Camford Junction in 2FS

[Ian Morgan]

For our show in Basingstoke back in March, I had cobbled together various modules purchased on eBay, controlled by an Arduino, all screwed to a piece of wood and joined up with a bird's nest of wires. This provided the five analogue DC controllers to drive the trains on the layout. By pretending to be a Merg DCC Control Station (CANCMD) it allowed Merg hand-held throttles (CANCAB) to be used to control the trains. It also meant that JMRI, running on a laptop, could also provide on-screen throttles, and by hooking up a WiFi access point, Android and iPhone throttle apps could also be used to drive the analogue DC trains.

 

Having performed faultlessly all weekend, I had to tidy it all up, and put it into a proper case for protection. This has taken longer than the original build.

 

I have also been thinking about the problem of failures and rectification of faults during an exhibition. With a club layout, there will always be some concerns amongst the membership about the reliability of new technology. For Camford Junction, I have tried to make fault rectification as simple as possible, by standardising and separating things. The layout is powered by several identical laptop-style 12VDC power adapters. We will have a spare one that can be used to replace any one of these in the event of a failure. So far, I have used only two types of Merg CBus modules, the CANSERVO8 module to control up to 8 point servos, and the CANACC8 module (modified for 12V DC power) to operate a standard 8-relay module widely available from eBay, to switch track sections between controllers. We will carry a spare for each module, which can be quickly swapped if required. It will be necessary to plug in the laptop to load the configuration data into the new module for its new location.

 

The new control box is a different matter. If one of the other modules fails, it will disable a few points or a few track sections, but if the control box fails, the whole layout will grind to a halt. Repairs under exhibition conditions would also take some time. The simple answer was to build an identical spare. Fortunately, the total cost of all the modules in the case is reasonably low, but it did require a lot of drilling holes, crimping, and soldering. The end result, twins:

 

 

[Western Star]

Seems to me that the single point of failure is....

 

Ian Morgan, so please clone yourself.

 

Being serious here for a moment or three, I like the approach of module replacement and I am ignoring the question as to how to identify which module to replace....  from what you have written then the critical element of the recovery procedure is the laptop and the configuration files.  Given that most of the members of the 2mmFS group within the club have smart 'phones then can you arrange for any of those devices to be capable of doing the configuration step?  Or at least ensure that there are two similar (identical?) devices which can do the job?

 

Oh, and think about how to train the rest of the crew in diagnosis and repair.

 

Might be useful to talk to Nick Murphy about how Beggarwood Lane are intending to handle the same scenario.

 

regards, Graham who does not have a smart device...  not even a mobile cellular brick.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Western Star

[Ian Morgan]

Well, the next step will be to add a Raspberry Pi (a very small Linux computer) into the control box that will run JMRI and provide WiFi access. However, the Merg CBus configuration software currently only runs on Windows. But there is much discussion within the Merg membership about porting it to run on Linux and MacOS, so that may be the eventual solution.

[Western Star]

... the next step will be to add a Raspberry Pi..

I prefer a Blackberry and Apple Pie, or maybe a Strawberry Krumble...  guess that we shall have to put the contents and topping to the vote (of the group).

[Ian Morgan]

With wiring up and adding point servos still proceeding on the initial two baseboards for Camford Junction, a start has been made on phase 2 of the layout. These two new boards comprise the incline from the depot area up to the main line, and then some freight sidings and the throat of the station.

 

Sorry, poor quality photos:

 

 

And an aerial view of the initial two boards:

 

[Ian Morgan]

Robin built inspection pits for the DMU shed (after his first attempt mysteriously disappeared). Peter started attaching surface mount LEDs in them, and I wrote a sketch for an Arduino Micro to simulate fluorescent lights being switched on, in pairs, and after a while, switching off again. A push button will be fitted to the front of the layout to initiate the switching on routine. The Arduino performs some pseudo random flashing on and off before a steady 'on' state is achieved. The LEDs are multiplexed, to reduce the current drawn, but this interacts with the mobile phone camera, causing a pulsing wave effect which is not noticeable 'in the flesh'.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRTZ1BxDUVE

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by Ian Morgan

[Ian Morgan]

The inspection pits have now been installed on the layout, and connected to the 12VDC power bus. A quality illuminated push button has been fitted to a panel on the front of the layout. It lights up blue when it can be pressed to start the lighting sequence, and goes out during the sequence, when pressing the button would not achieve anything. The push button actually cost more than the electronics and LEDs put together.

