After spending some time working on replacing wheelsets and selling off some unneeded parts on eBay, I've moved back into the basement and have been prepping the fascia for painting - at last. Because it's very smooth-surfaced masonite, I gave all of it a light sanding, so the primer will have be able to adhere properly.
I've also been continuing to work on wiring, and now have all of the Ridgway yard wired (and have gained some skills in upside-down soldering!).
Once the fascia is painted, I'll post some new pictures. I know it's been a while, but wiring just isn't very photogenic, and that's all I've been doing lately.
Mar 2, 2009
Feb 8, 2009
The fascia is done !!!
A great day yesterday - the garage was warm enough for some wood working, and with most of the existing track wiring complete now, I was able to finish off the last bit of fascia. Time to paint it!
Jan 8, 2009
Wiring wiring wiring...
Wow - I guess it's been a while since I updated this blog, eh?
What time I've had for trains has been spent in the basement, crawling around under the layout, running wiring. Lots and lots of wiring... not the most exciting work in the world, but it's needed infrastructure for everything else.
Lots of soldering - there's been a pile of feeders to drop from all the added track. Then, running block wiring for from all of the new track that I laid in the fall - the Ridgway yard, all of Telluride, a number of spurs, and all of the passing sidings. I've also been working on 5v and 12v power supply busses, for block detection and turnout-motor power.
Telluride, Vance Jct, Rico, Hesperus, Dolores, and Ophir have their wiring complete, at for the track that exists in each (Rico and Dolores have a bunch of track to add yet - the others are done). The large yard at Ridgway is still looming.
What time I've had for trains has been spent in the basement, crawling around under the layout, running wiring. Lots and lots of wiring... not the most exciting work in the world, but it's needed infrastructure for everything else.
Lots of soldering - there's been a pile of feeders to drop from all the added track. Then, running block wiring for from all of the new track that I laid in the fall - the Ridgway yard, all of Telluride, a number of spurs, and all of the passing sidings. I've also been working on 5v and 12v power supply busses, for block detection and turnout-motor power.
Telluride, Vance Jct, Rico, Hesperus, Dolores, and Ophir have their wiring complete, at for the track that exists in each (Rico and Dolores have a bunch of track to add yet - the others are done). The large yard at Ridgway is still looming.
Oct 6, 2008
Some new pictures at last
First up in photos is the fascia work at Wildcat canyon, just below Ophir. Rico is on the right, and the end of the Telluride peninsula is near the tissue box.
Here's a couple shots of the Durango yard, and engine terminal. Eli has found the turntable pit, as you can see!
Here's the siding at Dolores. This area is also serving at tool storage at the moment, so it's kinda messy. The peninsula with Telluride is on the left, and the line descending from Lizard Head on its way to Rico is on the right, above Dolores. As you can see, Eli has been busy with his toy cars, while the layout is out-of-operation during this phase of construction.
Here's the new wye at Vance Junction; Telluride is up a steep 4% grade beginning at the bottom of the photo. Vance proper is to the left, and the tunnels on the right lead to Ridgway. That's a little of Dolores on the far right, and the staging tracks at McPhee sneaking under the wye. The Christmas-tree lights are hanging from the line to Lizard Head (out-of-view in the upper right-hand corner). The lights are to help me see the McPhee staging once the scenery is in place, in case of derailments or whatever.
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Here's the yard at Telluride, looking back toward Vance Jct. The high-line to Ophir is on the far left.
Here's a couple shots of the Ridgway yard. The wide tunnel in the first show leads to the staging tracks in the bathroom, and the mainline punches thru here on its way to Vance Jct. You can also see the beginnings of the engine termal at Ridgway tucked off on the left side.
In other news, I've run out of track (and money!), so further tracklaying will be on hold for a while. I've just started to work on the fascia at Durango, which is more difficult than the others because of tight clearances at the bottom. At locations like Rico, the bottom edge of the fascia pivots as it drops, because the hinge is a good ways above the bottom edge. This works because the benchwork framing is several inches back here. But at Durango, the benchwork is only about 1" back from the fascia, and there's no room at all for the bottom to pivot in. So, the hinge point needs to be at the very bottom of the fasica. I'm building extra bracing there to support the hinges at the right locations there, and know that I've figured out what to do, the work should be straight-forward (but we'll see!).
Here's a couple shots of the Durango yard, and engine terminal. Eli has found the turntable pit, as you can see!
