arff999

Yes Dava it is but in the time scale of the model pelham bridge is in its place JOHN

I also spent some time taking a few general pictures again please let me know what you think JOHN

Hi A few more awesome looking buildings turned up last week so i took them down to the shop and test fitted them to the layout these complete one side of the high street again they are all full lit and internally detailed. More to follow when i get them connected to the power. Let me know what you think. JOHN

I also planted some platform lights tonight

This one shows how it set up and ready to use at a show

Hi As said yesterday here`s the pictures of the transport cradles These are all shown in the folded mode ready for transportation

Right Here we go So were do i start i know base board transportation after months of carrying and lifting 8 foot x 4 foot finished boards that are way to heavy i have designed and had made 4 purpose built cradles these are two fold they are designed to carry the layout and make it easier to move about, and also act as a stand for the layout to sit on at shows, they have 6 wheels on each with the middle set being half a inch lower than the outer sets, these allows the cradle to rock on the middle wheels, i have 2 large and 2 small. They all have a hinged flap to which the baseboards are fitted allowing us to wheel in the complete board on the cradle put in place then lift the hinged section up 90 degrees fit a stand under the front then do the next one bolt together and there up connect up the wires and were ready it really is the simple. No more lifting and struggling they were not cheap but well worth the cost.(i will post pictures of them later) On to the platform lighting, these are now all but a few finished and ready to fit most of the holes have been drilled ready to take them as for the wiring ill cover that next. I'm not sure if you were aware but my whole idea for this layout from day one was to have it so it was viewed like looking through a window and have it going through a day night sequence approx ever 20 mins or so controlled by a computer but from the start i was not sure how to go about this so i had all my lights inc building wired to digitally operated switches on my control panel this was ok to start with but to achieve my aim it was never going to be correct, but now i am in a position with the right equipment to make this work but it also means all my light will need to be rewired on a individual basis this is so i have total control of each light and this way i can make it do what i like as in the platform light flickering as they start just like real florescent light i can also control the road light to simulate them coming on and getting to full brightness again as they would in real life also building lights can be switches room by room instead of the whole building at once ( ill go more in to the light control later in a diff post but if you need to know more please ask)its not really that complicated but you do need a PC to set it up but after that is DCC controlled. Lots of other things have been happening on the building front and also the road and control front I'm looking to make the control panel smaller and easier to operate, my touch screen routing is now ready to be put in to place and fully tested so far it looks good and works well, I'm also contemplating new base boards new track on the front to do away with a lot of the joins we have were we joined up 2 small boards to make large ones and having a dual control system as in DCC as it is now and a separate PC based fully auto system were i can run DC and DCC trains on the same track i plan to build the new board over the next year fit the new track and do the roadway get this all working then transfer the buildings and other bits over, Sounds mad (it probably is) but this might be the best plan with all the alterations to the wiring i need to do so now is as good a time as ever Ill go more into detail as things progress but for now as i have a few shows next year you wont notice a lot of difference, Thanks for staying with this project its a mammoth task to undertake but now i know were I'm going normal service can be resumed I also think now is a time i should than a few people for standing by me with either help of support Firstly Jeremy and Nicole from Digitrains in Lincoln who with out there help, i would have nowhere to have the layout up and working,and i would be nowhere near were i am today.so if and when you pay them a visit, if you see me about ask and I'm sure if there not busy they will let you come take a look please ask. Then theirs Howard Leader who has the massive task of hand building all of the buildings for the layout his enthusiasm for this project is second to none and i take my hat of to him and i look forward like a boy with a new toy to him calling and saying i have something to show you he then arrives with a box of buildings that are so life like its unreal again thank you Howard, I also have a band of loyal operators with out them i could not do this Mark paynter who came on board just after i started this, then theirs Adam my son, Carl Ashcroft, Simon Stewart and Paul Ransome, Thanks Guys Thats enough of me rambling on to night ill go sort out some pictures for tomorrow, JOHN

Think i best do some updating as to progress a lot has happened since my last post watch this space john

Hi Just back and reset up the layout following the new Lincoln show great weekend had by all of us All ran ok with just a couple of little niggles, we had a point decoder give up the ghost half way through the first day and no way of replacing it but we had a work around so it was not noticed by anyone. Also we had a spate of system lockups but after some tech talk with the Digitrains team and online to NCE I think we may have sorted the problem Thanks must got to both parties for the prompt actions in dealing with this matter for me. A couple of new building were shown for the first time although some work still needs to be done to complete them Thanks to Howard Leader for bringing them round at the last minute for us to show. A new thing we tried this show was live and recorded in train drivers view video went down a bomb the monitor had crowds around it most of the day I was also showing the Big Bear programme that we will be using in the future for route setting on both the front and the fiddle yards (Yes I did type Yards) in the future after a lot of discussion I have decided to build a extra fiddle yard to sit near the present one at the rear to be connected to the scenic board via a long smooth sweeping curve at both ends the will allow 2 things to happen 1 we can then run some extra stock with longer formations to be run straight through on the main line and 2 to be able to have 2 options for shows the existing layout and then a larger on if needed I will post some picture updates when I get round to down loading them John

