July 2020 Journal

Tracklaying

One of my earliest projects was running track through my sump pump room to connect my staging yard with the rest of the railroad. As this was some of my earliest work, it wasn't great, especially since I had never done a liftout section. There were a number of issues with my first attempt:

• Using the Masonite guards to maintain alignment of the bridge section was not sufficiently tight and the track did not always line up.
• I overlapped track from the bridge section onto the fixed section, which led to derailments. 
• The wood support closest to the staging yard was slightly too high, so the track coming off the Homasote surface had to climb up an unnecessary grade, which led to uncoupling. 
• The staging yard is based on two entrance tracks but there was not a way to get from both tracks to all eight staging tracks. The lower staging yard is based on a single entrance track, eliminating this issue. 

As I'm getting ready to start the final phase of construction, I wanted to redo this work and eliminate all these issues. As part of this redo, I had found a code 83 double crossover at my old hobby shop in St. Paul when I was up there for MinnRail. This was exactly what I needed to resolve the access issues in the yard. The other issues were a matter of being a lot more careful in the benchwork design and tracklaying process. 

Fixing the bridge alignment took some effort, but I happened on an article talking about putting in alignment pins. It took a while to find them, but I finally found a hardware solution at Rockler with this product, called a table pin (Item #32334). They're generally used for creating removable table leafs, but they work perfectly in this application. I drilled four holes on the four corners of the removable section while the section was clamped in place. I put the male pin in the receiver section and the female section in the removable section. With these pins in place, the removable section stays exactly in place with zero wiggle at all. 

 

The complete view of the pin is here:

I also cut a new piece of 3/4" plywood to connect from the left support to the wall adjoining the staging yard, which now butts directly to the module in alignment to allow the track to go directly from the Homasote to the cork without any change in elevation. The previous piece let the track sit on the drywall instead of how it is now, with the wood piece pushed directly up against the Homasote surface. 

I arranged the double crossover on section U3 so that there would be room for the four Tortoise motors to go underneath and cut some connecting pieces of flex track to join it with the two parts of the staging yard. 

Now that the four turnouts are marked from the double crossover, the next step is to drill holes for the Tortoise throw arms to connect to the crossover. I'll also reinstall the flex track across the removable section. Once it's all dry (instead of using track nails, as I did the first time) I'll carefully cut the gaps to allow the section to be removed. Doing it this way will help ensure that the track remains aligned and eliminate those annoying derailments. 

7/11/2020 - I finished laying the track in the sump pump room and got all the track reconnected to the bus wires. Here's a tip -- make sure your wires are labeled. I had to trace wires around the room to figure out which was which, and quickly labeled them accordingly to avoid doing this again in the future. Once the track was done, I also cut the gaps for the removable section, did a little cleanup and was able to ensure that the section could be easily removed and replaced. Running some sensitive passenger cars through both sections of the track was also successful -- no derailments at all. 

7/12/2020 - I got the double crossover Tortoise motors wired up and successfully connected them to the Motorman board, which then let me control it from the computer. I also had mistakenly installed Tortoise drives under the layout without first wiring them, which meant I had to wire them under the layout. Not fun. However, I was able to get them connected with only a minor burn to my finger from the soldering iron. 

Within JMRI, I next step up track routes so that operators won't have to figure out how to throw up to four turnouts to get to each track. I set up routes 201-208 to connect tracks 1-8 to the outbound/eastbound main, and routes 211-218 to use the inbound/westbound main. Since the routes can be thrown from the Engine Driver app, this is far simpler than putting in a physical control panel. 

7/13/2020 - After getting the staging yard and sump pump room work done, my next task was to install the manual Tortoise controls on the Glenwood (U5-U6) district. I cut some Masonite fascia pieces at 5.5" tall. This gives me a small lip above the layout surface and a little bit of extra below to block the view of the wood supporting the section. 

Using my keyhole saw, I cut a 1" hole for the turnout control. I mounted the physical switch on a small piece of Masonite and then mounted that behind the hole. I like the effect and it protects the switch from being bumped. Flipping the switch up will switch to the spur and flipping it down will close the spur. After doing this one, I've got five more to do in the Glenwood district. 

