Pete Waterman's "Making Tracks 3"
Discussion
Anyone else following the modelling of Making Tracks 3 - adding Milton Keynes station to their West Coast Main Line "Making Tracks 2" OO-scale model? The overall layout will be over 150 feet long, the station itself is 32 feet long. And the modelling is an astonishing level of detail, right down to plastic bags with litter in the station bins! Everything scratch built, catenery, the architecture, vehicles, the lot. The layout will be at Chester Cathedral in July and the public can control the trains via tablets, there is real time signalling and platform indicator boards. I've been following Railnuts on Facebook who produce a weekly video and keep their Facebook album updated with pictures and progress reports. Incredible stuff.
Edited by 48k on Monday 12th June 11:56
Well, it's done, and they have boxed it all up and taken it to Chester Cathedral. Looks very, very good. Exhibition runs from tomorrow until 2nd September.
Video covering the setup at the cathedral
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUQZJRmwtE
40 mins long but quite interesting to see how they deal with the challenges and logistics of setting up such a big layout.
Video covering the setup at the cathedral
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUQZJRmwtE
40 mins long but quite interesting to see how they deal with the challenges and logistics of setting up such a big layout.
Speedy11 said:
If you have any questions just ask away.
Does Dave the miserable chippy ever cheer up? 
Has the group decided on a favourite biscuit for the tea breaks (there seems to be a lot of research on this)?
Is Pete ever wrong?
Joking aside, as someone who lives just outside MK and is very familiar with the station it has been an absolute pleasure watching the progress on RailNuts and the YT videos, and some of the challenges and problem solving. The attention to detail is astonishing. I think you are doing stuff that has never been attempted before and it's very inspiring.
I saw on the latest vid there was a bit of remedial work needed on the catenary, but aside from that did everything get to Chester in one piece?
Speedy11 said:
48k said:
Does Dave the miserable chippy ever cheer up?
Has the group decided on a favourite biscuit for the tea breaks (there seems to be a lot of research on this)?
Is Pete ever wrong?
Joking aside, as someone who lives just outside MK and is very familiar with the station it has been an absolute pleasure watching the progress on RailNuts and the YT videos, and some of the challenges and problem solving. The attention to detail is astonishing. I think you are doing stuff that has never been attempted before and it's very inspiring.
I saw on the latest vid there was a bit of remedial work needed on the catenary, but aside from that did everything get to Chester in one piece?
Dave is great, he just has his way of working and easily gets frustrated which doesn't always come across well on camera. Has the group decided on a favourite biscuit for the tea breaks (there seems to be a lot of research on this)?
Is Pete ever wrong?
Joking aside, as someone who lives just outside MK and is very familiar with the station it has been an absolute pleasure watching the progress on RailNuts and the YT videos, and some of the challenges and problem solving. The attention to detail is astonishing. I think you are doing stuff that has never been attempted before and it's very inspiring.
I saw on the latest vid there was a bit of remedial work needed on the catenary, but aside from that did everything get to Chester in one piece?
Currently we are favouring Lidl's cookies and Costco's chocolate brownies.
Pete.... well Pete can be forceful with his opinions but I often wear him down.
It took two van trips for everything to get the cathedral and it all arrived safely but it is only really 30 mins from Pete's so not far for it to travel, the catenary wasn't damaged just not quite finished.
Thanks, it has been a lot of work and it has taken over my life really over the past few months which whilst trying to run a small business has been a bit of a challenge. Really the layout needs another couple of months spending on it but we had a strict deadline which we couldn't miss, but yesterday we opened for the 1st day, we had a few little niggles in the 1st hour but after that most of the trains that left came back
only real issues were the speed signs/axle counters which were too close and they kept derailing the stock and we had a short somewhere that stopped running for about 15 mins that which out to be the sleeper set.Thanks for taking the time to reply. I had figured out who you were from the link in your profile but didn't want to reveal your real life identity.
I definitely think you went down the right route with the arduinos. And I think you made a comment in one of the videos that at the price they are, they are pretty much disposable if something gets damaged or goes wrong. And tackling the big problems by breaking them down in to smaller ones and effectively treating each board as a mini layout in its own right makes testing a lot easier like you say.
