Weekend Update 1/10/16

[altohorn25]

Finished up four more Allis-Chalmers crawler loads.  These are all MT flats that I've put lazer-cut wood decks on (died them a bit with india ink to make them look a bit more used).  I weathered the flats before I put the crawlers on them as they crawlers are brand new and would look pretty glossy.  I still may end up covering the stacks and the headlamps as they were usually covered to prevent damage during delivery from the factory.

[mu26aeh]

Working on Hagerstown yard.  Waiting on some glue and spackling compound to dry, so I applied more ground cover on outskirts of yard.  Also tried some greenery along the backdrop, where I will need to add a fence and pictures of the backs of houses

20160109_182620 by Adam Henry, on Flickr

Here is a track level shot of an all GE lash up ( 3 8-40CW's ) readying to leave for Cumberland

20160109_182243 by Adam Henry, on Flickr

Couple more photos over in the CSX Hanover Subdivision build thread.

[Puddington]

Mark Dance's Castlegar station project was all the incentive I needed to launch into the station building project I had planned. The CPR had a number of standard types of stations and within those types there were minor variations allowed. The "Type A" station was first built in the 1890's and was a common station, many lasting into the 80's and beyond. The Type A was common in Western Canada and, as chance would have it, a Type A was in Cavan, Ontario about 10 minutes away; I had seen it many times. There was a larger Type A in Sharbot Lake; having images of both I decided to scratch build a Type A with elements of both; suiting the size of town that Kanto would be.



The front view and a picture of the Cavan station. I have to build the dispatcher's window enclosure which I will have to take a bit of modeller's licence; the prototype is two feet in length; I don't have a window 18 scale inches..... as it is I've had create two small windows for the building - the model will be 3.5 feet in scale.... oh well....

The rear is home to the station master's home; four upper bedrooms and a lower kitchen, living and dining room; all quite compact.



I'm making good progress; I'd like to finish the building by the end of the weekend.... 

[C855B]

Finished a working demo of a project long in development: R/C "micro" linear servo as a switch machine mounted directly to the turnout. The key is a simple fitted bracket done in Shapeways' "strong and flexible". The demo video shows the turnout connected to a Tam Valley "Singlet" servo controller, with the switch being thrown via DCC. If you look closely near the bottom of the frame you can see the gears turning as the points move.

That this worked as well as it does being Prototype #1... gosh, I'm ecstatic! Only "problem" encountered was the Tam Valley controller wanted to push too hard for auto-sensing the end points, so the points limits had to be set manually. If that's the biggest problem I have with this... wow.

EDIT: Forgot to mention... these servos are a whopping $4.50 each. Yeah, the Tam Valley controller makes the full system roughly $20/per depending on version, but if you're doing DCC, this is a big savings versus, say, a Smail @ ~$32 street price... plus no complicated linkage!

[jnevis]

That brick sculpture is beautiful! So is Mr. Denton's Hiawatha, Mike's new layout, Mark's Castlegar station, and everything else, as always.

Years back I went to the dump to make a deposit and found, at my feet, a big bundle of HO track, and good quality stuff. In these parts you're not allowed to remove material from the dump, but I bundled the turnouts (15 to 20, as I recall) under the seat and smuggled them out. After a quick clean up I traded them in at the LHS for an armful of N stuff.

Geoff

My dad outfitted the high school science lab with computers from the dumpster at work my junior year.  His company was upgrading everyone's desktops he asked if they could be donated.  He was told no they had to go in the dumpster.  One afternoon we took the machines out back, and made sure they crossed the plane of the top of the dumpster before going into the car.

---OK, is anybody having trouble with the smileys? To add the one above I had to add it as an image link."[img]..."

[BCR 570]

Progress on the flatdeck trailer fleet - front and rear end sills, mud flaps and landing gear added this week:



Tim

[basementcalling]

Finished a working demo of a project long in development: R/C "micro" linear servo as a switch machine mounted directly to the turnout. The key is a simple fitted bracket done in Shapeways' "strong and flexible". The demo video shows the turnout connected to a Tam Valley "Singlet" servo controller, with the switch being thrown via DCC. If you look closely near the bottom of the frame you can see the gears turning as the points move.

That this worked as well as it does being Prototype #1... gosh, I'm ecstatic! Only "problem" encountered was the Tam Valley controller wanted to push too hard for auto-sensing the end points, so the points limits had to be set manually. If that's the biggest problem I have with this... wow.