7/18/2020 - I finished up the six local Tortoise controls over the past few nights. Those tiny DPDT switches are not the easiest things to solder. You need the smallest pencil tip for your soldering iron and I used a "helping hands" set of clamps to hold everything together. I'm planning to paint the fascia black but I'm happy with the installation design.

Operations

7/20/2020 - In a previous post, I talked about how I had backed off my computer-based switching system and had decided to use the Car Order System. After getting my initial three switching districts created and assigned car spots, I created car cards and completed the initial set of car card envelopes for them. The nice thing is that if I need to tweak a car card, it's easy to reprint. 

NMRA Achievement Program

7/6/2020 - I've earned the Author certificate already and submitted my paperwork for Chief Dispatcher last month. After updating my records, I determined that I had enough time units to submit my Volunteer achievement paperwork. I had to get some signatures from various people, but once those signed forms all arrived, I submitted them for review. Having that one done means I'm done with all the achievements that require you to track time. 

My next goal is the Electrical achievement. I'm almost done with the requirements already, with the exception of a reversing loop (item A3) and connecting up my circuit breakers (item A6). The nice thing about this achievement is that there's no judging involved. 

June 2020 Journal

Trackwork

6/21/2020 - I installed the six Tortoise drives in sections U05-U06 after first prewiring them. I thought I was going to have to cut the 1x4 support piece, but then had a brainstorm -- all I had to do was to unfasten the support piece, slide it out of the way, and then resecure it after putting the Tortoises in. Easy peasy. I need to finish wiring the other four DPDT switches before I finish the installation. I think I will also cut fascia pieces so that I only have to cut a single hole through the fascia and 1x4 for the DPDT switch to be installed. 

Electronics / JMRI

6/1/2020 - As part of the JMRI installation, I soldered extension feeder wires to the six detection coils that need to be installed in the helix. Two of them will go into the new block 300 that I need to create, two will go into block 304, and two will go into block 305. This will bump the number of helix blocks up to 12 -- six in either direction. While this seems like a lot, it's really not. Each lap around the helix is 16-17 feet long, which is comparable to other blocks on the railroad. These blocks are longer since the trains will be running at "mainline speed" here, so having longer blocks works fine. 

6/7/2020 - I finished installing the feeders in the helix and getting them hooked up to the detection coils. I also took care of splitting what was block 301 into block 300 and 301. Block 300W and 300E now cover the track from the wall to the back of helix. After programming the Watchman board, it appeared in JMRI and I was able to add the remaining indicator tracks. 

In looking at the panel, there is a "temporary" link between block 204 (on the south wall) to blocks 305W/305E. In addition, on the lower deck, block 104 connects to block 300. This is only temporary until the peninsula is added onto the layout. At that point, there will likely be blocks 104-110 and 204-210, depending on how I lay out the track and blocks. 

Because there is a temporary link, I moved the indicator tracks for blocks 300-305 so that they connect with the turnout at the end of block 204. However, when I did that and started running trains through, it looked like the train was jumping from westbound to eastbound track. After I looked at the track, I realized that I actually had a right-hand switch and not a left-hand switch. Oops. Once I adjusted that and slid the tracks down, the train went where I thought it should be. 

Here's a snapshot of the new dispatcher panel as it stands now:

6/9/2020 - I did some work on cleaning up some kinks in the helix and adding the remaining feeders. After that, I tackled wiring up the microscopic DPDT switches for use with the Tortoises in the Glenwood (U5-U6) switching district. After a few failures, I figured out that I could bend the tabs out slightly to provide some extra space for the wires. I also soldered wires onto the 6 Tortoise drives that will be installed in this area. 

NMRA Achievement Program

6/5/2020 - After many hours of operating sessions, I finally got to the point of having more than enough hours for the Chief Dispatcher achievement. I had been putting off writing up all of the additional documentation on the layout, which is all documented here on the requirements document. 

While some of the NMRA requirements are focused on timetable-driven operations, going through the process did make me think about how the operations would work. A few things I learned/decided:

• The mileage I was originally planning was way more than was appropriate for my layout. Originally, I was looking at Minneapolis to Minot, which was around 450 miles. Instead, I adjusted the layout down to a much smaller portion of the CP mainline, about 240 miles. 
• For my branchline, I figured out that I could use the Twin Cities & Western railroad as the towns on that line. I have a pretty reasonable connection on the track schematic to connect the main to the branch, as well. 
• It made me think about the sequence of trains, especially now that I've gotten my car card system in place. 

