peach james

Just consider what OS maps were for- Ordinance Survey...IE, where the artillery was going to land. 10 ft out on a 75mm round=irrelevant (Q-how far apart are towns in Germany? A- About 10 Kilotons...) In general, the OS maps are a treasure trove of information, but need to have other sources of information. I have 3 of the 25" ones that I have used for Long Marton. They give a great overview of the area. I'd love a 40" map, or more period photos, but I have enough for now to do that the information I have is very useful. I also have about 200 photos taken in Long Marton in 1996 and 2006, which show a lot of the topographical details of the area. I'm currently using a batch of them to scale from, and modify, one 6"x6" square of ground on the model. Beware that there always will be differences between various sources- Rails in the Fells in my case is not quite right... James

So, another little bit done- not much, but I had the 153 running, and tried to program the new DS64 tonight, as well as uncoupling the servo arms from the new servos, so that they don't beat the signals to death when the new Tam Valley signal controller is turned on. The 64 was difficult...it's still not programmed. James

So, we'll start with the current crop of photos: DSC_0080 DSC_0082 DSC_0086 DSC_0087 Now, we move way back, to the very start...1995 or so for this oldy: DSC_0095 To 2004/5 or so: DSC_0090 DSC_0089 (this one is probably before 2004) DSC_0088 2009 (?) Judged by Mr Curly Locks DSC_0098 Last one, taken at York in 2006... DSC_0103 by Peach James, on Flickr James

A few more photos as to what is going on: DSC_0174 DSC_0178 DSC_0167 by Peach James, on Flickr Ongoing work: Rebuild the 2nd bell box, now just add the top...and connect the bits, and then program the new DS64 in it, which let me simplify the wiring, and more importantly, make the two boxes the same. I've also been adding plaster to fill some of the gaps between the modules. When I got to the area around Bridge 253, I started looking at photos of the area again, as I was aware that the shape of the land in real life is not quite how I had it in the model. Much hacking still required...but a fair amount of styrofoam got clipped down. I will cut something of an arch out of a sheet of (willis?) stone, just to rough in the arch. There are times when modeling somewhere is quite a bit harder than modeling nowhere in specific. James

Back at it yesterday and today for a bit. I went and saw Daniel Von Kamel http://lenzgrossgeroldstein.blogspot.ca/ with his wonderful O gauge layout, this was a part of British Railway Modelers of Victoria, (BRMoV). Then, I went and put some more bits and blobs onto Long Marton. The work ongoing right now is to pour some more of the plaster of paris into the gaps that exist between the boards. I'd like to get a bunch of the foam cut on the other side of the layout, but I'm not sure that I will get there before mid March, when I host the meeting. I've also been working on the RR&Co program to work, we will see. I ran the 153 through the down track today as well- much track cleaning is required, as I don't think I have run a down train in about 6 months. It needs an alcohol clean as well as the track clean erasers that I rubbed through with. (and the 153 needs wheel cleaning now...) James

He's gone a bit doolally, has moved the location to Appleby and is modelling Appleby Horse Fair? Perhaps, there is a Tesco's involved then? Or has that horse gone through the gate? I hear that the woman who got sick after eating Tesco's burgers is in stable condition... James

Jeff I agree with Andy on this one, it would look really good along the edge of the main board, I did a similar thing with the old Hornby switches many years ago and it felt like a PROPPER SIGNAL BOX. Long Marton Signal Box by Peach James, on Flickr Even better- a proper signalbox (of course, its enough to drive me mad at times !) Modutrac out of Australia- it can drive torti/colbalt directly, but wiring does involve a bit of work. (SPST switch only in my version). Not a big issue, as mine are all driven through software, but it can be a bit frustrating. I should get a video of the boys operating the box at some time. There was a nice photo of Daniel (the older boy) being signalman when he was ~4 or so. He's about in proportion at that time to the levers. James

