Mark Pelham

Evening All, It's been a while since my last post, mainly due to the lack of any tangible work towards the layout, various DIY tasks and two months of training on the Boeing 787 working Monday to Friday weeks (not long now until I go back on shift!). I haven't been to an exhibition for quite some time and as they are good at giving one a kick up the rear end to do some modelling my visit to Uckfield today has spurred me on to posting this. It was nice to meet some fellow RMwebbers, namely Shanks522 with Smithdown Road Junction and Eldavo with Waton, had Horseley Fields and Banbury been there that would have covered my "Big Four" RMweb layouts to see in one show. I have not been completely detached from modelling but have been limited to bits here-and-there, I seem to be gradually building a queue for the spray booth so once I get the garage cleared I hope to start getting some stock finished, in the meantime I will continue planning the layout and working on stock. I have built three NGS Salmon kits with cranes which I'm not sure are totally appropriate for the time period set, but I like them and they are a little different from the many Gold & Red boxes I seem to have collected. I plan to run them with some OBA/OCAs carrying spoil/old sleepers in the guise that another siding has been ripped up somewhere. (Apologies for the image quality due to the restricted upload limit at present!) Next to be worked on will be one of David Lund's 09 Tampers and two of Vonzack's KTA Pocket wagons: I have been working on the scenic plan for the layout and have decided to include the deviating line that heads towards Bescot. It is not intended for this to be operational so gives me a few possibilities for its execution: Model the line as if it was operational but closed for maintenance, possibly with STOP boards as it deviates from the main line. This would require all the signalling to be in place albeit non-operational but still adds complexity to already delicate items. Model the line as closed, rusty and overgrown. Could have been resignalled negating the need for dummy feathers or route indicators. As item 2 but also disconnected from the main lines. Would definitely have been resignalled. The redundant trackbed on an embankment. This would allow me to install plain track on the running lines thus not having to build the curviform point work and crossing. Any thoughts would be most welcome! From the plan it can be seen that I have also added an oil terminal although I'm not totally happy with the arrangement at the moment. The site is based on that on Foundry Lane in Horsham, West Sussex, as that is a fairly compact site, but it still takes up a lot of room in model form. I may compress it slightly to contain it within the right-hand most baseboard which would allow me to retain my original scrubby wasteland appearance in the "Y" of the junction. I have been focussing on the low-level scenic areas but I need to add some detail to the station end of the plan as it still looks very plain and has no feel to it yet. I hope to update this more often as I find more time to do work on the various aspects, I'm quite keen to start one of the buildings, probably a model based on the old Crane Foundry building that is still in existence, which I plan to use just behind the canal to the right of the canal junction. Cheers, Mark

Hi David, Thanks for that, I'll keep an eye out for the email and reorder accordingly. All the best, Mark

Could be lucky me again, I ordered the 09 tamper yesterday! I haven't had any emails other than order confirmation so fingers crossed. Will I end up with an older version though? Cheers, Mark

Hi Cav, If you get a sheet of decals made up I would also be interested being in a similar position of owning around 15 models with 2 or 3 running numbers. I would also be interested in your NEM couplings! Cheers, Mark

I have recently completed one of the Beta test kits, see http://finetrax.proboards.com/thread/14 (if it allows access?) Cheers, Mark

Only just had a chance to catch up with this, I hadn't expected my motorising/DCC sound comments to be taken seriously as they certainly were not intended that way! I can only think your replies were a good example of modelling willpower! Cheers, Mark

Hi David, What motor bogie would be needed for the crane and will there be space for a DCC decoder and speaker, it would be great to run it independently from the train loco. Meanwhile back on planet Earth - great stuff, I would be happy with the crane being fixed, but then if someone was modelling a track possession scene... Cheers, Mark

Ah that would be me then! It will be great to get that sorted, I now have credit with Shapeways that needs spending! Cheers, Mark

Evening All, Whilst waiting for the "Open Reach" Engineer to turn up this morning to upgrade our internet connection I decided to start a little project I have had in mind for some time. I have always fancied a 3 car class 150 in centro livery with centre car being from another 2 car unit. I obtained a second Centro liveried 150 at the Crawley MRS show and started looking into what changes might be needed. I was pretty shocked to find out that the centre cars were from class 150/2s and not class 150/1s as per the model. This answered my query on whether one end car is isolated from the other 2 cars by not having a gangway, but did mean that I had a completely inappropriate unit to form the centre car. So do I A) sell the unit, buy an Arriva 150/2 and repaint it or B ) chop the new 150/1 around to form a 150/2 with only minor painting required? I opted for 'B' and here is how it has gone so far: This is the non-lavatory car which will be used as the centre car: The cab cut away roughly: Then cleaned up: The cab then cut from the redundant car: After fettling the coach body and cab to fit, plus reusing the intermediate corridor connection from the redundant coach with a bit of 10 thou (I think) plasticard packing we have: All that is left to do is fill a small gap at the top of the cab and possibly the top centre of the roof where the aerial was located, then paint as necessary. Once that is done I will renumber the cars to suit unit 150009. It won't be 100% but from a normal viewing distance, and being 2mm scale (OK 2.02mm scale) it will do! The redundant powered chassis will hopefully be used under a Class 325 unit which appears to be under development by Bob Davies of N-Train fame. Cheers, Mark

I like that, very clever!