I wrote up my documents and submitted them for review, so hopefully in a few weeks (or months), I'll have my second achievement certificate. 

May 2020 Journal

Trackwork

5/14/2020 - I finally came up with a design for the industrial/switching district in section L5. After ordering a few more turnouts, I laid the track and I'm happy with the overall design.

This photo shows where the industries can fit into this track arrangement.

Based on a suggestion from my friend Brad, the siding at the top will actually enter the building that's going into that space, plus there will be room on the outside for a few more car spots. The bottom track towards the left is primarily space for pulling cars out of the siding to the right, but once I get some power on the track, we'll see how many cars I can reasonably pull at once without having to move the cars to the left.

5/18/2020 - After the glue dried, I finished the section by adding feeders into all the track segments and between the various turnouts. I hadn't soldered in a while and the first joints showed, but I got the hang of it after a few bad connections. Once all the wiring was done and tested, I grabbed some cars from the main yard and put them into place. It looks like I'll be able to fit 19-20 cars in the district without losing the maneuverability to hit all the tracks. Here are some photos of the finished area.

Wiring/DCC

5/19/2020 - After getting the industrial district done, I went back to the helix room to diagnose my detection issue. The helix will have a total of 12 detection blocks, 6 in each direction, starting at 300W/300E and going up the helix to 305W/305E. When I last worked on this, I was getting what seemed like false readings on 302 that wouldn't go away. I went down some rabbit holes about whether the coils were too close, the wires were crossed, etc. After disconnecting the bus wires from the terminal strip, I had an engine continue running even when its bus wire was disconnected. I then proceeded to remove the other side's bus wires one by one and found that I had mixed up one pair of feeders. After making that fix, the detection started working properly again. 

I managed to get both sides of blocks 301, 302, 303 wired up with detection coils and got them connected to the Watchman board. In addition, I happened upon the Indicator Track feature in Panel Pro and replaced the somewhat awkward icons/lights with indicator tracks. The panel looks so much better doing this. I also got a reminder of JMRI's web server feature, which is also accessible from the mobile application. This made it a lot easier to test the detection since I didn't have to keep running out to the computer.

Unfortunately, I ran out of red 20 gauge wire and I'm running low on 3M suitcase connectors, so I'll have to wait a few days to restock my supplies. That's the first spool of 500 feet that I've run through, not sure if I'll need another one after the second spool, but we'll see. I get all my wire from Del City since you can order a variety of colors individually. 

The next steps are:

• Split block 301 into two blocks -- block 300 will cover the track from the entry to the helix room around to the back wall of the helix.
• Add feeders to block 300W and 300E and connect up the detectors to the Watchman board, which will finish out the 8 connections on that board. 
• Program another Watchman board to accommodate blocks 304-305W/E and future blocks that will go into the peninsula. This board will be installed in the upper deck section prior to entering the helix, since that puts it in easy reach of peninsula blocks when I get those built. 

5/25/2020 - I spent today working on wiring for the lower deck. First, I extended the RR-Cirkits Simple Serial Bus (SSB) from the boards under the main yard around the corner to the staging yards on the north wall. I then extended the Tortoise power bus, since the RR-Cirkits Motorman boards require secondary power from a power supply. I added 22 gauge wires to each of the six Tortoise drives at my work bench, since that's far simpler than trying to solder under the deck.

After that, I was able to get the lower deck's Motorman board programmed and throwing the turnout that was previously installed under the first turnout in the throat. I installed a few more Tortoise drives and got those connected to the Motorman board. I still haven't figured out a good way to install Tortoise drives with only one pair of hands, but being able to throw the turnouts via the Engine Driver app is far easier than running back and forth to the computer.

In JMRI, I added those turnouts to the panel and after swapping the two power wires on the Tortoise drives, got them in sync with the panel. Since I've got three of the 7 turnouts wired now, I could try out the Routes feature of JMRI. This lets me create a route, say IR105 for staging track 5, and trigger it from the control panel or an Engine Driver throttle. This is simpler than having to throw all the turnouts individually. I still need to figure out how to put a button of some sort on the panel to trigger the route, but the basic logic works nicely.

