RMweb Gold Popular Post BoD Posted April 7, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 7, 2020 It has been a few days since I have posted but I haven't been idle. Quite the opposite. I am preparing for that task we all love to do - ballasting. Unlike the water it is something that I am comfortable with, albeit still not really looking forward to it. Does anyone? In preparation I have been doing: a) a final test and tweak of trackwork, particularly the hand built points. Running over one was a bit less smooth that I wanted but that has been fettled. b) preparing platforms to be fixed in place. c) building buffer stops. The buffer stops were white metal kits obtained from Lanarkshire models. They were easy to put together and IMHO are a good representation of the North British type. I was aiming for something like this..... but...... ...….. the shade of green is not quite right and for some reason, although mixed from matt paint went on with a semi gloss appearance. I think everything needs toning down a bit although the sunlight does over emphasise the colours which don't look as bad from 'normal viewing' distance. 14 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted April 7, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2020 Ah! Ballasting Bit of calming music. Mugadecaf or mugacaff. Bliss! Baz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 8, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2020 11 hours ago, Barry O said: Ah! Ballasting Bit of calming music. Mugadecaf or mugacaff. Bliss! Baz That’s very kind of you. I’ll supply the coffee. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted April 8, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 8, 2020 If it can wait till they let me out of isolation...its done!! Baz 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 8, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2020 10 hours ago, Barry O said: If it can wait till they let me out of isolation. I suppose now is as good a time as any for me to crack on with it. I agree that when the mood is right it can be quite therapeutic. But ...... as someone once very nearly said ‘It is a far, far greater ballasting I do now than I have ever done’. 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxokid Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 On 07/04/2020 at 17:57, BoD said: It has been a few days since I have posted but I haven't been idle. Quite the opposite. I am preparing for that task we all love to do - ballasting. Unlike the water it is something that I am comfortable with, albeit still not really looking forward to it. Does anyone? In preparation I have been doing: a) a final test and tweak of trackwork, particularly the hand built points. Running over one was a bit less smooth that I wanted but that has been fettled. b) preparing platforms to be fixed in place. c) building buffer stops. The buffer stops were white metal kits obtained from Lanarkshire models. They were easy to put together and IMHO are a good representation of the North British type. I was aiming for something like this..... but...... ...….. the shade of green is not quite right and for some reason, although mixed from matt paint went on with a semi gloss appearance. I think everything needs toning down a bit although the sunlight does over emphasise the colours which don't look as bad from 'normal viewing' distance. very nice weathering on these 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 9, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 9, 2020 Oh dear, a few rude words have just passed my lips. Why? I hear you ask. Well I'll tell you. When I built the fiddle yard I had not intended to put a branch line terminus in front of it. That was an afterthought to give a raison d'etre to the branch line and to add more 'play' value. However I have working signals in the fiddle yard They are not scale models but are there simply to indicate instructions to the 'train driver' when the layout is in semi automatic mode. They are controlled by a device called a Signallist module. It is the green circuit board seen on the far left in this earlier photograph. I went to finalise the position of the backscene and fix down the platform and station buildings and, well I think you can guess the rest. It's not a difficult job to relocate it, but with the cabling all cut to correct lengths and fixed with cable tidies underneath the baseboard it is a bit of a pain. Like I said ……. rude words. 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 10, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 10, 2020 It didn't take to long to reposition the thingymajiggy so on to another task. As you know the layout is set up to be computer controlled ….. ….. a click on the screen to change points set signals and away you go. However, I thought I would also do a physical mimic panel for the wall. Why? a) because I can and I like flashing lights and gizmos b) as an aide memoire if ever I am not using or can't use the computer for any reason. I can use the handset to change points/set signals and it is big enough to see the appropriate address number to change but also at a glance can see the way a point is set without wandering the length of the layout or when they are hidden. It works using bits of stuff from the DCC concepts alpha mimic range. They really are just plug and play. Changes made by handset or computer screen are shown on the other one and both are mirrored on the mimic panel. AS you can see the things still don't have a name and I am definitely from the bodge it and stick it school of carpentry. 6 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted April 11, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 11, 2020 BoD that looks very good. I might just have to go and build something like that for my layout. Baz 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Tell me more, Warren as an Alpha Mimic Panel is one of the things I’ve been looking at for ET, but I haven’t been able to find some really useful info on the web. My ECoS has it’s own control panel that works well, but I struggle to interpret the straight lines of their graphical diagram versus the curved trackwork of ET. I’ve grown up with panels that reflect the shape of the trackwork and relative positions of turnouts to each other. I had considered three panels as stand alone units. One each end of ET station and one for the shed. From memory as I’m not in front of the layout, there were around 24 turnouts each end of the station and approaches. The Alpha kits come in sets of 12 for around £50. I assume each kit only handles 12 turnouts from the electronics control side, so it’s not a question of adding separate led’s, but a second complete kit to handle 24. Can crossovers be wired into one position on the control pcb, or do they need two? That would make life a little easier as most of ET pointwork are crossovers. I like the way you have condensed all three areas of the layout into one box with three panels. It look like you took the green/red option for the led’s. I think I counted 24 turnouts on your layout and can see two 12 turnouts pcb’s, so that would suggest a crossover needs two controls, not one. My thoughts were to build three panels that can be plugged in to the system. The shed panel would be in the central position when operating on my own, but moved to the shed area for two or more operators. I will happily absorb any info you can pass on in terms of making, wiring and operating the mimic panel. Very happy to find someone who has built one...... