Cobalt6700
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Printed the first go at a Ground Position Light, think I'm going to reduce the visor length so that the are more visable from looking down. Other than that, happy with the shape and the dual colour LED's.
GTSR - Didcot Loco Works - it's time for a permanent way
- Thread starter Cobalt6700
- Start date
Cobalt6700
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As a bit of a break from coding, I picked up a few kits off the usual auction site and have been working my way through them.
First off, a POLA water crane kit:
I found a spares or repairs water crane, this has been rebuilt with some brass and stainless parts and is awating a re-paint:
My other half has been painting the platform sections as they were boring beige:
I also picked up a PIKO Sonneberg signal tower and parts, again spares and repairs and missing a few bits. The plan with this is to turn it into a water tower, I have started 3D printing some bits to make that happen. Printing parts this large at this detail is taking some time, one side panel took 36 hours.
I have also managed to get some time on the bridge. I have installed the 3D printed mounts / locators which incorporate some sliding door contacts to power the bridge section.
This is how the bridge currently looks. I am waiting on the right size stainless screws to arrive so I can secure the track down.
First off, a POLA water crane kit:
I found a spares or repairs water crane, this has been rebuilt with some brass and stainless parts and is awating a re-paint:
My other half has been painting the platform sections as they were boring beige:
I also picked up a PIKO Sonneberg signal tower and parts, again spares and repairs and missing a few bits. The plan with this is to turn it into a water tower, I have started 3D printing some bits to make that happen. Printing parts this large at this detail is taking some time, one side panel took 36 hours.
I have also managed to get some time on the bridge. I have installed the 3D printed mounts / locators which incorporate some sliding door contacts to power the bridge section.
This is how the bridge currently looks. I am waiting on the right size stainless screws to arrive so I can secure the track down.
Last edited:
Cobalt6700
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Evening,
I realised I havent taken a pic of the roster yet, I will get around to that soon.
My good buddy got hold of a DCC mogul which he has sent to me for conversion, I thought it would be rude not to give it a run.
Manged to get some time out in the garden today, finished of the mechanicals of the bridge, got the track bolted down and aligned. I can now remove and replace the bridge and it lines up every time. Chuffed with that.
Didn't really take any pics, but here's a short vid:
I realised I havent taken a pic of the roster yet, I will get around to that soon.
My good buddy got hold of a DCC mogul which he has sent to me for conversion, I thought it would be rude not to give it a run.
Manged to get some time out in the garden today, finished of the mechanicals of the bridge, got the track bolted down and aligned. I can now remove and replace the bridge and it lines up every time. Chuffed with that.
Didn't really take any pics, but here's a short vid:
Cobalt6700
Registered
Afternoon all,
A few updates.
I have been working on the layout controllers, had a few minor PCB revisions to make - these are hopefully off to be made in a couple of weeks. Also been working on a block detector - this one is of MERG design with a few tweaks to handle a G Scale layout - mainly being able to deal with higher currents.
Some bits have been turning up for the control panels, also been 3D printing some DIN rail brackets for the controllers. Here is a mock up of a few DIN fixtures.
I also took the water tower outside to see how it looked. I have printed a protoype roof support, however I am still awating the materials to make the roof - it seems the postman has lost my GRS parcel! Waiting to hear back from GRS on whats happening.
Had a go with a bit of paint too - have deiceded on a light grey. Waiting for the roof panel stuff to turn up before I can go any further.
I have setup the makeshift spary booth and have been airbrushing away at various bits and bobs, the water crane is now fully re-built and painted.
And I have had a go with weathering the £5 Loco - this is my first ever go with this and I have learnt a lot. Probably going to end up having another go.
Thanks for reading!
I imagine the next update is going to be heavily electronics related. I also need to get those threads started for the controllers
A few updates.
I have been working on the layout controllers, had a few minor PCB revisions to make - these are hopefully off to be made in a couple of weeks. Also been working on a block detector - this one is of MERG design with a few tweaks to handle a G Scale layout - mainly being able to deal with higher currents.
Some bits have been turning up for the control panels, also been 3D printing some DIN rail brackets for the controllers. Here is a mock up of a few DIN fixtures.
