Ray H

Thanks for the replies. We have milk in 4 pint containers. Could I (carefully) transfer the contaminated water into those, put the lid on and leave them out in the garden for a while for the water and solids to separate, pour off the water and then bung what's left in the rubbish. That said, would it be acceptable to cut the container open, dispose of the solid with the rubbish and recycle the remains of the plastic bottle with the other plastic waste?

I've just bought a 3D resin printer and am using water washable resin. I have used a cleaning machine for the wash/cleaning process. I think it is time to refresh the machine's water. I've read somewhere that leaving the water/resin solution in the garden for a (long?) while allows the water to evaporate and the resin to largely solidify whereupon it can be disposed of with the domestic waste. My concern with this is the likelihood of wild life consuming the contaminated liquid. Is disposal via the loo actually acceptable?

He hasn't said if there is any room left for the driver or if they have to push from behind.🙂

Thanks for the correction of the CV number, I'll alter my earlier post. I would issue one word of warning. One of my colleagues used the F28 function when trying to increase the sound and didn't realise that it was a turn on - turn off arrangement. He unknowingly pressed F28 (turn on/increase volume) just the once so that the volume kept increasing and blew the amplifier on the decoder. I always recommend to anyone thinking of using the Volume Increase (or Decrease [F27]) that they turn it on and then turn it off almost immediately. That way any changes are minimal but controllable. Simply repeat the on/off over and over until the desired volume is achieved. Fiddly, yes. Safer, yes also.

I tried to find a way to get the video of the second DIS uploaded but .MP4 files don't seem to be in the permitted list so this is the link to the YouTube version. This DIS doesn't have locating pins. Instead I've upgraded the locking devices as shown here. They're fitted to diagonally opposite corners of the DIS which means they're each adjacent to a different rail and can thus be used as the means of transferring track power across the gap to the tracks on the DIS. I wasn't 100% satisfied with the locating pins on the other DIS (nor the [Mk. 1] securing clips) so I shall probably remove the locating pins and upgrade the locking devices to the type indicated above. I may supplement the securing screws with some epoxy resin if the screws start to move. The rectangular piece of PCB to the right of the lock is there to stop the slide bolt coming out of the tube and getting lost. I shall divert my attention to the 3D printer in the hope that I can generate the pseudo steel panels that will be affixed to the visible sides of the two DISs now that the layout is fully operational again .

How did you decrease it? Read CV 266 which is, I believe, the master volume. What is its value?

Slight change of plan/thinking. I can place the smaller DIS over the LR track top the right of the doorway. The raised scenery at the lower level of the same board was largely there because I built the scenery up to partially disguise the hinge mounting blocks for the original access flap. That is no longer necessary now that the mounting blocks are no more. Consequently, I might be able to place the larger DIS over the BR track if I keep any grassed area between track and baseboard edge no higher than rail level. I might even be able to leave the switch for the LR point where it is. That said, I have been having thoughts of adding a working trap point to the siding and, possibly, a servo operated gate over the siding track. I have a four way switch that could work the three servos (and the LR point's frog polarity switching) although I would need to install a MERG Servo4 to control all the servos to replace the existing MERG PMP kit that can only control one servo.

The lights were still usable, just no longer as bright as they were. I found that we still had a couple of unused bulbs so I removed the three dim ones (dropping one of them in the process 😒) and inserted the new one - full brightness. I restored the dim ones - and discovered that the presumed dropped one was no longer dim nor bright, in fact it wasn't anything other than dead) - and they remained dim and the new bulb stayed bright. It does look as though it may have been a power problem that has caused the original bulbs to dim. Thanks for all the suggestions to try.

I did wonder about checking them individually in the other fitting. On the other hand I suppose I could remove one at a time from their present fitting and see what that reveals. I'll try the latter first and then the former if necessary.

Thanks for those two responses. The voltage to the light fitting both direct or via the switch measures 233v.

