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AllScales

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  1. AllScales
    I need to make sure locos of the same class run similarly under DCC and I had done some tuning in the past, but not written down the settings I had used. So it was time to go and do this!
     
    So over the weekend I dragged my locos downstairs, set up the test track and started to play. Unfortunately one loco was in the box with the carriages. So this just had to happen:
     

     
    This is a recent acquisition that came with sound (ahem). It had one a not very train sounding bleep. I sent it off to my favourite DCC man (Coastal). And it came back as above.... OK, it was an extravagance, but sometimes you just have to repeat that line from Ferris Bueller's day off!
     
    It also has a rather neat departure announcement, which I should have recorded!
  2. AllScales
    Given the good progress over the last few weeks, things kind of took a bit of break over the last week. A visit looming of a modelling friend with entire family meant getting the house in order before the weekend and not during...
     
    Anyway, tonight it was back to it with the washing machine running in the background. Just some simple jobs tonight, the first one painting the baseboard in a piece that will be in the tunnel. That's now black to make sure the tunnel looks like a proper tunnel:
     

     
    The second part is to provide a base for the "platforms" (have a look at some of my previous posts for some examples of Austrian Narrow gauge platforms). In order to reduce the amount of ballast required, I have put some plasticard in between the sleepers to give a base. This plasti-card is about 3mm high the same height as the Roco sleepers.
     

     
    It doesn't look like much, but it helps... Previously on Links Uber Dorf, I used cat food boxes. But I lost a lot of ballast when I turned the layout upside down. I blame the absorbency of the cardboard. Perhaps I should have impregnated the cardboard first...
  3. AllScales
    Last night I put down the second coat of grey in the station yard and this morning it looked like it had now completely covered the cork tiles (I've got a couple of packs going cheap if you'd like them).
     
    So tonight the track went back down, as it's set track that is fairly easy (come on Peco, some new OO9 nine points please, plus 12" radius curves?) but this is premium Roco track so I did very carefully! Some of the holes needed a little prod, but it's all back down again except for the curve from the fiddle yard which has only this evening had its second coat (this is also why there is a point sticking up in the air).
     
    This is the picture now:

    For those of you wondering where the well tanned flesh is: It's the baseboard!
     
    The painting in the station is perhaps a bit over the top. My next job is to slice some plasticard into strips to lay between loops in the lower station. That will form the base for the "platforms" in the case of the ZB they look a little like this:

    So basically you have light grey (well almost white ballast) in the station and it's darker outside the station. Hence the two tone colouring....
     
    BTW, Vollmer (who are about to shut down) does a model of the Mayrhofen coal shed:

    Two key items to note:
     
    1. In real life it's considerably darker wood
    2. The water tower supplied in the kit isn't there...
     
    If anyone knows if the water tower was there in olden days, then I'd love to know! Meanwhile. enjoy....
  4. AllScales
    The snake has been formed and it almost eats it's own tail, the siding has been laid together with the passing loop in the upper station, so far so good!
     
    As an aide against ballasting mistake I have decided to paint the cork grey, on the snakey part: no problem, in the lower station: big problem!
     
    When I started I bought a large pile of cork tiles (as used for flooring), never again! These tiles have been impregnated so that they can be used in places like kitchens (don't ask)...
     
    I had hoped to be able to lift the entire station area to paint underneath, so pins meticulously lifted, but the wiring is to tidy, so I removed the track but leave the points (wires are long enough) and feeder tracks (wires very short).
     
    The first coat went down reasonably well, given the cork tiles... But now I want it done, so the point motors were disconnected from the decoder, the feeder sections unsoldered and the second coat has been applied. Very liberally here, it seems the little taster pots from homebase don't close as tightly as the old metal pots (the previous pot was from 2007!).
     
    I'm using two colours: Dove Grey for the station area, Slate grey for the mainline...
     
    But it feels like I'm back two and a half years... :-( oh well, it's all fixable....
  5. AllScales
    Yesterday I did some experimental glueing down of the cork strip for the upper loop. A quick examination this evening showed it had worked as planned so I've now finished off the main track of the upper level.
     
    The upper station loop and siding are still to come but I'll wait until the glue sets.
     
