Just like in real life

Well just like in real life,, my model railroad is going to disappear,, just like the railroads that I like to model.

A new house is in our very near future, there is zero room for the hobby. Right now it is in the garage, but at the new house the wife wants that back.

So what in the heck am I going to do with 1200 freight cars and 100 locos???? Plus all of the other stuff I have. I am trying to go the route of out of sight, out of mind. If I don't see it, I won't miss it.

I am trying to hold out, hoping that something good might happen,, but the window is closing and closing,, all most shut.

See ya

Just stuff

1 .Cobalts:

 Well, if you remember the post about the Cobalt switch machines, I thought about having a push button somewhere next to the turnout so I would not always have to use the DCC throttle to throw the switch.

My plan was to drill a hole through the homasote and 1/2" plywood just big enough for the push button to fit in. Then I was going to get a sheet material, either Masonite, polystyrene or aluminium and mount said push button to a piece of that. Then proceed to fasten that from underneath.

So I know you are thinking how am I going to reach the push button? I figured on using a piece of stock of some sort. I was thinking either a dowel, solid square stock or just something to make the push button "extend" to the roadbed surface to where I could push it.

So how do I camouflage it???? Paint it the same color as the scenery base color?. Maybe make it square or rectangle and paint it silver like some sort of mechanical dept box.

I just need to fiddle with this and see what works and what does not work. The main thing I was thinking about,, what happens if the spring in the push button is not strong enough to move the extension?  I will just have to see what works,,, any ideas from the peanut gallery?

2. Decoders:

I now have all the decoders that I need for my fleet of locos,,, now comes the task of installing all of them. I have all the drop in decoders done, now I have 10 hard wires to do. I am going to use the TCS CN and CN-GP model for these. Heck the other night was doing 3-4 drop ins in an hour. That includes putting on kapton tape on all trouble areas and soldering the motor contacts to the boards. I do not want to go back and work on a decoder that was already installed one time,,, total pet peave.

3. Backdrop:

 I do have the backdrop done, I used lightweight spackle to fill in the cracks and the screws, threw some paint on it,,, called it  DONE!!!

4. Helix:

 I have all material and components of the helix to start construction,,, I just need to get off my six and do something!!!! There is some final math to work on,, but I have the jist of what I want to accomplish.

Till next time, Greg

Cobalt DCC switch machines

After building the yard, I knew I wanted a postive throw for all the turnouts. There are plenty of ways out there, slide switch, Tortoise, caboose ground throws, and hand made springs made from wire/staples.

So after much thinking and the lack of doing a whole bunch of wiring I decided to use the new Cobalt switch machines made by DCC Concepts out of Australia.

You can see in the picture below the size is smaller than the Tortoise, they even have a provision for mounting them sideways for control of crossing gates and semaphores.

After reading up on these I realized that the wiring is super easy. Two wires from the DCC buss, and one wire from the frog,, Bam,, you have a turnout with powered frog!!! There is even more contacts to allow for control from a panel via a push buttom or toggle switch. And you can even power signals/LED's from these machines.

Programming these machines is a snap. You slide the little white switch to the left, to the "set" postion. Select the turnout number you want to control on your throttle and press the button, then once done, slide back to the right. "run" position. That is all you need to do. I use Digitrax with the DT402D. So I started by moving the little white switch to the "set" position, then I selected the Switch button on the throttle, then entered a number, then pressed either T or C. Slide the switch back to the right(run) and that is all that I did. And now I have a switch machine that I can control by using the DT402D throttle.

You are probably asking how does it know what polarity to make the frog? I asked the same thing too. I found out by using a test light on the frog and opposing rail I could check it. If it was wrong, I would just swap the wires out that go from the buss to the machine.

These machines are a snap to install,, I like them, plus it saves on all the extra wiring that you have to do with other machines. I try to make sure that when I position the machine the Thrown and Closed position are the same on the actual track switch. So if you select Throw on the 402D the turnout is aligned for the diverging route and if you select Closed, the turnout is lined for the straight route.

There are some switch machines that I am not able to rotate because of benchwork members, so I need to figure out how to change the Thrown and Closed position.

I have installed 12 so far, I plan to control these with the 402D and push buttons. Even further down the road I will use JMRI Panel Pro to control them also. I choosing to add push buttons on the fascia so you can still throw the turnouts without the main throttle. I have an idea to use a piece of square styrene next to the turnout that is numbered to match the push button on the fascia. I had also thought about fabricating something to fasten the push button next to the turnout, probably drill a hole next to the turnout. So that would keep your attention on the layout and not having to look at the fascia. Any ideas out there???

Over all I am really satisfied with there little machines from the land down under. And,,, the are cheaper than the Tortoise cousin called the SMAIL ( Slow Motion Actuator with Integrated Logic)

Wow look two blog posts in one day. I am on a roll. So hopefully I can keep going on this roll and have the layout progress quicker than it has in the past.

See ya later,

Greg

Backdrop redux

The original backdrop was 1/8" Masonite fastened directly to the sheetrock walls in my garage. Over the years silverfish have eaten through the Masonite in spots. The Masonite that I used was off the old layout, so I had plenty of joints to tape and float. With the temperature changes in the garage caused the joints to crack and peel, so I had to think of a new way to do it.

