Probably Plasticville,

Join the free Yahoo! Groups Plasticville if you can.  I'm a moderator there. 

There are a  lot of Plasticville and other plastic building photos in the photo section.

Mike, age 49.
Tracy, California USA.

Hello Everybody!

A difficulty with LEDs is the chip puts out light in a narrow beam to its plastic case.  The typical round faced LED widens the pattern out some by its shape, but LEDs need a secondary lens..

A bit before Christmas, I picked up a set of 50 white LED lights under the Sylvania brand name.  The "heads" are globes with "Bart Simpson hair" spikes all around.  They still give out lots of light pointing up, but they are have the best light distribution I've seen.  I may even use them as streetlamps.

Crossposting to Plasticville & plasticvillage Yahoo! Groups and the Bachmann forum.

Professionally, I design submersible lights for boat trailers, including their optics.   

Michael R. Nickerson, age 49
Tracy, California, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Plasticville/ I'm co-mayor!

Mike, age 49 for another 3 months
Tracy, California, USA

Looks like it.

Operating in such close proximity was formerly done by blocks. (Block: an area of track needing to be electrically independent.)

• planning where the block boundaries are, then,
• putting insulation or gaps between the blocks
• putting a separate electrical feed to each block
• selectively energizing a block through an electical switch -- often set so you choose which power pack the block is connected to.

With DCC, it would be easier.

Mikke Nickerson
Tracy, California 

In the original Ffarqhar layout that the Rev Awdry made, the station came off the inside of a 4' x 6' oval.  A few sidings, but only one 'passing loop' to use the UK term for it. 

With the amount of work to be done at Ffarqhar in the morning, I expect much shuffling back and forth with engines close by each other.  It would be more fun to do this without having to power up / power down track sections to get the cars and trains in position.

Below my signature I have re-posted a story (that I write for my Yahoo! Group) that might give a better idea of what I mean.

Mike Nickerson
Tracy, California USA

Just after dawn, Ffarquhar

One of the more active goods plaftorm in Sodor was at
Ffarquhar, the terminous of Thomas' Branch. Adjacent to
a active cattle dock, there were three "spots" at the goods
platform. The "deepest" spot being the most desired by the
firms loading or unloading their goods because they could
work uninterrupted.

If a wagon in the shallow spot was not finished when it
was time for a different wagon to be moved into or out of
a deeper spot, the labourers had to secure the doors and
wait until their wagon returned. The wait usually was
fifteen to twenty minutes. Foremen tended to rush their
labourers more (Must not Delay!) at the shallower spots,
and lose their temper more readily there, too.

Thomas would watch this specticle every morning. He'd
be at the platform with Annie and Clarabell, awaiting for
time to become the first commuter train of the day to
Knapford.

Thomas would stay coupled so they could be moved on a
moment's notice. This meant Thomas was mostly
waiting when there was much shunting to be about.
By appearance only, this is inefficient, but the platform
was part of the only loop ("across-the-pond" folk call them
a runaround track) for miles. Should a complication arise,
the platform track could be cleared in about two minutes.
Such "constipations" (as Percy called it) was typically
when a shunter was found to be on the wrong end of
a wagon and thus its "way out" was blocked.
Therefore, Thomas stayed with his cars. Must not Delay!

Most of the grocers had their labourers unloading box vans
and refrigerator vans full of fresh vegetables and
produce at the goods dock. Involved were Cohan's,
Hollingsworth & Hightower, Robarts, and
even the Refreshment Lady!. This happened almost every
morning. Duck would bring these box vans / ice vans from
the Junction and set them next to the goods platform at
Ffarqhar. There would be as many as three cars being
unloaded at any one time.

After depositing these cars at the platform, and clearing
Percy on his way to the water tank (why did he not take
care of that earlier, thought he) Duck would set wagons
in and out of the Coal Dock and Oil Dock. There was a
spot, too, where loading and unloading of tank wagons
occurred. There was a tangle of pipes that connected to
Caustic Chemical, Sun Flower Oil Co., and Octopus Ink.
All the hose connections were of different shapes and
were painted a variety of colors, so no mixup of chemi-
cals to the various customers ever happened.

Until today...

I've come across these two but do not presently have any for other Thomas stuff:
http://www.trainbuddy.com/Reference/Decoding%20Engines/thomas.htm
http://www.tcsdcc.com/decoderpics/Henrygordon/HenryGordon.htm

Which you could have found at 'my' Yahoo! Group on Thomas, Great_1 (see below the message for the URL).

Mike Nickerson
Tracy, California USA

Good show, Guilford Guy!

Yep, before I had finished writing the initial post that song was going through my head.
http://www.lyricsdepot.com/monty_python/lumberjack.html

But I thought that Eric Idle(s). 

Mike Nickerson
Tracy, California USA

What I think would be neat is if the buffer light could be selectable to white or green with DCC.  Probably would take a white LED with red, blue, and green chips.  (I got in a train post with red / white / blue on the 4th of July!  Yeah!)

White meant it was a passenger train, and  green a cattle or goods train.

