rdr

sadly i've had to shelve this idea due to lack of available space, but a more concise version is underway and is making slow progress.

i've had V70 T5 volvos for the last 10 years and there is a difference with 99 octane fuel over 97.

99 gives a smoother more powerfull drive and returns more mpg, and the engine sounds stronger and strangely less gutteral.

It's still a 50/50 choice for me on a single line or this double line

i've created a new version of the double road entry for Intermodal, which seems to work reasonably well on paper. Can anyone see any unforseen problems with this. The second pic is a closer view of the entry.

Normally when you pop the tablet in you work it down the throat but some are pretty wise to this and still manage to chuck it back. That's the reason for the fish, works on every cat i've had to do this way.

crush it and mix it in with some cooked fish or chicken, then feed to the cat. Works every time.

A little story about the old presented by the young (well i was then).

Many moons ago i built a radio controlled "OO" lima western, with it's own battery onboard and 27mhz radio control. It was a magical thing to watch running, incredibly smooth and would start from a minute crawl to a supersonic overspeed if required. There were no problems with trackwork at all as there were no pickups to worry about and no dirty track to care about.

So off i went with my creation to show it off to my local model club, with all the youthful excitement i could muster. All went well, my western performed beautifully tackling the complicated pointwork of the station approach with ease and the batteries lasting for ever.

Sadly the club in their wisdom decided that the cost of changing over to a new system would weigh too heavily on the members pockets as the stock was spread across quite a few owners. With hindsight their concerns were flawed as they eventually all moved over to DCC, but the western still survived to be a shining example of the future that never was.

3 hours ago, jpendle said:

Roco's Z21 system uses CAN on their Railcom feedback box, and they also make a CAN hub. I suspect more CAN control stuff will be coming from them in the future.

 

Regards,

 

John P

and as a bonus you can fix your car for free.

8 hours ago, The Johnster said:

 

Back to the future, Marty, my prediction is that Bluetooth or a similar NFC technology will be used for untethered smartphone app control of locomotives that have on board power supplies that are recharged at set locations in the same way as wireless phone charging works.  There will be no need to supply current at all to the track, and sound fx will be delivered via wireless headphones, with no need for speakers on board locomotives or stock.  Motors will be axle hung or direct drive on each axle, possibly including those on rolling stock, and of the lowest possible individual power consumption, leaving space for detail such as engine/equipment room detail on diesels and electrics and inside motion on steam locos, which will feature servo operation of reversing rods and valve gear settings.  Full underframe detail on multiple units can be provided along with correct level interior floors and brake van detail.  Plastic track will not need cleaning and can be used outdoors; there will be no pickups and thus no need to adjust or clean those either.  Wheels and axles can be plastic if that is of any advantage; grip between plastic wheels on plastic rails should be very good indeed.  All we have to do is to get up to 88mph...

Don't let the cat out of the bag, everyone will want it.

you could lay sheets of plasticard (or equivalent) for the yard base and glue the chairs directly to it with acetone.

I've added a few bits of stock on the plan to highlight the station curve, the container yard and the workshop siding.

maybe a better word would have been "stability". The base is quite solid and with a 9mm ply top, it will make a "stable" base layer for the 6mm ply to form the running surfaces. The running areas are split to two different levels, the container yard being a couple of scale feet higher than the station area.

and with it's track layout printed out, it's so much easier with a 42" printer using templot.

A temporary top surface of 6mm ply which will be the running surface for each level, it will have a 9mm ply base to give it strength.

After a hectic week sitting on my rear end adjusting the innards of the baseboard in Templot, the baseboard has finally been completed. Occupying the one side of my office, it currently hides what's left of the stack of computers bought from a school late last year. The jumbled layout of braces at the thin end is designed to house the dock and loco traverser, and the staggered run of braces at the thick end conveniently avoids the point mechanisms.

The next choice is the surface material, 9mm ply seems to be the best option, with thinner 6mm ply on top to give different levels of track surface for the yard and station areas. I've planned to have the station area slightly lower than the container yard, using a full sheet of thin ply raised and cut through the middle to allow the station area to flow down. This way i should be able to get away without any awkward joints to blend in.

An update, well things have changed a bit and moved in a few different directions, mostly for the better or certainly simpler. Templot/me have been busy drawing the impossible into a space that was never suitable, but as you can see from the picture it works and seems to flow well.

Intermodal has grown a small amount in length and girth to suit it's surroundings, and is now in a temperature controlled room that will save a lot of headaches in the future.

Gone are the straight lines and B8 points and we're now in the lengthy realm of C10's and very few straights. The full length station area has been tweaked to have a workshop siding and a storage line with a shed for an overworked 08, connected by a single slip. The 3 road container yard is still the same with it's cheeky traverser, and has grown an added road above for re-fuelling.

The main stock traverser is now just a single 3m line that feeds the stock back underneath the layout to a stacked fiddle yard with at least six levels (see second picture), so plenty of room for stock.

The framework has been designed and construction starts tomorrow, with hopefully some more pictures to follow.

i remember the only slide rule i ever saw, "wait until the person before you has got off"

and printing looks better

you could use printouts of the points you need and lay single sleepers to suit. With just standard resins chairs are very brittle, but it's not a problem to add a flex resin in a percentage to cure this (pardon the pun)

sorry for not getting back any sooner, i must have missed the notification on your post.

I had to do a combination of pictures and drawings, to get it somewhere near correct, probably not spot on yet.

I have a very basic cad drawing of a three bolt chair, which i shall try to locate and put up here.

Found it, if i could just figure out how to get it into my attachments. If you want a copy message me your details and i'll send it.

9 minutes ago, Wrighty said:

Hi buddy, I’m absolutely loving the size of the layout, will be following with much interest!

 

All the best

Chris (Facebook)

It's got slightly longer and the trackplan has changed quite a bit. I'll update this thread when i get my workshop a bit more organised, with some room to move.

Flat earth?...Nah ah

every two days i feed ferals in the local area, here are some of them.

i used to love browsing through the W&H catalogue, i'm sure i've still got one somewhere.

Jeyes fluid around the boundary, keep it off the plants.