David you continue to blow my mind, amazing. Mckinley truly is a master piece and will be your lasting legacy. Please keep the videos coming for us today and generations in the future.
I knew right when I saw the "wine rack" I knew, ya gonna need moar wine racks! hah! Great to hear you will be having trains running "through" that does not have a specific "stop / place" there. Something that I knew I would always want since my first layout years and years ago. This also can create challenging scenarios for dispatch and the like. Your enthusiasm is contagious here! Great job. Pretty good mic there as well. Ok enough blabb hah!
I have been working my way through the McKinley videos with increasing awe !!! The scale of the system is one thing, but as you point out, the locos and rolling stock to run it - just awe inspiring really. After watching this video I feel the need to try and arrange a visit. Many thanks for producing these videos and thanks to all your team for the dedication - particularly Ivana for demonstrating the weathering, and more importantly inspiring some of us to have a go at our our own locos hand stock. The computerised stuff is very impressive, and vey necessary for something as complex as McKinley. However for my small operation it is not necessary. Keep up the great work and thanks again.
Hello Phil, Thank you for your kind words . I shall share them with the team.. It encourages us to keep soldiering on. Its a bit of mission but the mountain has to be conquered... David
Goodness me. This is even more impressive than I had envisaged. The long term change of times will be much more engaging than trying to go through the whole lot in a week-end as I had previously assumed.
The mind boggles. You lot at McKinley are amazing. My hat 🎩 comes off to you . Been following for along time and you keep surprising me . Keep your amazing videos coming please. Cheers Glen
Wow. I apparently did not not fully understand your Time Machine concept/ambition... all the lights are on now! Me, I model one station on one day in history. You and the team are amazing.
My personal preference is 1966/8, love the early rail blue with small yellow panels, still steamers running, green diesels and of course the late great Kestrel.
You guys' ingenuity continues to astound me. I would love to help in January but I am almost a complete novice, so I would probably just be in the way.
Was just thinking, while watching. You have done such a good job at weathering the locos, but surely in real life, they'd keep at least some of the locos, regularly cleaned, particularly special passenger services. Have you cleaned up some locos, to make them look like they are taking special express trains, etc. Or, at least, what was the history in regarding regularly cleaning locos in that time and era. Besides which, new locos would also appear looking less weathered, as they are being introduced. Anyway. I was just pondering and wondering. Another interesting video as always. Very much look forward to each video as it comes out, even though I'm in Gippsland, Australia. More specific to this video, I guess you could set the computer to run engines up to Doncaster, to park, waiting for someone to remove them. I think I love these video's so much, because of the incredible depth you go into, and the massive number of things you have taken into consideration, while working on your railway.
Hi Benjamin, We are on the same wavelength. When I sat down with Ivana t the outset we talked about new paint and old paint (with rust and streaks) over a 5 to 10 years timespan. During that time they get dirty and get cleaned repeatedly. So we are trying to have a mix of dirt levels and paint age. Thats the plan....
Your tracking system using the RFIDs engine to cassette is so well thought out, very impressed. Had to chuckle a thought occurred to me that with a 10 x 10 matrix perhaps you could play a railway version of battleships (classes or wheel configurations) against the computer! Hope you get those outstanding cassettes alright. All the best Stephen
The complexity - and thought behind the complexity - of McKinley continues to be mind boggling. But surely you could have a reset button ("enter 100% scenic mode") on the computer, that automatically shuffles all the trains round to go back to the 50s, and all the operators need to do is refill your wine racks.😀
Yes... but we haven't written the code to do it yet. It will still need operators to assemble the trains in the stations to send back in time. The truth is... If we get this beastie running to the point where 1975 arrives I will be the happiest model railway enthusiast in the country.
When you take the measurements, it might (or should) be possible to trace them and have them cut from thin plywood with a laser cutter. I am interested in making one myself to store coupled railcars such as a TEE VT11.5, tilting railcars or permanently coupled wagons. With the solution from Peco, it is no problem to also store Märklin trains in it, because the storage bins come over the rails.