I also took the water tower outside to see how it looked. I have printed a protoype roof support, however I am still awating the materials to make the roof - it seems the postman has lost my GRS parcel! Waiting to hear back from GRS on whats happening.
Had a go with a bit of paint too - have deiceded on a light grey. Waiting for the roof panel stuff to turn up before I can go any further.
I have setup the makeshift spary booth and have been airbrushing away at various bits and bobs, the water crane is now fully re-built and painted.
And I have had a go with weathering the £5 Loco - this is my first ever go with this and I have learnt a lot. Probably going to end up having another go.
Thanks for reading!
I imagine the next update is going to be heavily electronics related. I also need to get those threads started for the controllers
Cobalt6700
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It's been a while, longer than I had intended.
I have been working away on a fair amount of coding for the WiDCC boards, the I2CNet IO Controllers and for my DCC booster, the IBT-2 Turbo. Coding seems to suck up way more time than I had ever imagined! Oh well. I am pretty much there now on all of the code, the booster needs some proper functional testing and that needs the railway to be working. I have some electrical enclosures turning up soon, which means I can get on with wiring it all up.
I found some fun brad sign posts on the usual auction site, these were re-painted and deployed
My other half finished painting the platform, so that was also sent to the garden.
I have been working away on a fair amount of coding for the WiDCC boards, the I2CNet IO Controllers and for my DCC booster, the IBT-2 Turbo. Coding seems to suck up way more time than I had ever imagined! Oh well. I am pretty much there now on all of the code, the booster needs some proper functional testing and that needs the railway to be working. I have some electrical enclosures turning up soon, which means I can get on with wiring it all up.
I found some fun brad sign posts on the usual auction site, these were re-painted and deployed
My other half finished painting the platform, so that was also sent to the garden.
Cobalt6700
Registered
The 3D printed water tower is now finished and is doing well outside.
I have also started fitting buffer stops - they are all printed just need to finish treating the wood and make them all up
With the code for the I2CNetIOC's now complete, I have been working on a servo controlled version of the LGB remote de-coupler ramp. The files for the ramp are now up on Thingiverse / GrabCAD, however I have not yet properly tested the servo housing - this should be out in the wild some time soon. Thanks to
Dagnall
for sharing the info on his servo housings - what a gent!
Test fitted outside:
I realised that some of my ballast / new ground had settled a bit, so some re-ballasting was required. Perfect opportunity for a quick photo or two
I recently picked up a PIKO V20 (my first PIKO Loco) and have converted it to battery RC - mainly to undertake track cleaning duty.
Half way through build - I forgot to take a finished picture.
Ready for the track:
And now, for some PCB's!
First up, the block detection PCB complete and ready for garden testing:
A couple of Coach Decoder PCBS built ready for installation:
One IBT-2 Turbo built and has been initially tested on my railway and a friends. Needs more work to get the short circuit detection working better - still works mucho better than the DC supply we were using.
And lastly, some WiDCC boards being made and tested:
I have also started fitting buffer stops - they are all printed just need to finish treating the wood and make them all up
With the code for the I2CNetIOC's now complete, I have been working on a servo controlled version of the LGB remote de-coupler ramp. The files for the ramp are now up on Thingiverse / GrabCAD, however I have not yet properly tested the servo housing - this should be out in the wild some time soon. Thanks to
Dagnall
for sharing the info on his servo housings - what a gent!
Test fitted outside:
I realised that some of my ballast / new ground had settled a bit, so some re-ballasting was required. Perfect opportunity for a quick photo or two
I recently picked up a PIKO V20 (my first PIKO Loco) and have converted it to battery RC - mainly to undertake track cleaning duty.
Half way through build - I forgot to take a finished picture.
Ready for the track:
And now, for some PCB's!
First up, the block detection PCB complete and ready for garden testing:
A couple of Coach Decoder PCBS built ready for installation:
One IBT-2 Turbo built and has been initially tested on my railway and a friends. Needs more work to get the short circuit detection working better - still works mucho better than the DC supply we were using.
And lastly, some WiDCC boards being made and tested:
Cobalt6700
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Don't sneeze!
