RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted September 10, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 10, 2020 One of the other 3rd rail modellers on here built a substation, but I can't remember which one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted September 10, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 10, 2020 16 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said: One of the other 3rd rail modellers on here built a substation, but I can't remember which one. West Sands by GEEP 7. Try page 20 for a first look, but plenty of discussions earlier. Paul. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 44 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said: One of the other 3rd rail modellers on here built a substation, but I can't remember which one. 27 minutes ago, 5BarVT said: West Sands by GEEP 7. Try page 20 for a first look, but plenty of discussions earlier. Paul. Hi, Yes, I have seen that and it looks fantastic, although having looked at the one at Fareham, it looks very much like the Bachmann Scenecraft version: So I might go with modifying one or two of those structures. Regards, Simon 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold kipford Posted September 12, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 12, 2020 Simon Buy yourself an Anycubic Photon or similar 3D printer and print your own point motors etc. You can get them sub £200 now. The quality of the prints is almost as good as a shapeways product. I have one and over the summer have for my son and various club members printed in 4 mm scale 200 various types of loco lamps. 150 milk churns, Numerous fence posts, Ships propellors, 20 40ft waste containers, all done with £37 of resin. Currently with a new bottle of resin I am printing 50 GWR battery boxes and getting ready to print a couple of GWR Manor boilers. Photo below is of a boiler for my LNWR shunting engine. These cost about £50 each from shapeways. So 4 of them covers the cost of the printer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 On 12/09/2020 at 23:16, kipford said: Simon Buy yourself an Anycubic Photon or similar 3D printer and print your own point motors etc. You can get them sub £200 now. The quality of the prints is almost as good as a shapeways product. I have one and over the summer have for my son and various club members printed in 4 mm scale 200 various types of loco lamps. 150 milk churns, Numerous fence posts, Ships propellors, 20 40ft waste containers, all done with £37 of resin. Currently with a new bottle of resin I am printing 50 GWR battery boxes and getting ready to print a couple of GWR Manor boilers. Photo below is of a boiler for my LNWR shunting engine. These cost about £50 each from shapeways. So 4 of them covers the cost of the printer! Hi, That was my intention initially, in fact I almost got to the point of paying for it, but I realised that I don’t have a suitable location in the flat to operate it safely, so I haven’t yet. I’ve got a couple of quotes from companies, so I’m weighing up the options. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 (edited) Hi, Over the last week or so, I've been trying to build Collingwood's Station Builidngs, however, I remembered why I much prefer kit building, I simply can't cut bare plastic straight or square! Last night I used a template from Scale Model Scenery, along with a square and a steel rule, to cut out the first two windows from the first wall, but they ended up not straight, not square, and nowhere near the size they should be. So, I'm going to have to try a different approach. Ideally a kit which is close enough to the below so that I can build / modify it would be great: However, I can't find anything like it from any manufacturers. I don't need all of it, just the main grey building and the first couple of brick buildings would do, however, the only kits for a single story building are all Great Western, Stone. or Wood Cladding. I don't mind if it is plastic or laser cut, just something close would do. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! In better news, the first signals, CD810, CD812 and CD814 have been ordered from Absolute Aspects, but I'm expecting these around Christmas as Matt has quite a work load on! I've also, as mentioned above, got some quotes for 3D Printing all the Lineside details I need, so hopefully that will be here fairly soon! Finally, I have constructed the Cable troughing from Scale Model Scenery, as well as Catch Pits. So far I have installed the Catch Pits, but I'm going to go and get some spray paint today to paint the cable troughing a suitable concrete colour and then install that. Simon Edited March 31, 2022 by St. Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium njee20 Posted September 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2020 Plenty of people running Photons et al next to an open window! I'd personally get something from the Elegoo Mars family (I have both); either the bog standard Mars @ £190 or the new Mars 2 Pro at £275. Happy to run off a few prints for you if that would help; certainly be cheaper than Shapeways! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusDriverMan Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 (edited) This is just to say you're building my dream layout here - 3rd rail with fully prototypical signalling…! I'm actually devastated that you've had so much success with JMRI as you expertly documented in the other thread. It confounds me, so I was convinced I'd need to write my own system running on a Raspberry Pi and a network of Arduinos (or Atmel microcontrollers with Arduino firmware) to achieve a layout with working signalling controlled by a route-setting panel. But now I know JMRI is definitely a viable option Edited September 16, 2020 by BusDriverMan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 3 hours ago, BusDriverMan said: This is just to say you're building my dream layout here - 3rd rail with fully prototypical signalling…! I'm actually devastated that you've had so much success with JMRI as you expertly documented in the other thread. It confounds me, so I was convinced I'd need to write my own system running on a Raspberry Pi and a network of Arduinos (or Atmel microcontrollers with Arduino firmware) to achieve a layout with working signalling controlled by a route-setting panel. But now I know JMRI is definitely a viable option Hi, Thank you, nice to hear I'm not the only one who is interested in the subject! I wouldn't say that what I'm doing is 'fully prototypical', for reasons that I explained in the IECC thread, but I think it is the practically the closest thing you can achieve realistically without buying an actual interlocking. You don't have to write your owns software, as long off the shelf software can take physical inputs, perform [or] and [and] logic on them and then switch physical outputs (which JMRI can do), you can make it operate like an interlocking, However, there are a few things I have learnt from doing all the signalling which I can pass on to anyone hoping to replicate prototypical signalling as there's a difference between a prototypically signalled layout and a layout with a prototypical signalling system and making the former into the latter is not as easy as you think! You can't just build an NX panel (or any route setting panel) that simulates the operation of an NX Panel you've got to build a panel that replicates the operation of an NX Panel - There is some really quite complex logic behind the operation of the an NX Panel, and, whilst it may see overkill for a model railway, if you don't replicate that logic, you will find that your panel won't always work like the prototype, particularly when you don't always do things in the order that is intended. You can't just build the NX Panel and stop there, you need to build the interlocking behind it as well - Again, seems overkill, but it is the best way to ensure the prototypical operation of the signalling system, and prevent damage to stock though preventing collisions (just like the real thing). I've been lucky in that I have access to the typical circuits for a route relay interlocking, and this is where most people will fall down, typical interlocking circuits are not publically available, and certainly shouldn't be. Don't try and build a physical interlocking (i.e. out of actual relays) - It simply is not practical unless you are a real railway, after all, there is a reason that we build large interlocking rooms and spend lots of money when we build signalling systems in real-life. Use a computer (or micro-processor), to carry out your interlocking logic Don't try and build a physical panel unless it is for a very simple layout or you have a decent amount of space - The NX Panel for Collingwood was going to be over a metre long, anything small and it would have been far too difficult to build. Don't apply the signalling system to the whole layout - In theory, there is no reason as to why the signalling can't be used on the whole layout, but using it for none-scenic areas, such as a fiddle yard, isn't really needed, and just makes it more complex and expensive. Simon 4 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted September 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 16, 2020 Hi Simon, Agree with all of that from both a modelling and professional viewpoint. You’ve been taught well by those folk in Reading . . . :-) Paul. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusDriverMan Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 I've thought about making an experimental miniaturised NX panel, either standalone (with probably Arduino-based interlocking, TD berth control, and train simulation) or interfaced with SimSig. Probably using pushbuttons and a "CANCEL" Shift key rather than push-pull switches because cost / availability. I'm thinking of a design based on ~25mm square tiles, probably cosmetic rather than actually modular, using 64x32 OLED screens for berths and possibly addressable RGB LED strips for the route lights. Gratified the relevant Railway Group Guidance Note gives provision to have the first route light to flash white instead of strictly requiring the routesetting switch to flash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 19 minutes ago, BusDriverMan said: Gratified the relevant Railway Group Guidance Note gives provision to have the first route light to flash white instead of strictly requiring the routesetting switch to flash! Yes, the key is in the title: Guidance ;) I've changed a few symbols on my panel from the standards to make it look nicer! In terms of route lights flashing, I know that at Western Panels flash the first route light as a reminder for the signalling to cancel the route. