GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

A very Merry Christmas to all members of YMR.

I would  particularly like to mention those who have been following and commenting on Granby's progress throughout 2018. Your support is much appreciated :doublethumb


Best wishes


John

Have a very happy Christmas John - you have given me presents throughout the year with your knowledge, pictures, inspiration and advice.  Season's blessings to you and all your family

Warm regards

Michael

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

Have a very happy Christmas John - you have given me presents throughout the year with your knowledge, pictures, inspiration and advice.  Season's blessings to you and all your family

Warm regards

Michael

We need “ like” buttons on YMR…….

Thank you Michael :thumbs

Best regards

John

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

Have a very happy Christmas John - you have given me presents throughout the year with your knowledge, pictures, inspiration and advice.  Season's blessings to you and all your family

Warm regards

Michael

Woteesed, with knobs on!

Doug

[user=312]Chubber[/user] wrote:

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

Have a very happy Christmas John - you have given me presents throughout the year with your knowledge, pictures, inspiration and advice.  Season's blessings to you and all your family

Warm regards

Michael

Woteesed, with knobs on!

Doug

 . . . and I'll add the bells, doubtless whistle will come along soon!
My very best wishes John, for a most happy and contented festive season.

Bill 
🎅🎉🍷

Have a good one John, you and yours ;-)

Happy new year John here's to a better one.

Cheers Bob

[user=2126]81C[/user] wrote:

Happy new year John here's to a better one.

Cheers Bob

Thanks Bob……..and a Happy New Year to you and indeed a similar wish to all on YMR.

I guess being on the Pacific means that I would have been one of the last to celebrate! It was quite surreal having a cup of tea at 4 pm and read about the celebrations in the UK.

Cheers

John

Thank you again for your good wishes guys.  :cheersI

I do hope that you and yours had a very enjoyable Christmas and New Year celebration.

Despite all the festivities I got a surprising amount done and the video of the turntable operation is pretty well complete…….hopefully I will be posting it shortly

I suppose this post is by way of a trailer:



This is a bit of a publicity shot…….in real life, engines were often bunched up like this,buffer to buffer. On the video you will see them a bit more spaced out as they move from block to block on their way to the turntable.


This shot of the RR&Co control panel shows the block structure



Engines coming on shed enter by way of Reception (top right) they then move a block at a time through the Ash pit and Coaling to the East Spur where they dog leg back on the long water column block to the West Spur.

From the West Spur the turntable bridge is called to the entry block, the loco passes on to the bridge which turns to the designated shed road. The loco leaves the bridge and either enters the shed or, if already occupied, stops outside.

I suspect it may not be prototypical but at Granby all locos on shed face outwards. The system does, however, detect which way they are facing when they enter both the coal and bridge blocks. Most blocks have just one set of brake and stop markers at the end of the block. However in order to stop in the centre of the bridge, and certainly not over or undershoot, multiple markers dependent on loco and or orientation are required.

Similarly with the coal block. Stopping these two very different locos directly under the chute required a fair amount of testing






Note …..the photos show them on the bridge but I think they demonstrate my point.

Enough technical stuff for now……I know its not to everyones taste……….although I am always happy to answer questions :lol:

It was quite difficult working out how to film the sequence so that the viewer wasnt confused by locos apparently moving aimlessly back and forth . The ideal would really have been a genuine helicopter shot with the camera suspended from the ceiling

In the end I decided on three different camera angles


Here are some shots of the "film studio" ……….from the rear



Mid level ……….Iphone on gorilla legs perched on Shed Roof


The sequence was run again to capture it from the front






 

As near a helicopter shot as I could manage…………iphone on gorilla legs on tripod on (unseen) card table.

Low level close ups …………………………………………..ipad on site of Station Hotel

Shooting the videos was a bit nail biting……..not the locos…. they behaved like thoroughbreds……..but I was concerned about outside influences!

Fortunately nobody called either in person (we have two dogs) or on the phone :roll:. Mrs D remembered to stay out of the bedroom….hardwood floor immediately above the train room :roll:………….and most important resisted the impulse to start the vacuum cleaner, washing machine or dryer…..all right outside the train room.

More to come…..hopefully this will whet your appetite

Appetite whetted John....

Playing with model trains sounds so easy! Then with your layout we see what can be achieved with a lot of patience, time and skill. Yet another new technique to learn - motion picture editing. Suppose I did come back in to the hobby for new challenges.

John there is a PM for you.

Bob

Thanks for the comments guys.

