De Graafstroom - OntraXS!

[Mark-Leigh]

Hi Vincent

I never tire of seeing this layout
Superb modelling and stunning movement , simply exquiste.

Thanks for sharing with us

[Rod Cameron]

Agreed, lots of Youtube videos to rewatch properly on theTV later.

[DougN]

Have to agree Rod. I keep watching some of yours every so often!

[vdebode]

Thanks for your nice comments!
There was a question about interference between the swan and the tjalk (sailing vessel). I have some extra info about it;

The swan swims around, the tjalk sails up and down the river and even on the fiddleyard the train turntable interferes with the tjalk going around. How did we solve these problems?
The layout started with the tjalk and in the beginning the two tricycles on which the tjalk ‘sails’ were guided by iron wire ( 1mm round) under the varnished 3.5mm ply which the water actually is. Then the swan was added and the magnet of the swan couldn’t pass the iron wire, it just got stuck. The iron wire was replaced by much thinner wire (0.3 mm, same as used on the willows) which was glued in a routed slot in the surface. The slot was closed with epoxy (still visible in the fiddleyards). The guiding of the tjalk was even better now and the magnet which pulls the swam was able to cross these wires.
First thing that was to be automated was the bridge/ tjalk crossing. The magnet of the front tricycle of the boat passes activates a reed contact under the ply, which activates the bridge. The bridge works with the Dave Rowe idea, a motor is activates with a moment switch, a via a gear box a lever makes a half circle and stops (bridge open), motor is fired again, the lever makes the second half circle and stops again (bridge closed). Now boat speed had to be very constant, why? When the speed is a tad slow (low batteries), the second tricycle of the tjalk activates the reed contact again and the bridge closes ahead of the tjalk. The tjalk is now equipped with a voltage regulator and a small lipo battery; presto constant boat speed.
I anticipated the swan/ tjalk problem. How to stop the battery operated swan cart? I extended the arm of two servo (from model aircraft) so they can block the swan cart physically (with wheels slowly spinning, a kind of silent burnout). These servo’s were operated by a toggle switch. In exhibition circumstances it was often forgotten, with quite hilarious results. I added a electronic timer, activated by another reed switch. The position of the reed contact is of course important as is the speed of the tjalk and swan, but after some tuning it works fine.
Last thing was the conflict between the turntable (complete cassette turning) and the reverse loop(?) of the tjalk. It turns in about 20cm and that is by the way completely as the real thing, albeit offstage. The turntable is operated by a push button. Because it is difficult to see (its the other side of the layout) things went wrong. With another reed contact and electronic timer the tjalk activates a red or green light just over the turntable push button. Now, when you want to operate the turntable its easy to see if its OK or not .
I hope this explains something....

Vincent.

[barrowroad]

Simply stunning Vincent and crew. Love the tjalk and swan and the family picture, it's a nice personal touch and a memory of your grandfather.

Robin

[FCA]

Wonderful depiction of Holland, you can almost feel the wind off the north sea and see the low sky.

My dad came from Hillegom which, I think, was nearby the place modelled?

Richard

[vdebode]

Thankyou both for your very nice comments

Thats funny, I live in Hillegom, its a small world.
The river Alblas is situated in de Alblasserwaard (Waard is a bit like polder, thats why the name) and it lies about 20 t0 30 km east of Rotterdam. the tramway is fictitious, the ZHTM the Zuid Hollandse Tramwegmaatschappij. But all the ingredients are correct.

Cheers,

Vincent

[dcockling]

Thanks for taking part Vincent, and especially for making the extra content for us.

Hopefully we'll be able to meet again before too much longer.

All the Best
Danny

[Lord Colnago]

Thanks for a very interesting presentation Vincent. I particularly enjoyed seeing the ingenious methods used to create the various moving features. The dental floss is well beyond the capabilities of my eyesight! Thanks again.

John.

[Petri Sallinen]

Very skillful modelling!

