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17Aug/140

Hawksburn Station

Boredom made me hold the finger on the trigger....

Hawksburn Comeng

Who would've thought animated GIFs would ever be cool again?

10Aug/1420

r5u870 for v4l2 (Linux Kernel > 3.8?)

Update: 3pei has updated the driver to work on the latest linux releases. View his github repo here or download here.
Big thanks!

The Ricoh U5870 is a USB2.0-Video Interface Controller compliant with USB2.0 Video Class. The built-in series regulators allow power supply from 3.3V power to the R5U870 and the CMOS Sensor Module. In addition, coming in CSP package, the R5U870 is the best solution for a compact USB Camera Module.
The R5U870 comes with audio interface; MIC connection by using Audio Codec connections is possible.
This driver seems to have been left for dead... it's no longer needed as the r5u87x has replaced it for all UVM cameras. Unfortunately, the older WDM drivers still need this one and it hadn't been updated for the newest kernels or video-for-linux 2.

There have been many attempts to keep this driver alive here, here, here, here, here and here.

I have a Sony Vaio UX490N. It has a Ricoh Co., Ltd - Sony Visual Communication Camera VGP-VCC3 [R5U870] and it is WDM. It cannot use the r5u87x driver. The r5u870 exists around the web... but I couldn't find one that would work out-of-the-box on Linux Mint 17. PCNetSpec over at the peppermintos.com forums posted information and an updated driver. Unfortunately, this driver threw an error on initialisation:

[  440.587372] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[  440.620480] usbcam: registering driver r5u870 0.11.3
[  440.620532] r5u870-0: Detected Sony VGP-VCC3
[  440.620920] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[  440.620939] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 2467 at /build/buildd/linux-3.13.0/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-dev.c:779 __video_register_device+0x4ff/0x540 [videodev]()
[  440.620943] Modules linked in: r5u870(OF+) usbcam(OF) videobuf_dma_sg videobuf_core videodev ctr ccm hid_generic snd_hda_codec_realtek snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_page_alloc dm_multipath coretemp scsi_dh snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event snd_rawmidi kvm joydev arc4 snd_seq pcmcia iwl3945 serio_raw iwlegacy snd_seq_device tifm_7xx1 mac80211 snd_timer usbhid yenta_socket tifm_core pcmcia_rsrc snd btusb hid lpc_ich cfg80211 pcmcia_core soundcore bnep rfcomm bluetooth sony_laptop binfmt_misc mac_hid parport_pc ppdev lp parport dm_mirror dm_region_hash dm_log i915 i2c_algo_bit drm_kms_helper firewire_ohci psmouse(OF) firewire_core crc_itu_t drm sky2 video [last unloaded: videobuf_core]
[  440.621020] CPU: 0 PID: 2467 Comm: modprobe Tainted: GF       W  O 3.13.0-24-generic #47-Ubuntu
[  440.621023] Hardware name: Sony Corporation VGN-UX490N/VAIO                            , BIOS R0112N2 12/05/2007
[  440.621027]  00000000 00000000 e9fe5be4 c164b8c3 00000000 e9fe5c14 c10567ee c1826ffc
[  440.621036]  00000000 000009a3 f8f5a598 0000030b f8f4b54f f8f4b54f f2a7a800 ffffffff
[  440.621044]  00000000 e9fe5c24 c10568b2 00000009 00000000 e9fe5c50 f8f4b54f 00000002
[  440.621052] Call Trace:
[  440.621063]  [c164b8c3] dump_stack+0x41/0x52
[  440.621072]  [c10567ee] warn_slowpath_common+0x7e/0xa0
[  440.621084]  [f8f4b54f] ? __video_register_device+0x4ff/0x540 [videodev]
[  440.621094]  [f8f4b54f] ? __video_register_device+0x4ff/0x540 [videodev]
[  440.621100]  [c10568b2] warn_slowpath_null+0x22/0x30
[  440.621111]  [f8f4b54f] __video_register_device+0x4ff/0x540 [videodev]
[  440.621120]  [f8abd7f4] usbcam_usb_probe+0x334/0x590 [usbcam]
[  440.621128]  [c14a98b3] usb_probe_interface+0x193/0x2b0
[  440.621136]  [c140730a] ? driver_sysfs_add+0x5a/0x80
[  440.621141]  [c1407975] driver_probe_device+0x105/0x380
[  440.621147]  [c14a9089] ? usb_match_id+0x49/0x60
[  440.621153]  [c14a9166] ? usb_device_match+0x46/0x80
[  440.621158]  [c1407ca1] __driver_attach+0x71/0x80
[  440.621164]  [c1407c30] ? __device_attach+0x40/0x40
[  440.621169]  [c1405dd7] bus_for_each_dev+0x47/0x80
[  440.621175]  [c14073de] driver_attach+0x1e/0x20
[  440.621180]  [c1407c30] ? __device_attach+0x40/0x40
[  440.621186]  [c1407037] bus_add_driver+0x157/0x230
[  440.621192]  [c1408269] driver_register+0x59/0xe0
[  440.621197]  [c14a8317] usb_register_driver+0x67/0x140
[  440.621205]  [f8abcc42] ? usbcam_register_mod+0x62/0x210 [usbcam]
[  440.621213]  [f8abcd92] usbcam_register_mod+0x1b2/0x210 [usbcam]
[  440.621221]  [f8421000] ? 0xf8420fff
[  440.621228]  [f842105a] usbcam_minidrv_init+0x5a/0x1000 [r5u870]
[  440.621235]  [c1002122] do_one_initcall+0xd2/0x190
[  440.621241]  [f8421000] ? 0xf8420fff
[  440.621248]  [c104c87f] ? set_memory_nx+0x5f/0x70
[  440.621256]  [c164769a] ? set_section_ro_nx+0x54/0x59
[  440.621263]  [c10c3e9a] load_module+0x111a/0x18e0
[  440.621274]  [c10c47c5] SyS_finit_module+0x75/0xc0
[  440.621281]  [c11396db] ? vm_mmap_pgoff+0x7b/0xa0
[  440.621294]  [c1659bcd] sysenter_do_call+0x12/0x28
[  440.621298] ---[ end trace bab7f9cdd3a1dbaa ]---
[  440.621301] r5u870-0: usbcam_usb_probe: video_register_device failed
[  440.621317] r5u870: probe of 1-6:1.0 failed with error -22
[  440.623343] usbcore: registered new interface driver r5u870

