Dingleberry, a N Gauge test track

[5BarVT]

3 minutes ago, aleopardstail said:

amazing how simple the block detection stuff actually is, the MERG board is really quite clever

It is isn’t it. And easy to put together.  I use them when I need more than the 8 inputs on my purchased boards.

Paul. 

[aleopardstail]

5 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

It is isn’t it. And easy to put together.  I use them when I need more than the 8 inputs on my purchased boards.

Paul. 

 

yes the design is clever too, I did have my own, firstly starting using infrared sensors, easy to make, derived from stuff I made for a scalextric layout, though here just checking something is there and not trying to decode the IR light the cars have. That worked, mostly, but the black underframes needed a bit of white paint to work reliably, and was only a "point" position. went over to current transducers, initially using analogue to digital converters and an arduino - good as you get a current reading and wasn't hard to tell locomotives from coaches - that worked but was a bit fiddly to set up.

 

ended up with the MERG ones which are clever, using a 555 (well two as a 556) timer and having the DCC pulses reset it is very clever, does mean you get a slight delay on exiting, which is no bad thing and is remarkably good at rejecting noise in the signal.

 

the only difficult bit of assembly, and very much "for a given value of difficult" is fitting the transformer loop wire into the board, have made two slight changes - firstly the LED is replaced by a 2 pin header so the LED can be on flying leads to be where I can see it - though won't bother for future ones now I know they work so well and replacing the four pin connector with a small four pin screw terminal block to avoid faffing with cable crimps.

 

can see at some point investigating more of their DCC system

[aleopardstail]

In the middle of everything else I thought I'd have a go at a bit of scenery, for a change. I want some retaining walls, the Metcalfe ones look nice enough but need quite a bit of work to hide all the exposed edges, they also would require quite a bit of work around some of the shapes needed.

 

I considered my 3d printer, now this can't really do 2mm scale brickwork well, it can sort of do it but takes a lot of work at the modelling stage, but what about concrete?

 

well concrete has been used for walls, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, and while it may not look amazing it should at least be possible.

 

A bit of work in Blender, then a few hours printing and a few more painting and this is the current state of it

 

 

only the right half has had the weathering started, definitely needs more work here, likely some drybrushing to lighten the centre of the flat areas and likely a second application of the base in a few areas (its not quite this bas to the human eye), overall its a start though - well this section is a tester, may make a few changes to it but as a general concept open to thoughts and comments.

 

colour is vallejo model air "concrete" and the lighter base is "cement grey" basically just to break it up, weathering is sepia shade and a bit of model air "dark green"

[aleopardstail]

redesigned the wall section slightly, now have more flatter arches instead of the full roman arch which I think will look a bit better, also tweaked slightly to print better.

 

to the rear the test article had a small ridge to glue the road deck to, revised so thats a bit larger and better supported to print better - likewise the cap stones now are in a few layers to print better.

 

devised the bit for a tunnel entrance which will be printed over the next few days before moving onwards

 

 

the bit over the tunnel is a placeholder to get the spacing and alignment correct, will be replaced by a plate girder section eventually, the walls including the bits for that to be mounted on

[aleopardstail]

more progress, first test section of the second version of the wall printed, sadly a slight misprint makes it unusable (lifted from the bed at one end so its not square - may add a small base raft for stability anyway which should help with this.

 

 

Metcalfe original in the middle, the first iteration on the right, looks ok but not happy with the archways and how they printed. 2nd version to the left looks a lot better, got the height better too - the buttresses slope back at 3 degrees (zero slope back on the 1st version) and look a lot better for it.

 

flatter arches came out better too

 

 

still have the horizontal texture, not getting away from that but once painted can hardly see it, probably need a top cap detail on the buttresses. needless to say the blue will get painted over.

 

still learning how to use Blender & the printer but coming out ok

[5BarVT]

24 minutes ago, aleopardstail said:

needless to say the blue will get painted over.

It’s blue brick, but not as we know it (Jim)!

Paul.

[aleopardstail]

11 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

It’s blue brick, but not as we know it (Jim)!

Paul.