 So here is the video………….I am afraid that during the intro there is about 30 seconds of static which I have not been able to eliminate. Next time I think I will not try and mix photos and video or at least not with music

As it happens there is no commentary, hopefully it is self explanatory, so you can turn off the plinky plonk elevator music background and the static disappears
 
Hope you enjoy it

 [yt]fGihvfuo54g[/yt]


Regards from a very wet Vancouver


John

Marvelous John, well done, really convincing, you must be well pleased  ;-) ;-) ;-)

Great video John, ok the sound wasn't ideal at times but it all added to the experience. Did it all the train operations work according to plan in the end?

[user=753]Phil.c[/user] wrote:

Marvelous John, well done, really convincing, you must be well pleased  ;-) ;-) ;-)

Thanks Phil …..thats very kind of you……casting modesty aside for a moment :roll:……I must admit I am somewhat chuffed. ……I have wanted to video this sequence for years but as I said to Bill on the other thread it was never quite right until I changed turntables.

DaveH_Murcia wrote:

Great  video John, ok the sound wasn't ideal at times but it all added to the  experience. Did it all the train operations work according to plan in  the end?

Thanks Dave…….the static was a pain……imovie is fine for the type of videos I make but it doesnt have too many bells and whistles and I couldnt find a way to nuke the sound for those stills,

When I shoot the videos I do try and avoid doing any cutting and pasting over any operational errors……I know you guys wont know but it just seem like cheating :roll:

So yes……I pressed that little button twice and filmed two sequences from start to finish then used imovie to merge the three videos that resulted ……….actually thats not quite true because I ran a third full sequence to video  RR&Co on the monitor.

There where a few issues during rehearsals……apart from dogs and washing machines. As I explained to Bill it took a while to make certain that the diagonal schedules from East Spur to West Spur ran smoothly…….there can be a delay between RR&Co thinking a point has been thrown and reality……I still have a few tortoises being operated by Lenz LS150s and, of course, the East Spur point is one of them :twisted: :twisted:

The very sharp eyed may notice that the lead loco in some of the earlier photos was a Grange and yet in the video it had magically become a Hall :shock:  Shock Horror etc  Hornby Granges are amongst my favourite locos…..smooth running, good haulage etc hence 6818 Hardwick Grange being cast in the lead role. Unfortunately the tender pickups started to play up so when stopping at the coal stage and bridge, tender first, it either stopped as planned or over shot by about 4"………..its now on the bench being sorted!

Best Wishes

John





 

Most enjoyable John ,thank you . Reading your thread and you mentioned shall we say hiccups .
When i decide to visit the railway room and start running i never ever get a nice smooth session , always the big hand from the sky has to intervene. While we attempt to build and enjoy our layouts (and i do)  why is it myself and friends i have spoken to,always have to carry out some repair or maintenance even if it is just a rub over with the track rubber. or the fibre pencil on the wheels . Do we spend more time trying to run everything smoothly , or am I the only one?
When i have give a loco a good run round all is well ,next day ,big hand from the sky again.. I have loads of scenic work to do ,but the trains are supposed to work !   preparing and running a timetable ,in my dreams. I have a hospital bay where occasionally a loco or wagon has to park whilst awaiting attention. nearly always something there..

Carry on the good work John, gives me something to aIm for. :thumbs

Very good John, I wouldn't want to try that with normal DCC & hand controls and one operator , easy to get confused.

Glad you enjoyed it Reg.
Over the years I have sorted most of the track problems…..by either relaying the recalcitrant turnouts or restricting their use.

One of my best investments was a back to back gauge……amazing how many new rtr wagons/ coaches have out of gauge wheel sets.

I do find that regular running makes a world of difference to ensuring reliable running. With all that work on the shed I ignored the rest of the layout for almost 6 months. When I ran some of my previously very reliable suburban routines last week it was an absolute shambles….I needed far more than the hand of god….more like a herd of angels….to keep things moving:roll:. Previously shiny loco wheels were all gunged up  …..not helped by dog#2 shedding hair everywhere…….so absolutely I do have bad days like you. If nothing else modelling teaches one patience!

But it is fun when everything workd:lol:

Best wishes

John

[user=606]Sol[/user] wrote:

Very good John, I wouldn't want to try that with normal DCC & hand controls and one operator , easy to get confused.

Thanks Ron thats very kind of you. As you know I am always trying to find ways to show how I got hooked on computor control…….having four locos on the go in such a tight environment while having a coffee seemed a good example;-)

Best wishes

John