GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

After the last few posts featuring little people, you could be forgiven for thinking that Granby was a static diorama.

Its time for a few locomotive shots

 During the last few weeks I have also been developing and testing the 4 different passenger services that I want to arrive and depart from the south end of Granby Junction.

Last year, when I first started this exercise, I think I mentioned that I had a problem storing some of the trains that I wanted to run.

Two had to be stored in the carriage sidings that run alongside the Engine Shed:




On the left is a GWR two car B Set and a small Prairie already to back into Platform 6….not entirely prototypical but…..no problems

On the right is an LMS 4 car suburban set……here the siding is not long enough to accommodate a loco as well.
  To set this train up for an Up departure a pilot will have to couple, back the train into P6 and uncouple….the train loco will then leave the shed and couple to the other end of the train.

 Not quite as easy as it sounds. The shed exit road enters the P6 road and thus shortens its effective length. It can be done but it is a bit complicated to do automatically and involves pulling some wool over Train Controllers eagle eye……..but thats for another day!

 Right now, lets assume mission accomplished, so we can see the LMS train departing from Platform 6 (the Down Relief line) and in the act of crossing over to the Up main line



With cosmetic signals in fixed positions there are occasions, like this, when something will look fundamentally wrong! :oops:

Moving swiftly on……the train is hauled by an Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T . They were introduced in 1946 and look very different from the pre grouping "Lanky" tank and ex-LNWR Webb Coal tank that I use on the Northern suburban services to Birkenhead




I have a bit of a soft spot for these locos……as a boy I lived near the Liverpool-Southport electric line…..these were the only steam locomotives I ever saw, as once a day (weekdays only!) they hauled two blood and custard coaches
from Southport to join up with the Liverpool Lime Street-Euston train at Edgehill.




Sadly, close ups reveal that HMRCS straw lettering doesnt match Bachmann's lettering!

The relief Loco waiting in the storage yards is the original 1202




In historical terms, these two locos would have been the newest to run on Granby………in real terms they are   veterans. I guess I bought 1202 over twenty years ago. The re-numbered 1206 was bought more recently…actually in B.C…..it is nevertheless of the same vintage.

They are the last split chassis locos operating on Granby. It is, perhaps, a bit of a leap of faith that they will be capable of consistently performing with the precision that this complicated routine will demand.  :shock:

More on this next post……….

……meantime, lets go back in time to 1948 as an 18 month old 1206 crosses Granby viaduct





Amazing what you could achieve with a Box Brownie!

Stay safe…keep well

Best Wishes

John

What a deprived childhood you had, to be living alongside an "electric" line  

Once again, John, super photographs - there is always something in them that catches the eye.  The patience you have in getting everything automated is amazing, but it must be very satisfying when you get each part set up.
Regards

Michael

[Sigh….] "One day I'll have a railway…."




Superb.

D

Great pictures John  :thumbs



Ed


(PS Nice one Phil  :thumbs)

[user=2170]Colin W[/user] wrote:

What a deprived childhood you had, to be living alongside an "electric" line  

I know……its amazing that I wasnt scarred for life!

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

Once again, John, super photographs - there is always something in them that catches the eye.  The patience you have in getting everything automated is amazing, but it must be very satisfying when you get each part set up.
Regards

Michael

Thank you Michael.  The computor control does add another dimension…….its mentally very stimulating like a 3 dimensional Sudoko puzzle. It can be very time consuming and frustrating  but when a solution is found and the layout, rolling stock and of course the locos behave themselves it is indeed very satisfying.

Best wishes

John

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

Thanks Phil……. that looks great…….if the wind had been from a slightly different direction the steam would have obscured that pesky Home Signal! :lol:   I really need to learn how to do this……. it could be as useful as the cropping tool!

Doug and Ed


Thank you both!  I am particularly glad you liked that viaduct shor because it was my favourite from the batch as well.

Best wishes

John

 

Hi John,

Those split chassis locomotives are probably the most reliable ones you have regarding track to motor electrical continuity. Plus no maintenance of any wipers either. Now whether the split axles last is another story…

Challenging exercise with the locomotive and the carriages..

Nigel

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

Hi John,

Those split chassis locomotives are probably the most reliable ones you have regarding track to motor electrical continuity. Plus no maintenance of any wipers either. Now whether the split axles last is another story…

Challenging exercise with the locomotive and the carriages..

Nigel

Hi Nigel

You are right about the effectiveness of split chassis…..these guys have seen a lot of service particularly 1202 so I do have my fingers crossed regarding the axles life.

The issue with the loco and carriages in P6 relates to Train Controllers rules regarding the construction of train sets and  block occupancy so I have to do a bit of smoke and mirrors where the physical coupling action does not precisely synchronise with the computor…..lines of code for something that takes seconds manually!

Best wishes

John

John

I assume your conning train controller is due to the fact your loco is outside of the Platform 6 block so your schedule is starting from the block beyond but the Train itself is occupying platform 6?


Brian

Definitely worthy of a photo of the week, which sadly seems to have ceased to be a feature.  


Michael

[user=2137]
[/user][user=2137]Briperran[/user] wrote:

John

I assume your conning train controller is due to the fact your loco is outside of the Platform 6 block so your schedule is starting from the block beyond but the Train itself is occupying platform 6?