Hi Matt, I hope the future isn't too bleak for Blockwall Junction and that you manage to find space, I haven't even started looking for a new house but think I will probably need to in the next few years, hopefully somewhere with a large garage or garden big enough for a reasonable sized shed if/when we do! Yes, that is the setup I have for JMRI>CBUS; I have to admit to having put more effort into the construction that the testing and other than a quick half hour's dabble haven't had time to try anything further so I'm not sure exactly where the path was broken. Having looked at JMRI just now there appears to be various settings that I hadn't seen before which could make a difference. I'll look into the jumper settings on the CANCMD, if I recall correctly I was using the programming output (hoping to do a bit of programming as well as running), I also have the NB1B Booster I could put to use next time. A good friend of mine is also working with CBUS modules and has a CANUSB amongst his collection which is a known working item, the plan sometime soon is to have a working day partly to check my setup but also setting up his component for a layout he is working on. All the best, Mark

Hello All, Time for a long overdue update and there have been some changes - some fairly significant changes. The layout plan has now completely changed and I have reverted to a plan similar to some of my earlier designs based on Wolverhampton. The track plan is far simpler which I feel will make it easier to operate; the large station design would have looked very impressive (hopefully) but to maintain a suitable flow of traffic for exhibitions would have lead to a hectic fiddle yard. An alternative would have been to have a standard ladder type fiddle yard but the cost of the turnouts and motors plus the space needed to provide a suitably flexible fiddle yard allowing bi-directional running for the amount of stock planned were just not viable. Additionally if all goes to plan I will be moving house within a few years and so cannot guarantee having the same space available as I have now in my current garage. I personally don't fancy the idea of having a layout stacked up in a corner gathering dust due to lack of space to use it at home. So, the current plan - well here it is: Apologies for the image quality, it is a full-size Templot track plan exported as PDF, imported into Xara to add the scenic details, then exported as a JPEG and then resized in Irfanview to just under the maximum uploadeable file size. There is still a lot of work to do on the scenic design, particularly adding the contours and spot heights but it has been proving a useful exercise in conjunction with a 1:5 scale model to get the appearance that I would like. Basically the station is on an area of raised ground to the left with the old disused goods yard being in a state of partial disrepair but also having had some development completed. The line then leads onto the viaduct arches although these will mostly be filled to hide the turnout motors. To the right hand end a single line branches off to serve a Steel Transfer Terminal. I had hoped to model this on the lower level but couldn't make it fit scenically, it would either have to be in front of the main running lines (which would have blocked the view of the running lines) or behind the running lines so the low level operation would then have been hidden. I want to retain the character of the high level line running above the lower waste land so putting the Steel Terminal at the same level of the running lines would spoil that appearance. The lower level to the left will have the canal appearing at the front, passing in front of a pub based on the "Great Western" in Wolverhampton with a junction similar to Horseley Fields (the prototype) then disappearing again at the front towards the right. Around the viaduct and embankment will be derelict factory grounds with parts of the foundations showing and possibly a building based on the Crane Foundry from the same area. To the rear of the embankment will be some smaller industries, MOT centres, dodgy car sales etc. On the test layout front, I have installed a track bus and temporarily connected all the sections to allow a couple of trains to run using my existing Lenz system. I'll need to get some more up-to-date photos of this as I don't appear to have any at the moment. I'm not having a great deal of success with the MERG units so will start off simple by adding the turnout control modules (CANACC5s) and using a simple control input system to try them out before moving on to control through JMRI. I haven't been able to run a loco through the CBUS CANCMD yet, the lights indicate that it is working correctly but I can't get JMRI to recognize it yet. I need to set aside some time to investigate it properly. I have been working on another project for the layout: I had converted some Farish Mk3 coaches for the New Measurement Train using the Electra Vinyls but am not overly happy with both the difference in colour to the Dapol power cars but also the level of detail. A quick visit to a certain Merseyside shops website and five "Bargain" blue/grey TS coaches were on their way. After disassembling and then an overnight soak in IPA (not Greene King!) followed by some gentle scrubbing with cotton buds & 'J' cloth they were down to bare plastic. I have used the PH Designs conversion etches bonded on with Loctite 401. The next step is to modify the roofs, bogies and underframes before rebuilding and painting. Another project lined up is to convert 2 Bachmann/Farish Mk1 BGs in to Porterbrook barrier vehicles for a stock movement train. Hopefully I'll post some more pictures as things progress over the next few weeks. Cheers, Mark

