murrayec

Hi All Here are a few photos of the new digital electrical system. All the leads are now connected with Micro connectors for easy build and dismantling, the sets can now be dismantled to separate parts without the need of soldering iron. The digital loom has an 8 pin connector for chip instillation. Also the photos show the new etched brass bogie system I’m now making, all new DARTs will be sporting these. They are a bit easier to make than the old bush type, but they come into their own with pinpoint bearings- great running from the start where the bush type had to be run-in to achieve the good running- needing some tweaks and all! The last shots show it all coming together and together- ready for a little run and its off to it's new owner Eoin

Hi All I have voted for prepay as I think it is a very good idea, but the reality of this is a different thing- the Irish modelling funding crowd is just not big enough to enable a manufacture to produce the goods like your talking here of the MM models, or the price for an individual model would be very high. I do not speak for MM, and do not know fully the manufacturing system they use- but the brunt of the costs in making a model is in the;- model design, tool design, tool making, and model prototyping- that would also include royalties for both, copies of the design and copies from the tools. The cost of an MM model in the shop is controlled by quantity, a specific number of models manufactured over the whole run is the key. Manufacturing can be done in steps- ie;- different livery, which can help to limit the expenditure to stage costs as that model line progresses. But the design, tooling and prototyping costs have to be paid up front and this means the return investment is over the whole run, the initial models could be calculated as been very expensive but it is controlled by- there is a few more 1,000s to come! So prepay is a very good idea but one will have to accept a higher cost than a MM model in the shop eoin

Hi irishthump Looks stunning, I like to spooky shed- it's levitating! Eoin

Hi Liverbird81 Thanks for you comments and support I look forward to the time your collection stretches out South Eoin

Hi All Wheels have been set in motion, a report will follow in due course. Eoin

Hi Thanks all for your comments Eoin

Refer to Volume 1 at; http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/show...ll=1#post34623 Refer to Volume 2 at; http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/2346-murrayec-s-Projects?p=49204&viewfull=1#post49204 Hi Eventually, tonight, I got to stick on the hardware & tackle on the cannon! This should have happened last week for the MRSI show but just could not find time to do it. The cannon is turned from a piece of aluminium rod with a brass cross-piviot-bar set through below the centre line of the barrel. Brass straps are pinned over the pivot bars on each side and into the gun carriage to hold the cannon in place and allow it to pivot. The blocks are made from lolly-pop stick, with brass strap stuck on and a hole drilled through for the ropes, and black paint for the pulley edge!. The blocks are a tad to big- so maybe I'll have another go at them in the future. The 'racer' as the tracks are called is painted styrene card, this area needs a bit of fettling as I had not allowed for the card thickness and the gun is a bit high. There are 4 little brass wheels in brass inverted stirrups on the underside to wheel the carriage platform around the racers. The big pulley at the back of the carriage platform- for pulling the gun back, is turned from aluminium and rotates on a .5mm cross shaft. Dress pins, NS wire hoops, brass straps, and brass square washers are used for the ironmongery. I got hemp rigging rope from a boat model shop, .5mm for the ropes and .25mm for the flagpole sheet (that's a rope in English). I cannot tighten up the ropes as the anchor rings are not yet glued in, the painting and stone work has to be completed so they'll be coming out again. I really enjoyed putting this together, it reminded me of my boat modelling days- also I had loads of time to imagine the guys way back on duty in the tower and how they would crew the gun on top. It must have been a mad job- though shooting the cannon would be fun! Just need a few cannon balls, powder keg, a ball stuffer, barrel cleaner, and a few cleats to tidy away the ropes and the cannon instillation is complete. Eoin

Noel WJ's was my number 1 shop, a big void opened up when they shut down! The vans look great, yes dirty them up and maybe add some small weight when the steel wheels go on Eoin

Hi All Here is a shot of the up and running modular layout;- We are delighted with the response and interest we got over the 3 days of the MRSI show, the comments and well wishes for the future of the system are well received by Dave and myself- it made those late nights in Dave's workshop worth it. We still have a lot to do, next stage is to introduce the stone wall finishes, add the rocks, install the sandy beaches!, model the waves of the sea, finish the catenary, add the trees, finish the ground cover...... the list is endless! Dave took photos with his 35mm camera and hopefully will post up more photos. Eoin

Hi All My apologies for neglecting this thread of recent, I've been very busy building things! Here are a few shots of the products of the labours, taken today at the MRSI show. The shots are of 2 sets just off the workbench and the display model on the modular layout of Seapoint Wow that many DARTs in the one frame, just had to post it up! Eoin