Evening David. Hope you and all the time team are all keeping well 😀 Phew that was something else looking at the the Doncaster wine rack system for exchanging the different locomotives in the right era 😮 Being born in 1957 and a long time train enthusiast McKinley Railway more or less covers my best train spotting days as I lived in Manchester so most of the area of McKinley railway I no very well 😀 Looking forward to seeing the next fantastic update cheers Stevie 👍🏻
Hi David. That style of loco lift may be no more but Peco have a replacement unit which may or may not be workable for you. I actually purchased a pair of units to try out on my n gauge layouts and they are in fact one size fits all with the end handles able to be spaced for N HO or OO plus others. Single unit is PT-60 Double unit is PT-61. I needed a double for a Black 5 so I guess you would need 2 doubles for OO which would come out at around £30 a loco. Brian
Hello brian, Thank you for your suggestion. Sod's law applies here - they dont fit into the cassettes. I'm going to wait patiently on eBay for 12 months and see how its going before experimenting with the new ones.
It's an amazing concept you must need quite a few committed operators to run this as you described. How do the operators know the time period they are working on? Would love to help do the end of year movements but it's not really feasible for me, I'm sure you will find plenty of willing volunteers though. I wonder if Pico can help you source the cassette modules. Another thought might be 3D printing. Very enjoyable video. Good luck from Spain!!
but Thomas.... There is no scenery yet and we in in the process of exercising the layout, the stock and the software. They are being tested and tested in between baseboard building and room insulation (building work). Computer control requires insane levels of reliability in the track, the system and most of all the stock. Showing trains running around bare baseboards isn't going to float anyone's boat. We are getting there and trains running through gritty scenery will come, but the horse has to lead the cart.
We got them printed - or laser cut. It's the same material we used for our control panels. Its two layer plastic which the back opaque part is etched away and we paint it with acrylics.
My friend is photographer and thinks a new calendar for 2023 with partially naked women with model trains would be eye catching. McKinley would make a lovely background for Bustybetty and luste Linda to do their stuff. What you think
So, you actually need something like a Locomotives Anonymous.. BTW quite an ambitious operation, to cycle through 20 years of operation over one year of time.
This is a really inspiring project! How do you plan to allow the audience to watch this during the year of operation? Are you planning to have a number of live-streams at a number of locations, plus a highlights video?
Could a replacement for the Logo Lifts be 3D printed? It would not need to be a clone (Copyright) but functionally the fore fill the same purpose. If you need 40 + it might be worth considering.
... or rectangular plastic cable cannals + metal L/I/T-sections (as rails and for stability) -> cassetes, but those solutions you cannot put above the track, insteed you need a gap where they fit in 😉
The planning that goes into this is extraordinary. I will have to come and see the layout once it's in operation. One question though. What happens if an operator is in the middle of a complex series of freight operations (that could take at least an hour) and the computer says "sorry, that stock needs to be retired now"?
The theory is that the District Controller should have pre-positioned new stock before zapping the old. So the Station Manager has to find different stock, OR (what a good question to pose) We will have to devise a special dispensation mechanism for the District Controller (McKinley Time Lord) to allow more use.
It might have been. Things change as the layout evolves. We hadn't considered a Loco storage rack initially. Doncaster as a Loco works seemed quite fitting. The name Hades came in quite some time ago. Then we got carried away with locations like Styx junction.
@@dattouk this change sounds better Hades being down below and Doncaster being "loco works!" One thing of course never changes, the fact you can never finish a model railway as there's always one more thing to do to improve it, keep up the good work.
TRACK OR WIFE? I am at a crossroads I am sick of my wife going on about my layout. I am thinking of kick her out and moving into the small bedroom and using the current double room for the layout. I know she makes the dinner 🥣 but I am at a point where by she say trains or her. Have any of you guys ever dealt with this. She even threatened to block Charlie from Chadwick railways say he makes me spend more money on trains ... So tough what to do so is it Track or Wife?
