have also been having fun with my Pickit3 - the device used to allow my PC/Laptop to directly load the firmware to my CBUS modules - it just won't talk to the PC! I've got a few more tricks to try, but am lacking the time to try them. I need to get this working though so that I can load the firmware to my CANMIOs, currently a major hurdle towards getting the layout fully operational. I'm sure time and perseverance will find a resolution. Cheers, Mark

Morning All, I have had a bit of time with the house empty, so have taken the opportunity to do some work on Bridgtown and Robertsfield, in between sessions reorganising the office. I was not entirely happy with the shape of the track into the station area on my Bridgetown plan, the platforms curves looked too long and seemed to 'drift' rather than a more purposeful 'meander', not like the prototype that it is based on. I'm still not entirely pleased with the straight track on the approaches at the right end, however this is a necessary compromise to fit the available space whilst maintaining the alignment onto the common fiddle yard. Any additional curvature would result in another 's' curve, which would be difficult to justify scenically and avoid looking contrived. The track alignment through the station is now more in-keeping with Wolverhampton, with a shorter, sharper curve leading into the straight section where the building and over-bridge complex will be, fortunately just the right place for a scenic break. This of course meant another full-size print was required to plonk some stock on and get a better idea of how things might look: I'm pleased to hear that progress is being made on the flat-bottom FiNetrax range from British Finescale - I hope to use these products once available. The next steps for Bridgtown will be to import the Templot design into Xara and start some more detailed plans for the scenic aspect, which will not be too dissimilar to earlier plans, but will require some tweaking of the canal alignment to avoid baseboard joins. Cheers, Mark

Hi Dave, Yes, I will use the gantries for the two pairs of through platforms on Bridgtown; the bay will have a standard post. I agree that the 90º finish looks better, and was going to do that with mine. I’ll add the latest image to the others saved in my ‘inspiration’ folder when I’m next at the PC. Cheers, Mark

Brilliant - I have the same kit, but my layout plan has changed several times since purchasing it and I wasn't sure I'd be able to use it - why didn't I spot the obvious and chop it into two! That's my platform 'starters' sorted out... Cheers, Mark

Afternoon All, After some recent wiring activity, I have now reached a milestone where the electrical installation is complete on the baseboards and I can move on to a 'commissioning' stage. The 'commissioning' will entail setting up the turnout frog microswitches and connecting up the wiring for correct polarity, updating all the CANMIOs to the latest firmware and programming the CBUS events, plus getting it all to work with the JMRI panel. I also need to revisit the three scenic baseboards and install district cutouts - plus I need to check the CBUS wiring at the junction boxes as I think I may have been using an earlier version of my reference document when assembling these. Once all the above is complete I can move on to an intensive phase of playing rigorous testing. Cheers, Mark

Evening All, I thought I had already posted this but apparently not; after Pauls suggestions I revisited the track plan the following afternoon and produced this: ] I haven't included the extension to the branch on the basis that I will just use Peco track for the turnouts, so no need to include it in the Templot plan. I need to confirm with Tim that i have the cross bracing in the correct positions on the baseboard plans, if I can avoid them when fitting the turnout servos then I may as well make things easier for myself! Where the steel transfer access line has been added will be sitting on arches; where the turnouts are located I will model the arches as infilled, possibly with small industrial type lettings, and possibly in a disused state. If it looks odd with a mix of open and closed arches then I'll just fill all the arches in; I'll have to build a scale model at some point to judge that. Once the steel line starts to separate from the running lines I plan to have two parallel bridges crossing a road as per the original design. Would appreciate any further thoughts or comments! Cheers, Mark