EDIT: Forgot to mention... these servos are a whopping $4.50 each. Yeah, the Tam Valley controller makes the full system roughly $20/per depending on version, but if you're doing DCC, this is a big savings versus, say, a Smail @ ~$32 street price... plus no complicated linkage!

Sexy. How does one get the parts?

[C855B]

Thanks, Peter!

  Servo: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__11735__HobbyKing_Ultra_Micro_Servo_1_7g_for_3D_Flight_Right_.html

  Cable adapter: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__21733__Female_Molex_1_25_to_Male_JR_Servo_Extension_1pc_.html

  Tam Valley controller: http://www.tamvalleydepot.com/products/singletservodecoder.html

  Servo clip: Shapeways, to be announced. As "each" parts they'd be ~$3 apiece, but I'm working on the art for a 4-up version to get it below $2.

The clip is designed for Atlas C55, and dimensions were based on tie and throwbar spacing for their #10. Demo is on a #7, with no modifications. I will pick up a #5 in a couple of weeks to try, and I expect it to work, too. I suppose I should test on the wyes, but I have doubts about the curved turnouts without rework.

I could release v0.0 for folks to try, but there are a couple of bugs in the design requiring follow-up work with an X-Acto. They're easy fixes in the CAD art, so let me do that first.

[keeper]

Last week I managed to start AND finsh a small project.... 

A Kato SD 45 changed from a BN unit to a SOO Line bandit.







Thomas

[BCR 570]

Finished a working demo of a project long in development: R/C "micro" linear servo as a switch machine mounted directly to the turnout. The key is a simple fitted bracket done in Shapeways' "strong and flexible". The demo video shows the turnout connected to a Tam Valley "Singlet" servo controller, with the switch being thrown via DCC. If you look closely near the bottom of the frame you can see the gears turning as the points move.


That this worked as well as it does being Prototype #1... gosh, I'm ecstatic! Only "problem" encountered was the Tam Valley controller wanted to push too hard for auto-sensing the end points, so the points limits had to be set manually. If that's the biggest problem I have with this... wow.

EDIT: Forgot to mention... these servos are a whopping $4.50 each. Yeah, the Tam Valley controller makes the full system roughly $20/per depending on version, but if you're doing DCC, this is a big savings versus, say, a Smail @ ~$32 street price... plus no complicated linkage!

Forgive my ignorance as I have yet to install my first turnout, but may I ask what is the advantage of linking the servo directly to the turnout, as opposed to underneath the benchwork?  I currently have some servos on hand along with RP brackets which mount under the benchwork, requiring only a small hole for the throw rod up to the turnout.  If I understand correctly, your method would require a large rectangular hole in the benchwork and roadbed to accommodate the servo directly beneath the track.  In addition to the extra excavation - would this not cause a problem when ballasting?  What are the advantages driving your choice of a direct linkage?

Thank you for demonstrating to us your work on this,

Tim

[C855B]

For starters, not having fiddly-bits under the benchwork!

Seriously... as complicated as my layout is (or is going to be), having each turnout as a self-contained unit requiring no mechanical adjustment becomes a drop-in process for both installation and maintenance. I've fiddled with my share of under-benchwork switch machines to know I don't want repeats of the experiences. Since my benchwork topper is 2" foam, that adds its own complexities to under-bench linkage, and each turnout becomes a hand-built custom job. That's time-consuming.

Excavating shouldn't be a big deal. 7/8" drill bit to a depth of 1", done. (Well, sort of. I need a certain type of thin-wall hole saw to keep from shredding everything. Still looking.) End technique may be cutting the roadbed to hole size and using a Forstner bit for the foam base. Ballasting is somewhat accommodated with a plate underneath the points. At least the ballast shouldn't fall through. The area over the larger hole can be masked with electrical tape or similar before applying the ballast, and some of that operation can be done on the bench.

The distinct advantage is not having to worry about benchwork frame locations. With everything from the top, if a frame member is underneath the points, biggest challenge then is angling the drill for the wiring path.

[chuck geiger]

Ardmore Oil is coming together. Need another section of fence, some more backdrop tanks and a small
office.

[johnb]

Starting to build the rough outline of the mountain on my roundy round

[nkalanaga]

Also, if the servo is directly attached to the turnout, it doesn't matter what the roadbed is made of.  Any type of linkage requires that both motor and turnout remain fixed, and foam in particular isn't truly rigid.  Even if the motor is attached to the benchwork, and the turnout to wood roadbed, the foam between them can allow them to move a little relative to each other. 

[Wlal13again]

Some of Brian Rifes great work.