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 (edited) Hi, I apologies for the lack of updates, it’s not for lack of progress you’ll be pleased to know, it’s just that I have started lots of jobs in the middle of the last one, and as I want to show finished work, it has meant a long time between updates. Just to recap, the last update saw the track down, rail’s painted and platform edging laid, along with waiting for some 3D Prints, and a Station Building Builder. Well, here is the state of play now: To start you can see that all the mainline track has been ballasted, using Woodland Scenics Fine Grey Ballast fixed with the standard water glue mixture. This is actually the first time I have used this method for all ballast, I normally use neat glue for the cess & water/glue for the four foot, and I’ve got to admit that this is probably the best ballasting job I’ve done, so I’m pretty pleased with it! I have tested the track / points and apart from a couple of sticky points, everything still works, which is even more of a result. Along with the ballasting, I’ve fitted and painted all the 3rd Rail as well, using a couple of NR standards on the design of Conductor Rail to make sure I fit it correctly around the S&C. To enable the ballasting, I’ve had to fit all the track side detailing. In the last update I said I was awaiting quotes for 3D Printing of these components. In the end I went with a company called ‘3D Printing Corner’, the prices were much better than Shapeways and the turnaround was very quick, and the guys were very helpful and friendly. In the above image you can see most of the details that I had printed, as well as some other details. The major components you can see are the 3rd Rail Isolation Switches (in the centre) and Location Cases at the rear of the image. I’m most pleased with the Isolation Switches, mostly as I managed to pick out the cover handle and screen in different colours without messing it up! The Location Cases were slightly trickier in painting as it took me a very long time to find a colour that matched. In the end I tried four different sprays that got gradually lighter, finishing with Plastikote ‘Dover Grey’ Furniture spray, although this is technically got a ‘Chalk’ finish, it doesn’t show on such small components (relatively). The other 3D printed details you can see are the Point Clip Enclosures (the yellow boxes next to the Isolation Switches), the Cosmetic HW2000 Point Motors (which do show the PECO versions are really over scale!), BR Standard Impedance Bonds (in the four foot on the centre track at the Point Toes) and Point Heating Transformers (The small sliver boxes between the two sets of Location Cases). You can also see a few Dis Boxes sticking out of the ballast, these are made out of plastic section, and the Scale Model Scenery Cable Troughing and Catch Pits, as well the Orange Cable Piping between Sleepers. I have also added the AWS Magnets (unfortunately out of shot), again 3D Printed, as well as TPWS Loops for signal. Two things I have added which I have never seen modelled before are Selective Door Opening Beacons. Fareham is fitted with Tracklink III® Beacons for use by the Class 450 fleet, and as I’m sort of the Design Authority for the Western & Wales Region for Tracklink III® Beacons (it’s more by default as I’m the only designer who knows about the equipment in the region as I designed all the installations for the Class 387 Fleet), I just had to model these. Tracklink III® Beacons are actually quite short strips of plastic that contain an RFID Tag, but I have modelled them by using spare PECO TPWS Loop Mounts glued to the sleeper and painted yellow (the first picture is the real thing): I have also modelled Tracklink II® Beacons primarily used by the Southern Class 37x fleets. These are very different from the Tracklink III® Beacons in that they consist of, basically, a large TPWS Loop structure and require a Location Case to house the equipment. In reality Fareham does not have these fitted, but I think this is most likely because that all the Southern services through Fareham fit within all the platforms and therefore don’t require SDO Operation. On Collingwood, if I run Southern Services longer than 4 coaches, they would require SDO and as the Platforms are of different lengths, Tracklink II® Beacons would be required, so I have fitted them (they are the long yellow TPWS Loops you can see in above image). The only part of the layout that hasn’t been ballasted is the stone terminal. This is because I am planning on making the track look as though it is buried in sand and stone that seems to be so common around these terminals. I’m currently testing the ‘Chris Nevard’ method of achieving this effect via DAS Clay on a test piece of track and once I have perfected the technique, I’ll apply it onto the layout. However, in