Rammstein2609

Hi All,

I'm surprised there hasn't been more action on this thread stating just how good the new Alcan PCA's are.  They've been the missing wagon type for my West Highland Line layout plans so after pestering Mike and Ben for a few years on these, I put my money where my mouth is and bought 3 rakes of them for different running time periods:

De-branded Alcan (early 2000's)

Rio Tinto (2012-2014)

Liberty (Current day).

It seems a shame to have to weather these but it must be done.  I'm hoping to have the Rio Tinto set weathered and ready to run on Tulloch Bridge at Model Rail Scotland at the end of the month.

Thanks,

Martin

12 hours ago, meanach said:

I certainly enjoyed seeing this excellent layout up and running and chatting to one of you guys (sorry I’m not sure which one!) at G.E.T.S. 

Hi Meanach,

Thanks for your kind comments and that's a great photo.  I was amazed by how busy the show was as the layout seemed to always be at least 2 or 3 deep at the front.  As we were exposed on the sides, the fiddle yard seemed to attract quite a lot of attention too which was nice.

I unfortunately lost track of everyone I spoke to over the weekend, I was the one with the Scottish accent and Tom was helping me operate and kept the layout moving while I was off chatting.

Thanks,

Martin

Hi All,

Tulloch Bridge will be appearing at the Great Electric Train Show this weekend so if you are attending, pop by for a quick chat.  I have ripped out some of the rubbish looking trees along the back of the layout and added some much better looking spruce and larch trees from the Primo Models range which are excellent.  I've invested in some decent photography lighting so hoping to take a series of high res photos once the layout has been set up.

Thanks

Martin

I had the chance to look at these kits built and painted on the Peco stand at Stafford last weekend.  While I welcome the news that a company like Peco are looking at the WHL for model subjects, I have a few observations as there are a few niggles with these kits:

Station Building

• Bay windows are too wide and don't protrude far enough.  I suspect these have been lifted from the Arisaig station kit but is wrong for this building type.
• Chimneys don't resemble the real thing.
• Ridge tiles also don't resemble the real thing as they typically use bitumen shingles.
• Lack of scalloped wall texture (could have been engraved on panels in between windows and doors)

The proportions look good (apart from the bay windows)

I think if greater care is taken while building the kits, there will be a lot less panel gaps resulting in a more pleasing model.

Signal Box

• The proportions look quite good on the photos but in the flesh the whole thing looks too big to my eye.  These are quite small signal boxes in real life.

I'm not knocking Peco (even if it sounds like I am), but if you want these kits to 'look right' then a few modifications will need to be made.

Modern architectural drawings are available online (if you look on the local council planning portal) so all dimensions can be gathered for the real thing to avoid these little mistakes.

Thanks,

Martin

Hi All

I hope you don't mind me posting this here but since we're on the topic of RNAD items, I've just started work on a small L shaped OO9 layout inspired by Dean Hill.  I really wanted to incorporate a portion of the light traverse laboratories but due to the size of my baseboards, I can only fit 3 of the 6 bays.  I've used 9.5mm plywood for the main structure of the blast walls and developed my own laser cut buildings.  The ply blast walls will receive a suitable texture coat to disguise the fact they're a timber product before everything gets painted.  I want to detail the building interiors so plan on modelling removable painted roof sections along with transparent removable sections.

Here is the progress I made over the weekend at the St Andrews Model Railway show:

I would love to post a photo of the real thing for comparison but can't for copyright reasons, instead some images can be viewed at this website: https://www.subbrit.org.uk/sites/dean-hill-royal-naval-armaments-depot/

Thanks

Martin

On 16/03/2023 at 12:47, Rammstein2609 said:

I don't have any other brand of OO9 product yet but found the Bachmann flat planked wagon won't easily connect to the box van due to a difference in coupler heights.  The box van seems to have a lot of downward slop in the coupling whereas the flat wagon seems quite rigid.

 

 

Other than the couplings, these are cracking little wagons and have tempted me to have a go at OO9.  I've just placed an order for several of the RNAD products from Rainbow Railways so I'd better get planning my layout for it all.

