S2 E23 | Cassette Traverser System | Bexhill West Model Railway
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- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- Hello everyone,
In this video I show my first thoughts regarding a cassette traverser system which I intend to use for stock storage at Bexhill West.
I've taken inspiration for other examples I've seen and given thought to how the basic cassette system could be adapted to suit my own needs better.
Why investigate this now when there is still much work to do with the rest of the railway?
Well, I will be able to make use of it immediately as it will help me to test each of the baseboards as the trackwork get completed.
I hope you enjoy the video and thanks for watching.
James - Розваги
A delight to watch, as always; thank you, again.
My only design comments about the cassettes would be to make the locating lugs at the "ends" 1/2 circles, and possibly do away with the centre lug.. That way you could butt 2 cassettes together, or have 1.5 length cassettes (for longer locos/coaches - or even 1/2 length). Otherwise, looks wonderful.
Hi James. You are a man who is full of bright ideas! A long time ago there was an article in Railway Modeller that featured this idea in vertical form. If I were you, I would think about running the trains into a display case on the wall, with the transverser operating vertically, as this will require much less space! Thanks for uploading.
love your approach to solving issues.. you have the start of a great niche business here, I wish you all the best.
Thanks so much Paul. Whatever I've started, it's all by accident, but good fun though. :)
My best wishes,
James
Excellent stuff, as usual, James. On the matter of power supply by magnets, I have no experience, but in case you hadn't seen it Kathy Millett used magnets both to support her fiddle yard and to power it, on her Port Dinorwic layout that was shown briefly on the Hornby programme on the Yesterday channel (and extensively on her youtube channel).
I suspect that, while it will work, using foam at the end of you cassettes will not satisfy you, and you'll come up with a more engineered solution. For me the issue with foam blocks will be that I'd be forever losing them. Foam will still be useful to protect buffers/couplings of stock on the cassettes in transit, but I suspect a simplified version of what you described will work best - something that's attached to the cassette (so it's always there when you need it), probably with a foam insert, and that can be swung down into place. Could you make an additional vertical thing (technical term) that swivelled to provide the end block? Almost like the ice cube packing that many ready-to-run locos now use?
Hi James
That looks like a great version of the cassette and looking forward to seeing the turntable.
Cheers Kev
Brilliant video James, thank you for taking the time and trouble to demonstrate your laser cutter, really is an amazing piece of kit. Love the principal of over engineering, aka witness your countries Victorian stations and bridges, many still as good as the day they were built.
Thank you Tom. Ultimately I will need lots of cassettes, by investing the time now to perfect a system it should be no trouble to make as many as I need down the line. The laser cutter will help me to achieve consistency over time.
Hi James. Thanks for another fascinating video. You seem to be able to solve old problems in completely original ways. Brilliant. Pete.
Thank you Peter. I wish I was experienced enough to recognise these as old problems. Most of the time I tackle 'problems' only to find out later that people having been doing it that way for years. :) It's good fun though and I enjoy the thinking process. More often than not it leads me to the next problem. And so it goes on...
Thanks for watching,
James
Dear James, as always you’re able to arouse my level of amazement. Very cool and innovative design. Also, love your narrative and build up of the story, plus your design, idea and method of putting your idea into an actual prototype. Absolutely inspiring!
Thank you Vincent, that is very kind of you to say. All of this has been fermenting in the back of my brain for some time now. It's great to see it taking shape.
All the best,
James
2:13 meant your etching baths ventilation, last time you showed your new work space
4:55 forgoten track next to engine shed 🙈
5:33 looks like you end the module at the raod, get a bit further north so the embankment makes the "Module End Plate"
Rumour goes that sometimes a wild "Marshlink Area Hub Junction" and other so called "Modules" appear between "Bexhill West" and the fiddle yard "Guitar"
5:55 transfer table / traverser with long cassettes + turntable, but you wouldnt´t need latter ...
7:10 yes, as in the real world most coaches seldom change in direction (only if there is a triangular junction or a loop involved)
15:18 screw head looks a bit high maybe could catches something -> been the screws you want to replace, right?