The next step here is to finish the remaining four turnouts and get them wired into the Motorman board. In JMRI, I'll add routes for all eight staging tracks. After that, I'll wire up the Tortoise drives on the upper deck, although I first need to rework the yard entry using the double crossover I found in Minnesota last year. 

5/27/2020 - I wired up two additional Tortoise drives in the lower staging yard this evening. I also created the other routes so that I have one route per track in the lower yard. For the upper yard, since there will be a double crossover at the entrance, I'll end up with two sets of routes: one set to reach all eight tracks from the inbound/westbound main and one set to reach the tracks from the outbound/eastbound main. 

5/28/2020 - I finished wiring the last Tortoise drives in the lower staging yard and tested out all the JMRI routes. It's nice to have that work done. 

5/30/2020 - I finished wiring up the remaining Tortoise drives at the "west" end of the main yard and got them all connected up to JMRI. I can now control the entire yard from the dispatcher panel. I am planning to do a "proof-of-concept" with the push buttons to control the crossovers locally, as well. The idea is that the yardmasters will be able to use these controls as needed, but they're also available for the dispatcher to use. 

The lower deck JMRI control panel now looks like this, for now:

5/31/2020 - I soldered feeder wires onto six detection coils to be installed in the helix. I also "discovered" that I had a staple gun in my toolbox and replaced all the unreliable duct tape with staples to secure all the feeder wires. This cleans up the wiring quite a bit and lets the detection coils stay securely in place. 

Operations

5/26/2020 - I've been working on software that ties into my train management/inventory system that was showing promise in terms of random train generation, but after thinking how much computer interaction there would be, the ongoing tracking of car numbers, etc. I decided to give that up and switch to the car order system that Dan Hinel, Hank Tenwolde, Mike Wolf, and others are using. In this system, you deal with the type of car and focus on the car spots on industry tracks. The system is self-repairing and simpler since you are only looking at car types, not car numbers. While I'll still have a database of all my cars and locomotives, the computer won't be needed for car/train management during a session. 

I went through my three industry districts and identified 55 car spots and chose various types of cars to fill those spots. After the car is picked up at the location after loading/unloading, those cars will be sent out on either eastbound or westbound manifest freight trains. This simulates the load leaving the layout going to some other location and helps rotate car usage. 

I then ran trains to all three districts to adjust the cars on each of the industry spots and brought the remaining cars back to the main yard. The next step is to rotate the cards -- setouts become pickups, holds remain holds for one "turn" -- and then run local trains to pick up the cars that need to be moved. After that, I'll run manifest trains in either direction to pick those cars up and then I'll have a corrected car cycle to continue with. It'll be more interesting as I build out the peninsula and the additional twelve switching districts I'm anticipating, but this system lets me start operating on my own without having to constantly refer back to the computer. It's ironic that as a software developer that I'm choosing a manual system over a computerized one, but I'm looking more at the ongoing maintenance and choosing a simpler system. 

September 2019 Journal

Operations

9/5/2019 - I had a few friends over tonight to run trains, and I was pleasantly surprised how well everything ran. There are a few known issues on the layout, but they actually didn't find any additional ones. We did find that a few of the locomotives need to have their couplers switched to longer shank versions so that their walkways don't hit each other, but that's easy to take care of. We also ran into the somewhat obvious problem that you can't run all the trains out of one staging yard without taking an equal number from the other.

I have a few more sessions planned for the next few weeks where we'll do some more switching of trains/cars and I hope to have some more of my punch list items (especially Tortoise installation) done prior. It's good to have these sessions to keep up a little bit of healthy pressure to make progress on that list. 

Trackwork

9/5/2019 - As part of my punch list cleanup, I fixed a nasty kink that developed on the upper level of my helix. All the trains were derailing on it prior to the fix. I drilled some track nail-sized holes in the flex track, used a SweepStick to align the track, and put a bunch of track nails through the plastic ties. This got the track back into alignment and the derailments were no more. 

DCC/Electronics

9/3/2019 - I did a little bit of work tonight reinstalling the Digitrax UR92 wireless panel temporarily on the upper deck, where it will get less interference with people standing next to it. I also pulled out one of the standard Digitrax UP5 panels and investigated all the extra connections on it. While I didn't install the "keep alive" wire to it, I did add the track power indicator wires and connected it to my bus. Now when the power is on, the center light turns on. It's an easy way to tell that power is on if all the engine sounds are turned off. 

