and a warm to the forum from a wet and blustery Dundee. Glad you decided to join us here at platform1mrc, and I look forward to hearing about yourself and your modelling adventures. I'm sure you'll find plenty of interest here, and if you can't find what your looking for just ask. Once again welcome to the forum Paul
Well thank you all, very kind - from a gusty Messenian Gulf, on board a tanker that's rolling in the sea swell and thus adding to the present insomnia! I've been counting wagons rather than sheep but it's fruitless! I've ground to a halt with my intended build and so started to google in frustration, and a google led to a doodle and it could yet get more serious still! Intended for OO scale, min radius is 866mm (Tillig Elite 85344) plus a "baby" 183mm bridge Fleischmann 6154C turntable. The grey board is 290mm x 600mm plus 80mm for the traverser - you know I reckon I could even wire it all up and it'd work! It'd be nice having a Hapo brass turntable jutting out as an elegant display stand for a loco (with the base and the pelmet above curved accordingly) and yet retain a "play" factor shunting stock over a coffee. The rear exit road is masked by the building that covers the hidden siding and a shed entrance on the front rail could do the same, maybe with the building front open so that the interior is on display and locos can seen crawling past through the grubby shed windows... I've always believed that micro layouts need intricate cameos to compensate for their lack of a convincing wider angled perspective. I happen to have the traverser already; an 80mm deck linear slide onto which I'd mount a pair of tracks, but a loco-lift could sit over each of the 80mm tracks giving me a 300mm+ train length should I ever need it. Worry not - it'll be first light soon and this itch may pass!!
dpaws, and a warm from WA. Great Looking plan and the build of the traverser looks superb. I look forward to seeing more Kim
Thanks Kim - The quality surprised me too; in fact it's so free running that I'll need to remove the winding handle as the eccentric weight moves the platform until it's reached its lowest position. I tried simple bearing slide platforms but the stiction was sufficient to derail stock. Clever people could program the CNC stepper motor version of this slide that you'll also find online for remote DCC operation, but manual and me work best together! Worth mentioning that this particular seller offers world-wide shipping and custom one offs, though I've never asked... yet... On mine as standard the LOA is 290mm for a 200mm travel and the platform's (approx) 45mm x 80mm. Mine is a 1204 meaning 2x 12mm solid metal rails - that's more than enough even for O gauge. The 16xx version mentioned uses 16mm rails - significantly heavier and overkill IMHO. Hope that's of some help
Now two guys winding the turntable makes me smile - just have a nosey... Brick perimeter walling around the pit would give a pleasing finish to the exposed edge that maybe even my long-suffering better half could live with - bless her! Speaking of turntables you could save a heap of money with Dapol's 250mm dia kit turntable and align each track with miniature disk magnets with just sufficient pull to centre/locate but not too much that everything will fall of the bridge when you try to move it again... (250mm is the approximate outer diameter of the Fleischmann as shown which has 15° alignment tracks or blank spacers built into the pit wall)
Many thanks for your kindness Toto, though the words of my late mother about fools rushing in are echoing loudly! I must confess I only popped by to see Steve Fay's excellent thread involving talc and fine sand for ballasting in a yard that looked rather good indeed... You're all very kind, I do indeed feel welcome! This doodle started after tripping across a modelling thread (elsewhere) "Compact Fiddle Yard for 16.5mm Gauge" which yielded the basic idea, some useful ideas for magnet operated reed switches and a sketch... I then coupled that idea with this little layout with it's turntable hanging out in the wind like a B&O music centre of yesteryear and the madness began! (Am I the only to one to have lost teenage years drooling over B&O stereos? Just the feel of that tuning dial... ) I've since found a better turntable option but I'm now waiting for the German manufacturer to confirm that it's still in production. The new deck is a useful 210mm long and I've reproduced that same length for the traverser roads to get a feel of how it will look when in use. Kato HO is perfect for the traverser itself as you can simply push-click to attach track extensions and the joins are designed for such. The dark curved line running under the turntable is an experiment with a round corner on the baseboard below, just to get a feel of the aesthetics - along with vanity sinks for design inspiration! The hours spend looking at waves whilst on bridge watch can drive a guy crazy - so I'm probably in good company! The last for today, a variation with a central divider (platform end?) - it seems to be better for the siding at the front but it'll be harder to disguise the scene exit for the two rear tracks. I'm thinking early 60's, a station end now disused for passenger services and since taken over by the Works Dept but please, if you're struggling for entertainment, do feel free to add buildings and structures for as to how you might approach this plan from the location & scenic perspective... it'd be very interesting to see this from a completely different perspective! Certainly puts a different 'spin' on a small shunting layout....
Welcome dpaws, wow what an introduction, great to see you diving straight in mate. Loved the video of the two guys whirling at the handles on the turntable! Pete.
Thanks Pete - yes, so cute isn't it? I've got an idea for that.... but rather than running on two rails why not just the one, around the perimeter of the turntable pit? You can feed a common DC negative connection via the turntable's bridge rail or central spindle. Alternatively fit a TCS Z2 and you have DCC control - though stopping with perfect alignment could be very challenging! There's even a festive version with Santa and his little Elf! Daft ideas to drive you mad on a rainy day!!
I'd always fancied a Peckett but just needed an excuse... and then Santa arranged a "departmental acquisition"!! Now Zimo'd with a small "stay alive" to help mitigate pick-up issues, he's off to be grimed and rusted at TMC's weathering emporium. Such a handsome little chap, cheeky indeed but always striving to be Really Useful
Me too! I'm being shamefully lazy but he'll return as 90% of what I have in mind and I can entertain myself with finishing touches at a later date if and when the mood arrives. I can see the Peckett with a couple of scruffy MR guard's vans in tow, packed full of grubby, elated "kids" having a ride on the Works open day, including the promise of a quick spin on the Work's turntable! Oh it's always a sunny day in my head!!
Oh what a find! This video clip shows a Peckett errr nope - an Avonside (thanks Jim) at work in the 60's - still close enough in my eyes to be the reference material for the weathering