F-UnitMad Posted August 28, 2017 Author Share Posted August 28, 2017 Yup, those'll work. You should know, Mickoo, it was your research I copied!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted August 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 28, 2017 Shrewsbury Town fan, yeah! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Stewart Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 CSX YN2 colors, or as near as... CSX colors.jpg Any suggestions for Dark Future YN3 colours? The Dash8 40CW I am building could end up in these colours Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted September 28, 2017 Author Share Posted September 28, 2017 Any suggestions for Dark Future YN3 colours? The Dash8 40CW I am building could end up in these colours Colin I don't know. Are YN3 Decals available, even? I'm not sure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Stewart Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 Happily decals are available from and in stock at microscale 48-744 Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 27, 2017 Author Share Posted December 27, 2017 SILVER SPIKE DAY!!! The "Silver Spike Day" has arrived this week - I have finally laid the one remaining Siding, that completes the trackwork for my Loft Layout. It still needs to be wired properly into the bus, but it's a big milestone reached, all the same. The Golden Spike day will be when all the tie plates and spikes are in place, but that is a cosmetic exercise; from now on, trains will be able to carry out the operations I want on this layout. While the mojo was working, I just got on with this section, and omitted to paint the ties before laying the rail. I may regret this later!! Anyway enough waffle... Looking down towards Portway Center from under the Interstate Overpass. A telephoto view of the track in the same direction. ..and the opposite way. Wider view from over the old Depot at Portway Center This track won't take 6-axle locos at all - unless they have compensated axles like those very expensive sets on ebay; but my Atlas SD40 has rigid axle trucks, so is a no-go. I'll do a video soon, but don't expect it to look too wild a ride; as discussed before, it is actually very difficult to get models to behave like the real thing, so even though this track looks bad and there is some sway, there isn't that real "rock'n'roll" motion as seen on some of the more notorious Short Lines; it just can't be done like that, as at some point you'll end up with the trucks of a car or loco wanting to lean to opposite sides at the same time, & inevitable some wheels will lift off the track and derail. But, it does look good... 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted December 27, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 27, 2017 Good work, Jordan, that siding is to your top quality standards! looks really great. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 Jordan, congrats mate! That trackwork looks superb. Regarding the rock and roll, have you tried weighting down the cars more? That should keep the wheels on the track, but at the same time might limit rocking somewhat. Perhaps weight the tops of the trucks, but leave the car bodies lighter? Could this be worth investigating? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 28, 2017 Author Share Posted December 28, 2017 It's difficult to explain in words, & not really to do with weight, it's more that models are not sprung like the real thing. The 'rock'n'roll' effect in reality is partly caused by cars rocking on their springs as a reaction to defects in the track. Without springs on models, the effect has to be acheived by track alone, & trucks "soak up" an awful lot of the effect before the car body moves. The track can only be 'twisted' so far before derailments become inevitable. I know some model trucks are sprung, but it isn't in scale proportion. Or, trucks like the Atlas roller-bearing trucks can have a piece removed to give them a slight amount of compensation, but any resulting twist in the trucks traps the axles & jams up the wheels. It's a no-win situation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted December 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2017 The issue is that the frequency of the swing for a pendulum is not related to mass, merely the length of the pendulum from pivot to centre of gravity: grandfather clocks have a long, thin rod connected to a weight at the end to maximise the length by concentrating the mass at the end of the rod, not to make it slower by being heavier. (This is also why when you are on a swing, and you go faster, the arc you subtend gets bigger.) Springs will need to be dampened to slow the response of the pendulum. Often this is achieved on model trains by having soft springs fairly well compressed, which we can get to some extent by increasing the mass. This also has the benefit of a less bouncy ride generally. Ultimately, though, you can’t scale physics: it is what it is, and a model with 1/48th of the height will naturally oscillate faster than the real thing. If I recall the formula correctly, about 7 times faster. The same consideration applies to things like 3-link couplings etc, where appropriate, which is why they look awful when someone rocks a layout. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 As these things take forever to upload to YouTube, here's the first of a couple of videos of trains crawling up the siding at Portway Center... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Star Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Comedy track-laying at its finest - carry on spiking! Nice to see Jordan, great stuff. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 And, Southbound..... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 (edited) The bodies of the vehicles run smoother than you’d think. The nearside rear wheel of each truck actually leaves the rail as the leading wheel goes up the bump at the far right. Edit, talking about the first video Edited December 30, 2017 by Talltim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 (edited) The bodies of the vehicles run smoother than you’d think. The nearside rear wheel of each truck actually leaves the rail as the leading wheel goes up the bump at the far right.Yes, there is a bit of 'air' as these Atlas trucks take that hump. I may have overdone it slightly. I think the Weaver trucks, which have simple compensation, may ride better & keep all wheels in contact with the rails, but then you don't have rotating bearing caps.I say 'think', as I've not tried my Weaver stock yet - some of the Intermountain wheelset back-to-backs still need slight adjustment. Edited December 30, 2017 by F-UnitMad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Yes, there is a bit of 'air' as these Atlas trucks take that hump. I may have overdone it slightly. I think the Weaver trucks, which have simple compensation, may ride better & keep all wheels in contact with the rails, but then you don't have rotating bearing caps. I say 'think', as I've not tried my Weaver stock yet - some of the Intermountain wheelset back-to-backs still need slight adjustment. ......all you need now, Jordan, is some Chuck Berry "Rock 'n' Roll music" playing in the background.......... BTW Happy New Year , everybody! Edited December 31, 2017 by shortliner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 Have spent a couple of happy hours exchanging trains between Short Line & Class 1, with the incoming train arriving from both 'directions', and working out the easiest ways to swap locos. It's almost more fun than switching the Industrial Park - which is all to the good, of course, as this exchanging of trains was a prime factor in the design of the trackplan, as was the sort of actual time it takes just to carry out a 'simple' operation such as this. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted December 31, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 31, 2017 Impressive track laying there. In addition to the problems of the pendulum effect not scaling there is also the fact that full size trains often distort the track as they pass along you can sometimes see each wheel dipping at a rail joint. Not easy to do on a model. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Impressive track laying there. In addition to the problems of the pendulum effect not scaling there is also the fact that full size trains often distort the track as they pass along you can sometimes see each wheel dipping at a rail joint. Not easy to do on a model. Don Agreed. There are a couple of places on this siding where the rail isn't resting on the ties for a few inches, yet even the weight of an O Scale diesel isn't enough to press it down as they go over - and it's "only" Code 100 rail, at that!! Edited December 31, 2017 by F-UnitMad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted December 31, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 31, 2017 Ultimately, though, you can’t scale physics: it is what it is, and a model with 1/48th of the height will naturally oscillate faster than the real thing. Impressive track laying there. In addition to the problems of the pendulum effect not scaling there is also the fact that full size trains often distort the track as they pass along you can sometimes see each wheel dipping at a rail joint. Not easy to do on a model. All but impossible.Following on from earlier, the mass of the engine and therefore the downward force (aka weight), even if made exactly of the same materials, will be related to the volume, and reduced by 1/(48x48x48) from the real thing, but the strength of the rail is determined by the cross sectional area, which has reduced by 1/(48x48). Effectively, the rail on the model is 48 times stronger than on the prototype, which is why softspringing looks so good on a model: it makes up for the lack of springiness in the track and substrate. The upside of this is that we can make our track much firmer than the prototype ever could - if we could not, then unsprung rtr would not stay on the rails - but it also means that we do need to take care in laying our track, too, ensuring that unless we are in full control of matters, we need to keep our track as smooth and even as possible. This makes Jordan’s achievements on this and the portable layout all the more accomplished. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMO Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) SILVER SPIKE DAY!!! Looking down towards Portway Center from under the Interstate Overpass. Siding1.jpg A telephoto view of the track in the same direction. Siding2.jpg ..and the opposite way. Siding3.jpg Wider view from over the old Depot at Portway Center Siding4.jpg Happy New Year to you Jordan! Waow! This crazy track looks very realistic - at least for a modern shortline. Your work is very good Jordan! Have spent a couple of happy hours exchanging trains between Short Line & Class 1, with the incoming train arriving from both 'directions', and working out the easiest ways to swap locos. It's almost more fun than switching the Industrial Park - which is all to the good, of course, as this exchanging of trains was a prime factor in the design of the trackplan, as was the sort of actual time it takes just to carry out a 'simple' operation such as this. I understand you can spend a lot of time to operate with such a nice trackplan as yours! Edited January 1, 2018 by JAMO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Thanks Jack, a happy modelling 2018 to you, as well. Edit: and to the rest of the "American Gang" here on RMweb, of course!! Edited January 1, 2018 by F-UnitMad 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted March 25, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 25, 2018 It’s been some time, Jordan. Any chance of an update? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Yeah, Jordan, what's happening with your epic little layout? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 Not a great deal, recently, to be honest. Partly I've been off sick recently with kidney stones & related infection, involving a couple of spells in hospital but, other than that, with all the track laid now I was having great fun actually running trains, using a simple computer-generated Switch-List program. I have also been filling in some of the gaps with tie plates and spikes, in slow pursuit of that 'Golden Spike' moment, plus some work on a couple of locos that had 'gremlins' - or as it turned out, broken wires or loose connections stopping the lights from working! So progress of sorts, but nothing that shows up well in photos!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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