rcmacchipilot

at sandside. check the voltage of your accessory bus with a multi meter. they dont like high voltages ( more often or not its now down to massive voltage that seems to have the biggest cause of complaints). also a center off (dpdt) switch will stop the volts going and unlike a tortise which relaxes a cobalt stays put if you kill its power. and if your hand building track slow action are the only way to go. and the added bonus of not requiring an arc welder to throw them

scott, peter (I hope he doesnt mind me dobbing him in) from focus has a great method of adjusting n scale joiners to fit bulllhead track ( im guessing yours are loose). there is a good chance that the same method may work with fb track as well. Good to see stockrington progressing along. The ribble head layout is progressing well, although at our usual measured pace. the guys have done a great job with base board and fascia infrastructure over the last few months so we are at a point almost where all the supporting mechanisms are in place. once thats done focus will turn to the layout. some track plans for ribblehead and ribblehead station have also been done In templot. To anyone else in the perth area reading this. please come and drop in at naval base. we love visitors and a good chin wag. ( sorry to high jack your thread scott)

Looking very good, Is this 00 or 0? I wish you all the best with your build. Keep us updated with the progress. Acc +Ess sounds cool, could you use it with a dcc or dc layout as well? Regards, Owen

Well, I am extremely happy to report that I have been one very busy bee over the last 3 days. The modelling mojo has well and truly taken hold . The small pile of wood during the last blog has now taken on structure, that of some baseboards and a lighting stand. This is what it started life out like. 12mm MDF 2400 * 1200 sheets rip cut on a table saw ( Thanks to bob and his lovely wife for putting up with the mdf dust and giving me a hand and a lend of their table saw ). This gave me 22 lengths off wood. I also picked up some 30mm X 30 mm pine which forms the corner joins of the baseboards. Once the running around with all the wood had taken place and its was safely back in the nice dry shed it was time for the fun to start, or should I say play? Thanks to the plans created and printed out in Templot 2 weeks ago I knew exactly where all the boards would go. The question was if the planning was good enough for everything to slot into place. On Friday I took the plunge and started on the first board. This was going to be the easiest to put up as it sits between two brick walls that are parallel to each other. This was the first one. 580mm of 100mm MDF attached to 800 mm of 30mm*30mm. The long pine posts form the support for the lighting. Because of the shape of the layout. None of them fall inside the viewing area which I am pretty happy about. Saturday morning I ended up with this: Next a 9mm MDF board was cut to fit on the inside. At the moment they look like flat top boards, however once I am %100 happy with the location of the track location in relation to the rest of the room, the boards will be elevated above the base board frames so that relief can be added to the terrain. A little was in order. So a little flex track and some rolling stock was put into place. Pity I miss placed the pack of joiners so I had some length to run. Once the first was up the confidence to do the others followed. The next one was the other corner. Finally two centre boards were added. These are all held in place with a combination of bolts nuts and washers and DCC Concepts alignment dowels. The alignment dowels are extremely simple to put in and do an excellent and very tight fit. Ill endeavour to post the instillation of a pair in the next blog. And last but not least an board for lighting was placed up. Overall the feel of the room has completely changed, however now that everything is up, the room actually feels a lot more open than I imagined it would feel. Im guessing that is an advantage of wall mounted baseboards The minister of war and finances is also very happy as there is plenty of room beneath the layout with which she can continue to sew. Also there have been promises of some low level lighting to illuminate her ( and mine ) desks. Apologies for the blurry photos, Although for a mobile phone, photos are much better than where we were at 5 years ago.

