Dave1964
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Church Hope Model Railway was created by Dave and Richard Farmer in 2022 to model the late GWR and DSJR steam railways. As the railway developed it diversified so that as well as GWR steam locomotives we also now have a growing number of locomotives and rolling stock from across the UK. The layout might be considered a heritage railway with many visitors including American and European locos and even the locos from Thomas and Friends. A key focus in the design and building of the railway has been to demonstrate computer automation of model railways. The layout can be run entirely from a laptop using the iTrain software and a variety of hardware modules from different manufacturers. As the railway has progressed we are keen to adopt the latest technology. Just like a regular railway the computer is able to select the best route at any particular time. Trains are routed between the stations, fiddle yards, marshalling yards and engine sheds. The computer knows the location of each train and that trains planned route if the train is active. The computer also knows the characteristics of the train, size and length, as well as speed, acceleration and deceleration, so that it can be routed in an appropriate way. Signalling, sounds and turntable are also controlled by the computer. Although we have used actual Station Names and places the railway design does not currently depict any real life locations. The Weymouth and Portland Railway and the Easton and Church Hope Railway were operated jointly by the Great Western Railway and the LSWR. We are currently researching and plan to include a detailed scale model of Easton Station on Portland. For the technically minded we are a DCC layout running iTrain pro; Z21 and Digikeijs Controllers, Digikeijs track occupancy sensors and ECoS and Digikeijs servo point/frog switch control; Peco SmartSwitch on some insulfrog points. We have just under 100m of track, 46 points, and the layout is just over 7m long and 1.8m wide. The layout is portable and available for shows, please contact us for details. The layout requires 3 people to setup and move. Coming Soon As well as automated operation the railway will be able to be operated using handheld controllers (mobile phones or tablets) in a semi-automatic or completely manual way. This means that a visitor at a show will be able to drive a train, following the trackside signals whilst other trains remains automated. Follow us on Instagram: church.hope.model.railway Follow us on Facebook: Church Hope Facebook Page Website: Church Hope -
Hi You do not need a reversing module with the Heljan DCC turntable because it has this built in. There is a small zone in the circle where this happens and where no tracks can be laid. The track bridge supplies can be routed through a feedback detector, I use a Digikeijs one, but that simply tells you if the bridge is occupied. However, there appears to be no way of the turntable reporting back its current position. Itrain will try and guess the position because it knows what commands it has been sent, but this quickly gets out of sync with the actual position as sometimes the bridge moves in a different direction! in addition iTrain, or any DCC system has no way of knowing when the bridge arrives as the desired location other than an estimated period of time. Dave I have used a DigiReverse module for polarity changes in reversing loops, these are also often used with turntables but not required for the Heljan DCC turntable. Dave
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I have tried but it’s not an Itrain issue. I have since discovered that Heljan do not provide end-state feedback outputs. thankyou
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I have an issue with trains running off the turntable before it reaches its destination. ITrain suggests an End State Feedback but I don’t know how to set the feedback up. Any help appreciated dave
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Hi, my name is Dave and I live in Portland, Dorset. I am modelling late GWR era and am most interested in DCC automation.
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Hello i have recently been trying to setup my Heljan turntable for DCC. I am using Digikeijs for DCC with Itrain as a controller. the turntable appears to be setup correctly and works with manual control. With Itrain I can route a loco through the turntable, but only if the turntable needs to rotate before the loco enters the bridge. if the bridge is already in the correct position then the bridge immediately starts a 180 degree turn, the loco does not stop and therefore drives into the pit! The only thing that is not as per instructions is the wiring. This has been changed to make the bridge feedback work. I wire the Heljan controller as follows: From the left Position 1 - connected to DR4088LN return Position 2 - connected to track power Positions 3 and 4 are connected to a TamValleyDepot accessory booster. With this wiring the feedback works correctly Dave