Hello Glenn, We won't be able to show trains running around the whole layout until mid-2023 because we are still building it. The next part is all about testing the layout, the stock and the software which might be equally dull from a viewer's perspective, but is crucial for operating a large layout. It is taking longer than we had hoped but then it is an ambitious dream. Thanks for asking nicely. David
@@dattouk Far from being dull, it's most interesting, Here is a question. Over the period you are recreating there must have been changes in the technology and I am sure some changes in signalling. How will you be able to incorporate that into the system. I am really looking forward to seeing the whole layout running so I do hope you will feature it on TH-cam for us all.
@@glennmaxfield6618 (as I ask about it some time before) signaling at Mckinley is not very era advanced, if you like to see a changeable system for it search for "Wattenscheider Signalschacht" as used amongst some (German) FREMO moduls.
I hope you liked it. The other comical suggestion on this thread was "Barry" as in the vast scrap yard in South Wales. I think that has too much tragedy associated with it though.
@@dattouk Yes, I liked it. Barry wouldn´t be geographical next to Sheffield and not reachable by track (so coaches do not get there) at the same time, as well as a point of no return to normal services for the locos. As it namely is the locos are just of the track for planned maintenance at a not landscaped location.
Have you considered 3D printing to fill the gaps? Obv. You’re going to get some loco lifts but you’ll need spares and might not even hit your target of 140…
Hi Phil, I can't - Our experience with 3-D printing is mixed and the detail in design on those Locolifts is really complex. I am patient and happy to wait. There will be some coming up over time.
Hi DYSL... The challenege with 3D printing is the complexity of the composite injection moulding around a copper running base and the aluminium extruded sides. The end caps are easy to print and the foam is available off the shelf.
Hi. I have one of the loco lifts if your interested. Send me your address and I'll put it in the post. I only have the one so it makes sense for me to start purchasing the new version instead. All the best. Andy W.
David you continue to blow my mind, amazing. Mckinley truly is a master piece and will be your lasting legacy. Please keep the videos coming for us today and generations in the future.
Thank you Simon for your encouraging email.
Thanks for the history refresher at the beginning David 👍
Thanks for the explanation. Suddenly all becomes very clear. Cheers, Bob
I knew right when I saw the "wine rack" I knew, ya gonna need moar wine racks! hah! Great to hear you will be having trains running "through" that does not have a specific "stop / place" there. Something that I knew I would always want since my first layout years and years ago. This also can create challenging scenarios for dispatch and the like. Your enthusiasm is contagious here!
Great job. Pretty good mic there as well. Ok enough blabb hah!
I have been working my way through the McKinley videos with increasing awe !!! The scale of the system is one thing, but as you point out, the locos and rolling stock to run it - just awe inspiring really. After watching this video I feel the need to try and arrange a visit.
Many thanks for producing these videos and thanks to all your team for the dedication - particularly Ivana for demonstrating the weathering, and more importantly inspiring some of us to have a go at our our own locos hand stock. The computerised stuff is very impressive, and vey necessary for something as complex as McKinley. However for my small operation it is not necessary.
Keep up the great work and thanks again.
Hello Phil,
Thank you for your kind words . I shall share them with the team.. It encourages us to keep soldiering on. Its a bit of mission but the mountain has to be conquered...
David
Thank you special your details video as great watching every time here
From Australia
Great video, as ever. Boy I'd love to come and help turn the clock all the way back at the beginning of January
Your attention to detail is mind boggling but awe inspiring! Great work as always by all the team :)
Absolutely loved seeing trains running, need much more of that. You are building a once-in-a-lifetime model railroad. Extraordinary.
Glad we please one TRB enthusiast. Thanks for the support
Goodness me. This is even more impressive than I had envisaged. The long term change of times will be much more engaging than trying to go through the whole lot in a week-end as I had previously assumed.
