Took several hours but I made the train 'talk' to the motor in the rock. Sounds like a good title for a song! This is a quick sketch of the circuit I have used in the past to do the same thing between a Lego train and external Lego motor - it was much easier because they were significantly bigger. The voltage and resistor values were quite different too. Basically, when the train closes the switch, the pilot light turns on and the motor starts. The motor is very quiet so the pilot light is important.
When the hopper is not in contact with the end-of-track bumper, the pilot light is off and so is the motor. Note that three wires come out from under the bumper since I am using a parallel circuit design.
When the locomotive backs the hopper into the bumper, the brake on the Kato power supply is applied when the pilot light is lit and the motor starts turning (eventually, the screw conveyor on the top surface of the shale outcrop begins to turn loading the hopper with real HO scale ore. All three bays loaded at the same time and accounting for the center bay being smaller for this hopper.)
As soon as I move the locomotive forward, breaking the contact between the hopper and bumper, the light goes off and the motor stops. Works perfectly but is quite tricky to wire.
When the demonstrator is completed, no wires will be visible and the LED will look like a real signal light. Dogs woke me up - back to sleep now.
Rather than use a micro-switch mounted on the impact surface of the bumper (the part of the bumper hit by the hopper's coupler), I built a switch using two small pieces of conducting copper decal separated by a small horizontal gap on the bumper's impact surface. Then I changed the coupler on the hopper from plastic to metal. Carefully adjusted the coupler height so it would touch both pieces of decal to complete the circuit - the coupler is part of the electric circuit as long as it remains in contact with the bumper.
Forgot to mention where the resistor is located - in a small recess under the bumper.
A strip of the copper decal I used on the bumper.
Sketch of the bumper impact surface concept. This is just one simple example of how my trains will interact with the scenery and structures for automated animation and special effects.
Now that I have researched the bumper/hopper concept on the testbed in my electronics lab, I will refine the electronics wiring work by adding the concept to the demonstrator. As I write I can hear a distant train whistle from the Halifax Harbour direction through the light shower - all the inspiration I need.
After some consideration I have decided to support the motor inside the shale rock using ties from disassembled brass HO track. Here are two pics to illustrate.
I have decided on a way ahead with my tracks. I will custom build a Code 100 hybrid track. So, I need to move my hopper loader demonstrator from a simple piece of foam to my larger workstation. I built this workstation so it can easily be moved around. The red and black 3/4" plywood base is 16" x 23 3/4". Four metal brackets are screwed in as shown.
A 2 1/2" high, 1/4" thick, 15" x 18 1/2" wooden frame fits around the outside of the metal brackets with the inside area being the workspace. The smaller area in the front is for tools, paints, and other miscellaneous items needed to do the work.
A 3/4"-thick foam sub-base sits on the wooden base. A second foam working base will sit over this one and thats where the hopper-loader demonstrator will be built.
Love the specifics of modeling the geology. I just wish my modeling focus was a short drive down the road instead on the far side of a wide ocean (and a wider currency gap.) Of course, igneous rock doesn't lend itself to modeling the way shale does.
The auto-carloader is giving me a lot of ideas for circuits to automate the live-load track at my end-of-the-railroad colliery. Extending the time-to-load circuit to handle four different sizes of cars and multiple sequential loads should provide me with a few hours (days?) of amusement.
I especially appreciate the idea of experimenting to see what can be done. The results are sure to be better than the same amount of time spent collecting opinions from strangers, most of whom are unfamiliar with the territory and with dealing with native-to-the-place materials that don't come out of (Manufacturer) plastic bags or boxes.
Just one question. What will you do when (if) the Bay of Fundy is turned into a tidal power basin? Model the higher water level?
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Going to need more grinding/sanding capability so today I purchased this combo power tool. Will set it up this weekend.
@tomikawaTT I have chosen low tide for my model so any man-made increase will still be so far away from the high water mark that it won't be seen (LOL). I think if I live long enough, I might have to account for sea level increases due to polar ice melting.
In preparation to build custom tracks, I have downloaded and read all of the Canadian National (CN) regulations and guidelines for industrial trackage. As much as HO-scale will allow, I will adhere to CN's Engineering Specifications for Industrial Tracks, November 15, 2015 Revision. Getting right some serious now (in Maritimer speak).
Completed measurements on Code 100 Atlas ties. The cross-sectional dimensions meet the minimum required by the CN Engineering Specifications for Industrial Tracks, but fall short by over a millimeter in length. Consequently, I will not use these plastic ties. So, I'm headed out on a road trip to my Bay of Fundy property, 14.5 acres of farmland and forest, to bring home a few samples of hardwood for experimentation.
OldSchoolScratchbuilder Completed measurements on Code 100 Atlas ties. The cross-sectional dimensions meet the minimum required by the CN Engineering Specifications for Industrial Tracks, but fall short by over a millimeter in length. Consequently, I will not use these plastic ties. So, I'm headed out on a road trip to my Bay of Fundy property, 14.5 acres of farmland and forest, to bring home a few samples of hardwood for experimentation.
Alton Junction
Amen!!!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
mobilman44 Amen!!!
You win! Just got back. Very rainy but still productive. Will update once I dry out.
richhotrain I'm telling ya Scratch, handlay your own track, and while you're at it, get rid of those awful non-prototypical Atlas bumper posts and build your own.
I'm telling ya Scratch, handlay your own track, and while you're at it, get rid of those awful non-prototypical Atlas bumper posts and build your own.
Bumper posts already gone - not to specs in the CN documents. Man you guys are almost as bad as government managers - well, not quite that bad. ;)
As I have previously mentioned, for the Bay of Fundy I have to pick a point in the tidal cycle to model the coastlines and tidal rivers in my layout. I chose low tide. When I get around to modelling fishing boats, at low tide they will be sitting on the ocean floor like these in Harbourville near my property in Victoria Harbour, Nova Scotia this morning. You can see how high the water gets during high tides by the colouration on the wharf walls.
We have lots of white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) on our property and birch is on the list of hardwoods for crossties. Brought some home to experiment with once my band saw arrives next week (hopefully).
The Bay of Fundy coastline below my property features basalt cliffs. The tides gouge out the base of these cliffs causing rockfalls and forming cool caves.
There are lots of zeolite crystals inside cavities in the basalt. Eventually new cavities are exposed as the tides reshape the cliffs twice a day. These two types of zeolites were exposed today. This is stilbite NaCa2Al5Si13O36.14H2O, our provincial mineral symbol.
This one I believe is heulandite (Na,K)Ca4[Al9Si27O72].24H2O but I need to investigate a little more to be sure. Haven't seen such a large sample before! ... Confirmed!
Victoria Harbour white birch logs are cut. Need the band saw now.
In keeping with the terminology used in the CN industrial engineering specs for tracks and Plasti-Fab Ltd., my layout subgrade is made from 3/4" moulded expanded polystyrene foam plastic (EPS foam). The specific product is PlastiSpan handi-pac Insulation. Some Home Depot stores carry it. I like it because it is cut into sizes compatible with my Costco folding tables that support the entire layout.
According to CN's "Typical Cross Section Detail" dated 15 November 2015, I will need a sub-ballast thickness of 3.5 mm. I will use Grade 3 processed shale from Walton, Nova Scotia. This grade must pass through a 2-mm-dia sieve hole size. The nominal thickness of Grade 3 particles is 1 mm. I collect, crush, and sift all of my Walton shale.