The WARN indicates that there were assertions on entering the function. Inspecting the function shows that there are two WARNs to check for valid input data:

795         /* the release callback MUST be present */
796         if (WARN_ON(!vdev->release))
797                 return -EINVAL;
798         /* the v4l2_dev pointer MUST be present */
799         if (WARN_ON(!vdev->v4l2_dev))
800                 return -EINVAL;

So... guesswork.. which of these is null? Am guessing it's the v4l2_dev. We've done nothing to initialise it. Further investigation of other, more updated drivers showed that we had to call v4l2_device_register prior to video_register_device.

        #include <media/v4l2-device.h>
        ...
        struct v4l2_device v4l2_dev_tmp;
        ...
        res = v4l2_device_register(&intf->dev, &v4l2_dev_tmp);
        if (res < 0) {
                usbcam_err(udp, "Could not register v4l2 device\n");
                goto out;
        }
        udp->ud_vdev.v4l2_dev = &v4l2_dev_tmp;

The results were quite startling at 0100 hours.

camera

Download the driver here: R5U870 0.11.7.
To install all the required libraries to build: apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`.

Check that hideous screenshot... the best part? That number on the Cheese window was a count-down timer... I pressed the 'Capture' hardware button and Cheese responded by starting a 3-second count-down timer, resulting in taking a photo.

9Aug/142

Linux Mint 17 on the Sony Vaio UX490N UMPC

Right, this thing is powerful... Windows Vista came installed as default and there was no other choice than to replace with a Linux Distro. I scoured Distrowatch for a valid distribution, but had already had Linux Mint in mind.

Linux Mint

Linux Mint is fork of Ubuntu which is a distribution based on Debian.

Installation

Due to the age of the hardware, 32-bit was chosen and the ISO was downloaded. I then acquired a tool named Rufus which allows you to easily smush an ISO onto a USB stick. This stick is then bootable and we can install our distro.

