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Post by zoinks007 on Feb 21, 2017 15:08:13 GMT -5
New guy here... I'd been out of the hobby for about 25 years, and what I'm finding happened is amazing. So I'm trying to get up to speed on DCC, and how an arduino might control things (BS in EE, MS in CompEng). Being a die-hard scratch builder (am hand laying my Z track), I love the idea of building something along those lines. I'll have to spend some quality time with Google.
But the walk down memory lane is awesome. I once wrote a book that described how to interface 6502 assembly with AppleSoft. Was a huge Orca fan (Mike Westerfield is a friend of mine). Anyone remember Beagle Brothers? I did my senior project interfacing a Radio Shack SP0256 speech processor into my Apple //e. For my master's thesis I redesigned and implemented a FFT processor (actually fabricated it...still have some of the chips).
So talking arduino's and NANDs is like coming home. Of course I forgot everything I ever knew (Karnough maps, anyone?), but I'm excited to get back into it.
Sorry for co-opting the thread, but this particular thread is hugely cool to me. Hoping to figure some of this stuff out! And thanks for the heads-up on the scarcity of the MZA4 decoders...I have a MTL GP and a couple F7's, so I read about the decoders being hard to find and found a few.
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Post by domi on Mar 4, 2017 10:02:59 GMT -5
Hello again. I began with "trying to design" my new layout (with paper, pencil, compass and rubber, by "hand" without any software), and there will be no radius less than 400mm (only Märklin flex tracks : I made it the same way in the past with my N-layout). I plan to run 2 Amtrak California trains (each with 4 cars and one locomotive) in opposite directions and two freight trains with two GP38-2's (or one GP38-2 and one SD75M), each with 4 cars : 4 Gunderson High Cube for one and 4 coil cars for the other (I think cabooses are now almost obsolete ... ) ; no longer trains will ever run. Now the question : can these trains "climb" a slope of 1,5%, or not ? This slope is necessary because of the clearance (in height) when the track crosses with itself. I plan with following data : the layout would be about 2.90m x 1.45m (1.45m is less than the double of the distance I can reach without no risk from the edge, in case of a derailment ... which will not occur too often, I hope so ! ), 2 stations and 10 turnouts, single track for the whole layout. Thanks for Your answers. Hi neighbour. If you plan to run 4-car only trains, you could even have them climb straight on a funicular slope... My own layout consists of 3% slopes with 35 cm (14") radius curves. I've not the least problem to run 20-car trains with typically 3 MTL GP35s or 2 AZL SD70Ms. Hope this helps, Dom
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2017 2:25:20 GMT -5
Hello again in this topic ... after a few weeks ! I had to design a new version of my previous layout (with CAD, "raily" ! ) because I had trouble with flex tracks during my preliminary tests. So the new layout will be built with conventional Rokuhan tracks, minimum radius 270mm (former : 400mm), constant slope 1.5%. Flex tracks only in tunnels (Rokuhan : problem with the "aspect" of road bed) to correct some tiny misalignments and problems in length. I will only run freight trains with 4 cars (now 4 "beer reefers" by AZL and 4 Hoppers by Full Throttle), an "Amtrak California" train and a "shortened" version of Barnum's train (cars by MTL) with 2 "passenger", one stock car and 2 or 3 container cars. Each train should be pulled by only one loco (no multiple units) because I will run DC. 1) I am planning to use one GP30 and one GP38-2 (both AZL, BNSF and UP) for the freight trains. Can they pull my trains without any "slippage", despite the fact that the new radii are smaller (I got formerly the answer that with 400mm there would not be any problem) ? 2) The circus train should be pulled by one SD70M (UP with the flags). Problem : I read in a test (in german language) that the SD's had problems when track is not absolutely flat (in fact, "convex"), because the middle axle of each truck could not move vertically and so they could lose traction : www.zettzeit.ch/SD70.html . My layout will have 2 such parts, for transition between slope and an horizontal station (transition during 16", so in fact very little "convexity") ; and now, what can I expect ? Or should I better use a BB loco ? Or even a second "Amtrak California" in the opposite direction, in place of the circus train ? Thanks for any answer ...
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