A Small Railway
- Thread starter jimmielx
- Start date
Hopefully on day I'll make some video's of the railway, but in the mean time I thought I show a trip around the line in pictures.
First up here's the track plan. The main loop, station and it's two sidings are about a year old, the new branch line was constructed a couple of months ago.
Starting at the station
Around the first bend
Past the station siding
Around the second bend
Over the bridge which I haven't pictured (but is in the Avatar), and past the second siding - now used to reverse out of the branchline
Around the third bend and passed the entrance to the branchline
Finally around the fourth bend (this is what a 218 looks like on Radius 1 curves)
And back into the station
First up here's the track plan. The main loop, station and it's two sidings are about a year old, the new branch line was constructed a couple of months ago.
Starting at the station
Around the first bend
Past the station siding
Around the second bend
Over the bridge which I haven't pictured (but is in the Avatar), and past the second siding - now used to reverse out of the branchline
Around the third bend and passed the entrance to the branchline
Finally around the fourth bend (this is what a 218 looks like on Radius 1 curves)
And back into the station
The branch line is in early stages, basically I've just constructed the boards, laid the track and wired it up so far. There is no scenery as yet. The intention was to have a station at either end, but my thinking now is to just have a small station in front of the shed and and add a couple of sidings at the far end making a three track yard where I can park locos out of service.
Coming in from the main loop
Locos stop at what will be a station in front of the shed.
They then reverse up the line, over a hinged section in front of the gate (construction method for this borrowed from GSC!)
Run behind the BBQ along the fence
Currently terminating in just a single track, but this is where I hope to have a three track yard eventually.
Finally to get back onto the mainline locos reverse out of the branchline onto the loop around the tree.
The Track Cleaning Loco is from Roly via the forum and the Matra Crane came from Helen (Ferrysteam). I've modified the crane a little with some black paint on the floor grilles and lights at the back. The crane now has pickup wheels and a function decoder inside with the same number as the track cleaner so the red lights show when the train is moving forward and the orange lights show (flashing at the moment, but I'm not so sure about that) when it is reversing.
Coming in from the main loop
Locos stop at what will be a station in front of the shed.
They then reverse up the line, over a hinged section in front of the gate (construction method for this borrowed from GSC!)
Run behind the BBQ along the fence
Currently terminating in just a single track, but this is where I hope to have a three track yard eventually.
Finally to get back onto the mainline locos reverse out of the branchline onto the loop around the tree.
The Track Cleaning Loco is from Roly via the forum and the Matra Crane came from Helen (Ferrysteam). I've modified the crane a little with some black paint on the floor grilles and lights at the back. The crane now has pickup wheels and a function decoder inside with the same number as the track cleaner so the red lights show when the train is moving forward and the orange lights show (flashing at the moment, but I'm not so sure about that) when it is reversing.
Cliff George
Registered
A very nice railway James.
Could you tell us a little more about the iTrain software please? How do you tell it what automatic operations to perform? Does it work via a timetable?
Regards
Cliff
Could you tell us a little more about the iTrain software please? How do you tell it what automatic operations to perform? Does it work via a timetable?
Regards
Cliff
The railway is almost always run automatically using a program called iTrain.
Which uses current detecting occupancy detectors to detect where trains are and therefore drive them around on predetermined routes (without crashing into each other!). This is the hardware gubbins that makes it all work.
Currently the signalling is just virtual (on the computer) but the next project is to add a couple of semaphone signals to the station which will be driven by a servo decoder just installed inside the station building.
Which uses current detecting occupancy detectors to detect where trains are and therefore drive them around on predetermined routes (without crashing into each other!). This is the hardware gubbins that makes it all work.
Currently the signalling is just virtual (on the computer) but the next project is to add a couple of semaphone signals to the station which will be driven by a servo decoder just installed inside the station building.
Cliff, I just missed your last post as I was just adding a post... about iTrain.
iTrain is a very easy to use bit of software, my main reason for choosing it is that it runs on a Mac (as well as Windows and Linux) which I use. The user interface is very Mac friendly.