The actual installation of Mint is painless... of course, you need to know how to partition and or WIPE all of your data, but that's something that I already expect you to know. One nice point is that if you choose "side-by-side" then the installer will resize your primary partition. I should check that the base Vista installation still works!

DefaultDesktop

SSH

Sure, the UX is damn handy... but the thumb-typing can be really tiresome... even if our new shells have auto-complete. Due to this, you may want to remote in from your desktop via SSH. By default, SSH isn't installed. Run the following to install it. Yes, note that we install 'ssh'... I initially expected to install sshd, but the ssh package includes this.

sudo apt-get install ssh

Press 'yes' when prompted to download the additional packages. apt-get just warns you if there are dependencies over the single package you asked for.
You can now log in to your machine on port 22. Use the account you created when you installed Mint.

ssh

Ethernet?

dmesg gets spammed with eth0 link-up, link-down messages. I imagine the device is in the unit and the dock provides the physical port?
Either way, disable it permanently:

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Add the following line:

sudo ifconfig eth0 down

Just before 'exit 0'. File should then look like:

#!/bin/sh -e
#
# rc.local
#
# This script is executed at the end of each multiuser runlevel.
# Make sure that the script will "exit 0" on success or any other
# value on error.
#
# In order to enable or disable this script just change the execution
# bits.
#
# By default this script does nothing.

sudo ifconfig eth0 down

exit 0

Touchscreen

The Vaio UX comes with a Gunze touchscreen. This works out of the box, but isn't correct calibrated by default. Once you have Mint installed, run the following in a shell:

sudo apt-get install xinput-calibrator

Once this is installed, we can now run it to get our touchscreen aligned.
Note the underscore in the executable, whereas the package had a hyphen!

xinput_calibrator

Follow the on-screen prompts. Touch the points with the stylus when asked.
You'll then be provided a configuration to store against X11:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier      "calibration"
        MatchProduct    "GUNZE USB Touch Panel"
        Option  "Calibration"   "34 992 34 970"
        Option  "SwapAxes"      "0"
EndSection

There'll be a whole lot of output... it'll even tell you where to store the configuration. Unfortunately the location they specify is incorrect. Mint wants the file in a different area. Copy the section that matches the chunk above (chances are it's exactly the same) into the clipboard and then run the following:

sudo nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf

Paste the configuration you copied and save your file.
Reboot your device just for fun... your touchscreen should now behave as expected when you touch the furthest corners!

ALPS Trackpoint

This wasn't fun... Under windows, you can disable the 'tapping'. This, just like a touchpad (of which the trackpoint is not) is the action of hitting the device with a single, focused prod. The expectation is then a 'left mouse button' click. As stated, you can easily disable this in windows, but you don't get that option out of the box on Mint.

I started hacking apart the xf86-input-evdev, but realised that disabling mouse buttons on the trackpoint meant the left-hand physical buttons were also switched off.

Fortunately, our friend Lawrence Wu on github has hacked the psmouse kernel driver for us. He's lowered the sensitivity so that our taps need to be serious in order to be registered.

The driver is managed by dkms which allows a substitute driver to be loaded in replacement of the built-in kernel driver. Below are the instructions for doing so. (Note that these have been copied and annotated from Lawrence's page. All credit to him! We thank you a lot!)

cd /usr/src/
sudo wget https://github.com/antonizoon/psmouse-ux/archive/master.zip
sudo unzip master.zip
sudo rm master.zip
sudo mv psmouse-ux-master psmouse-ux
sudo dkms add -m psmouse -v ux
sudo dkms build -m psmouse -v ux
sudo dkms install -m psmouse -v ux

At this point, as long as there have been no errors, DKMS will have hold of a tasty new psmouse driver for your trackpoint. To use this new driver, we need to unload the current psmouse driver:

sudo modprobe -r psmouse

You'll note from here that your mouse doesn't work... we've removed the link from the hardware to the windowing system. Mouse events are no longer making it through the pipes. Let's now reload what seems to be the same driver.

sudo modprobe psmouse

No output... no messages... just a mouse cursor! Try your hardest to make that little rodent 'tap'!...

