JR-Chiisai: Storage yard modules

[cteno4]

Don't think he's realised how destructive and impressive his beak is yet ..

 

he will, give him time! How about a little Samurai armor set to give him confidence?! You guys could be quite the pair when both wearing it and him on your shoulder!

 

I guess you would need HO to have him ride a train. Now that would be a youtube! Teach him to say WOO WOOOO! Maybe station announcements?

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Need to get him a little station master cap as well then ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

Little more progress made. I installed 2 occupancy detectors on the 2nd section of that yard, and hooked it up to the first section. I can basically test run on 16 tracks now, and it all seems to work. I've also assembled another 2 occupancy detectors, and have 1 left to do. I'll need to order more occupancy detectors though, because there's still a lot of blocks that need to be wired up, but that can be done in stages. Right now I feel it's more important to get to the point where I can run trains.

 

So, the next steps are installing servo's and servo decoders on the 3rd section of the yard, connect all 4 sections, and then build a temporary loop where the helix is supposed to go eventually. That would allow me to finally run trains in a loop rather than just the point to point testing I've got going on now. I also need to start planning the entire helix section of the layout, which is probably going to be the most difficult section to build.

[Densha]

Sounds good; it's always very nice to run your trains instead of keeping them in boxes.

 

While it is still far away, do you have any idea if and how you are going to hide the entrance to the helix? In urban Japanese areas there are many underground sections with those concrete entrances, just like in the Netherlands nowadays. That would look quite neat I think.

[Martijn Meerts]

The current idea is that the large station will be over the hidden yard, and from that station 2 shinkansen and 2 regular tracks will lead into a tunnel and into the helix. Halfway though the helix the 4 tracks will converge into 2 tracks. Reason for that is that I want to be able to see both shinkansen and other trains leave the station into the helix at the same time rather than them having to wait until a block is available. The tunnel entrance will be a typical one for cities, but I'll likely hide it partially by placing buildings in front of it, or possibly a road bridge. I'm not entirely sure yet.

 

I do have a general idea of a track plan in my head, and partially done one in a track planning software, but in the end I just need to see things in real life and I'll probably continuously adjust it until I'm happy.

 

It's looking like I'll be having about 3.5 weeks off from work around christmas, so hopefully I can get a lot of work done on the layout then. I'm attempting to have the hidden yard finished before that time, so I can start working on the helix. The track and wiring for the helix should be fairly straight forward, but building the actual frame is going to be a bit of a challenge if I want to somehow keep it moveable. 

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, the last 4 of the servo's are installed, just need to wire them up to the decoders now. After that I need to install a couple more occupancy detectors and the main power bus for the 3rd section, and I should be getting close to being able to test run some trains across the full length of the yard.

 

The idea is to get a whole lot of stuff done over the weekend, but knowing me, something will come up ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

So, I managed to get a couple of hours in on the yard the past weekend. Of course, I ended up running out of green wire, which I use for the polarisation of the turnout frogs, which means I haven't been able to wire up all turnouts yet.

 

I did manage to wire up the reverse loop module, which looks to be working just fine. I've also wired up, and tested some more occupancy detectors. With the exception of 1 track those seem to work as well. The track that isn't working is likely a problem with the connection between the 2nd and 3rd section.

 

The next steps will be to connect the 4th section, which is a very simple 180 degree curve, and then build the base of the section that will eventually be the helix. I'll use that base to add a temporary loop to the yard so I can runs trains through it. Once all that's done I'll need to buy another 4 or 5 occupancy detectors to finish up all the blocks in the yard. Rather than finishing up the yard completely, I'll likely spend some time on getting more trains fitted with decoders, so I actually have trains to fill up the yard :)

 

It's taken a LONG time, but the end is in site... I might actually be able to start building a layout soon ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

Just managed to take a couple of pictures of the 4 sections of the yard put together. The 4th section (the 180 degree curve) is only quickly wired up for now so I can test some stuff, and the 3rd section doesn't have all the turnouts wired up yet. There's also still a bunch of occupancy detectors missing, but all the stub tracks are actually wired up and working, and the first 4 of the through tracks are also wired up and functional.

 

 

Image 046:

Overview of the yard. The left most track is the reverse loop (okay, it's not a loop, but it functions as one ;)) The next 11 tracks are stub tracks, meant to store 16-car shinkansen. The other tracks are all through tracks. Some are only 1 block, some 2 blocks, some 3 blocks, and the right most track has 8 blocks, so it can store 8 short trains.

 

Trains are (left to right, front to back) Tomix Dr.Yellow (minus cab cars, they don't have decoders yet). Kato 151 series (again, no cab cars), Kato EF58-61, Kato/Roundhouse D51-486, Tomix Kiha02 (with additional weight on top ;)), Kato GG1 with Morning Daylight cars, (old) Kato 500 series minus 1 car car, Kato C57-180, Tomix C57-135, Kato 800 series, Tomix VSE50000, Kato E5 + E6 (E6 minus motor car), MicroAce Deki200 and cars, Kato F3A.

 

 

Image 047:

E5 and E6 going through the 180 degree curve. The curve is 317mm, so the minimum that Tomix recommends. Looks a little silly, but it goes through just fine, even at speed. The E6 doesn't have the motor car included since I haven't installed the decoder in it yet ;)

 

[cteno4]

wow! 23 storage tracks! impressive! how wide is that?

 

looking really great!

 

jeff

[Densha]

What is the feeling you have with the enormous sizeable thing you have built?

[Martijn Meerts]

wow! 23 storage tracks! impressive! how wide is that?

 

looking really great!

 

jeff

 

the sections are 70cm wide.. The track is pretty close together though, as in, if a train derails while there are trains on the track on either side of the one that derailed, you won't be able to do anything until you move those 2 out of the way. The MicroAce Galaxy Express gun car is a definitely a no-go on the yard ;)

 

 

What is the feeling you have with the enormous sizeable thing you have built?

