Ruritanian Railways - 2013
- Thread starter whatlep
- Start date
spoz
What do I do? What I'm told by SWMBO
Peter,
Just noticed that Tigger appears to have disappeared from all your posts, back at least to the beginning of the RR 2012 thread. Is this a determined desire to separate completely for the bouncy old fellow, or is it just temporary? Of course, you avatar is your choice - but I didn't realise that changing it in the here-and-now would have quite that effect (who said we can't change the past?) and does one need to do it consciously or is it a "feature" of the board's software?
Steve
Just noticed that Tigger appears to have disappeared from all your posts, back at least to the beginning of the RR 2012 thread. Is this a determined desire to separate completely for the bouncy old fellow, or is it just temporary? Of course, you avatar is your choice - but I didn't realise that changing it in the here-and-now would have quite that effect (who said we can't change the past?) and does one need to do it consciously or is it a "feature" of the board's software?
Steve
Zerogee
Clencher's Bogleman
spoz said:
It's quite standard, I think Steve - when I created my avatar pic, having managed without one for ages, it suddenly appeared on EVERY post I'd ever made since I joined the forum. Since the forum is constantly updating itself, older stuff is never a "fixed" thing, it will just put your current avatar wherever you have posted since the year dot.
Jon.
whatlep
Registered
Sir - it is a temporary change, brought about by Prince Rudolf's admiration for the English football (soccer) team Oldham Athletic who proved to be "giant killers" in last Sunday's matches. Prince Rudolf once passed an amusing day around the Lancashire town, being enchanted by the local cuisine that so nearly equals Ruritania's own. All the right ingredients, but not in the same dish. A win for the underdog also appeals to our Ruritanian nature, especially if the opposition is composed largely of the rich and famous. Prince Rudolf was seen dancing in the streets of Zenda last Sunday night.spoz said:
Tigger will return in due course. Probably after Oldham lose to some bunch of no-hopers next Saturday.....
Technical note from Zenda's depot electrician - GSC's software only knows of the existence of one avatar: your current one. So whatever you have as today's avatar appears on every note, no matter how old that note may be.
spoz
What do I do? What I'm told by SWMBO
Sir,
Your kindness and condescension in explaining these matter to one whose ignorance of (and it has to be said, overall interest in) those that use their feet to play with balls, and of the constraints placed upon avatars, is very greatly appreciated. Please pass on my thanks (and that of all those Antipodeans similarly uncertain) to HSH for permitting you to do so.
As hon. secretary of the A.A. Milne Appreciation Society (Adelaide Branch) it is also a great pleasure to know that our old friend will, one day, return.
I Have the Honour to Remain,
Sir,
Your Obedient Servant
Stultus
Your kindness and condescension in explaining these matter to one whose ignorance of (and it has to be said, overall interest in) those that use their feet to play with balls, and of the constraints placed upon avatars, is very greatly appreciated. Please pass on my thanks (and that of all those Antipodeans similarly uncertain) to HSH for permitting you to do so.
As hon. secretary of the A.A. Milne Appreciation Society (Adelaide Branch) it is also a great pleasure to know that our old friend will, one day, return.
I Have the Honour to Remain,
Sir,
Your Obedient Servant
Stultus
whatlep
Registered
It's been rather quiet in Ruritania of late, with only the snow-clearing crew getting much work done. Since the depot staff had time on their hands, Zenda depot's foreman decided to adapt the various Stainz type locos acquired over recent months to Ruritania's standard DCC signalling and control system. Four LGB locos were involved, two "mainstream" locos and two "starter" locmotives, including "Kauser Otto" who had previously been adapted for battery operation (see http://www.gscalecentral.net/fb.ashx?m=195549 ).
It was decided to start with loco 99.4606 (manufacturer's catalogue 27211) since that was identified to have a "direct decoder interface" so installation should be a straightforward drop in for a 55021 chip. Dismantling a Stainz is a bit of a pain, though straightforward enough if you follow instructions such as these: http://shop.waltonsmodels.co.uk/Stainz.php .
Interestingly, Marklin seem to have changed a few minor items on the mouldings since taking over production. The vacuum exhaust and bell on the 27211 now simply push into the boiler rather than having plastic clips and the driver on my 27211 was mounted on a sticky pad rather than glued in place. The latter makes disassembly and reassembly easier than on previous Stainzes where the driver's unyielding arm gets in the way.
Once fully dismantled, this curious sight presents itself.