Camera

There hasn't been an up-to-date driver for this camera for a long time. Due to this, I modified the driver from PCNetSpec's post to work with the UX. See more information on how this happened here. To install my driver, the instructions are as follows:

(Please disregard the warnings... I'll fix these at a later date.)

wget http://www.otenko.com/ux/r5u870-0.11.7.zip
unzip r5u870
cd r5u870/
sudo make install
sudo modprobe r5u870

Note: This is still a work in progress... Once it's working here, I'll post the final instructions.

7Aug/140

Project 6029 – Canberra

My old stomping ground... I'd spent a few late nights at the museum as a volunteer back in the day... great group of people (minimal infighting) and a great atmosphere of work getting done. We were restoring carriage roofs at the time (didn't know that you could use tar to weather-seal a carriage) and had heard murmurings of an effort to restore 'the biggest steam engine in the southern hemisphere'.

I had also heard that they were to shut the Cooma branch of the railway, as there was no funding... how were they going to possibly going to get funds to restore something a lot costlier?

Well... 8 years later, they did... they have... it works... Their blog is here. The latest photo album is here.
All photos credit to Howard Moffatt.

Update as at 13/08/2014... It turns out they're already running the loco through to the main line. Credit to Trent Nicholson for this photo:

4Aug/140

Introducing my new Sony Vaio UX490N

Have wanted one of these things for ages... finally bought one on eBay.
There used to be tons of them in Sofmap in Denden Town, Osaka.... but they were too dear for what was offered.

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See my other posts under the 'Vaio UX' Category for instructions, hints, etc...

11Jul/140

QR Rail Grinder at Ararat

The day trip was simple... take the Overland (for the first time) from Southern Cross to Ararat, spend the afternoon in town and then return on the evening V/Locity.

The afternoon freight was smack on time. But then this happened.

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This is the RG331 QR Rail Grinder. ARTC contracts it to freshen the rails around their network. I had heard something grinding away and headed for the rails... but had missed it. Fortunately it reversed and re-grinded the same location. Of note, it has quite a strange horn.

Was a pleasant surprise... have only ever previously seen it staged in sidings. Here are some shots from Yass Junction, way back in 2009.

Melbourne XPT Griffith Xplorer NRs on Steel
Steel passes Grinder QR Rail Grinder QR Rail Grinder QR Rail Grinder Melbourne XPT

15May/140

South Yarra and Hawksburn

South Yarra is a suburb of Melbourne located to the south-east of the city grid. It is a junction for the Sandringham line which splits from the Cranbourne/Pakenham and Frankston lines. Being two stops from Flinders Street Station (which may as well be known as 'Central' for suburban services) it sees a lot of traffic.

The next stop down the main line is Hawksburn and there's some fairly scenic spots along the line between these two stations. There's also a lot of traffic to be seen during daylight hours.

Most of this traffic is Metro Trains Melbourne's standard suburban stock of either the Siemens EMUs or the refurbed Comeng EMUs. Every now and then a V/Line V/Locity or N-Class hauled long-distance passenger service will come through.

Siemens EMU Comeng EMU at Hawksburn V/Line V/Locity at Hawksburn

N-Class V/Line Consist

Every so often, you'll see a freight train. There's currently four services that frequent the area:

  • Long Island Steel Train
    The first off the list has a scheduled path daily around 11:30am. It doesn't often hit this mark, usually much closer to 10:30am on weekdays and then midday on weekends.
  • Apex Gravel Train
    I've sighted the gravel train infrequently. It usually appears at around 8pm on weekdays and I've not successfully captured it during any daylight hours.
  • Morwell Paper Train
    The paper train has made an appearance in the steel train timeslots once or twice. I don't know it's exact schedule and that makes it even harder to spot.
  • Kensington Grain
    This train reverses via Caulfield or Pakenham every so often.

South Yarra Station

Everything south-bound comes through here. Heading north, you get 8 tracks towards Richmond. These tracks all cross the Yarra River at the same time on a very plain concrete bridge. Not very picturesque from afar, but there is a nice pedestrian bridge parallel to it on the east side. This bridge puts you within 2 feet of the bogies of anything southbound on the Pakenham/Dandenong line.