 

https://youtu.be/izFk7M4o6po

 

Again, I must repeat that the rhythmic pulsing of the lights, once lit, is an artifact of the mobile phone camera, and is not seen with the naked eye. Only the startup flickering, simulating fluorescent lights is seen.

 

 

Hopefully another evening or two should see wiring completed on this baseboard, and I can proceed with baseboard 2.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the team has now started track laying on boards 3 and 4, and constructing the baseboards that will curve round to the fiddle yard.

 

 

[Western Star]

Do not be misled by the lack of photos...  the main and slow lines are now progressing west of the depots and are approaching the station platforms at a rate which is (just) measurable.  As of today, the up/down main and slow lines have made an 18" advance towards the goal...  which is about 8 feet away.

 

Will we get to the end of board four by the time of our Club Open Day on 21st October?  Come and see how we do!

[Western Star]

And after another afternoon of tea-drinking interspersed with modelling...  the line from the depot has made the jump to the adjacent baseboard and set off up the hill towards the four track main/slow lines.

 

Hard graft this tracking laying, need more tea and volunteers!

 

Most Monday evenings from 07/30 until 10/00 and most Friday afternoons from 01/30 until 04/00.  As and when, Wednesday evenings. If interested then please contact either Ian Morgan or Me through this topic.

[Ian Morgan]

The wiring beneath baseboard 1 is finally complete, and testing has commenced. The 12VDC power supply to all the Merg CBus modules and connectors checked out OK, and the 5VDC supply to the relays and servos was good too. The inspection pit lighting still works as well.
 
I plugged in the Merg CANUSB4 module and fired up the laptop and ran the CBus module configuration program, FCU. Each of the CBus modules was put into FLiM mode by pressing and holding the button on the module. When FCU detected each module, a unique Node Number, and a suitable name was allocated to it. I could then configure the CANSERVO8 module to set the throw in each direction, and the speed (slow) for each servo. There are 7 points on this basboard, so there is one spare output. The CANACC8 modules that control the relays do not require configuration at the moment.
 
Next, I set up individual short events for each servo and each relay (or pair of relays) to assist with testing. These events were then 'taught' to the required modules, associating which output (servo or relay) should operate for each event. I could then send out each event onto the bus and the appropriate module would either move a servo, or activate a relay as required. Much to my surprise, every servo and every relay operated correctly in response to each event broadcast on the bus. The hours I had spent on carefully wiring up, and double-checking, appear to have paid off. I hope baseboard 2 goes equally well.
 
Next week, I will be testing the switching of power to the tracks by the relays (and looking for missing droppers from lengths of rail). I might even be able to run a locomotive at last. If all goes well, I will add some more cable ties to sort out the untidier bits of wiring. Then, attention will turn to baseboard 2, which is some way behind baseboard 1.
 

[nick_bastable]

good progress well done

 

Nick

[Western Star]

 I hope baseboard 2 goes equally well.

That is not likely, the PW engineers have clipped most of the turnouts in the diesel depot as the stretcher drives need a serious dose of looking and fiddling.

 

In case readers did not seen the embryonic Camford at our Show in March then come along to our Open Day on 21st October when there is a good chance of something running and a reasonable chance of four boards being joined for the first time.  As of now:-

 

Board 1 contains the DMU depot and the plain line viaduct approaches;

 

Board 2 contains the Diesel depot and the viaducts with crossovers between Main lines and between Slow lines;

 

Board 3 is... well boring, being a four track main line with a depot line climbing from the depths to the heights;

 

Board 4 has a connection from Down Slow to Platform Loop with the depot line connecting to the loop line.  There is also a connection from the loop into the Yard Reception line.

 

 

Last night was another night of pushing the boundary - the civils have been out and prepared the MDF formations for the four track section on B4 so the lines on B3 can now make the jump to B4 and head off for the sunny south west.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Western Star

[Western Star]

Just two evenings for the group this week...  no Friday working as the Secretary has organised a day out to a heritage railway.