I was warned by none other than Beast that I may have not put enough droppers. In places, I am aware that I am possibly shy of power...but nothing that is really apparent. For the most part, there is no more than 6' between feeds, mostly because the detection sections are no longer than that...so, it means that they really cannot have power feeds any further apart than 6' or so. There are 248 indicators for Long Marton in the RR&Co program- but that includes the spares and stop buttons, as well as the inputs for the signalbox. (24 there). I think there are about 150 that are track sections... In the staging yard, the maximum distance is about 30" from power- all the sections are fed from the centre of 60.5" long tables. (why 60.5" long? Because, 6* 32x32 lego baseplates= near enough 60.5 to work over a long span...) In other places, the track is only fed from one end of the section, and that could create problems. I typically solder the non section joints together though, so the problems are minimized. The lego is a much different case, as the track resistance per section is quite a bit higher, and there are LOTS of joints. The rule I usually run by is no more than 20 sections between each power input. Anyway, we were downstairs earlier working on Long Marton, and mucking around. I ended up going back one save of the file, and starting to beat it to fit again. A bunch of little strangeness's have shown up. (like the train start flag not starting as red, when it should). Such fun... Now the lads are playing with Duplo trains up here, and I'm making dinner. I may get a bit more done on LM tonight, not sure yet. I also got out the poster paint and reduced the amount of plaster showing- but I really need to add some more in the gaps. James

Ah, but Jeff, you are warping educating young minds that want to learn...which, possibly, may be more important to the world than how much gets done on KL this week I've been doing a bit with Long Marton- I had the revised signalbox program running last night, it still has some curiosities, but the DMU seems to work. (next, to add goods trains...) James

OK- finally screwed up the courage to hit "go" on the latest revision of the RR&Co software. It worked, with relatively minor problems. known issues: Turnout group that locks (I know why, need to change) Reset action for DMU's needs to be more clearly indicated- and work properly. (may be more an operator thing- I tried to call on the 2nd train too fast, I think) James

Blockade lifted, track relayed with Code 100 Peco wooden sleepered track. (now I feel so bad, because the whole layout is Code 100, vice SMP/Macway...) Test running produced positive results. Then did a little on the LED indicators, next is to order DIY decoders to make. James

The site Wiring for dcc (www.wiringfordcc.com) has some more about inductive effects. It's not too likely to affect Jeff, as the layout in question is something like 30x40... On my layout, I have seen some strange effects, and attribute some of them to originally running 14 gauge house wire for the bus, on a single DCC section. It's now divided into 4 sections, and the wiring is quite a bit different. (some of the issues are due to having basically, 2 reversing loops back to back...) (14 gauge wire=2 mm^2 cross section) James

OK, so where are we? Oh, that's right, with a lad who wants to see "trains" running. Given the choice of a certain blue engine, or a regular DMU, he chose the DMU. (the 153, with S&C wrap around on it...Hornby). Anyway, I drag out the P5 (CN 0-8-0 shunter, with a bit more tractive effort than a 9F...) and the track cleaner. Send it round. It derails. I re-rail it. It goes around to the same point...and derails. I rerail it. It does it a 3rd time...so I find a screwdriver, thinking that the track isn't quite aligned across the track joint behind the chimney. Then...oh, this isn't good... DSC_0170 by Peach James, on Flickr So, next step: Dismantle the lego spiral, remove tables, and then I can get at the track. Good news: I can get rid of some of the packing under that track when I relay it. I think the UP track is now blockaded for then next week, at least. The good news is that Allen's room is now DONE. 2.5 years to get the work done on my house- still have more to do to the house, but hey...I don't have any exposed floor joists James

I'm just a little suprised- I've never lit one of my engines on fire _deliberately_ on the outside before. In fact, at work, we definitely frown on it. (it's called a "damage control incident" when it happens...) I know over here, when the CaTS ran the snowplow in the late 90's, they had a team of throwers tossing snow into the tenders of the K's to keep them full of water. The tenders are fitted with steam heat coils for that kind of purpose. The brief would have been to burn everything, including the floorboards, to try and keep a fire in the loco. Frozen boiler in full size is probably scrap... James

