keefr2 Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 That's terrific Randall! I never would have thought watching coal being poured into a wagon could be so fascinating!! And that might be a problem if you make the TV visible to the punters at exhibitions - they could spend more time watching the wagons being loaded than looking at your lovely little layout... !!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grid56104 Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 Randall - my next layout will hopefully have a rapid loader which will allow me to fill wagons as they are drawn underneath - this allows me to run rail blue, trainload coal or freightliner but I have been debating what I will use as coal. given this layout, can I ask what you have used? thanks - Max Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 .....is it just standard plasticard that you've used to build the shoot and how did you end up mounting the vibrating motor to the assembly? How are you controlling the flow btw, during the loading process? ..... I presume the bridge and buildings are built from the Slaters brick/stone sheets you referred to? ..... Nice weathering on the wagons too. Well done. Hi Rich... Thanks for the kind words. Phew, thats a lot of questions First off, have you seen the origins of the "Microlayout in O Gauge" on the earlier version of RMWeb? That'll provide answers in more detail with photographs. http://www.rmweb.co....php?f=9&t=25704 The chutes were indeed constructed of Plastikard, and the supporting structures were built out of Plastruct girders. The idea for the vibrator motor came about after I realised that the natural phenomenon called "stiction" - (static friction, I believe) was restricting the flow of the 'coal' down the tubes. It needed a poke to get it flowing... I bandied the idea of using a bad motor that had a natural tendency to oscillate, but Stubby47 (Stu Hilton) came up with the phenomenal idea of using the vibrator motor from a mobile phone - it has a cast half wheel that provides the oscillation. It's also mounted in a rubber sleeve, and if I remember correctly, it's just secured in place with a plastikard surround in a nook between the hoppers. The original idea to control the flow of the coal was to use a small nut held in place in the downtube using a magnet. This would cause the coal to back up behind, and when the magnet is removed, the nut would drop into the wagon, and the coal would follow. However,I've found that as long as the wagon is in place beneath when the hoppers are filled, it's not necessary to have anything more complicated, as the video shows. I may need to revisit that area depending on how it all works in the heat of the moment - there is scope to make some changes if necessary. Once again, several members put up ideas that are detailed on the old site. The buildings are, as you've spotted, Slaters 7mm Plastikard, but the stone walls are Wills 4mm Coarse Stone - ideal for 7mm scale IMHO. The Peco 16ton mineral is weathered using the techniques described by (the master) Martyn Welch in his book on the subject. I'm really pleased with that one, although please don't ask me to show you the opposite side, as it's still unfinished five years later (typical of me). The Parkside 20ton mineral is just dry-brush painted and badly in need of the above treatment. I urgently need to think about weathering the loco too….. Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 ... they could spend more time watching the wagons being loaded than looking at your lovely little layout... !!! Hi Keith... I've thought about that one....it's called the OFF button - it worked a treat when the kids were small.... It is rather fun watching the wagon fill on the telly...especially as it was all hidden away before. It adds a new dimension. Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 Randall - my next layout will hopefully have a rapid loader which will allow me to fill wagons as they are drawn underneath - this allows me to run rail blue, trainload coal or freightliner but I have been debating what I will use as coal. given this layout, can I ask what you have used? thanks - Max Hi Max... You've had me scratching my swede on this one... The difficulty is that the 'coal' behaves differently in small scales. It doesn't have the mass of the real stuff and it jumps all over the place. However, there might be a solution. (I presume this will be in 4mm?) If your rapid loader is inside an enclosed area (ie hidden from view) you might just be able to (carefully) dump a load from the hopper and as long as your trackbase is cut away inside the rapid loader, any excess would fall through into a box underneath. I use Woodland Scenics Cinders (coarse and medium mixed). You may need to experiment. Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Painted galena (lead sulfide) may behave more like coal - heavy. However baseboard and wagon strengthening may be required Cassiterite (tin oxide) is lighter and the right colour-ish but is **** expensive. Also quite heavy. Have to think what other minerals may be of use. Iron or copper based ores no good because of oxidation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grid56104 Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Hi Max... You've had me scratching my swede on this one... The difficulty is that the 'coal' behaves differently in small scales. It doesn't have the mass of the real stuff and it jumps all over the place. However, there might be a solution. (I presume this will be in 4mm?) If your rapid loader is inside an enclosed area (ie hidden from view) you might just be able to (carefully) dump a load from the hopper and as long as your trackbase is cut away inside the rapid loader, any excess would fall through into a box underneath. I use Woodland Scenics Cinders (coarse and medium mixed). You may need to experiment. Randall Randall - thanks for above. It will be OO gauge. I have already mocked up in card what I want to do with the tower - I will try and post some pics soon once I have set up the 'layout topic' post for this layout. Yes it will be 'chutted' from the backscene and through the tower into the wagons. The tower will be like those at Renstrie and formerly at Knockshinnoch or Blindwells so you wil only see beneath the loading part ie where the wagons run through, from the ends of the tower and that will be quite close to the backscene. I had already decided to use the Peco shed inspection pits (but cutting away the bottoms of same) and also cutting out the boards either side of the track to collect the 'waste coal' that doesn't fall into the wagons into a container to re-cycle - your thoughts on this were the same as mine. The height of the tower means that whatever falls into the wagons does have a high possibility of bouncing out as the wagon gets full so I have to collect the excess - my card experimnet has clearly showed this. I have tried black fish tank stones (as coal) for my card tower experiment but the problem is their overall weight particularly if a locomotive then has to pull 16 wagons or so full of them away from a standing start and I want the layout (which will use open frame construction) to have some rise and fall in the track level. I will investigate the Woodland Scenics Cinders you refer too. They will probably be lighter. thanks - Max Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted July 27, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2010 Another idea for coal - although I stress this has not been tried - is the black stones used inside water filters. They look about the right size for OO minerals, but not sure how they move when tipped. Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 ....Painted galena (lead sulfide) may behave more like coal - heavy. Hi John.... I'd be interested in experimenting with Galena. How would one go about obtaining the mineral? (A quick web-search only brings up collectors specimens) Would it be an easy matter to reduce it in size to 7mm scale coal-sized lumps? Having lead as a constituent, would special handling precautions be needed? Could Stubby47 pop along to his local Cornish mine and grab me a sample? Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 Hi again.... As promised, this image shows the camera on it's mounting, which is a sawn-off part of a drawer runner that has an ideal slot that holds the camera snugly in place. The cables will exit through a hole I've yet to cut. The plywood back will also have an access hole cut into it, with a vertical sliding door to prevent the stock from overrunning and crashing to the floor. Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Road Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Hi Randall, Phew, thats a lot of questions Oops! Sorry about that! First off, have you seen the origins of the "Microlayout in O Gauge" on the earlier version of RMWeb? That'll provide answers in more detail with photographs. http://www.rmweb.co....php?f=9&t=25704 Ah i'd missed that - wasn't a part of RMweb in the old days - i'll go look! The original idea to control the flow of the coal was to use a small nut held in place in the downtube using a magnet. This would cause the coal to back up behind, and when the magnet is removed, the nut would drop into the wagon, and the coal would follow. However,I've found that as long as the wagon is in place beneath when the hoppers are filled, it's not necessary to have anything more complicated, as the video shows. Interesting thought! I'd assumed you'd got some kind of flap to control the start and stop of the coal! The buildings are, as you've spotted, Slaters 7mm Plastikard, but the stone walls are Wills 4mm Coarse Stone - ideal for 7mm scale IMHO. Thanks for that. Very comprehensive answers - thanks for the time. Its makes the model even more remarkable when you hear the background to it! Thanks. Rich Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Hi John.... I'd be interested in experimenting with Galena. How would one go about obtaining the mineral? (A quick web-search only brings up collectors specimens) Would it be an easy matter to reduce it in size to 7mm scale coal-sized lumps? Having lead as a constituent, would special handling precautions be needed? Could Stubby47 pop along to his local Cornish mine and grab me a sample? Randall Galena - Derbyshire or Mendip. The only way of getting enough would be to go into the field and collect as I have done in the past for geological purposes, but you have to know where to go and strike lucky. However a O gauge wagonload is going to be about 2-3 lb. Thinking about it that's an awful lot. Hammering it down would be relatively easy. I order to get the movement right to scale you have to have the mass. However getting that density without using heavy metals is going to be difficult. Maybe it's another use for spent Uranium Oxide Putting all this impracticable stuff aside I think your best (only?) bet for the correct movement would be black gravel. However getting it to the right size/shape for coal would be a challenge. I'll think some more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 Hi again... Another plug for the NRM competition (Set #5) I've got no chance....I've just bumped Maenol Mine up from PAGE 13 Good luck to all RMWebber entries... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted November 3, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 3, 2010 Randall, it's a shame it's only a photo comp - with your videos you'd be bound to win! Best of luck Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 Thanks Stu... (the link for the video was corrupt, so I've reset it) Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Congrats on your layout's starring appearance on Carl Arendt's Micro-layouts Site for December!! I like the photo bottom right of your visit to the 'real' place !!! :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted December 3, 2010 Author Share Posted December 3, 2010 Congrats on your layout's starring appearance on Carl Arendt's Micro-layouts Site for December!! I like the photo bottom right of your visit to the 'real' place !!! :D Thanks Jordan... Proud to be part of the International Layout collection in the Season of Goodwill. Wonder if I can lay claim to gaining a "Cap" for Wales? Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyWales Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Hi again... Topic bumped as promised to "Naturol" at the Swansea exhibition today. Earlier Maenol postings from the old forum: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25704 Randall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1722 Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Perhaps I'm resurrecting this from the depths but, whilst researching a coal based box file, I've just had an enjoyable 40 minutes reading the thread from first to last. What became Maenol Mine? (great name by the way!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 6 hours ago, ModellerChris said: Perhaps I'm resurrecting this from the depths but, whilst researching a coal based box file, I've just had an enjoyable 40 minutes reading the thread from first to last. What became Maenol Mine? (great name by the way!) Chris - thanks for resurrecting this layout, I have just had an enjoyable read though too. I do remember it from years ago (and also from an appearance in the the small layout scrapbook on the micro layouts website iirc) but it shows what can be done in a small space in 7mm scale. Cracking modelling and a great layout. Hopefully it is still in alive and kicking! PS - hard to believe this dates from 9 years ago...... my own lack of progress in developing a layout over that time has been shocking..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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