 

Progress this week started with ripping up some of last week - need to move a turnout from B4 to B3 as not sufficient "length" on B4 to contain the two crossovers and turnout which form the ladder from the slow lines to the yard reception loop.  As well as having to insert a turnout into the down slow on B3 we have had to add extra formation across the B3-B4 join to accommodate the lengthened crossover.  So Monday was a full evening of standing still...  not quite as Robin has completed the hardwood board edges and MDf formation for the four track section to the end of B4.

 

And for this Wednesday evening... the up fast is now heading down B4 whilst the down fast is making progress towards the B3-B4 join.  Peter is beavering away with the legs for the boards, three of the five sets are extant and the boards are being modified to provide the "slide-in" facilities for those legs.  Quite why B2 is the board with two sets of legs is not known to me...  B1 and B3 / B4 have one set of legs each, B1 and B3 piggy-back on B2.

 

Can we get the up fast / down fast running end to end over four boards for the open day?  You are just going to have to come along and find out!

 

 

Postscript - my apologies to Ian for omitting to note his progress with the Sparks dept (and no, Peter has not relented to allow the inclusion of a token thrid rail).

Edited October 5, 2017 by Western Star

[Ian Morgan]

Monday evening also saw the completion of electrical testing on Baseboard 1, with a locomotive running on all the tracks in the TMD area. The trackwork needs some attention, including removal of lumps of solder where dropper wires were added, but it looks promising.

 

Baseboard 2 has all the Merg modules and relay modules fitted, but requires all the track droppers to be connected to the section relays, and the frog switches on the servo mounts. The servos need alignment and adjustment to operate the points correctly. Then the Merg modules need to be configured (servo end positions and speed) and taught the CBus events that they should respond to.

 

Baseboards 3 and 4 need the standard controller power connectors to be fitted, but these will be temporarily connected directly to the 4/5 tracks rather than through section relays that will eventually be installed. Any points will be purely decorative for the near future.

[Western Star]

Baseboards 3 and 4 need the standard controller power connectors to be fitted, but these will be temporarily connected directly to the 4/5 tracks rather than through section relays that will eventually be installed. Any points will be purely decorative for the near future.

Ian is correct in that any turnouts on B3 or B4 are likely to have the switches clamped or secured in some way - unlikely that the group is going to have enough time to fit TOUs and servos before the Open Day.

 

Are you coming to the show?  Please let us know.

[Western Star]

The day after another Monday evening working on Camford...  Peter, Ian, Robin and Michael present so much tea was drunk.

 

The fast lines on B3 have made their escape towards the withered arm and are now within reach of the western extremities of B4.  The up slow line on B3 is approaching the B3-B4 join at a reasonable pace and may reach the wilds of Camford station by the Open Day.  The down slow is sloth-like at this time for the re-location of the turnout to the loop line has meant some civil engineering on the formation across the board join.  Trackwork this time by Robin and myself with the eagle eye of Peter and / or Michael for approval of line and cant.

 

The legs for the boards are showing progress - there are now three sets of legs and "slots" for same on B1 and B2.  Unfortunately the wood fairy. known as PAR, has let us down and further materials are required to produce the two further sets of legs so that B3 ad B4 can be joined to B2 on the Open Day.

 

You are coming...  are you not?  Given that Camford is being built by modellers with interests in 2mmFS, "N" and S7 together with blue diesels / IOW steam and Edwardian GWR then we encourage all to come and talk to us about our work.

 

Graham (who is the Edwardian S7 chap).

[Western Star]

Camford has flat-bottom / concrete sleepers...  and flat-bottom / timber sleepers...  and bullhead / timber sleepers...  which is reasonable given the history of the lines in the area which is far to the west of Waterloo.

 

Now why do I mention the different types of PW?  Simples!

 

Discussions with 2mmFS folk outside of the BAG tell us that joining / aligning Easitrac is easier if the join is "spliced", that is the joints between rails are arranged to be staggered with respect to the sleepers of one Easitrac moulding.  After some trial and failures the BAG guys have sorted the technique and the majority of joins in plain line track are made now with the spliced (staggered ) arrangement of rails.

 

Anyone tried this idea where an Easitrac turnout with bullhead rail meets a plain line section that uses flat-bottom rail?

[Western Star]

Friday came, Friday went, Clive is ack and so coffee got drunk alongside the tea.  One section of Easitrac has demonstrated that the product can be thought of as "Really-difficult-to-use" track... one particular length was put down, taken up, put down, taken up....  six times before the judging panel held up their paddles. 3 nines and an eight.