 

(lack of) Engineering Blue Brick...

 

(no accurate measurements were harmed during this process)

[aleopardstail]

test blue wall now painted, this has actually turned out pretty nicely

 

 

looks better than earlier versions, maybe needs a bit more layering with the brown for a more gradual fade, eventually will have a bit of greenery in a few places.

 

design revised to have a "foot" which will make installing easier as well as I hope printing better, for these that will go against a backwall may also print the narrow pathway as part of the wall, probably easier then a separate strip (goal being to have a couple of pedestrians maybe)

 

painting is basically a base, bit of a drybrush in a few lighter shades, then a brown and green wash

 

will have another go at printing some tomorrow, also thinking I can probably get the area this will go painted up as its a pretty basic area in a corner

[aleopardstail]

next few sections printing, machine says about 20 odd hours to go.. ouch

 

experimented with painting a length of track, my first thought was "spray it all dull flat brown, add a bit of drybrushing and a wash", the brown sprey I have is too light though.

 

second thought was brush application of vallejo model air "rust" (airbrush off line currently), that sort of worked, but took three coats and even then doesn't adhere very well, looks ok with a black wash over but still not happy.

 

have ordered some railmatch sleeper grime, figure may as well take advantage of the hot weather we have coming and get this outside, a grey primer added then get the railmatch over it, once cured can bring back inside for drybrushing, washes and similar..

 

in preparation all the buffer stops are now fully glued into place, holes drilled for adding some lights to them, will stick slivers of blu tac around the point contact areas and generally remove the rubbish. expect this to pretty much transform what the layout looks like

[aleopardstail]

beginnings of the depot access road over the depot tracks

basically 3d printed in fills, the ends have a slight slope and a check rail effect that I hope will work when painted.

 

also the first actually usable 3d printed walls completed and stuck together, though not yet stuck in place, again prior to painting

bit to the left will be inside a tunnel the weird bit next to it is the abutment for the plate girder to sit against, all this hopefully painted up pretty soon to stop it looking quite so "train set", even though thats pretty much exactly what it is

[aleopardstail]

the depot crossing is now physically complete, will be painted when the track is

 

 

not massively straight, once the ballast and a few weeds are about should be fine though

 

also painted up the retaining wall

 

 

needs a hint of green and some matt varnish adding but I'm quite pleased with that, once its fully integrated I think that will look quite good.

 

need to think of what to do with the triangle of land in front of it, thinking a portacabin or two on some hard standing with various plants growing around, and maybe a bit of graffiti on the wall

[aleopardstail]

decent weather, and a delivery of paint.. what is a humble leopard to do except demonstrate that yes a 4'x2'6" plywood frame layout is technically portable but its not something I want to shift that often..

 

Dingleberry lugged downstairs, past the cat minefield out to the garden, where a coat of army painter "uniform grey", "leather brown" and "black" primers were used, followed by railmatch sleeper grime to produce this

 

 

quite like the colour, the lighter brown is the leather brown primer. the darker area isn't just shadow this is the bit that will eventually be a tunnel so black seemed suitable.

 

could likely replace the sleeper grime with a paint from my gaming range but to be honest as a one off cost the spray, which is also an enamel, is worth it. have the acrylics to manually do the bits around points (taped off in the above) - that will wait for the temperature to drop a bit

 

anyway back inside, the buffers got a bit of paint

 

 

basically drybrushed the beige brown, the flat earth then the excellent riza rust. no idea what a "riza" is meant to be but apparently they go rusty.

 

the red and white buffer beams work, this will get a brown and black wash once the ballasting is done but for now it works

 

nice an atmospheric as well

 

 

shows the bits the tape covered, have printed more servo holders to sort of the turnout entry to the depot area, however the back wall now fits in nicely.

 

next two jobs, paint the white paper bits with probably "flat brown" which is pretty similar and good enough, then the bits of the turnouts not sprayed with the brush on acrylics 

[aleopardstail]

testing...