    Here you can see a photo of the cork as laid. The nice thing about doing it this way, is that it requires no compression to stop it from warping.
     

     
    On Friday, I hope to complete the passing loop and siding in the upper station, then it's on to getting the supports for that sorted out. A good use for all that wasted wood from the upper board....
  6. AllScales
    Now that the track formation has been cut, I have commenced laying the cork for the road bed.
     
    I'm using 1/16" N gauge strips fron All Components, these by default, won't curve around the kinds of radii that I'm using (291mm).
     
    To overcome this I'm cutting slits in the cork on the outside of the curve about every 5mm to 1cm.
     
    Next problem is that the PVA comes up through the cuts which means I can't really use clamps to squish the whole lot together. So I'm taking it in small sections and using gravity to hold it together...
     
    Any snags with that?
  7. AllScales

    Snake!

    By AllScales,

    Unfortunately the image is too big to upload, but yesterday my fellow modeller came round and while his partner went to check out the delights of the High Street (a better one than the one they have), we cut the board for upper layer.
     
    Due to a couple of other things that needed to be done during the week we first had to mark out the cutting lines. The track had been marked out on the board and so we marked out lines one inch from the outer line of the track. In the end that meant a 9 mm gauge ends up as a 3 inch width.
     
    Two reasons:
     
    1. You can cut a bit off
    2. You need some space to attach the scenery
     
    There is also carriage overhang to consider, this is HOe, with 291mm curves so not generous....
     
    Anyway, I'll get a shrinkable picture tomorrow and post that.
     
    Next up, getting cork strip glued to the track path, this needs some cutting as the curves are tight.
     
    As I now have lots of off cuts, I will recycle those into supports for the upper level.
     
    Another job is to paint the cork under the track I laid earlier grey, so as to mask any gaps in the ballasting to come...
     
    So many jobs, too many hours to spend in the office!
  8. AllScales
    No major progress over the last fortnight, just a slow and steady plod...
     
    The key task is to mark out where to cut the upper level board, as a friend is coming to help out this weekend.
     
    In the meantime, I've been lifting the points (again) and fitting wires to the bottom of the frogs with the intention of adding polarisation circuitry at a later date. As the point motors don't have auxiliary switches I'm intending to use a little circuit with a latching relay to do this.
     
    A friend of mine is using these circuits to control signals and these seem to work nicely. They should work well for the frogs too...
  9. AllScales
    In March last year I pretty much mothballed my main layout: Gerlos and started work on a much smaller layout instead just to practice some building techniques. The small layout being Linksueberdorf (LUD for short).
     
    Over the last year the baseboard for Gerlos has just become a repository for junk that needs to be put away, so the weekend before the Bank Holiday, I cleared all the junk away again and gave the top of the baseboard a bit of a clean. The reasoning being that as I progress with LUD as practice layout, I should then try to build up Gerlos as I complete each phase.
     
    Just before I mothballed Gerlos I had bought a piece of 3mm multiplex to form the upper level of the layout. I got as far as cutting out the area covered by the lower station, but no further. So this weekend, I got the board out again and marked out where the track will go. There is one short section that needs to be done using flex track, but the rest is all Roco Set Track.... This makes marking track laying easy!
     
    Here you can see the marked out layout plan:

     
    Now all I need is a helping hand to help me cut out the snake like track.The piece of Flex track you can see covers the section of Flex Track.
     
    In the background all sorts of things have been going on, I have added a programming track as the Z21 has a separate programming track output. I'm also wiring in a switch to allow me to switch the track to main supply if I'm not programming a loco or using my old Roco booster to power the layout.
     
    I've also been working on tunnel entrances, I'm using some TT tunnel entrances from Auhagen (they look right), and some Metcalfe brick paper. When you glue the paper onto the tunnel mouth it has a tendency to flare, so I've prepared some bits of wood to stop that:

     
    I hade to some wood along the lower edge as well to keep it straight. Here you can see both tunnel mouths placed on LUD:

     
    So progress on all fronts!
  10. AllScales
    The last four weeks have been busy, first there was the Ally Pally show, some purchases were made, but no "horrendous parchasing accidents", just some track, a Roco N DB 215 class, and a signal.
     
