eldavo

I may be missing something but if you are simply connecting the switches and servos to digital ports on the Arduino all you need to know is the port number. That assumes you are using the high level access methods such as digitalRead() etc. You can keep the port numbers in an array of "int"s or some other numerical type or, if they are wired sequentially, you could just define the lowest port number and the max number of switches/servos. There are obviously wrinkles if you are using the Arduino native PWM capabilities as the ports are not sequential so you might use the array approach. It really depends on what is convenient for what you are trying to do. Cheers Dave

That photograph could be turned into a kit of printed parts, much like a Scalescenes kit, it you are not hide bound to having a physical texture on your model. Needs a bit of perspective tweaking but nothing that can't be done in the Gimp or similar software. Cheers Dave

Very nice. Can't beat a bit of Midland! Cheers Dave

More messing about with point rodding has been occurring. I'm largely done apart from a few bits that will need to be accessed from the other side of the baseboards on bits of track I haven't yet built. This is an MSE etch compensator, one of two you get on each sheet. Here is one of my 3D printed examples in the raw. As the resin is nearly transparent you can't see any detail! You can see my rodding installation is pretty crude. It took about an hour with my favourite CAD package to knock something up and 10 minutes to print a whole bunch of them. They are pretty fragile, I broke one getting it off the build plate, but from 3ft they do the job. Back to ballasting I fear. Cheers Dave

On the basis that the track plan is not quite Buxton and if you don't quite get to Buxton on the Midland line you would be in Ashwood Dale, that's the current name for the layout (until I change my mind!). Still working on fiddly bits... I've run out of compensators on the MSE etches I have so I'll just have to 3D print some so I can finish this bloomin rodding. Cheers Dave

Sorry to hear of your losses Ian. I take your point and to be honest I've not been happy about the name for a while. I'll come up with something better. Cheers Dave

I've been having a few sessions working on items I've been putting off. One of these is adding more point rodding. Of course I've switched from working where I started to the opposite end of the layout! The rods for the crossover and the entry to the loop/engine shed area are largely completed. These are mostly fairly long runs of single rodding so not too difficult but they also allow me to move on with ballasting. This will all need to be weathered to tone down some of the colours if nothing else. In fact I've had the dirty brush out and started work on the approach to the engine shed. You can see some of the colour difference in the shot below. I'm very glad I chose to use plywood sleepers as they seem to have taken my acrylic paint stain mix nicely and still have a pleasing timber grain effect. More to do. I have another 1000 chairs coming from C&L so it will soon be time to turn the layout the right way round and build some more track and possibly a baseboard or two. Cheers Dave

Keep kicking at the traces big G. We're waiting to play trains (even if they are funny Eastern things!). Cheers Dave

The loco shed has progressed and now has a basic roof with a clerestory ventilator. The louvres for the ventilator are yet another 3D printed component. Whatever did I do before 3D printing? I've started to tile the roof but it's a tedious job that will take ages so obviously I've switched to do something else. Much more fun to faff around with a paintbrush and weather some of the ballasting. It's dirtier and darker around the ash pit but probably generally too clean. Strangely I rather like the slow job of painting all the rail sides and ballasting. There is quite a lot of it to do. Unfortunately before I can ballast more track I need to sort out some point rodding, another job I've been avoiding! All good fun. Cheers Dave

You might try a PM to Jeff Geary, https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/profile/25527-jeff-geary/, who is the author. I have Trax 3 and that does work on 64 bit Windows. Cheers Dave

Thanks all for your posts. Some interesting stuff and pictures. Here is an updated track diagram that shows a bit more clearly what I am up to. The top 3 lines on the left of the diagram are platforms and I have indicated with yellow circles where I think the 6 FPLs should be. What appears to be a symmetrical 3-way in the diagram has actually been built as a tandem and is the only way I can fit in what's needed. I'm still left with a bit of a question, on a double slip would there be an FPL locking all 4 switches at each end of the complex i.e. just two locks for the whole slip, or would it need more? The pictures of single slips show that the mechanism fits but still leaves the question open. As to modelling the lifting bars, now I've looked more at all this I'll have to model them. When I didn't really know what they did it didn't worry me but now I do... I may have at least one of the eFPLs having some maintenance so I can leave the covers off. ;-) Cheers Dave