The platforms also provide a vantage point in either direction due to their length. There's a signal box and gantries that can provide good framing. The condos that are going up around the station also help.

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Hawksburn Station

This seems to be another one of Victorian Railways cookie-cutter station templates. 2 bi-directional lines pass through Hawksburn Station, one servicing Frankston and the other Cranbourne/Pakenham. The station was opened on the 7th of May 1879. You'll find that it is very similar to all other stations towards Caulfield.

DSC02484 DSC02486 DSC02489
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Locations

SouthYarra-Hawksburn
See the map above for some great locations around the area. I've just realised I've left the bridge north of South Yarra Station off. Not too hard to find though.

Location A: My new favourite spot

Turns out there's a really nice S-Bend between South Yarra and Hawksburn which provides some great locations for capturing these services. The approach towards Hawksburn just before the Cromwell Road overpass provides a great angle to capture traffic from South Yarra with a good amount of scenery for framing. It's also very accessible, legal and, when it's not raining, has heaps of natural light.

DSC02921

Wide shots allow great framing...

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Whereas the 200mm zoom on my NEX-5R nearly lets me get a good frame on the Jam Factory tunnel...

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Portrait shots work too...

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And if you're feeling game... you can also shoot backwards...

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Location B: Another spot on the way back to South Yarra

And, just in case you've been hanging for a service that hasn't arrived... you can follow the line back to South Yarra and, hopefully, not miss out on any shots. There's a little lane-way named Palfreyman Street. You'll want to be at the northern-most end of it. Once there, you're on the right-hand curve heading out of the Jam Factory tunnel. Depending on the time of day, the lighting can work here too.

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Location C: View from above

The Jam Factory carpark provides quite a good point for photos. You get to choose the elevation. Lighting is an issue though, especially at this time of year. As you are effectively looking east-west the sun will always be shining at you. Fortunately the condo in front of you can block the light (especially around freight-train-o-clock) and help with exposure.

I happened to catch the steel train here on the 17th of May 2014.

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Location D: No photos yet.

There's a few park benches on this grassy knoll; perfect for reading a book or a railway magazine and watching all 4 railway lines heading out of the city. You'll hear all the trains coming from the east as they approach the Jam Factory tunnel and slow down for the curve. You'll also hear anything in the other direction as they alert passengers via South Yarra Station.

I've not actually taken any shots from this location and have nothing to report. I'll do so at some point in the future and update this post.

Location E: Half-way between Hawksburn and Toorak Station

There's a pedestrian bridge half-way back between Toorak and Hawksburn Stations... The stairs on the north-side provide a good view of the rails coming from Hawksburn.

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4Apr/140

Ex-Japanese Rolling Stock in Manila

Manila was nothing like I'd expected... I suppose I had no idea what to expect, but after hearing of kidnappings, dangerous weather and chaotic traffic, I hadn't painted the best picture. Turns out it's all crap. I mean, they've had a few blows from Mother Nature in the past, but this hasn't hampered what is a bustling and vibrant city.

Apart from shopping for cheap electronic goods, I had a goal to check out as many of their modes of transport as possible. Google helped me find the Philippine National Railways ... and this then lead me down a rabbit-warren of information. It turns out the railway has been restarted many times. It used to expand all over the country, but squatters came in each time the railway closed/suspended lines. This has now lead to difficulties reclaiming the right-of-way and resuming the services. The result, currently, is that there are a limited number of services to catch and I chose one that worked out nicely when transferring from other modes of transport.

Another reason to check out PNR was that they utilise hand-me-downs from Japan. Quoting the PNR Wikipedia Page:

Surplus sleeper coaches from Japan Railways were recently acquired by PNR, and were delivered on November 2010. More used rolling stock from Japan Railways was recently acquired by PNR, and arrived in 2011 which included some 203-series EMU, Kiha 52 and Kogane Train (Kiha 59).