We've had energy efficient bulbs in the fittings of both lights in our lounge diner for several years. There are three bulbs in each fitting. They were changed to the newer style bulbs when we ran out of the old style filament bulbs. Consequently, one fitting's bulb's were changed over some while before the other. The replacement 7W bulbs in the first fitting have always been a little on the dim side but the second fitting's 8.5W replacements were/had been much, much brighter. That is until the day before yesterday when the brightness of all three of the 8.5W bulbs suddenly dropped, probably below that of the original 7W bulbs in the other fitting. I could possibly understand one bulb losing brightness as a pre-warning of its upcoming failure but for all three to go at the same time seems strange. Can anyone indicate why this might have happened please? I drew the line at asking for someone to throw some light on this change 😃

The smaller Drop-In section (DIS) is now a reality although it still lacks any ballast and the side walls need "decorating" - hopefully with bits produced on the 3D printer. Here's a short clip of the first train over the new section. I've decided (at least for the time being) to have a "clip" on the inside of the curve at each end of the DIS. The picture above is the one at the right hand end of the section (before the tracks was fixed down, in case any one is worried 😃). I've since added one at the other end of the DIS but unlike the home-made one shown above, it is simply a couple of washers of increasing size (and larger diameter centres) held in place with a screw but not so tight that the bottom and larger of the washers can't bridge the gap between the fixed board and the left hand end of the DIS. I've been pondering over the resting location of the two DISs. By chance I happened to put the smaller DIS over the exchange siding and then laid the larger DIS over that. That would be a suitable location save that the two sections will each have handrails along the edges and I doubt they'd stand the weight of something on top. I could (and may yet) have a couple of spacers that rest on the bottom (smaller) DIS to sup[port the other one.

I have every intention of learning to design but as a newbie to the field I'm not yet up to speed with all the various aspects of this amazing technology. I only have a vague idea of how far the machines can go, so finding sites that can give the beginner an idea of what can be achieved as well as, on occasions, avoiding re-inventing the wheel, is where the useful tag comes in. A search for "N Scale" may well yield a fistful of results but the trick to discovering that is to determine whether to use "N" or "O" or "OO" or whatever. After all, I understood that some items can be rescaled (up or down) quite easily. As a predominantly O modeller I wouldn't immediately think of searching for stuff for other scales. I'd guess that it wouldn't be too hard to come up with a list of around 30 different railway related search phrases. There's OO, EM & P4 with both scale and gauge, not to mention the likes of 4mm, 16,5mm and so on. You could quickly run up a significant list of search options and then you have to wade through whatever the search reveals only to eventually find that what you were hoping to find would have been top of the list had you just used a slightly different search key. As you may have detected from my earlier post, I'm more than happy to share/upload any designs that I come up with. I may also download a few to give me some ideas on how to tackle similar projects whilst I'm still learning. After all we're told that we never stop learning. How does a newbie discover all these various sites and how does one learn which are the most popular/more likely to cater for the area you're interested in? I'd never even heard of Yeggi prior to reading your post, so thank you for bringing that to our attention. It just seems to me that it might assist people if there was either a general (in this case railway) go-to site for the hobby or just a plain list - however short or long - of places/sites where people/modellers can find a collection of files for items related to the hobby.

The shoulder is a lot better this morning which is good as I'm off to Jim's in a while to do some P & C replacement work at the garden terminus. It is best to remove the film from the 3D printer build plate otherwise all you get is failed prints. Don't ask me how I know 🙄. Although that was my discovery, I owe GWR57xx a vote of gratitude for the suggestions he's provided by PM (purely to stop this thread getting bogged down whilst off topic). Armed with my new found knowledge I shall set the 3D printer going before I head to Jim's. The print, a support bracket to hold the build plate whilst the excess resin drips back into the tray at the end of a print, takes about 3 hours, so I'll either have a bracket or a mess when I get back from Jim's.

