My second linear motor layout is now taking shape. This is another small Aussie layout, a 48" x 17" model in T scale (1:450) of a typical but fictitious location on the outer edge of the Melbourne electric suburban network. Quite a few lines around Melbourne drop down to single track for their last station or two before the terminus. The setting is the 1970s / early 1980s, and will feature a good mix of EMU stock from that period, all 3D printed. The layout also features a working two-lane road system and level crossing, with road traffic stopping and giving way to the trains. The track plan is a simple stretched oval, which will mainly run as a point-to-point shuttle with the rear half of the oval concealed behind the backscene. Having a continuous run helps during testing, and will allow a great deal of operating flexibility. As usual, the layout will be fully automated, with up to 4 trains running in a semi-random sequence from either end of the hidden track. As with Monbulk Creek, the linear motor system is my own re-implementation of an IDL Motors product. The layout is now functionally complete, although the software is currently just a test version to prove that everything works.
Finished! And ready for its first exhibition this weekend. There are some known problems, but I can put up with them for now.
Each of these little layouts is a once-off experiment, so no further work is planned on this one. My time and effort is going into slowly expanding the repertoire of tools and techniques, improving the track and control systems, and then incorporating them into the next (more ambitious) layout. I am building about 1 layout per year at the moment. Monbulk Creek was #1, this was #2, the recently completed Dauntsey Lock is #3 and I am currently working on Penzance (SW England in 1913) as #4. The new one is a terminus, with trains terminating, originating and shunting, a small loco depot with turntable, and a reversing loop for hidden storage. Plus a busy street scene including horse-drawn vehicles. All fully automated, with completely revamped electronics and controls, and greatly improved turnouts. Anyway, for the current work in progress...
Each of these is a learning exercise, and I am happy if it achieves 80-90% of what I was hoping for. Fixing any remaining problems can involve a lot of rework, so better to move on to the next one and incorporate any necessary improvements in that one, while adding further crackpot ideas. For this particular layout, the road queuing at the crossing does not work anywhere near as well as I wanted it to. Since the video and its exhibition debut, I have improved the electronics and software somewhat, allowing slightly tighter spacing of the stopped cars, but I am limited by that version of the track. Basically, each car really needs its own stop section, i.e. its own piece of track, and I only had lloonngg (108mm) track pieces at that time which work out to a ridiculous 160 scale feet per car. Since then I have added short 36mm straights and curves and a revised switching approach, so the next time I do a crossing or traffic lights I can do it right...
I can't help being amazed at the high-tech aspect of this scale. I love the road traffic that "interacts" with the trains. Kudos to any modeler who does anything as excellent as this.
martink, I just checked out the T section. Very impressive! I love the cars stopping at the crossing. And it's great how you just keep finessing the technology. Scott