This looks very good. I second mikkels thoughts on street view. I'm definitely going to have a look into that. I cant wait to see this all weathered up. By the way how is the direction of empire basin going? Owen

hey. looking great. I think the weathering on the walls is actually preety good. did you scratch make the levers? (edited because of fat fingers on the phones keyboard)

Hayfield, Im glad you got one working in OOSF . Im going down a basterdised route of OO and OOSF so I dont know how well that will work. Martin, Thanks for the help, I have another question that has bothered me. When I built the slip the switch blades appear on the outside of the stock rail in templot. Its no real biggy for me as I judt put them on the inside instead, however is there a way to make it so that all the switch blades are on the inside. RT, Are you building a straight slip or curved slip at your club? Regards, Owen

Thanks. When did they disapear from service? I actually had the thought looking at modern BR diamond crossings, where the elbow are forced to move due to the low angle which is required for high speed crossings. Its nice to know that there is a 19xx's prototype for what I have done. being S&D its not unplausible to say that a GWR engineer visited

Well, I am out of the arm chair and now armed.... with a soldering iron . As the double slip is the busiest and hardest peace of track to build I thought I would make a practice one, so when I stuffed it up I would learn what I needed to fix before building the new one. I printed out the double slip section from Templot and then glued it down to a melamine board ( as they are water and glue proof-ish. So I can use it over and over again... yay ) I then cut up the sleepers for the skip using C&L copper clad. isolation was done with a dremmel cutter and a very light touch. Then each sleeper was checked for continuity over the gap. ( I hate having to fault find once its painted ) I then set to work with my trusty brass roller gauges from dcc concepts and some c&l bullhead. And eventually I ended up with the picture bellow ( Excuse the shadow) Unfortunately with testing 4 wheel wagons, thanks to the angle of the track intersection and the fact that it is indeed to curved tracks crossing, Every 20th time I ran a wagon through the centre it would magically change tracks. ......ARRRGGH However looking at the gauging of the rest of the track I thought I would experiment. Now the centre crossing switches as well. This one shows the crossings thrown This one shows them neutral to show that they move. Yay problems eliminated . Also the running is that good that Im not going to bother making another and just use this one instead. Only down side is that it uses four cobalts to throw ( yes I am aware it can be done with two cobalts and some cranks and levers, however Im lazy and would rather do other modelling ) However a scissors crossing also uses 4 and this is the space saving version of that so no big loss. Also found this in the super market. (its a kiwi fruit, if anyone is uncertain) gave me a laugh. On another front I have rip cut using a friends table saw a whole heap of 4*8 12 mm mdf panels into 100mm planks to start making open structure boards. However no photo of that. I mean who wants a photo of wood ...... See you all later.

Well, I am out of the arm chair and now armed.... with a soldering iron . As the double slip is the busiest and hardest peace of track to build I thought I would make a practice one, so when I stuffed it up I would learn what I needed to fix before building the new one. I printed out the double slip section from Templot and then glued it down to a melamine board ( as they are water and glue proof-ish. So I can use it over and over again... yay ) I then cut up the sleepers for the skip using C&L copper clad. isolation was done with a dremmel cutter and a very light touch. Then each sleeper was checked for continuity over the gap. ( I hate having to fault find once its painted ) I then set to work with my trusty brass roller gauges from dcc concepts and some c&l bullhead. And eventually I ended up with the picture bellow ( Excuse the shadow) Unfortunately with testing 4 wheel wagons, thanks to the angle of the track intersection and the fact that it is indeed to curved tracks crossing, Every 20th time I ran a wagon through the centre it would magically change tracks. ......ARRRGGH However looking at the gauging of the rest of the track I thought I would experiment. Now the centre crossing switches as well. This one shows the crossings thrown This one shows them neutral to show that they move. Yay problems eliminated . Also the running is that good that Im not going to bother making another and just use this one instead. Only down side is that it uses four cobalts to throw ( yes I am aware it can be done with two cobalts and some cranks and levers, however Im lazy and would rather do other modelling ) However a scissors crossing also uses 4 and this is the space saving version of that so no big loss. Also found this in the super market. (its a kiwi fruit, if anyone is uncertain) gave me a laugh. On another front I have rip cut using a friends table saw a whole heap of 4*8 12 mm mdf panels into 100mm planks to start making open structure boards. However no photo of that. I mean who wants a photo of wood ...... See you all later.