Afternoon! I had a bit of time today to fit the Cobalt motors with GEM Mercontrol wire-in-tube transmission: I have fitted the motors above the baseboard for two reasons: As this is a trial/demonstration layout I want all the components to be visible above the board. The baseboard frame is too shallow for them to go beneath! The next step will be to install the basic CBUS components and a temporary track bus. The track bus will later be split into sections to allow occupancy detection to be added. I have one DTC-8 to assemble and will need another two if I can get the first to work with CBUS. Cheers, Mark

Hi Matt, My approach will be similar but without the need to switch between operating styles. As I mentioned in my last post my final goal is to have an Entry-Exit control panel as close as I can make it to resemble a Power Signal Box panel, this will be used to send inputs to a PC/Laptop/Raspberry Pi via CBUS. I will have JMRI running to provide the interlocking logic which will then send outputs to the CBUS consumers to operate the turnout motors, signals etc... By using JMRI I can either operate the layout from JMRI directly or from a panel through JMRI. I'm not sure if you can have two sets of producers (CBUS & JMRI via CANUSB) both sending the same commands (nodes?). If you can then it will be a "simple" matter of having a control panel with CBUS producers sending the same messages as JMRI via the CANUSB. The downside, as I have found, is that CBUS in itself cannot provide any interlocking without something else providing the brains i.e. relays, logic switches, FETs or a computer. Of course not being an expert on the matter I could be completely wrong! Cheers, Mark

Hi Matt, Sorry for the late reply, it has been a busy few days at work. I think the CBUS kits are a very cost effective way to provide a digital layout control system and, in general, are very simple to put together. I am still to get to grips with the surface mount soldering and my next attempt at a CANCAB will make use of the Rapid Electronics surface mount soldering kit and a smaller bit on my soldering iron! As you say, the forum seems to be a great source of inspiration and advice, and the group as a whole seems to have a friendly and helpful feel. I hope to soon have the Cobalt motors fitted to my test layout and hopefully run a loco from the PC via the CANCMD shortly after. Long-term I am planning to try a JMRI panel with full interlocking and then a power signal box style physical panel for the user interface. I have a JMRI panel working on another project, albeit at a basic level. Hopefully more from me next week, it's my last day of shift tomorrow and I hope to get some layout work done early in the week. Cheers, Mark

Evening All, Thanks to a dubious curry I gained an extra day off today and not being a huge fan of Jeremy Kyle I decided to put the track down for the test layout: The centre photo shows the work done to the turnouts; to allow operation by Cobalt motors I removed the over-centre spring, however due to their crude construction the spring also holds the switch blades to the closure rails. I added strips of plasticard above the toe end "Timbers" which holds the tie bar in place. The moulding on the tie bar where the spring fits acts as a low friction contact area so was retained. The track is held in place by self adhesive foam strip - simple to remove and good for noise reduction. Next phase is to finalise the component locations and identifications and start installing the various motors and CBUS modules before wiring. I need to decide how the occupancy detection will be achieved so I'm off to the MERG website now for some research. Cheers, Mark

Good Afternoon, I found a brief window to throw the trial layout baseboard together this afternoon: It's far from perfect but sufficient for its purpose. I am now in the process of modifying the Peco Setrack turnouts to remove the springs and make then a little more reliable. More soon hopefully! Cheers, Mark

Evening All, I managed to do a bit of work a last week in the form of constructing a couple of MERG CBUS units: the CANCMD and a CANCAB. I already have a CANACE8C (8 input module), a CANACE3 (64 push button pair switch input module), CANLED (64 LED driver) and CANUSB (USB interface) built and working, I now should be able to also drive & program a loco. The CANCMD appears to work, unfortunately the CANCAB does nothing. I have a second CANCAB that I will build and see if I have more success. Tomorrow I plan to build a small 4'x2' baseboard for a test track to prove the electronics I am intending to use. Having watched the JMRI demo videos on YouTube by Nigel Cliffe & Kevin Dickerson and dabbled with JMRI Panel Pro I want to construct a similar type of "bare bones" layout, part 1 of the series is shown below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia6Jq6BQ8gE&feature=player_embedded I have some Peco Setrack to form a double track oval with two crossovers and two sidings which should be sufficient to test most of the features I intend to have from a signalling perspective. All being well I may have some photos to upload later tomorrow. Cheers, Mark

Phil, Typo on my part! Cheers, Mark

Has it been confirmed what type of buffets are being produced? I am personally hoping for a TRFB with buffers for an HST set and a couple of RFMs for loco hauled West Coast sets all in Virgin Trains livery. I see there are buffered and unbuffered versions but are they the same vehicle. I have to admit to getting a bit confused by the changing release schedules and announced models/liveries. Thanks, Mark