9/4/2019 - I knocked a few items off my punch list tonight -- connecting block 101 to the Watchman detector board, and fixing a crossover turnout wire that had gotten dislodged. I also decided to start running LocoNet wires so that I could install the remaining UP5 panels strategically around the layout. While I expect most people to use wireless throttles, certain things still work better with wired throttles, like switching yards and consisting/etc. locomotives. I installed a total of 6 panels on the lower deck and cut the connector cables between them. It took a little while to remember how you had to cut the wires to the 6 pin connectors, but once I got rolling, I got all the panels installed and wired to the layout. When I get the fascia cut and installed, the panels will be reinstalled on the fascia in their permanent locations, but the wires are long enough to allow me to move things around.

9/8/2019 - I was working on adding a new Tortoise drive to the upper deck mainline. In the process, I had turned on the power for the lights/DCC/etc. While I was working, I started smelling something strange, like burning plastic. I tracked the smell back to my Digitrax DT400 throttle and immediately turned everything off. Over the next few days, I worked with Digitrax support to determine that the command station and other hardware were OK, but the throttle got smoked. In addition, the computer interface seems to have gone south. Luckily the command station tested out OK, as did the UP5s and my Digitrax wireless UR92 device. Digitrax has great support and said they'd repair the throttle for $25, as opposed to buying a new one for almost $200.

The downside is that until I get the computer interface working, I can't really operate since all the turnouts are JMRI controlled. Hopefully I'll be back up and running in the next few weeks.

9/24/2019 - Got an email back from Digitrax acknowledging receipt of my throttle, but notifying me that it would be 60 days to get it back. They are blaming last year's hurricane for the delay. At least my LocoBuffer-USB will be back quicker, at which point I can turn on and off the layout without the big throttle. I'm borrowing one for now, but a lot of my punch list items are related to programming and wiring components to my RR-Cirkits components.

Turnout Selection

Turnouts, sometimes called switches, are one of the more expensive parts of a layout. They can also cause electrical and mechanical issues, including derailments, so it's important to get them right. This article covers how I picked out the turnouts I want to use. I'll have a follow-up article about how I control them.

My layout is using HO scale Code 83 track throughout, so this article focuses on the current options available for my layout. I am not covering the push-together track from Bachmann, Kato, etc. because my layout is far too large to use those products.

There are four options for Code 83 turnouts that I've found:

• Atlas
• PECO
• Micro Engineering
• Fast Tracks jigs/tools

Walthers/Shinohara was another possibility; unfortunately, at the time I started writing this article, Shinohara was shutting down. However, it appears that Walthers may be getting back into the business. As of 2/23/2019, I'm seeing a whole bunch of Walthers-branded turnouts in "advance reservation" status here:

https://www.walthers.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=walthers+code+83+turnout

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out and where they fall in the quality spectrum.

Atlas

Atlas turnouts are decent and reasonably priced. I have used the code 83 #6s and #8s on the layout so far. The #6s have two different geometries... one has a longer diverging section. I used them in my staging yards and was able to connect one turnout to the next to build the ladder. Unfortunately, Atlas products tend to go out of stock and stay that way for months at a time. From what I've read in various discussion boards, they have supply issues with their overseas factories, more than any of the other companies. Assuming they are in stock, current pricing is as follows:

• #6 Custom Line - 14.99 (TW)
• #8 Custom Line - 14.49 (MTS) 

With Atlas turnouts, you also need to add a ground throw or a powered turnout motor of some sort. The Caboose Industries ground throw #101R costs $2.59 (MTS), so you need to add that to the cost of the switch.

PECO

PECO turnouts are made by a company in the UK. At the code 83 product level, they have a wide variety of geometries in both straight and curved designs. They also make two variations of the product: Insulfrog and Electrofrog. Insulfrog uses an insulated frog, Electrofrog allows the frog to be powered. With the way I wire my track, I'm using Insulfrog. If you're using short wheelbase engines, like 0-4-0 steam or short switchers, you may need to power the frogs, especially on the longer turnouts like #8s. PECO turnouts also have a unique locking mechanism on the movable part of the switch. This makes the turnouts ideal for switching yards and eliminates the need for a separate ground throw.