the meantime, I have made more details for the terminal. First of all is that I have laid the edging for a short (as in height, not length) platform for the diggers that unload stone trains, for this I have used PECO ‘N’ Gauge Concrete Platform Edging. I have also built some stone ‘bins’ (on the left above) that will contain mounds of different grades of stone. These won’t be stuck down until I have completed ballasting of the terminal. The big change that you’ll notice is that I have made up the Conveyor Belt for the unloading pit. I had originally planned on modifying a kit for this, but there wasn’t a kit that is small enough without only being suitable for a small farm. So, instead I scratch-built one out of plastic section, it isn’t quite finished as I have some additional details, but it is 95% complete, but not stuck down yet. I had also originally planned to save space by pretending there was some form of vertical conveyor to take material from the bottom of the pit to the surface and hide it in a small shelter. However, I found that my scratch-built conveyor is short enough that I could model a diagonal conveyor right from the bottom of the pit, so I have cut another hole in the baseboard and built the extra conveyor pit, I plan to leave all of these open to view with some lighting inside and then cover it with a mesh. Moving towards the Station, I have now got the signalling centre compound started: As a reminder, this scene depicts that a temporary Signalling Centre has been constructed at Collingwood as part of a wider re-lock / re-control project in the area. The ‘scenario’ is that Eastleigh Area Signalling Centre is in need of emergency replacement, but Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre is not ready for the additional workstations, so Collingwood IECC was constructed to ‘plug the gap’. I have finally managed to install the lighting in both the Interlocking and Control Building so that I could fit the roofs, drill holes in the baseboard for the lights and start the compound. I still have to glue the buildings down (not sure when I will do that), complete a second pass with the buff ballast around the interlocking building to act as shingle, and mark out parking bays etc in the car park. I will also add some tall ‘yard’ lights to light up the compound. The station itself has now got its surface, the coping and tactile paving is laser cut from Scale Model Scenery with the rest made from card and painted with Woodlands Scenics ‘Asphalt’ paint. This isn’t the final colour, as I plan to make the tarmac look more weathered, which I have started to test on the disused section of platform: I think it looks alright, although I will use a light grey rather than white for the main platforms, but would like others views on it. Once I have done this, I can paint on the yellow line and then I can get onto my favourite bit, detailing the platforms with people, seats etc. I’ve brought a couple of packs of modern lights from Gaugemaster, these are more expensive than lights from Layouts 4U or Kytes, but are much higher quality. As you can see, only the Island Platform has its full surface, but the Portsmouth Platform is missing most its structure. This is in connection with the construction of station building. I’m very very lucky in that Kernow’s Development Manager, @Graham Muz (also a very good friend and part of my operating team), has agreed to construct the Station Building as a massive favour, which has helped me immensely and from what I have seen, Collingwood will have fantastic station building. As part its construction, Muz and I have agreed that the station building will be built on a base which will incorporate the platform and station forecourt, which is why nothing has happened on this little bit so far. Thanks once again Muz! Whilst we are in the station area, you can see I have fitted the Accurascale Rawie Buffer Stops to both the Bay Platform and Headshunt. Whilst I highly support the decision to manufacture these, I have a couple of comments on them. First of all is that they are quite fiddly to fit, and I actually ended up breaking one lit version and three normal versions (luckily, through a complex series of events, I have lots of spares I didn’t intend to). The second comment, which admitted only applies to a limited set of people, is that the power for the LED on the lit version is taken from the track via springs underneath, however, this has the effect that it draws a current through the Train Detection and causes the Bay Platform to show ‘occupied’. Therefore, I need to modify it to take the standard 12v feed which I had originally intended. You might have spotted a new building has appeared behind the station. After I changed the plan to shrink the NR Delivery Unit and move to the rear of the station, I needed to get a building to replicate this one at Fareham: For this, I opted for the Bachmann Pre-Fab Concrete Office Building which is a very close fit: Into this, again I have fitted an interior made from Faller, Preiser and Noch details to resemble an office along with a mess area with kitchen and lockers. The wires you can see is for the lighting so that you can actually see the interior: One