I'm another with real books- currently got 2 on the go, with a hard cover that I haven't started, along with a short story anthology in the car. (Head ON! (collisions of egos,ethics and politics in BC's transport history), Destroyermen Firestorm (Si-Fi), Further Adventures of Batman (Si-Fi anthology, in the car) and sitting waiting is king of mountains, SM Stirling (Si-Fi). I have something like 7 bookshelves around here full of books & magazines, including MRJ from 67 onward, and the last 3 years of MRC (& loose copies from before that, including as many issues with "midland from nationalization to electrification" series), Model Engineer from 39-52 (the small issues) and a full bookshelf of Si-Fi books, including every SM Stirling book, and most David Drake books, as well as Elizabeth Moon & a bunch of other writers. (sorry, have to go, little boy wants to go downstairs with me !) James

For true friendship contact...darn it, I'd have to look at a MRC to see who it was...it always struck me as funny that there was a dating service ad in MRC right up to the bitter end. Of course, that was pre interweb...and the joke goes: how do you tell an extroverted engineer? Answer: he looks at YOUR shoes, not his own ! I met Mrs Powell through mutual friends- she knew about the lego before we started dating. l6 by Peach James, on Flickr Is what my apartment looked like when you walked into it. There's no hiding that... She tolerates the modeling really well, which is good. Because I wasn't going to give it up, and it is a large part of what I do for fun. James

Andy G, you are younger than me by a year and a bit. I hope that the funeral goes as well as such events can. Last one that I was at was one of our club members- William (Bill) Dryden, he'd have fitted in here as his modeling was based on Scotland (G&SW). I think he was going to aim at 1900 or so, but still... Metal isn't as hard as some make it out to be. I'm quite confident on how I work with it, but sometimes plastic is easer to deal with. KL- the track plan is sounding good, Jeff. I've been downstairs earlier tonight, with both boys, and running trains. (which reminds me...ah, Emily is 1012...now I have to go run Emily around & make sure it works...otherwise, someone who says "train" may get upset !) The work was taking out a pair of signals, which have been modified to solenoid from Torti. When the next servo driver arrives here, it will be fitted to drive them. The 3F and 153 ran happily around for an hour, with Allen (my 2.75 year old) saying train, and pushing the train whistle into my hands. He can't blow the whistle, not enough air, he will go around with it close to his mouth, and go "toot, toot" with it though !

It's a bit far from here for me to come over right now for the members day I'm another youngster, with a mere slip of 36 years behind me. Fortunately, I have to shave most days... I'd love to drop in, but as I said, it's a tad bit far from here. James

More More More...that's what the programming seems to take. More time, more effort, more ! ! ! I've had to go and do a bunch of alterations at one time to get some bits to hopefully work. I needed to do this because I couldn't nest commands in the way I thought I could in RR&Co, so... Because I want to be able to bell code tied to the loco (seems most sensible identifier of what the train is), I have to be able to tell if the loco is heading Up or Down through Long Marton. The blocks in RR&Co can start a macro attached to a loco...which means, that I had to create a Up and Down identifier for each type of train. (fortunately, I have removed a bunch of the less likely movements...like tamper about to tamp in section...) That still leaves me with 7 identifiers each way. (Diesel Railcar, Express Passenger, Fitted Goods, 1/3 fitted goods, 4 vehicle head, non mineral unfitted, mineral). That leaves lots of alterations required to the program to make it work. I also eliminated the mixed sidings, and moved where the overlength goods sidings are (& designated a 2nd one as overlength, as well as eliminating the through track in the staging yard). Lots of changes, hopefully they all will work OK. I also went visiting today, and got a little bit of woodwork done for Allen's room. I need to sand it, but that isn't happening until tomorrow, now. (2215 here...). Daniel and I spent a couple hours outside, he was riding his tricycle up and down the driveway, I was moving stuff around (planter pots, wood, junk into trailer...the usual). Anyway, I think that is it for tonight. James

No, Jeff, you are not. But, with 3 pages added to KL today, it takes a bit of time to follow ! The generator puts out quite course power, I tend to use it for the oil furnace, about 6 lights, a hot plate or the kettle, and a 1500w heater that provides a baseload for it. I wouldn't trust it to run any electronics, if I choose to go down that road, I'd put in a battery based system, using an inverter and a 12v battery, then float the load across that. Today's fun was wiring up basically an extension cord through the wall, semi-permenant. We tend to have 6-10 days/year without power, due to where we live. James