Its should be... The proof will be in the pudding. We still have to build the era logic into the software yet.
The mind boggles. You lot at McKinley are amazing. My hat 🎩 comes off to you .
Been following for along time and you keep surprising me . Keep your amazing videos coming please. Cheers Glen
wow that's some serious operations
Wow. I apparently did not not fully understand your Time Machine concept/ambition... all the lights are on now! Me, I model one station on one day in history. You and the team are amazing.
No Stuart... We are just plain bonkers.. It must be the sea air!
Amazing - truly a dream come true!
You are the master of Automation.
amazing system.
😎👍🏻
jim.
Wine/Train Rack clever idea. I bet that Charlie from Chadwick Railway had all the 🍷🍷 wine
Well I bet against, that Charlie got his bonuses in goodys (especially pudding 🥄)
@@lassunsschaun6859 have to watch charlie he gets everywhere on TH-cam these days
Charlie is not everywhere on youtube, only english speaking model railroading and a bit of filming nature.
@@lassunsschaun6859 He been spot in Australia 🦘
That’s going to be one hell of a quick change over! Be happy to help.
My personal preference is 1966/8, love the early rail blue with small yellow panels, still steamers running, green diesels and of course the late great Kestrel.
Mind boggling,what happen to just going to the shop and just buying a train 🚊 set haha
That still happens too.. The rest of the team get a little "unchuffed off" with me when that happens.
@@dattouk haha I expect they do😅
Absolutely brilliant. Loved it.
omg your attention to detail is mind boggling ; keep it up thank you
Thank you, I will
You guys' ingenuity continues to astound me. I would love to help in January but I am almost a complete novice, so I would probably just be in the way.
What makes you think we are any better. Everyone has to start learning somewhere here.
Was just thinking, while watching. You have done such a good job at weathering the locos, but surely in real life, they'd keep at least some of the locos, regularly cleaned, particularly special passenger services. Have you cleaned up some locos, to make them look like they are taking special express trains, etc. Or, at least, what was the history in regarding regularly cleaning locos in that time and era. Besides which, new locos would also appear looking less weathered, as they are being introduced. Anyway. I was just pondering and wondering. Another interesting video as always. Very much look forward to each video as it comes out, even though I'm in Gippsland, Australia. More specific to this video, I guess you could set the computer to run engines up to Doncaster, to park, waiting for someone to remove them. I think I love these video's so much, because of the incredible depth you go into, and the massive number of things you have taken into consideration, while working on your railway.
Hi Benjamin,
We are on the same wavelength. When I sat down with Ivana t the outset we talked about new paint and old paint (with rust and streaks) over a 5 to 10 years timespan. During that time they get dirty and get cleaned repeatedly. So we are trying to have a mix of dirt levels and paint age. Thats the plan....
Your tracking system using the RFIDs engine to cassette is so well thought out, very impressed. Had to chuckle a thought occurred to me that with a 10 x 10 matrix perhaps you could play a railway version of battleships (classes or wheel configurations) against the computer! Hope you get those outstanding cassettes alright. All the best Stephen
Most excellent idea... Battleships - Flipping expensive game though blowing up those Locos.
an excellent idea
I wish I stayed nearer! I would love to come be an operator on this railway!
This is a layout I would love to be able to visit. Fantastic work 👏
Where are you based?
@@dattouk I live in Brighton Sussex. I won't be able to drive until December because of a serious heart attack.
Would love to visit when I'm better.
Yet again, fascinating and nice to see some glimpses of the modelled area locations. Will we see some actual operations soon? 👍😎
Later this year for operators, but scenic train movements is a while off yet.
The complexity - and thought behind the complexity - of McKinley continues to be mind boggling.
But surely you could have a reset button ("enter 100% scenic mode") on the computer, that automatically shuffles all the trains round to go back to the 50s, and all the operators need to do is refill your wine racks.😀
Yes... but we haven't written the code to do it yet. It will still need operators to assemble the trains in the stations to send back in time.