Petri Sallinen
6549
Helsinki, Finland

[David B]

Exquisite, Vincent. I can watch that video time and time again. Thank you. I have seen the layout 'in the flesh' and look forward to doing so again one day.

[andrewnummelin]

Uitstekend!

Perhaps an additional award should go on this page https://www.degraafstroom.com/nl/nieuws.

I'm curious - what's the origin of the name? Google Translate's "digging stream" seems very unlikely to me!

Just shown the video to my wife who commented: "Netjes, wat leuk. But where's the man with a clomp to receive his kwartje?"

(Brings back memories of when we lived in Holland: I must also say that 1947 was an excellent vintage.)

[vdebode]

Thanks all for your very nice comments! It took a long time before all the moving things worked properly, so the comments are very rewarding
Danny; hopefully we meet at S4um 2021 and it was nice to learn more of video etc.
About the translation of De Graaf, it means digging, but in this content it means the Earl or Count ( hope I got that right )
The diary on the layout is called De Graafstroom, and my uncle worked his whole life in that diary.
My grandfather was driver of the steampump (not modelled, not enough space) but I think Iain Rice made it on Bodesmeer.
The almost invisibility of a strand of dentalfloss counts also for me! Putting the strand through a wing on the video took me 20 minutes, but that should be a very boring video

Vincent

[David Thorpe]

Another lovely atmospheric layout from you, Vincent. Beautifully modelled. And while my wife doen't really pay much attention to model railway videos, she watched transfixed as the bridge opened and the tjalk slowly came through - she took some convincing that it wasn't real water. Marvellous stuff.

DT

[vdebode]

David,

Thanks for your nice words! Often are such matters are noted by non modellers, I appriciate that!
My wifes opinion in arranging the scenery is also very important for me. Such opinions are very valuable. The building of De Graafstroom went over a period of 20!years. There where some moments that there was no progress at all. Luckily Peter and Claude (started as faithfull helpers with Flintfield) participated building De Graafstroom and doing things with friends motivates also very much. All those compliments is another very rewarding piece of modelling!

Vincent

[Neil Smith]

Vincent,

I can only echo everyone else's admiration. I have seen vidoes of De Graafstroom before, and love the interplay between the swan and the tjalk!

But watching it afresh, I became curious how you achieve the operation of the lifting bridge - I can't immediately see how you did it. Maybe more invisible dental floss?!

Can you enlighten me please?

All the best

Neil

[vdebode]

Hello Neil,

Thanks for the nice words . The bridge is pulled up with an thin nylon wire, the so-called invisible wire, about 0.3? mm . This wire is guided by a loop on one of the uprights of the bridge (the one not in sight) and goes through a brass tube down under the baseboard and makes a gentle 90 degr bend so its horizontal under the baseboard. The actuator is a arm which can rotate in one direction. Its driven by an old wormgear from a loco and some more gears to slow it down. Both sides of the arm are equily long and can touch a microswitch. The wire which hoists the bridge is conected with a metal wire loop to an extending pin on the arm. With a button (or a reed contact) the microswitch is overridden and the motor starts running, till the arm rotates 180 degr, the other side of the arm hits the micro switch and the motor stops (This idea is from Dave Rowe book) So arm in one position = bridge closed, the other position = bridge open. This is the principle, of course dimensions have to match. A great thing from this Dave Rowe thing is, that albeit the rotation start abruptly, the movement of the wire start and stops very gently (has to do with the circular movement of course).

the red arrows point at the wire, just visible above the baseboard

IMG_0607 kopie.JPG (220.84 KiB) Viewed 1655 times

The green arrows point at the servo's which can hold the swan "cart"

bottomview of the layout. The bridge mechanism is covered with board, sorry

Excuses for the lack of a better photo of the bridge mechanisme, but the layout is in its transport box and not very easily unpacked
Hopefully this makes it more or less clear.
Vincent

[Neil Smith]

Thank you, Vincent! All is made clear! Another wonderful bit of ingenuity, not least as you say using the rotation of the arm to engineer an almost imperceptible movement at the start and end of each lift/drop. Wonderful stuff!

