arff999

This show how the front has been extended to accommodate the new road

Hi Pictures of road was as talked about in above post these show the road fiddle area and one of the bridge units

test picture of road

Its been a while since my last effort so I thought I better bring things up to date lots been going on with the layout so ill start with the road system, which turned out to be a lot mere work than first thought, as most off the roads were finished with paths and lighting it was a nightmare trying to fit the magnetic strip and the induction wire so I ended up redoing the whole of the road as in making it higher by 3mm thus this meant now all the paths were flush with the road surface hence new paths are now being fitted to bring the levels back to were they were. I have also had to add a new bit off road that was not going to be fitted to join up the existing roads on either end boards so as the vehicles can travel the while length of the layout (when you see the pics you will see what I mean) I have also had to make 2 fiddle yards for the road system these fit above the rails on the ends of the railway fiddle yard creating a double deck. these are linked to the from via 2 bridge sections and some curved ramps to get down to the correct level the whole road idea created a few problems along the way one being how to get from the high street to the ramp for the fiddle yard to over come this we have extended the end board by about a foot backwards to enable the cross road to be inserted allowing vehicles now to do a right turn as if going towards the old bus station

Hi Adam To be honest in not sure but I think from what was said it is trainz simulator not sure which version Layout progressing well moving to a permanent home soon more on that later

They do look like the same drawings were working from JOHN

what plan is that taken from, I think mine might be a bit earlier i932 I have part of a 56 map would like to get the rest of it inc the Holmes yard sheet john

Hi Looks like the we both have the same map we used this to get the foot print of the building by inserting it in to AutoCAD in a one to one scale then rescaling it to 00 then printed it out. then sketch drawings made of the facia to be used to build it. JOHN

Sorry Graham Got it now never seen that picture before rather interesting though Thanks JOHN

Hi 40a Do you have a map showing the whereabouts of that pic you posted try to work out my bearings lol JOHN

Hi Jrg1 The model is being built from pictures I have and also a line drawing taken from the plan we are working to we have no other info at all on it I can help out with what I have if req JOHN

Hi What information on the hotel are you after John

Jez Not sure which way to go with this as were looking at a completely different transport display option. Its all about making it easy to transport put together and take down, we thought we had a good system but as it evolves we need to take a look overall as to how we were going to move forward. we have some exiting plans afoot as to how we are going to display it in the future and watch this space it will become a lot easier to watch the progress live shall we say but more on that later when its confirmed. JOHN

Glad you like them I would love to be able to show the construction pictures of all of the buildings that are being made but a future article prevents this just now but I'm sure when there seen people will be pretty much impressed lots of the rooms are full detailed and all have working lighting. John

Right a couple of small teaser pictures one of the outside and another of the inside, well one room. I cant post any more yet. there not made by me I could never produce model this good in fact when you see them for real there awesome there made by the same chap that's building the station buildings that I had sat on the layout last time out (more about him later) hope you like JOHN first the real building part of the outside and then a quick peek at the cafe

Been busy making the road deck that will when finished fit above the end sections and the thin bridge sections of the fiddle yard. these parts are made using 6mm MDF for the base which in turn sits on a wood frame fitted to the various fiddle yard boards, The MDF is routered out in the centre of the road to take a 6mm magnet this is the same as the faller car system but that's where the similarity ends this system uses a 30mm wide transmitter loop and the vehicles have there own decoder fitted in them next to the magnet are fitted a matrix of reed contacts wired back to a control module so the on board processer knows exactly were a vehicle is on the layout. the turn out units are a mini servo with a horn which has a small strip of magnet fixed to it this is fitted in to a purpose built 3D printed base which drops in to a drilled hole these in turn are driven from a module., This will turn out to be a major undertaking as I have to install all the magnet, transmitter loop and reed switch matrix along all of the road including the station yard buy I think when finished will add a lot to the layout we should be able to have a large no of moving vehicles on the road at any one time all interacting with each other. I have to date managed to make two sections of the deck and made a start routing the magnet, transmitter loop ways on two of the original boards now all I need to do is sort out the reed switches and cove with plaster then repaint it all sounds easy but when you think there's 128 reed contacts to wire, fit and then test its not a quick job. I have posted a few pictures below of the road deck that fits above the fiddle yard any questions please ask JOHN

they just kept failing so I changed them and there fine now john

Hi After weeks of trawling the net and collecting info I have decided to not use the faller car system but instead I will be using the newer Dutch system Dinamo/MCC. This system gives more realistic vehicle movement slow speed running and automatic distance sensing which I hope will add that extra something to the layout. its run via a separate digital controller and also pc interface with individual control of each vehicle via its own decoder which runs in a digital field created via 2 wires along side of the road. I'm going to have a fiddle yard fitted above the entrance to the train yard round the back to allow cars and busses to be stored / changed over, it will be accessible via a couple of small ramps on the end boards behind the back scenes approx 2 inches high as I need to cross the tracks. I am also in the presses of altering my control panel making it thinner slightly taller to accommodate the signal mimic panel this will sit above the existing panel for turnouts, I hope to have it sat on top of the cabinet that will hold the pc box that runs the touch screen monitors for route setting and also the NCE controller. next time we are out at a show come have a chat and I`ll explain how it all works Best wishes and a Merry xmas from all at Lincoln Central JOHN

you know anyone ?

HI Jaz The 2 main buildings I worry about are over 4 feet in length its not just the moving its also keeping them safe while we move about so I thought if they were fixed down it would make it better JOHN

A bit to follow on the buildings lots going on here also removed the 9 problem cobolt motors and in the process of replacing with tortoise ones this has now been completed just need to sort out the connections and then test . Decided to join some of the boards together I know it makes them large and heavy so looking in to a different method to house and transport them reason for joining them it so I don't have to keep removing large and expensive building, every time we take the layout to a show I`am hoping this way it will protect them more. JOHN

I know the post is bent a little but this is the prototype lamp I post some pics of the finished ones later JOHN

Time for a few updates me thinks not been able to get on for a while. been busy making platform lights 2 types post and hanging had to go for the build your own method as none available on the open market. I made them using a piece of 7mm wide by 27 mm post and 38 mm long hanging copper board with a slit down the middle the long way then across the slit 6 Nano 1.5x1.5 mm leds were glue soldered in place. For the hanging ones two pieces of hard transformer wire 2mm were used to simulate the conduit that they hang from and also to carry the electrics to the boards as for the post ones some 1mm transformer wire was used and threaded down the brass tubes. the posts are two sizes of brass tube one long piece and a short bit at the bottom as for the covers there made from model clear light bars for trucks with a channel cut in the rear to take the leds the tops were then finished off with some 7mm plastic card and sanded to the correct profile. These will all be switched via my DCC system via a decoder and relay with a 1k resistor fitted to each lamp. pics to follow as I cant get them to upload JOHN.

Hi Jaz I have a few to post sorry ive not done any for a while been busy moving house. I will post something after my weekend visit to Warley well dropping in on way to collect relatives, JOHN