Don't think I can get up to Chester but will definitely be visiting MK as it is literally just down the road. Really looking forward to seeing the full end to end running. I assume people are going to have to have binoculars and walkie talkies just to coordinate everything
I definitely think you went down the right route with the arduinos. And I think you made a comment in one of the videos that at the price they are, they are pretty much disposable if something gets damaged or goes wrong. And tackling the big problems by breaking them down in to smaller ones and effectively treating each board as a mini layout in its own right makes testing a lot easier like you say.
Don't think I can get up to Chester but will definitely be visiting MK as it is literally just down the road. Really looking forward to seeing the full end to end running. I assume people are going to have to have binoculars and walkie talkies just to coordinate everything
Edited by 48k on Friday 28th July 18:55
Speedy11 said:
48k said:
What it needs is a Raildar-esque schematic web page where you can watch the real time movements on the whole layout.
Following the trains electronically isn't an issue, more following the trains to stop an issue with derailing. But we will have experienced operators at GETS so that will hopefully help. The layout runs much better if you just leave the controls alone once the train has left, constantly fiddling is what causes the issues.What **I** need is a Raildar-esque schematic web page where **I** can watch the real time movements on the whole layout from my home in MK and enjoy the layout without actually being there. The live webcam stuff is good but it doesn't show me actually what is going on.
Just another channel to engage with your audience. Whether it's useful to the operators would be a bi-product.
jet_noise said:
Good idea 48k. A webcam or two, er, too?
The live webcams are here: https://railcam.uk/mt3/
(thanks Pete) 
Speedy11 said:
If you have any questions just ask away.
Just watching the latest MegaPoints video showing people driving the trains - each one I watched had their train leaving the fiddle yard and was routed around and through platforms 5/6 at the station. ie. the train was always on the outside of the layout. Is that done deliberately, so that the other paths are cleared for the experts to run the other trains and provide interest and separation? Or was that just coincidence? ie. could a member of the public take a train and drive it in to the bay platform and reverse it back out again for example? Or is it the case that the public trains are always on the outside and just do a lap ?
Just got back from a nice morning at GETS. It was absolutely heaving. Lots of layouts being displayed and a ton of trade stands, not just in the main arena but in the side area and two balconies as well. Nice to meet Speedy11 and see Making Tracks 1, 2 and 3 altogether. It sounds silly to say it but you really don't appreciate just how big 152 feet is until you see it in the flesh. An impressive layout for sure. Looking forward to seeing next years epic already.
Speedy11 said:
I don't know if you can tell but I don't particularly like being filmed .
I chuckled at the tiff in the previous video ."I'm many things but I'm not stupid" .
. Daves videos are nothing if not warts and all. I like the most recent one with Dave suggesting Chris has could orientate the RFID cards better because the wires are all sticking out of the top. "Wouldn't it be neater if the wires came out of the bottom?" *glare* *stony silence* Joking aside it's great to see how much progress is being made on all the niggly little jobs that you have never had time to sort out until now. The issue with the track join from the fiddle yard wasn't obvious until this latest video but now it all makes sense. Chris has the departure boards working. The couplings stuff was interesting.
Really looking forward to seeing everything at 100% for Christmas.
Astonishing. It's just astonishing, there are no other words for it.
Many many congratulations to the Railnuts and thanks Speedy11 again for taking the time to share some insights. Some very unique challenges to overcome operating a layout at that scale (pardon the pun) and fascinating to hear about.
It's difficult to really comprehend how big the layout is until you sit in on a cab ride:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IinMiL9giQE
And all the time remind yourself - this is a portable layout that packs down in to cases and goes in to vans.
A well deserved World Record.
Many many congratulations to the Railnuts and thanks Speedy11 again for taking the time to share some insights. Some very unique challenges to overcome operating a layout at that scale (pardon the pun) and fascinating to hear about.
It's difficult to really comprehend how big the layout is until you sit in on a cab ride:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IinMiL9giQE
And all the time remind yourself - this is a portable layout that packs down in to cases and goes in to vans.
A well deserved World Record.
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