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. 

August-September 2018 Construction Journal

August 24, 2018

After some time away from construction, I got started again on the roadbed running through the sump room. This involves drilling into the concrete to put up shelving brackets, which is always fun, especially when the drill hits something that it can't get through -- probably some rebar or something. I've got the hole between the lower staging yard cut and have started cutting the 3/4" birch that makes up the supporting framework. I'm using thicker plywood because of the changes in temperature and humidity in this unfinished part of the basement.

August 26, 2018

I got a lot done this afternoon, it just doesn't look like it. I got the remaining two brackets installed into the concrete but it looks like one will need just a little bit of a shim under the plywood. I was going to put a fourth bracket in but decided that it really wasn't necessary based on the distances involved.

I also rewired the upper section through the sump room so that all the track is detected. This involved moving the positive feeders so they all routed through the detection coil. In addition, I had to install the Anderson Powerpole connectors for the removable section. These took a little bit of work but I'm happy with the results. There are YouTube videos showing exactly how these go together, I used this one and found it immensely helpful.

The connectors are designed to only fit together one way. The metal clip is designed to crimp onto your wire, and then you push the metal clip into the end of the plastic connector. You need to be careful when crimping the wire or you can malform the metal connector and it won't fit.

Once you have the wires crimped and installed, you can slide the plastic connectors together to make a single connector.

They stay together with friction and there's a small snap when the connectors make contact. This is the standard connector being used with Free-Mo modules, as well.

I also prepped the #6 Atlas turnouts for the lower staging yard by trimming the throw bars and surrounding ties, as well as removing the ties where the rail joiners will go. For the upper yard, I laid out the tracks first and then tried to fit them to the turnout ladder, which was a mistake. This time, I'm starting with the ladder and working towards the end of the yard.

September 22, 2018

With some help from a model railroader friend, we got the benchwork completed for the sump room on the lower deck.

The birch plywood is below the level of the Homasote on the other side to make it simple to transition to the cork roadbed. 

I was going to make the lower section removable, as well, but since it's below the level of the circuit breaker panel, it turns out there was no need to do this. 

The curved piece has an outside radius of 33 5/8" and inside radius of 27 5/8", so the track will not quite make the 30" minimum radius, but it's pretty close, even for long 85' passenger cars. 

The metal shelving bracket had to be cantilevered a bit to reach the curve, but it's only a few inches of extension. 

The support within the studs is secured with 3" deck screws on either side, so it's not going anywhere. 

September 23, 2018

I wired up the detection coils on the upper deck of the sump room track, which is known as block 201 in the system. Instead of wiring the CAT5 cable directly to the coils, I made use of some 12 gang plastic barrier strips that I found on Amazon that can be cut to length. 

Once I got the wires connect here and to the RR-Cirkits Watchman board, I got the two new blocks configured in JMRI. My control panel now looks like this:

It's amazingly satisfying to see the occupancy lights turn on and off as I drive my train through the layout, such as it is. I got a second Watchman board to take care of the lower level blocks, I'll be installing those coils as I start laying the lower deck track.

September 24, 2018

After doing some layout work for the turnouts at the yard throat, we drilled holes for the Tortoise control wire and then laid the first staging yard siding. Instead of nailing the track, I'm using DAP Alex clear caulk. You only need a thin layer of caulk to hold the track down, and it dries clear. I used it on the upper modules and was happy with the results.

I also ran more wire for the Tortoise bus on the upper level and tried my hand at wiring up the DPDT switches to control the local Tortoises. Those wires are really, really small... having to use 24 gauge wire to connect these switches up.

September 29, 2018

I finished building the lower deck staging yard. The minimum track length is 12', several are almost 15' long because of how the ladder was laid out. The upper staging yard was done using track nails, which took forever and the results were less than optimal. For the lower yard, I used the DAP Alex clear caulk as an adhesive. I laid out a bead of caulk, spread it with a putty knife, and then had time to lay out the track. I used my 6' aluminum ruler as a straightedge, starting at the turnout. I used track nails on the turnouts instead of the caulk, just to avoid any unnecessary caulk getting into the turnout. This worked quite well and it took longer to trim the rail joiners than it did to put down each track. The results are shown here:

I am going to put dual bus wires on this section, since it's 36" wide. I drilled holes through the crosspieces and installed my terminal strips. I painted the rest of my backdrop material before running the bus wires.


Next steps:

• Install backdrops on modules L6-L9
• Secure modules to each other
• Install terminal strip on each section
• Cut wire holes through crosspieces
• Run bus wires (track power, Tortoise bus)
• Wire feeders to staging yard
• Layout industrial district in L1-L2 and L5

Lots to do, lots to do. 