15:58 jup, would need to see the couplers first, before thinking of fitting automation
17:40 Czech got good railway infrastructure 😉
... single / engine cassettes; as by your plan you would drive your engines from the turntable throw a empty line of long cassettes to get infront of the train again.
What if you drive into the single / engine cassettes, which "magically" flys to the beginning of the fiddle yard while performing a 180° turn, lands on the other end of the line of long cassetts in a fitting short slot?
Hello James
Looking great thus far. Your use of laser cutting and 3D printing certainly helps getting to engineering solutions more easily. I have made some 1.4 and 1.7m cassettes incorporating some of your ideas. The electrical connection via computer style pogo pins, lever / pins to stop rolling stock falling off and baseboard alignment dowels for accurate positioning on the traverser deck. There were some photos of these on an RMWeb thread but they were lost in the great photo loss event some time ago.
Perhas I will restore them and send a link when done.
The cassettes I have made have Perspex covers (keeping rolling stock clean), and they sit on traversers.
I will be interested to see your uncoupling technique as I have all my locos stores separately on the Peco SL-43 cradles which will need to be coupled and uncoupled before moving to a vertical elevator.
David
Hi David,
Thank you for clarifying that I am going in the right direction. I would be very interested to see what you have done. ,Do you have a link to your RM Web page?
I'm also interested in your vertical elevator, an idea which I've considered too.
Thanks for watching,
James
@@BexhillWest Hi James. Every time I try to send some info as requested it is deleted. Are you a member of R M Web?
Your cassette system is a masterpiece of laser cut design. The yellow pieces could be held with 3mm magnets.
Or
An extra internal flange/plate across the yellow to black join, could stop the cover from pushing off sideways, and could carry a magnet pair.
Thank you John, I'm pleased you like it. Your magnet ideas are much appreciated too. Expect to see some design revision in the near future. :)
To keep the rolling stock on the track when lifting the cassette out, make a door as part of the dust cover for the ends.
That's a great idea, thank you. I can immediately think of how to implement it too. :)
That is quite an elaborate set of complex parts. I would be very concerned about expansion and contraction due to, primarily moisture changes and secondly temperature. Personally I would have metal tooling pins at the critical interface to the layout with metal guide/ locating pins positioning each cassette into the traverser that hold in position but are slotted to allow for the mentioned expansion and contraction. For automatic electrical contact look at using sprung loaded cheese head in circuit test (ICT) pins as used by companies such as Spea and Agilent for PCB ICT, these to contact fixed conductive targets - the flat head of a brass screw would work. The cheese heads will cut through any oxide; for any electrical contact it’s both the pressure and surface area that are the two critical factors - something a lot of folk miss/ fail to understand. Hope helps, love the 3d printing and laser cutting facilities you have and parts you are capable of producing. If you stick to timber look at using Baltic birch ply , it’s extremely strong and resilient to thermal creep humidity changes. Best regards Stephen
Hi Stephen, could you offer a link to the connections? I'm building cassettes myself and these seem am ideal way of providing the electrical connection
Agreed. When I made the long cassettes they were positioned accurately via a pattern makers dowel at one end (typically used as baseboard alignment dowels). At the other end the one half of dowel was allowed to slide between a couple of brass blocks. Thus alllowing for expansion.
The electrical pick up pins are gold plated spring loaded one side and a flat gold plated disc the other side (embedded into the base of the cassette). If I recall the suppliers are Mouser Electronics or Digi key.
Thank you for your thoughts Stephen, you make some good points.
I've used MDF in the video as it's a cheap prototyping material, my other baseboards are Baltic birch ply. When I'm happy with this set-up, I'll recreate it in plywood. I'm using steel dowels between boards, like patern-makers dowels but of my own manufacture as I recognise the benefits.
The connectors I'm intending to use have 3 sprung loaded pogo pins in waterproof housings (not that the water-proofing will be required). I will look-up the cheese heads which you mention, as I can imagine the benefits from your description. Very helpful indeed - Thank you very much.
