March Update

Not sure why last months update disappeared - I have put it back up....

During March shakedown activities continued with two operating sessions with 6 & 7 people and some further lessons were learnt.  One was a wiring issue where turnouts are operated from more than one location and another was the acceleration and deceleration rates of the locomotives to ensure smooth operations.

Work on a prototype for my proposed signal system has commenced. I have also weighted some of my blue box Cabooses so I have enough available and operating reliably for the Grand Opening. I have fitted the extra magnets Ore loads.

I still have some other outstanding task of completing of the U50 decoder install.

Shakedown Activities on 3 & 17 March

Well we tried some separate yard, loco and mainline operations and I continued to learn how people interpret instructions and just how long it takes to do some things.

Sample Schedule

What actually happened

Sample Instructions

3 March Activities

The roster was:

Controller & Loco Hostler - Jim
Tower Man (Master Control Panel) - Andre
Hornertown Yardmaster - Barry
Flintston Yardmaster - Rossco
Mainline Crew 1 - Ross
Mainline Crew 2 - Dave

Main Lessons were:

1. If you want an incoming train left on the arrival road and not broken up and cars shunted you need to be very explicit or Yardmasters will just take the next step.
2. Yardmaster in the main yard does not have time to do any local industry shunting as he is tied up classifying and putting consists on the arrival departure tracks and receiving trains and the associated caboose activities.
3. Operators learning yards need 4 - 5  minutes to shunt each car!
4. The Tower man needs to have easy access to scheduled movements without asking others.
5. I let a train run early which caused some timing issues.

17 March Activities

The roster was:

Controller, Tower Man & Loco Hostler - Jim
Hornertown Yardmaster - Barry
Flintston Yardmaster - Rossco
Mainline Crew 1 - Bill-1 & Pierre
Mainline Crew 2 - Chris & Pam

Main Lessons were:

1. The mainline Locos need the Acceleration & Deceleration rates increased - too slow
2. There is a need for pockets for the folders with instructions - people need to put the folders down when shunting. One Yardmasters folder stopped a mainline train operated by a crew after putting his folder down....
3. The ballast on the meat works spur (which was shunted for the first time) was too high in a couple of spots causing wheels to lift off rails!
4. Complex yards need some info to explain functions e.g. arrival/departure & classification Vs local storage and industry tracks (see below).

Signal Logic Trial

You may be aware that I intend to install three colour bidirectional signals on the layout.

I will be using Rob Paisley's 3 colour Signal Driver printed circuit boards.  I will be using BLMA single and dual head searchlight block signals which employ common anode configuration. Rob's site has indicative configuration for incorporation of Block Occupancy Detectors (BOD's) and simple bidirectional configuration (albeit in common cathode configuration shown) for a simple loop.

I need to develop the more complex controls for Branch, Passing Loop & Junction operations.  To that end I have developed a sample track plan which will allow me to represent turnout states and BOD's states by using toggle switches.

Sample Trackplan

 Developing the track plan into a logic diagram showing nomenclature of BOD's, Turnout relationships, East and West Block Signals

Nomenclature

 The relationships of all turnout states to BOD's & Basic Signal States were charted.

Relationships Chart

 Signal driver board - set out

The four groups of signal driver PCB's mounted on some MDF

One 3 colour Signal Driver PCB with LED's fitted for signal trail

6 of the 27 Signal Driver PCB's under construction

The production line...

27 Signal Driver PCB's mounted ready for wiring

BOD & Turnout Toggle Switches and terminal strips

Basic Power Wiring done to check all boards are operating correctly 27 modules drawing 0.2 Amps 12 V Regulated power supply in bottom right, it also includes a 5 V regulated supply for the Launchpads, to be added later.
(I did find a couple of "cold" solder joints - they are all fixed now!)

Below is the logic wiring test - the X-acto blade simulates the BOD operating showing block is occupied

Red => Yellow => Green => Green

Green => Red => Yellow => Green

Green => Green => Red => Yellow

Yellow => Green => Green => Red

Remote Operation of Turnouts

Turnouts in Hornertown can be operated from one, two or three control panels.  This has led to some "feedback" issues in the wiring which resulted in a number of toggle switches having to be "set" to the same turnout direction in order for the solenoids to operate.

I have isolated each of the solenoid feeds by including a power diodes into each feed to the solenoid coils.  Once installed in each control panels feeders things work as desired.

Ore Loads

A couple of months back I reported on how I used epoxy to fix two 3 mm cylindrical magnets to the underside of the load supplied with the Athearn ore trucks and after testing I said I will go back and add two more magnets per load to get a better result.

Before the update

After

Production line...

Now to see what the operators think the next time the Ore Train is run!

Grand Opening

Well I have people local and interstate attending, they are coming from Sydney, Traralgon,, Geelong.  I have asked some Model Rail Radio folks from the US and Sweden but no commitment to attend has been received from them yet!

