Long Marton, S&C

[peach james]

Dave, I've used the bell codes post 1960, as from http://www.signalbox.org/block/bells.shtml#Midland .  So, it "should" be 4-1 for a mineral, but I am aware that there were all kinds of both official and unoffical changes made to them.  Changing which bell code is sent for a train is relatively trivial   (I know where I hid them, and they are fairly easy to change if time consuming in RR&Co 5).  I'd like to see what you have though, because I know I don't have any notices related to the S&C signalboxes.  (I guess I should try and get a hold of them...but I tend to think that I am looking for rocking horse dung...if anyone with any 1955-1965 signaling notices for the S&C want to make copies, I'd love them !)

 

 

Michael, I am waiting for Digitrax to send me the replacement unit, for the one that arrived defective.  I'm not sure when it will arrive.  When it does, it will go into place, which shouldn't take too long as I had the previous one in & wired. 

 

I didn't try getting the trains back to the staging this morning, perhaps tonight because of time.  (I didn't want to end up with trains strewn about the basement and having to leave to get to work)

 

Now off to read the Lunester's Lounge,

 

James

[peach james]

So, tonights progress (?)  was quite simple:  1.  Move 2 sections of LM out from the wall.  2.  Realize that is going to make it hard to get the trains (metioned above) back to the staging yard.  3.  Hack off a bunch of styrofoam with the belt sander.  (it looks much better without the round mountains of expanding foam !) 4.  Move trains back to staging yard via splitting into 2 sections & a bit of playing like Meccano magazine would offer (train A has 25 wagons, train B 20, and only 15 wagon siding to pass them...)  5.  Move section #3, which includes the entire signalbox.  (good thing that I used Molex connectors, as 2 wire DCC this is NOT...), then move #2 and #1 sections around.  It's also like switching with 1 more space than wagon.  (a good inglenook).  I then went and painted 2 32" by 48" chunks of sky, after removing a bunch of nuts/bolts/screws ect off a shelf that needed to come down.   Last:  move the sections again, and stare and contemplate how much plaster is needed to get this bit done.  Also realize plaster is tucked behind the first section I moved !

 

I also stripped out some more vestiges of the DC wiring, the last of the 14/2 cable came out today.  I think it dates LM 2.0, based on the fact that it has red/green/white sheething on it.  So there's not much left from the previous versions of Long Marton in the basement now at all.

 

No parcels from Digitrax or Eurotrains today.

 

James

[beast66606]

Here we go James.

 

 

 

[peach james]

Dave,

 

I'm sure I tried to post before- thanks for taking the time to scan this  

 

OK- on other Long Marton news, just like every @!#!@# layout I have ever built, it has had another embarrasing performance for the club.  Not too shocking, as the laws of mechanical cussidness are in full effect.  I'm still waiting for the ds 64 to come back from Digitrax (it's in the post office's hands, somewhere between Florida and Victoria).  After spending several days cleaning all the track with IPA, and all the engine wheels, it was still dirt that mostly brought it down.  I need more time, but the fact that I had another meeting I had to attend last night (about a lego club issue) and Wensday was a powerless day due to windstorm...they lead to a quite disapointing performance. 

 

Next step:  work on the up track until the trains will reliably go around it.  Right now, about 1/2 of the time the black 5/5MT and 9 on come off the track somewhere.  There's a couple of spots, one of which I can see the wheels lifting up off the track.  (1st coach only...rear truck). 