    Next was a stag weekend in Bristol, a visit to the S.S. Great Britain and the Clifton suspension bridge included ( the joys of not staying up all night)...
     
    Then NGS, even though I am a member of the 009 society, I decided to avoid the AGM and concentrate on the exhibits. Sorry guys, I know it has to happen but having driven 100 miles and having to be home by 5 I was going to make the most of the exhibits and traders.
     
    That same weekend I went down to the Gaugemaster show on the Sunday with some friends (hence me having to be home by 5, as they were arriving sometime after five). I finally got something that I wanted to get a year ago: the stein lifting beer drinkers! A good price as the box was damaged...
     
    Then this weekend the East Surrey N Gauge Society show. Just as well I didn't bring my chequebook! Too many things caught my eye! As it was I only got some silberlinge coaches to go with the 215 bought at Ally Pally... One more coach to go... I' won't mention the SNCF BB 15000 class for now...
     
    Anyway, I'm a bit showed out for now!
     
    So back to the Z21, last weekend the layout came back downstairs to sit on the dining table. It's very dusty and I've spent the week cleaning the track and massaging the points back into action. I have decided to electrify the point frogs (I know I should have done so from the start), to save me replacing all the point motors, I'm going to use some latching relays connected to the decoder... A new adventure begins!
     
    This is the current state of the layout on the iPad:

     
    Some of the points need reversing and the signals are in place, but not yet wired up. That requires some more decoders. In addition some of signals will be wired to switch with the points.
     
    On the whole the Z21 is behaving itself, I would like to see the picture function improved though, big pain to use! The other quibble is that I can't hook it up to my own Wifi network, why not?
  11. AllScales
    OK, so after playing with the settings on the loco's to get more realistic running now it's time to turn my attention to the track plan, so I can control the points using the App.
     
    I had taken a photo of the layout but it just was too vague and lead to confusion about which point was where. The problem being the contrast being too low to produce a clear picture!
     
    So instead I've made a maximum sized drawing of the layout using a black marker pen on a piece of paper.
     

     
    I know this is not to scale, but it is so much clearer than the photo.
     
    As my main layout will be bigger than a simple A4 sheet, I will be playing with that aspect next....
     
    On the loco front, I've been adding a few loco's to my register. There is one problem: I have a number of 2095 class loco's. Luckily they all have a different paint job, but what if you have two loco's that look exactly the same? Luckily, you do get to see a piece of text at the bottom, but when playing not looking hard enough it is easy to mix them up. I know that as a train driver you should pay attention at all times, but as a hobbyist, I might be talking to someone who's visiting!
     
    I also have two completely identical green Fleischmann N-gauge Rack loco's how will I tell which is which? Not an easy problem to solve!
     
    Somethings that have been noticed by myself and a friend:
     
    - Point addresses when talking to a Lenz LS-150 have shifted up by 4 (at least when using a Fleischmann Profi-Boss)
    - Left and Right seem to be reversed when compares to a Profi-Boss and a multi-Maus
     
    Why?
  12. AllScales
    Hi All,
     
    So the Ally Pally show is now over, got a bargain just like last year. Last year it was a On30 loco, this year was an N-gauge DB BR-215, mint condition Roco model...
     
    Anyway, play with the Z21 continues, this iPad now has a copy of my mates' layout, he e-mailed it too me! It includes stock, track plan, the works... Nice! If you're both on the same WIFI network you can send it direct but we didn't try that...
     
    I've spent some time this evening adjusting the maximum speed on some of my loco's, for the most part this has been changing CV5. To work it out i employed a little spreadsheet to work out the lap times for the given speed...
     
    Anyway more housework to be done... G'night!
  13. AllScales
    Well, after months of waiting, procrastinating and saving, it's here. Shiny, shiny!
     
    O.K., it's black...
     
    My Z21 has arrived and I went to collect it today, keeping my local train shop owner from his dinner...
     
    So far so good (at least with the Z21), I had it wired up in no time, connected a multiMaus and had my Baby Castle running around in no time (using the Maus).
     
    The router? Well Hmmmmm..... Kind of retro.... Not very clever, a piece of junk really.... I think I would have rather saved a tenner and not had it (as I have a perfectly good access point in my train room).
     