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 11, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) Hello Gordon, I hope that you and yours are still well in these strange times. In answer to your main question about crossovers I didn't try wiring them into just one of the mimic's control circuits because I had enough circuits/outputs on the two boards. It would be possible to use just one circuit though. You can add additional LEDs to an output. Indeed DCC concepts sell a splitter or suggest physically splicing in extra LEDs providing that you take care over the polarity. Each circuit obviously has two outputs, one for the straight road on a turnout and one for the diverging one. In a crossover you could split the LED that goes to the straight road of one turnout and put the extra LED on the straight road on the other turnout. There wouldn't be any point adding a second LED to the crossover road, one would do. In this way one output indicates the road of both turnouts on the crossover. It would be just a case of getting the LEDs in the correct holes on your panel. As a golfer I am sure that you will be aware of the importance of going for the right hole. (Other analogies are available). I don't know how you have addressed your turnouts but if both operated from the same address you would have had to do that anyway. If they have separate addresses but the LEDs were operated from just one circuit on the mimic board they would indicate wrongly for the second turnout until you throw it. As we are talking about a crossover this isn't an issue as I assume you will be throwing the second one almost immediately. You would just have to make sure that the address of the second turnout was outside the range used by your alpha mimic boards. I hope that all makes sense. Other issues to be aware of: You have full control over how the panel looks making it more natural than just the topographically correct straight lines if you prefer that. I used the files available on DCC concepts website that give you the common signalling diagram symbols in publisher to create and print mine but if you could create your own however you choose. The LEDs supplied require holes of approx 6.5mm so the mimic will not necessarily be the compact thing that you see on some layouts. Not an issue for me because mine is going on a wall and I wanted to be able to read it from a distance. However, the supplied leads are 24cm long so the positioning of the boards needs some forethought although extensions (I have used two) are available or the leads can be spliced and extended. As far as I am aware the addressing is sequential 1-12 on first board 13-24 on second etc so you will have to give some thought to the addresses you use for your turnouts. I had to reprogram the accessory decoder that controls the branch line to follow on in sequence to the others. No big deal and as the addresses are mostly arbitrary anyway I don't know why I hadn't just followed on in the first place. The LEDs take power from the DCC bus and cannot take power from a separate supply. This may or may not influence your decision. The boards can daisy chain with a supplied lead so on mine it is, as they always say, just two wires in from the DCC bus. If there are any issues DCC concepts are very helpful either here or by phone. Good luck if you go that way and I bet your carpentry is several magnitudes neater than mine. Edited April 11, 2020 by BoD 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) Thanks Warren. I'm so glad I've found someone who is actually using one. I found a video on You Tube which had a Part 1, but the important stuff would have been on Part 2 and it appeared the guy never got round to Part 2...... Each crossover on ET is operated by one switch. The two Tortoise motors are wired in parallel and then the two wires go to the NCE Switch 8 decoder panel and then to the DCC bus. Once I'm finally happy all is OK, then I will wire a completely separate accessory bus, so I can still change turnouts even if the layout has shut down. It's not an issue right now as all shut downs have been a frog polarity issue, so I pull the train back first, turn down the controller, power back up and then set the turnout correctly. The problem will come when it isn't a turnout/frog issue. The plan on the ECoS is small and fiddly. It works perfectly, but I don't have the brain nor dexterity of the mobile phone generation, so will happily have each control panel the size of an A4 sheet or larger and it will follow the curves of the track, so visually it will look like the layout and not a schematic diagram. Needless to say I would have failed my application test for any signal box..... Having crossovers controlled by one switch saves considerably on the overall cost and may mean I can get away with three lots of 12 packs. That's still £150, but a £100 saving. Edited April 11, 2020 by gordon s 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 11, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) Having the two turnouts on one address means that you couldn’t have used two circuits on the mimic anyway, so just a case of splicing in however many extra LEDs you decide you need to show the routes. I suppose you could argue that using tortoises allows you to use LEDs switched by the tortoises themselves but the thought of the complexity and extra wiring needed made the cost a bit more bearable. Edited April 11, 2020 by BoD 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 11, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2020 Just an afterthought, and of no importance to the mimic boards, but how will you be throwing the turnouts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Pressing the switches on the Mimic panel?........ Are they illuminated led's switches or is the switch one item and the led for display purposes only. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 11, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) Ooops, I think you have misunderstood this Gordon. There are no switches on the Alpha Mimic panel. They are for route indication only. DCC Concepts do offer a switch panel too but they aren't cheap when you have lots of turnouts. I'm sure they would integrate into your ECoS system but I wouldn't know how. I change my points via the computer or DCC throttle/handset* and cherry picked the mimic part of their system as I simply wanted something to indicate the turnout/signal addresses and point position as I walked about the layout. If you thought the Alpha Mimic was an overall solution for both route indicating and route switching then you may need a rethink. *perhaps I hadn't made that clear in my original post. Edited April 11, 2020 by BoD 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) Ah, no wonder I was getting confused..... I was always under the impression that they were switches, either illuminated or with standalone led's. I will want to operate all turnouts via the mimic panel as using the ECoS is not that easy for the reasons I have given. The ECoS track plan can only be constructed in straight lines as it works on a grid. It's small and my eyesight is not 100% and lastly, my fingers need to push things properly, not tap away like a fairy with a wand...... Here's what I mean... ECoS... Reality.. Bear in mind the ECoS pic is nearly twice as big on my screen and the real track plan would be 50% bigger than the above pic on any mimic panel. The whole point of setting up a mimic panel was to get away from playing around on the handset. ET was originally set up as DCC locos, but with an analogue panel controlling the pointwork. What I want is the flexibility of DCC in terms of setting routes and signals etc, but operated by an analogue look alike panel which is actually digitally feeding into the sniffer port of my ECoS. Maybe I was getting confused with Megapoints as they seem to have a similar product. What put me off theirs was the non instantaneous response. You press a button and the leds flash for a second or two before staying on. I've just seen a couple of PM's from Mick, so I'll read those and digest... Edited April 11, 2020 by gordon s 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRDBLUE17 Posted April 12, 2020 Share Posted April 12, 2020 Hi Warren, Fantastic progress. Those buffer stops are instantly recognisable, but the weathering/colouring you have achieved is outstanding. Not only does the wood look so real but the rust and mossy growth is superb. I really like the big mimic panel along with your approach to adding in all your technical control. A couple of years ago at showcase Mick showed us his control panel using DCC concepts parts and at Glasgow he again spent a lot of time putting together and explaining all the parts I need to control my new fiddle yard. Our plan is to have a panel at each end of the fiddle yard which controls 6 roads, routes lit with LEDs and toggle switches. The accessory bus is completely separate with its own Alpha power supply. The points are powered with gaugemaster DCC fitted motors. Great to see you have used DCC concepts parts on yours All the best Mark 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 13, 2020 A good while ago I bought this from young Charlie Petty...... Shortly after that, Flangeway announced their model. I bought one and this was put into store. As I've got a bit of time on my hands this Easter I thought I would resurrect (see what I did there?) the project so that I would have a pair of them. I can but see how it turns out and if it sits well enough alongside the Flangeway one. Incidentally I also bought a Class 101 kit just before Hornby released their updated Lima version. I bought an Inspection Saloon kit just before …….. …….. well you get the picture. No the wonder Charlie is so rich. 5 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 18, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 18, 2020 More progress on the snow plough... The original casting had moulded handrails so off they came and holes were drilled and replacements made. The chassis was a simple two fold job then fix the bearings in place. There is a small etching tab there but these will be out of sight. Off to the paint shop...…. …. and handrails given a try out. There are few tweaks still to do but the two main remaining jobs are to somehow pick out the step surrounds in white and find and fit decals. The handrails aren't permanently fixed yet to facilitate this. Not perfect but its my first real shot at a kit and a spray job like this so I'm quite pleased with the result so far. 6 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 20, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 20, 2020 As mentioned above, this is the first time I have done something like this and I am wondering what to do to 'seal' it. I want to protect it but also to try and get rid of the paint on plastic/resin appearance that it inevitably has..... and should this be done before I lightly weather it? Any ideas folks? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Just seen this and thought of you. Just a shame we didn’t see it earlier..... 8’ x 2’. Just the job for your layout room wall..... 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted April 20, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 20, 2020 3 hours ago, gordon s said: Just seen this and thought of you. Just a shame we didn’t see it earlier..... 8’ x 2’. Just the job for your layout room wall..... Was that the estimate or the price it actually went for? Not bad for a sentimental lump of metal. i would have to move the mimic panel to fit it in. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 It says they are the realised prices from Oct 2019.....About £110 per foot...Bargain. Lots of interesting stuff. Made me want to seek out the next one..... https://gnrauctions.co.uk/october-5th-2019-auction-catalogue/ 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted April 20, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 20, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, BoD said: As mentioned above, this is the first time I have done something like this and I am wondering what to do to 'seal' it. I want to protect it but also to try and get rid of the paint on plastic/resin appearance that it inevitably has..... and should this be done before I lightly weather it? Any ideas folks? As it still requires decals (see Railtec - they do a few plough sets), then I would give it a light coat of gloss varnish to aid the decals. Once decalled, a light coat of satin varnish. Then weather. Having said that - what paint have you used? Mixing acrylics and enamels can be fraught. Cheers, Mick Edited April 20, 2020 by newbryford 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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