Bas Knippels

I got the side panels and assembled the first prototype. Back side (upside down) And lastly I have a video. I do recommend to mute the audio, something todo with.. different language ;-) I am comparing a hattons barclay 0-4-0 which has decent driving behaviour to one of those 10 buck Hornby contraption you find in starter sets. In order to use the main throttle knob for locomotives while retaining similar speeds I play around with the mininum and maximum speed settings. In the end I was somewhat content with the Hornby contraption. I don't think I can get it much better, especially the lower speeds are mediocre at best. I don't have a real layout at this moment. I am working on a double tracked test track. To react on the frequencies. I don't know much about coreless motors tbh and I don't own one. I do know that for brushed DC motors lower frequencies give a significant better performance. Frequencies between 100Hz and 20kHz make a too much annoying noise IMO Frequencies below 50Hz still drive well, but the LED blinking is really noticable at those low frequencies. Frequencies greater than 20kHz are above our hearing limit. Decoders work with around 32kHz (is propably different per manufactor), this makes them silent as we can't hear those frequencies. But such high frequencies have god awfull driving properties and especially at lower speeds. The reason why decoders still manage to get such great behaviour is the back EMF. My controller controls both frequency as dutycycle. For a dutycycle of <10% I use 50Hz. At 100% I use 100Hz. Dutycycles between 10% and 100% is scaled linear from 50Hz to 100Hz. When my test tracks are ready, I'll post another video.. in english this time. I am curious to how my Sd40-2 performs compared to the Hornby 0-4-0st Kind regards, Bas

I let a friend 3D print me some parts to make me a bagnall 0-4-0ST. But those parts are to fit on this class 21 pug chassis. I do not know how to get the upper parts off. Can somebody help me out here? Kind regards, Bas

I got me a package today. Next step is to measure the height, adjust side panels and order all missing components. Than I can drive train :-D Bas

I made a little something for me Hornby class 156. Hornby made some really cheap decisions when they did not even add lights to this model. Click here for a short video of the first test. I disconnected the head lights for eachother so I can do that day night light system they have in Scotland. There is a solder jumper if just want both head lights to work simultaneously. As you can see I also have dim lights. With a different LED and resistor value you should be able to use this PCB for other class 156 liveries as well. I hope that in the comming days I can install the first prototype. I am not yet sure about the second as I recently got me that 153 as well. So the rear may not get lighting afteral. If you are interested in this design. Gerber files can be found here. Source files are also to be found on me github. All components are in 0603 casing for those who want to solder one. Kind regards, Bas

Hello all, On the side I am slowly developing my own PWM controller. I already made a DIY tutorial with which you can buy components like an Arduino and H-bridge driver to make one yourself. It is however in Dutch and not yet translated, so unless you get Google translate active I would not click this link Anyways I thought also to make a ready 2 run version of the PWM controller.. you know just for the fun of it. So I want to present my PWM controller design and ask for your input. My bare mininum variant On the left you see the base plate. It houses the main electronics, 10 lever switches and 5 potentiometers for control. In the middle you see the front panel and than the sides remain. With a little imagination you should be able to see how it all fit togather 😉 My PWM controller design uses the 10 lever switch to power on sections of tracks. I have potentiometers for mininum speed and maximum speed. These allow you to use the full range of the main throttle knob for all types of locomotives. It copes with different driving behaviour of trains. You do have to memorize your min and max settings per loco a little bit for it to be effective I have a potentiometer for acceleration and brake control. And you can connect up to two sensors (IR sensors, current sense, LDR...) with which you can shuttle automatically. The delay time at station can also be set with one of the knobs. And this is what I consider as 'bare mininum'. And I was wondering what you guys think of this design. And what you would like to see in a 'perfect' PWM controller. The possibilties of a more elaborate system When it comes to programmable devices like I build, there are really no limitations. I have for instance a technology ( -> just talking about a piece of software here) with which can capture and record your actions so it get to replay those actions for you. So instead of shuttling just one single train you get to create more elaborate pre-recorded programs. You can just manually control points, signals, relays and a PWM controller like you usually do and than 'it' can do it for you. You can make the most elaborated shuttle service running with 10 trains or you can do something simples. Instead of a fully automated service you can also think of just running around your loco and stop right there. Using an IR sluice you can stop directly above decouplers. And this can be tought in by doing the actions first yourself. After the program is tought in, you press a button and you wait until your loco finishes running around. I have figured out and designed such a system until last detail. I won't bother you with the details now 😉 But I wonder. Who would want such a system? I know I would. So please let me know what you guys think of my 'bare mininum design' and the mentioned endless posibilities. Kind regards, Bas