last change which you should have noticed is the lighting rig, this is actually the rig from Norwood Road which has been temporary modified so that I have the correct lighting for doing the scenic work. For those that are interested, the lighting is ‘Daylight’ White LED Lighting from ‘Simple Lighting’. On the fleet front, not much has changed, the only new item to appear is the Hornby Network Mk1 Generator Van. I had originally ordered the Bachmann version, but once the Hornby one actually appeared, I couldn’t ignore the price difference since the quality of the model was quite good. Things are going to change in the near future because of Hattons’ decision to cancel their 12t P&T Crane, I have decided to cancel my pre-order for them and use the money to get another of their FEA Track Panel Carriers and an RHTT (although I’m not sure how much use that will get as I don’t want be yet another modern image layout to feature one constantly, but I found out I could get one at a very good price). There will be one very strange addition to the fleet as I may have ordered the named original Hush Hush! Finally, I couldn’t resist getting a couple trains out to take a photo from my current favourite photography location, just to give a feel for the finished layout: Apologies that it was such a long update, but quite a lot of has been done! Simon Edited March 31, 2022 by St. Simon 12 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 2, 2020 22 minutes ago, St. Simon said: it draws a current through the Train Detection and causes the Bay Platform to show ‘occupied’. Therefore, I need to modify it to take the standard 12v feed which I had originally intended. No you don’t, you just need to apply your big railway knowledge (almost). :-) Buffer stops need to be isolated from the rails to stop them dropping the track. The ‘almost’ is that you then need to connect beyond the IRJ to the bus to give it power. (Or use 12V as you said in the first place!) Well Done with the update, all coming on nicely. Paul. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 21 minutes ago, 5BarVT said: No you don’t, you just need to apply your big railway knowledge (almost). :-) Buffer stops need to be isolated from the rails to stop them dropping the track. The ‘almost’ is that you then need to connect beyond the IRJ to the bus to give it power. (Or use 12V as you said in the first place!) Well Done with the update, all coming on nicely. Paul. Hi Paul, Yes, you are quite right, however I didn’t know that the Accurascale Buffers were like that, otherwise I would have probably fed like it you suggest Simom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post St. Simon Posted December 14, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 14, 2020 Hi, Again, it’s been a bit of a while since the last update and again work has still been taking place! As can be seen above, 90% of the scenery has been completed, as well as the wiring of the lighting. The first thing I did after the last update was to ‘weather’ the island platform and add details. I used the same method as I tested in the last update, although I just used three shades of grey rather than using white for one of the colours. Once I had finished that, I added self-adhesive yellow lines from Scale Model Scenery and then sealed them using matt varnish: (It does look a lot better when viewed from the audience side) Once I completed the surface, I could start adding some detailing, and for the first time, Collingwood bears its own name: The name boards are PECO / Modelscene standard models, whilst the graphics are custom from Sankey Scenics. Beneath them are from 3D Printing corner and are really nice little models. I’ve also added Anti-Trespass guards from Scale Model Scenery and end fencing from Bachmann (as they are only type I can found which are short enough). I’ve also added a 3D Printed Poster Hoarding that I had left over from Norwood Road, but I haven’t been able to get some photo paper onto which to print any advertising posters, so no photo of that just yet. I haven’t finished the detailing as I’m going to wait until not only the station buildings are finished, but the whole layout is finished, otherwise I’ll forget to add some details somewhere, so it will be easier to do it all in one go! The next thing to do was to fix the footbridge down, but before I did that, I wanted to make one change to it. I had never been comfortable with the all over grey of the lift towers, so I decided add some brick work to the lower portion of the towers, as well as paint the lift doors and cover the corner seams with plastic angle: They look much better now, but we will ignore the fact that they are quite close to the edge of the platform! Moving to the rear of the layout, I’ve now fixed down the Network Rail building and added the scenic around it: The road is fine dark brown ballast, but will have a static grass ‘centre’ and some weathering added to make it more like a dirt road. The fencing that lines the road is Kibri, as they (along with Busch) seem to be the only ones that make a chain link fence that does not include the angled barbed wire top, I have dry brushed it in a rust colour to tone down the shiny grey