Currently there are 17 people attending!

That's it for this month.


Thanks again to those that continue to help me achieve my ambitions and hello to all my followers!


Till the end of April.

-ooOOOoo-

February Update - reposted

Sorry it is a bit late - Dad's 99th birthday celebrations disrupted this a bit. Following a very challenging month with the loss of my very dear fried BJ in January the discussions in the Round Robin Group has firstly centered on our loss but secondly that BJ would want us to continue to complete what we had started to show off his great achievements.

Maintenance tasks have started as a result of the shakedown activities and these uncovered some heat stress related problems.

But I have started doing some things - I finally got all of my additional DCC items from China (Cheaper but a lot of hassle as some were damaged in transit)..  I must say, if you use the PayPal dispute resolution process, they seem to be very fair and it resulted in much quicker action by the supplier who by the way could not speak or write hardly any English.

Testing of the Ore loading process showed a need to refine some aspects to improve reliability.

Progress on the U50 decoder and lighting install just did not happen - three months in a row when I sat down to complete it it was just too hard.... - sorry Nigel G.

Turnout Motor Maintenance Jimtown

It was noticed during shakedown running that two turnouts were not functioning 100% so it was time to have a closer look now the train room has cooled down.

Both turnouts are on the top level so maintenance is a pain....  One was the mounting screws were a tad tight so when loosened just a little it operated ok.  The other was not that simple....

The offending turnout motor

In order to get at the motor I had to remove the flower mill on the lower level to gain good access. This was a design feature so not too difficult. But it revealed that the heatwave had caused some problems see below. Looks like the problem is a sticky accessory switch.

Thanks must go to Chris for helping me re-install the turnout motors - a two person job!

Local Heatwave - Buckled Track

Well now I know why some of the cars were off the track the other day - I was baffled as it was straight track!  We have had a lot of days between 35 & 45 degrees Celsius since the start of the new year.

Temperature graph for  Wednesday 12 February.

Where did that kink come from?

Approach to Fleets Loop

And these kinks as well?

Double track main around Fleets Loop

View of Both tracks

 Well I will need to remove some track pins get the Dremel cutoff disc to work and rejoin with some additional gaps - oh that means I will have to put in some additional droppers or wires to jump the new joiners too...

Went down after the heat had subsided and look...

 

The "S's" have just about gone & gaps between rails back.... and I did not do a thing!

Command Control System

I finally got my spare command station.and now have 4 wireless and 9 tethered throttles installed and operating.

Ore Loads

Last month I reported on how I used epoxy to fix two 3 mm cylindrical magnets to the underside of the load supplied with the Athearn ore trucks.

When the guys used the some of the new Rix uncouplers to remove the loads at the Steel Works the magnetic flux was a bit "light" on a few loads so I will go back and add two more magnets per load to get a better result.

Grand Opening Rescheduled

Well I have decided that the deferred event must happen albeit a year late!  So invites are out for a June 2nd event! 15 acceptances to date consisting of  8 modelers and 7 VIP's.

A few more shakedown runs are planned to test operations and provide some familiarity for operators.

Abrupt halt

Well thinks were tracking pretty well and things starting to be achieved again then Dad was admitted to hospital and that derailed what was planned for the rest of the month.  Luckily he has recovered and was home for his 99th birthday celebration at my place.

That's it for this month.


Thanks again to those that continue to help me achieve my ambitions and hello to all my followers!


Till the end of March.

-ooOOOoo-

RIP BJ

.\

I will miss your friendship and company - A void that will be impossible to fill.

Your legend will continue through all your fine scenery work on all our model railways.

Your final wish that Le Maistre Loco on the Hallett Cove Southern be renamed Loco Le Maistre in memory of your eccentric approaches to life and many areas of modeling, which has lead to such a quality of outcomes, will be implemented.

You will be sadly missed by family, friends and especially by your model railway mates.

Below is a few photos of great times shared with us and your exquisite work.

1993 - 65th Birthday

Op Session after BBQ Tea

1999 - Train Group Xmas BBQ

2000 - Xmas

2000 - New Years Eve

2001 - Hahndorf Holiday

2005 - Wearing a tie only ever twice in 3 decades!

(L to R) Bill1 & BJ

2009 - Our Indian Pacific - XPT - Overland Trip

Broken Hill

Central Station - Sydney

Puffing Billy - Steam & Cuisine

2011 - BBQ & Wine after modelling session

2013 - Another Engineering Vs Artist Debate

How to tell him it will just not "look right"...

2013 - 80th Birthday

Just a few Modelling Examples on the HCS

Card Stock Building Construction

Painting Individual Sleepers

Carpark

Hornertown Station

Daveyston

Loco Le Maistre

There will be no other posts this month...

