Fen End Pit

have you got a mouse in there?

Superb

David

Hi David, I am liking the vertical fiddle yard you have, is that self made ? can you stick some more pics on here showing the operating mechanism you have used ?

 

Best regards

Craig.

There were a couple of earlier blog entries http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/186/entry-9638-vertical-fiddleyard-and-a-story-of-modelling-mojo-lost-and-found/

and http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/186/entry-8706-vertical-fiddleyard-it-goes-up-tiddly-up-up-it-goes-down-tiddly-down-down/

David

See: http://85a.co.uk/forum/view_topic.php?id=2356&forum_id=1

Thanks Martin - I stand corrected. I should say thanks for an excellent product which has made the process of drawing the layout so much easier and more accurate. It is just my use that lets it down.

David

So reopening Geneva Central reclamation yard is on the cards then   ?

 

BTW - ta for showing a shot of in progress trackwork. I understand the edge protection factor going on and was pondering osmething similar. Have you used this method before and what effect has it on noise? Oh and whats the underlay?

 

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve

The underlay accross the whole layout is 5mm foam from C&L. At the edges of the baseboards I replace the foam with a 1/2" width of timber. I drill a hole under each rail, put a 12BA bolt down into the timber and then solder the rail end to the top of this bolt. This makes quite a strong end for the rail. I don't really notice any major problem with noise.

thanks

David

Do you not need a further shunt signal to control the release from the second siding on the bottom pair?  As you have a double slip, either siding can exit directly onto the main line.

 

This would mean that 15 would need to be controlled from the box, as it would need to be locked.  No 16 is the one I think ought to be on a ground frame!  So one problem solved and another created - sorry!  However, do not get upset by popping one lever into the frame, I dare say it happened in some places.

By the 1950's-60's there had been quite a lot of rationalization particularly with relation to shunt signals. My friends on the MERG reminded me about the excellent resources on signalbox.org and I found plenty of examples (e.g. http://signalbox.org/diagrams/wimblingtonc1960.jpg) where the exit only has a single disk.

David

Hi

 

Do you realise that 10, 14 and 18 would probably been yellow disks. This would allow a train to shunt past them in the ON position, provided the points were set away from the main running lines..

 

Lisa

Hi Liz

Yep, a mix of nice old GER rotating head signals and more modern ones!

David

Hi Mark

yes, we have a CNC router in Makespace that will chomp through 16mm Ply with no problem. Trouble is I have spent too much time training other people to use the laser cutter that I've not yet managed to get a training session on it!. I have tried to draw up all the 'under-baseboard' fittings and made the bracing to avoid them. However I'm sure I'll still end up cursing with a stanley knife at some point!

Hi N15class

I'd agree that 15mm MDF wouldn't be the ideal top were the layout to be in anyway portable but this layout is specifically not portable. I had the MDF from the original 'shelf' that Empire Basin was sat on and I quite like the weight from the point of view of noise deadening.

If (when) I get around the rebuilding Fen End Pit I'll be very tempted to get some of the 50mm extruded foam an machine recesses for the servo etc into it and cover the sides with thin ply. By the time I get round it it that will probably be all I'll be able to lift!

David

David,

 

For what it is worth, it is most unlikely that you would have had tie bars finishing on plates just above the window.  The tie bars are to secure (normally resecure) the elevation back to the floors.  This is to stiffen the building back up and/or stop an elevation peeling off.

 

Putting a tie bar next to a window lintel will mean that the plate has little to attach too and in all probability the elevation will still peel off, just with a little bit of brickwork still attached.

 

Sorry, it is my profession................!!!

Yes, I would tend to agree with you, however I based the position on the photographs from the GoogleWagon!

David

Hi David,

 

I've recently purchased a laser and I am still practicing what I can do and cut. I also use TurboCad and was wondering how you created your brick walls. The way I have done it seems extremely long winded by creating each brick course at a time. Is there an easier way as your brickwork looks very good.

 

Kevin

Hi Kevin

yes, that is basically what I do, but it isn't all that long winded. I'm working in 4mm so I use 3mm for a stretcher and 1.5 mm for a header and 1mm for each course. Modify-Array is your friend here. You can draw a line for the horizontal joints and then use modify-array-linear x=0,y=1,sets=X to make X horizonal courses. Then you draw a 1mm line and use the same command to make a copy 3mm and then 1.5 mm away. Copy the resulting two items with the same command X=4.5, Y=0, sets=X to make a complete brick course. Do roughly the same thing for the next course, just gets the headers and stretches spaced correctly. The finally take both complete courses and use modify-array and use X=0,Y=2,sets=X to copy all the vertical lines up through the whole wall.

That just leaves you to sort the closures out around the doors/windows by usually moving a header by .75mm.

One word of warning, my laser cutter is too dim to spot that you have drawn two cut lines in the same place. This means if the drawing has two lines designed to just engrave a gap between a brick overlapped you can end up with it cutting through the material. It is sometimes difficult to catch where you have duplicated a line when copying.

Good luck!

David

It's a bit too late for you, but the Black country Blues have picture of the inner strengthening in a steel water tower at post #145 in:-http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/67294-black-country-blues-blackrat-does-a-water-tower/page-6#entry1005013

That is impressive. Obviously my tank was much smaller and constructed as a single welded unit rather out of lots of individual panels. I'm half wondering if the top should actually have some kind of boarding over most of it giving that I intend it to be sitting in front of a bank of trees.

