I just saw that our friend Galen’s article about his rotary turnout controls has been published in the February issue of MRH: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2011-02-Feb">http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/maga ... 011-02-Feb</a><!-- m -->.
Great stuff, Galen
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That's excellent! Congratulations Galen!!!!
Ralph
Galen,
Great stuff! And thanks for the mention of the-gauge.net!
Andrew
Very ingenious..!! A very informative and well explained article.. Kudos to you..!!
Having been involved in R/C for nearly as long as I've been doing trains, I thoroughly enjoyed such a clever adaptation of R/C hardware to MRR'ing.
Just a word of caution...If the length of the control rod exceeds 12"- 14", or has a couple of bends to get from here to there, a support (or a couple) should be placed at a point about halfway along its length to eliminate the possibility of its flexing and not transferring the motion of the rotary switch to the switch machine.
Thanks, everybody!
Absolutely right about the length/support issue. I have noticed that and will be adding some to one of the lines. Another issue is making sure the yellow rod is out of the red rod at each end. Not sure why, but somehow this makes a difference in friction. Could be the cut end contributes friction to the equation.
I'm pleased with how the 90 degree bend solution worked out and may convert one of the turnouts show in the article to a similar approach simply because it involves alot of line and seems to have more resistance than the other two. The fewer bends in the line the better.
I am planning ahead to the other turnouts on the layout and I know there'll be some special situations, like a crossover, that will require a creative solution. Now that the cat's out of the bag, perhaps someone here can help me carry the idea to the next level?
Galen
MasonJar Wrote:And thanks for the mention of the-gauge.net!
Of course! Naturally! I'd be remiss if I didn't! This is my 'club' online and, barring some insidious alien invasion (who are you and what have you done with Dr. Wayne!?) it will be for years to come.
Galen
Very nice and congratulations! I can see the value this may provide to me someday on an eye level DSP&P Alpine Tunnel shelf.
Additionally, thanks for the tip on the new issue. I hadn't noticed the switch to monthly and might have missed this issue. Currently, MRH is my favorite of the magazines...the only one I read cover to cover.
Michael
nkp_174 Wrote:Very nice and congratulations! I can see the value this may provide to me someday on an eye level DSP&P Alpine Tunnel shelf.
Additionally, thanks for the tip on the new issue. I hadn't noticed the switch to monthly and might have missed this issue. Currently, MRH is my favorite of the magazines...the only one I read cover to cover.
Michael
I still check out MR from my local public library. I wish they carried RMC instead, as my previous library did, but that's okay. The recent revisit to Rod Stewart's layout was fantastic and MR is showing signs of real improvement since the 90's, IMHO.
That said, I absolutely LOVE Model Railroad Hobbyist. I recently contributed two tips to the 'tips' section and hopefully they'll be picked up. The payment is a nice boost to the hobby funds, for sure, but the chance to be recognized for an innovative technique is a great stroke to the ego. I don't have any new article plans in the works...yet.
Galen
Congratulations, Galen. A well-done and nicely illustrated article, too.
Wayne
Oooops, pressed the wrong button :o .
doctorwayne Wrote:Congratulations, Galen. A well-done and nicely illustrated article, too.
Wayne
Thanks, Wayne. The photos were the hardest part. I couldn't get enough lighting and was still using my camera, whereas since then I've discovered that my wife's camera has better resolution and lighting options. It's a simple matter to bracket a shot's brightness on her camera right on the control knob, as opposed to my camera which required you to go through a few menus before reaching the adjustment.
The neat little schematic is courtesy of the publisher. I'm glad they added it as it really, to my eyes, makes it very clear. The staff were responsive and great to work with.
I encourage anyone with an interest to submit an article proposal and give it a shot. I knew I had a neat idea but wasn't sure I could pull off an article (the photos being the biggest hurdle) but that's one of the neat things about electronic publishing - the resolution on the photos doesn't have to be super high. Things like lighting, focus and color balance still need to be excellent, but you don't need a fancy camera (or a friend with a fancy camera) to submit good photos.
Galen
ocalicreek Wrote:Thanks, everybody!
Absolutely right about the length/support issue. I have noticed that and will be adding some to one of the lines. Another issue is making sure the yellow rod is out of the red rod at each end. Not sure why, but somehow this makes a difference in friction. Could be the cut end contributes friction to the equation.
I'm pleased with how the 90 degree bend solution worked out and may convert one of the turnouts show in the article to a similar approach simply because it involves alot of line and seems to have more resistance than the other two. The fewer bends in the line the better.
I am planning ahead to the other turnouts on the layout and I know there'll be some special situations, like a crossover, that will require a creative solution. Now that the cat's out of the bag, perhaps someone here can help me carry the idea to the next level?
Galen
Galen, great article, I'm going to have to check out the rc section of the lhs for pieces to do something similar on my switching layout. I'm not sure how complicated you future track work will be, but remember that you can use as many of the bell cranks as needed with short straight sections between to do whatever you need to do to get the correct "push-pull" on your turn outs.
Regarding the aliens capturing The_Gauge, it already happened once before, but we escaped!
I've read the article , great way of operating a turnout Galen! I am now thinking of doing the same for my modules that I'm building for a club 'layout'.
Koos