[vdebode]

My answer to Andrew about De Graafstroom was a bit short and I like to give a bit more background info about that, hopefuly I am not boring you with that. By the way, I think the best translation of De Graafstroom is the "River of the Count".
Following is from the article in the Continental Modeller about De Graafstroom
"The reader should know that my father was grew up a (non-functional) windmill in the Alblasserwaard , west of Bleskensgraaf in the province Zuid Holland. Because drawing was his hobby , he sketched it a number of times . The mill in question was the middle one out of a row of three mills. (We call that a “molengang” they have to work simultaniously)
Just a piece of history. Before the year 1000, this area a great wilderness of trees , bushes , canes, bulrush and plenty of water. By digging ditches, the land could be drained better and some agriculture could arise. Through this draining the soil settled in and also due to rising sea levels , problems arose. In 1277 Count ( this is De Graaf) Floris V installed a polder board to organise the building of dykes around the area (start of democracy!). Now the polder Alblasserwaard was kept dry by flushing (running away) of water at low tide in one of the major rivers. This went well for a few centuries, but due to the increasing settling in, the drainage became worse and worse. Between 1500 and 1600 windmills started to be used. Thus the draining river became higher than the land and the earth was actually no longer a river, but a bosom.
The steam engine, which is so well-known from the trains, also found its way to pumping stations in the Netherlands. Around 1900, the polder board decided to replace the row of three mills with a steam pumping station. The steam pumping station was built on the site of the first mill ; the second mill became the home for the driver and the third the home for the stoker. My grandfather was appointed as driver in 1910. The pumping station is still there, the second mill has been demolished , the third mill is still standing. The steam engine of the pumping station was replaced by a diesel well before WWII. It is still there as a back up.
Many family memories are attached to that mill . My father grew up there and with his brother and brother-in-law hided during the war ; my brother fished a lot there and my sister learned to swim from the jetty. Our mother made a nice picture of it . I was still in the box, so that must have been 1947."

Vincent

[hughesp87]

Vincent,

Wonderful when family history and modelling come together. I'm sure you're the first person on this forum to post a self-portrait as a toddler!

Thanks for sharing!

Geraint

[barhamd]

Thanks for a fascinating presentation Vincent.

We had similar arrangements of wind pumps in our part of the world in the Fens. I'm involved with the museum at Prickwillow near Ely which has a wonderful collection of diesel engines (the earliest from 1924) which replaced the steam engine which had themselves replaced the wind pumps.

Technically windmill only applies to mills (i.e. the sails powered millstones to grind things rather than a pump)

David

[vdebode]

Thanks Geraint and David,

I am glad you liked the story . And yes, the steam engine was replaced by a diesel in the 30'.
When I have some spare time I have to make a craddle with a toddler, there is a challenge!

Vincent

[barhamd]

Thanks Geraint and David,

I am glad you liked the story . And yes, the steam engine was replaced by a diesel in the 30'.
When I have some spare time I have to make a craddle with a toddler, there is a challenge!

Vincent

and it will need to rock at scale speed.

David

[andrewnummelin]

Vincent,

Thanks for the extra background - adds even more life to the layout.

[vdebode]

Thank you, Vincent! All is made clear! Another wonderful bit of ingenuity, not least as you say using the rotation of the arm to engineer an almost imperceptible movement at the start and end of each lift/drop. Wonderful stuff!

Yesterday I happened to find a lot of pictures of the built of De Graafstroom, they were on the memory card still in my camera
Here are the ones of the bridge mechanism. It does not look very well made, I just start putting things together till it works and then I don't feel the need to make a nice job of it, sorry for that.

The "zoomunit" drives an spare (brass housing) loco wormgear and the 1/8 "axle" protrudes through the PCB base plate. The nylon wire which operates the bridge is now clearly visible. The Omega loop in the hard brass wire (0.45) is also a safety yhing, it bends more easily than the wire snaps.

Vincent.