This is where I designed them for. My very first modulair layout took damage on my very first trip. I knew already that similar sleepers existed. After my damage I finally understood why they were important to use. The original design had no screw holes and were 8 sleepers long. I had to saw/break them and drill holes for the screw. That material is quite tough, so especially the hole drilling was a bit difficult. You don't know how incredibly simple that procedure is. I even have written a Dutch guide for it. Though it is more of a checklist as the process is kinda self explanatory. It also has pictures: https://train-science.com/printplaten-bestellen-bij-jlcpcb/ I don't know what kind of customs problems to expect when shipping to UK. Or how much that costs? Perhaps that one of your local shops like Hattons or Rails of Sheffield would wanna try it out? Bas

If you mean the big holes. They are meant for screws and/or nails. These things are ment to be as robust as possible. You can always fill 'em with... idk something. I recommend painting them anyways. That will also cover the small holes which are already near invisible. I have no layout at this time which uses them, so I made this. I didn't use much solder. I am from across the small pond. I litterly have no idea what you mean with this 🙈 Also for anybody who actually wants to order them. There is a box somewhere that says: "remove order number", check that box.... or use more paint Kind regards, Bas

I don't know if anybody has need for this. But I made double PCB sleepers with mounting holes to solder your tracks on. On the following link you can find a zip file. If you download it you can upload these so-called gerber files at my PCB supplier, JLCPCB.com https://github.com/bask185/Train-Science-DIY/tree/master/PCB/bullhead_sleeper/jlcpcb/production_files I made over a 100 for under €20,- Regards, ☕ Bas

I am not entirely sure what you mean? I do can tell you that in the picture the girder is upside down. As it was just for a picture I was not paying attention to the angles. I did try to copy the girders. One cross exists out of one flat 3mm strip and 2 1.5mm L-shaped strips glued togather to form a T Iron. At first I was looking at a T shaped strip of styrene. But the I in T was also 3mm which was too long. By using 2 L strips of 1.5mm the I in T was just 1,5mm while the - is still 3mm. I also paid attention when glueing the crosses. The 6 on the left are in opposite direction to the other 6. My crosses are the same as the real bridge. What is different, is the ends of the girder. The real bridge has longer ends than mine. I cannot fix mine anymore. I will also try to make rivets (correct word?). I bought a Revell pizza knife (Rivet marker) with which I can make rivets in thin styrene. I have some succes but it takes practice. It is hard to make a long straight line, even with a metal ruler. Kind regards, Bas

Thnx for the lesson 👍. I may gonna need more in the feature with this language barrier 😅. 'Jig' does not translate well to Dutch. I got me some milliput to play around with but I haven't come around to use it yet. I am also planning the extension modules. The base bridge will only be 3 segments long. The extensions will be 2x 49.5cm long. To prevent me from getting 2 half bridge supports, the entire bridge is displaced a few cm to the right. Those grey strips are L shaped metal components. I had some difficulties connecting the base modules. I only had 3cm of 'meat' to connect the two. The convention method using bolts and nuts would not be sturdy enough. I don't know how you call it. The modules have four screws which have thread on the inside. I can simply put the modules togather, apply the strips and screw 8 bolts in the sides. It is so study, I think I can surf on it. I was unhappy with the ballast holding boxes I made. They were too short, not straight.... everything was wrong. I made new ones of 2mm cardboard. At first I was afraid that using a water glue solution would corrupt the cardboard. So I used a different method to glue ballast. I also made new jigs to make these parts. Now I spread woodglue all over the base with a brush, I glue the tracks in place (I used the cardboard strip to straighten the tracks) and I poored the ballast over it en masse 😀 And after pooring the exces ballast back we get: Than I glued some wooden stirring sticks to the visable side. And I checked how it looked. I sawed the rails by hand this time. To prevent this... I made me another jig. which works really well 👍 The last thing I made, may a bit off-topic but... I made me a tool car. It was even simple to do. I let the hardware store saw the wooden plate for me. From that moment on, it was screwing a simple DIY kit togather 👍 Kind regards, Bas