Evening All, Well I said things would be slow but I have been quite busy with railway modelling, just not my own! I have been playing around with the track plan trying to make things a bit more interesting with the addition of a single track branch. I couldn't get the junction alignment to look realistic so gave up on that, I think it would have been overkill anyway. I have made an alteration to allow trains from platform 7 (numbered top to bottom on the plan) to access the secondary line giving more flexibility for passenger traffic. To enable this I have moved the entrance to the transfer depot further towards the station and repositioned the line to the front of the layout. I have also been doing some research into JMRI and how I will be operating the layout. My goal is to have an entry-exit style control panel which will make inputs to a computer running Panel Pro via CBUS units. This will do all the interlocking and then send the necessary data back to the CBUS units on the baseboards to operate the layout. There is a very good set of videos on YouTube by Nigel Cliffe and Kevin Dickerson, the first of which can be found . They use Digitrax for the layout control so I need to see what changes are required for using CBUS with JMRI, once I get some spare time I will assemble a test unit, hook it up the the PC and see what I can get to work. Cheers, Mark

Darren, TPM produce TPWS grids. Mark

Graham, I received 5 Farish GNER MKIII TGSs from a certain supplier in Liverpool yesterday, listed in the bargains section at £10 each, ready for a quick go-over with Brasso. I avoided the restaurant vehicles to make the roof modifications simpler. I have a set of Electra overlays to add later and these are to go with the Dapol power cars. The NMT2 is probably a bit late for the period again but I like full MKIII version although the mix of under frame detail with NMT1 is also quite appealing, I may have to dig out my old Amsies overlay set! Regards, Mark

Hi Graham, I also have Train Controller, but I think it is the Silver edition. It's been a while since I used it so don't recall the exact version. If memory serves the Bronze edition lacked some of the function I needed but the Gold was much more than I needed. I don't know if it will work with CBUS, something I should look into as I may be able to use it. So far I think I have three locos with decodes fitted but also have a reasonable stock of decoders to install. I need to sort through my loco fleet to see which decoders I need to complete the remaining conversions, I already have most of the stock I want, I'm just waiting for the upcoming Desiro (in Apollo livery as I can just get away running that), a couple of the recently announced 37s (NR & EWS), and hopefully, if they ever come to fruition, the Dapol 92 & 390. I would also like the RFM and a TRFB/TRSB from Dapol in Virgin Trains livery, how can they produce all the other MKIIIs, locos and DVT but not the remaining coaches to complete a set!!!! David, I don't think the layout is going to be that big (compared with some), the scenic section will be 2400mm by 500mm and the track will be fairly well crammed in. I am hoping to get away with the lack of surrounding space by using height in the scenics. I have always been a believer that the railway should only occupy a small amount of the scenic layout. Having been designer and group leader for Crawley MRSs West Tilgate I felt the balance was just about right to give the feel of a railway running through the landscape and having purpose. I have also always been of the opinion that the scenic part should be larger than the fiddle yard and off scene areas; I have complied with neither in this plan. I think you had the balance of railway to surrounding scenery spot-on with both Ring Road and Cross Street, and both layouts are high up on my list of inspiring layouts. Cheers, Mark

Morning Graham, I will be using DCC, I had a Digitrax Empire Builder some years ago but had trouble fitting the early smaller decoders in the AC electrics. It was also a bit of overkill for my layout plan then which didn't really justify the work required. So that layout was converted back to DC and still exists in an infant stage in my parents loft. With the more recent N gauge friendly DCC I decided to have another look. I like the support for Digitrax with the CML products but don't like the Digitrax throttles. To get a decent size regulator you need the basic model with those horrible address selection rotary switches. The next model up is now the full-blown 400? model which I think is a bit excessive for exhibitions and can easily confuse less experienced operators. So I took the plunge and opted for a Lenz system with the LH90 for the rotary speed controller. I then got fed up with the limited buttons and long-winded address selection, plus I find the handset a little bulky. I'm not keen on the LH100 with push button speed control although it at least has a full numerical keypad. So I now have sitting in my cupboard a MERG CBUS Command Station and two MERG throttle kits waiting to be assembled, I have built a few other CBUS kits which are very nice to put together and seem to work nicely. Once I have the FLiM mode sussed and can program from the laptop so it should be nice and easy to set everything up. Having tried a CBUS throttle at Warley a couple of years ago I found it to be one of the best ergonomic and compact designs which allows sufficient user interface without being over complicated. I don't like using the throttles to operate a layout, I have seen so many layouts where all the action is with the operator frantically button pushing to set a route. I prefer to have a clear control panel that shows the route set and sinal aspects, I think it adds another dimension to operation. Oh well, there goes the second alarm. Off to work and the weather sounds lovely! Cheers, Mark