The truth is... If we get this beastie running to the point where 1975 arrives I will be the happiest model railway enthusiast in the country.
When you take the measurements, it might (or should) be possible to trace them and have them cut from thin plywood with a laser cutter. I am interested in making one myself to store coupled railcars such as a TEE VT11.5, tilting railcars or permanently coupled wagons. With the solution from Peco, it is no problem to also store Märklin trains in it, because the storage bins come over the rails.
Evening David. Hope you and all the time team are all keeping well 😀 Phew that was something else looking at the the Doncaster wine rack system for exchanging the different locomotives in the right era 😮 Being born in 1957 and a long time train enthusiast McKinley Railway more or less covers my best train spotting days as I lived in Manchester so most of the area of McKinley railway I no very well 😀 Looking forward to seeing the next fantastic update cheers Stevie 👍🏻
Thanks for your comments Stevie. Let's hope when we start operating it properly you don't spot too many time related errors.
Hi David. That style of loco lift may be no more but Peco have a replacement unit which may or may not be workable for you. I actually purchased a pair of units to try out on my n gauge layouts and they are in fact one size fits all with the end handles able to be spaced for N HO or OO plus others. Single unit is PT-60 Double unit is PT-61. I needed a double for a Black 5 so I guess you would need 2 doubles for OO which would come out at around £30 a loco. Brian
Hello brian,
Thank you for your suggestion. Sod's law applies here - they dont fit into the cassettes. I'm going to wait patiently on eBay for 12 months and see how its going before experimenting with the new ones.
@@dattouk be
Hi , great stuff as usual . Have you thought about 3d printing for the lifts . Should be possible i think , cheers Frank.
It's an amazing concept you must need quite a few committed operators to run this as you described. How do the operators know the time period they are working on?
Would love to help do the end of year movements but it's not really feasible for me, I'm sure you will find plenty of willing volunteers though.
I wonder if Pico can help you source the cassette modules. Another thought might be 3D printing.
Very enjoyable video.
Good luck from Spain!!
You may or may not have seen these, and I've no idea if they'll fit, but DCC concepts make a loco cradle in three lengths, 360/460/560mm
Also I am begging you to film some running sessions on the new parts of the layout. They look so fun to navigate
but Thomas.... There is no scenery yet and we in in the process of exercising the layout, the stock and the software. They are being tested and tested in between baseboard building and room insulation (building work). Computer control requires insane levels of reliability in the track, the system and most of all the stock. Showing trains running around bare baseboards isn't going to float anyone's boat. We are getting there and trains running through gritty scenery will come, but the horse has to lead the cart.
I’d be almost tempted to call it Barry, rather than Doncaster :)
Thats an idea, Barry Island would have got some laughs from the team.
Where did you get the nice A1 etc labels from? I really like them.
We got them printed - or laser cut. It's the same material we used for our control panels. Its two layer plastic which the back opaque part is etched away and we paint it with acrylics.
My friend is photographer and thinks a new calendar for 2023 with partially naked women with model trains would be eye catching. McKinley would make a lovely background for Bustybetty and luste Linda to do their stuff. What you think
So, you actually need something like a Locomotives Anonymous..
BTW quite an ambitious operation, to cycle through 20 years of operation over one year of time.
This is a really inspiring project! How do you plan to allow the audience to watch this during the year of operation? Are you planning to have a number of live-streams at a number of locations, plus a highlights video?
Could a replacement for the Logo Lifts be 3D printed? It would not need to be a clone (Copyright) but functionally the fore fill the same purpose. If you need 40 + it might be worth considering.
you could 3d print more of those bays, it's actually rather simple & you can customize them even more
Or I would be happy to have a go at laser cutting a clone in ply and/or MDF if you don't have any joy locating more Peco locolifts
... or rectangular plastic cable cannals + metal L/I/T-sections (as rails and for stability) -> cassetes,
but those solutions you cannot put above the track, insteed you need a gap where they fit in 😉
The planning that goes into this is extraordinary. I will have to come and see the layout once it's in operation. One question though. What happens if an operator is in the middle of a complex series of freight operations (that could take at least an hour) and the computer says "sorry, that stock needs to be retired now"?
