Ok gents here we have my attempt of the trackplan. The red line represents the garage wall……….


The lower lines have been omitted for clarity.

Dave

That is a plan and a half. The wiring must have been interesting! It all makes sense now, when I look at your pictures. Thanks for showing this.

Bob(K)

Thanks for posting the trackplan Dave We can relate it to your photos now there are a fair few scale miles of track on your layout i assume there are return loops at the other end of the garden?

How do you access the inner part of the layout in the garage are there step over points you use ?

cheers Brian

 

Brian the return loops are located under the garage section baseboards. The trains run out to the garden then return along the lower level of the wall. The  baseboard level in the garage is about two feet from the floor so it isn't too bad to step over.;-) 

greetings from the railwayroom!!:cool wink

 

After waisting a whole day trying to get the webcam working i've given up for the time being. At least I didn't damage the cat5 cable whilst pushing it through the cavity wall! Just need a new keyboard now as this ones nackered!!! Hopefully more progress on the layout tomorrow.;-) 

Managed to get some work done on the layout. Today I decided to work on the hill side behind the canal warehouse scene so using my tried and tested 'landscaping' methord a hill was born………





The empty tin Im thinking of using as the basis of a storage tank although plan B is to use the area as a car park.



The base of the scenery was built up from polystyrene sheeting stuck together using my favourite stuff decoraters caulking. This stuff is great for sceneary building and is only £1 a tube from poundstreachers! The roadway was made from thick card stuck in place with the caulking and then painted with stone effect paint. The grass matting is stuck with…. caulking along with the bushes……..




Somewhere under the pile of junk in the background is the TMD! Just as well that the building uses 12mm thick chipboard for the main walls!:lol:

well i would never have thought of useing d/caulk for those jobs,
a good bit of info, i have tubes of it.

:doublethumb:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::cool:

…. and I'll be getting some

 Looks terrific!

 Mike

As per usual I poped upstairs to print off the scalescenes tank, checked my emails then got sidetracked on the forum again! So tonight I will be finishing off the tank and the area behind the warehouses. I may even start on the roadbridge! Ok time to drag myself away from the forum!!:lol:

looks great.

Just incase you hadnt notice your tank is upside down ! LOL

(Im guessing thats because it doesnt have a lid !)

Thanks for tht John! Ok last night I put the scalescenes papers on the tank although I still need to glue the top on……



Then as always I got sidetracked!









Needless to say today whilst on my travels I have been paying extra attention to sets of traffic lights! I have a basic plan in my head that all depends on my old comadore 64 working? Why you may ask? Well a few years back I came up with a use for the old computer. So instead of being a doorstop I used it to control a set of traffic lights. This was done using the user port on the back of the computer. I found that by writing a simple program (anyone remember basic!!) I could switch leds on and off. So I wrote a program that would control 8 leds. 6 leds formed two sets of traffic lights whilst the 2 others were used for the pedestrian crossing(red/green). I managed to get the correct sequence for the lights and even managed to get the ped green to flash! That was as far as I got for not long after we moved house (twice) and the computer got dumped in the garage. Luckly the tape is still in the data recorder with the program on cos after five years I carn't remember how I did it! First job tonight is to make a cable for the TV and see if this old piece of junk still works. Watch this space!;-)

You will be okay so long as benny hill and the rest of the "italian job" crew dont break in and swap the tape controlling the lights!

If they do you could open up all sorts of little cameos, ie. "I only said blow the ……"

Thats it all mini's will be banned on the layout!!

Right Im off now before I spend all evening on here again!;-)

Good news! Not only does the 25year old computer still work so does the program that I saved on cassette tape. Modern technolagy ehh! Once 'loaded up' I typed RUN and away it went. Next step was to stick some leds into the chocblock that was still attached to the computer and watch them change! Heres a very dodgy clip. First the lights on the right then the 'ped crossing' in the middle note the 'green (green man) flashing then the leds on the left. Unfortunately my camera will only take video in 20sec clips but hopefully will give some idea.



Now heres one for the electronics wizz kids out there. The 64 has 8 outputs that switch 5v on/off (TTL?) I need to connect multiple leds to each out yet the outputs dont supply enough current to drive more than 1 led at a time per output. Are there any circuit diagrams about that will enable me to do this? :hmm

Dave, have a look at this site for flashing light circuits

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/20step.html

There maybe many others in this site overall.

 

Nice one Sol. More Index fodder.

8 relays ?
or can you use lower voltage LEDs in series?

8 relays ?
or can you use lower voltage LEDs in series?


if you use LEDs in series, if one blows, the lot go out and it is a job to find the crook one.

The outputs on the back of the 64 give out 5v when switched on so will light a led ok without a series resister. I just carn't put more than one on each output although I have a plan! Last night after serching the web I found some circuits for driving reed relays from a TTL input (0-5v). So today I sneeked off to maplins to get a couple of 5v relays and some 7404 IC's. Tonight should be intresting!;-)

[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote:

if you use LEDs in series, if one blows, the lot go out and it is a job to find the crook one.

Thats a very good point !!