Apologies, I'm newer than new to this 3D printing lark and didn't appreciate that there were sites that included model railway related stuff. I've just taken a quick look at the Cults3D site and saw one thing that could be useful. Anybody care to name any of the other sites - I've found Thingiverse?

Supports for the higher (LR) DIS have been installed and the DIS itself has been cut to size - I'm hoping what I've done will work, once I can find a way to hold the DIS in position. I believe neodymium magnets could provide the means of securing the DIS. They'd be quite easy to install and can be quite strong, but are they so strong that I'd need a high level of force to uplift the DIS and possibly cause damage to the DIS or the fixed part of the layout? The magnets would need to be part of a system, a system that included a means of ensuring the accurate positioning of the DIS. My current thinking for accurate locating is along the lines of drilling a hole (or possibly two) through and at the ends of the DIS into each end's support for the DIS. I'd insert and secure (epoxy?) a section of brass tube into each of the two holes. I'd then have a comfort fit (into the brass tube) piece of brass rod that I'd solder into the DIS support mounted piece of brass tube. Hopefully there would be minimal wear on the tube/rod and I could also use this arrangement for passing track power to the track on the DIS. Further work is currently paused because, overnight, I appear to have done something to my neck, which is making it uncomfortable to move head in certain directions.

I've had my printer for less than a week, as yet have hardly open any of the associated software packages and have no experience of 3D based design. I am a club member and give freely of my time (and associated costs, such as the car expenses to get there) for the benefit of the club and its members. I've used RMweb for several years (thanks, Andy & team) and gained numerous benefits from it - like answers to questions that I've asked/posted. I like to think that in return I occasionally offer useful responses to posts other RMweb users ask. Equally, I'm a MERG member and benefit from the time and effort a lot of their members put in to enable the likes of me to buy kits that I build to enhance both mine and the club's layouts. I hope one day to be able to design stuff for myself that I can 3D print. In all probability my requirements for the resultant output from those designs will be small/modest and I'll always have the files to fall back on if I want more. I'd be more than happy for others to have access to copies of my files to do with as they please - which includes disregard/delete them if they aren't what was wanted (or aren't up to a standard that was wanted). I wouldn't necessarily object to the downloaded files being passed to others although I realise that that may impact on my suggestion below. Like all the other people with an interest in our hobby, I'm gradually getting older and, one day, will no longer have cause (or the ability) to be concerned about anything happening to our hobby (or anything else on the planet). The same surely applies to a number of small (and possibly not so small) traders who, one day, care of mother nature, will cease to trade (or do anything else). What happens to all the effort that our departed self and colleagues have input into the hobby whilst they were able? Physically existing models/kits/components need ongoing production if they are to remain available. Somebody needs to take this on, it doesn't just happen. Data files - and that's all the .stl files really are - are different. They can continue to exist for an infinite period of time largely without too much effort by "somebody". I'm not that well versed in IT related facilities so don't know if this idea would work, nor how much effort would be involved, but here goes. Set up a depositary where .stl files could be uploaded to. The upload could include a photo (or two) and, perhaps, a brief description of what the file design covers. The file(s) then become available for download for a nominal sum - 50p/£1 per file - that is used to cover the cost of maintaining the server (or whatever) and any charges that fall due from the company (e.g. Paypal) handling the payment. Any monetary surplus would be used to restrict the need to increase download costs in the future. I have no idea how easy this would be to achieve and or run/maintain. Would it need an ongoing supervisory small group for maintenance of the system (including backing-up of stored data)? How many people would upload files - a number that may determine how much maintenance is required? Is there likely to be enough interest to generate the income required to run the system. Could some kind of (free?) membership to the scheme be a means of (limited) control over where files are uploaded to - e.g. not putting a frogmen's hut design in the area designed intended for wagon related files? Alternately, could each uploader have their own storage area where their files are listed. The list would also become part of the site's overall list of what's available on the site. The overall list provides a link either direct to the listed file or to the uploader's storage area? Could/should the uploader's area also indicate a means of contacting the uploader or would this place an unacceptable burden on the uploader? Would it be possible for each uploader to have a dedicated email address courtesy of the server's facilities. This would serve to provide a degree of security to the uploader least any downloader starts to get irate. Should any such facility be associated with, for example, an existing site like RMweb to give it a little more credence but, hopefully, no more work for Andy Y and team? Just a thought?