May 2018 Construction Journal

May 1st

After last night's work session, I've got a bunch of things to finish before the next week's session arrives. Part of the fun/challenge of having people coming to help is that you have to plan out what those people are going to work on. I did OK for yesterday, but need to keep doing that.



May 2nd

I now have five blocks connected to my RR-Cirkits Watchman board, so the next thing to do was to try out the features in JMRI dealing with block detection and signaling. I used some of the pre-supplied images with JMRI to build a CTC-style panel to represent my tiny little layout, so far.

With a little bit of fumbling, I was able to get three virtual signals hooked up. This picture shows the panel when the train was in block 202-eastbound.

The virtual signal at the lower left corner of the picture protects block 202E. In the next photo, I moved the train forward into block 203E and the signals changed accordingly. 

In the final picture, the train had pulled forward into block 204 and the signals behind it changed accordingly.

The amazing thing is how relatively easy it was to set these virtual signals up. The one that I couldn't quite get working would be the signal protecting blocks 203W and 203E from 204. This requires the use of what appears to be called a signal mast. The upper signal would control the main track (essentially block 203E) and the lower signal would control the diverging track (block 203W). However, I need to read more of the documentation to understand how that works.

May 7th

I hosted a small work session and the two of us finished up module L7, which is the transition from the 12" section to the main classification yard, which will be 30" wide. The other four sections on the wall are all 8' long, this is the missing puzzle piece, so to speak, so it had to be adjusted to fit the rest of the sections. During the week I also picked up the remaining shelving hardware to do the south wall and enough shelving brackets to mount all the modules. As I said before, ClosetMaid brackets are a bit more expensive than doing it by hand with wood, but they're also simple to install and remove.

May 25th

Because the lower level modules are much wider than the shelves (20" maximum) I am adding extra legs for support. I trimmed the legs to length and cut additional pieces to make leg pockets. Over the past couple of weeks, I've finished the lower level modules and gotten them temporarily installed on the wall.

The first module (L5) will have a mainline towards the back wall and some sort of industry near the front. I'm considering building the tank car rack for a refinery here so that the oil tankers will have a destination. 

This module (L6) is mainline and the "east" yard lead. 

Compared to the other four modules, module L7 is the funny puzzle piece that connects the two ends of the wall layout. The angle follows the throat of the main yard, plus it helps transition from the 12" section on the wall to the 30" main yard sections. 

Module L7 installed on the wall. 

Module L8 will hold the main body of the classification yard. 

Module L9 will be the end of the yard and the mainlines will curve towards the south wall. In addition, the engine facility will be at this end of the yard. 

The next steps to complete are:

• Paint more backdrop material for sections L5-L9 and install them
• Complete the benchwork through the sump room to connect the north and east walls
• Build the south wall benchwork towards where the helix will go
• Build the helix
• Start planning out the industrial areas. 

The big purchase will be turnouts for the main yard... I need more than 30, not counting all the turnouts for the industrial areas.

April 2018 Construction Journal

After a break related to my full time job change, I've slowly started building again. The goal is to have the upper and lower decks done before the CIRROPS event in November. I'd also like to get the helix done by then, but I'd be ok with being able to operate the lower deck.

April 1st

I got the backdrops attached to modules L1 and L2 and got them mounted to the shelving brackets. Unfortunately, I see the results of how uneven the shelving brackets were when I installed them, so I had to add a number of shims under the brackets. However, the entire unit is really solid. Each section is 8' long and 36" deep. The back half is going to be a 8 track staging yard, similar to the one on the upper deck. The front half will be an industrial/switching district. 

April 9th
Bob Vila was right... measure twice, cut once. I had to adjust the connector section that goes between L2 and the wall because I measured it incorrectly the first time. It's in there temporarily because I still need to cut the hole into the sump room.

April 30th

I had my first group work session tonight. Between the six people plus me, we got section L5 and L6 completed, and U9 is ready to assemble. We also had a good discussion about how to build the peninsula that will run down through the middle of the room. 

I've also been connecting up RR-Cirkits block detection coils to my Watchman board. At this point, I have three blocks being properly detected and have four more to connect on the upper level. 

Here's the construction plan to get the upper and lower decks connected:

• Temporarily install L5 on the east wall to determine vertical location of sump room hole
• Build L4 section through sump room, including removable "bridge". 
• Permanently install L5-L9 on east wall
• Build/install upper and lower sections on south wall to connect between east wall and back room where helix will go. Part of this section where the peninsula will eventually connect will be temporary track that can be reconfigured later. 
• Empty out back storage room
• Design helix and connector tracks on top and bottom. If possible, I want to investigate putting in a reverse loop as part of the top and bottom of the helix. I also want to determine whether an extra set of storage tracks can fit above where the dispatcher desk will go. 
• Build helix/connector/reverse loop tracks in back room

The helix is probably the biggest task, but I'm planning to cut quarter circle curves from plywood to build the grade between the two decks. 

