The World of a Muppet

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Class 47 Vulcan Virgin Diesel



Manufacturer		Heljan
Productcode		4600-LN-01
Class		Class 47 Co-Co Diesel
Number		47843
Livery		Virgin
Era		V (1995 - present)
DCC		Shop Converted from DCC Ready
Locomotive ID		009
Weathered		No
Link		wikipedia

Saturday, 17 January 2015

90 Tonne Bogie Hopper Wagon JGA



Manufacturer		Bachmann Branch-Line
Productcode		37-328
Livery		Tarmac
Weathered		No
Link		.

90 Tonne Bogie Hopper Wagon JGA



Manufacturer		Bachmann Branch-Line
Productcode		37-326B
Livery		RMC
Weathered		No
Link		.

90 Tonne Bogie Hopper Wagon JGA



Manufacturer		Bachmann Branch-Line
Productcode		37-325B
Livery		Tilcon
Weathered		No
Link		.

90 Tonne Bogie Hopper Wagon JGA



Manufacturer		Bachmann Branch-Line
Productcode		37-327A
Livery		Buxton Lime
Weathered		No
Link		.

Sunday, 11 January 2015

The building of the first level (and possibly the start of the helix but plans change during construction) has commenced.

Thinking of various ways of doing this, I decided on a framework from wood. Later on these frames will be painted to a glossy black finish. It also leaves room to extend it into a helix or do some other fancy stuff with the layout.

For now, here is the result...(i know, it is time to take the xmas decorations down)

checking the height

and again, checking the height

testing the ramp

see if it fits

completed the first circle

just looked pretty

scaring the driver

plenty of space for extra track

sometimes simple things work best

ramp testing

some more measuring

that's more like it

wtf?!?

my trusty old diesels and a dodgy piece of scenery

now just find these things in black...

Monday, 5 January 2015

CV29 - Gateway to solutions

I know you might think CV29...what? But bear with me and you will find that this little thingie can ease your life.

First of all, what is it?
When using digital locomotives, you need to have a locomotive fitted with a decoder. Most of the locomotives currently sold are DCC ready, meaning there is a slot to fit a decoder. A decoder is not that expensive and easy to install. Or take the sting out of this operation and buy DCC Fitted locomotives. Either way, once the decoder is fitted and you are sure you have done it right, the train might still go backwards....it does, happened to me twice. This is where i found out about the existence of CV29. It is a setting of the decoder that can handle multiple things, but the most important 2 settings are default direction and DC Operation.

Setting CV29
Setting these is fairly simple but the number to set is a bit of nerdy algorithm stuff. But basically, the number should be in the digital format of 1111. I realize most people do not know what this means but every position is a switch. so 0001 means only the first (reading from the right) is switched on. 1101 means the first, third and fourth are switched on. But because we humans find this difficult to grasp, we decided that the numeric system is easier. So position one is given the number 1, position 2 is 2, position 3 is 4 (gotcha, you thought it would be 3) and position 4 is 8. Add these up and we have a numeric presentation.
In our examples, 0001 is 1 and 1101 is 1+4+8 = 13.

More Info
Anyway, if you want to know what is going on, check this link: (click me)

But how does this help me?
Well, remember the train going backwards...just set this value to 1 and it goes forward when it needs to.
Want to use your digital train on an analog layout? set this value to 4.
Want to do both? set the value to 5.

It helped me quite a bit and using the Hornby eLink and a seperate programming track made short work of my problems...

Last remark
When a decoder is not fitted, never, ever place the train on a digital layout. You WILL burn the motor!
Placing a Digital Only locomotive on an analog track is not harmfull. It just does not work. No damage is done.

Friday, 2 January 2015

Breakdown Crane



Manufacturer		Hornby Railroad
Productcode		R6689
Livery		British Rail
Weathered		No
Link		.

'Cock O' The North



Manufacturer		Hornby
Productcode		R3207
Class		P2 2-8-2
Number		2001
Livery		LNER Green
Era		II (1920 - 1945)
DCC		Converted from DCC Ready
Locomotive ID		005
Weathered		No
Link		wikipedia

BR Class 31 A1A-A1A



Manufacturer		Hornby Railroad
Productcode		R3067
Class		31 A1A-A1A
Number		31256
Livery		BR Green
Era		III (1945 - 1970)
DCC		Converted from DCC Ready
Locomotive ID		006
Weathered		No
Link		wikipedia

Warship Class 42 Thruster Maroon



Manufacturer		Hornby Railroad
Productcode		R3282
Class		42 Thruster
Number		D538
Livery		BR Maroon
Era		III (1945 - 1970)
DCC		Converted from DCC Ready
Locomotive ID		007 (broken)
Weathered		No
Link		wikipedia

Class 08 Shunter



Manufacturer		Hornby
Productcode		R3049
Class		08 Shunter
Number		417
Livery		Serco Rail
Era		III (1945 - 1970)
DCC		Converted from DCC Ready
Locomotive ID		008
Weathered		No
Link		wikipedia

Wednesday, 31 December 2014

Was only out to get some track....