    Working in IT and having to deal with things such as banking security, I have one recommendation:
     
    Do not, under any circumstance, connect this router to your internet connection with default settings!
     
    I will put some notes together over the next few days/weeks on how to secure this thing (it is temperamental, so you need to do it correctly). Just switch it off when at the end of the session....
     
    Of course, you can always ask your son/grandson... Just until you've secured it, don't connect it to your main internet connection.
     
    Now why can't Roco make the IP Address editable in the Apps? Auto discovery isn't rocket science...
  14. AllScales

    Incline testing...

    By AllScales,

    A rare chance to do some testing after dinner. Three trains on the circuit:
    HF 110 number 4 (with tender) and three two axles coaches: Made it to the top no problem
    HF 110 number 23 (no tender) and two bogie goods wagons: A bit of a struggle...
    ZB U. 1 plus three two axles coaches: A failure, all wagons made it onto the incline, but that's all she wrote!

    Even reducing the slope slightly didn't get U 1 up the hill, funny because when I did some tests earlier U 1 carried more than the HF 110's....
     
    Here you can see the victors of tonight's mountain challenge:
     

     
    And here is the measure by which they were vetted:
     

     
    At least this lot didn't have problems keeping hold of the train they were towing!
  15. AllScales
    Hi All,
     
    Over the weekend I completed the base of the kit. I have also ordered (if it hasn't gone already) a chassis other than the Class 91 that should fit.
     
    This is a shot of the progress so far:
     

     
    It's fairly low res., but should give an impression....
     
    The chassis is a Fleischmann BR 210 class, which has a wheelbase of 72 mm, this is very close to what the wheel base should be according to my scale drawing (in 7mm Scale) of 73mm. And at least it's not the Grafar class 91 chassis.... Nothing against Grafar, but I prefer the new models!
     
    Progress over the next week will be non-existent (parental visitinspection starting tomorrow)...
     
    I have also found a nice colour scheme for (what will hopefully become a fleet) the loco:
     
    http://shop.ferro-train.com/FerrotrainShop/Product/100004/1/11/1106/10353.aspx
     
    I hope I can match that onto the finished model nicely.... After that I need to come up with a good "Gerlos Bahn" logo, and if anyone know of some HO scale transfers for modern era Austrian locos that would be great!
  16. AllScales
    The Gerlos Bahn is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract with the Ffestiniog railway to take delivery of one rebuilt Funkey diesel with an option for a further two locomotives should the first prove successful.
     
    "AllScales" managing director of the Gerlos Bahn says: "The introduction of these exciting near new diesel engines will allow us finally take control of our high speed, 30 km/h, passenger services without having to rely on external parties for our prime motive power."
     
    Now to build it from the two sheets of brass from Worsley works!
     
    To be honest the alternatives were the Backwoods "Taliesin" or the Sierra Leone W&LLR white metal kit...
     
    Anyone got any tips on building this?
  17. AllScales

    Busy Times

    By AllScales,

    Hi All,
     
    I know it's been months since my last entry on any of my blogs... I do have a good excuse: building works! Shortly after the last entry on Linksuberdorf the builders turned up at the end of October. Short recap: MDF for outside wall for a week, microwave dinners, and finaly just before Christmas: a new kitchen!
     
    Meanwhile I acquired some new kits: W&LL Pickering coaches, Sierra Leone loco, and more...
     
    Now the dust has settled (and largely wiped up off the furniture absolutely everywhere), modelling will resume soon!
     
    After a trip down to Devon, I have an idea for a steam depot for my steam loco's on a 4x1 board... Oh dear here we go again! Must finish Linksüberdorf first!!!!!!!
  18. AllScales

    Ballasting cardboard

    By AllScales,

    In my last post i mentioned cardboard.... Well it seems to work ok! I hhad expected the card to absord the PVA/water mix forcing me to soak it in over multiple evenings, however it looks like only one more selective dose will be required!
     
    However I did fing it difficult to get the ballast nice and flat, in the end I used a 1" brush and gently laid it on the surface. Don't press or you get a ridge forming around the outside edge of the brush.
     