 

Thanks

Martin 

Hi All

Further to my findings above regarding the couplings, I have been looking at what's available to allow me to easily couple/uncouple on a small shunting style layout and remembered I had a batch of Dapol N gauge magnetic couplers (similar to Kadees) which I pulled out to look at fitting to the RNAD wagons.  To my surprise, these have the N gauge style NEM coupler pocket so the Dapol couplings were a direct replacement for the OO9 couplings.  The couple well, reduce the gap between wagons slightly, go round tight bends and the height different between the box and flat wagons is minimal now.  I can only assume the OO9 couplings are a little heavier causing the drawbar to droop on its mounting.

Hopefully this is useful to someone.

Thanks

Martin

Hi All

Tulloch Bridge had a great weekend at DEMU Showcase in Sutton Coldfield.  Once a couple of issues with Hattons class 66's and Kadee couplings were sorted the layout ran well all weekend.  There was a bit of new operator training at times whereby the layout perhaps wasn't run properly (scale 100mph trains through the station!) but it seemed to be well received by the public.

The layout is booked for another 4 shows in 2023 and 2 so far in 2024.  I'll post details on here soon.

Thanks

Martin 

Hi All

Tulloch Bridge has been loaded into the car for the trip South to DEMU Showcase this weekend.  If you're attending pop by for a chat or just to have a look.

Thanks

Martin

Hi All

Some work has taken place on the layout in preparation for this weekends DEMU ShowCase where Tulloch Bridge will be appearing.

A couple of new control panels have been made since the original was a little too large.  These have used the same construction methods as before, custom PCB built into a box with laser engraved front panel and 0.8mm plywood veneer.  These only require a LocoNet cable and 12V DC power cable, everything else is handled by the onboard microcontroller.

I also like the idea of having information boards on either side of the layout so have drawn up the below in Photoshop and had them professionally printed onto 5mm foamex.  These have been attached to a plywood frame which simply screws/unscrews onto either side of the layout.  They also act as a small scenic break from the fiddle yard so the next train passing through is a surprise.

Lastly, most of the work has taken place on the rolling stock.  I have been weathering everything, cleaning wheels and changing speed tables to allow me to thrash the locos which have sound fitted.  The below shot is a favourite of mine since these autoballasters took two days to weather and I thought I had ruined them half way through.  I've got them to a point I'm really pleased with.

As mentioned above, Tulloch Bridge will be at DEMU Showcase this weekend so pop by for a chat and a look at the layout.

Thanks

Martin

5 hours ago, Revolution Ben said:

 

Hi all,

 

Revolution Trains will be there and as Mike and I are both long time DEMU members this is one of our favourite shows.  You'll find us on stand 8 in the left corner of the auditorium (as you come in) next to Rainbow Railways.

 

As ever we will have all the latest samples on display and are always happy to chat to visitors and answer questions.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

I’m looking forward to seeing some Alcan PCA samples 😉  Tulloch Bridge is crying out for them.

Really looking forward to next weekend, Showcase is always a great and friendly show.
 

Cheers

Martin

Here are a few more photos from tonight:

Here is a sneak peak at the MK2's I've been converting for the sleeper train:

These are almost ready for paint, they just require a few more spots of filler and sanding.

Thanks

Martin

Hi All

It's been a while since I've updated this topic but I have been slowly working away on some rolling stock in preparation for several shows this year.  I had a quick photo session outside in the garden tonight before the light disappeared and thought I would share them to show some work is happening behind the scenes.  The layout still needs parts finished before everything will be weathered together.  Not all of the rolling stock is ready for photos yet so I've borrowed a rake of TTA's and OTA's from @MRDBLUE17 for these photos.

1 hour ago, happyChappy said:

Anyone else found that the coupling height on these new RNAD wagons is rather high? Coupling to peco stock is a complete no-no and all my Greenwich couplings seem too low.

I don't have any other brand of OO9 product yet but found the Bachmann flat planked wagon won't easily connect to the box van due to a difference in coupler heights.  The box van seems to have a lot of downward slop in the coupling whereas the flat wagon seems quite rigid.