My only comment is that you appear to have had to surrender two terminal sidings for the two tracks that form the run round loop. I suppose that it depends on your proposed method of operation, minimal shunting, one loco and a few wagons v plenty of shunting, two locos and scope for plenty of wagons. You've mentioned automation. I'm not sure I can see how you could incorporate that into this design other than for train arriving, running round and then train departing. Even that would require some pretty accurate coupling system yo be fully automatic. Maybe I'm thinking too deeply.

The afore mentioned spacer for the 3D printer's build plate has been printed and the printer is now merrily (I hope) producing its second item - a bracket that slides onto the projection that the Mars build plate is affixed to. The bracket provides a means to hold a completed item above the resin bath, whilst the excess resin slowly drips off. I'll include a picture in due course. And while the printer is busy I've been and looked at the fixed baseboard ends where the DIS will sit - the red lines represent the fixed baseboard ends. I've also removed the previous add-on piece - where the baseboard top is visible towards the bottom right in the right hand image - to get some idea of the likely impact of any lengthening of the fixed baseboard towards the door. Any benefit of doing so appears to be outweighed by both the reduction in the opening between the two fixed baseboard end corners (and that impact on getting into the garage) and either the odd resultant shape of the relevant end of the DIS or the fixed baseboard's width increase that would be necessary to avoid the need for the end of the DIS to be other than straight. I will exercise the option to lengthen the exchange siding slightly but not to the extent that the siding end will reach the fixed baseboard end. Meanwhile, thinking more about the track on the DIS - where thoughts had been straying towards the style in my earlier post, I've realised that I've just bought four lengths of new track to go on the DIS and those lengths would need to be broken down into their component parts to free up the rails thereon let alone designing and printing the replacements for the (rail) chairs. I think that I will stick to conventionally laid and ballasted track option (which will be achieved far more quickly as well). I might have gone with the previous idea had the overall track length been a lot less than the three plus yards involved here.

One thing I've come to realise is that the two curved DIS (drop in sections) have a high tendency to tilt - lowering the outside of the curve - without a means of keeping the DIS horizontal. Jim mentioned having a removable leg as a further support for the DIS this when we talked about it earlier in the week. It is one option but another small thing to do before the layout can be used. I just wonder if a Neodymium magnet at each end of each of the DIS would be strong enough to hold the DIS fast horizontally? In theory (at least?) I would have thought that the vertical locating pins could do the same job but I can't be certain that the pins would never move over time, allowing the track alignment to change. This would be the beginning of the ultimate tilt process. A hand operated sliding bolt on the underside of the DIS locating into a hole on the end of the fixed board might be a more positive option. True, something else to do before the layout can be used, but something that would be 100% preferable to having to fund repairs to any rolling stock that takes a nose dive off the tilted board.

You sir are a real Gent. Thank you for that. The only documentation that I can find on the plate that I bought suggest a spacer depth of 2.7mm is required. I recall that this was the measurement that I saw mentioned in a video I happened upon. I'll take a look at your linked video and go from there. I was thinking of fixing the magnetic plate to the build plate this morning to give the adhesive time to go off fully whilst I wait for the flexible steel plate to arrive (this evening). It looks like I'll first need to print the spacer before I stick the magnetic build plate to the original. Its a pity that Elegoo don't sink a couple of holes into the original build plate's sloped top into which magnets could be inserted either by them or the product's owner - it would be better for Elegoo to do it as they could seal them in. Thanks again. Meanwhile, back to the layout.