Thanks Jaz while were on the subject of building, I best put something together to post on the bits that are complete and on the layout now. The bits shown above at the Spalding show fit on the right hand side of the High street, viewed from the level crossing. The one above is going to be the Treaty of commerce public house, next to that will go Anna`s dress shop, and then the corner newsagents, we have taken out some of the other buildings due to space, we chose these buildings to include as there well known to local people and should be easily recognisable. On the facing side the stables will be remodelled later with some other shops fitted also. more to come later as the hotel is now finished and in place also the island platform building is also fitted. The hard work and credit for theses wonderful model must go to Howard Leader who spent hours looking over drawings and pictures to allow him to be as authentic as possible, I just wired up the lights to finish them off. I have to take my hat of to Howard and say a huge Thank you as I could not have done this with out his help. John

Nothing wrong with old ones. worked well I have 6 on my layout, looks like we will have to pay a lot more for something that was not needed, also understand the old version ads8 in now no longer available, as the post above says, No at lot of good switching frogs and route indication from a decoder best to use the point its self this way you know its moved. Just my point of view. JOHN

Just another show we will be attending early next year

thanks jez ill take a look john

Hi Just getting ready for the next outing a few bits to sort still a lot to do, Still a work in progress seams to be never ending, but on a good side the road is almost finished then I have to start on the programming (should be fun ) Right ill be at Market Rasen on the 6th of September for the Saturday at the rotary clubs exhibition. If your at a loose end pop along and say hi and have a chat JOHN

digitrains can replace this part if needed

what you got

Finally finished all the cabling to the street light that have been newly fitted, and glad to report they all now work, albeit with a temporary connection to a power supply this will be fitted when the cable way to house all the decoders is fitted to the front boards later this year. Roadway to front is almost complete but I may need to do some slight alterations as time goes by as the test truck some times wont make the corners in 2 places it may be going to fast so im looking at getting a more realistic speed by inserting a resistor between the battery and motor, if this fails I may have to look at making the turn less tight. john

Time to complete the new wiring and see if it all works John

Thanks for all the likes guys john

The holes in the road are were the servo drive units will fit when the come, there to allow the vehicles the change direction and be able to pass a stationary vehicle like a bus at a bus stop

last few

Hi All Been busy again working on the road and painting all the new extension and pelmet after I had spent hours laying the wires and magnets and looking at it thinking hell this looks a mess and I hope it all works when I have finished it. I then had to spend hours with the filled covering it all up so you cant see my handy work, then when it dried I then had to sand the whole lot down not a major task one may think but you have to remember its the whole length of the layout and then some, after I had sanded it all over I hooved the dust up lots off the dam stuff. Now it was ready to paint and weather I started with a light coat of light grey paint just normal emulsion then when dry a coat off a mix of dark grey and a touch of black this was left to fully dry then out came the spray weathering cans first a coat of green paint and then a dusting of oil brown and black just for good measure let it dry and it looks fine see what you all think let me know now the road was finished I could relay the path over the top of the old stuff to get the height right for the kerb the path was then painted again using the weathering cans and finally I had to fit the new street lighting the old lights were plastic with grain of wheat lamp but these turned out to be just to flimsy so I sourced some new metal ones slightly shorter but still ok and these have a led too there all fitted but not wired up yet that's for later ill do the whole lot together when I finish off the front wire boxing this will be the same as I fitted on the fiddle yard it will also house all the decoders and relays for point control and functions a few pics of the road for tonight, JOHN

As you can see the layout is now fully set up and in its new home I was asked a while ago if I would like to have it set up permanently I replied yes of course that would be great, but were, as I could not afford to rent some were. The persons asking the question were Chris and Jeremy from Digitrains from Digby and as at the time they were planning to move to larger premises we spoke about it for a few weeks and decided it would be a great idea so as of now its set up in a room that was spare in the new unit on Clifton street in Lincoln. this is great for me as I can now go down and work on when ever with out the need to get bits out of the storage unit were it used to be kept. On a personal note I would like to thank both Chris and Jeremy for the opportunity to be able to continue this mammoth project. also the staff visitors for enduring my banging, drilling, sawing and generally getting in the way. oh and making me cups of tea again Thank you If you get chance and your in or around Lincoln come down and check out there new shop

Electrical wise a few bits have been done to make setup/takedown a lot easier for all. And for ease off access at a show Firstly the control panel has been fitted to its own wheeled box this also hold a draw cabinet and the pc system for the road and route control via touch screens the cable for turnout indication have all been grouped into board sets and bound in plastic spiral wrap. I've added a new box section to the whole fiddle yard making the board joints and command bus cables hidden again the joining cables have been grouped and bound with wrap this also houses the accessory decoders and all the electronics I decided to alter this because it saves me grovelling around the floor when and if things go wrong. One end of the yard is now fully DCC controlled by its own purpose built panel spanning the tracks, it also has led indication to show what road the turnouts are set for. The pictures show the added box section were the accessory decoders are fitted and the wrapped joint cables. at the far end is the new control panel for that end off the yard

The road gets covered in plaster and sanded down them repainted which is now nearly done ill post some pics when I've finished and tested it all we have also been working on a pelmet and light gantry, I am using 4x 5mtr lengths of self adhesive led strip fitted to some aluminium channel these are 12v and work off a small plugin power supply. The overhead pelmet gives you that looking in a window effect