 

Anyway, I think that little more will get done, depending on bad weather for the next few months.  It's about 8C outside, at 1730 hrs and the sun was nice.  (but the 3 year old's hands got cold after 30 min out or so)

 

James

[peach james]

So, not much has happened with Long Marton over the last few weeks months.  I've modified the one Class 28, so it now has 2 smoke units instead of one, and that's about the limits of what I have really done since BRMoV were here.  I've also been puttering with the Lego, and getting stuff, mostly electronics related bits.  In unrelated news, Andrea (my wife)'s dad passed away at the end of March, which of course resulted in a very strange month of April...lots of time with the two boys and no wife to look after them.  I've also been busy outside, with all the 1001 things which need to be done around the house.  (there's still the same number of things, but now they are different things !).  I just received a copy of "The Red Devil and other tales from the age of Steam" from Camden Books- there will go a few hours, as Dad wants some more blast nozzle design work from me.  (& JJG Koopman's book "The Fire Burns Brighter..." is unavailable)

 

The fun of scale work !

 

James

[Physicsman]

So, not much has happened with Long Marton over the last few weeks months.  I've modified the one Class 28, so it now has 2 smoke units instead of one, and that's about the limits of what I have really done since BRMoV were here.  I've also been puttering with the Lego, and getting stuff, mostly electronics related bits.  In unrelated news, Andrea (my wife)'s dad passed away at the end of March, which of course resulted in a very strange month of April...lots of time with the two boys and no wife to look after them.  I've also been busy outside, with all the 1001 things which need to be done around the house.  (there's still the same number of things, but now they are different things !).  I just received a copy of "The Red Devil and other tales from the age of Steam" from Camden Books- there will go a few hours, as Dad wants some more blast nozzle design work from me.  (& JJG Koopman's book "The Fire Burns Brighter..." is unavailable)

 

The fun of scale work !

 

James

 

Morning James.

 

Just remember - you model to suit yourself, so whatever fits in to your life is the way it has to be!

 

You mentioned those blasted class 28s again! I've spent a fair amount of money on steam locos of late - I really need to bite on the bullet and get the diesels.

 

Jeff

[peach james]

The small lad and I went downstairs last night, and I ran the 28's on a passenger train.  Now in need of wheel cleaning...but the clag from the recently refitted one is quite impressive !

 

(That's with a pair of #9 Seuthe smoke generators, running on ~12V DCC on the track, fed via relay rather than from the decoder)

 

James

[peach james]

Photos are up on Flickr:

 

DSC_0024 by Peach James, on Flickr

 

 

James

[Physicsman]

Just had a glance - the "small lad" seems very happy with what you are doing!

 

More steam locos on order - still no 28s.... will get there eventually!

 

Jeff

[peach james]

So, let's see where we are:  Currently, the plan is to work on the celing in the lego room, which means the lego tables and Long Marton's staging need to come down, in order to do the overhead work.  Which is fine, because 7 lego tables need replacing with deeper box (1x4 vs 1x2, or 25x100mm vs 25x50mm) sides to stiffen them up.  There also will be some more changes as to how exactly the tables are held onto the walls, I think, when I do this.  I'm debating doing all the length of the staging for Long Marton, as all the lego above is currently not there.  The 12' long lego bridge is sitting on the other staging for LM, and LM is covered with everything else.

 

I raided LM for 2 DCC power supplies in order to do the Victoria train show, and the club (BRMoV) layout is back in it's storage location in my basement.  (although, there is some movement there- Dylan, one of our other members, may take it off my hands...which would be great, as it has lived here for ~4 years).

 

To give some idea of what the Victoria Train Show looked like from my prospective:

 

Train show set up by Tedward, on Flickr

--

(that's me in the photo...the BRMoV layout is the one with the blue skyboard you can just see in the centre)

--

So, I have a bunch of reconstruction/reassembly before LM will work again.  But. that's fine.  Daniel (my older son) is back in school, and we are looking at preschool for our younger one.  I continue to teach Flood, and luckily was not involved in HMCS Protecteur's mis-adventure with HMCS Algonquin.  (I sailed on ALG from 96-99, then went to school, and moved over to PRO from 2002-2011)

 

James

Edited September 14, 2013 by peach james

[peach james]

OK, so where are we now?  A month later, and the basement looks like this:

 

 

 

And Long Marton looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

And I look like this...

