dBerriff Posted April 20 Author Share Posted April 20 Blink Bonny is being cautiously run in. Slow speed control is excellent. No bogie lifting as I experienced with my previous A4. The sounds are what I expected for a small loco but definitely, for me, worth the extra cost as DCC is included. The function that mystifies me is 19, labelled as Bell. It is not a bell and I cannot work out what it is supposed to be. Blink Bonny never carried a bell as far as I know as it was never sent off on American tours. Pullman carriage Cecilia ("you're breaking my heart") had flickering lights but a touch of Electrolube and some running-in is curing that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 1 hour ago, dBerriff said: The function that mystifies me is 19, labelled as Bell. It is not a bell and I cannot work out what it is supposed to be. If it is the A1/A3 profile F19 should be a bell with F18 as an air pump. If it is the A1/A3 FS profile F19 is water filling and F18 will be Scotland the Brave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted April 20 Author Share Posted April 20 I have checked again and I have SD037, A1/A3 v1.4.0 TT TXS, loaded. Water filling - that must be it. Easily changed but I thought I loaded the correct function map. F18 is Air Pump - Fast, and most definitely not Scotland the Brave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted April 20 Author Share Posted April 20 I have the chuff-rate sorted*. It is all under the control of CV 29 and HM7000 makes it about as easy to set as it can be. Just make sure the magic number 16 is selected for CV 29 and the complex speed curve kicks in. Now that sounds a lot more like a Gresley 3-cylinder should. * to my satisfaction, knowing it is not actually synchronised. This does not worry me at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 I am keeping it simple. The baseboard will be set up as two halves along the long axis so I can easily move it out to the garage when we have visitors. I gave up my idea of a twin-track oval and have settled on single track, mostly 3rd radius curves with a few 6th radius. With hindsight perhaps I should have started with Peco track but the Hornby track is easy to work with and I would not want to put any beginners off using it. It has also brought a bit of discipline to my planning. Roughing one half out, 440mm wide. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 Those coal wagons look small, but still believable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 The reason for the diagrams is to show that 3 coach trains are quite easily accommodated in this space. I could not find kits for the station building and goods shed that I liked so I gave in and bought the resin buildings as a bit of a luxury with 15% off. They do look good to my eye and Settle to Carlisle architecture has never been so popular. Platforms will be laser-cut; the In The Greenwood range looks ideal. Now I have thought about it a bit more, I would like a run-around past the goods shed so that the heritage 08, immaculately restored in DB colours, can be kept busy. This will need a right-hand point and so what have I got spare? Left-hand points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 32 minutes ago, dBerriff said: This will need a right-hand point and so what have I got spare? Left-hand points Alternatively curve the track after it exits the goods shed and use a left hand point? It might actually work better, depends what you have planned for the empty space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 (edited) There was a station yard between the goods shed and station. The layout is all too square-on at the moment but I do not track joins across long-axis baseboard join. I might try to squeeze in an extra siding but the Hornby points are quite long. You cannot see it in this picture but a road bridge dropped down from right to left at the far end of the platform. But yes, time for a re-think on what is possible. Copyright of the image duly acknowledged. Edited May 2 by dBerriff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 (edited) A big thank you to MacTrains for letting us know that RailModeller Express includes Hornby TT:120 track. Without marking out the sections with ruler, protractor and accurate curves it is all too easy to distort the track to fit (guilty) - and this is not just for Hornby set-track. Those early scare stories about TT:120 track inaccuracy were just silly - I have found the track consistency to be excellent. The only problem has been my optimism in trying to fit too much in. RailModeller has helped me come up with a plan that actually fits the baseboard. While I remember, this is an almost overwhelming resource for real-world track plans: https://signalbox.org/track-layouts/by-railway-company/ If you think we modellers sometimes over-complicate our plans, take a look at Llandudno Junction. Edited May 3 by dBerriff spelling 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 I agree that it’s good software. I ended up buying the full fat version and the after service received from the developer was excellent. An Apple bug meant that it wouldn’t run on my old MacBook Air but, within 30 minutes of emailing them on a Sunday evening, I had a beta version that had already been in the works and fixed the issue. There are quite a few benefits I’ve found from the full version making it worth the cost. Or at least making it easy to justify it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 I happen to use a Mac mini but I'm sure there are good planners for those of you who suffer use Windows. I don't know about Linux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Scarm & AnyRail are both good model rail planning packages that do similar things on Windows computers. Thanks for sharing the signal box layouts too. They’re a fantastic resource. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 @dBerriff would the Peco short radius point help in adding the extra siding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 @Rallymatt yes it would. I have the Peco points I need in OO gauge so where's the matter-transformer when you need one? 🫤 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Mine has a flat battery and a button has broken or I’d let you borrow it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skelton Junction Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 3 hours ago, dBerriff said: If you think we modellers sometimes over-complicate our plans, take a look at Llandudno Junction. http://6gshed.co.uk/chrisevanspage.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 I think I will give up, right now! That is ridiculously impressive. My Welsh grandfather was a BR guard, based in Bangor, and he would have worked on some of the trains mentioned. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skelton Junction Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 (edited) Agreed, ridiculously impressive; even the background scenics of Conwy valley and mountains, Conwy castle and mountain, the estuary and the Llandudno junction buildings are incredibly faithful and look hand painted to scale. I should know, it’s my local station and parts of my tt120 layout are based on it, the 6G sheds and the Conwy valley branch line to Betws and Blaenau. Edited May 3 by Skelton Junction 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Credit to the builder and obviously highly motivated to get as many details spot on as possible. However, never let anything anyone else is doing stop you from having your layout your way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 Thread drift. When I was 5 or so I remember travelling to Liverpool on the Crosville bus from Llangefni. At Conwy we had to get out and walk across the (Telford) suspension bridge so the bus did not exceed the weight limit. This is right next to the historic "tubular" bridge (Stevenson). I was home the night the Britannia bridge burnt down - we drove out to watch that magnificent structure destroyed. But Llandudno and Conwy - there is so much engineering history in that small corner, and you get a castle thrown in for good measure. That is one bit of heritage that has not been destroyed by design or neglect. Thread drift over. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 (edited) This is the current thinking - subject to change of course. Hornby part numbers are shown - I hope they are readable as I am experimenting with media sizing. No curves under 3rd radius - I prefer to avoid the smaller radii. 4th radius proved to be impractical. Layout will be DCC with liberal use of droppers/feeders to not rely on points blades and fishplates. Locomotive control will be by HM7000 direct or through the Dongle/Hornby Elite. As I have a computer science background, point/turnouts will be operated by servos controlled from one or two Raspberry Pi Picos connected by WiFi. If I can get MQTT working as a protocol then the aim is to use JMRI to set the routes - but that is for the future. To start with I will use HTML forms with virtual switches as I already have the software for that. Region - fictional given the current choice of wagons and carriages, plus the Settle to Carlisle architecture. If I can give it a Rutland-ish ambience (we lived in Oakham for a few years) then I will. The ECML does run through the East side of Rutland. Through station in the SE sector for the big express locomotives and a tiny terminus in the NW sector with a run-round for whatever small locos are released. I might change the latter for a small industrial siding. Aim of positing: to show what is possible in the indicated space, but without over-complicating the track layout. Edited May 4 by dBerriff correct silly errors 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 That’s a nice design with lots of potential for scenic developments and operational entertainment. One of those compromises us modellers have to always make is due to space (lack of) The temptation is always cram as much track into the available space where as in full size, everything is spread over many miles. If you can capture some of the beautiful Rutland scenery that would be fantastic, love round Oakham and Rutland Water, great for cars and bicycles 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 (edited) RailModeller Express is proving to be invaluable. This is a real "why didn't I do this before?" moment. I want to be able to split the boards along the E-W axis. The track does not cross this centreline except where the TT8011 quarter-track sections are shown. These will be cut in half (eighths!) for the join. I will either solder to brass screws or try the ModelTech joiner. RailModeller has helped me avoid straying over this joint. The diagonal track orientation leaves space for scenery. I do not intend to fit in Rutland Water even though I rode around it on track or road many, many times. There might be a windmill on a hill. There are still working windmills in Rutland and my home town of Llangefni is dominated by the remains of a windmill on top of a rock outcrop. Sadly this was just a stone ruin in my childhood and to add insult to injury it now has a "cap" on top to house radio antennae. Perhaps we can do better. Edited May 4 by dBerriff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 What were they thinking? As this is a family website I will refrain from further comment. http://www.photographers-resource.co.uk/A_heritage/Windmills/LG_WLS/llangefni_windmill.htm 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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