Current pricing is as follows:

• #6 24.99 (TW)
• #8 27.99 (TW)

Micro Engineering

Micro Engineering also offers turnouts, but they are limited in the geometries they offer. For instance, using code 83 rail, they only have #5s and #6s. They do have a unique system for building yards with special #5 turnouts that are designed to make a more compact yard. #6 turnouts in code 83 rail cost $19.99 each (TW). You need to add a ground throw or powered motor, as they do not have the locking mechanism that PECO turnouts have. I don't have any personal experience using these, nor have I seen them on layouts I've operated on, as far as I know. Given the limited geometries available, I don't see a compelling reason to use this product. 

Fast Tracks

If you want to really control the quality of the turnout, building the turnout yourself is an option. While some people will scratchbuild the turnout without the benefit of a jig, the products offered by Fast Tracks make it much easier and faster to build the turnouts without as much of the work. They offer jigs for every scale and every geometry you could want. For HO scale alone, they offer #4, #4.5, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, and #12. 

Each geometry and scale has a separate jig available that is used for both left-hand and right-hand turnouts. For purposes of comparison, the #6 jig and #8 jig cost $129.95 each. Besides the jig, you need the supplies to build the turnout:

• QuickSticks wooden ties - these are made in a single piece to fit into the jig. The rails are glued to these ties. For five turnouts, this costs $46.60. 
• Raw rail - FT recommends Micro Engineering rail. To supply rail for 5 turnouts, the cost is $21.80. 
• PC Board ties - certain ties providing power need to be soldered to the rail. To supply these for 5 turnouts, the cost is $7.33. 
• There are additional supplies and tools that are recommended for use. The full list is shown here. 

They provide the supplies in batches for 5, 10, and 15 turnouts. If you get the largest quantity discount, your price can be as low as $12.31 per turnout. This does not include the cost of the jig and recommended tools, which is about $300 per turnout design/geometry. Fast Tracks does offer some discounts depending on the size of your purchase, be sure to contact them if you're interested. 

Ideally, if you're going this route, find a friend or two to split the cost of the jigs. Some of the tools are used across multiple geometries, others are not. 

The other thing to remember is the value of your time. While the approximate cost of a handlaid #6 turnout is $15 less than a PECO, it's going to take at least an hour or two to make one, so you have to include your time in your calculations. 

Conclusion

I ended up using the #6 Atlas turnouts I had to build my first industrial area, and those turnouts worked fine. I also used the #8 Atlas turnouts as mainline "high speed" turnouts and they seem fine for now. However, since Atlas turnouts become unavailable, I switched to PECO for my main classification yard and while the cost stung a bit, I couldn't be happier with the result. Not only are they well made, but the "snap" action makes them ideal for switching. You don't have to mess with the ground throw, especially in a crowded yard.

For now, I'll continue buying PECO #6 turnouts for all my switching needs. I will also be switching to PECO #8 for additional mainline turnouts, although I did pick up some used Atlas #8 turnouts that I used in the back of my main yard. Longer term, I will probably replace the #8s with handlaid turnouts in the future, but for now, I want to get the railroad running. 

January 2019 Construction Journal

Week of January 1, 2019

After the big surge in work to get ready for the Christmas "open house" with the family coming to the house, I've taken a bit of a break. I've been getting things organized for the next wave of construction. The short list of what I need to do, without purchasing more items, is:

• Add feeders to remainder of track in sections L7-L9
• Finish track in engine facility and replace control panel with a clear plastic panel instead of the Masonite
• Design track plan for L5 industrial area
• Layout a quarter helix curve on spare plywood to estimate number of sheets to purchase
• Cut, install, and paint fascia from the material on hand. I decided to use black paint on the fascia and have black curtains on the bottom. 

Week of January 6, 2019

I got walloped by the flu but after recovering a bit, I laid down the three tracks that will be part of the engine/maintenance facility. When the caulk is dry, I'll be wiring these up with kill switches like the other two tracks in the area. However, I could see parking cars in these tracks as well as engines, so I may not use the kill switches much.

I got the tracks wired up in the engine facility and updated the control panel. The diagram below shows where I added feeders to ensure uninterrupted power flow.

I also added the three switches to the control panel. I plan to replace the control panel later when the fascia is installed, but this works for now.

Besides the track wiring, I also got two more sets of LED lights installed. I now have three strips (60 watts each) connected to my power supply. I can put one more strip on this 300 watt power supply before I buy another one.