Other than the couplings, these are cracking little wagons and have tempted me to have a go at OO9.  I've just placed an order for several of the RNAD products from Rainbow Railways so I'd better get planning my layout for it all.

Thanks

Martin 

Hi All

I'm just getting around to fitting sound to some of my 66's purchased back in 2020 and so far, 6 out of 7 have been fine.  Now I'm on the last loco, I have found an issue with the lighting.  I did try to do a search on RMWeb to see if there was a solution but maybe my wording was wrong since nothing related showed up.

I've got a model of 66301 in DRS livery and have added an ESU V5.  The loco runs well (after I've modified the axle boxes) and sound works great.  The issue I've now got is that I get the correct lights while moving forward but no tail lights on the other end.  When I change direction, instead of showing tail lights, the lighting board shows a single marker.  Using the relevant functions on the decoder, I can't get tail lights to show at all and can't switch between day and night running.  I've set all the switches to the correct position as per the instructions.

I have cross checked the wiring with another Hattons 66 which works perfectly, re-flowed all the solder joints, checked for shorts, etc, but can't find anything obviously wrong or different to cause this issue.

Has anyone experienced similar?  If so, what was the solution to fix it?

Thanks

Martin

EDIT: I think I may have been slipped a non MKL V5 chip into the batch I bought as I've just tested with a chip fitted to another 66 and all is well.

Hi All

I've just been checking some photos I took while at Rannoch Station on 28th September 2012 and found the following consist heading South from Fort William:

(In order):

66735 GBRf

55563- Rio-Tinto

55552- Rio-Tinto

55568- Rio-Tinto

55555- Rio-Tinto

55571- Rio-Tinto

55544- Rio-Tinto

55549- Rio-Tinto

55540- Rio-Tinto

55565- Rio-Tinto

55564- Rio-Tinto

55567- Rio-Tinto

55569- Rio-Tinto

55545- Rio-Tinto

55550- Rio-Tinto

55556- Rio-Tinto

55536- Rio-Tinto

55542- Rio-Tinto

55571- Rio-Tinto.

I thought it might be worth posting as may be useful to someone.

Thanks

Martin

19 hours ago, shed64a said:

Would love to know more about the control panel and how it all works.

Hi

It would have been good to speak to you at St Andrews but the layout proved to be more popular than I expected so most of the weekend was spent speaking to people about its construction - this is the reason I operate from the front as it gives everyone the chance to ask questions and gain ideas.

The control panel has been a long process to get to where I am but now I have a process I will be using this on all of my layouts going forward.  Before I try to explain how I built it, I think it may help to explain the main reason why I've gone down the route I have.  I operate my layouts using DCC and really like the idea of adding a degree of automation to everything so the computer can drive trains and signals and all I have to do is focus on driving my train.  In order to do this, I want to be able to change turnouts, signals and accessories using either the DCC handset, physical control panel or touchscreen.  If I use one particular method I want everything else to be automatically updated across the whole layout so there is no conflict.

In order to achieve this with a physical control panel I had to find a way to incorporate push buttons rather than toggle switches.  I stumbled across this website describing how to build various open source LocoNet compatible boards to control many things on a layout: http://www.lucadentella.it/en/2021/05/14/impariamo-insieme-lncontrolpanel/

I have taken this idea a step further by incorporating the Microprocessor and inputs/outputs onto a single PCB which then has a box built around it and a reverse engraved front panel is added to the front to finish it all off, producing a very nice and professional looking panel.  Once the panel is built, the software is loaded onto the microprocessor then I plug in a serial programmer where I can program what each input/output does.  I have simply set these to Turnouts, inputs are push buttons and outputs are display LED's.  Each input/output has a DCC address programmed to it so the PCB itself is basically just an accessory interface which tells the command station that something has happened and the command station does the rest.  I have also incorporated buttons to trigger routes which are set in JMRI and accessories such as station and platform lights.  This is done in the Arduino IDE serial monitor and is very easy to complete.