I have good news, less good news and more good news. My wife succesfully delivered our baby girl into our realm. This is already some weeks ago. She was born on 11th of may. Her name is Ginger. Because of this and more reasons I won't be building Corrour.. for the time being. Instead I am going to build something else Kind regards, Bas

I am not sure if this bridge is valled Awe viaduct or Orchy viaduct. But I am gonna build it. At first I was going to make Corrour, but I wanted something easier which I could build faster and which is suitable for usage in our branch line. The bridge will exist out of 2 wooden constructions of 40cm x 90cm forming a total length of 180cm. The bridge itself will be three segments of 33cm each. I do have planned the construction so I can add more length in the future. Anyways, the photos: I learned about tinkercad, an increadibly easy to use online 3D drawing software. I started out with making a model to figure out how I wanted the wooden construction Then a made the base I want to make the entire bridge construction out of styrene. I again started on a 3D proto in tinkercad to figure out what would be the best approach I devised 3D printed molds to help me place and glue al the components. This bridge has a lot of crosses so I made 6 of these mold in order to produce these crosses en masse I made separate molds to glue the whole togather. And some time later, the first girder was formed. And a made a small mold so I can saw the beams with my iron saw. I know there are special cutting tools for this work, but the ones I found are expensive. I will be trying to make the bridge as authentic where possible, atleast the visiable parts. I know that my vertical H beams are not conform the reality though. The real bridge has these beams under a slight angle. For me this would be difficult to replicate. The bridge sections will not be fixed. If I ever want to use the bridge parts on an other layout, I can. I am currently working on the box in which the tracks lay Slowly I am also experimenting with methods to make the bridge supports. So far I tried: - glueing a cartboard with stones to a 3d printed pillar perhaps not the prittiest, but with some distance ir could be a viable solution. I looked into several ready available pillars. I found some, but I prefer to make them myself. I printed this roller to press a stone motive into a surface like a foam.. and clay The clay version is partially succesful. However there is a nasty crack on the front side. For the next prototype I want to apply clay to the pillar first, smooth it out and than use the stone roller to make the stones. Lastly I have a drawing of how the bridge is held togather. The comments are unfortunately in Dutch If you would like to see this bridge completed, stay tuned. Ofcourse any pointers, tips etc would be appreciated. Kind regards, Bas

yes it is, but I cannot tell you how happy we are 😇

Many months later... Unfortunately I must confess that I have nothing produced so far. I had slightly less time and space on my hands than anticipated. Because my wife got pregnant. So I suddenly had to relocate a 1,60m x 1,60m ikea Kalax closet to my model train room. I do have visited Corrour last October. It was unfortunate we had to spend almost 250 pounds on corona tests, regardless we had a fun holiday. Within 15 minutes of our arrival, we were informed that a "steam train was going to pass by". So I took out my camera and start running to find me a nice spot. When the stars are aligned... I just started my hike around Loch Ossian when this happened: A hercules out of the blue. I think I have about every detail photographed of Corrour. Some of them can be found here https://imgur.com/a/GNtwFmr So my plans are somewhat delayed but not derailed. Kind regards, Bas