 

well the track has power, however neither class 86 enjoys it - both with run but only on limited areas. I suspect whats happening is the rail head is clear but the locos actually seem to pick up from the flanges, the actual bit of the wheel that touches the trach is clean, but yellowed which I suspect means further more in depth cleaning is needed, slightly disappointing but then they are very old models - which usually needed a bit of encouragement to get going anyway.

 

however they do look a lot better on the track now, cleaning time

[aleopardstail]

Hmm

 

 

cleaned on the right, as it was before on the left. have checked the track and all but one section is live - one wire adrift which has been reconnected.

 

neither loco will run correctly, both better on straights than corners - to be certain it wasn't perfect prior to painting but its a lot worse now

 

have gone round the track with the PECO track rubber and with cotton buds & IPA, track is essentially clean, only have to touch it with the multimeter and it picks up the power fine..

 

an ponderance for sure, not got much more time to play tonight but I think the next step is back to DC mode and one of the DC diesels to see if they are any better or any worse - given they have more pickups hopefully better 

[aleopardstail]

supply pickup today, still working on the poor quality running issue - the rail head even after cleaning and using the track rubber doesn't feel completely smooth, still rough to the touch so I suspect it needs a bit more work.

 

anyway at my local gaming shop today while picking up another couple of bronze medals for gaming prowess, I'd not mind but its only a two player game *cries*.. they do scenic stuff so now have a bag of Jarvis extra fine ballast to experiment with, also picked up some plastic strip that is a small I beam but looks closer to bullhead rail to my eye - its not perfectly in scale, however the plan is to experiment with a bit of that and some small surface mount red LEDs I have and try to make a red warning light for some buffer stops with the LED and some enamelled copper wire that is pretty much invisible, glue it together, add a bit of paint and install with a resistor below the board.

 

I did think about using a PWM LED controller board allowing variable brightness but to be honest probably just pick a resistor and connect to the 5v power bus I have and be done with it, always on when the layout is powered up. interested to see how well it turns out

[aleopardstail]

ok, the track is fine electrically, dropped the layout into DC mode and broke ok the Poole era GF Class 47, it runs just fine, added the peco wagons I have behind..

 

 

and apart from looking actually quite nice now the track is less toy like it runs well - I have noted some vibration in a few places - places the Lima Class 86 struggle to even move. closer inspection shows the inside edge of the railhead has paint, as expected but isn't all that smooth. can also hear the logo flanges hitting the sleepers in a few places but with the six axle pick up the loco keeps going.

 

it does however object to a few of the points, where I suspect a bit too much paint in the flanges around the check rails and crossing check rails.

 

pushing the Lima Mk1 stock around and the track doesn't feel smooth, the peco wagons, which are a lot more modern and have smaller flanges run without any issues - suspect the cure is going to be to remove the pain off the inside lip of the top of the rails, probably not a massive job and to clean the turnout flangeways the same - this a short term fix, longer term is basically get some newer stock or replace the wheelsets with something a bit more modern for the rolling stock. may need someone with a lathe to adjust the locomotive wheel flanges though.. hmm..

 

still its quite nice to watch the Class 47 circulating..

 

may consider more seriously one of the Class 04 shunters I've been pondering a while and get something less than 30 years old to have a run with.

[aleopardstail]

heat is a killer, have a few side projects basically waiting for it to cool down enough to get the soldering iron out - plan was to make some buffer stop lights, 0603 red LEDs, some enamelled wire and some plastic...

 

could I effing find the red LEDs? have green, amber and white, no red..

 

eBay order of some more, and some 0402 ones should be here later this week.

 

have also bitten the bullet and pre-ordered one of the upcoming Dapol class 86 as to be honest even DCC fitted the price wasn't that bad, likely months away so something else shorter term may also be added.

 

also some stuff for ballasting due to tomorrow... 

[aleopardstail]

*time passes*

 

this project is far from dead, though also far from having gotten very far. still not gotten around to ballasting for example.

 

Testing with the Lima Class 86 (still no sign of the Dapol one) showed a few track issues, a lot of serious cleaning later than they mostly run.. mostly. issue being track power pickup, partly and in places partly the set track points not reliably switching the current about.