Being in the area of a Horny shop, I decided to get the track i needed for the second layer.

Of course I checked a local model shop first and noticed this gorgeous 'cock-o' the north.

When browsing through the Hornby shop, i noticed the breakdown crane in a corner.

And a crane has to be towed, right? So in came a British Railways Diesel Electric Class 31.

So my trip to get some track (which I got, trust me) ended up being a little bit more expensive than planned. A well, what else is new....

Now I need to add these to the rolling stock pages. A nice job for next year. Oh wait, that's tomorrow.

Monday, 29 December 2014

The Helix - First Layer

Using SCARM, a freeware model railway designer, I came up with a design that will allow me to add multiple levels to the layout. Each level will have room for parking 14 trains. that should do the trick. well, for a while anyway.

Still working on some kind of suspension mechanism that will allow me to extend the layout with additional layers. Thinking of adding 3 layers in total. In the drawings you can see the connecting points for next levels.

3 levels with 14 trains each. That will give me 42 trains. Add the current sidings and it will bring the total to 45+ parked trains. Good, now all there is left to do is to build it.

But for now, having a plan already gives me good reason to start collecting additional stock.

Saturday, 27 December 2014

Far Cry 4 - good fun

After a bit of a slump in gaming (mind you, a slump by my definition is starting 1 game a month), I grabbed the opportunity called Xmas to start Far Cry 4 in co-op. And I have to say, I am impressed.

First a bit of background. The story can be compared to the previous instalments. This time situated somewhere on the subcontinent, a small country is being run by a villain and his helpers. You, as a player, are the son of a famous hero and are asked to help with the rebellion against the self crowned king. In this free roaming shooter you will find yourself riding elephants, shooting tigers, liberating outposts and hijacking military vehicles.

There is a campaign string of quests and a load of side quests. Most of them will have you go somewhere, get something or shoot something and report back for a reward. Basic stuff really. But it has been done in a very well manor. The stories fit together and part of the story is based on your own choices.

Where Far Cry used to be brilliant in just shooting and creating your own maps that you can play on-line with friends, this one has cooperative play properly integrated. Not sure why this is limited to side missions only but that only some room for improvement.

The graphics - I played the game on Xbox One - are stunning and the sound is perfect. Being not much of a shooter - i tend to hit everything but the opponents most of the time - the game is nice to play. Already done 20 hours of gameplay (most of it in co-op) and the counter still says 30% finished.

Downsides you ask ?

Yes, had a few disconnects while in a mission. But 1 or 2 glitches aside, this is a good reason to get through the Xmas period.

Have not really started the map editor but if previous versions are anything to go by, that will be brilliant. Far Cry 2 and 3 had the best and most extensive map editors I have seen and what I have seen of this one, it will be no different. Now all that needs to be improved is the online matchmaking and user created content search and validating. Will let you know if that has been done.

To be honest, Far Cry 4 is one of the first games that makes it worth it to switch to the new platform (especially playstation 4 game offerings where terrible i.e. non-existing really).

My rating so far:

graphics	9
gameplay	8
sound	8
(re-)play value	9
story	7

total	8.2

Available on xbox one, x360, ps3, ps4 and pc.

Friday, 26 December 2014

Preparations for the next step: a double Helix

The basic layout is done. Digital Control has been added. Everything seems to work fine. It is time to prepare for the next step.

One of the reasons I wanted to do all this, was to start a collection of nice trains to look at (and a train is only a train if you can actually run it). Having spent a few hours online browsing through ebay, online retailers, hornby and what not, it is obvious that my collection will grow beyond 4 locomotives.

In the current layout, the number of sidings will only accommodate part of this future rolling stock. So we need to add. And what better than to add a Helix. You know, one of those merry-go-rounds that bridges heights. Better yet, lets have two. One of the left of the tv's and one on the right. Have multiple levels going from left to right and back.

So i started drawings on how to construct these things. And I think I found what I would like to do. Will keep me busy for a while.

But I have to. There are so many gorgeous trains to be had.

Here are but a few....