plastic. The trees are from the Model Tree Shop whilst I have add some ground scrub land using Woodland Scenics leaf foliage, after having seen it recommend by Mike Wild of Hornby Magazine. At the moment the trees do look a little strange, but I hope that once a backscene is added, they’ll look a little less odd. At the end of the dirt road are the depot gates that lead to a tarmac road, again weathered using shades of grey and a sponge, past the engineering building (I should really come up with a name for the building!). I’ve added pavement sections around the building and a small car park. The road markings are from Scale Model Scenery whilst the sub-station is a resin model from a few layouts ago! I need to finish the back edge of this part of the layout, but I might wait until I get the backscene finished. The far end of the layout (as well as the other end), won’t be completed until the next boards are being covered in scenery, so I can make sure that there is a consistence look across the joins. The final large area to tackle has been the stone terminal. I said that I was testing the Chris Nevard DAS clay method for replicating the buried look of the track work. Thanks to some advice from another thread, I did start using this method, but I messed it up frankly and had to dig up the clay in the four foot to fix it. But now, it looks great: The ground cover is a mixture of ‘fine army sand’ and ‘white rubble dust’ from War World Scenics fixed down with diluted PVA. The last things I have to do on this area is finish some final detailing on the conveyor, add some piles of stone in the storage bins on the left and add some mesh over the unloading pit and conveyor. You can also see that I have added some railings (from scale model scenery) around the pit to stop people falling in. Now, a couple of pictures just to show some wagons in the terminal: The second photo shows three of my 10 wagon rake of tipplers from Accurascale. I was originally not going to buy any due to the length of my headshunt limiting me, I thought, to shunting pairs of wagons. However, I realised I was measuring from the wrong point and found I could shunt 5 wagons at a time, meaning that the Accurascale tipplers could be used. They are incredible wagons and certainly worth the price (actually the two pack price deal meant that they were more than half the cost per wagon of other aggregate wagons on the market at the moment). Also new to the fleet is an RHTT for my Class 33’s to haul, although it won’t be seen too much on the layout: The final update is that I have wired up the layout lighting. There are four circuits, one for buildings, one for Street / Platform Lamps, one for the stone terminal lighting and one for vehicles (I plan that some vehicles on the station forecourt will have lighting installed). Each is controlled via push button on the rear of the layout via an adjustable supply for each circuit. I’m glad to say that the lights aren’t as bright as in the photos and look much better in real life. Only the building lights will be on normally during a show, with all the other lights switched off, but I like having a fully lit layout so I could operate it at night should I so wish. That’s it for now, but I hope there will be more updates later in the week as I am now off work until the new year (no exhibitions this year means that I haven’t used a lot of leave this year!) and I’ve been advised to expect the majority of the signals to arrive. Simon 17 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted December 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 14, 2020 Hi Simon, I’ve just noticed your lighting brackets and as that’s the next thing on my design list, could you say how you constructed yours? Thanks, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 28 minutes ago, 5BarVT said: Hi Simon, I’ve just noticed your lighting brackets and as that’s the next thing on my design list, could you say how you constructed yours? Thanks, Paul. Hi Paul, The brackets are simply just lengths of inch square timber cut and mounted at 90 degrees to each other, we used triangular pieces of plywood to reinforce the join, but I would probably use metal right angle bracket instead now. The actual light units are Aluminium ‘L’ Angle with the exterior surfaces painted and the ends shaped to remove sharp corners. Then the actual lighting is self adhesive ‘Daylight White’ LED strips from Simple Lighting. Then I use nuts and bolts to attach the light units to the brackets and the brackets to the layout (I have previously used Velcro for attaching the brackets to the layout). I’m planning on adding some kitchen cupboard magnetic door catches to the ends of the light units so that I can line them up easily. Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempfix Rich Papper Posted December 14, 2020 Tempfix Share Posted December 14, 2020 Hi Simon, Loving the update, details look great. Can I recommend neodymium magnets for the alignment - smaller and more powerful. You can get countersunk ones to put a screw through too. A quick search of eBay found these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Neodymium-Countersunk-Ring-Magnets-20mm-x-3mm-x-5mm-Hole-N42-Strong-Disc-Screw/183084370582?hash=item2aa0adca96:g:BeEAAOSw8hJcWiGV But there are are loads of others on there. I've used similar to locate area s of scenery that cover tracks below. Looking forward to more. Inspired to up my scenery game a bit too! Rich 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 11 hours ago, Rich Papper said: Hi Simon, Loving the update, details look great. Can I recommend neodymium magnets for the alignment - smaller and more powerful. You can get countersunk ones to put a screw through too. A quick search of eBay found these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Neodymium-Countersunk-Ring-Magnets-20mm-x-3mm-x-5mm-Hole-N42-Strong-Disc-Screw/183084370582?hash=item2aa0adca96:g:BeEAAOSw8hJcWiGV But there are are loads of others on there. I've used similar to locate area s of scenery that cover tracks below. Looking forward to more. Inspired to up my scenery game a bit too! Rich Thanks Rich, I hadn’t thought of the Neodymium magnets, I’ve got some somewhere, so I’ll give them a try! Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted December 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2020 Hi Simon, I had a delivery from Crowood Press yesterday and I'm enjoying browsing through it: I might even learn something(!). The top left photo on the back cover is 'bugging me' 'cos I can't think where it is and I feel I should be able to identify it . . . Can you put me out of my misery and reveal the location. Paul. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 2 hours ago, 5BarVT said: Hi Simon, I had a delivery from Crowood Press yesterday and I'm enjoying browsing through it: I might even learn something(!). The top left photo on the back cover is 'bugging me' 'cos I can't think where it is and I feel I should be able to identify it . . . Can you put me out of my misery and reveal the location. Paul. Hi Paul, Thank you for buying the book, it is much appreciated! The picture is of Princes Risborough, looking towards Birmingham :) Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted December 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2020 Of course it is! That explains why the box is still in use and there are people on the steps. Paul. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted December 24, 2020 Author Share Posted December 24, 2020 Hi, A quick pre-Christmas post. Tuesday saw the arrival of the first couple of batches of signals from Absolute Aspects: After a couple of days of hard graft cutting holes in the baseboard and wiring them up, I have discovered that, at the moment, they are completely useless to me! This is because they are wired up as Common Negative, but the MERG Modules can only control Common Positive, and when I discovered this latter fact, I wasn't the happiest of bunnies! Now, I knew the former fact about the signals, but the new fact was not clearly (to a layman) explained in the documentation from MERG (I will accept it probably seems obvious to the technical expert, but to me, it was not obvious at all). After thrashing around a bit and talking to my technical support team, I have decided to get some Opto-Isolator modules to interface between the signals and the MERG Modules, but obviously this has to wait until the new year before I can get them, so my ideas of a traditional Christmas Signalling Commissioning have been dashed! All is not lost, I have managed to get the SPAD indicator to work ( as it's a simple positive / negative connection): You'll notice that this is different to the one specified, it is post mounted rather than ground mounted. Well, basically Matt had a post mounted one in stock and offered it, so I took that. I'm glad I did as the position is in is actually the only position it can be in due to the lack of space underneath the board, and the fact is that a Ground Mounted one wouldn't be visible! Note that none of the signals are blended into their surroundings, as I'm going to make sure they all work before I do! The next bit of news is that I have ordered the next baseboard, which will go on the other end of the junction board, as well as some backscenes and coffin boards from Tim Horn, so they won't be too late into the New Year. So, the only thing left is to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Simon 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 Hi, A small update, but quite an important one! Finally I have managed to get one signal connected up and working with the CBUS Modules, thanks to the help of a couple of MERG members, I have created an Interface Board for each signal. which converts the 'common positive' of the CBUS modules into the 'common negative' of the Signals. Currently I only have CD810 operational, as I have to replace the PIC on one of the Output Modules as that has gone wrong But it is a step in the right direction. I am now investigating the PCBs being manufactured for me to make it all a bit easier than using stripboard as I have done for the first interface. Nothing else has happened on the layout over Christmas / New Year as I'm now waiting on stuff from Tim Horn. Simon 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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