Hi All Congratulations Jack, I bet you will buy more raffle tickets. It was great to meet all who came over and said hello over the 3 days, myself and Dave had a great time chatting with everyone. We are delighted to have introduced the modular system just under-coated and in sparse state, but it has put the idea out there and as it develops, hopefully so should participation develop. Even some people learned for the first time about the Martello Towers Sorry to have missed BosKonay on Sunday- yes it was lunch! I picked up a few bits from SSM- phonebox & break van kits, a few more Comet flatbed trucks from the Bus n Truck men from across the water, and some assorted tools from All Components Ltd and Marks. The show was very well attended and the club guys did a great job running things. I was so busy with the stand and out-about I took no photos around the show, I did get a chance to take a few this morning of a six coach DART, I'll post it up on the DART thread. A visitor to the show on Sunday emailed me this photo he took of DART no 1 going through the Seapoint bridge;- Well done MRSI and everyone that came Eoin

WOW Walter, they look great, you have been busy. I like the autumn trees, they look so real. Are they ones you stock? and do the come in green? Deadly See you Sunday Eoin

Hi Walter Yes, looking forward to it. Though only going as a spectator- mum's birthday bash is on Sunday, so DART running is cancelled on Sunday! see yo then Eoin

Lovely loco David Very nicely put together, and yes the touch of weathering lifts the whole thing- gives it scale! Great addition to the layout Eoin

Thanks there Heirflick- a mouth full of sandwich! Yes it was a good show, great to meet everyone we talked with, especially yourself and Borthie- we came away richer! Well done to the Midlands club Eoin

Hi All You just have to get yourselves a Plato Model170 Shears! Baseboard Dave is doing these and I grabbed one recently. I've always trusted in Xuron cutters for track and wire cutting but noticed how the blades get dented very easily- not so with the Plato shears. It cuts track top to bottom beautifully with ease and without distortion, a quick rub with a file its done. I have been cutting hard brass wire with the Plato and no dents have appeared yet, it's tougher than the Xuron and it's half the price. Grab one while he has them in stock Eoin

Hi Junctionmad Here is a link to some real close up details- bogied wagons I know but detail that some may like to have;- http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/3135-Detail-pictiures-of-log-wagons-at-Kildare-21-April?p=49498&viewfull=1#post49498 Eoin

Hi Walter Looking forward to seeing you there, will you bring catenary stuff with you please. Eoin

Hi All Thanks for the comments It was great out with Dave today, this was the first full scale set-up of the drawings & main features on Dave's well crafted modular baseboards- It's huge! Its great to see the layout now at design completion, we stood there smiling, finally it's real! Then reality- we got down and made some adjustments, agreed the next stage and back to work. Still smiling. I will revise the Modular Layout drawing over the next few days and post it up. Not much to change- some adjustments to depth of baseboard, the height of the baseboard, track right to ends of layout, and adjustment to the display lamp standard. Sven-E Thanks for those links, I took a look, some I read before and used in relation to the drawing. Regardless of which Fremo spec one reads our board spec will connect to most other Fremo systems, its just the matter of wiring and the like. I believe Dave will shed further light on the wiring in coming posts. Regarding the running of trains and the ultimate use of a modular set-up, that can only be solidified when other modellers come with their layouts. josefstadt Thanks for that note, I must grab a copy of that mag and have a look Regards Eoin

Hi I use JMRI and the Sprog ll v3 to program and test run the DART models. JMRI can look a bit daunting but after a while playing with it one begins to find their way around. The interface is a bit crude, I think its still in development mode but it works. I mainly use it to adjust CV's on the chips and to store a database of settings & info for all digital DARTs made. The CV programming interface again takes a bit of playing with and seems to do everything I need it for, so far. I have not delved into the scheduling side of things yet. Sprog ll v3 is a great little interface and economically priced, very simple to install. No problems with interfacing with JMRI and all digital chips so far. It can run up to 3 trains on the one layout- that's the limit, it is really only an interface for programming. It can be upgraded if you want to use Sprog as your layout control interface. It will not up load sound files to the chips I would recommend this set-up as a very economical entry into CV & chip programming, it can be then developed up to a full layout controller if needs be. murrayec

Hi Jack I have posted up the revised drawing in pdf format on the Modular Layout Thread murrayec

Hi All Here is an updated pdf drawing with the display lighting added on the one sheet;- murrayec Modular OO Layout-01 Jun 25 2014 A3 Sheet 1.pdf

Hi Jack The modular layout thread drawing has stayed the same since the start, there has been minor upgrades and additions to the drawing like- addition of sky board, addition of board display lights, etc; The current drawing is at the following link (drawing without display lights);- http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/2465-Modular-OO-Layouts?p=37869&viewfull=1#post37869 The depth of the board- front to back is now 600mm and not 610mm I will prepare a complete drawing in pdf format with the display lights and post it up murrayec

Hi Jack Looking great there, your on the way. Just on the point of Modular Railway Layouts;- Have you considered the specification for Modular Systems posted in a thread in this forum area? The reason I ask is that we are trying to establish a standard that if modellers adherer to there should be no integration problems when separate layouts come together! murrayec

Hi Fran That was on my mind, we should chat to him when we're ready murrayec