Lots of work on the automation side of things tonight, things are going very well indeed. Having fiddled around with extensive testing for months now I've finally started on some of the real schedules. So far I've 3 local services buzzing around under computer control, snaking across the crossovers, reversing out of the bay, shuffling through the fiddle yard....
The drawback of all this, of course, is it's wildly addictive nature. I can see a layout based on local MU services appearing if I'm not damned careful!
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Chipboard and woodwork adhesive on the menu this weekend. A 40 foot long stretch of roadbed has been installed on a rising gradient to link the lower level to the middle. Still very much work in progress when this picture was taken 30 minutes ago, the clamps are still in place while the glue dries.
I hadn't planned on starting work on this section just yet, but things were getting a little cramped on the layout. Having only one of three fiddle yards installed so far means there isn't enough space to park stock, particularly apparent when trying to test the automated scheduling of local services as I've been doing for the last few days.
This view from the other end of the layout shows where the new line has climbed above the lower fiddle yard. Merely installing the main line trackage here will give me two long sidings in the short term - useful for shifting some of the trains off-stage.
None of this new line will be visible on the final layout, it will be concealed behind/under the middle level and exists purely to get trains from one level to the next.
Bearing in mind the ultimately hidden nature of this trackwork, it's worth including this photo as it shows the different levels to good effect. The new section of the main line where the RES 47 sits has risen by about 2cm at this point, while the reversing loops of the fiddle yard have dropped enough to give sufficient clearance above trains with raised pantographs.
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Nothing much to report today apart from a major tidying and track-cleaning frenzy prior to a running session. A photo of me wielding the vacuum cleaner (yes, the layout has it's own vac!) isn't much to get excited about, so by way of a change here's a shot of a visiting loco. One of Nigel Emery's fleet that was given running rights this afternoon.
Stretching my knowledge of European motive power to it's limits, I think I can say without fear of contradiction that this is a 'big red foreign engine'. Made by Roco.
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This evening's activities consisted of fitting Lenz LE1025A chips to 2 Hornby Class 90s and the same manufacturer's Class 56. They're seen here after test running and coupler removal - Kadees will need to be fitted before they can haul trains.
I'm having a bit of a purge on my backlog of unchipped locos of late, I'm particularly mindful of the fact that almost none of my AC electrics are in service as yet.
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Straight out of the box is Hornby's R2330: 90029 "Frachtverbindungen" in DB red. Very nicely applied, as is typical of Hornby these days, the only real glitch is the black surround to the lights which is yellow on the prototype.
The angle of the photograph deliberately isn't flattering to the rather clumsy skirt and tension lock arrangement. I think this loco and the Class 86 are the ones I'd most like to see Hornby upgrade....
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Chipping the night away. The Lima Class 67 has had a Lenz LE1014E chip installed whilst the Bachmann Class 08 received a Zimo MX61. I had hoped to chip 4 or 6 locos, but the Lima 67 took a lot longer than expected. The 67 is very poorly designed and features a circuit board that is best thrown away. Had I done this then the conversion would have been as quick as the 08, but I wanted to do it the 'official' way in order to do a step-by-step photo guide. Bad move!
I also spent an hour or two swapping chips, test running and tweaking the thing in an effort to do something about the noise. Best results were obtained from another Zimo chip but I'm not about to waste something of that quality in a Lima loco. I settled on the LE1014E in the end because it was almost as quiet and nearly as smooth.
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More decoders! The Lima 31 has received a Lenz LE1025A chip and is an example of that rare breed, a smooth-running Lima loco. The similarly equipped Class 33 is a more typical Lima effort, not particularly inspiring but certainly improved through the use of a feedback decoder.
The two American FT diesels in the background are out of their boxes purely to receive better chips. Lenz LE104XF decoders displaced from other locos have replaced some primitive Roco products from the dawn of DCC.
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Another decoder fitting day - amongst those passing across the workbench were the 4 Bachmann Warships pictured, 3 more Class 47s and an 08. The Warships have no real place on a Black Country layout, of course, but were bought as chassis donors for AC electrics. It doesn't hurt to use them in the short term, does it?
The Warships work well on basic, non-feedback decoders and today I've been recycling Lenz LE103XF & LE104XF chips taken from locos that I've sold or upgraded. Bachmann's multiple units such as the Class 158 also work well with these decoders.
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I'm auditioning a new hand-controller at the moment, a Lenz LH90. I normally use the push-button LH100s seen behind it in the photo, but in some circumstances the traditional knob-style of control (it took me ages to choose that wording!) can be of value. The LH90 is nice, but it suffers from acute multiple button-press syndrome. It also doesn't display as much useful information as the LH100 and consequently isn't quite so good for quickly selecting the slowest of speeds.
Personally I think the LH100 is still the best DCC hand-controller on the market by a large margin. What I really want is an LH100 with a knob on it...