The theory is that the District Controller should have pre-positioned new stock before zapping the old. So the Station Manager has to find different stock, OR (what a good question to pose) We will have to devise a special dispensation mechanism for the District Controller (McKinley Time Lord) to allow more use.
Wasn't the original name for Hades, Doncaster?
It might have been. Things change as the layout evolves. We hadn't considered a Loco storage rack initially. Doncaster as a Loco works seemed quite fitting. The name Hades came in quite some time ago. Then we got carried away with locations like Styx junction.
@@dattouk this change sounds better Hades being down below and Doncaster being "loco works!" One thing of course never changes, the fact you can never finish a model railway as there's always one more thing to do to improve it, keep up the good work.
I trying this idea but I have 46 bottles of 🍷 wine to drink now
Pecos now make an improved version of the loco lift
TRACK OR WIFE? I am at a crossroads I am sick of my wife going on about my layout. I am thinking of kick her out and moving into the small bedroom and using the current double room for the layout. I know she makes the dinner 🥣 but I am at a point where by she say trains or her. Have any of you guys ever dealt with this. She even threatened to block Charlie from Chadwick railways say he makes me spend more money on trains ... So tough what to do so is it Track or Wife?
Can you give us a schedule of the time frames as to when operations will start.
Hello Glenn,
We won't be able to show trains running around the whole layout until mid-2023 because we are still building it. The next part is all about testing the layout, the stock and the software which might be equally dull from a viewer's perspective, but is crucial for operating a large layout. It is taking longer than we had hoped but then it is an ambitious dream.
Thanks for asking nicely.
David
@@dattouk Far from being dull, it's most interesting, Here is a question. Over the period you are recreating there must have been changes in the technology and I am sure some changes in signalling. How will you be able to incorporate that into the system. I am really looking forward to seeing the whole layout running so I do hope you will feature it on TH-cam for us all.
@@glennmaxfield6618 (as I ask about it some time before) signaling at Mckinley is not very era advanced,
if you like to see a changeable system for it search for "Wattenscheider Signalschacht" as used amongst some (German) FREMO moduls.
smart idea (wine case)
12:36 could also be used as sign on open days 😉
I hope you liked it. The other comical suggestion on this thread was "Barry" as in the vast scrap yard in South Wales. I think that has too much tragedy associated with it though.
@@dattouk Yes, I liked it.
Barry wouldn´t be geographical next to Sheffield and not reachable by track (so coaches do not get there) at the same time, as well as a point of no return to normal services for the locos.
As it namely is the locos are just of the track for planned maintenance at a not landscaped location.
Have you considered 3D printing to fill the gaps? Obv. You’re going to get some loco lifts but you’ll need spares and might not even hit your target of 140…
Hi Phil, I can't - Our experience with 3-D printing is mixed and the detail in design on those Locolifts is really complex. I am patient and happy to wait. There will be some coming up over time.
how many tables does the database have ? between 100-200
There are about 90 times in total. Many are lookup ones.
Maybe someone could 3d print you some loco lift clones?
Hi DYSL... The challenege with 3D printing is the complexity of the composite injection moulding around a copper running base and the aluminium extruded sides. The end caps are easy to print and the foam is available off the shelf.
@@dattouk aha, sorry I have not seen one close up, so it was a shot in the dark! 😊
Hi.
I have one of the loco lifts if your interested. Send me your address and I'll put it in the post. I only have the one so it makes sense for me to start purchasing the new version instead.
All the best.
Andy W.
Hello Andrew. That is so kind. Ping me an email - the address is in the comments. I can then send you details.