I was going to use 1/4" Masonite this time,, but the big box stores in my area were out of it, so I found some 1/4" underlayment. I also decided to fasten 3/4" material on the sheetrock first before hanging the
underlayment. The brown spots you see in the picture is where the silverfish attacked the Masonite and sheetrock.

After hanging the underlayment I was really satisfied with the way it came out. You can see in the picture above that I ran the 3/4" material below the bottom of the backdrop, I did that so I would have a surface to secure the new benchwork to.

Here is one coat of paint. The blue that I chose was a match to the blue on the printed backdrop from Realistic Backrounds. I took a section to the local big box and had the paint department match the blue. On the previous layout I had cut the sky out from the prints and just affixed the pictures to the backdrop once the paint had cured for a couple of days.

So I still need to fill the holes and fill the seams, then apply the final coat of paint. I am ready to get the new sections of benchwork up,, so I can start laying the new trackage. 

I thought about asking for help from the forums and other resources for a track plan to use. The area is question is going to be 1'-6" x 14'. Any ideas out there?

Well that is it for now, more to follow.

See ya, Greg

A head ache but well worth it!!

While surfing eBay I came across the new release of the Intermountain F7 in Milwaukee Road,, thinking,,Hmmmmm.

So I pulled the trigger!! 2 F7A's and 1 F7B. I am could see the other kinds of consists in my minds eye, GP30-F7B-GP9,,, GP9-F7B-F7A. Well you get the idea. To make sure that these units would fit my era I did some internet research and found these were still around in 1980 and maybe a little longer.

I received the decoders in the mail first, and I was excited to get the locomotives. So now I have the locos and decoders,, thinking this looks easy,, solder 4 wires in the A's and 2 wires in the B's,, then BAM done.

Wrong,, ended up being a little head ache. These decoders are the DN166i1d, which are the new series of chips from Digitrax.  To make a long story short,, you need to apply kapton tape to the frame anywhere where the motor or the decoder could possibly come in contact with, or the locomotive will not function properly.

The first A unit,, well that was frustrating,, first the wanna be MT 1015 was hard to get out, then proceeded to fall apart, ( no where did that little spring go???!!!!???). No Kapton tape the first try,, decoder took programming,, but nothing from the motor. I hooked up test leads straight to the decoder,, hmmm motor works now,, what the hey!!!!

After applying kapton tape to the inside of the motor frame where the motor might touch and putting tape in the bed where the decoder sits,, BINGO,, we have movement!!! So the A took about 4-5 times of dis-assembly to get right. The B unit took 3 times,, and the other A unit took one time!!!! See I can learn.

I would not have known to kapton tape the entire universe if it were not for Allen Heimsoth, and various internet forums.

Well I have more updates to post, just need to sit down in front of the laptop to get them done.

My next big project is to replace the backdrop in the torn down area. Might get that done this coming week, see ya'll later

Greg

Yup, it's gone....

Well since I posted last, I managed to do some demolition.

  After looking at my backdrop closer, I found an insect problem, SILVERFISH!!. So to combat that, I am going to redo the backdrop also. I plan on tearing down the existing 1/8 masonite, if I would have known about these pesky insects, I would not have screwed the masonite directly to the wall.

     So I plan to place 1x2's on the studs in order to " stand off" the new 3/16" masonite. That should reduce the surface area for the insects to attack, I also treat the affected area before re-construction.

      I figure to tear down, re-install, bed,tape, float in one day, then primer and paint the next,,, two days. Easy peasy. Then the next step is construct the new helix,, and I will leave that for another post.

See ya later,
Greg

Well it has been awhile

Howdy all!!

   Well I have been gone for a good while, but I am back with a vengeance!!! I  have been on mission acquiring the material needed for a serious upgrade. Also accomplished during this mission was getting a loco buffer/USB. After many head scratching sessions, emails to all corners of the earth....I finally was able to get it installed and working on Windows Vista. Now I just have to enter all loco data into JMRI to make my roster.

I was able to get the following items, along with other stuff...(freight cars!!!) I was hoping this day would come, to prepare I have been buying supplies here and there,, spikes,,, wire,, solder, etc etc etc. Because once I start,, I don't want to be in holding siding because the train master did not plan and purchase properly!!!

Homasote

1/2" sanded plywood

1/8" masonite

Code 55 track 

Cobalt switch machines w/DCC

Various tools to accomplish the job

I plan on tearing out the existing trackwork along the wall that the industrial section is attached to. Remove all 3/4" plywood and replace with the 1/2" plywood. I also plan on painting the homasote before one screw is used to fasten in into place. 

Here is picture of what there is now. The trackwork right now is code 80, which will be changed over to code 55.

What you do not see in this picture is where the helix used to be. Let's just say the helix is no longer with us,,( moment of silence).

The plan is to re-construct the helix using double track super elevated Kato unitrack. I am going to try a different method this time,, I going sandwich 1/8" masonite together and use all-thread supports and clear 3/8" PVC for spacers. After having my first helix being single track,, I am now going to double track. The goal is to have two trains of the 86' auto parts cars pass each other with ZERO  issues. We will see what we will see.

Well that is all for now, hopefully some more pics of work in progress to come.

See ya,

Greg