 

will address the second problem I think with a few more power feeds to jumper past the points given the line is either DCC or "single locomotive only" via DC.

 

the first issue saw a tad of innovation, the track rubber cleans the rail head, but leaves the inside edge where the flanges run as rough, got an offcut of 9mm ply and running that along the direction of the rails scraped the upper shoulders inside and out clear - trains running a lot better.

 

then I had a go recently at getting the old Poole era GF locos up to DCC, can't get the zimo decoders (still), for now some of the cheaper ones from Rails have done, first was the class 47, which after a slight touch up to the paint is now thus, and DCC operational

just a bit of a black wash and the underframe in a dark grey, axle boxes and handrails done. still way too clean but not quite so "blue plastictastic" as it was.

 

all axle pickups make for much better running, though at low speed (track voltage is ~10.4v, will be looking to get that nearer 12v) and the power output isn't wonderful but when she stalls its lack of power not wheelslip, so there is that. manages three coaches nicely though which for now is the goal

 

easily done, DigiHat fitted, bit of general cleaning and off she went, decoder fits under the roof on top of the bodywork.

 

the day after saw a slightly more complex job to get this beauty going, again shown after a slight touch up was completed

 

 

here the method of contact bogie to body is some wipers that were not springy, thus removed, soldered a wire on each side bogie to bogie, then to the decoder, as such the motor was already isolated so DCC was pretty easy. decoder stuffed in a cab and it all soldered up. like the 47 runs a lot better than before, not amazingly fast still but works nicely.

 

pity the ancient motors are so weak, guessing the magnets have seen better days, these have to be 30-40 years old now though so nice they work..

 

 

the layout itself continues, all track is now powered, there is a relay that swaps the programming track between programming and running, controlled via the DCC-EX++ base station and easily done. currently working on properly integrating the point servo controller and "enjoying" the delights of RS485 modules, at this point likely to just make my own.. grr..

 

given a lot of issues with the actual layout though, largely track related I'm pondering the end of the layout, rip up and relegation to a single loop trainset style for running in DC locos and relocating to the cellar.. not happening yet as a few more bits I want to learn here but its likely the scenic side of dingleberry will be on hold.

 

still, nice to be able to watch trains looping and listen to the sound of the old geartrains running with the smell of old motors.

[aleopardstail]

Bit more progress, this time with the layout electrical system, first up a hole in the baseboard thats had a pair of LEDs dangling through for a while, showing the two power supplies are alive and well has actually been finished:

 

 

3d printed panel, recessed text picked out with a bit of paint, behind which is a small bit of stripboard managing the now six LEDs - the top two being the two power supply LEDs as before, though now more closely matched in brightness. Below are two pairs showing the state of a pair of relays, the middle one controlling if the track is connected to DC or DCC and the lower one indicating if the siding used as a programming track is in programming mode or connected to the track power.

 

its a minor thing really but has been annoying me so finally fixed it. part of this saw the main power bus connector changed from a choc block with a small stripboard with terminals for the 5v, 12v and ground lines. can buy them but frankly really easy to make.

 

bit more generally checking and defect rectification with a few loose cables being secured and managed to get the trains to run again.

 

have also adapted an arduino nano with a stripboard holding a MAX485 IC for C/MRI, yes you can get the premade modules, heck I have a box of them but they always need some modification so here its all soldered down with some suitable terminals for the comms bus wires and to power from the 5v power bus. has connectors for the PCA9685 servo driver board. hopefully this week will get that programmed up and working, will need final calibration prior to installation - which means a bit of PC software to talk to it and provide suitable settings information. However once thats done the layout is actually operational again..

 

there is a second panel currently printing, sits to the right of the one above and hides the hole thats there, this will hold the 20x4 line LCD, a pair of USB sockets (JMRI & C/MRI) and a five pin MIDI connector that is set up to eventually allow a handset controller to talk to the DCC-EX base station lurking..

 

finally that base station, an Arduino Mega, has gained a shield with screw terminals, hopefully everything is now secure enough I can forget about wires coming adrift every time I want to play trains.

[aleopardstail]

Remainder of the panel added..