 

 

 

 

 

---

The way I made buildings for Long Marton was to cut cardstock to the drawings as sized from "Rails in the Fells", and then lined with a bow pen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSC_0031 by Peach James, on Flickr

 

 

 

---

 

Next job is working on the celing above where the staging yard lives.  I have a "plan" for it.  10 lego tables are being replaced, along with the arrangements for how I support the staging in the middle sections.  This may necessitate a fair amount of adjustment of heights, I'm not sure.

 

 

James

Edited October 19, 2013 by peach james

[peach james]

Next in the work in progress photos:

 

 

 

 

 

So, what work had been done?  6 sheets of drywall (4'x8') went into the celing, and 6 "new" T8 6500k 32w fluorescent lights were put into that space.  It started with me needing to build replacement tables for the Lego, and has worked its way to this.  Next up is moving Trout Beck and Bridge 254 from the Long Marton side over into this side for storage, then I am going to put up another 3 sheets of drywall in the furnace room, which is where Trout Beck lives.  I'm not sure if I will add another set of lights over there or not...there are a fair # over there now, but changing them all to the same would be helpful from some ways.  T12 bulbs are becoming harder to get, and the ones that are in those fixtures have been there for 11 years (!)

 

James
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Physicsman]

Good to see plenty of activity, James.

 

I never appreciated quite how much Lego stuff you had until I saw those whole basement shots. I hope your kids realise how lucky they are....I'm jealous!

 

Jeff

[peach james]

DSC_0001 by Peach James, on Flickr

 

 

Trout Beck and Bridge 254 sitting vertical in the other side of the basement...now to get drywall tomorrow and do work in the other side...

 

James

[peach james]

2 1/2 sheets put up so far- about 1/2 of a sheet sitting on the sawhorses, awaiting for time to lift it up with the drywall lift.  I've got the drill sitting there, along with the screws...and the piece is cut to fit around the air fan.  (one fitted to pump hot/cold air from the basement to the upstairs...above the wood stove)

 

James

[peach james]

So, I fitted the last of the drywall above Long Marton, now the two chunks above are sitting on their side where they belong.  I have cut another 2 bits of wood for the support system about where they were sitting, next is to finish the next leg set.  It was chilly here last night, so at about 830 I quit, and went and messed around with a computer that is being balky.  (the one for the DCC control of Long Marton).  It needed a nuke and pave job, which it got...now it is short drivers to connect to my home network.

 

James

[peach james]

So, here I am, mid December, with a still not functional layout, 3 months before the club comes out...perhaps.  (I might not have them here on the 23rd of March, because I have a concert I am hosting on the 21st...)

 

The current state of play is about as follows:  Service through Long Marton is interrupted by 90% landslips covering Trout Beck and Bridge 254.

 

Service is expected to resume shortly.

 

The staging yard is back together:

 

 

 

 

 

The DCC wiring should all be back together, without having all the sections in place I can't test it right now.  Next thing is to lift the 2 sections back into place, then try running trains and see what happens.  If it all works (which it "should"), then it will be putting R&Co 5.0c back on the computer, and trying again with the computer controlling.  (then, bugsquashing...which is so much fun !) and getting the "up" set of programming done.  After that: lots of test running.  I am trying to build a new arch for the Lego as well:

 

DSC_0021 by Peach James, on Flickr

 

Which is now awaiting more parts.  I have to build the middle section for it (another 4' or so), which will be a hodge-podge of colour before I get more yellow.  The intent is for that bridge to span 16' across the room.  The Lego train setup is going back together slowly, it was the main driver of the major rebuild of tables so that they would not be banana shaped.

 

James

 

 

 

[peach james]

 

So, version 3.0 of the 16' span lego bridge works, and I have run a test train across it.  It has been split into the 3 sections as per design, and will await BL order arrival.  The intent is to have the track loose on the deck, rather than forming a layer of strength in the bridge.  I am not sure if the bridge is yet strong enough for a full train, that will await the parts arrival before I can do much else with it.

