My Japanese N Scale Diorama - NEW Dinning Table Layout

[Pauljag900]

Thanks! Me too, feels good to move away from all that buying and actually build the layout for once...

 

 

 

 

Thanks Eurostar25!

 

The lighting system for the overhead station? That's those 5m cuttable LED stripes which we get from ebay (China) for cheap... Then I measured the length and cut the stripes and asked my guy (I suck at soldering) to solder them together... And connect them together to an external power source... I do think they are too much bright though... Thinking if it was possible to somewhat install an external resistor or some sort to 'calm' down the lights a little....

 

 

I had some cars from China with working lights which were 12v,man they are so bright so I used an old 12v dc controller to turn them down,was nt much but enough to take that real Piercing edge off them.

[railsquid]

Bit of a mystery, those Chinese LEDs. I have some streetlamps apparently rated for 12v DC, even running off a 5v DC transformer with higher-rated resistors than the ones supplied, they're very bright.

[Pauljag900]

Yes they a are mate,I ve tried all kinds of different ones,I ve found some led street lights that are 3v,they seem OK to be honest and to save any messing about with resistors or wiring in line I bought a 3v power supply from eBay for about £7 so now I just wire them straight to that,perfect.

Give me a shout if you want the link,

Paul

[cteno4]

paul,

 

even with the 3v you probably should use a resistor to limit the current. works ok to to do 3v as there is some internal resistance of the battery limits the current enough, but dont have that with a transformer.

 

the 12v Chinese ones have a resistor pre soldered on. they usually just cut one of the wire leads short, solder on the resistor and then cover the whole thing up with heat shrink the color of the wire so just the end bit of the resistor lead is exposed to solder into your power source.

 

i like using 5v supplies for this stuff as they are soooo prevalent now days! not huge amounts of power wasted then as well and minimal power drop. 100hohm limits it well to most white leds. add in a 2K mini trim pot in series and you have a simple way to turn down the lighting to make it just right. of course you can do this with a higher value fixed resistor its just finding just the right one can be a pain in the ass. trim pot makes it easy to set and change later if you change your mind or the room gets different lighting etc.

 

jeff

Edited March 10, 2016 by cteno4

[JR 500系]

Hi Jeff:

 

Are you referring to these type of LED bulbs from China?

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3mm-20Pcs-12V-Ultra-Bright-Led-Lamp-Clear-pre-wired-with-Resistors-Cold-White-/390822130110?hash=item5afed071be:g:xgcAAOSwQItT8yEU&vxp=mtr

 

Although they are fitted with resistors, they still look pretty bright in a N scale building... I guess it's tough to actually bring down the light to scale...

 

By the way, can I ask if you guys have light switches on your layout? Like, turn on the lights in this sector with a switch, or turn on the overhead station lights with another switch etc?

 

I'm trying to make switches, but the huge mess of wires is putting me off.... Wondering if there is a neater and tidier method to this...

[cteno4]

There are all sorts like this or the smd variety as well. The 3mm LEDs have big leads on them and usually the resistor is wired in there under the heat shrink if they are listed as 12v.

 

The resistors in these are set to allow max current and this as bright as possible!

 

You can always add another resistor or trim pot to dim them more by adding another resistor in series with it or a trim pot. You are right that light does not scale well! It requires fiddling with to give just the right effect at scale! Also usually you are watching a layout at about 300'+ scale and we are not usually looking at lit scenes much at that distance in real life so it requires you to look at the real life look of lighting at those distances to get it right.

 

I would suggest running several LEDs to a small PC board that has resistors or trim pots to reduce the light to levels you like. Then you can just switch the power on/off to the board to turn all the attached LEDs on/off. Some just wire all lights to one big power supply and just turn that on/off to turn the whole layout lighting on and off. Bonus here is you can just wire one or a few main powe buss wires and wire everything off that. Downside is it's all or nothing! Wiring power to individual buildings or neighborhoods does require running wires to your control panel to power each on and off.

 

I'll try to make up a board this weekend to show you what I'm talking about. Very very simple just some resistors, trim pots, connectors and breadboard PC board.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[railsquid]

By the way, can I ask if you guys have light switches on your layout? Like, turn on the lights in this sector with a switch, or turn on the overhead station lights with another switch etc?

 

 

Not yet, but I will do...

 

I'm trying to make switches, but the huge mess of wires is putting me off.... Wondering if there is a neater and tidier method to this...

