Taigatrommel

I didn't really intend this as a review of the model, more a preview of the work I'll do on it! I know what you mean about the number of different dosto designs, I keep thinking I should buy the book I've seen about them, but I have a feeling the story ain't over yet.

I have of course, given the wrong link... I'll find the one I meant to give and edit.

Amongst the releases promoted by Piko this year, some older models cascaded from Classic to Hobby range caught my eye. These were the refurbished ex-DR double deck coaches in traffic red. This shuffling was accompanied of a RRP reduction from Eur93.49 to 39.99 in the case of driving car, and from 69.99 to 29.99 for the all 2nd. Previously these coaches has only been available in the Hobby range as (innacurate) Metronom examples. With such a saving, some economies were surely inevitable. Nevertheless, I placed an order for a couple and waited... Last week, they finally found their way to my post box. Although they weren't the most common type on Rügen (this falls to the unavailable-as-a-model DABbuzfa 760) they were certainly present around 2000, so they're the best thing available to me for my Regional Expresses. Like an excited child at Christmas, I eagerly pulled them out of their packaging for a good look. Naturally, the driving car (DABbuzfa778.0) draws my attention most. Shortcuts or otherwise, it certainly looks the part. Without going into any great detail, the only thing that gives me any cause for concern in the basic model is that perhaps the cab isn't raked back far enough. Have a look at the prototype to see whether you agree. Really my concern with these models isn't any fundamental accuracy issues, it's what detailing they might need to be brought up to a similar standard to my Roco coaches. With the financial saving compared to the classic models, I'm prepared to put a bit of effort in. So rather than being a review, this post mainly concerns my search for the modelling I will want to do. The biggest job is the window frames. They're aluminium or something on the prototype, and in the catalogue images they appeared painted. However, those catalogue images were probably actually the classic models. The unpainted clear plastic on the model just doesn't look right. I have tried painting window frames previously, but it's tedious and needs a good steady hand, which I don't always have. I think my best option might be to try drawing up an etch to make overlays from stainless steel. They'll be a nice straightforward thing to learn etch design with too. Another obvious area is the bogies. Compared to the classic model, Piko have reduced the number of parts drastically. It's essentially just the basic frame now, no brake rigging or other details. Here's the leading bogie, drivers side of a Piko "Classic" DBmq776. As you can see, it has brake blocks nicely in line with the wheels and an indusi (German AWS equivalent, a bit more like ATP) receiver. Now, the equivalent view on the "Hobby" DABbuzfa778.0. It shouldn't be too hard to make up the missing details. They are different on the DABbuzfa778.0 to the DBmq776 though, and there is the addition of sanding gear. There's also quite a lot of printed detail. I'm not sure what I'll do about this, I always find it hard to blend added details into the factory finish. I'll just see how much it bugs me over time for now! Finally, the model lacks factory fitted lighting. However, it is available as an accessory part, but at 30 Euros I will probably just make my own. It's not a job I find tricky! As a closing note, a front end comparison between the "Classic" DBmq776 and Hobby DABbuzfa778.0.

Just found a pic in the Platform 5 combined volume from 1990, all the bogie pipework appears white.

Different pipes are different colours depending on what they're for, white, blue and orange seem common. I guess your best bet is to find a pic of an ex-works 60 and work from there. Also, I think the recently replaced undergubbin is probably a compressor.

Following a suggestion from Phil Harding (PhilH) of using tea leaves for leaf litter, and the realisation that the current malty breakfast blend I'm currently drinking has an admirable mix of leafy bits, sticky bits and general dust I dried some post-brewing dregs out on a baking tray in a low (50oC) oven. The brewing and drying made it lighter colours too, which look better than the very dark pre-brewing shades. Three pots and a quick grind with a pestle and mortar to generate a bit more fine material, some dilute PVA, and the result is pictured... I had considered using Treemendus products as suggested by Andy Y, but the tea was there already and just looked right. On a more significant turn, I have finally made a traverser fiddle yard for Bad Horn, having bought the runners months ago. No rocket science here, just checks with a set square and a lot of luck. Well, except for one thing... I had already built a pair of boards for a conventional points ladder type yard, and to drill the holes in the end piece of the new traverser I decided I'd take the end piece off the previous board and use it as a template. So, I merrily whipped out the screws to the longitudinal battens and gave it a tap with a hammer to break the glue bond. It barely twitched. So, I laid the board down on the deck, stood in the middle to stop it moving and gave a couple of good belts. Off came the end piece, along with part of the top, well held with three more screws... Oops. Anyway, other than my own stupidity there were no problems in the build. I did notice that the MDF shelf I am using as the top piece (18mm- I didn't feel like making two frames, and didn't trust myself to make them both square) was sagging in the centre, so popped down to Mitre 10 to get one more runner for the central cross member. Of course, drawer runners are only sold in pairs, so I have one spare. Pictured here is the base frame before the central runner went in. Note that the runners are a little short. I'm using a 300mm wide shelf, but the runners come in 250 or 400mm lengths. Still, as it moves both ways, that's no problem. There was one bit of really good luck. By turning a batten on its side, its depth plus the ply top at the end is within a millimetre of the depth of the shelf plus runners. That saved a lot of messing about! You can also see the sag that concerned me in that image. Next stage, maybe even tomorrow, I'll head to the Warehouse and get some cheap workmates to act as layout support. At $20 each with four needed for the layout, it's cheaper than I can make legs for. Also, Diane has authorised Bad Horn's semi-permanent erection in our spare room/study- even though it means moving her desk! I love my wife

By bizarre coincidence I was just reading about the 2002 floods. I'm not up to date with the news, but a quick glance suggests these are even worse than 2002 or 2006. Three sets of major floods in eight years... I really feel for the people living in these areas, they're surely barely over the last lot.