Thanks for the response with regards to FPLs. Here is a rough track plan of what I am building: As you can see it's a terminus so facing points are unavoidable, even for the Midland! I can see how economical FPLs can be fitted to the 3-way in the approach and also the point at the top of the plan on the exit from the shortest platform. The issue is the double slip to the left of the signalbox where 3 legs of the complex need to be protected by FPLs. I can't see quite how an eFPL can be used in this situation. I've searched the society catalogue and can't find an image of an eFPL on a double slip. Maybe they had to use a separate lever in these cases. I have a 3D printed representation of an eFPL based on the drawings from the patent. Cheers Dave

I have a query for the illustrious members of the forum who are interested in the Midland. I'm in the process of building an O gauge layout based on Midland practices, currently named Covidale. I'm starting to realize just how little I actually know about the subject! I have a number of facing points which of course should be equipped with facing point locks. The Midland frequently used patented economical facing point locks that allowed a turnout to be operated and locked with a single lever in the signalbox. Were these used on double and single slips? If so, does anyone have references, diagrams or photos of such a set up? All help greatly appreciated. Cheers Dave

Work has been progressing on the engine shed. According to the drawings I have of Wirksworth shed the windows appear to have a multitude of small panes. None of the photos I have of the shed show the windows in enough detail to see exactly how they were built so on my model this is an interpretation! You need a steady hand with a craft knife... ...or a laser cutter. I had to have a number of attempts with different settings and materials but got there in the end. The glazing bars were drawn at 1/2 millimeter wide but with the kerf of the laser they came out a bit thinner. Quite impressed with what can be done. The material is heavyweight brown paper that was used as packaging in my delivery of 2mm cardboard. The glazing bars were then given a rough coat of raw umber acrylic and glued to thin clear material with Rocket card glue. Finally they were glued behind the window openings of the shed building. Some cleaning up is still required. The floor of the shed has been covered with dark brown brick paper and things have been generally painted up. A steel beam has been added across the main entrance and a 3D printed slatted ventilator added behind the circular opening. I still need a central pillar and doors. I need to add some brick/stone paper to the inside of the walls but I don't think I will bother with much detail inside the shed as when the roof has been fitted it will be difficult to see much at all. I may change my mind of course. The ballast is a mixture of chinchilla bathing sand and woodland scenics fine cinders and has had an initial wash of acrylics. Probably still rather a pale colour for engine shed environs. Lots to do. Cheers Dave

Lifting Covid restrictions is all very well but I'm getting less time in the workshop! Between playing golf 2 or 3 times a week and bowls 3 times a week I get the odd bit of time but progress has slowed a bit. The engine shed building is taking shape with the major walls now covered in brick/stone paper and assembled. There are a lot of mortar courses to scribe as I've taken the same approach as I've used on the platforms to add a bit of relief to the printed finish. Today I gouged out trenches in the baseboards so that the building can be planted. It has to be removable. This is pretty much old school cardboard modelling even if the parts were cut with a laser. From above it can be seen the building is not that big and a class 4 engine like the compound is a very tight fit. Next up I'd better sort out how to fit a roof. I've also been fiddling with some details. I figured that I would have to have some representation of point rodding. When you start planning out rod runs and cranks it's scary how much stuff you need. I've got some MSE etches of cranks and pulleys but I decided to create my own rodding stools. Another little job for the 3D printer. This point also has an economical facing point lock so I've created a 3D printed representation. It's all pretty small detail in the bigger picture but it adds something (or will do). All good fun. Cheers Dave