What we have is a large board, carrying a voltage regulation circuit and a bunch of large connectors. All unncessarily large as will become evident shortly and taking up valuable real estate. Most bizarre of all, where the DCC chip will go, there is a blanking plate which is hard-wired to the motherboard. Looking at the link to the instructions above, it's clear that the Stainz motherboard has been redesigned and simplified for the 27211, but the new one is not my idea of great design. Surely rather than go to the effort of designing and building a completely new motherboard it would have been simpler - and probably no more expensive - to install a factory-fit decoder? The two arrows point to two connections which must be severed to remove the blanking plate: that makes restoring the loco to "vanilla DC" operation potentially difficult.
At this point, the workshop staff should really have removed the board intact and connected necessary wires directly to the 55021 chip, but they perservered anyway. Ruritanian standard practice with small locos is to install a Massoth power buffer (http://www.gscalecentral.net/fb.ashx?m=236918 ), so the necessary leads were installed before the chip was placed in the "drop in" (sic) interface. The connectors needed carefully bending to allow the board to fit. It's wirth pointing out that the DCC chip needs programming BEFORE the buffer is installed in this type of buffer installation. The buffer link expains why.
This wider shot shows the full assembly (brown= positive: white negative) and the redundant blanking plate from the motherboard. The two snipped connections are visible bottom centre. The buffer connectors were carefully insulated to avoid making contact with anything else, especially other decoder pins.
Annoyingly, the size of the 27211's motherboard and the 4/5-way plugs used means there is no space for the power buffer in the boiler backhead area, so the buffer had to go in the cab (disguised with black insulating tape) with the brown/ white wires passing through a small notch cut from the backhead.
The Chief Operating Officer is not wildly thrilled by this solution. It's likely the loco will be rewired like it's sister loco, green Stainz number 2 (Catalogue number 21211). For that loco, the motherboard was completely removed and a chip laid on the well-insulated boiler weight. All lighting wires were then located, the ends stripped and connected via spare leads saved from Massoth XL chips to the 55021 chip. Quick and easy!
A similar approach was also used for the two starter set locos (both from the recent 70400 set). The electrical design in these is a thing of beauty! Simply three pairs of wires to a small board which plugs into the chassis. Another two pins for a smoke generator if you are that way inclined. Lovely! Each lighting circuit is identified and labelled (on both sides of the intended cut) before the wires are snipped. That's just in case a reinstall is required, or the board is used in another loco.
As in the 21211, the chip now gets placed on the insulated weight and all the connections are made via connector blocks which can be hidden in the steam dome. A common positive can be used for all three lighting circuits and the power buffer (plus smoke generator if required) which reduces the "spaghetti". There is loads of room in the Stainz boiler with this conversion to fit all the wiring, the power buffer and even a soupcon of lead weight. Thoroughly pleasing!
To round things off, the Managing Director had acquired some rather nice metal plates for the loco from a contact in Germany. Curiously, these seem to identify the small engine as a Harz 2-10-2. Most odd!
All engines are now ready for service, should the sun deign to shine on the good folk of Ruritania!
It was decided to start with loco 99.4606 (manufacturer's catalogue 27211) since that was identified to have a "direct decoder interface" so installation should be a straightforward drop in for a 55021 chip. Dismantling a Stainz is a bit of a pain, though straightforward enough if you follow instructions such as these: http://shop.waltonsmodels.co.uk/Stainz.php .
Interestingly, Marklin seem to have changed a few minor items on the mouldings since taking over production. The vacuum exhaust and bell on the 27211 now simply push into the boiler rather than having plastic clips and the driver on my 27211 was mounted on a sticky pad rather than glued in place. The latter makes disassembly and reassembly easier than on previous Stainzes where the driver's unyielding arm gets in the way.
Once fully dismantled, this curious sight presents itself.
What we have is a large board, carrying a voltage regulation circuit and a bunch of large connectors. All unncessarily large as will become evident shortly and taking up valuable real estate. Most bizarre of all, where the DCC chip will go, there is a blanking plate which is hard-wired to the motherboard. Looking at the link to the instructions above, it's clear that the Stainz motherboard has been redesigned and simplified for the 27211, but the new one is not my idea of great design. Surely rather than go to the effort of designing and building a completely new motherboard it would have been simpler - and probably no more expensive - to install a factory-fit decoder? The two arrows point to two connections which must be severed to remove the blanking plate: that makes restoring the loco to "vanilla DC" operation potentially difficult.