    Another gotcha is that the drops made slight dest in the surface when drops fall from syringe, so keep it very low above surface.
     
    Meanwhile I've finished off some more buildings, so now the track is starting to look like a layout! Photo's soon. It's gone too dark now...
  19. AllScales

    Final stages of panic

    By AllScales,

    Hi All,
     
    I know it's been a long time but due to the holidays and all, not much has been done on any of my layouts. But with the Convention looming in less than a fortnight (and last weekend's horrible weather) I thought I'd better make some progress!
     
    So last weekend I finally got around to doing some ballasting. As it was my first time I stayed well clear of the point work (I've already had to replace three of them).
     
    As I'm building an Austrian layout the ballasting in the station looks a bit like this:

     
    This was Mayerhofen in 2008.
    As you can see the ballast is very pale and it's right up against the top of the rails. So in order to get the ballasting in the station right, I bought some very pale, fine, ballast. I think it's Scenecraft, but know it as pale, fine and intended for N gauge.
     
    As I don't have a lot of it, I thought I'd better raise the bits between the track. This is where cats come in useful! Recycled cat food boxes!
     

     
    The perfect height for the sleepers! Perhaps in hindsight I shouldn't have put the point levers in quite yet. But hey-ho you live and learn!
     
    I won't be going quite as high as on the real thing as the HF 110's outside motion gets very close to the rails.... At the front you can also see some of the ballast already in place, not bad for a first attempt I think!
  20. AllScales
    Hi All,
     
    With the brthday bash of the 009 society coming up I decided to register. So far so good, except that I then offered to bring along LüD and my multi gauge test track. Again so far so good, except for one tiny item: I've not really made any progres since ((a long time)!
     
    So i have the board, with ramp and all the electrics are sorted. So logically next should be ballasting (probably), but I've never done that before and the shear number of points makes me queasy!
     
    So should I persist with ballasting or start on something different like building the central hill, which generate more interest?
     
    There won't be any horrible deep ugly cuttings so access won't be a problem later.
     
    Thoughts please? The convention is only 5 weeeks away!
     
    Thanks,
     
    Friso
  21. AllScales
    Hi All,
     
    So here you get to be subjected to my very limited photography skills. As you will see it doesn't matter how fancy the camera, if you're no good at it, it doesn't make a bit of difference. Similarly, if you're good, you can have bad camera and still take good photos.
     
    So this was our loco, Earl:
     

     
    Looking quite resplendent, and certainly sounding healthy. The effort it had to put in getting up Golfa bank was certainly showing the amount of work that has been put into it.
     
    Earl was hauling the two former Mav coaches plus a single S.K.G.L.B. 4 wheeled coach as you can see here:
     

     
    Unfortunately the newly built Pickering coaches weren't on display, but these two were:
     

     
    Which only just goes to show how you can run virtually anything in 009!
     
    I really wish the Pickering coaches and Earl/Duchess were available in 009. I guess a Roco HF 110 (minus tender), could do in a pinch, but all the same....
     
    Next: Aberystwyth and the Vale of Rheidol...
  22. AllScales

    Unbelievable!

    By AllScales,

    Hi all,
     
    It's been more than a month now since my last post on the HOe front but life has not been all idleness. Two points were damaged during the point wiring so they've been replaced after attempts at repair proved fruitless. In the process a short curved piece of track was damaged. This was glued down (never again) so needed to be removed carefully!
     
    Needless to say the new point was installed, a new piece of track laid and the end result is actually better than before! The points was slightly re-aligned to give a better curve and trains no longer seem to hop around the corner...
     
    Some more stock was acquired at the end of May, this is for the big HOe layout, in Faversham as part of the visit to the show there, at the Shepherd Neame brewery. Worth a visit!
     
    A visit to the international N gauge society group meeting and Railex in Amersham have followed and last weekend: Chatham. Great show as always! Now if they send me the English text of what they say on the welcome sign, then I'll send them back a translation in Dutch that actually makes sense. My native language is Dutch but even then I can't male head or tails of it!
     
    Goodnight!
     
    Friso
  23. AllScales
    Welcome back to my slow moving 'N' Project!
     
