Z Scale Oil, Coal and Wind Turbine Diorama
With
Moving Fuel Tankers and a Bobcat,
And
Working Nodding Donkeys and Wind Turbine Generators
With
Moving Fuel Tankers and a Bobcat,
And
Working Nodding Donkeys and Wind Turbine Generators
OVERVIEW:
Late last year (2020) I completed a Z scale diorama centred around a town site with moving vehicles that would stop when required at traffic lights. This employed a system of linear motion to propel the motor vehicles.
When I had completed the diorama, I thought that I should make the next one have a more industrial focus.
As a result, I have produced a new diorama, again using linear motion to propel vehicles but this time with a focus upon collection of oil by Fuel Tankers and the movement of coal by a Bobcat for the replenishment of the coal in the tenders of steam locomotives.
And while I was at it, I just had to add in a couple of wind turbines. I have based these upon the GE 1.5 megawatt units. These stand 212 feet (approximately 65 metres) from the base to the nacelle and the blades are 116 feet (approximately 35 metres) in length. Even at a scale of 1:220 they are still large and keep the 3D printer running for hours on end.
Picture 1, below, shows the basic closed loop of road that is used by the fuel tankers as they go out to collect oil from the nodding donkey storage tanks and take it back to the oil depot. The two overlapping curves are used to drive the bobcat forward to collect coal and then move it across to the main coal bunker.
Picture 1.
Picture 2.
Picture 2 shows the scale of the diorama. The Translucent bobcat (on the road section in front of the matchbox) and fuel tanker (on the road at the left corner of the matchbox) can be compared to the size of the matchbox and blue biro. (The vehicles have since been painted. The bobcat is now bright yellow in colour with black tyres and the tankers have red cabs.)
For the road, I have used Connectable track that I purchased from Teeny Trains in the USA. It is designed for very small trains and has a single track. This is great for the one-way gravel road in the diorama.
I believe that this track was designed to run only one train at a time and to only power the sections where the locomotive is at any one time while switching the other sections off.
So that I could run multiple vehicles and have them anywhere on the track, I removed all of the electronics from the track pieces. I have powered each track piece separately and use a purpose-built controller to manage the power input to each track section.
This approach allows me to drive the bobcat both forward and in reverse and to change from one track section to another. It also allows me to stop a vehicle (a Fuel Tanker in this case) and keep another one moving. This can all be seen in the video.
Pictures 3 through 13 below show a number of views of the complete diorama with the lighting both turned on and off.
Picture 3.
Picture 4.
Picture 5.
This diorama reflects typical Australian countryside with orange gravel roads. The trees are Australian Golden Wattle and Eucalypts.
Picture 6.
The Nodding Donkeys shown in Pictures 7 and 8 below pump oil into the white local storage tanks for collection by the road fuel tankers.
Picture 7.
Picture 8.
The coal trucks unload their cargo into the coal bunker at the bottom left of Picture 9 below.
The Bobcat then shifts the coal over to the main storage bunker for pickup by the crane.
(The yellow Bobcat is in the shed in this picture.)
Picture 9.
Picture 10.
In this picture you can just see the Marklin Z scale locomotives underneath and behind the coaling station.
Pictures 11 through 15 can be viewed by following the links shown below.
Picture 11 shows 2 Marklin Z scale Shell tank wagons at the filling station.
Picture 11.
Picture 12.
Picture 13.
Picture 14.
Picture 15.
I have programmed the diorama to operate as follows:
Fuel Tanker Operation
- The Fuel Tankers start at the Depot. One then takes off to collect oil from a nodding donkey storage tank. After a short while the second fuel tanker leaves the Depot.
- The 2 tankers complete a circuit of the road and then park at the two nodding donkey collection points.
- After filling up, the tankers return to the Depot and await their next call-out.
- While the Fuel Tankers are having fun, the Bobcat comes out of its shed and moves over to collect coal from where it has been dumped by the coal trucks.
- The Bobcat then reverses back to the shed and drives forward and over to the main coal bunker to unload the coal.
- The Bobcat then reverses back to its shed before proceeding again to collect more coal from the coal trucks.
- After 3 of these cycles of activity, the Bobcat parks in the shed for a short while before commencing operation again.
- A red warning light flashes to indicate which section of the road is being used by the Bobcat. It acts as a warning to other vehicles, people etc.
Here is a link to short videos that shows the diorama in operation. Sooooo
Diorama in operation.
CONTROL AND ELECTRONICS:
The control of the diorama is best considered as being performed by four separate, though interlinked units.
Unit 1: Linear Motion Power Generation – Fuel Tanker Road
This component generates the 3 phase signals required to drive the linear motion coils that are embedded in the main road surface. It runs continuously and has both speed and direction control.
Unit 2: Linear Motion Power Generation – Bobcat Road
This component generates the 3 phase signals required to drive the linear motion coils that are embedded in the Bobcat road sections surfaces. It runs continuously and has both speed and direction control.
Unit 3: Fuel Tanker Control
This unit monitors the sensors in the main road to determine the positions of the vehicles. It controls their release from parking and their reparking where required. An Arduino Mega 2560 chip is used to provide this functionality.
Unit 4: Bobcat Control
This unit monitors the sensors in the Bobcat road segments to determine the position of the Bobcat. It controls the stopping and starting of the Bobcat and its direction. An Arduino Mega 2560 chip is used to provide this functionality.
COMMENTS:
I hope that this and my previous Z scale diorama have been of interest. If you have any comments or questions please get in touch.
For now, I am going back to “play” trains.