 

In preparation of a visit by the Sparks Dept. we have started on the droppers and immediately found a problem.  The new practice of splicing a joint across a single Easitrac moulding means that trains run smoothly...  and finding the joints in the track is rather difficult hence deciding where to drill holes for the rail feeds is character building.

 

 

And so to Monday of this week - a full turnout of the group.  Ian continued with his hot spanner and Peter had to endure more jokes about legless baseboards.  Robin took over laying straight track panels so now the up slow line has caught up with the main lines.  Clive and I have taken to soldering droppers to rails above board and adding solder tags below boards.

 

Not long to the Open Day on 21st October, do come and see how close we get to the objective of trains running over the 16 feet of scenic sections.

[Western Star]

Almost a full house on Wednesday and hot spanners danced a duet as Ian and I soldered droppers and feeds, aided by Clive who managed the wire, the route and generally reviewed my mistakes.  Ian and Clive installed the final inter-board connectors and - suddenly - trains did run from end to end.

 

Yes, a Cl.158 has been seen running the length of boards 3 and 4!!!!!!   Both ways, up main and down main.  Target met.

Whilst the excitement was rising Peter continued with his chosen subject of "Legs in the style of Coley Park".

 

Odd to think that at a crawl a loco is going to take so long to get from one end of B1 to the far end of B4 that one can boil the kettle and make the tea.   Just how long is that loco going to take when we add in the station B5 to B8 and the flyover (B-1 to B-n...  good forward planning there, started the numbering in mid stream).

Edited October 26, 2017 by Western Star

[Ian Morgan]

Boards 3 and 4:

[Pete Thorpe]

Our club's Open Day saw running on all 4 boards for the first time, and on all 4 lines. The baseboard legs were finished around 9 this morning with the fitting of the last pair of adjustable feet, though it has become apparent after today that the design of some of the legs will need a bit of alteration.

 

There were a few niggles with occasional derailments due to the baseboards and points requiring a bit of adjustment, a short dead section of track on the Up Main line, and an anomoly in the control system appeared when running trains on the Down Slow and Up Main lines at the same time, but overall running was good.

 

Following Graham's comment regarding boiling kettles and making tea, we sent a train from one end to the other at a crawl and timed it at 2 minutes and 58 seconds, though I am sure we will be able to slow this down with practice!

 

Thanks to Robin, Clive, Graham and Ian for their time and effort over the last few weeks to get the layout to this stage in time for today.

Edited October 21, 2017 by Pete Thorpe

[Ian Morgan]

Some photos from today:

 

[jonas]

Wow. This is a bit special isn’t it?

[Western Star]

Wow. This is a bit special isn’t it?

Yes...  just wait for the rest.

 

One of the team has the master plan in his head and lets out the details a few feet at a time.  We have built four scenic boards and the current "plan" has another four boards for a station and some freight facilities - so that is 32 feet for B1 to B8 plus FYs.  After that there are rumours of another three or four boards (B-1 and going down) for a representation of Battledown and Worting with the Reading branchmoved along (currently about two miles east of Battledown) for company.

 

What gets forgotten is that for every foot of scenic section there needs to be another foot of FY or something else to join the two ends of the scenic portion for this layout is a round and round and round...

 

Never fear Exhibition Managers, the board levels and joints are being designed and built so that the FYs can be bolted to a number of the scenic parts...  for example FY to B4 as built so far...  FY to B6 to cover the station...  FY to B8 to cover the junctions at the west end of Camford.

 

Good to see so many people interested in this layout.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Western Star

[Ian Morgan]

On the electrical side, each baseboard has a controller bus (6 analogue controllers, so 12 wires), and a Merg CBus LCB running the length of the board with sockets at both ends.  Each baseboard has its own 12VDC power supply. The controller box can plug into any baseboard and control that board, plus any other boards 'daisy-chained' to it, so it will give us flexibility to operate a single board, or any adjacent boards, as required.

 

I am hoping the fiddle yard will be built next, so we can run properly with the current 16 feet of scenic layout, before we embark on the extensions. I am hoping I can create an auto-shuffle-up system to automagically move the trains up the fiddle yard so the operators can just drive the next available train through the scenic section. We shall see.