Been there, done that..
Lost a dozen 0603 LEDs. - Though I have found a couple since.
PhilP
Yep, not had a sneeze incident, but I have previously dropped something onto the page of bits.... that took a while to sort out! I really should get a little organiser tray....
Cobalt6700
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How has it been almost a year since I updated this! Crikey.
Quite a bit has happened on both the control system and the WiDCC controller. I’ll save the details of the WiDCC stuff for that thread, however all of the Locos have now been updated to running ESP32-S3’s and ESPNOW as the wireless protocol and it seems to be working really well. I walked off down the road the other night and got at least 50m away with it still working - pretty happy with that.
The major thing that has happened recently is I have managed to get block detection working in the garden! Very happy with myself on that one - all of my research pointed to the fact that it doesn’t really work. I will admit that I haven’t tried it in damp conditions, however over the last couple of weeks of testing it has worked brilliantly. I only have 7 blocks currently setup (this was to test if it actually worked) and I need to build two more of the detector boards and lay some more cable. I'm hoping to sort that over the next couple of weeks.
Here’s one of the detector boards:
Control panel is mounted on a stand in the most central part of the railway:
An inside shot:
It’s not fully finished yet - I have wired all of the point motors and network, however I have yet to complete the signal wiring and the rest of the block detection. I also still have to fit the controller into the engine shed - this will control lights, servo doors, report road occupancy and proximity to the rear wall - should make finding the back of the shed a bit easier.
Patch panel for the shed area, this saved me around 150m of cable!
Point motors fitted around the shed area:
A night time shot of the panel in operation:
I’m going to look to do a short video on the block detection at some point to show the operation and setup.
As far as ‘ohh, I’d like some of those boards for my railway’ goes - I based them on a design by MERG, and as such do not ‘own’ the design. I will need to check up on the specifics should someone want a board, however I should be able to ‘sell’ PCB’s at cost. I don’t think I can share the design outside of MERG, so making the schematic / board files available to non-MERG members is unlikely. I will however be looking to post a member project there which will have all of the details and design documents.
Thanks for reading - see you soon
Quite a bit has happened on both the control system and the WiDCC controller. I’ll save the details of the WiDCC stuff for that thread, however all of the Locos have now been updated to running ESP32-S3’s and ESPNOW as the wireless protocol and it seems to be working really well. I walked off down the road the other night and got at least 50m away with it still working - pretty happy with that.
The major thing that has happened recently is I have managed to get block detection working in the garden! Very happy with myself on that one - all of my research pointed to the fact that it doesn’t really work. I will admit that I haven’t tried it in damp conditions, however over the last couple of weeks of testing it has worked brilliantly. I only have 7 blocks currently setup (this was to test if it actually worked) and I need to build two more of the detector boards and lay some more cable. I'm hoping to sort that over the next couple of weeks.
Here’s one of the detector boards:
Control panel is mounted on a stand in the most central part of the railway:
An inside shot:
It’s not fully finished yet - I have wired all of the point motors and network, however I have yet to complete the signal wiring and the rest of the block detection. I also still have to fit the controller into the engine shed - this will control lights, servo doors, report road occupancy and proximity to the rear wall - should make finding the back of the shed a bit easier.
Patch panel for the shed area, this saved me around 150m of cable!
Point motors fitted around the shed area:
A night time shot of the panel in operation:
I’m going to look to do a short video on the block detection at some point to show the operation and setup.
As far as ‘ohh, I’d like some of those boards for my railway’ goes - I based them on a design by MERG, and as such do not ‘own’ the design. I will need to check up on the specifics should someone want a board, however I should be able to ‘sell’ PCB’s at cost. I don’t think I can share the design outside of MERG, so making the schematic / board files available to non-MERG members is unlikely. I will however be looking to post a member project there which will have all of the details and design documents.
Thanks for reading - see you soon
Rhinochugger
Retired Oik
I thought the signs used to read,The 3D printed water tower is now finished and is doing well outside.