OK, so where are we now? Some stuff arrived over the last few days, from Tam Valley (3 way servo drivers) and Digi-Key (LED's and terminal strips). The Tam Valley stuff is now mostly installed- 2 of 3 3 way servo drivers now installed, one in the New Biggin instrument case, and one in the lever frame box. The New Biggin case one allows to lock the train on line commutator, and (the reason it is 3 way) it drives the from NB commutator arm. The one used in the lever frame is to lock the two section signals. For "all mechanical" interlocking, there is quite an amount of electric involved in real life. I can see how in full size it would work for interlocking like what I have done though, as it makes lots of sense. (Solenoid above the locking bar, so that it is "on" to clear the interlocking, any failure would then allow gravity to drive the pin into the bar and lock it...) The 3rd Tam Valley servo driver will be used when it arrives to replace 2 torti driven signals (distant and section) on the far side of Trout Beck viaduct. There was a slight issue with my order from Tam Valley, and I only got 2 of 3 drivers in this mailing. Why 3 way servo drivers? Because, they allow for bounce ! These are one of the few ready to use electronic controllers which I know about which do a bounce function. Also, a parcel from Cpl (ex PO2) Hotel arrived here- yep, more lego for me to build. I did some more on the next raising bridge, the towers are about 3 ft tall each, and really only require me to do a test build with track and a lifting mechanism. We also took apart the christmas tree at the Emperess hotel downtown that Atrum coal sponsered. (a lego christmas tree, with the funds raised going to BC Childrens Hospital). I've been following Jeff's writings too...which takes quite a bit of time to keep up with ! Off now to work on house related wiring...for the generator, when the power goes out, James

holes in the ground-I think there was a chuck (the muddle engineer) cartoon which started out with him in a row house, and progressed through a semi-detached house, then a fully detached house, then a hole in the ground (first thing which went through my head). Thanks Terry Aspin ! Did a bit on LM last night, I'll post over there though, so it's not lonely on its own ! James

Thanks Jeff, My helpers are great- at least most of the time. Children, the're your parents best revenge... mind, neither one has yet: 1. exploded the deep freeze by turning the light on & off enough times to combust it 2. Stuffed a screwdriver into mum's sewing machine motor (in the UK...none of this wimpy 110v stuff) 3. Boiled at least one boiler dry 4. Frozen a boiler 5. Gone for a walk on a railing. On a ferry boat. While it was icebreaking I played around with a pair of DS44's to make a crude counter, but it is too crude to work, as rather than having 3 states, (Left/Off/Right) the DS44 outputs are Left/Right only, which took me from 8 bits to 4 bits each...and from an easy way to get 8 lights/each down to 4. Since I only have 3 DS44's sitting around doing nothing, that kind of limited my options. Next: Different Way Forward, involving a homebuilt DCC function decoder and a 7 segment display, x6. (there goes another $200 on bits for DCC...). All this is because although I can understand what the bells are saying, I suspect that any guests will NOT be able to read them back without them being quite slow. (like 5-10 seconds to get a message). I don't know Morse, strangely, even though I do have a radio licence (VE7LGO). James

"Normal" is a setting on your clothes dryer. (as the proud parent of two autistic boys, "normal" is a far way away from my day to day life at times...) We've already got one intermediate station available, in the form of Long Marton. Unfortunately, I'm a few km to the west for easy set up, being in BC, Canada. Here we've got a modeler who has a quite nice Glasgow & South Western inspired layout, which the S&C kind of feeds towards- but he's firmly in the LMS camp, and I'm in the future, makes for joint running a bit more difficult. Still mucking around with the signalbox bits. I need a reliable way of counting, and unfortunately, that seems to involve a PIC of some sort, driving LED display elements. James

DMU & Long Goods now working OK, I am now kind of unsure what to do to get some indicators as to how many bells have rung...hmm, may have to do some research as to ways forward from here.