Week of January 20, 2019

I've been taking a bit of a break from building the layout and have been focusing on the operating system for the layout. While I like how JMRI works, I wanted to have a system that was integrated with my existing web-based inventory and tracking system. As a result, I've built out an operations module that is somewhat customized for how I want to run trains. These are some of the factors at play:

• Simple enough that I can run trains by myself, or complex enough to support a group of operators
• Ability to track each car's location during the session
• Provide a sense of randomness to where cars are being delivered and how they are being used. 
• Ability to expand as I build out the layout and add more rolling stock and trains. 
• Eliminate as much of the manual work as possible. 

So far, the application can do the following:

• After assigning car demands to the industries, the system generates waybills for cars of particular types to go to those industries. 
• I can then build a train and have instructions assigned to that train to pick up and set out cars at the industries. 
• Cars that have been loaded or unloaded (after a predetermined number of "days") are picked up and sent either to another industry on the layout that needs a loaded or unloaded car, or put on manifest freights that are interchanging to destinations off the layout. 
• As the operator picks up or sets out cars, they have a web-based view and can mark those tasks as completed. Alternately, the dispatcher or traffic manager can mark them as complete after the train is done. 

Some of the additional features I need to add are:

• Assigning trains to be "partnered" with each other. For instance, the incoming coal train from Montana runs across the layout. When it completes, that same train becomes the returning empty coal train from Chicago going back to Montana. Each of these trains has a fixed consist of cars assigned to it, as well. 
• Enhancements to the pages to show how many outstanding waybills there are, how many waybills or cars are assigned to existing trains, etc. 

The goal is to allow operators to use small tablets instead of having to carry around paper with them. We'll see how that works in practice, though. I can always print off the train orders and handle things manually if people don't like the tablet approach. 

October-November 2018 Construction Journal

October 1, 2018

This layout will focus on operations and have lots of industries and car spots where cars can be picked up and delivered. The first industrial/switching district is in front of the lower staging yard. It's approximately 18" deep and 18 feet long. It parallels the mainline coming into and out of staging, but is not directly connected. There will be crossover turnouts on the mainline to let trains into this area.

With some assistance from Dan Hinel, owner of the Rail Xpress Railroad, I came up with what I think will be an interesting design.

Trains coming into this area will be locals delivering cars from the main yard, and thus won't be overly long. There is a runaround track allowing the engine to get to the back of the train, as well as to access the sidings towards the front/aisle of the layout.

In the video, I show a three track section that I had intended to be some sort of grain handling facility, but I may cut that back to two tracks. The "criss cross" industry sidings will likely be warehouse-style buildings with room for 3 cars each. There is room for two additional industries on the front/aisle track, each with room for two tracks.

The turnouts in this area will all be manual turnouts with ground throws, as I'm using up my stock of Atlas turnouts before switching to PECO turnouts, which have the built-in spring to hold the track in place.


Week of October 28, 2018

I was gone the first few weekends of October at operating session events in both Chicago and Lansing, so I haven't had much time to work on the layout. I also spent several weekends working on CIRROPS 2018 planning and logistics. The bulk of that work was done in advance of the event, so I finally found some time to work on the layout.

I started by getting backdrops trimmed and attached to the modules on the lower deck. These had to be in place in order to attach the modules to each other and to the shelving brackets.

Once the modules were secured to each other, I got wire holes drilled into the supports and between the sections. I also got the terminal blocks installed to secure the bus wires.

On the larger modules, I'm doing parallel bus wires to cut down the length of the feeder wires to the tracks. The parallel wires connect at the terminal strip and I'm using part of a "cheap" terminal strip at the distal end to secure those wires.

Week of November 4, 2018

It's far easier to stay motivated to work on the layout when you're actually making progress towards having trains moving. With the bus wires in place, I could start connecting the staging yard to the bus and getting it powered up. I finally found my groove, so to speak, on soldering feeders without completely destroying the track underneath. The trick is the pencil-tip soldering iron and heatsinks, like alligator clips or hemostats, on the track on either side of the solder location. This helps create a nice solder "tent" and minimizes heat damage to the track itself.

