On last Sunday evening I realised that I needed to make some logic enhancements for my Dual Gauge operation of my panel switches. Most of that was done that evening. The next morning I made the small changes to signal DG4 and it now seems to allow normal operation of the signals as train on the UP Dual Gauge travel past it, instead of that signal just sitting on a red signal aspect and never changing. I also found and fixed a number of issues with Signal DG4 and its shunt into the sidings aspect. It now clears after other switches on the panel are reset, the points are changed or a train passes the IR detector for signal DG4. So I now think that is working well.
I also implemented a small change, that if I select the self-test switch while the panel is in normal operation, it will clear the LCD screen and its memory of what is where in its message queue. So I don’t have to restart the panel to reset the display when it gets orphaned lines that won’t scroll off the LCD screen It will be just a quick flick of a switch and everything resets. So that is working brilliantly. I am also looking at another special panel based reset process, (basically my own Ctrl-Alt-Del feature) if my Dual Gauge logic gets out of whack somehow. My Dual Gauge has 4 UP signals, and 4 DOWN signals. It also tracks if there is an UP train or a DOWN train, or there is nothing on the track. If I get into a jam, I was thinking that if I set all the Siding Signals to Depart, I would force a reset of all the logic on the Dual Gauge Track. This is very easy to do, but I may not have to do it, if everything operates as designed. This will be in my back pocket as a possible solution if things go haywire.
So after a few hours sleeping on it, on Tuesday afternoon I decided to go ahead and implement a special reset of the Dual Gauge signalling as a 'just in case' scenario. I tested it and all was good. So as it currently stands the panel is 99% complete and I do not think there are any issues with my currently tested logic. So that allowed me to move onto my next task, the actual physical track design.
Tuesday night we car pooled down to Sparkles place. We had about 10 or so people there. I was able to pick up a roll of paper from Sparkles, which will assist with layout planning of the baseboards. On Wednesday arvo I tried to do some more layout planning, and it dawned on me that I probably need more then 2.4m, maybe 2.7m or even 3m between my signals on the future layout. That might mean that the layout could end up being up to 9 to 10m long before I include my returns to the back of the layout. I think I will need to do a lot more planning with pieces of track thrown on the paper baseboards.
Thursday I got out into the garage and rolled out some paper and a few pieces of track trying to get a better understanding of the layout on the future layout. I have a feeling that the northern end of the layout will wrap around the side of the display. That way the first signals will be on the side of the layout and give me a decent distance between the signals. I think I have made a good effort of the first two modules. It dawned on me that I still need a huge amount of track to purchase, particularly for the dual gauge. I have come to the realisation that the standard gauge track will probably be code 83 track. I will have to purchase everything from scratch.
Saturday we went to Paul’s place to continue the teaching of the students in various NMRA disciplines. The white plastered 30cm x 20cm modules, were painted, had various dirts and sands added with a covering of glue, and then they were covered in some ground foams and scatters. The track was then added, and then ballast was applied from a plastic honey jar with the twist lid. This allows the flow of ballast to be regulated. This was then set in place with diluted aquadhere with a touch of dishwashing detergent from a pipette. Some attendees then added some split post fencing that we made a few weeks before and then added a telegraph pole or two, again put together at the last session. QED! The module was then put aside and after lunch the attendees were then split between the styrene and trees clinics again. What a great day. You should have seen some of the little dioramas – they were pretty good. A great place to take a photo of a model on.
It seems that the most of the attendees on the day were getting a bit over excited about the upcoming NMRA elections for Div 1.
Today I did a bit of a tidy up for this coming Tuesday. The disturbance in the force is being rectified with the correct Tuesday nights returning into equilibrium with the guys coming to my place. Next Wednesday I will continue track planning activities for the next module.
