D1670

27 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

With the latest Traincontroller V10 software there is a "line-up" facility whereby you can stack multiple trains in a single long block. You need a sensor at the entrance of the block to tell TC the train is entering the block. The train is positioned according to the lengths of the trains already in the block with a suitable gap between them. When the first train departs, the others move up.  The only issue with this is the speed at which the trains move up - can take a while with longish trains so I've not used it. Instead my 16 storage roads are divided into 2, 3 or 4 blocks allowing a mix of short medium and long trains. When a train departs, there's an action on the block release to start a schedule to move the next train up etc.

While I like the idea of this, in principle, my experience of software (and I am a Dev) shows me the situation where either everything is coupled together by contact, or the last movement hits the whole yard like a Newton's cradle and derails the front train 😁

And I'm aware you can set the detection offset, but when using shorter blocks (which I plan for) it seems pointless to have two detections per block if this is being used. More head scratching possibly needed.

Special thank you to everyone who took time to answer - particularly @WIMorrison who seemed to make the most sense of my gibberish! Seriously, the more clear I try and make each question, the woolier it seems to get. Ho-Hum. 

So I've decided to try 40cm as the feedback zone at the end of each block. Each road is uni-directional so I will only need two detects per block. My main concern with rolling stock is with older models such as Lima DMU which could be operating with the motor in the rear of 3 cars. For these cases I am looking into resistive wheelsets which should hopefully prevent issues here. Still going to be a while before automation goes in, but at least now I can get a start on wiring the yard this week. 

Thanks again!

Hi All, 
 

My search engine skills are letting me down on this. I feel like it should have been discussed about a zillion times, but I can't find anything 😞

I am starting to arrange my fiddle yards for automation - freight yard shown below.  I've been advised to use a current detection technique, rather than infra-red. Each road needs at least 2 blocks for 2 trains, and as I understand it each block needs to be in 2 "zones", a zone that contains a main train, and a shorter zone at the front of the block that will trigger the automation when the loco arrives to stop the train before it enters the next block.

What I'm having trouble determining is how long this stop zone should be - I'm modelling OO. The only figure I can find is about 10cm, which seems a little short to me. I was thinking around 30cm (1 loco length), but have no idea where I have formed that opinion from. I know all my locos need to be speed profiled for this. 
 

Can I ask what people tend to use for this?
 

If it matters, it will probably be controlled by iTrain with YaMoRC, but that is still to be decided. 

Many thanks
Gareth

Hi All, 

I've read the excellent thread on here about car deliveries being taken out of Cowley works for various time periods, but can't find anything about deliveries of raw materials - particularly steel -  to the plant. For the Pressed steel plant in particular, it would appear to need volumes of steel to be delivered and in the 1950s/60s period I just can't see this volume being delivered by road. I am led to believe that it exported (to Longbridge and Crewe) Pressed Steel car bodies to be finished elsewhere, so must have had raw material delivered to make these - to at least one of the plants. I've gone through all my books on steam in Oxfordshire and can't find any reference to any specific trains - apart from a mixed train of parts from Longbridge) delivering into the works.  Could enough material have been delivered in normal mixed goods train to feed the plants? 
Hunting down any information on any GWR steel services - even around South Wales - is beating my google-fu badly. But with the location steel from the north via the former LNER/GCR could also have been a viable option. 

If anyone can provide any information, I would be fascinated to receive it.

Many thanks

Gareth

Would be grateful for an update on this, if you have one. 

I'm looking at putting an order in, but his email is dead. Does anyone know if he is still trading?

Thanks

Gareth