Ideas, Projects & Ramblings from SteamyDave…!!!!
More updates for Iron Bridge Mill
Article #52 - 16/09/2026 11:32
Some new buildings and a loco respray.
A new signal box has been created for the front corner, and I'm playing with the possibility of lighting it.
Also a water tank and spout added. Considering putting a servo under so when the steam loco arrives, it turns over it.
Iron Bridge Mill had a trip out to the Norfolk & Suffolk Narrow Gauge Modellers open house day.
One of the locos had died during the week, and the black and yellow one didn't want to play, so just the 2 trains were running but it was enough to put on a show.
The DCC-EX/EXRAIL scripts now have a random feature so that the once set routes around the loop now have some options.
When the Diesel gets to the tunnel mouth, it can randomly do the following.
1. Continue around the loop as usual, stopping at the front station as usual.
2. Alternatively it can come into the siding (if free) and wait to refuel before reversing out and then continuing around. If the steam engine is quick enough, it can proceed to the front station and make the diesel wait.
Also, at the tunnel entrance, the diesel can randomly wait there, and set a virtual signal, which means the steam loco can reverse back to the front station using the driver in the auto-coach.
Occasionally both alternative routes get triggered which means trains are seen to be running in different directions.
Hopefully I can get at least a third loco operating as well.
Ps. When I filmed the time-lapse video I held the camera against my body as I had forgotten to take my tripod. I forgot that breathing and wobbling makes for a very unstable film. My phone had an option to stabilise the video, which it made quite a good job of, but some things like the buildings and signal post still wabble. Maybe I should put it through the filter again 😂
First attempt at designing and 3d printing the signal and connecting it up with the servo underneath utilising the bounce feature on the SERVO_TURNOUT feature.
I need to find a way of bending the steel wire tighter, or print an adapter for the ends.
The script for the loco requests the gates to open as it sets off from the station. Each gate is opened, and after that the signal is raised. Once the signal is up, the zone in that corner is freed and the loco can proceed. It would wait at the signal if the gates aren't ready.
Once the loco gets to the next sensor, the zone is reserved (stopping the nets train from entering), the signal is set to stop, then the gates are closed to rail traffic.
In memory of our good friend Graham Peters (The Traveling Friar) who passed away earlier this year, I designed a replica of the family's mobile fish & chip van.
The prototype using a kayo 11-109 chassis made an appearance at the latest exhibition at the East Anglian Railway Museum.
Daledale layout is still on tour. It's been at several exhibitions recently, although it is getting a bit tired recently with random faults.
A couple of the kato point switches have failed (3 in total now) but have been replaced. One point failed but that was just because a wire had come out of one of the connections to the RJ45 socket.
The turntable has completely stopped working now. Again, that might just be that there is a loose wire or 2.
EXRAIL means EXtended Railroad Automation Instruction Language. It enables scripts to be pre-written to control trains or any other device connected to the command station.
Here is an example of part of a script.
AT(53) //At sensor 53
STOP // Start stopping this train
DELAY(3000) //Wait 3 seconds for loco to stop
FON(17) //Function 17 on (Platform announcements)
DELAYRANDOM(3000,5000) // Wait for a random time between 3 - 5 seconds
FOFF(17) // Function #17 off
FON(4) // Function #4 on (whistle)
DELAY(30) //Give the chip a moment to act
FOFF(4) // Function #4 off
DELAY(2000) // Wait 2 seconds before moving off
FWD(30) //Accelerate forwards up to speed 30
DCC-EX is an open source (free) system that allows users to create DCC command stations using popular development boards such as some of the Arduino family.
After buying the development processor board and adding some extra hardware bits (power control shield) and downloading the free software, the base station can control DCC locomotives and accessories on a model railway layout.
Trains can then be controlled by free software on mobile phones/tablets/PCs or custom made throttle units.
A future project will probably be in NN3 scale - N scale bodies on Z gauge track. Even smaller!
To fit the layout in the car it has to fit into the max length of 4ft. So to get the required buildings into the layout, then the scale had to reduce.
So by using the designs I already have, I scaled them down and adapted them to fit onto the Rokuhamn Z-shorty chassis.
Please note: the rights to any photos displayed remain with the owner of the photo, and if not my own, then they are used purely as examples and I take no credit for them.
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