Basis: a downloaded book from Google Books: Rules_and_Regulations_for _the_conduct_ (of the traffic and the guidance of officers and the men in the service of the South Staffordshire Railway).  It was published circa 1860.

Mike Nickerson, age 49
Tracy, California USA

Hello, everybody!

Mavis used to not appeal to me at all.  I have changed now that I have figured out why.

It was that Mavis' sill stripes being alternating black and yellow subconciously reminded me of what I think of as a "lumberjack" shirt.  Now that I have figured out that it is a shirt, I am OK with "her."  Orange and black stripes would not remind me of a lumberjack shirt, but even though I've never seen such a stark yellow in a shirt, such is the way I am.

My office is adjacent to the production supervisor, a lady who does not dress this way in regular life, as evidenced by the times our paths have crossed in supermarkets.  But since she might get into some dirty areas, she wears a "lumberjack" shirt to work.  She is a fine person; she is just no nonsense at work.

Remarks?  Be nice, now.

So now I will get a Mavis.

Mike Nickerson
Tracy, California USA

Dear JVene,

DCC is not required.

If you are thinking about layout planning for Thomas. or Thomas of other scales or manufactures, check out my free Yahoo! Group in the text below where I boast that I am the Founder.  It has info on W. Awdry's layouts.

In deference to the Bach-man, I have spent practically all my Thomas money on Bachmann.  A Thomas regular and deluxe set, and additionally one each of #1, 3, 5, 6, and 7.  I have even bought a 'EZ Track Expander" set.

I await Emily.

Mike Nickerson, age 49
Tracy, California USA

Dear Anthony P,

A small picture works well for an avetar.  http://www.maj.com is a free host for avetars. 

I modified a picture to make a blue sky-like background using MS paint, cut its size down to 100x100 pixels and placed it on maj.

You want to end up with a .jpg file.  I downloaded XnView, a freeware program, from http://www.downloads.com that can translate between picture file types, such as from .bmp to .jpg.

Mike Nickerson, age 49
Tracy, California USA

Hello everybody!

I just received a report in my Yahoo! Group that the buffers on unmodified Thomas stock press against each other on 15" radius track.  Enough to make such sharp curves unusable for layouts where an unmodified train is hauled.

This is a shame.  Thomas stock is often short enough to tempt one to try a micro layout. http://carendt.us

If anybody modified their buffers, how did you do it and why did you pick your method?  Other information on your buffer/coupler discoveries and judgement would be nice, too.

Mike

Howdy, Simon and "board-ers!"

Quote from: Simon Greasly on May 22, 2007, 03:20:03 PM
...question about the forums for some reason i can't get my thing to put up an icon what do i do 

Simon, If you mean the picture on the left, I use http://www/maj.com as a free service to host my 100 x 100 pixel icon.  Put the URL in the "personalized picture" area of your profile.  I took a picture, and in MS Paint I covered up the background with blue that sort of looks like the sky. -- I so altered the picture that I doubt I could recognize the source.  I did it mainly to make it recognizable as that engine in such a small picture.

Quote from: Simon Greasly on May 22, 2007, 03:20:03 PM
...secondly you know how railmuseum have their tracks inset concrete how could i mimic that on a model scale? Thx again ppls

One way is to use 'mat' board, (solid card of the correct thickness) but I doubt it is easy anymore if the track is curved in the pavement area.  If you can get an older model railroad car with "pizza cutter" wheels, plaster is supposed to work.  Plaster "sets" or "cures," so once the plaster startis to get thick, you have only about 10-30 minutes to roll those wheels through to make flangeways.  You mght want to make wider and deeper flangeways with a thin steel putty knife.  And to practice a bit before doing it on your layout.  I have never tried this myself.

Mike

About wiring, Simon, books have been written on the subject (hint,hint).  I have not searched for websites or Groups, though.  But anybody can learn a lot from the Layout Design Special Interest Group (requires a free Yahoo! ID for full features.)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ldsig/

Assuming you have the basics down, here are a few hints:

• Connect power to the track frequently.  Don't depend much on rail joiners to transmit power.

• Up to 20-30 feet from the power supply, 18 guage wire is sufficient.  That is the size wire ususally found in extension cords.
  
• Neatness counts.  If a short curcuit develops, it is helpful to be able to trace wires..

• If you might want to save portions of the layout for future use, have plenty of slack in the wires near where you will separate the table tops.  If a short curcuit develops before you want to dismantle, you may cut the offending circuit at such maintenance loops as part of troubleshooting.  And there will be enough slack to reconnect the wires when you want to.
  

Mike

In the Yahoo! Group I founded, Great_1, we have information on what the Rev. Awdry did. 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Great_1/

One layout he did, Ffarquhar, has the end of Thomas' branch and  a "sneak-off" track to the quarry in 4' x 6.'  It was made in two 2' wide sections to make it easier to transport, because he often operated it at train shows. 

To fit your ideas in few square feet, could you negotiate space to make a layout that was skinny and long, fitting against the walls of a room?  With a small table-style layout, so much of your track will be curved that fitting the sfuff in that you want may not be possible.

Mike, age 49