I believe the software has only been around for about three years, so is quite young compared to others. It is not currently as advanced as most of the other software out there (particularly Traincontroller from what I can see is much more advanced), but is very simple to use and set up. The automation is just by assigning a route to a train, there is no timetabling and the routes are quite basic at the moment. A route is defined from block to block with alternate blocks (eg when two station platforms are available) available either at random or in a chosen order and obviously waiting times are available where needed. This is version 1 of the software, version 2 is expected in a few months which we are told will include more advanced routing and many other improvements.
Scale speed of locos is measured between two of the sensors on the tracks, so each loco has a speed profile. Blocks are then defined with maximum, restricted and breaking speeds which are applied accordingly. Also trains can have a maximum speed applied (so a goods train for example can have it's maximum speed limited).
It will also control signaling which is my next project.
The developer is a chap in the Netherlands who is very responsive to suggestions. When I started using it I was the first person using my scale (1:19) (the scale is needed for speed measurements) and he had uploaded a Beta version for me with the new scale added as an option within 24 hours. There is also a forum and the develover and testers are very quick to answer queries.
That's a brief outline, whilst in it's present form it is quite basic I have found it hugely reliable (I ran four trains automatically for eight hours a couple of weeks ago) and it is under constant development. There is lots more information on the website http://berros.eu/itrain/en/index.php
iTrain is a very easy to use bit of software, my main reason for choosing it is that it runs on a Mac (as well as Windows and Linux) which I use. The user interface is very Mac friendly.
I believe the software has only been around for about three years, so is quite young compared to others. It is not currently as advanced as most of the other software out there (particularly Traincontroller from what I can see is much more advanced), but is very simple to use and set up. The automation is just by assigning a route to a train, there is no timetabling and the routes are quite basic at the moment. A route is defined from block to block with alternate blocks (eg when two station platforms are available) available either at random or in a chosen order and obviously waiting times are available where needed. This is version 1 of the software, version 2 is expected in a few months which we are told will include more advanced routing and many other improvements.
Scale speed of locos is measured between two of the sensors on the tracks, so each loco has a speed profile. Blocks are then defined with maximum, restricted and breaking speeds which are applied accordingly. Also trains can have a maximum speed applied (so a goods train for example can have it's maximum speed limited).
It will also control signaling which is my next project.
The developer is a chap in the Netherlands who is very responsive to suggestions. When I started using it I was the first person using my scale (1:19) (the scale is needed for speed measurements) and he had uploaded a Beta version for me with the new scale added as an option within 24 hours. There is also a forum and the develover and testers are very quick to answer queries.
That's a brief outline, whilst in it's present form it is quite basic I have found it hugely reliable (I ran four trains automatically for eight hours a couple of weeks ago) and it is under constant development. There is lots more information on the website http://berros.eu/itrain/en/index.php
Cliff George
Registered
Very interesting James, thank you.
The basic automation concepts seem to be very similar to Traincontroller. A concept called a 'schedule' defines how a train gets from A to B. Trains that get assigned to the schedule, and are already on the path of the schedule, just follow it to B, avoiding all other trains on the same or other schedules on the way.
Also each engine is 'profiled' by the software so that the engines characteristics are understood. The computer can then apply speed restrictions, accurate stopping etc.
I too have 'virtual' signaling. I like that concept!!
I tried JMRI at one time (being an open source Unix/Linux guy by profession). Although I don't really like PCs and Microsoft the Traincontroller software was too good to ignore.
Do keep us updated on your railway.
The basic automation concepts seem to be very similar to Traincontroller. A concept called a 'schedule' defines how a train gets from A to B. Trains that get assigned to the schedule, and are already on the path of the schedule, just follow it to B, avoiding all other trains on the same or other schedules on the way.
Also each engine is 'profiled' by the software so that the engines characteristics are understood. The computer can then apply speed restrictions, accurate stopping etc.
I too have 'virtual' signaling. I like that concept!!
I tried JMRI at one time (being an open source Unix/Linux guy by profession). Although I don't really like PCs and Microsoft the Traincontroller software was too good to ignore.
Do keep us updated on your railway.
jameshilton
Registered
That's a good guide around your line and interesting to read about this software - something I'd never even thought about for a garden line. Well described - thanks! 