With the exception of the top (in the plan) left track, which I had as a two road sector plate, the plan mimics my first O gauge layout in a similar space. See my Puzzel Yard thread. I worked it as a (very) large shunting puzzle with around 20 wagons and 2 locos - remember that you'll need two as well. It kept me amused for hours (and hours). Its only downside was that I couldn't leave it erected all the time - the afore mentioned thread will show why.

Thanks for those words of wisdom. I'll take a look at UVTools. Yes, I am currently planning on using Chitubox as the slicer. What I thought was my flexible magnetic plate arrived (from the Amazon [?] )around 15 minutes before their 10pm curfew yesterday. I hadn't realised prior thereto that the Elegoo build plate wasn't magnetic, nor that the magnetic plate that I had just received therefore had to be stuck to the build plate. I spent some time wondering how what I had in my hand could be both flexible and fixed to the original build plate! I've since discovered the need for the flexible steel plate and an order for that is about to head to (the [?]) Amazon. The videos that I've seen of the magnetic plate suggest that there needs to be a spacer added to adjust the lowest height the build plate drops to in order to accommodate the extra bits that will be fitted. Did you find this to be the case and, if so, did you 3D print one yourself?

The plywood bases for the drop in sections have been cut to an approximate size. I now need to decide how to build & position their end supports aside from deciding their vertical height - see my previous post. There's not a great deal of space on the (garage) door side as can be seen here: The 15mm thick plywood strip is the support for the existing lifting flap but it serves to demonstrate the available space. I want to straighten the track breaks so that the break on both rails is at 90º to the rail ends. I also want to provide a more significant support for the rail ends, especially on the higher (LR) track. Fortunately (!) I can just about get to the underside of the baseboard so that I can screw a more substantial support in place from below. Jim's has lent me his scroll saw so I ought to be able to make some fairly precise cuts in the drop in section support that will match a similar shaped piece of timber under the end of the drop in section. A couple of (vertical) pins on the flap and matching sockets on the support will help to hold everything together (and the pins/sockets can be the means by which track power is passed to the drop in boards). The length of the present flap was determined by the presence of some pipework at the other end of the flap as can be seen here. I'm thinking that I might extend the fixed part of the layout to nearer the door frame - which will reduce the length/weight of the drop in sections. I can do this as part of providing the enhanced supports for the rail ends on the fixed board and provision of the fixed board fitted supports for the drop in flaps - see also the comment above about squaring off the track ends. I previously added a small overhanging section to the fixed baseboard as part of the means to try to disguise the old hinge mounting supports as can be seen here. That does narrow the entrance into the garage slightly and is no longer required for the original purpose so will be removed. I'm glad in a way that I've started this before turning the 3D printer on otherwise I could see me trying to do both at the same time! More anon.

That's today's jobs over and done with . . . . (and I now seem to have volunteered myself for another extracurricular job tomorrow which'll again reduce modelling time as a consequence). Anyway, part of today's plan was to head to my preferred model shop and relieve them of four yards of O gauge track (in exchange for the plastic alternative to money). I spied upon this book just as I was leaving. This was a complete co-incidence as Jim and I were discussing how to portray the new drop in sections yesterday. The book is now in my ownership. And lo and behold the first picture therein was this British Rail offering from a bridge at St Pancras. It represents an example of an idea we were batting around yesterday. We came up with a couple of options of how we could do something similar (even if it isn't 100% accurate). Doing something like the above will impact on the height that the drop-in sections need to sit at. This is obviously a rather important part of deciding the height of the board edge supports for the drop in sections. I could try 3D printing the flat-bottom rail baseplates but I think what they're affixed to may need preparing some other way because, unlike the picture above, all of track that I'll be laying is on a curve - I've also just realised that I'll need to fix the rails securely to something as well and that's not something I've worked out how to do.