David

Very nice.  When do you start on the station building?!

Once I'm sure which station building I'm building!

David

Hi David

 

I note the concentric circles around the screw holes and assume these are a pseudo countersink using two engraving passes. Looks a good idea how well did it work out?

 

Regards

 

Mike

Actually it was 4 concentric circles each of the same engraving power. I did the smallest one first and worked out which gives a slightly more 'rounded' effect of smoothing out the layers. The result is good and perfectly adequate for a countersunk hole

.

David

That's an awful lot of track which ends in a big drop off the side of the baseboard Robin. Whats the plan?

David

You'll need a nice big drag line to load them with, looks great

David

Is the wire thin enough to disappear behind the corners in the trolley?

I'll try it with the thin wires from the DCC chip first. I might be forced to make a folded 'curtain' against the rear uprights if push comes to shove. We'll see how it goes.

David

Yes it does look a bit like an audio cassette!  The operating arm has five holes currently ~.9mm at 4mm intervals to allow for a variety of throws.

David

I was told that when building, buildings it was best to use 3 layers to avoid warping. Do you think that with this technique that rule has now bitten the dust?

I am a huge fan of this sort of cutting. My nearest laser to 'play' with is over an hour away.

 

Mike

This needs more investigation, I may end up using 3 layers of 1.5mm material. We'll see how it goes.

David

Really nice. Must be nice to have a personal laser!

 

Here is some inspiration - http://www.buntbahn.de/modellbau/viewtopic.php?t=6691&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=330

I like that link thanks!

The lasercutter isn't personal but is one at the new hackspace in Cambridge see http://makespace.org

David

That's really impressive, whats the laser set you're using? Fantastically impressive tech, what drawing package do you use for the laser ? Sorry if these questions have been answered before.

 

Mike

Hi Mike

I'm using this laser cutter at MakeSpace in Cambridge http://hpclaser.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=11 . Artwork is drawn in TurboCAD and then exported to a DXF file. The software on the PC with the laser cutter then allows you to define a speed, power and order for each colour of line.

David

I would think the technique for corners would be a chamfer?  I don't know whether the laser cutter can be rotated to cut a chamfer or whether you will need to file this on by hand afterwards

Unfortunate you can only cut straight down into the material and not at an angle. If I was going to mitre the corners then I'd have to find a way to accurately file/mill off the edge to 45 degrees.

Most of the buildings I'm hoping to construct will be based on prototypes so I'll try to copy the original. The wall I cut was based on the GERS drawing of the base of Thaxted water tower and the drawing was anotated to say which bonds were used. Then it was a case of trying to guess how the brickie would have dealt with the closures based on the distances between the corners!

Do we still have techincal colleges anywhere? I thought they had all been turned into Mac-ademies.

David

Conversation wheels, now you're talking!

That will teach me for typing a blog entry after New Years toasts!

You ever thought of putting two perspex ends on the non slding part so you can never drive a loco off unless its alligned with the exit level ( this being the level that would have no perspex to stop the train) A couple of L brackets and it should be easy to put into place.

Yes I have thought of that, just not got a round to it yet! The unit really does help keep the dust of the stock even as it is.

David

Hi David,

 

The plan looks like an interesting one with plenty of scope for "Play value".

 

What do you plan to put in the top left corner?

 

Out of curisoity is that an accurate representation of the 6 foot way between tracks? I am curious as it helps me visualise what I have planned in my head. (We have approximatley the same size room use)

 

Regards,

 

Owen

The track was drawn in Templot and then exported as a DXF into Turbocad, the drawing above just shows the rails so the 6 foot should be accurate. The top left has a 2'x6" void which sticks into the room for the plumping and boiler flue so I have to work around that. The plan is to put a curved backscene around that section. On the right hand side is the window and I don't really want to stop all the light coming in with a backscene there. The minimum radius is 1m which I've found I can get my P4 stock around without too much problem.

David

Lovely pieces of kit, David. They look so... professional!

 

As I'm attempting a 'less professional' version for manual operation, I'd be really interested to know whether, in practice, you've found the 6mm holes (through which the brass tubes/wires reach up to the point blades) to be 'just about right', and give you the leeway to make fine adjustments at the server end. Maybe it's the recognised 'norm', I don't know. (My version is for peco points, less their spring mechanism, so only one hole needed)

 

Thanks for your help... and inspiration

I've found 6mm about right for P4, the movement you need on the blades in less than 2mm and with the thickness of the tube you get a bit of leaway. Whether you'll need more with a Peco point is probably down to trial and error. I'm wondering why you would need to do something quite so complex for those where you have a functional tiebar already.

David

I quite facied one of these but with a sloping attic roof I have come up against a snag! Nice work though.

Don

Sounds like you need a 'linear paternoster'.

You have each track built as a cassette, basically a long rectangular tube with track in it. These then get shuffled around to align with your exit roads. It would have the advantage that you would only need space below the baseboard level. On the minus side I don't know of anyone who has ever built one. I seriously considered it before opting to just rebuild the previous 'moving display case' type design.

David