Is that kit bashed or scratchbuilt? Either way its going to look good

Modelling (well model planning/ design ) has continued in the background during the last few months. Time for blogging on the other hand has been another question. Today however I have the dreaded lurgy so Im taking some time to update the progress thus far. At the end of the last blog, there was a paper track design in place. Since then there has been a whole heap of conceptualisation progress with the trainz program. The aim of the program was to get an idea how it would look in 3D as well as how all the elements would fit together. Once happy it was possible to do some testing ( or playing ) before starting up templot. The other advantage is its a really quick way to get an idea of how well a concept will work This is a top view of the layout. The area of the spare room was ruled up to give a definitive space to work within. ( its approximately the same space as empire basin for those following that blog ) Once the area was a defined it was a simple case of putting track and then scenery in. One of the things that has changed since the paper plan is that the down line goods yard now has a head shunt that runs parallel to the station. Here is a view of the proposed station layout. And another of the proposed goods shed and small loco facility. The turntable in trainz scales to a larger size than the peco one I plan to use. The other good thing about using trainz is that the buildings are scale size and a realistic size at that. The other advantage is an immersive 3D view. I can place trees and buildings and see how they will affect my ability to see different areas of the layout. This is going to be an issue as the layout is designed to be just under eye height. It also gives me a good reason to have undulating terrain and not just a flat board on the layout. This will give me a better view of trains in different areas. (and hopefully some good photography) Once I was totally happy with it, It was time to migrate to Templot. To get a nice flowing nature ( plus most turnouts are on a 4-5 ft radius) using Templot is a must. I have sprouted the moto that if you can do a double slip in Templot then you can do anything. The double slip was the first part that I completed. Hats off to martin because once you get used to the idea of creating custom sections of track, the program is really easy to use. Eventually I have come up with this. Pretty happy with it since this is the first time that I have used Templot. So I now know where all the point motors will go and can start designing and building my boards. Here it is printed out at 1:1 on the lounge room floor. Dog tiptoed around the track plan very carefully to get onto her bed. Good dog On a side note there has been other modelling happening in the background. Work on the 4mt tank and 5MT have been progressing well and I have started putting the airbrush to use. I now need to get pressfix transfers and do all the lining etc before weathering. I will also give the tender another coat of paint as the last one was thinned out way to much and has gone funny. ( yay for metal work, because if it all goes to pot then there is always paint stripper ) Oh, and some people have been placed in coaches. Any case, Ill sign off here with a few more pictures from Trainz.

Very well blended colours with the backscene. its almost seemless. Is it a photo you took yourself? Any more pictures please.... :D (edited to reflect the question)

Hey Mixy, I have a couple, although they are a slightly more difficult concept to edit. The ability to make custom radius/frog angle turnouts (including crossovers with distances able to be set across tracks) through a plugin and the ability to have parallel track splines (kind of like in trainz) I love using scarm for brainstorming looks and ideas and this would help alot. (sorry to highjack Mixy's question jukebox)

I know a few people that would be intersted in the panniers and model GW in perth, myself included (well techinically S&D, but thats close enough to justify a pannier during its late WR period). Owen

I second the filler, however I would give dust of black weathering powerder then wiped off with a damp cloth to tone down the mortar course. The Top part is much better at depicting and older delerict building as the increased depth gives it a look of worn mortar.

Nice to see the progress being made. Honestly 2 isles and 3 peninsulas in that size room would probably end up really cramped or look horibble in terms of minimum radius. I think this current set up with the track plans you have had should look really good. Owen

First of all, I also would love to voice my interest in another special on little bytham. I really enjoyed the last dvd. On the note of kits, I would like to point out that whilst there are so many fantastic RTR models out there, there is still an element of enjoyment in building the locomotive yourself so there will always be a level of demand for the kit manufacturers. ( Not to mention, nothing beats a well detailed white metal kit for weight, and you cant dip a plastic model in a bucket of acetone to help develop your painting). On the other side of the coin, I think it is fantastic to see such great RTR coming out (Especially with the beautiful detailed cabs). At the end of the day, the person still has to make a base board, or lay some track, come up with a track plan etc. How is that different from putting together an airfix kit. I dont think that the use of RTR detracts from modeling at all, Indeed it can free up time for people to focus on other aspects that they enjoy. Frankly I would like to congratulate Tony on what I believe is a very level headed and well thought out statement, which I believe advocates the positive aspects of railway modelling very well. Owen

Also fantastic for weighing gold and other precious metals.

