Model Trains

[andy3055]

You will need a nice flat file to make those level with each other 

[joeqsmith]

Some screws and a block of wood.  My first test track in operation. 

[MathWizard]

I used to have electric trains as a kid. But I guess the big people most of them it all out at some point. I guess I could always buy some track and try to make a motor and some wireless control.

[joeqsmith]

Correcting the primary source of noise on the Marx 999.

[RoGeorge]

4K CABVIEW: Christmas Freight Train Driver Heading Home for Christmas
RailCowGirl



 

[andy3055]

That is one thing I like to do... ride in the cab! What fun 

[RoGeorge]

There is plenty of room to fit a webcam and a Wi-Fi transmitter in a model, so to watch the ride of a model train from the driver's seat. 

I wonder if model locomotives and wagons ever come with webcams, from factory. 

[lezginka_kabardinka]

LEGO trains are cheaper and more fun. Let’s be honest, they’re all toys. Good fun.

[tszaboo]

There is plenty of room to fit a webcam and a Wi-Fi transmitter in a model, so to watch the ride of a model train from the driver's seat. 

I wonder if model locomotives and wagons ever come with webcams, from factory.

They don't do that for control, because if you get a little bit of dust on the track, it will disconnect and get stuck for half a minute. DCC makes much more sense. You can do that for less important stuff. Also, consider that trains models nowadays are super accurate to the real life trains, so those lens would stick out.

[andy3055]

The little village at the left corner has people and greenery now. Two trains passing by near the tunnel

[joeqsmith]

Closeup of the two original primary drive gears from the motor I repaired.   

[.RC.]

Just a tiny bit of backlash in those gears*. 

*one looks to be a chain sprocket, the other an epicycloidal style gear.

[Whales]

This topic is gorgeous.  I don't have the space to ever make things like this, but I'm having fun vicariously.  Thankyou to everyone for the photos.

Anyone have a model train set with solar panels between the rails, lights turning purple, a house overflowing with test gear or wind turbines on the locos? 

[joeqsmith]

Just a tiny bit of backlash in those gears*. 

*one looks to be a chain sprocket, the other an epicycloidal style gear.

Indeed, it looks like a sprocket for my motorcycle.    The motor I salvaged the gears from were not worn to a sharp point but looks like the child who played with it had a lot of fun.

[andy3055]

That large gear looks worn-out.
No solar but LED lighting in some area. See picture.

[RoGeorge]

Majestic Journey: 4K Aerial Cinematics of the Bergen Line
RailCowGirl



 

[andy3055]

That is beautiful! On the ground, it must be very difficult to get about with all that snow. I have never been to such places other than to Berlin in the height of a winter.

BTW, the best layouts are in Berlin and Hamburg I think.

[tggzzz]

That is beautiful! On the ground, it must be very difficult to get about with all that snow. I have never been to such places other than to Berlin in the height of a winter.

BTW, the best layouts are in Berlin and Hamburg I think.

You need to see the Pendon Museum in Long Wittenham south of Oxford. https://pendonmuseum.com/ Construction started on the 50s, and it is nearing completion. I first heard about it in the 60s, in a railway modelling magazine.

Here's a 1958 cinema short on it, in a style typical of the era.

[andy3055]

Yes, these modelers are beyond imagination.  I wish I had their manual dexterity and was not so clumsy.

[tggzzz]

Yes, these modelers are beyond imagination.  I wish I had their manual dexterity and was not so clumsy.

Took daughter to Pendon Museum, and by chance it was an open day. They showed her how to make model cauliflowers. She was sufficiently inspired that we made a small farm scene together.

I think patience and imagination are more important than manual dexterity, since the latter is usually a matter of practice.

[andy3055]

Patience is  a rare commodity in my case 

[MarkF]

I see some posts of night photos.

I just finished retro-fitting interior lighting for my builds.  The lights for each build can be turned on/off from either the laptop or from a wireless throttle.



And a screen capture of the computer controller with touch screen.  Turnouts can be changed by touching the ID square beside the corresponding turnout.  Lights are switched by touching the asterisk on top of the building.



In addition, I 3D printed a bank of interlocking levers for my signal tower.  I did a few rounds of design and they are a still a little too big.  But, I don't know if I can print them any smaller.  Each lever is printed separate and glued to the base.  They are not a visible as I was hoping.

[Whales]

Interesting software.  Is it fully custom or something from the web you have added your layout and comms to?

> Each lever is printed separate and glued to the base.  They are not a visible as I was hoping.

Maybe it's because the windowframes are glowing so brightly, obscuring the levers.

[MarkF]

All the software (the laptop, the USB master control module in the computer interface, the wireless throttles, etc.) is written in C/C++ using a custom drawing libraries.  OpenGL library for the laptop and another custom graphics library for the OLED display in throttles for doing all the drawing.

Behind the scenes, I used Anyrail to design the track layout.  Anyrail can export the layout to an XML file.  I wrote another program to parse this XML file to allow me to draw the track over top of a background PNG also exported by Anyrail.  Not shown on the screen capture, each track power driver has built-in occupancy detection which is by drawing the corresponding block on the display in white.  Each track block is also drawn as red or green indicating direction (i.e. voltage polarity) if the throttle is turned up.  There are also throttle positions on the left for all 15 blocks.



The only think I did not write were the routines to read/write BMP, JPG and PNG pictures.  The terrain and structures on the screen captures is a PNG file exported from Anyrail.

I forgot about the analog PCB.  In total there are four programs:
  - The laptop master
  - A pic18f4620 in the USB-to-I/O interface using a FTDI FT245RL
  - A pic16f876 in the analog PCB to control each track block (PWM slow speed, DC medium/high speed, occupancy detect)
  - A pic18f2620 in the wireless throttles using a nRF24L01+ radio

As for the signal tower, the interior lighting is pretty bright.  I think the bigger problem is that the model came with the top half of the windows having shades painted on them.

[andy3055]

Lovely! You can do a lot in N scale with limited space. But it is too fiddly for me.

I toned down the lights in my layout and it looks much better now.