iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I am building a controller for my N scale layout. It includes a slider to set the speed, a toggle switch for the direction and toggles for all the turnouts. It will be wireless, using Bluetooth Low Energy to broadcast its state. In case, it's not obvious: it is 3D printed.

Side view of a white minimalist model railroad controller. In the foreground is the black slider which controls the speed. The rest of the box has a dozen toggle switches to control the turnouts.

three quarter top view of the same box on a green cutting mat. The tracks are shown in black.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

My rain water barrel installation is "Instagram ready"! (The barrel itself will arrive next Saturday) The base is raised just enough to allow filling a watering can from the spigot located at the base of the barrel. I will cut and finish the downspout once the barrel is here.

Weird angle view of a foundation for a rain barrel. It is made of concrete blocks and pavers. There is a green watering can next to it. On the left of the image, there is a pile of lumber. All of it is set against a grey wall.

Close up side view of the rain barrel foundation.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Let's not forget the original one.

A FIAT 600 Multipa painted in two tones of green.
Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_600#Multipla

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I call this tool Anatole. 1000 Internet point if you can figure out this terrible steam locomotive based pun.

Picture of a hammer having a head made of rubber and a wood handle. It is laying on an outdoor wood table.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Silliness continues... www.slate.auto/en/monster-j...

A Slate pickup truck in black with yellow strips and wheels. The text reads: "SLATE x MONSTER JAMS" and "ARENA ENERGY. GARAGE FRIENDLY."

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It's a Dodge Viper tribute...

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Pausing the video yielded this amazing image!

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It's similar to this list of special bolts, which has been kicking around in mechanical engineering circles for decades:

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Like this ? www.ebay.com/itm/38992399...

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Here it is, pictured on the transporter.

A green Citroen DS convertible loaded on a grey car transporter which is also a DS!

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

You know cars have gotten too tall/big when someone invented this... #weirdcarbs www.amazon.com/dp/B08X6PR2N...

Product picture for a bright orange step that attaches to a car door latch. It looks like it will totally not damage your car...

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Milling the slots to make them wider.

Close up view of a small milling machine's table. A brass part is held down with four clamps in a setup which mostly not sketchy. A 3mm end mill is held in the machine's spindle and is just right of the part. In the foreground, there is the sensor for the DRO's X axis and stainless steel strip that protect the magnetic scale.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

#weircarbs , I need your help. What is this car?

Rear 3/4 view of mystery grey roadster with a hard top.

Same car, view from the side. It is parked under a fabric canopy and held in place by a brick under its front right wheel.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This custom plate is very much if you know, you know. (explanation in ALT)

A Toyota RAV4 EV (which power train comes from Tesla) with the custom license plate MODEL 4.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Using steel nuts to hold the rails to the bottom of the brass frogs was not the best idea... Hopefully, they will come out without breaking the brass screws...

Bottom view of the center parts of gauge one track switches. Some rails are held to the frog with brass nuts that look fine, the others are held with steel nuts that are rusted.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Part of one of the switches is ready for transport to the workshop where it has a date with a milling machine.

Top view of a garden railway. On the right, there is a track switch with all its central parts missing. On the left is a small flat car loaded with track tools and the parts that were removed from the switch.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This might be the first time some used gauge blocks in a garden! I built two switches for my garden railroad and somehow ended machining the two frogs with different dimensions! So after some careful measurements, they both need more material taken out...

Top view of a garden railroad. A switch is visible on the right. On the strait track there are some pliers (OK) and a box of gauge blocs (wait, what?).

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Back in last November, I bought my first N scale train. It features a BN locomotive. I wanted a matching caboose, but none were available at the time. However, Atlas had one available for pre-order. I figured getting a brand new model would be worth the wait... Well, it finally arrived!

N scale models of an NW2 locomotive (on the left) and caboose (on the right). They are both painted for Burlington Northern but have very different shade of green.

The underside of the caboose. There is writing molded into the black plastic: "(C) 1996 ATLAS CHINA". Also visible are the metal wheels I installed in place of the plastic ones that came fitted to this model.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

In my neighborhood, there someone who obviously works for Tesla.

A Tesla Cybercab parked on a residential driveway. On the side, there is text that indicates that it is an engineering prototype. It does have a steering wheel and presumably other controls.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

And a Renault Service paint job. And yes, I do realize these are two doors. www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/u...

A two door JEEP Cherokee painted white with a yellow stripe. On the door, there is text that reads: "Renault Service".

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

🚨Good Lincoln alert!🚨 It look like it might be unrestored. #weirdcarbs

Three quarter front view of a white Lincoln Continental mark II. It is white with a tan convertible top. It is parking a lot with various modern cars around it.

Side view of a Lincoln Continental Mark II sedan convertible. It has white paint and a tan fabric top.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I use prototypical four bolt rail joiners on this layout. While I van use an off the shelf driver to turn the 0-80 sized screws, I made my own wrench to handle the very small nuts.

Close up of a gauge 1 (45 mm between the rails) garden railroad track. At the bottom of the photo there is a silvered color off the shelf miniature nut driver. In the center of the image, from left to right, there is a bit of wood I should have removed before taking the photo, a 0-80 screw and a home made nut holder with a barely visible nut in it. At the top of the photo, there are a pair of rail joints with barely visible rail joiners.

"Action shot" of the tools shown in the previous photo.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Building a model railroad outdoors presents some issues usually not fount indoors, such as uneven ground settlement. In this case, the tracks leading to the turntable ended so much higher that it pulled the rails off the one tie which is glued to the turntable pit. More details in the alt

Gauge 1 model railroad yacks viewed head on. They lead to a turntable. The concrete pit and table support rail are visible in the foreground. The rails on the right track were pull off the tie connected to the pit due to uneven ground settlement.