Obviously having got the platforms half built it's time to get distracted and do something else. This time it's the engine shed. Originally I had hoped to fit in a 4 engine shed somewhere but I decided that it would be too overpowering in the space available and scaled back my ambitions. The plan now is to build a 2 road 2 engine shed based on Wirksworth that is used to service smaller tank engines based at Covidale. The assumption is that larger engines would have coal and water replenished but would be based and serviced elsewhere. I'm designing the building in Designspark Mechanical, my favourite 3D CAD program. The main structure is formed from 2 laminations of 2mm greyboard/cardboard. The design isn't complete so I may be pushing my luck by starting to cut out the the various bits for the walls. Nevertheless my cheapo CNC machine with laser has been busy burning bits of cardboard. The shapes are not complex so I could simply have drawn out the parts and cut everything by hand but if you have a laser cutter why not use it. It's not a quick process but the accuracy is the key, far superior to my dodgy knife work. The only drawback is that my machine only has a cutting area of 180x300mm. Not very big especially if you are working in O gauge. Consequently the building has to be made from a kit of parts. I have a lot of bits of cardboard! In the pic some of the pieces are a darker shade of grey. The darker shade is where I have given the card a coat of knotting solution, basically shellac in white spirit. The knotting solution hardens the card and allows me to sand and file any rough edges. It also seals the card so should(!) prevent any damage from damp and other nasties. It's still going to be a substantial building but I think it will look OK. Eventually it will be set into the baseboard by 10mm to help avoid any nasty shadow lines along the base of the building. Onward.. Cheers Dave

The jury have duly pondered the problem of the platform facings and a solution may be to hand. I don't think I can come up with a painting scheme to make the laser etched card solution work so it has to be some form of printed solution. I didn't like the stone texture I tried initially as the blocks seemed too large and it couldn't be seamlessly tiled into large sheets. I searched around on cgtextures.com and found something more suitable. There are a selection of "seamless" textures that can be tiled to make any size of brick/stone paper. Luckily I have an A3 printed so can print stuff at a useful size for O gauge. Being slightly worried that the lack of physical texture might be obvious in this scale I've utilised a trick I picked up from an experienced card modeller Chubber of this parish. The idea is to scribe in some, but not all, the texture of the mortar lines. I used a coffee stirrer for this job and the idea is that the eye catches sight of some texture and for the observer into believing everything has texture. We shall see. In addition I have added a top surface to the platform. I'm trying to give the impression of stone edge slabs with a rolled aggregate infill. The infill is represented by sandpaper bought as a roll rather than in sheets. Unfortunately I seem to have bought 400 grade rather than the 180 or 250 I had intended. Being impatient I've cracked on rather than wait for the right stuff! The edges are individual card pieces 14x21mm representing 2ft by 3ft slabs. They look about right for the width of platforms I have. Given the layout is supposed to be somewhere in the peak district I am assuming the slabs and infill would be limestone. I have work to do on the painting. Onwards...

There is no cure but from time to time you may have periods of remission. My name is Dave and I am a gronkaholic.

More packaging foam has arrived so I have been able to install the core for all the platforms. On to these I've added a layer of 2mm grey board (cardboard). If nothing else this has used up some of my spare latex glue! Somehow I always make to get this orrible sticky latex stuff all over my fingers no matter how careful I am. It's all stuck down now and I've given the card a thin coat of dilute PVA glue to seal it. The next challenge is what to do about cladding the sides. I'm assuming most structures would be built out of stone in the peak district and whatever I do for the platforms will dictate what I do for the other buildings. I've played around with printed paper textures and laser cutting textures into card. The former lacks relief but has loads of colour detail whilst the latter has the relief but I have to find a way of painting it convincingly. Hmmm.... The jury is out.