 

 

I'm waiting for an order of wireless wire to arrive, I'll let you know if it's any good ;)

[cteno4]

Ooh you found that on ebay squid, it's great stuff! Bit expensive but worth it. The colors it comes in are wild!

 

Jeff

Edited March 10, 2016 by cteno4

[Pauljag900]

I used a simple spst toggle switch on a previous mode for each different circuit.ie street lights,building lights flashing lights etc. I will use the same method again once I get that far but for now,as Jeff said,I just turn the power on or off.Its very simple to do and works ok,it's just an in line on off switch really mate! I m sure there s more technical ways to do it but it works for me. You just wire which lights you want on the switch to a reterminal block then wire from your supply to that block via a switch.It s very simple but works ok for me.

 

[JR 500系]

 

I'm waiting for an order of wireless wire to arrive, I'll let you know if it's any good ;)

 

Hang on, did I understand correctly, a wireless wire?  :) Mighty interesting! Any photo or link to product page please?

 

 

I used a simple spst toggle switch on a previous mode for each different circuit.ie street lights,building lights flashing lights etc. I will use the same method again once I get that far but for now,as Jeff said,I just turn the power on or off.Its very simple to do and works ok,it's just an in line on off switch really mate! I m sure there s more technical ways to do it but it works for me. You just wire which lights you want on the switch to a reterminal block then wire from your supply to that block via a switch.It s very simple but works ok for me.

 

 

That's great Paul! Thanks for sharing! I guess the diagram is simple enough to understand, and works fine. I think I will need to do one myself. But having so many buildings to be lighted, I guess I will just go along with having a sector to light up with a switch. I just discovered a really great source for cheap red/ black wires so I guess I can make the wiring and switches plan come true~~  :)

[railsquid]

Hang on, did I understand correctly, a wireless wire?  :) Mighty interesting! Any photo or link to product page please?

 

Any shop selling wifi cables, left-handed screwdrivers or tartan paint should have some ;)

[beakaboy]

Not yet, but I will do...

 

 

I'm waiting for an order of wireless wire to arrive, I'll let you know if it's any good ;)

I remember being kept very busy as a teenager running between the service station owner and my uncle for various things such as LH screwdriver, A large sky hook, a long weight (wait) striped paint , etc,etc. I never caught on until my dad mentioned it a few years later. Lol!

Edited March 10, 2016 by beakaboy

[beakaboy]

paul,

 

even with the 3v you probably should use a resistor to limit the current. works ok to to do 3v as there is some internal resistance of the battery limits the current enough, but dont have that with a transformer.

 

the 12v Chinese ones have a resistor pre soldered on. they usually just cut one of the wire leads short, solder on the resistor and then cover the whole thing up with heat shrink the color of the wire so just the end bit of the resistor lead is exposed to solder into your power source.

 

i like using 5v supplies for this stuff as they are soooo prevalent now days! not huge amounts of power wasted then as well and minimal power drop. 100hohm limits it well to most white leds. add in a 2K mini trim pot in series and you have a simple way to turn down the lighting to make it just right. of course you can do this with a higher value fixed resistor its just finding just the right one can be a pain in the ass. trim pot makes it easy to set and change later if you change your mind or the room gets different lighting etc.

 

jeff

Jeff. I have an LED tester which I picked up a few years ago from a local electronics firm. ($35 from memory) Uses a 9v battery inside and you poke the LED leads into the holes for the marked resistors and LED lights up. Reverse LED contacts if no light. About 10-12 different ranges. great for working out what resistor to use. I seem to recall something on here some time ago about these testers

[cteno4]

Yep that's a good solution. Only issue is you do need to recalculate the resistance from the 9v to your power supply.

 

Or just use a pot clipped to your power supply and led with a couple of alligator clips and you can dial in the right level then just read the set pot value with a multimeter.

 

I like just using the trim pots on each led as it lets you re-adjust at any time later. I'm a fan of using more dimmer LEDs to light things than one very bright one. But this requires tinkering with the levels to make the best effect.

 

It's good to play like this as lighting is definitely not one size fits all. Subtle changes can have a big effect. First learned this as a kid when it was 12v grain of wheat bulbs (talk about current suck and heat!) to light things and I started wrapping the bulbs in aluminum foil to allow less light out, really helped from having glowing structures!