My best wishes,
James
@@BexhillWest Hi James, no problem; its great when you have the kit and expertise to make your own. I am now out in Canada and the humidity changes from 65% to as low as 22% as we go across the seasons causing havoc with the pine furniture (and my skin cracking). Had to plane 3/16" off the pine draws we brought out, English oak is fine. Have used, on a timber merchant specialist advice, Baltic birch (its great to work with) and on a 5.8m run get about 4 to 5mm total expansion which I take out with foam pads inserted inbetween the baseboards and walls; the baseboards are bolted to each other and the whole assembly is on stilts/ legs so free to move. When I say cheese heads they also look like a meat tenderiser so multiple contact points and you are going down the same route; never come across or needed water proof housings. Look forward to seeing how you get on. Best regards Stephen
Hi there one suggestion is to have the caset power the last 30cm of track with a micro switch to hopefully stop a locomotive running of the end ot the rail's into oblivion
Hi Paul,
That's a great idea which I'll definitely use. I have spare pins on the magnetic electrical connectors which I'm using with the cassettes. I can use them to form the switch.
Thanks for the tip,
James
Now that's a well designed traverser! An interesting idea to have them connect electrically via just putting the cassette into the holes. I'll be interested to hear which couplings you intend to use, Myself I am looking at Spratt & Winkle and have been trying to look at Flippems (an alternative to dinghams) but been having alot of hassle trying to actually get some. Cheers, Michael
Thank you Michael, I hope it all works in practice, currently it's all just theory!
I'm intending to use an interesting coupling designed by a member of our S4 area group for my coaching stock. It's a really neat idea and should work well. I'll make a little video about it soon rather than try to explain it here with words, which would make it sound far too complicated. In essence it's very simple indeed.
For wagons, I'm leaning towards hinged AJ's. My preference would be 3 link, but I'd need 8 foot long arms to reach the goods yard to uncouple them. :)
Hi James, interesting fast food delivery method at the end, the traverser should be a fun project, thinking of using a traverser for my own setup though I won't need the turntable as the motor units always run to the valley end of the line (was the same when they ran steam trains as well though in those days they did have a turntable at the top station 6,762ft above sea level in case they needed to send a loco to the next valley)
That's interesting, could you remind me of your prototype please? I recall it being a rack operated railway, but can't remember the location.
Best,
James
@@BexhillWest Wengen Switzerland, operating conditions require that the loco is always to the downhill side of the coaches/wagons, that way if the coaches ever were to become disconected from the wagon (and they are only held in place with a single small hook not unlike a basic hornby connector but on one side only) then gravity keeps them against the driving loco.
Cool. I'll look it up. :)
@@BexhillWest from the bottom station up, drivers eye view ua-cam.com/video/QvvolWLiHyM/v-deo.html my layout will go from about 5:50 to about 13:35 all be it with some bits removed as I do not have a room high enough to cover the 1073 ft height difference LOL
@@davidorf3921 correct
reason for not turning mountain steam locomotives themself; the boiler got to be completly full of water, that´s why it isn´t parallel to the track on those, instead it´s horizontal at the highest incline, which only works if the engine doesn´t make a half turn of itself (only if it ment to go down on the other side it needs turning)
Great Idea, do AWAY with servers just hire a FEW railroad operation engineers
Well there's an idea. Thank you Bobby.
DONT LASER CUT YOUR FOAM!!!!! Cutting PVC releases Chlorine gas!!!!!
Agreed, cutting PVC does.
PE, PES & PUR are safe to laser cut.
I’m using Polyethlene (PE) foam.
Hi James, in my old guy conviction laser cutting and 3D printing is "cheating". Either you build by hand all by hand, or your basically building kits, computer produced or bought. Please forgive a dinosaur his opinion.
Well you are entitled to your conviction and opinions but I always thought railway modelling is about innovation and invention otherwise we would still be running tinplate clockwork trains instead of DCC sound models , remember your railway , your rules !
a laser cutter makes short work of mass producing these items, from a business point of view it makes sense rather than spend a day in the woodworking shop cutting timber accurately.