You ever thought of putting two perspex ends on the non slding part so you can never drive a loco off unless its alligned with the exit level ( this being the level that would have no perspex to stop the train) A couple of L brackets and it should be easy to put into place.

Hi David, The plan looks like an interesting one with plenty of scope for "Play value". What do you plan to put in the top left corner? Out of curisoity is that an accurate representation of the 6 foot way between tracks? I am curious as it helps me visualise what I have planned in my head. (We have approximatley the same size room use) Regards, Owen

Lovely job with the DJH Kits,

Yeah, the crowding is one of my concerns. Although theroetically the 2 tracks with the 2 passing loops should not be much wider than 180mm ( assuming a 6 foot way between each of the two tracks ) this will probably have to be widened a bit to accomodate what is a sharper curve than what is possible on the prototype. I see an exeriment coming along.... I guess that one of the passing loops could be removed at a push, however it makes two person operation on an up and down line require more co-ordination. I imagine the waybill system could be something like a card game with maybe a dice used to determine whether an incoming wagon is full or not. Then based on that wagons would have to be shunted through different spots before being reasembled or split for further trains..... not sure yet. Its just an idea floating in the back of my head. It could theoreticlaly be taken a step further with a set of chance cards.... ie hot axle box, turn locomotive, change locomotive...etc...

Sandycock junction ( my previous layout and the layout that formed the basis of many of the photos used in other blog entries ) has been sold off . This is Midd Everford. A combination of the concepts of Evercreech junction and Midford and Midsomer Norton, which form the inspiration for the layout. Before getting into the reasoning behind each of the decisions here are the technical specs for the planned layout in terms of radii: Main line radius scenic 4Ft Minimum Minimum radius scenic 2Ft Minimum non scenic radius 2FT The main concept behind the design is that I wanted a turn table as per Evercreech junction and theoretically the requirement to bank loco's ( thus a minor storage facility attached to the turn table) also as a nod to Evercreech there are two passing loops that can act in theory also as an up and down line marshalling yard. Theoretically in my head, this place was built midway along a non existent spur of the S&D. larger passenger trains would turn and head the other direction here, whilst smaller goods and local passenger would continue on. I like the small goods yard an architecture of Midsomer Norton and the goods shed I hope will be a nod to that. I also like the hilly nature of Midford viaduct and have a soft spot for water, so a tunnel at one end and some terrain elevation and a river are a nod to that area. Overall the layout had to be something with enough shunting interest to keep me entertained when I wanted to play with a waybill style system, however had to have a continuous run as well for those other times that I or other just want to run trains. For those reasons the two run around loops with 3 industries seemed like a good combination. the advantage is that the up and down main can each be run by one person and they can either run a train around or shunt without fowling the other line. The main concept is to build the layout just under eye height. Beneath it I have convinced the minister of war finance and pies that there will be room for her sewing desk and my hobby desk. Onto the bottom of the baseboards 12v LED lighting will be placed to light up both of our work areas. In making efficient use of room in the house the peace is kept as the trains will not encroach into other rooms of the house ( beyond modelling or playing around on the kitchen table, which happens a fair bit) I would like to give a Nod to Iain Rices' book " Railway Modelling - The Realistic Way" which has provided me with much food for throught in the layout planing process. I would also like to give a nod to right track 15 which has taught me much about operations as well as helping me work out what I want. (Standard caveat, I have nothing to do with eather of these companies/people , just a happy buyer) Its been ages since I have blogged thanks to two house moves and a change in career direction, however with Christmas approaching I finally have time to catch up on blogging again. Some interesting projects have been in the works including some weathering, a test track build using a book shelf and 2 DJH white metal kits. Ill put further posts up in time, however here is a taster of the DJH standard 4mt tank. If anyone has any thoughts or comments please place them at the base of the blog. I am interested in any problems that anyone can for-see. Also I would love some suggestions as to where signals should go. The plan is to have fully functional ground and semaphore signals so they will need to be planned before the build starts.

I am captivated with your windows. They look fantastic because they actually capture the feel of a glass pane as it actually is in a window. What did you do your roof beams with? Owen