I fixed all the images and the 2 videos of my previous post

many months further... Rosedale was set up with some other modules, forming just another branchline. It was nice to see some other people's trains on my little layout. And my own 37 with a rake of Mk1s It was unfortunate that none of my points worked as my system was not ment for such a setup. I also found that the relays for polarizing the frogs didn't work too well. It was somewhat hard to time the switching moment correctly in combination with the servos. To fix the frogjuicing, I installed simple microswitches, stupid, simple and stupid simple :-D. It works like a charm. I have repurposed the relay to cut off the power to individual sections of tracks. Afteral I still run with analog trains. The day out did cause some damage to the layout. I had some tracks jumping out of the ballast. This did made me realize where those PCB sleepers were for... so obviously I installed these as well. For controlling the layout I devised another contraption, though less complicated than the previous one. I can control every point and every relay with a Roco multimaus. I made a little PCB which just has one arduino nano and a Max485 IC to talk to the multimaus. I use an external DC-DC converter to make 5V, I uses an external H-bridge to power the layout and I have 2 connectors for the relays and for the servo driver. I have been extensively playing shunting on this layout and I must say that it works really well. Normally when operating a digital layout with a multimaus you have to perform too many presses on al the buttons to get something done. I solved this problem by using the loco's functions to set all the points and relays. F1-F8 on address 1 control the points, and F1-F8 on address 2 control the relay. I deliberately don't use the higher functions or addresses. Otherwise I would have to hold the shift key and now I don't. The turning knob simply controls the PWM driver regardless what the used address is. I made YT video to demonstrate the operation. Besides a faulty point, it works really well. I have also threw away an older layout. I never used it, nobody wanted to have it.. so it was time for the last stop, the eternal shunting fields. This layout prevented me from using the double segment fiddle yard. I have done some rewiring and built in 2 microswitches. The switches serve as an end stop, which help me positioning the big segment, and the switches make sure that only the connected track is powered. Now the layout drives well, I am going to focus on the senery more. I have already repainted my romney shed and decorated the inside. Kind regards, Bas

Yesterday I sowed the first grass layers. I used 2 tones green 2mm grass for the first layer and 6mm beige layer for the second layer. It is only like the 3rd time I do this and I am starting to get the hang of it. Ofcourse I have much more to do. I need add some weeds and some flowers etc. I am open for extra tips ;-) I think it is also time to remove the screws and paint the rail joiners and the point rails with rust. The unpainted parts keep catching my eyes. Kind regards, Bas

@class26, thank you so much. I will have a nice read tomorrow evening. It looks like a really nice article. It made me remember I also have a book which is about all the stations in Scotland. But is not as detailed as your article. Kind Regards, Bas

Hi everybody, I would like to model Corrour even since I have been there on my honeymoon about 2 years ago. And now the time is finally here. I cleaned out my train room and I made space to accomodate this new layout. What will be special is that it will be a module which can be used as part of a modulair layout with others. The plan is to have a few days per year on which we connect al our modules at public location and drive. And we also hope to hook our branch line to the BMB's layout. This is the current trackplan. It is not 100% accurate. IRL the station building is located just slightly to the left. And I see that I have to move the siding point more to the right. I also believe that the parallel tracks should be close to the platform. Both points lie in a 5 degree angle with as purpose to keep it not straight. All modules of our branch line won't be straight. There won't be a front or back side. Which means I have to paint both the sides the railbars (usually I model just that what is in sight). The tracks will be laid with peco vode 75 bullhead tracks. And those black boxes won't be actual blackboxes. We have plans to use the same shapes and colors of grass and ballast at the endpoints Next weekend I have planned to make the baseboards. But before I start building and laying down tracks.... Can anyone tell me if and where I can find any blueprints, drawings and other measurements of the place? I know that the platform is 41m long but that is about al I know. And the google satellite images are not remotely good enough. I ofcourse would love to take the first eurostar and Caledonian sleeper to Corrour and spend a few nights in the signal box so I can take measurements myself. But I have not received my corona shots yet...... Any help would ofcourse be greatly appreciated. And stay tuned for updates. Kind regards, Bas Also I have a link of a drone view of the place

