workbench update

Closing the loop

Big day here in Utrainia, and the result of many days work. First of all though, a little bit of background...

While building the bridge module I could feel that I was very close to making a complete loop of modules, all I needed was this and one more corner module. At that point I realised I had another corner module, my previous base for the bridge module. So I had the required number of corners, however neither had track, and it would take me a while to complete the bridge scene. I felt frustrated that I was so close, yet so far.

Then it struck me that I could cheat a little... if I tacked down some track on each module, they could act as stand-ins until I got around to completing them. Hmm...

So that night I quickly made up a pair of spacer modules. The first one I just put down some track over the existing foam, on the second one (the new bridge module) I made some joists out of 3mm MDF and a tack base from some foam board. End result was two corner modules...

Birth of a new module: the viaduct

Taking a break from the city module, I decided to work on the long-delayed bridge module. So far I've made up two towers and made a rough start on the module itself. However I was finding the existing module a bit restricting, so after a bit of brain storming, decided to make a fresh start.

A plan was quickly devised and then construction started. This module is a new style for Utrainia, having a smooth curved fascia, and being of a monocoque form, where the fascia forms the structure itself. Enough talking though, it's time to assemble the materials:

6x 300mm 45x20mm knotty pine spacers 4x 260mm 45x20mm knotty pine verticals 2x 300x150mm 12mm ply ends 1x curved 3mm MDF base

Pairs of verticals were connected to...

Trains are rolling

Yesterday I made good progress wiring up the modules. Previously they'd sort of been connected together, but only very crudely. So I decided to come up with a better system using terminal blocks and copper tape. I popped out to our local Jaycar and picked up some supplies, then off to the PlyGuy to get some knotty pine. As usual I had to find the wood myself, they really don't have a clue what they sell down there. Then I had to tell them what the correct price per meter was. But at least now I have 30m of knotty pine, enough for lots and lots of modules.

So with fresh supplies, I attached the undersides of modules. First up I attached a thin strip of wood most of the length of the module. At each end I placed a 2 way terminal block, and ran two strips of copper tape in between. Then it's a simple matter of soldering the feeders from the rails above onto the copper "bus bars".

Growing legs

Work on the city scene continues. On Friday I soldered the ends of the track to a strip of PCB material that was securely attached to the module. This means the track is now well attached, but the alignments can be subtly tweaked when required. Here you can see the cork base butting up against the 5mm MDF strip across the ends, and the PCB material on top of that.

That means the basic track laying is now complete!

Saturday saw the module relocated to the garage and the dining table rediscovered. On Sunday I put on my worker hat and started building legs for the module. Here you can see them being positioned and attached. I used a slightly different system for these legs, with some large triangles of ply to give it strength and rigidity. Due to the tight confines under the ...

Station tracks almost completed

Well, at long last, I have the track down on my station entrance module.

I still need to glue it all down and securely attach the track at the end of the module, but the middle part is all done. Underneath there are about 30,000 wires attached to every piece of track; hopefully this means there will be no stalls as trains negotiate the many points.

And here is a short of the Narita Express negotiating the turnouts to move onto the first platform track.

The sheer number of tracks is quite impressive. It starts off as two through tracks and expands out to 10 tracks at the o...

City scene continues to take shape

A month since my last update on the city scene! Yikes. Progress continues in a haphazard fashion, broken here and there by trips to Christchurch. A while back my wooden sleeper stock arrived, ready for cutting and gluing. After a few misadventures I decided the best way to assemble them was:

Print out a full size template. Coat with spray on adhesive. Place the turnout over the template and mark where the PCB sleepers are. Hopefully they line up with the sleepers on the template! Often I found they didn't which made things interesting. Remove the turnout. Place the stripwood on the template, trim to length, press into the glue. Rinse and repeat. Once all done, stick the turnout to the ties.

St...