O scale 2 rail exhibition layout

[danielb]

What a difference a day makes.

Ford stopped by with the current progress on the traversor. This very clever beast is controlled by a simple IR remote from an old CD player.




He also returned the sector plate board so I can work on wiring it up. As such, I took the opportunity to mock up the sector plate.



Finally, I spent some time working on structures for the end board, which is the one that will connect to the traversor.

It's really coming together now.





















More to come tomorrow, with any luck.

[danielb]

Progress on the merchantile building

[Tyson Rayles]

[danielb]

Well, Mansfield Show is over for another year, and Piedmont Blues worked out much better than I had anticipated.

The to do list has expanded, as is to be expected after the true test of a two day show, but overall the layout performed fantastically.

During the show, further work was done on the layout, as was always the plan. I worked on the scenery whilst Ford ran trains, and then Ford worked on fine tuning the arduino controlled servos and lighting of buildings whilst I ran trains.

I can't claim to understand how it all works, but Ford used an arduino control board to work both the lights and the servos for the points.

Connected to it was an infra-red sensor, which allowed us to use a TV remote to switch the points - allowing for both switching of the points individually, and route setting - throwing multiple points with one button push to line up set routes for the locomotives to take.

For the Bingham show on 14th and 15th of April, we're hoping to have the point frogs wired up to polarity changing switches, so that when the button are pressed to change the routes, it also throws a SPDT switch to change the polarity of the frogs.

This would have been a massive benefit at Mansfield. As it stood, the frogs were dead at the show, which prevented us from using the Atlas Plymouth, and caused the slightly shorter wheelbase GP35 to stall when going one specific route, as it ended up with a truck each on two of the dead frogs at once, meaning it stalled out.

The RS3, having a slightly longer wheelbase, didn't have this issue.

There wasn't much in terms of things to buy on the trade stands for the layout - US O scale isn't exactly all the rage here. That said, I did managed to get a 3-rail K-Line flat car, which will need converting over to 2 rail, as well as a Lionel/Corgi Greyhound bus, which you can see in some of the photographs below.

So here we are. Roll on Bingham show in April!

[Schraddel]

WOW!

That's outstanding

[danielb]

Thank you, Schraddel!

[danielb]

Work over the last couple of days has been on the 3 story brick/wooden tower building. Here's the latest progress:

[danielb]

Today I've been working on the scenery on the centre board. I'd say it's about 75% complete for now. Once the scenery is done, I'll get started on the structures.



The caboose in the photos is a Lionel 3 Rail model which I am in the process of converting to 2 rail. So far I've done the trucks, next I need to do the couplers and the underframe detail. After that it'll need to add a rooftop solar panel and battery box, then the correct paint scheme to represent a "Local" assigned cab.

[danielb]

Weekend update time, I guess.

Mostly I've been working on scenery for the centre board, however I've also done a bit of structure and rolling stock work.

First up, I've turned this K-Line 3 Rail boom car...





...Into this 2 rail flat car:





It still needs a brake wheel, then the lettering painting out and replacing with something more fitting - probably CB&Q


Next, the loading dock at the back of the layout. I've been working on a building to go here, but decided instead to put a loading dock here and then potentially add the building in as a flat building by fixing it to a sheet of plywood which would bolt into the side of the benchwork once the layout is set up at shows. Mainly because space is a premium in my car, and I'm not sure I could fit the originally planned building in the car!







Finally, we needed a way to hide the servos used to power the turnout throw bars. I made a ballast bin out of scrap wood and styrene, and a stack of ties from strips of suitable sized balsa wood.






Close ups of the ballast bin. Stanley Knife (box cutter to Americans ) for scale.








The hinges, latch and padlock all need painting still.

Hopefully I can get the fencing for the lumber yard finished today.

[Schraddel]

Daniel,

that is the advantage of 0 Scale over H0 Scale. You can go more into the details and detailing.
And your recycling project to create lock and lash is

[danielb]

Thank you Lutz, I surprised myself with it, if I'm honest.

[danielb]

With the centre board almost complete, I've turned my attention back to the end board to get that finished, so I can focus my full attention on the sector plate board for the last few weeks before Bingham show.

[danielb]

I've been quiet on the layout front as of late, because I've been working on one of the more mind numbing parts of the build - laying cobbles between the rails, and carving the roadway. There's about 30" of this to do, and I'm about half way through it.

Afterwards it'll get sand between the cobbles, then the whole thing will be getting painted and weathered. I am hoping to have it done by the end of the week.

Once that's done, I can get get started on the Georgia Hardware Company building which will go over and around the cobbled street/tracks.

Between these, I'll be working on ground cover on this module, which will hopefully complete the basic scenery for the whole layout, and with loads of time to get it done ready for the Bingham show in 10 days time.

[danielb]

Bingham show is now over, and it was a truly great little exhibition. Definitely worth the visit for the public, I think.

Piedmont Blues did us proud. With only small issues of dirty track and an overexited servo powering one of the turnouts, plus rusty wheels on the RS3 and GP35 needing a good clean, the show went really well.

All the minor issues were fixed respectively with a thorough cleaning with a block of wood and some isoproyl alcohol, disconnecting the servo and operating the turnout by hand for 20 minutes to allow it to cool down, and then running the layout using the Plymouth switcher for a while whilst the two 4 axle locos had their wheels serviced.

Not many changes were made to the layout whilst we were at the show - with the exception of a couple of crossed ties at the end of the Georgia Hardware spur to stop cars running off the end of the layout.

Instead, we were focused on taking turns running trains, and whilst one of us was doing that, Ford would work on lighting the buildings, and I was working on freight car projects.

Speaking of:



With the exception of adding the running numbers to the car ends, this one is now ready for weathering. Hopefully I'll have that done, and a full loose load of woodchips done by Seaboard Southern in September.

The car was set up on the end of our layout tables as a display piece for the public.



We're planning to have a full information display ready for September as well, showing prototype photographs of the area we are modelling.

On the subject of photographs, here are a bunch I took showing the layout set up in it's (current) entirity...

































Lots to do between now and September, but before anything can happen with the layout, I need to finalise purchase of my new house and get moved in, as I'll have the space to have the layout set up permanently so I can work on it.

[Schraddel]

Daniel,

you did it
What i have seen on the photos, you have consequently utilised the possibilities which this larger scale is featuring. A small layout, simulating a somewhat neglected industrial area, but you have driven your energy into the details and a lot of them. We call it a "Gesamtkunstwerk" (total work of art) and you have captured this shabby look with your layout brilliantly.