    As the blogs suggests, this is to be a layout set on the Kent Racetrack between Redhill and Folkestone namely at Headcorn and showing an upgraded dual track branch to Tenderden. The concept is that after World War 1 Tenterden was selected as a prototype new town or Garden Suburb (take your pick). To support this, the K&ESR was taken over by the newly formed Southern Railway and the town was developed. As the original station is down a very narrow lane, a new station was built, head on, on the road towards Ashford near St. Andrews Catholic Church.
     
    As this was shortly after partitioning, it couldn't be named after the Catholic church so was called Tenterden St. Michaels instead. This new station had two finger platforms for four platform faces. It also had a goods yard on the North East side and a small locomotive depot with turntable towards the West. A chord was built from the new station to connect with remainder of the K&ESR and their passenger trains now terminated at the new Tenterden station. A link track was also provided along the original line to allow goods trains to run through....
     
    Fast forward to 2013.... The line was electrified and commuter trains now run up to Charing Cross (although you have to change at Headcorn off peak as the new town wasn't really that successful), so passenger numbers are not high enough to support dedicated services.
     
    The station still has two platforms, the layout remains the same, they have been lengthened to cope with 12 car trains, but otherwise the passenger part has pretty much remained the same. The goods yard has been converted into a couple of rolling stock sidings and a little spur for the resident shunter (more about this later).
     
    The two tracks between the two finger platforms have retained a crossover to allow engineering train loco's to run round. The remaining track, on the far left as you're looking away from the station, is used by the K&ESR. It has a run-around loop on it's outside.... There is a link to the K&ESR from the mainline. This is accessed from the second (leftmost) of the two tracks between the two platform fingers.
     
    So in 2013 trains of the K&ESR arrive and depart from platform 1, platform 2 is used rarely used, mostly for light engine workings to the K&ESR turntable and shed, or to hold the carriages for a departing excursion. Platform 3 is used for incoming heritage excursions and as a spare for normal mainline workings. Platform 4 is the normal shuttle service to Headcorn's platform.
     
    The little shunter is used to pull rakes of stock out of platform 2 and push them into either the sidings or back to platform 2.
     
    So I have given my vision, what do you think? Realistic (enough)?
     
    So where do I find station building (kit or ready built) that would suit this size of station? Most stations I see in N seem to be suited to Settle and Carlisle or GWR branch line... This is surprising as N is a superb scale to build something big (my heritage trains are 10 coaches, K&ESR 6). My eyes (and skills) aren't up to building something from scratch.
  24. AllScales
    I was meant to be doing this during the week, but as so often other things got in the way or I just didn't feel like it...
     
    Anyway today I managed to finish my chores on time and as the clouds looked a bit threatening figured I might as well do the point wiring.
     
    Two and half hours later and victory! All points wired and working. The two places where there are two points on one output also looks to be working well (at least upside down). Tomorrow I will flip the layout over again to test it right way up. I may need to swap some wires to make sure the crossovers fire the right way round, but the wiring should now be done...
     
    Then it's on to the scenery... A new adventure awaits!
  25. AllScales
    Well things are on a ham sandwich (or roll if you prefer)!
     
    I had managed to get six out of the ten point motors right on the first go, so this afternoon I spent some time to get the last four in place.
     
    In most cases all that was needed was to drill out the hole (carefully!) from underneath, one motor with slightly bent pin needed to be put in place in reverse to my usual convention and on a different point than where it was previously.
     
    As I went along I tested each point motor first by hand, then with one screw in place and using the power supply, then with both of them and so on....
     
    So at intermediate stage three, this what the layout looks like from below and this time I used a proper solid chair without wheels or swivel function:
     

     
    Please ignore the white wires, they are for the future.. Each red and black wire you can see is wired to two pieces of stripboard in the middle, red is outer rail, black is inner.... No wires going back to a control panel, no hassle.... I have deliberately channeled the wires to leave space for point decoders. I'm in the middle of selecting some decoders now and hope to wire them up in the next few weeks (after they've been purchased and delivered).
     
    Meanwhile, my second 2095 class loco has come back from being 'borged' and is running better than ever... It now runs better than it ever did as an analogue loco...
     
    Good night!
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