Hi Paul, Thanks for your suggestions; I had briefly considered retaining the access to the steel transfer depot (which I'm not ruling out) but hadn't looked in too much detail. My thoughts that lead to the current plan were: I wasn't overly keen on the original plan with the somewhat truncated viaduct compared to the prototype, where the viaduct runs through to just past Lower Walsall Street before transitioning to embankment. Okay, this is only to be based on Wolverhampton rather than a model of it, but I did feel the viaduct section from my earlier plan with the short stub/safety/trap siding (I'll call it a trap siding from here) looked a little contrived. This was also a change from even earlier plans where I had the embankment running as far as the buffer on the trap siding, but changed it to arches to increase the length of the viaduct scene. I will revisit this - a thought springs to mind to keep the viaduct at a three-track width and join the running lines closer to the double junction, as if the third line continued further ahead, but has now been lifted. The first fiddle yard baseboard where you have added the turnout is at capacity for the current electrical installation in terms of the number of turnouts that can be driven. It might be possible to tandem the turnouts as a crossover from a single output, but since they are servo driven it would not allow individual electronic adjustment of the servo travel. I could just add another CANMIO in, which would be significant overkill, but with the latest CANMIO firmware there may also be a way of using an additional output from the existing module to trigger a dedicated servo driver for the additional turnout - something to look into. I hadn't got as far as looking at what space would be available to include an extra turnout for the fiddle yard, having had a quick look I believe it should fit per your sketch - many thanks for that. Regarding the double junction - I was in two minds whether to model the branch as lifted or redundant overgrown track on the branch and plain track in place of the turnouts/crossing or to build the turnouts as non-working. I included the track on the plan for the purposes of aligning the redundant embankment. However, there should be space to attach a small shelf type fiddle yard on the rear of the scenic boards, possibly even diagonally across to the main fiddle yard (just to provide support) that would avoid a sharp return curve. The only issue then would be how to suitably disguise a raised trackbed through the backscene at a fairly acute angle. I would really like to have fully working signalling, and have a 'home' signal for the down main that was built by Paul at CR Signals with the position 1, 4-6 feathers (which should ideally have been a theatre) and a call-on. I thought that using multiple feathers for the platform 'starters' would look wrong, and was another reason for not having to signal the branch. If it were connected but either out of use or closed for maintenance I could use the CR theatre but only display one character when the signals are off. I could look to use signals with position 1 for the branch and a stencil for the steel sidings that might be suitably prototypical and look reasonable? So yes, I'll take all the suggestions on-board and have a look at the plan again to see how feasible it is. Graham (Shanks522 on here) suggested a similar idea with the branch some time ago, but the fiddle yard was in a different format then (cassettes) and would not have been so easy to implement; however with the redesigned fiddle yard and a gap in the middle it should be achievable. I hope it's quiet at work tonight - I need to do some serious pondering! Cheers, Mark

Good Afternoon All, Having received my Revolution Trains Pendolino last week I had to set it up on the layout to see how it looked last night: Alas, the fantastic model does make the layout appear somewhat lacking in detail and relief - it would probably help a little if I actually built it. I have recently been working on my 60's steam era layout 'Robertsfield' (see link in signature) for which I have used some of the fantastic laser-cut baseboard kits from Tim Horn; I have now decided to use the same for Bridgtown with a common, albeit extended fiddle yard. The benefits of this are the time and cost saving in construction and, more importantly for me (okay, the Wife), the reduced space required for storage. Due to this it has meant revisiting the layout plan, and I have had to make some changes, although nothing too drastic, but the track needs to align with the common fiddle yard, and fit to a slightly larger scenic area. I have yet to start adding scenic plans, but the intent is to keep it as close to the previous design as possible. I have dropped the steel terminal branch from the plan to make the interface to the fiddle yard standard at one end, but the theory is that the junction is a little further east. I may yet add a little more curvature to the right hand end over the viaduct, but only if I can make the scenery suit to avoid a contrived meandering appearance to the track alignment. Next up will be to review the electrical and scenic plans to bring those up to date. Cheers, Mark

Good Afternoon All, I have made little progress over the last few months, but recently started working on a JMRI control panel that will eventually be used to test the operation for the physical control panels before I start constructing them: The Green "Sensors" will operate the uncoupling magnets, while the yellow "Sensors" operate the routes; the signals have not yet been set up. I have also just had a new set of PICs for the CANMIOs delivered. These will allow installation of the latest firmware that in turn will enable the required functionality with a standard set of CANMIO modules. Once I have completed wiring the last two fiddle yard baseboards (yes, I still haven't completed them since my last post!) I can start getting all the CBUS modules programmed and the JMRI panel to talk to the layout. On the fiddle yard front, I have decided to make the fiddle yard available to my 'modern' layout Bridgtown, albeit in an extended format; more can be seen on my build thread linked from my signature below. Cheers, Mark

Yes, used on ‘Kinlet Wharf’, and I believe trialled on ‘Lowes Hill Marina’ beforehand - both RM articles tucked away ready for future reference! Cheers, Mark