Brian

:thumbs Got it in one Brian!

I can never see enough of Granby John - just fantastic !!

This photo is absolutely stunning:  ………………………………

Actually, I went down the page to copy it and realised that they are all absolutely stunning !!! 

As Michael said, there's always something to catch your eye.  In fact, the whole layout is an amazing history lesson - your eye for detail and either memory or research, is so perfect that one is transported back to those post war years - for me perhaps not quite as far back as 1948 but very little changed for several years following the war.  Everything is there, perfectly portrayed in miniature.  Granby is an inspiration to us all and absolutely my honey-pot.

Thank you Peter that is extremely kind of you and much appreciated.
I guess the town scenes are a combination of memories stretching from just after the war ended to the very early sixties…..I get most of the rail side scenes from books…..there are some excellent highly detailed books on GWR Branch lines

Sometimes research via Wikipedia is better than relying on memory…….just finished re-painting a telephone box……when I made it years ago I never bothered checking, I was convinced that it should be the concrete version…now realise they were pretty rare in N Wales:oops:

Best wishes

John

I left you with 1206, a LMS Ivatt 2-6-2T, hauling a rake of 4 non corridor coaches on its way to Crewe





Nearing the end of its journey……having travelled at least 6' ……the train enters the approaches to "Crewe"





Running parallel , as it leaves the storage turntable, is the relief loco 1202. This loco will eventually take the train back to Granby





This is a screenshot of the Storage Yard Block Diagram. Occupied blocks are coloured pink and display the train assigned to it. 
 
D5, the unoccupied block at the bottom, serves as the destination block for 5 different services from Granby……at any one time it can be Barmouth, Oswestry, Ruabon, Shrewsbury……..right now its Crewe



At the bottom is a blow up of D5. The red and yellow arrowheads represent brake and stop markers that are assigned to different schedules and or locos.

Each pair of brake and stop markers are set up with specific distances. D5 is 73" long  If I wanted the train to stop at the very end of the block the Stop marker would be set at 70" (to avoid fouling the adjacent line). The brake marker would set to activate after the the train had travelled 46" from first entering the block…..once activated the train would progressively slow for 24"…..finally stopping at  70"  

For this schedule I want the train to stop over the uncoupling magnet which is 54" from the start of the block.  




The train has entered the block and has to travel for 30" at 20mph before the brake marker is activated.. This screen grab was live so you can see  train has in fact travelled just over 30"………the uncoupling brake marker is activated ( Yellow square) and the loco throttle (bottom right) is showing less than 20 mph

The loco will progressively slow for the next 24"  and crawl over the magnets:



Once the loco has travelled 54" the stop marker is activated



 

 At the finish of every schedule you can set up a list of commands





In this case the Kadee Shuffle and start the schedule to couple the relief loco at the other end of the train



If you are following closely you may well wonder why the uncoupled loco has to move 7" away from train?



The relief loco has not only to couple but also push back the train 4" to avoid fouling the main line exit point



At the end of the coupling schedule another list of commands



Another Kadee Shuffle to ensure coupling has taken place



Train Controller now matches what has happened on the layout …..1206, the original loco, is separated from the train.
 




So there we have it……all done……full house!
 





D5 is not a storage siding as such. Trains ending a schedule here are essentially turned round and sent on 
 their way. When not required they are stored elsewhere. The Crewe and Ruabon trains are stored adjacent to Granby Shed. In this photo, the GWR Barmouth train can be seen on the right. At the very top of the  sidings you can just see the 4 coach GWR suburban set…..patiently waiting for some large prairies.

Hope you enjoyed this…..I tried to keep the RR&Co stuff to a minimum but bearing in mind how essential it is to the operation of Granby I cant avoid mentioning it from time to time!  Other RR&Co users will note that, for simplicity, I glossed over the coupling schedule where the relief loco has to stop in an already occupied block……a tale for another day perhaps.


My best wishes from a very sunny Vancouver

John

That really is mightily impressive, John and we get to see some more shots of the layout and rolling stock.  It's also quite an insight into computer control….. very interesting.
Regards from a warm and sunny Faversham.

Michael

John

On your D5 Barmouth switchboard  you have flag icons on it are these the flagman things you have mentioned before if so what purpose do that actually serve are they some sort of select-able action?

Brian

Fascinating stuff John.

I can see from posts previous to mine that you're going to have some questions to answer !!!

A few from me - do the numbers  - "687D2", "663U3" etc. relate to trains, locomotives, schedules or what.  I guess the "D" and "U" are "down" or "up" but who or what picked the numbers and what are they ?

You said -  "Each pair of brake and stop markers are set up with specific distances.  D5 is 73" long  If I wanted the train to stop at the very end of the  block the Stop marker would be set at 70" (to avoid fouling the adjacent  line). The brake marker would set to activate after the the train had  travelled 46" from first entering the block…..once activated the train  would progressively slow for 24"…..finally stopping at  70" …………..

Where are the distance markers on your screen shot - I can't see any gradations or does RR&Co work it out for you ?

Having explained this one operation, I can see how it could take an age to set up some complicated moves, be extremely taxing mentally and yet highly satifying when it all comes together and works !!

The photos are brilliant too.  :thumbs :thumbs :thumbs