 

I love seeing the long trains snaking though the turnouts, then I remember I don't have nearly enough (converted) trains to fill the yard. After a bit of driving and inevitably trying to drive a train onto a track that's not wired up yet, I get annoyed that I still have more wiring to do.. There are lots of different feelings =)

[katoftw]

wow.  are the points/turnouts wired up also?

[Martijn Meerts]

wow.  are the points/turnouts wired up also?

 

Most of them are yes. The ones on the 3rd section aren't all wired up yet because I ran out of the correct color wire. I do have all the servos in place for them though, and I have the decoders available to control them. 

[E6系]

Hello Mr Martijn,

 

23 sidings x 3 blocks (stop, slow-down, stop) = 69

entry / exit blocks x 4 = 4

 

73 / 16 = 4.56 ... ie: 5 x BDL168 ... $600

 

30 x tortoise switch machines ... $500

 

4 x NCE 8-switch ... $240

 

$1340 worth of DCC

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Now .... about the rest of the layout

 

:)

[Martijn Meerts]

Actually.. Let's see.. 

 

11 occupancy detectors: 460,90

9 servo decoders + polarisation extension: 450,00

33 servos + mounting accessories: 429,00

Reverse loop module: 36,90

 

1376,80 Euro, or approximately 1860 USD :)

[Densha]

You can buy a whole fleet of trains with that money.... wait you have that as well.

[E6系]

Mr Densha,

 

My roster exceeds US$40k in value.  $2k investment in DCC is not too bad.  But for storage module only? iiieeee !!!!

[katoftw]

i've ammased $1500-$2000AUD in 6 months.  i hate to know what i will have spent in a decade or two.

[Martijn Meerts]

I'm afraid of figuring out what my entire collection is worth, especially if I include all the other scales and non-Japanese stuff ;)

 

 

Anyway, I've been working on design the base of the helix, I'm hoping to get some wood cut this weekend. While working on that I did noticed that I almost messed up pretty bad. I was planning on having a depth of 80cm for the modules that go above the yard (the large train station), but I've noticed that there's not enough space for the legs construction I've designed. I could redesign the them of course, but that would mean they'd be a lot less sturdy. So instead, I'm going for modules with 90cm depth, but only for the main station area. I've tested the reach, and it just works well enough for quick and small changes. While building, and for large changes, I'll just remove the section from the layout so I'll have easy access to the whole thing.

 

Of course, I'm not going to start building the helix anytime soon, but I do plan on building the base as soon as possible considering I want to use it to build a temporary loop to test my yard. Once that loop is built and I can run trains, I'll first work on finishing the yard, and then start the helix. It'll be good to finally be able to run trains on something more than just an oval :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Well.. I managed to set up a temporary loop yesterday, so the first trains ran through the storage yard. I have to say, a 16-car shinkansen going over about 5 or 6 turnouts in a row sure is noisy =)

 

I also found out (pretty much already knew this) that the Morning Daylight won't fit on the through tracks of the yard, so I'll either need to build a storage track into the layout specifically for the Morning Daylight, or use 1 of the stub tracks in the yard, and just back it out when I want to run it.

 

Anyway, trains are running, so now I 'just' need to finish up wiring the rest of the occupancy detectors and then start on the helix ...

[Martijn Meerts]

Not sure if this is gonna work, and the quality is pretty crap (guess I need to figure out the video camera a bit, and get some decent lighting ;)) .. Anyway, link to a quick video of E5+E6 (minus the E6 motor car) doing a little but of running though the yard and the very, very, very temporary and quickly laid loop ;)

 

http://www.locowerks.net/video/storage_yard.mp4

 

 

(I know it works on the Mac at least ...)

[Martijn Meerts]

Not really the yard anymore, but 2 versions of the helix I'm planning, which will take the trains from the layout itself down to the yard.

 

Left most is the upper ring that connects to the layout. The idea is to have a large-ish main station with with shinkansen track and regular track. In order to keep things interesting I want the ability for both a shinkansen and regular train to enter the helix, which is why there are 4 tracks initially.

 

2nd from the left is just a regular loop, going all the way around. The loops are actually plenty long enough to store an entire 16-car shinkansen, so I'll likely add 1 block for each loop, which means the helix itself would be able to store 14 or so trains ;)

 

Middle one is where I'm not certain yet. This is where the tracks go from 4 tracks to 2, considering the yard itself only has 2 tracks. Originally I had a fairly straightforward version (as seen in helix_option2.jpg), but that makes the run of the trains a bit too predictable. Trains always have to enter and exit at the same position of the layout. The other version adds an additional entrance/exit track. I've done this on a previous, smaller layout, and it really does add a lot of variety to operations.

 

2nd from the right is again a really straight forward loop.

 

Right most is the lower one that connects to the yard. There's a simple crossover here which allows the shikansen on the stub tracks to reverse back and onto the correct track straight away.

 

 

Regardless of which option I pick (I'm leaning mostly towards the one with the additional entrance/exit, even if it looks a bit weird.. But it'll be hidden anyway :)), I'm looking at quite a lot of work =)

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Well.. Not much going on.. I've changed the design of the helix a bit again, and I think I've finalised it now pretty much. I've also bought enough wood, cork and glue for most of the helix (I think), so now it's just a matter of starting to put it together. I don't have nearly enough track for it yet, but I need to build the base first anyway.

 

Days really need more than 24 hours in them :)

[Martijn Meerts]

This is the final helix design (most likely anyway, it might change after layout some initial track and doing some initial tests)

 

 

[E6系]

Ha ha ha !!!  I thought the images spelled "GOOGLE" in some fancy track plan script !!!