Would have thought code 40 flat bottom weathered a darker colour would look ok as a 3rd rail next to code 40 running rails. The fact that it isn't lighter real section would be hardly noticeably IMHO. The 2mm association shop does code 40 rail. Cheers Dave

As ever when I get to a tricky bit I duck out and do something else! In this case I was getting tired of the seemingly endless wiring sorting out the engine shed on board 6. With 9 isolating sections for DC mode there seems to be quite a lot of it. I bought some 25mm thick rigid packaging foam to act as the core of my platforms. I could have used a traditional method of creating a framework of strip wood or cardboard but being lazy this looked like an easier and quicker method. The core will be faced with card and have one of two layers of 2mm card as a top surface. One of the platforms is quite long but I'm not convinced it is long enough. May have to have a rethink. Of course my legendary quantity surveying capabilities mean I didn't order enough foam. Doh! Having run out of materials I had to get back to the wiring. A concerted effort yesterday saw the control panel wiring for the shed area sorted and it works. Yay! In DC mode I have space for 9 locos in the shed area. It could accommodate more in DCC mode. The class 2 and class 4 4-4-0s are parked in what will be the shed with a Flatiron and class 2 goods sat on the apron. 0-4-4 1257 is sat on the ash pit with a class 3 tank engine sat next to it on the turntable road next to what will be the coaling shed. The turntable seems to be working fairly well and managed to turn the compound which is heeeeaavy. The single which is parked on it is no challenge. I'm going to need more engines. Cheers Dave

Generous offer Les. If the current scheme doesn't hack it I may well take you up on it. Cheers Dave

More progress made. The turntable now has a drive mechanism. Actually this is Mark 3! The first version was a 5 volt stepper motor with built-in 64 to 1 gearbox which worked pretty well in terms of positioning but had nowhere near enough torque. Mark 2 was a NEMA 17 stepper motor working at 12 volts driving the main shaft directly. Again not enough torque and took a bit of software jiggery pokery to get the positioning right. Mark 3 reuses the NEMA 17 motor but adds 3 to 1 gearing using a toothed belt and pulleys. This looks as though it may have enough grunt to do the job. I've done some basic testing with the stepper running with 1/32 microstepping but I could probably get a bit more torque if I reduced the level of microstepping. The stepper is driven by an 8825 stepper driver controlled by an Arduino pro mini (for no reason other than I had a spare one). The table doesn't have to do anything special simply rotate exactly 180 degrees on request. The bridge track power is delivered through the race rail and the basic design is not DCC friendly so the Arduino also drives a relay unit to isolate the track while the table moves. A simple pushbutton on the control panel will start things happening. I need to finish the wiring on this board and the associated bits in the control box so I can test it properly. Cheers Dave

I've been digging more holes in the baseboards... This time it's for inspection pits in the loco shed area. The one above is one of a pair actually inside the shed building. I fiddled about wondering whether to bother with these as they will be largely invisible especially when locos are parked in the shed. Eventually I decided to get on with the job as it would niggle if actually they were obviously missing later on. There are actually 4 pits; two inside the shed, another inspection pit on the shed apron (bit of overkill looking at midland shed pictures) and an ash pit on the road to the right of the shed. Most of the track is now down in this area with just the turntable approach to do and a bit more on the coal road. The bits for the turntable drive have now arrived so it's time to go and do battle... Cheers Dave

Painting glue between the sleepers might seem like a tedious way of ballasting but actually it's pretty time efficient. This morning I vacuumed off the excess ballast and voila... No rework or cleanup required. It's a lot easier to do in O gauge rather than N! It will have a dilute glue mixture added at some point to make 100% sure its all locked down but it's pretty much good to go. Of course trackwork is a project that just keeps on giving. Having threaded thousands of chairs onto hundreds of yards of rail and then glued it all down you then get the job of painting it all. I've added a general rust colour to the rails and chairs. Still to do is to pick out the keys in a timber colour and the fishplates and slide chairs in a greasy colour. Then it will need weathering. All good fun. Cheers Dave