Here's the siding at Dolores. This area is also serving at tool storage at the moment, so it's kinda messy. The peninsula with Telluride is on the left, and the line descending from Lizard Head on its way to Rico is on the right, above Dolores. As you can see, Eli has been busy with his toy cars, while the layout is out-of-operation during this phase of construction.
Here's the new wye at Vance Junction; Telluride is up a steep 4% grade beginning at the bottom of the photo. Vance proper is to the left, and the tunnels on the right lead to Ridgway. That's a little of Dolores on the far right, and the staging tracks at McPhee sneaking under the wye. The Christmas-tree lights are hanging from the line to Lizard Head (out-of-view in the upper right-hand corner). The lights are to help me see the McPhee staging once the scenery is in place, in case of derailments or whatever.
. Here's the yard at Telluride, looking back toward Vance Jct. The high-line to Ophir is on the far left.
Here's a couple shots of the Ridgway yard. The wide tunnel in the first show leads to the staging tracks in the bathroom, and the mainline punches thru here on its way to Vance Jct. You can also see the beginnings of the engine termal at Ridgway tucked off on the left side.
In other news, I've run out of track (and money!), so further tracklaying will be on hold for a while. I've just started to work on the fascia at Durango, which is more difficult than the others because of tight clearances at the bottom. At locations like Rico, the bottom edge of the fascia pivots as it drops, because the hinge is a good ways above the bottom edge. This works because the benchwork framing is several inches back here. But at Durango, the benchwork is only about 1" back from the fascia, and there's no room at all for the bottom to pivot in. So, the hinge point needs to be at the very bottom of the fasica. I'm building extra bracing there to support the hinges at the right locations there, and know that I've figured out what to do, the work should be straight-forward (but we'll see!).
Sep 14, 2008
Two towns complete; back to wiring
I've continued to find time to lay track, and have laid all of the code 55 ME flex that I have. Ridgway yard is now complete (except for the engine terminal), and the wye at Vance Jct and all of Telluride is completed as well. All of the passing sidings are laid, and spurs are completed in Hesperus, Mancos, Ophir, and Vance Jct.
In the course of this, I changed the track plan of the Ridgway yard slightly (see updated drawings), moving the runaround track alongside the yard ladder, and adding two more classification tracks.
In laying Telluride, and 'test operating' it my head, I also realized that track plan needed changes. On paper, or in my Trainplayer design, I could switch the town by leaving parts of a train on the line coming into town, toward the wye. But in reality, I realized that stretch of track is on a steep 4% grade, so it can't be used for switching, and would make switching the town very challenging. So - I've added another runaround track, behind the depot (which is what the prototype did at most towns anyway). I lose a little real estate for buildings, but I thought this was really needed for (again) operational sanity.
And now that I'm out of track, it's back to wiring (since none of this new track is wired yet). A friend at work also convinced me it's time to get my block detectors installed. This isn't a signaled railroad by any means (the poor RGS hardly had the money for track, let alone signals). But, I'm designing this layout for operation, and with the hidden track I have I, some type of detection is necessary for operator sanity.
After a fairly long search, I've settled on BD8 detectors from The Signaling Solution. I plan to install one at Ridgway's panel (to handle hidden and staging tracks in that area) and another in Durango's wiring panel (to handle Durango staging, hidden tracks, and the hidden track under Rico).
In the course of this, I changed the track plan of the Ridgway yard slightly (see updated drawings), moving the runaround track alongside the yard ladder, and adding two more classification tracks.
In laying Telluride, and 'test operating' it my head, I also realized that track plan needed changes. On paper, or in my Trainplayer design, I could switch the town by leaving parts of a train on the line coming into town, toward the wye. But in reality, I realized that stretch of track is on a steep 4% grade, so it can't be used for switching, and would make switching the town very challenging. So - I've added another runaround track, behind the depot (which is what the prototype did at most towns anyway). I lose a little real estate for buildings, but I thought this was really needed for (again) operational sanity.
And now that I'm out of track, it's back to wiring (since none of this new track is wired yet). A friend at work also convinced me it's time to get my block detectors installed. This isn't a signaled railroad by any means (the poor RGS hardly had the money for track, let alone signals). But, I'm designing this layout for operation, and with the hidden track I have I, some type of detection is necessary for operator sanity.
After a fairly long search, I've settled on BD8 detectors from The Signaling Solution. I plan to install one at Ridgway's panel (to handle hidden and staging tracks in that area) and another in Durango's wiring panel (to handle Durango staging, hidden tracks, and the hidden track under Rico).
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