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The trouble with having a DCC test track in the office is it's started to grow already. If I prop the hi-fi and phone up on books I can get a nine foot run on top of the bookcases. The Rocoline pointwork I use for testing purposes has built in DCC point motors and all of the frog polarity issues are dealt with out of the box. It really is 2 wire stuff and before long a complete 3D layout plan has appeared out of nowhere.
The Bachmann Rats pictured have already had P4 wheels fitted and then removed again. I'm now thinking of popping them back in and throwing together an electric ironing board to run them on. Get a grip Jones!
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Most of my modelling time in the last week has been devoted to fiddling with automatic train scheduling - one big logic puzzle and unfortunately not photographable.
The only thing worthy of a mention here has been the arrival of a second-hand Lenz Compact controller. This is mainly for test track use but it'll also help me to understand some of it's less obvious assets for the next time I have to operate one at an exhibition!
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Not having touched the layout for two weeks I woke up this morning with the urge. So I thought a bit of wiring might take my mind off it....
To be more accurate this is re-wiring, as I've stripped everything out and re-worked it with twice as many track-circuits, taking the opportunity to mount the gubbins on another drop-board for ease of access. Originally I installed track-circuits to support prototypical signalling, but once I started to experiment with computer controlled DMU/EMU services I realised I needed more circuits if I wanted things to work convincingly. Units should now be able to approach the station in the correct manner and come to a halt in the appropriate platform. In particular the electric services from the Birmingham direction should slow almost to a stop before being given a yellow aspect to pick their way across to platform 3 at no more than 20mph.
There'll probably be more track circuit alterations as I gain experience with the computer side of things. That's something to look forward to - not!
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Another half-dozen Heljan 47s have been chipped, fitted with Kadees and put into service. All use Lenz LE1024E decoders as to date they're the best match I've found for these locos.
With the exception of the Rail Express limited edition XP64 loco, all are part of the late 70s fleet. The two-tone green 1934 is destined to become 47366 as soon as I get the transfers and 1932 will become 47334. The others will experience minor changes of identity, too.
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Not much to show photographically, of late. I've been doing 'research' as people who lounge around reading magazines and looking at pictures like to call it.
I have renumbered a few locos into local favourites as the photo shows - studio flash isn't kind to that carrier film! My policy is to fit decoders, couplers and renumber (where needed) in order to get stock running on the layout. Further alterations (all three locos will need detail mods to properly represent their prototypes) are done later. If I don't take this two stage approach then I suspect the layout will never get built.....
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No modelling at all this week - I've had enough of interminable wiring and fancied a break! Research for the signalling side of things, however, spurred me on to rescan some of my older Walsall photos, one of which can be seen to the left. Note that high brake lever on the first wagon - now where did I put those Dave Bradwell etches?
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Spent the weekend operating Nigel Burkin's "work-in-progress" demonstration layout at the Chesterfield show, explaining DCC to people and pointing out the tortoise point motors under the baseboard. The relevance of this to my own layout (other than a distinct lack of progress over the last 2 days) is that after admiring Nigel's new signal gantry I returned home with a large selection of Plastruct - signalling is next on the agenda!
My expenditure on books at the show doesn't bear thinking about, as always........
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Wiring. I hate wiring. I particularly hate wiring upside-down with bits of insulation dropping in my face, so I've had a change of plan. From now on all wiring will terminate at vertical boards at the rear of the layout to make life that little bit easier. I've done this on layouts in the past but, as always, charged straight in with this one, sacrificing ease of construction for getting something running straight away.
This morning's gizmos and associated wiring are shown secured to an offcut of shelving. From left to right are:
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New trackwork has been wired in and track-circuited, together with various minor adjustments to the track plan, as seen here in TrainController.
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A visit from the district signalling inspector today means my track plan now officially passes muster apart from a missing trap point - and I hadn't finished that area so it doesn't count!. She's gone away to work on the signalling diagram, so the first signalling installations should happen relatively soon. Signalling is unfortunately one of those areas where my ignorance knows no bounds.
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Track in place and testing underway using a somewhat strange mixture of rolling stock. If I haven't annoyed at least one purist by lunchtime I find I can't digest my food properly.
The underboard wiring at this point consists of temporary jumper cables. Once the track has proved derailment free then final wiring will take place using the various DCC block detection bits scattered about on the left.
The expanded polystyrene blocks I use as place-keepers for scenery and structures tend to fool the exposure meter in Fiona's little compact camera. Why not daub them with leftover household emulsion to tone them down, I thought? The photo shows why not - not one of my better ideas.
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Tracklaying - four new points being installed to enable approaching MUs to cross to the far side of the station in the manner of EMUs entering the real Walsall station. This service will be computer controlled and may or may not be electrified.
The forest of wires underneath each Peco point caters for frog polarity switching and point position feedback to the DCC system.
The pre-grouping stock on what will be a viaduct is there purely because I'm having a bit of a clear out. These wagons were my first venture into P4 some 20 years ago and survive today (albeit upgraded to OO gauge) for sentimental reasons.
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