January 2018 Construction Journal

January 6, 2018

To get ready for the next steps in construction, I've been moving stuff around under the layout. When I had the basement finished, I had them put in two separate 15 amp circuits in the center of the east wall. The intention was that would be my main control area, since it's about halfway down. I moved my command station and the JMRI PC over there in order to clear the space under the staging yard on the north end of the room. The PC will eventually move into the backroom where it can act as the dispatcher's desk.

With the electrical components moved, the space under the staging yard is empty and ready for the big modules to be reinstalled that I started with last year.

December 2017 Construction Journal

December 3, 2017

Just prior to Thanksgiving, I was hurrying to get enough benchwork done to let my nieces and nephews run trains back and forth. I put down some temporary track and they had a ball just running on the 40 feet of track.
After a little break, I went back and made some fixes and got sections U5 and U6 mounted on the wall.

Prior to the break, I also assembled modules U7 and U8 but did not put any temporary track on them. These are gluing to be single track mainline going over the main yard on the lower level. I need to cut some more spacer pieces to get these sections level before securing them to the shelves.

Finally, I had purchased 12 Trinity oil tank cars from ScaleTrains.com and got half of them out to measure the train length. I also got a buffer car to lead the string of cars, along with some extra decals that I need to add. These are very nice cars, even at the "Operator" level.

December 5, 2017

Thanks to a little crowdsourcing in the NMRA group, I've refined my track plan for sections U5-U7. If you compare the first three photos to the photos marked Version 2.0, you can see that the interchange yard on the left was tweaked to have a siding and a yard lead. This allows any trains needing to switch cars to get off the mainline, even though the eastbound main (on the left) is just after the staging yard.

To support the industries on the right, another person suggested keeping the double track going further "east" (towards the bottom of the photo) instead of merging the double track into a single track sooner. This allows a train working the industry spurs on the right to have extra space without blocking the entire mainline. To make it easier to operate, I think I'm going to power the turnouts and make the turnouts on the mainline (the concrete track) DCC-enabled. I was just going to do regular Tortoises, but making them DCC-enabled will allow for correct signal indications down the road.

The module just "east" of these two (towards the bottom of the first picture) will be double track for about 5-6 feet and then merge into a single track. This adds some operational variety, since double track everywhere isn't realistic and makes the dispatcher's life very boring.

I also got my first order of RR-Cirkits products, so I can install detection hardware from the outset instead of trying to retrofit it later. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all works together, even though I'm quite a ways from being able to do a full operating session.

December 10, 2017

I finished up the track work for the eastbound side of modules U5-U6. I ended up foregoing adding the yard lead coming off the siding. The track comes down a cork ramp into the flat Homasote area, and the yard lead would have either needed to be on cork or the train would have been going up and down while switching. We'll see how it works in practice, I can always add it in later. Trains coming down the eastbound main will have headroom to do their switching, which should be minimal, into the interchange yard.

I need to add feeders into the outside two tracks yet, but you can see my "work train" down the outside track. The mainline is isolated and I've already "installed" a RR-Cirkits coil around the feeder wire. When I get the other feeders installed, the second red feeder will pass through the coil to give me detection, and eventually signaling, capabilities.

December 20, 2017

I've gotten two of the industry spurs and the passing siding installed, along with feeders to all those tracks. I've got holes drilled under each of the turnouts in case I want to put in Tortoise drives for the spurs in the back.

For the transition between the mainline and the siding, I had shaved down some cork but ended up replacing it with a wooden shim "ramp" trimmed to fit the space. I like this approach better, since the cork falls apart if you shave too much. 

I also went back and isolated the utility room track for block detection purposes and will have to redo the positive feeder to go through a detection coil. It's a minor change but I think it will be valuable in the future for traffic control in and out of staging. 

December 23, 2017

During my Christmas vacation, I finished up the track on modules U7 and U8, which are just narrow "mainline" sections. Because the track nails wouldn't easily go through the cork and hold in the plywood, I used DAP Alex Plus clear caulk instead and I'm very happy with the results. I drilled a hole under the #8 turnout for an eventual installation of a DCC-enabled turnout motor, and I'm really happy with how smooth the trains roll through this nice wide turnout. I also wired it all up with detection coils that will be connected to the Watchman covering sections U4-U9.

Module U9 will take care of the remaining 7' and curve towards the south wall of the basement. I've also cleared the space under the upper staging yard so that I can reinstall the large L1 and L2 modules there, as I don't really have room to assemble the rest of the modules until I get those out of the way.