MRH Mag dialogue

This week I spent most of my free time compiling the how-to article about the grass machine. I approached Model Railway Hobbyist Magazine (www.mrhmag.com) and they were interested in it. I am waiting on the outcome of the submission so until I know whether it has been accepted or not, I will refrain from publishing my article on this blog .

I also spent the remainder of my free time researching various DCC products around accessory control. I have made the decision to have Illavearf under 100% DCC control. Currently I could switch it between DC and DCC so that I could run older or non-DCCed locos, but the time has come to start the electrics around point, lighting and signal control. I was originally thinking of running a separate DC based "control" circuit so that whether I was running DC or DCC, the controls would still work. Further consideration and some long navel gazing brought me around to the decision to make DCC the preferred control medium. As most new layouts seem to be heading down the DCC only path I may as well jump onto the bandwagon. As I also have Lachlan's DC layout I can use this to run any older DC locos until converted to DCC if they are able to.

So my friend Mr Mackie has used the NCE mini-panel and Digitrax DS64 accessory decoder very successfully, so I will go down this path as well. However this doesn't solve the problem of how to control non-point accessories such as signals, lighting, etc. Not much is out there but I stumbled on the MRC 4 output accessory decoder which allows signals and lighting via a latching circuit, point motor control if required, and crossing flashing lights (or anything requiring a flashing circuit). The manual on this device is OK but I wanted more info, so I have placed a posting on the MRC Yahoo Forum page and I am awaiting an answer. In the meantime I have placed an order for one of these, a NCE mini-panel, a Digitrax DS64, and various types of switches to be installed on the mimic boards.

All a good learning curve that I will attempt to describe and provide my experiences with from within this blog.

Activity to date

I must firstly apologise for not having updated the blog of late. Busy doing other things and then had a problem accessing the blog!

Over the last couple of weeks my focus has been on the development, manufacture and testing of my own static grass application device. I had some issues with the electronic circuitry for the 'ON' indicator LED, but with the help of my mates PK and Mr Mackie I was able to sort it out and it tested all ok on the weekend (hooray!). I have decided to withhold a photo at this point in time as I am in the process of writing an article for publication and a photo might preempt someone else in doing something similar. My version is nothing like the German hand grenade design of similar Noch facsimilies! I will however put the How-To article up on this blog in the not to distant future.

I have also been spending some time on Lachlan's Beaver Springs layout so pop on over to it to see what has been happening on that layout.

As for Illavearf, it has been waiting for awhile for my return. That occurred over the weekend when I was able to do some more around the station. The car park, foot paths and additional grassed areas (using my new applicator!) were done. I can now put the footpath fencing in place then move onto something else.

Articles that I have written updated

I have updated this page with some more content. Feel free to click on over.

EL51 back on the roster

Well the plan outlined in the previous blog about getting EL51 decoded by Wednesday's club day didn't come off as planned basically because I didn't get my @rse into gear! I didn't get to the club either on Wednesday as there was illness in the family, so we had a fairly quiet Aussie Day at home. However I did sit down on Friday evening and got stuck in wiring up the Digitrax DZ125 decoder. I had done some research earlier in the week about wiring multiple LEDs to be controlled by the one function wire. Apparently in SERIES is the go. So off the F0f (FWD) function I wired up the headlight, front white markers, front ditch lights and rear red markers. The reason for this is that I blew out the forward red markers and rear white markers a number of months ago.Off F0r function (REV) I wired up the rear headlight. Prototypically the EL Class run cab forward so the rear headlight would not be used that much. Saturday afternoon I tested the wiring on the layout to see if it all worked according to plan. Not quite! Apparently what I thought was the front white marker lights weren't. They were the front red marker lights. Oh well back to the wiring. Saturday evening after getting over the beers I had at my Dad's 70th party over Saturday lunch, I removed the red front markers lights from the FWD series and spliced it into the REV series. So now red marker lights illuminate in both directions but unfortunately there are no front white marker lights. Possibly in the future I will buy a decoder with more functions and put in some LEDs for the missing marker lights, but at this point in time I am over EL51's decoder sagas and just want the thing to be moving around a layout!

The only other thing I did was that on Saturday arvo upon our return from the tavern I was having a bit of a planning session on Illavearf and discovered that since laying the road the farm gate would actually be opening into the path of traffic! So I turned it around so that the gate would swing correctly. It is always the little things that could stuff up a layout's look.

Well this week I don't really know what I will be doing now that the locos are all sorted out. I might have a look at the ground level signal box kit but time will tell.

A few little things done this week

This week was a tad busy and as such I didn't get around to furthering the scenery around Kensington Hill Station. I was however able one evening to have a closer look at what work I needed to do to my CFCLA EL Class (EL51) loco to get it up and running after the Select sound chip debacle and the preceding dismantlement of the out of the box circuit board. It is a bit of a mess. The space under the shell is bugger all so I will have to look at something slim line as I am 99.99% sure that I have Buckley's to get the circuit board operational again. I have also zapped a couple of the flush mount LEDs. I have a spare Digitrax DS125 decoder that I could use. This motor decoder is very small as it is designed for Z scale but can be used in HO where space is a premium. It however only comes with two functions other than the motor functions. So specifically aimed at lights. I am thinking of connecting the forward headlight, front white marker lights, rear red marker lights and forward ditch lights in serial so that one function basically turns on on the front lights other than the front red marker lights which is OK as the front red marker LED is one of the ones I have zapped. The other function would be for the Rear headlight only. This is probably OK as it would be hardly used as prototypically this class of loco only ever ran cab forward. If I get my @rse into gear over the next couple of nights I might have it ready by Wednesday. As Wednesday is Australia Day and a public holiday I might be able to get to the club for a run. If not for EL51 I could give 4494 a run with some rollingstock. Lachlan might tag along as well.