While standing in front of my layout I figured I might as well begin with drybrushing the right module. So I quickly took some brown, beige and earth brown (for ballast and sleepers) and I started brushing. I must say, it already looks a lot better. The clay road will be modeled to resemble a hardened road. It just wide enough so a single truck can travel on it. I applied woodglue to the road and than sprinkled some sand on it. The sand is used to create the effect of asphalt. After I vaccuum the layout and the road, I will paint the road in black and drybrush it with some shades of grey. Kind regards, Bas

Hello, Today I was watching a Bob Ross video for inspirational purposes. I was going to paint some hills and stuff on the background. During painting I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Sorta like last time. I guess one has to make some actual paintings following Bob's videos to get a feeling for it. Anyways I am happy with the results so far. I made a simple road of clay afterwards. And relocated the bufferstop to the distillery where it's imperfections are less noticeable I am unfortunately also out of ballast. Hopefully I'll be able to get new stuff this weekend. Once all ballast is in place, I am going to drybrush the entire layout in several colors. And when that is done I can finally start with one of the best things of the hobby. Sowing grass. Kind regards, Bas

Started with the cattle dock today. Them cows look massive. I think I should stick with sheep on this dock. I only had 7cm to play with and I divided the platfom and the ramp into even stretches of 3.5cm. This is about 2.66m or 8.7' in 00 gauge. Unfortunately I ran out of supplies. I wanted to make concrete edges out of styreen L profiles. I am also not entirely happy with the fences I have in stock. I have some of these, but I highly doubt if I can make a pritty cattle dock with these. It is not the look I am going for. I think I should make an appointment at the local trainshop so I am allowed to shop... damned rules nowadays. Kind regards, Bas

Today I glued the ballast on the right side and the soil on the left side. Not my favourite chore pipetting that much surface I also fixated the dairy factory and the distillery. But not before I added some lights. I glued two pieces of 12V ledstrip on the bottemside of the canopy. I used slim emailed wire between the strips and busch micro wire to connect it. The wires are fixated with ducttape and the whole is painted in the same color as the canopy. When looking from a normal height, one is unlikely to see any of it though The distillery has three yellow LEDs. Two are underneath the canopies and there is one on the back to illuminate the inside. If you are wondering why there are these caps missing in the foam, the first glue I used tend to solve the foam..... -_-" A quick test with a 9V battery I also enlarged the door of the Romney shed. By simply cutting the old one out. Besides repainting the shed, so that it does not look hidious. I also want to take the oppertunity to turn the inside into a car shop or a tool shed. There will be a road right in front of it. I thought of cutting the entire thing down to a cm, but I figured it would be neet to add some interior objects, lighting and a background image. And lastly I drew a quick picture of a cattle dock. The fences will be slightly different. I want to make two boxes for the cattle so they can be loaded on two cattle vans. Each wagon is just 8cm long so two will fit easily. Also, I almost forgot. In the original plan I was going to add a signal box. Since there is not enough room for one, I want to add manual point levers. Can anyone be so kind and tell me how they looked like around ~1950 in lets say Scotland? If you can give me an article number of one it would be great. Thanks in advance. Kind regards, Bas

Just some pictures today Kind regards, Bas

I had the unfortune of being sent to Portugal for work for 10 days all the sudden. Wanted to hobby alot.. but on the brightside. My Hotel room overlooked a nice railway line which was well served by many trains Anyways back to buissness.. euh hobby. I experimented with making a bufferstop. I sorta dropped the ball a bit on this one. Pictures say more than words. And you can see for yourself. At this point I thought, time and resources were already spent, might as well finish it. So I finished it and untill I made a better one I will leave it be on the coal siding. During the time I was away, I received two new inhabitants by mail. 1 pug (also added the stone wall) And a 0-6-0PT Unfortunately this 2nd hand one does not particulary drive that well. It's wheels seem to have too much friction at a certain point . Thankfully my local model club has a member which we know has the loc doctor, I am sure he can get it running again! Further I cut some more foam for the left module. So not particulary much progression to report. With a little luck I get to sculptamold the whole tomorrow. I also finally found my painting gear, so I can also finish the background. Untill the next update, Bas