 

Long Marton is back together, and 50035 is coupled to a single MK1 SLP on the up direction.  There is a LOT of track cleaning required before I will have it all operational, not sure if that will happen before or after xmas, but it is happening slowly.  There were a couple of small niggly little faults- I had to change the relay power supply around to put + on the + side rather than the - side to make the LED work for track power indication.  Other than that, it went back together suprisingly well.  Next step is to go out for a snack, then come back and work on tidying up some of the lego used for building the bridge.  I didn't make a huge mess, but still, it needs a bit of a tidy.  I also want to put the last table into place, which I need to find the 22.5% angled bit for.  (it should be in the red container, by the other tables...)

 

James

 

 

 

[Andrew P]

Wow mate, this is the first time I've looked at Long Marton, it really is some project, The storage roads do look impressive. The Lego bridge is phenomenal and it will be interesting to see the trains run over that.

 

All the Best and have a Very Good Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Andy

[67A]

^{Hi James}

^{Thought I would have a look in to see what your up to and as Andy said 'WOW' What a project, don't know how you manage to split your interests, I find time is against me with a single project.}

 

^{Best wishes for 2014.}

[peach james]

 

and

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47105471@N05/11670664663/

 

 

 

That should be 2 movies of the Lego...to give some sort of an idea how much of a distraction it really is !  I find it hard to choose or focus on a single one of the hobbies that I am involved in- as well as Long Marton, there is also a pair of 3 1/2" gauge railway engines, and a 4" traction engine, as well as slowly progressing on what will be a 4 gauge (7 1/2", 4 3/4", 3 1/2" and 2 1/2") gauge ride on railway around the house, and we have really too much land for the care we give it.

 

I'm also a volunteer in my community- currently on the fire protection commission and a volunteer firefighter, as well as being a director (at large) for the community association, and dad to my two delightful (?) boys. 

Edited December 31, 2013 by peach james

[Andrew P]

Hi James, well that Lego is really something, no wonder LM take a back seat, although I would rather be doing LM from a purely personal point of view.

 

Great projects, great settings so how about some footage of the garden stuff or even another thread covering the garden and Traction Engine.

 

Happy New Year to you all.

 

Andy

[peach james]

Well, I ran the diesel around a few laps tonight, mostly on "fix the high spots" type mission.  This is all on the Up track, as the Down line is currently covered in most of the other stock for the layout.  I'm up to 9/10 cars from the 2130 sleeper.  The GUV keeps derailing, probably by lifting being at the front of the train and with big forces acting on it from both ends.  I took it apart and added about another oz of lead to it, and that didn't cure it's rising habit, so...next is fettling the coupling areas at both ends to ensure that the couplers are sliding smoothly.

 

James

[peach james]

In spite of fettling the plastic bits of the GUV, I'm no closer to it not derailing.  Plan F or Y or Z or AA7 or some is now to make a fixed coupler for the front of the car, rather than the Bachmann pivot style.  (it will rotate, but not slide in/out).

 

What fun we have with under scale sized curves, over scale speeds...

 

James

[peach james]

Ok, so, that kind of fixes the problem on that end of that GUV.  Now, plan G is to make the Grades less severe...especially the cross grades that are in places, well worse than what they should be.  I ended up with the laser level shining down the track to see where high spots are, it may not be level but at least it needs to be flat.

 

Lots of track work required.  Boo.

 

It means that the detection sections would likely (long) short out (under 10k ohms), so I haven't even tried with the computer.  I may just see if the version I have in the computer actually matches reality.  Before I get there, I have to put in the RR&Co code into it.  I think I know where the original is...

 

Hattons package arrived with DCC Concepts lights in it.  Not sure when I will get to install the other 3 lamp posts, or the lights for the sides of the buildings.

 

(eventually, I am sure)

 

James