As 60s are to me an approaching rumble, I'd say they're on loco where a bass reflex speaker is abosolutely essential. But that's only cos you can't fit a 12" cone for gut trembling thunder!

I'm really impressed with my homebrew grass applicator, and I've only had one belt off it so far! It just works, and I do wonder why I put off making one for so long. I haven't been doing large areas in one hit, but I am surprised how far away from the earth point it actually works. I've started clipping the eart to a rail (not with trains or controls attached) which avoids the need to pin into the scenery. As for the camera, I've tried manually changing to different white balance settings, eg daylight cloud (the picture was taken using natural light), but something just seemed to confuse it. The Range Rover is actually maroon!

I was thinking of using some small bits of ballast and traditional scatter in the ruts, and maybe some powders too. I should have done that first, but you know... scatterbrained here. As far as the width goes... it's the track to the signalbox, so gets used by two vehicles a day each way, assuming an early and late shift. I've taken care to mix tones a bit, adding some of my shorter strands of varying colour in with the longer monotone spring grass. I'm going for a late spring lush look, not exactly fashionable, but attempting to match the backscene. And the colours in that pic just don't match the reality- I tried various white balance settings, but none seemed to match entirely.

Using whitemetal people to add weight is a great idea, I must remember that one. Also, Prince of Wales looks fantastic, nice bit of work there.

I like James' idea of the main article going in the blog with an excerpt and teaser picture. Having them all in one place to drool over refer to would be great.

And as if experimenting with a high voltage tea strainer isn't enough, I've had a go at making a dirt track. Does it look OK? I'm honestly not sure about it.

The Fleischmann "Profi" pre-ballasted track has always looked good to my eyes, not as fine as code 55, but somehow more refined than Kato Unitrack. I prefer the look of the ballast base to Kato as well. Fleischmann do produce a matching flexible track- I can't get onto their website at present, but here's the item at Lokshop

Yeah, there's a few of those about, even in Australia! I actually wanted silver for the greater era flexibility it offers me. That and I already have bunch of mint green Halberstadts. It's funny, I'm not a big fan of mint green or the orient red Intercity livery, but I love InterRegio livery. What a difference colour makes, they're all essentially the same livery, just different colours.

Er... I assumed it was the lock to be honest. I've seen similar on points which definitely aren't high speed.

Dominik, that link goes beyond useful and into indespensable territory. Many, many thanks.

Whoops. I think I put the axle counter on the wrong side!

A chance ebay find a while back provided me with a load of detailing parts for DR pointwork, sold as Tillig cat # 85509, although actually containing various Erbert parts- axle counters, point motors, check mechanism, markers, locking mechanism and mysterious electrical boxes. There were next to no instructions, so it took me a while to suss the placement, and even then it was only from an illustration on a Tillig dealer's site. So, armed with a little data and no knowledge, I have attempted to put these details in the right locations around Peco points. All OK here as far as I can tell. The problem is, I don't know how I'm going to fit the details in on the next point up, nor what to do on the double slip. Guesswork seems my best option at this stage. Still, hopefully, even if I don't get it right, it'll add to the general sense of place.

The 212 I was weathering in my "Taking stock" post. And occassionally a 218.

Yes, a pop culture title so obvious I had to translate it to reduce the cringe induction. Sorry. Just a small bit of work on a part of Bad Horn which had been bothering me. Along most of the length trees are my method of choice to blend backscene and model. However, the bay platform track is right up against the backscene so there simply wasn't room. I bought some Auhagen low relief card buildings to try and nail it, but when I came to putting them in place, they just looked wrong. So I hummed and hawed for a couple of months and got nowhere fast. I don't know why it took me so long to just try a wall in place, but this week I finally did- and I like it. I think I just tried to make matters too complicated when something simple is more effective. I also made a static grass applicator today (tea strainer and flyswat variety), so its time to crack on with scenics. Having made a few using Hornby materials, I also caved in to impatience and ordered a bunch of ready made trees. The stretch without trees behind the bay served to separate my efforts from the bought ones, so I can clump all mine on the bank by the bridge and scenic break. This area will be the main grass patch. I also made a couple of decisions (and corresponding orders) today, that I will use Hp light signals (on economy grounds, and with my original signalling plan, allowing passenger use of the bay), and Piko Silberlinge. I specifically want a Karlsruhe cabbed driving trailer, and I can't find any 1:87 Roco ones for sale. Plus Piko is half the price! All signals and the Steuerwagen were ordered today from Lokshop, I'll order a couple of trailers at a later date if I'm happy with it. I still haven't decided upon a control method for the signalling yet, but I'm tempted to go with DCC accessory decoders so that I can operate everything from a handset. The nice thing with a small layout is that I can experiment without massive cost.