I have also started fitting buffer stops - they are all printed just need to finish treating the wood and make them all up
With the code for the I2CNetIOC's now complete, I have been working on a servo controlled version of the LGB remote de-coupler ramp. The files for the ramp are now up on Thingiverse / GrabCAD, however I have not yet properly tested the servo housing - this should be out in the wild some time soon. Thanks to
Test fitted outside:
I realised that some of my ballast / new ground had settled a bit, so some re-ballasting was required. Perfect opportunity for a quick photo or two
I recently picked up a PIKO V20 (my first PIKO Loco) and have converted it to battery RC - mainly to undertake track cleaning duty.
Half way through build - I forgot to take a finished picture.
Ready for the track:
And now, for some PCB's!
First up, the block detection PCB complete and ready for garden testing:
A couple of Coach Decoder PCBS built ready for installation:
One IBT-2 Turbo built and has been initially tested on my railway and a friends. Needs more work to get the short circuit detection working better - still works mucho better than the DC supply we were using.
And lastly, some WiDCC boards being made and tested:
Trespassers will be shot
Survivors will be shot again
How is the water tower standing up to the elements?
I must find the thread another Forumite started about printing 'R2' curves to fit Playmobil track..
I have had samples outside since they were sent to me.
The track is fine, there are clip-in filler sections (for between the rails) and they have bowed slightly upwards at the ends. - But not enough to foul any stock, so far.
But I have a 3D printed loco, where panels have deformed..
But I must not hijack this thread further.
PhilP
I must find the thread another Forumite started about printing 'R2' curves to fit Playmobil track..
I have had samples outside since they were sent to me.
The track is fine, there are clip-in filler sections (for between the rails) and they have bowed slightly upwards at the ends. - But not enough to foul any stock, so far.
But I have a 3D printed loco, where panels have deformed..
But I must not hijack this thread further.
PhilP
Cobalt6700
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I haven't inspected it that closely, and it is partially shaded by the fence, but so far it seems to be fine - no warping that I can see. All of the printed parts are painted which helps a lot.
In contrast, all of the point motors were printed in black PLA and these all warped so much that they stopped working.
They are now printed in black ABS and seem to be holding up much better.
I did try a number of different materials outside and this is a general overview:
PA was bad outside - it is so hydroscopic that it absorbed a load of water and the motors turned to jelly!
PETG does okay, however is not rigid enough for the point motors.
PC also works well, was a bit too shiny for my liking though. Not sure how well it would take paint.
As far as I am aware, ASA is one of the best filaments for outside stuff - however this requires a high temp hot end and an enclosure to print - my attempts so far have had very poor layer adhesion.
Cobalt6700
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Wow! That is some control system! Looks like relay logic to me - amazing. I'm sure I could spend literal hours looking at that thing and how it works.
Domino panels too!
I'm not sure how old it is, but these days I geothermal impression that you could make something the size of a postage stamp to do the same job!Wow! That is some control system! Looks like relay logic to me - amazing. I'm sure I could spend literal hours looking at that thing and how it works.
Domino panels too!
Cobalt6700
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Things are still chugging along here. I have been working on a DCC decoder for the signals and lights, plus finding bugs in my WiDCC controller. Getting there now.
I've made some minor updates to the railway, I wanted some more siding space as I didn't have enough for my stock (thanks to
JimmyB
for some track). I found some nice recycled car tyre edging that was reasonably priced and just the right size, so I have finally managed to tidy up the goods area.
Once the track is here I can extend the sidings and add a head shunt which is also going to be the diesel fuelling area - some parts incoming for that.
I also picked up a LGB 22261 'Frank S' which is awaiting WiDCC install and the usual servo couplers etc. Looking forward to getting that out on the rails.
I've made some minor updates to the railway, I wanted some more siding space as I didn't have enough for my stock (thanks to
JimmyB
for some track). I found some nice recycled car tyre edging that was reasonably priced and just the right size, so I have finally managed to tidy up the goods area.
Once the track is here I can extend the sidings and add a head shunt which is also going to be the diesel fuelling area - some parts incoming for that.
I also picked up a LGB 22261 'Frank S' which is awaiting WiDCC install and the usual servo couplers etc. Looking forward to getting that out on the rails.
Cobalt6700
Registered