martink

Construction of this layout is now complete. I'll make a proper video of it in the next few days.

The Ebay trees have arrived, so are being rebuilt into Gum trees and installed on the layout. About half of them are now in place, with another couple of dozen gums to go. Then it will be the tree ferns, Europeans and undergrowth. The trunks and branches are a bit over-thick, but this is more noticeable on the photos than in real life. While some of the trees seem huge, none of them are more than middling-tall for Eucalypts. Even in this scale, we still have to use sub-scale trees!

Yes, I remember looking at your site when first starting to play with this stuff. 3D printing is really what makes this sort of modelling practicable now, since doing it all the hard way is just that - hard. Anyway, I hadn't planned to make another video until the layout was complete, but was talked into doing one showing the trains doing what trains are supposed to do: https://youtu.be/Nakn8x8a1qI

Thanks, Ian. It is the potential here that really interests me, since the technology has a totally different set of strengths and weaknesses than conventional model rail drive systems. Other than the philosophical issue that it isn't truly a railway, the biggest weakness is that since every vehicle contains powerful magnets, you cannot let them get too close or a major pileup ensues. That means 4-wheel wagons are problematic, and so are double track and complex stations. Partial workarounds are possible, such as treating double track as singled or Gantlet, having dummy tracks for spacing, etc. The main strengths are exactly what conventional drive systems cannot do well, especially in the ultra-small scales: very high reliability, low maintenance, realistic train lengths, ultra-low-speed running, the ability to model small (e.g. early 1800s) prototypes, and mixed road/rail. And as the crown jewel, easy automation that goes well beyond normal model rail limits (i.e. shunting). Now that I know the concept actually does work as a fully developed (if basic) model railway, I want to explore these paths and see where they lead.

All the stock has now been painted, giving a full exhibition complement of two typical trains and a fire patrol trolley. Work on the layout will now be put on hold for a month or so, waiting for the trees to arrive. I'll do a full video then.

I used two of IDL's oval tracks a few years back on an earlier layout (Sarum Bridge), and really liked the concept. I looked at various ways of extending or modifying them, but without success, so eventually bit the bullet and started designing my own. It took a lot of false starts, almost-but-not-quites, lessons learned and discarded test tracks to get to this state. IDL has since released a connectable and extendable version of their track, but the features it emphasizes aren't the ones I wanted, so...

Doug - yep, it really has been a while. Anyway, I cannot compete with you P4 types for exquisite detail, so I have to carve out my own niche. I probably achieve a similar amount of detail per square inch, but just apply it differently!

The scenery is now complete except for the trees and the backscene, so further progress will be on hold until they arrive. The rolling stock has been built and tested, and is currently being painted. I will make a proper video when it is all properly forested, but here is a quick teaser for now... https://youtu.be/jsAcQBRm3oA The locos have all been painted, but please remember that in this small scale the photos are very, very cruel. Those tank engines are less than 1" long.

The Monbulk Creek trestle bridge is a popular viewing spot on "Puffing Billy", a 15 mile long 2'6" gauge tourist railway on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia. This 37"x15" micro-layout is designed to demonstrate typical holiday traffic for this busy little line. Construction is approaching completion, with the main scenic work now done. Remaining pieces needing effort are the trains, track surface, trees, backscene, fine detailing and still more trees. The trains are driven by a linear motor track and train-mounted magnets rather than conventional track and wheeled mechanisms, my own variation of a commercial product from IDL Motors. The control system is designed to handle three trains of typical length, cycling them through the scenic section one at a time. The primary goal of this layout is to serve as a test bed for using the system in more ambitious projects in the future. All stock and structures are 3D printed on a CreatorPro, although the trains in the picture are rough 1:400 scale experiments rather than the final 1:350 models, showing early carriage construction ideas that didn't quite work out. The original intent was to make this model in T (1:450), which changed to 1:400 and then finally to 1:350, due to a practical minimum carriage length of 24mm from magnet placing and spacing issues. Now I just have to wait 30 years for the trees to grow... or for slow Airmail from China, which just seems like 30 years. Video of some early running tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ZlAIuZqGU Photo of the current state of construction: The Horseshoe Bridge, the main focus of the layout, showing an 8" long sub-scale test train (the carriages only 21mm long rather than 24), the track surface not yet attached, and a great dearth of trees.

A bit of an old thread, but since someone else has resurrected it... The current (though temporary) panel for my N gauge out-and-back layout Plymouth Citadel. Loosely based on #9 from CJF's N Gauge Track Plans. Fully signalled and interlocked with panel repeaters, all driven by a small microcontroller-based circuit board. Point motors are Peco with a mini-CDU for each point. Control is by an uncommon form of DC cab control with one cab switch per controller rather than one per section, due to be replaced next year with one slaved to the signals. The out-and-back is set up as an automatic queue holding up to 5 trains with 4-aspect signals with junction feathers.