 

 

its since had the remaining screws and the midi controller port added.

 

quite happy with how thats turned out

 

also have ventured into the dizzy depths of track ballasting, just a short section of track I know works to see how it all goes and how long it takes to cure

 

and for a bit of an experiment this afternoon, hooked up an ESP32 via the JMRI WiFi throttle interface, and to my amazement it works

[aleopardstail]

Starting to get serious.. a bit of track ballasting done

 

 

seems to work, needs a bit of mucking up.

 

aim is to get at least the one corner done, if for no other reason than to stop it being a dumping ground for clutter. have some cable conduit, fencing, a few huts etc on order and have a signal to try and make for the inner track in this area.

 

plan is a road along the board, a low grassy bank with some fencing and gate with path through to a small hut, add some concrete conduit, a few signal electrical boxes etc, will see how it goes.

 

most of the area to the rear of this will be a small TMD, I've got the sheds for it, need to find some portacabin type buildings and get a carpark laid etc.

[aleopardstail]

Further demonstation how owning a 3d printer and not much skill is a dangerous mix.

 

Portacabin for the TMD, designed in Blender, based on a 12m x 3.6m unit.. printed at max detail showing my Ender 3 V2 really isn't up to this sort of thing, but also I hope that a bit of paint and weathering hides many many sins

 

 

the camera is a cruel invention, from a half decent viewing distance its "acceptable" until I get a better printer hopefully later in the year. may add a few more as they don't take all that long to print, about and hour and a half, not that much longer to paint, though an actual BR blue would look better

 

given the state of the rest of the layout..

 

It. Will. Do.

[aleopardstail]

tweaked the printer, now with a 0.2mm nozzle, the same model of the portacabin, but at 0.2mm - prior to painting

 

 

ok this is a lot better, still not perfectly smooth, still a bit wispy to clear up but the actual structure is now a lot more clear - will be priming and painting tomorrow. Some 1206 LEDs on order in a nice warm white on order to illuminate it.

 

will be replacing the first one, this likely to go onto Thingiverse at some point if anyone wants it, I suspect once painted up this is going to look "good enough for British Rail" so to speak

[aleopardstail]

A few updates today, firstly that portacabin is now on Thingiverse if anyone wants it at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5888118 

 

Secondly now have the software written and tested for my Arduino C/MRI point controller. two separate sketches, one for "configuration" with a serial interface to drive via the arduino serial monitor or similar - this saves values into the EEPROM, and a second, far simpler, sketch that manages the actual operation using those settings.

 

custom servo controller and servo code classes back ported from a version I wrote for the Pi Pico. makes it easy to use the controller for position feedback, also makes stuff like slow action quite easy. 

 

Hopefully will get that configured and tested over the weekend and with luck finally installed and wired in

 

Finally, printed another portacabin, and assembled a few Ratio kits for huts, which will get a coat of black primer, then grey primer tomorrow (black to block light, grey to actually paint over) - plan is to add some lights to play with next week

[aleopardstail]

Bit of debugging of the point controller software, hooked it up, calibrated the various turnouts. still has a bug with the "slow" settings not saving the time constants correctly so in "fast" mode only for now, but all 16 turnouts on the layout now work - though not all switch electrical track power properly and a lot need some serious cleaning.

 

The Arduino based controller is all its "glory". The blue board is because as yet there are no bus pull up/down or terminators on the bus as a few more are to be added. Also need to add a proper terminal block for the point controller board to avoid multiple wires into terminals as shown here.

 

Nice to be back able to drive the points again :)

 

a lot of track cleaning and testing is needed, and a few servos may need a shim to make the actuator arm fractionally lower as one or two are catching some stock, still the whole point of Dingleberry is to discover all this stuff on something small and reasonably cheap.

 

can run trains with moderate reliability on the two main loops, the station loop is not so reliable, points at one end not switching power, and the other end not doing so reliably, plus flangeways gunked up and needing work.

 

however with the point controller at least working, and likely to modify slightly and actually install tomorrow so its out of the way I can actually get on with testing and sorting out the gremlins