Yeah, those would be a bit steep. There's a decimal point not visible there, and it was the cost of illuminated switches (so that they'd light up when the interlocking allowed them to change). A bit steep compared to a dollar for a regular SPDT switch from MERG... or even $2.60 from Jaycar.

So I'm looking at that, thinking, "well, that's wrong, so that.. etc" and I started to redraw it. And now I'm thinking PC control isn't such a bad idea!

Two nights ago, I was sat scribbling in my notebook when my wife came to see what I was doing. She took one look at the product of my pencil, gave a disappointed sigh and declared "I don't want to know. I'm going to bed." and left me to my muttering accompanied sketches... I mentioned back when I was trying out a Viessmann signal that I was considering designing a solid state interlocking panel for point/signal control. The idea just won't go away. I can't quite settle for individually controlled points and signals, I just wouldn't feel I'd done a good job unless they corresponded to one another. PC control is a possibility, but it doesn't seem right to control semaphores with the click of a mouse. I also had a go with Modratec's SigScribe, but had difficulties when it came to the group exit signal. A great shame, as I would love a physical interlocking frame. Doubtless a bit of trickery could fool SigsScribe into fitting my requirements, but solid state components are a lot cheaper. Don't be mistaken, I don't think Modratec frames expensive, it's just that I'd rather spend such money on a longer term layout. So back to the muttering and scribbling. I won't pretend that I honestly know what I'm doing. My limited electronics tuition from my schooldays seems a long time ago, so I'm working from first principles. This may sound funny, but at this point I'm not after help with it- I'm going to try it in Crocodile Clips before actually building anything. I've also only drawn one side of the circuit, and only the control parts, not the actual power to the points and signals (which will be with relays or transistors). Ignore all the numbers scrawled on, they're just the results of me thinking with graphite. As I look at the diagram again, I find myself questioning aspects, and wondering how far the interlocking should go. For instance, is it enough to have in one instance a conflicting route simply setting anything crossing its path to stop aspects, or should I make it that the route cannot be set other set routes conflict? The prototypical answer is the latter, but is that just making extra work for myself? I also look at the digram and wonder why I have done certain things. I think that a whole fresh draft now I've got the general ideas in my head may be worthwhile.

With Steinruecken disassembled from the move, I took the opportunity to tidy up the wiring and add plugs between the boards. My first step was to set up two buses the length of the layout on the low level boards, being DCC power and 16V AC. I used 15A wire for this task, as there's nothing like overkill where power buses are concerned! Theses run from four pads of verroboard at the board ends (attached with epoxy- I tried hot melt glue at first, but guess what that does when you put a hot soldering iron to it...). From these pads go the cross-board jumpers, which for use a four pin PC style power plug (the style go to disc drives), and the feeds to individual tracks. There's rather more of these feeds than are actually normally necessary, as I intend to add in full track circuiting for use with MERG RPC. From the low level to top level there are at present 15 pin sub-mini D connectors, although I fear this may not be enough on all boards once I get into the signalling. For now though, it means I can easily remove the upper level for continued work. This all done, I reassembled the layout, and caused the first damage of the house move- I dropped a corner board, and knocked off the copperclad sleepers at one end of the main lines on the upper level. However, even with this happening, the copperclad proved its worth, and after resecuring it I was able to run trains. Ordinary track would surely have needed replacing. Then came the serious business of playing trains testing. First off, just confirming that the wiring was all correct. Initial signs were promising, no instant shorts on start up. Then, I simply ran a loco round each track in turn, quickly finding that I'd missed a couple of feeds. Not a big drama. The next fault found was that as a train entered one board of the low level on one track, it shorted. The problem was as easy to find as it was to fix, I'd simply got the droppers the wrong way round. These few faults located and addressed, I am now looking at the actual running characteristics of the layout. Being on a new floor has resulted in some boards not being quite level, for now addressed with slipping plywood pieces under the legs, but utimately I will try to find some screw adjusters. There's still a sag in one track needing addressing though. One one of the helices I had been having trouble with trains of longer than six coaches. The sheer weight of train pushing against itself seemed to be causing derailments. However, this had been with Sachsenmodelle coaches, and now I'm running full rakes of Roco I actually put the issue down to SaMo's poor assembly and light wieght. I'm still suffering rogue uncoupling with Roco close couplings though, as these have no vertical lock. I could change to Roco universals (which have a very positive lock in all directions), but I have traced the problem to the change from Atlas to Piko track on one helix- the change point has a slight change in radius, and this seems to be the source of the issue. I'm tempted to build a whole new helix, as I have a mass of Piko A track of 422mm radius, and the timber required costs less than new track- the present helices use Atlas 15" radius. So that's about where I'm up to now. I've still got one road to lay, and a whole lot of things I could do with buying- I'm out of point motors for a start. But I think my next bit of shopping will be a quanity of timber.