Two gauge 1 model railroad tracks leading to a turntable. The foreground track had its ballast removed, showing the white PVC support structure below it. At the very bottom of the photo, there is a yellow 4' long level. In the very right end, there is a belt sander ready to shave down the support structure.

The two same tracks. The one on the left has no ballast while the one on the right has been moved aside to give access to the white PVC support sructure.

Close up of the tracks leading to the turn table. The one in the foreground has no ballast while the one in the back is still fully ballasted.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

This reminds me of the pylons in flood prone areas in Taiwan.

A high voltage pylon mounted on top of a concrete footing.
Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Taiwan?wprov=sfti1#

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

And here it is "in action". The rails do line up but they can still be pushed out of alignment once joined.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

My N scale model railroad is built on bookshelves. I want to be able to pull out each section straight out, without having to deal with rail joiners or Unijoiners. So I thought I would try some magnets. This proof of concept works but needs some tweaking. See ALT for more details.

Two short sections of N scale Unitrack, end to end with no Unijoiners between them. What kind of magic is this?

Bottom view of the same track sections. It is not magic, it is magnets! In place of the Unijoiners, there are for magnets held in place by 3D printed parts.

Close up of the two track sections. One is flat on the table (green and gold cutting mat) and the other is on top of the first one, with its magnetic end facing the camera. Each black 3D printed part holds a magnet and has a hole that might receive a pogo pin to transfer power.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

You are working in my house! By the way, how did you select the blue paint for it? When I built mine, I went down into the rabbit hole and could not find a definitive answer on the right shade. In the end, I just picked what looked right to me at the hardware store!

A blue door made to look like the outside of the TARDIS. It leads from a garage into a house.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Meanwhile some engineer in California gets to take one home...

A Tesla Cybertaxi looking even more dorky than isial by being parked on a suburban driveway.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This reminds me of that time I needed to transport a table and four chairs...

A white FIAT 500 with a wood table strapped to its roof rack.

Three chairs in the back of the same car.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Volvo 700 are getting quite rare, at least around here.

A dark red Volvo 740 on a residential street. There is a hedge in the foreground that blocks the view of the very bottom of the car. A grey car with black racing stripes is parked behind the Volvo.

Rear view of the same car showing off its boxy design.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

This promotional vehicle from the UK (based on a Mini!) is the closest thing I can think of... nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/collections/...

An orange colored and shaped car. On the side, there is green text that reads: The Amazing OUTSPAN Orange", the same text is partially visible on the front, along with a UK license plate as these vehicle are road legal!

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Open Street Map is still correct.

A screen shot of Open Street Map featuring the correct name of a lake.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Over the last few days, I did some extensive organisation and cleaning in the garage. I was wondering when was the last time I did it when I came across this... It still works and has a file from 2013!

A the top, USB SD card reader (white with a clear card cover). It is a SanDisk MicroMate.
At the bottom there is a 256MB SD card which is quite old!

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I built an N scale bridge! It is removable and held in place by magnetic connectors which send power across the gap. More details in the alt.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I owned a Saturn LW300. I don't really miss it, but that did not stop me from taking pictures of this one. All Saturns are quite rare these days!

A blue Saturn LW parked on a residential street.

Same car, viewed from the back showing off its wagony goodness.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

How is your day going? Me? Aside from breaking a concrete drill bit, just fine...

A broken concrete drill bit laying on a wood topped workbench.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I would use one that has a proven (half!) track record.

Black and white picture of the "croisière jaune", Paris to Beijing in 1931. There are two Citroen half tracks with two men standing next to them. The car in the foreground is pulling a trailer.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I like that these two cars exist. Would I buy one of them? No!

Two BMW three series parked along a residential street. The one on the left is a dark blue convertible with a custom yellow on black California license plate that reads: WYDTFIT. The car is lowered and does have very wide tires.
The one on the right is a silver convertible lowered onto pink tri-spoke wheels.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Looks like someone is visiting California in their JDM Prado all the way from Montana 🙄

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Here is someone (in France) who really likes copper colored cars...

A driveway in a French suburb. There is a Ford Ranger and a Nissan Micra. Both are painted in copper color, although not quite the same shade...

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

This Walgreens drug store still has a large “1 HOUR PHOTO” sign. I fairly sure that it is obsolete…

A drug store seen from across the street. It has silver on green sign that reads: “1 HR PHOTO”.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Someone really likes blue and purple… Not visible on the photo: the plug for charging the newer Prius is also dark blue! And yes, they do regularly charge their plug-in hybrid car…

Two dark blue Priuses (third generation on the left and fifth generation on the right) are parked on a concrete driveway in front of a purple house.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

An MG (I guess MGA, but I am no expert) with a British license plate enjoying the California sun…

The red interior of the same car. It has a polished wood dashboard and the steering wheel is on the right.

The front of the same car, showing its black and chrome grille.

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I have a small one and an even smaller one!

A small milling machine in need of a cleanup…

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Dwegmull @dwegmull.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Vehicle? What about this locomotive which is based on a standard US main line locomotive but adapted for Bazillan meter gauge (one meter between the rails instead of 1.435 meter standard gauge) so it went from 6 to 8 axles! www.progressrail.com/en/segments/...

A very large multicolor locomotive riding on meter gauge track. It looks ridiculous but gets the job done!

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