 

Jeff

Edited March 10, 2016 by cteno4

[JR 500系]

Moving forth a little scratch by scratch, the expected 'hill' is in shape.. or sort off...

 

 

There's the view from the front, with the 5-storied Pagoda on the top

 

 

View with a train

 

 

Supports inside the hill will be the urethane pieces we come to know so well ~~

 

 

Minimum allowances, but have tested with a E4 shinkansen for clearance...

 

 

Now to make it look like a hill..

[Eurostar25]

No issues with clearances there! I'll get a photo of my hill module up soon. I wouldn't mind one of those Pagoda's for a bit of contrast to the greenery

[JR 500系]

No issues with clearances there! I'll get a photo of my hill module up soon. I wouldn't mind one of those Pagoda's for a bit of contrast to the greenery

 

Thanks!

 

I was actually referring to the clearance of the urethane 'pillars' against the moving trains on the tracks. The shinkansen tends to be longer and turning may hit the pillars... But I've tried with the E4 since it is one of the longest and they seem to clear just barely...

 

Yap! The Pagoda will join with my Shinto shrine to be on top of the hill, along with some other 'rural' buildings to create a rural sight.... Hoping to add the cable car set too to travel from the top of the hill to the bottom, but will need to see how to go about that...

[JR 500系]

I love making moving off videos with actual sounds, they just make it feel more real!

 

Here's another amateur attempt:

 

[JR 500系]

Finally, with some actual measurements and planning and the arrival of the items, we managed to get the Tomix Overhead station for the ground level platforms right!

 

 

It's hard, as I really like the Kato platforms, but I need to use Tomix tracks. I like the Kato station too, but that was too large to fit into the layout... So a compromise has to be made...

 

The bridge over the yard is just nice to reach the city on the other side ~

 

I like the effect, and Kato has these 200mm open platforms that were really useful to achieve this, otherwise I would have needed to make a hole on the platform roof for the station steps....

[HantuBlauLOL]

I love making moving off videos with actual sounds, they just make it feel more real!

 

Here's another amateur attempt:

 

 

whoa, even the wheel clackin sound fits perfectly.

[Densha]

20160406_210638.jpg

I said it before, but I think you really should look for another solution for the upper track's narrow curve. I actually doubt currently any train can pass that point now because it will collide with the overpass.

 

There's also another curve in the station that looks too narrow for some trains (like Shinkansen), but I can't exactly figure out what radius they are from just a photo.

 

I found a track plan a few pages back. I put a solution on it for the yard track and indicated two curves that seem too narrow to my eyes.

 

 

[JR 500系]

whoa, even the wheel clackin sound fits perfectly.

 

Thanks! I love making these videos but I am still amateur...

 

 

I said it before, but I think you really should look for another solution for the upper track's narrow curve. I actually doubt currently any train can pass that point now because it will collide with the overpass.

 

There's also another curve in the station that looks too narrow for some trains (like Shinkansen), but I can't exactly figure out what radius they are from just a photo.

 

I found a track plan a few pages back. I put a solution on it for the yard track and indicated two curves that seem too narrow to my eyes.

 

JR500_track-plan.jpg

 

Thanks Densha san! Sharp eye you have...

 

I attach a close up of the plan here:

 

 

It seems to be a curve C103-30, a mini rail type of curve. And you are super right now almost no trains can move in with that overpass there...

 

And great idea to swap the tracks! How come I didn't think of that?? 

 

As for the other curve, it is a C243-15, and it's short and only to bring the train into the sliding. The end platforms is still a little distance with the track so the train can move in pretty smoothly. I've made a couple of trial runs there and all is fine with that one for the moment ~

[Densha]

Are Shinkansen also fine with the C243-15? Considering Shinkansen are usually rated for a minimum radius of 315mm.

 

It's also just strange to use such a small radius curve with a wide radius turnout. Tomix also has smaller radius turnouts, don't they? I'm not sure whether those will fit in combination with a wider curve, but I think in the long term you should try to fix that spot.

[Densha]

Now that I got home I was able to try some things with Anyrail. I made these two plans using R541 curves for all turnouts and sidings. The red curves are R280, the orange R317, the yellow R354 and green R541. I think this will run and look much more smoother.

 

Version 1:

 

Version 2:

 

(Also, don't mind the black triangles, they're just a tool to get the track to appear in a certain colour.)

[HantuBlauLOL]

i like the first one.. not too symetrical