At this point, the workshop staff should really have removed the board intact and connected necessary wires directly to the 55021 chip, but they perservered anyway. Ruritanian standard practice with small locos is to install a Massoth power buffer (http://www.gscalecentral.net/fb.ashx?m=236918 ), so the necessary leads were installed before the chip was placed in the "drop in" (sic) interface. The connectors needed carefully bending to allow the board to fit. It's wirth pointing out that the DCC chip needs programming BEFORE the buffer is installed in this type of buffer installation. The buffer link expains why.
This wider shot shows the full assembly (brown= positive: white negative) and the redundant blanking plate from the motherboard. The two snipped connections are visible bottom centre. The buffer connectors were carefully insulated to avoid making contact with anything else, especially other decoder pins.
Annoyingly, the size of the 27211's motherboard and the 4/5-way plugs used means there is no space for the power buffer in the boiler backhead area, so the buffer had to go in the cab (disguised with black insulating tape) with the brown/ white wires passing through a small notch cut from the backhead.
The Chief Operating Officer is not wildly thrilled by this solution. It's likely the loco will be rewired like it's sister loco, green Stainz number 2 (Catalogue number 21211). For that loco, the motherboard was completely removed and a chip laid on the well-insulated boiler weight. All lighting wires were then located, the ends stripped and connected via spare leads saved from Massoth XL chips to the 55021 chip. Quick and easy!
A similar approach was also used for the two starter set locos (both from the recent 70400 set). The electrical design in these is a thing of beauty! Simply three pairs of wires to a small board which plugs into the chassis. Another two pins for a smoke generator if you are that way inclined. Lovely! Each lighting circuit is identified and labelled (on both sides of the intended cut) before the wires are snipped. That's just in case a reinstall is required, or the board is used in another loco.
As in the 21211, the chip now gets placed on the insulated weight and all the connections are made via connector blocks which can be hidden in the steam dome. A common positive can be used for all three lighting circuits and the power buffer (plus smoke generator if required) which reduces the "spaghetti". There is loads of room in the Stainz boiler with this conversion to fit all the wiring, the power buffer and even a soupcon of lead weight. Thoroughly pleasing!
To round things off, the Managing Director had acquired some rather nice metal plates for the loco from a contact in Germany. Curiously, these seem to identify the small engine as a Harz 2-10-2. Most odd!
All engines are now ready for service, should the sun deign to shine on the good folk of Ruritania!
steve parberry
G Scale Trains
May i be the first to congratulate the prince on allowing the railway permission to erect a loco shed for the quarry branch locos...
A worthy addition to the invisiavle ballast quarry
A worthy addition to the invisiavle ballast quarry
whatlep
Registered
steve parberry said:May i be the first to congratulate the prince on allowing the railway permission to erect a loco shed for the quarry branch locos...
A worthy addition to the invisiavle ballast quarry
Your congratulations are most gratefully acknowledged by His Serene Highness, though Prince Rudolf's equerry noted in the Zenda Times today that, after suitable grovelling and whining, the additional facilities have been graciously permitted by the comptrollerette of the royal household, sometimes known by the codeword SWMBO.
playmofire
Registered
Hopefully, Mallets will be following by the score!
whatlep
Registered
Ruritanian Railways is pleased to announce the resumption of exports of invisible ballast. After sterling work by the Engineering section, all tracks and pointwork were declared fit for service earlier today. The first train of ballast is seen pausing at the border where the buildings have been restored after the winter floods:
Several of our regular passengers appear to have returned for another enjoyable year in beautiful Ruritania, though the customs officials don;t appear to have surfaced yet.
A small ceremony was held at the goods shed to celebrate the entry into service of Ruritania's new Stainz type locomotives. This one is now generally known as "Clint", as in "the engine with no name".
Ruritanian Railways - open for business and pleasure!
Several of our regular passengers appear to have returned for another enjoyable year in beautiful Ruritania, though the customs officials don;t appear to have surfaced yet.
A small ceremony was held at the goods shed to celebrate the entry into service of Ruritania's new Stainz type locomotives. This one is now generally known as "Clint", as in "the engine with no name".
Ruritanian Railways - open for business and pleasure!
beavercreek
Travel, Art, Theatre, Music, Photography, Trains
Good to see Ruritania on the move again. Were the incumbents of the border post practicing their underwater diving skills during the deluge or had they escaped to drier pastures?