Judging by Google Maps and Wikipedia's page on Rail Transport in the Philippines, I worked out a path that would allow me to ride a few of the 'light rail' systems and the PNR. This meant catching the LRT from EDSA Station to Carrieda Station and then walking to Tutuban. It turns out the area from Carriedo to Tutuban is Chinatown and therefore full of markets. From Tutuban, the PNR was traversed to end up at PNR EDSA Station. This was a 45min suburban route and allowed viewing of the real Manila. A quick walk to MRT-3 Magallanes Station then allowed a trip north to Santolan Station near Greenhills shopping center for some much needed retail therapy.

LRT-1

The Manila Light Rail Transit System - Line 1 is the first of the LRTs in Manilla and runs from Baclaran to North Avenue.

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LRT-2

Walking north along Rizalo Avenue until Recto Avenue allowed the viewing of the end of LRT-2. The weather was a little temperamental and (especially at night) the high overhead railway gave the whole neighbourhood a Blade Runner feel.

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I couldn't quite work out if there were plans for expansion or if the track was simply extended to allow for a turn-back.

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PNR Tutuban Station

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PNR EDSA Station

A quick jog to the bridge let me get a few departing photos of the service I arrived on.

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PNR 203-series KIHA Rollingstock

Ex Japanese Railway stock. Towed along by a General Electic 900-Class diesel (build in GE Montreal, Canada.) I love it that they've left the pantographs on the roof.

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MRT-3

Do note to be mindful of the station staff. Don't take direct photos of them and if they tell you not to take photos, do respect their wishes!

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...must get back there...

20Mar/140

Table Railway – Continued

It's been green for a while.. but I thought I might as well provide a long-overdue update. The table layout has received a fresh coating of grass and it's in quite a reasonable state after moving house. It coped with being held upright through doorways and thrown around in the back of a car... so it seems my process of painting, gluing and spraying ballast and foliage worked well.

Painting the base scenery

The last thing one needs is white plaster showing through the scenery base. It really does ruin all of your hard work very quickly. To prevent this I coated the entire base with an appropriately-coloured paint. Japan's scenery is ultra-lush, so a dark green here will work well.

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Adding the grass

Adding grass to the green paint brings it to life. Texture is the key here and un-even-ness is to be achieved. Don't be scared to glue layer upon layer upon layer. I've used a glue/water ratio of around 3-10 to make sure everything sticks. It's a little thicker than you'll need for a layout that won't be thrown around as much as this one will.

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Sinking and Ballasting the track

I'd done this before on my previous railway and the effect is much more realistic. Although the plastic ballast that comes with Unitrack isn't ugly, it easily removes from the realism of a layout. To get around this I've cut a trench for the track and glued ballast down the sides. Be careful not to completely cover the track with glue...

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The best part? My 300 Series Shinkansen bolted round the loops at full-tilt... I really wasn't expecting it to cope. It's about time to add a city.

12Dec/130

Yet another layout…

It was about time to fill the table I'd bought from an op-shop a long time ago. I'd attempted a layout for this prior using the Arduino and CAN Bus to control it... but I somehow lost interest and demolished it. Hence we begin with the 810mm(Squared) Table Layout Version 2.0.

The space was relatively small and, thanks to my previous attempt, I knew there wasn't going to be much more than a loop-the-loop. The whole reason for building this was to run my 300 Series Shinkasen and that meant wide curves and wide clearances. For some reason I then decided that a loop-the-loop was boring and that I could fit a loop-the-loop-the-loop in.

I set to work on Anyrail.Net and found that a triple-loop was going to be tight. Unitrack had enough different radii curves to get the loops in, but I'd have to be using the tightest available... not too good for a 7-car Shinkansen. So... I started breaking the mould and making everything not-quite-fit together in the layout software. This meant slightly wider curves but potentially dangerous track joins where I would be 'stretching' the limits of unitrack to fit. Fortunately it turns out to be pretty forgiving.

I went to a not-so-local hobby store and found they had a HUGE selection of Japanese stock. I had my list printed from Anyrail and went about collecting. I also got some Walthers gradient foam for my crazy layout.

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After a little fiddling the track was laid out and temporarily elevated into place. It all worked... but was a squeeze. With nothing stuck down you'd attempt to get track to connect in one spot and it'd fall out of alignment in another... I don't really recommend jamming Unitrack together in odd formations!

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The result was a successful session of test running with all of the stock I could find!