I've also secured the roadbed for the staging yard/mainline through the sump room. The DAP Alex Plus caulk is so easy to use as long as you don't have extreme curves. I measured out the 2.5" gaps on the curve, put the caulk down, laid out the cork, and it stuck in place without so much as a clamp on it.

I also had gotten some LED light strips a while back but didn't realize how different the surface mount LEDs were, in terms of light output. After finding an article here about the different LED strip options, I ordered a new 12 volt/30 amp power supply and one of the light strips from Amazon. Here's what the layout looked like before adding the lights:

And here's after, with the lights taped up temporarily:

This greatly improves the look of the section, these strips will work nicely on the rest of the layout. Each strip pulls 60 watts of power.  Based on my rough dimensions, I'll need 7 strips to light up the lower deck of the layout. I'm running 14 gauge lighting bus wires around the layout and will end up needing to split that bus to accommodate two power supplies eventually. Each strip is $10.99 and the power supply is $18.96, not counting a cord to plug it in. That's pretty cheap and while the strips get warm, they're producing way less heat than other options would.

Over the weekend, I also got a few more pieces of track cut and test fit for the industrial district in sections L1-L3 by the staging yard. I also finished adding a second set of feeder wires and a parallel set of bus wires for the staging yard.

The good thing about getting the staging yard wired is that I can now start moving the shelving units from the back room where the helix will go. I will have to test fit them, but I should be able to put the bottom two shelf sections under the layout. This will provide some storage for the train items in the back room, which will need to be emptied before I can build the helix.

Week of November 11, 2018

I made lots of progress over the past week. The lower staging yard is completely wired, and the industrial district in front is all glued down. I'm in the process of adding feeder wires, but it was fun being able to switch the district with some of my 6 axle diesels.

This picture shows an overall view of the switching district before everything was glued down. 

The first set of industry sidings can accommodate 6 cars (towards the staging yard side) and 12 cars (towards the aisle) respectively. 

This shows the run around track for incoming trains, as well as the crossover arrangement supporting two warehouse-type building spurs. 

You can see one of my CP Genset switchers pulling an odd string of cars towards the sump pump room/tunnel. Access to the staging yard is unhindered by trains working the switching district. 

Another view of the two leads heading towards the sump pump room tunnel.

The two tracks are now secured to the lower deck of benchwork. Because it was significantly lower than the circuit breaker panel, I didn't need to make this have a liftout section, as I did up above.

The rear track is the lead into staging, the front track is the lead into the switching district. 

I would have preferred, for space reasons, to use a double crossover here, but they simply aren't available, so I made this one out of Atlas #8 turnouts. This allows trains coming out of staging to get on the right hand main. 

Trains heading east (towards the sump room) can crossover to the staging yard lead, or locals can head into the switching district. The turnouts on the main will have both dispatcher control and local panel control to allow dispatcher-less operations. 

I'm currently adding feeders and detection blocks on the rear mainline blocks. The lead into the switching district will not be detected, but once trains hit the westbound main, they'll be in detected territory again. 

Week of November 18, 2018

I finished the feeders into the L1-L3 industrial district, as well as feeders on the track running through the sump room. The L4 mainline section feeders are routed through a block detector (which still needs to be connected to a board) but the L4 industry lead feeders are connected directly to the power bus. 

I ran out of cork roadbed but my order arrived before my few vacation days over Thanksgiving, so I was able to continue laying roadbed through the back of the main yard area. 

I also got out the PECO turnouts to see how they would fit the yard plan I had designed/adapted from several yards I'd seen. Based on some measurements, I decided to order some 3" code 83 track sections to save myself some time, since the PECO turnout is just about 3" shorter than the corresponding Atlas code 83 #6 turnout. In the picture above, you can see how the turnouts are spaced to get the track alignment correct. I decided to put the two arrival/departure tracks on cork and to have a ramp down to the Homasote surface where the rest of the yard will be. I also decided to use #8 turnouts for connecting the A/D tracks to the main to make it a smoother transition for trains coming in and out. The rest of the yard will be PECO #6 turnouts. 

I've also started playing with designs for the industrial district in section L5, just east of the main yard. Other than putting in a turnout off the main, I don't have a design I'm happy with yet, but that's OK at this point. 

I ordered the rest of the turnouts for the "west" end of the yard and the engine facility and the next step will be to lay the yard tracks, engine facility tracks, after placing the curves going from the east wall to the south wall.