Also:
What is it called if it doesn't work?......&o&o
:
Also:
whatlep said:
What is it called if it doesn't work?......&o&o
:
whatlep
Registered
beavercreek said:
They were wafted to safety in the comfort of one of the Imperial railbuses (railbi?)
beavercreek said:Also:
whatlep said:
What is it called if it doesn't work?......&o&o
Ruritanian Railways' locomotives are like Rolls Royce motor cars. They never suffer from the problem of "doesn't work": however once in a while they may decline to proceed further..... 8|
Zerogee
Clencher's Bogleman
beavercreek said:Good to see Ruritania on the move again. Were the incumbents of the border post practicing their underwater diving skills during the deluge or had they escaped to drier pastures?
Also:
whatlep said:
What is it called if it doesn't work?......&o&o
"CLINT" is one of those words where you have to be VERY, VERY careful in your selection of typeface.....
Jon.
"Mr. Spine Milligna, the well known typing error...."
whatlep
Registered
Work began today on a small project which will further improve the efficiency of invisible ballast production. For some time now a diesel shunter has trundled from Zenda down to the ballast works each day, returning nightly to be safely stabled and periodically refuelled. The ballast works' manager has had his eye on some rough ground at the back of his office for some while. Useless ground which simply accumulates leaves and debris each year and needs repeated attention to keep the green stuff in order:
Permission having been obtained from the highest levels in Ruritania, work began by lifting the existing ballast siding trackwork and clearing accumulated sand and debris from winter storms. The incline of Pootank Pass was checked for any movement too: none found, to general relief!
An "after" shot shows a new point in position, ready to provide access to a shed which has been prefabricated by the finest craftsmen of Ruritania. Facilities for onsite refuelling will also be provided, with fuel being supplied as needed on the daily trip freight from Zenda to the border. Much more efficient!
Which diesel will be resident down at the ballast works is still a matter of some debate in Ruritania, but today an exploratory foray was made by Zenda depot's very own Davenport shunter. Small, but perfectly formed, just like our glorious nation!
Permission having been obtained from the highest levels in Ruritania, work began by lifting the existing ballast siding trackwork and clearing accumulated sand and debris from winter storms. The incline of Pootank Pass was checked for any movement too: none found, to general relief!
An "after" shot shows a new point in position, ready to provide access to a shed which has been prefabricated by the finest craftsmen of Ruritania. Facilities for onsite refuelling will also be provided, with fuel being supplied as needed on the daily trip freight from Zenda to the border. Much more efficient!
Which diesel will be resident down at the ballast works is still a matter of some debate in Ruritania, but today an exploratory foray was made by Zenda depot's very own Davenport shunter. Small, but perfectly formed, just like our glorious nation!
CoggesRailway
Registered
I do like that siding- it's ground level and also waist height at the same time!
playmofire
Registered
Maybe Ruritanian Railways should put in a bid for the West Coast franchise - that would be a challenge for their cunning!
whatlep
Registered
playmofire said:
The impossible we do at once. Miracles such as ridding the world of Pendolini and Voyagers take a little longer.
Anyway, back in Ruritania, day two of the quarry loco shed saw the "heavy mob" at work. First take an unsuspecting plank of 150mm * 22mm tannalised wood and saw it into an attractive set of twigs. Link them together to check that it all will fit.
Now prepare the foundations. As this part of Ruritania floods on a regular basis, several sturdy bits of wood, plus 60mm screws are backed with an overdose of Postcrete.
Prince Rudolf likes Postcrete!
Once everything was firmly screwed together and also attached to the original quarry siding, track could be laid and the new loco shed could be craned into position. It all looks rather shiny and new, but the wood will fade remarkably quickly. For those interested in these things, there is a small air gap between the original ground level and the new planks to slow down the rotting process.
A view from the end of the siding provides an "after" shot. Much better than the view from 48 hours ago! Details such as fuelling point still to be added. Although the point has an electric motor fitted, Ruritanian Railways may replace it with a hand lever as use will be confined to a handful of moves a day.
A simple, yet moving ceremony saw the Davenport shunter be the first loco to enter the shed. The automatic doors worked perfectly. All in all a pleasing addition to the Ruritanian scene and, remarkably, the only costs were for Postcrete and the new shed. The wood was lying around malingering, the point was gifted as a "broken" item and the extra 600mm length of track was found lurking round the back of the palace where Prince Rudolf had not ventured for several years. Cool!