This is the back of the PCB.  All power, processor and communication circuits are on the left and all resistors for the LED's are SMD to easy construction.

The front of the PCB during testing.  The LED's illuminate which route has been set.  The DCC addresses for accessories and routes are also visible.

This is the menu when you connect the control panel to the Arduino IDE serial monitor.  As you can see, IO can be set to be used as a turnout or a sensor and the individual pins can have their own DCC address.

This shows the screen after you have programmed all of you IO.  These are the DCC addresses I'm using for Tulloch Bridge.

I have tested the expandability of the software and can reliably get a panel with up to 112 inputs/outputs working on an ATmega328 processor.  It starts to run out of memory at this point so if you want to incorporate up to 128 inputs/outputs you need to upgrade to something like an ATmega2560.  The 128 inputs/outputs is a physical restriction of the I2C bus I believe as each of the MCP23017 IO expanders needs to have its own address which is physically assigned on the PCB so can't be changed in software later.

The PCB is built into a laser cut box which produces a solid control panel.

The whole control panel is only 30mm thick.  The only ports are on the right hand side, these are for power and LocoNet.

This is the front of the panel once the reverse engraved panel has been added.

A photo of the layout with the control panel attached to the front of the layout.  This isn't a very good way of attaching the panel to the layout but I finished the panel on the day of setup for the St Andrews show so had to quickly attach it somehow.  I will develop a better way of attaching it to the layout.

The end result is a sleek looking control panel which only required a power cable and 6pin telephone cable to connect it to the layout.  There is no need to run hundreds of wires to and from the layout to switches and LED's.  The beauty of this system is its  modularity.  If you have a large layout you could use several small localised control panels positioned around the layout rather than have a single large control panel.  Or you could have one large master panel and lots of smaller localised panels for depots, yards, etc.  

I hope that helps, if not please let me know and I'll try to answer any other questions you have.

Thanks

Martin

13 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Unfortunately a bit too far to get back for a 3pm shift but have fun. Appreciate the same general busyness will have delayed progress but how are the buildings going? 

Yeah normal day job stuff has majorly slowed things down then I was trying to get the layout done before this weekend.  I reckon I’m a few weeks away now.  Just need to cut a kits worth of parts for a final test build then should be good to go.  I’ve got all the packaging ready to go too so not long now.

I’ll keep you updated when the buildings are ready to go.

Thanks

Martin

Hi Ben & Mike

This is fantastic news!  I know I've been badgering Mike for a few years to look at these so really happy they're being done.  These wagons and a particular loco are all that I'm missing to complete my WHL fleet which will be utilised on the next few layouts.  I shall be ordering all 4 packs of the Alcan livery and all 3 packs of the RioTinto livery to fit my time periods.

This is a photo I took at Rannoch back in 2012 which I would like to recreate on my next layout (minus the graffiti on the front of 66735!).

Cheers

Martin

Hi All

Another quick update is the physical control panel I've been working on over the last week.  I like the idea of controlling the whole layout via a Raspberry Pi running JMRI but also being able to take local control via the DCC handset or a physical mimic panel.  Therefore I have developed my own plug & play system compatible with LocoNet which allows me to use push buttons to change turnouts, signals and other accessories such as platform lights and station building lights. 

The only two cables required from the layout to the control panel are a power cable and LocoNet cable, everything is kept inside the control panel to reduce complexity.  I have uploaded a short video to YouTube showing me cycling through the push buttons then showing how the panel reacts when the turnouts are switched via the DCC handset: 

I have also incorporated some push buttons in the middle of the fiddle yard roads which will be used for route setting.  All I need to do with this system is add the physical buttons to the control panel and program a DCC address to each.  This is then assigned to the appropriate route which is set up in JMRI meaning all I need to use is a single DCC address to set each of the routes.  This also means that any adjustments can be made in software meaning I don't need to change the physical panel.

So far the system works as intended so I'm happy.  A few clearance issues with the DuPont connectors have crept up so I will modify future versions of my PCB's to take this into account.

Thanks
Martin