November Update

A challenging month again for me An interstate trip to Victoria saw me away from home for a 5 days. Kaye's Dad's funeral then as the insurance company decided not to repair Kaye's car following an accident so I had to take her back to her country workplace.  Then it was time for all my medical stuff to be reviewed including 3 x 2 1/2 hr info/training sessions at my Doctors rooms, Ophthalmologist & Consultant Physician - however most things are all good.  So modelling took a back seat AGAIN for most of this month again....

Progress on the U50 decoder and lighting install just did not happen - two moths in a row - sorry Nigel G - hopefully get it all done next month....

But I did do something - I updated the firmware for  my DCC control system and throttles, worked on the ore loads, held another two shakedown running sessions and some interesting debate on recording video and sound levels for locos with Don.

Command Control System - Firmware update

I got word from Don that there was an update to firmware for the command station, wireless and wired throttles.

After downloading the new firmware I updated my operating and spare command stations,  3 wireless and 7 wired throttles.  I am pleased to report all seem to be operating OK.

Ore Loads

I used epoxy to fix two 3 mm cylindrical magnets to the underside of the load supplied with the Athearn ore trucks.

I used a Rix uncoupler to remove the load.

This has been trialed during the shakedown sessions and it would appear to be successful.  I have ordered some more Rix uncouplers as there is not enough to share around....

Shakedown Running Sessions

Here is the simple track plans to explain some of the locations

Top Level

Bottom Level

Monday 25 November

On Monday 25 November a very long time friend and SARMA Master Modeler Don - The guy our group holds in high esteem - came over with his long time mate Des for their first "run" on the Hallett Cove Southern.  Don ran the PFE and Des ran the empty ore train from Huntington to Iron Hill then loaded the empties.

Don took some video the ore train action as part of our "learning experience".

Wednesday 27 November

On Wednesday 27 November Barry, Chris, Rossco & Bob (my regulars) were joined by Ken, Grahame & Gordon (all first timers). Bob & Gordon, Chris & Ken, Rossco & Grahame worked in pairs.

The operations included running the following movements:

• PFE - Icing at Hornertown
• PFE - Hornertown -> Stirling
• PFE - Stirling -> Shasta
• Flintston Local - Hornertown to Flintston
• Flintston Industrial Shunt
• Flintston Local - Flintston -> Hornertown
• Ore Train - Iron Hill -> Huntington
• Steelworks shunt
• Oily - LeMaistre Loco -> Stanvac
• Nappy Valley Wine Train - Adamsville -> Huntington

The Ops session took around two hours followed by: hot dogs, cheese, crackers, chips, soft drink, red wine and some friendly chatter at the table.

Thanks to all that came to "stress test" the system and apart from some usual minor glitches the DCC power system worked - no overloads that shut the entire system down, if someone ran against a point or derailed over one - their part of the system "shorted" and shutdown and everyone else kept moving! - I'm so happy about that!  Tom B all that design and planning paid off.

The bonus is the guys seemed to enjoy themselves and are happy to come back again!

I am now thinking if I can do better with some scheduling it might be time to think about the somewhat deferred grand opening - perhaps in the first couple of months of the new year.

Debate on Loco sound levels and Videoing

How loud is too loud? Should a loco be audible across the open room? Should the local operator hear it and no one else? Do the settings for one type of decoder suit another brands / type?. If there are 10 locos running what is the balance? - All part of the mix when trying to find a solution.  There is NO correct answer it comes down to personal taste and what seems to work in each environment.  That said I think we have learnt a few things during Don's testing that I share below.

When making videos some things matter too! How old is the camera? Does the AGC (volume automatic gain control) stuff up the sound levels? What happens when the recording frame rate is varied? What should I do when I want to put the video on YouTube? The outcome of the trials are that it seems to be that the current technology for a video camera which is available relatively cheaply eg a Cannon costing around $AU220 ($US200) - is much much better than stuff that cost a lot more 5 - 10 years ago, the old stuff does not seem to make the grade. 

Sound levels set in the Loco decoders - we have found that 10% - 25% of max will provide the ability to distinguish between loco and wheel clicks in the recording with the added bonus of hearing more than a "screaming engine".

I guess since receiving video test footage amounting to around 130 Mb by email and about 2Gb directly, during the last 10 days from Don M, as we tried to establish some optimal sounds levels for operating enjoyment and video recording - we finally think we are in the right space now.

The conclusions seem to be have a "current technology camera", to record at the highest density you can (we are using MP4 format at 50 frames per second) then sample down and save versions to suit various needs. The disadvantage is it is time consuming. If anyone wishes to share their views feel free.  Bear in mind this is not commercial quality video lighting & sound - just good hobbyist stuff to share!

That's it for this month.


Thanks again to those that continue to help me achieve my ambitions and hello to all my followers!


Till the end of December.

-ooOOOoo-