On the subject of 4494 mentioned in my last blog, I am thinking of writing an article so stay tune on that thought. I have approached Continental Modeller and they said they might be interested but would need to see the article and photos. Fair enough! If not good enough for CM, then I would approach AMRM.

As for Lachlan's layout we did spend about 3/4 of an hour on it Saturday arvo, planning roads, the lake he is so very fixed on having, doing some more static grassing, and preparing another section with scatter before the static grass is applied. I am using Lachlan's layout as an experimental canvas in trying different techniques I have read about and seeing the outcome before applying it to Illavearf.

Well it is only three months until the club's new HO layout plans are to be submitted for consideration by the committee. I am thinking of putting something in but as I am not very experienced in designing very large layouts, I might be barking up the wrong tree but hey it is something else to fill in the evenings with!

And BTW Selleys Mould Remover works a treat on mildew. I was surprised how much of the stuff there was. Something for those with MDF storage trays or boxes, look under the foam tray inlays as the mildew was hiding there as well. As for the box, look under the box and the inside. Hopefully some fine weather will prevent the mildew from returning to soon.

Some unexpected time off was productive

Well this week the people of South East Queensland suffered a tragedy of immense proportions when torrents of water swept down the valleys and over the spillways of the dams. I was fortunate not to have suffered directly but indirectly the flood waters rose and the the Brisbane CBD was evacuated. I and many other employees were told to stay at home until the all clear has been given to return to the city. So with some unexpected time up my sleeve this week I was able to spend some time on Illavearf during the day and fixing my NSWGR 44 Class loco 4494.

I paved the road past Kensington Hill Station, gravelled the Station forecourt and footpath to the ramp, and started planning the Station fencing. Photos to follow once I am happy with the outcome.

I was also pleased to finally complete the LED installations in 4494 as per Marcus Amman's instructions and one or two ideas of my own that I will put together in a How To of my own. I test ran 4494 on Illavearf today and everything went well.

Today I also cleaned the rails for a much long overdue running of some of my DCC locos that have been neglected due to the construction on the layout.

The only problem in the shed at the moment is mildew. With the damp weather that we have had for the last few weeks (or has it been months!?!), mildew is starting to grow on some of the vertical surfaces of the layouts as well as my storage box. The stuff seems to love MDF! I will have to invest in some Exit Mold to get rid of the stuff.

Holiday break happenings

Since going on leave on Christmas Eve I have been busy in the shed or as busy as I can be with two small boys who were getting cabin fever with all the rain that fell at the start of this period! The missus sent them out to me to get out from under her feet. They usually potter around in the shed and don't take too much supervision which was great. During this time I was able to finish off the fencing on Kensington Hill farm. I used a very fine single strand copper wire for the runs but have elected not to paint the wire a rusty colour as I am afraid that (a) it may get on the scenery, and (b) it would very tedious! This was originally suggested by my good friend Mr Mackie a couple of months ago. I also positioned the station in its place ready for the carpark to be gravelled and the road to be made. Livestock was added to the farm as well.



Hi Def view of farm





End of fencing




The fencing up and across the top of the hill




The farm gate in position




Hi Def view of the livestock




Sooty the black sheep (lamb)



Another view of Sooty



The station in place and a view of the farm



















Station ramp end and the hill

















On the Wednesday after Boxing Day I went to the club for a bit of a sanity break. I was finally able to run in the new NSWGR 44 Class loco I received a few weeks back. I had installed a NCE decoder into it the night before. I also ran in the wheat wagons and guards' van that were purchased at the same time as the loco. They look very good behind the 44, and ran extremely well on the club layout.

 I also spent some time on Lachlan's layout so go on over to Beaver Springs to see this update. One thing to note is that I used Woodland Scenics static flock in a Noch GrasMaster. The W/S flock is a much smaller cut than the Noch static flock that I have used on Illavearf. This is probably a good thing in the OO vs HO debate, however the W/S flock clumped so I may have to use less and restock more often in the applicator. The only other thing I tried was the funnel attachment recently given to me to try out. It wasn't the best with the W/S flock and I have yet to use it with my Noch static flock. It tended to come out like long strings of snot with the W/S flock. Not a good look and not very realistic!


Hi Def view of The Ridge static grass



Another Hi Def view of grass



And another for comparison with Kensington Hill grass below



















Kensington Hill grass hi def view

















Last week I was also on leave and took Lachlan down to the club on Wednesday to give his DC Alaska RR engine and wagons a run. We also did the annual pilgrimage out to the Ipswich Rail Museum for the Thomas the Tank Engine show on the Thursday. Lachlan is moving out of this phase but Matthew is moving into it. So a few more years left doing this. With the deluge that Queensland is going through at the moment I might find some time doing modelling in the absence of being able to tackle the yard's ever growing grass. I will have to start on fixing locos 4494 and EL51 so that they can go back on the running roster. I have to start paving the road and parking area around Kensington Hill station as the next thing to scenic on Illavearf.

Roll on 2011.