Found my problem with the electric in a Peco standard line turnout that was shorting so it has been ripped out and repairs are underway. Meanwhile in the post today I finally received my Kato brake vans. I ordered two at the low price of $11 apiece. 000_0849-1 by John Moore posted Apr 3, 2019 at 4:33 PM And yes it does have illuminated rear lights which I am happy with. It is two axle and has a side door for LCL cargo and is 26 N scale feet long. 000_0851-3 by John Moore posted Apr 3, 2019 at 4:36 PM I plan to replace the rapido couplers with either MT 1015s or Kato couplers which even is easiest and then I am going to the parts box for two spare cupolas to graft on right above the side doors. I am keeping the basic black and giving it minimal lettering. I can just squeeze a dashing turtle beside the side door.
After some time I tackled the shorting problem and got rid of the wye. Had to do some tearing up again but it was made easy by the prior use of water based glue. The wye had become surplus plus a problem and just was not needed since all my motive power is going the be center cabs or short diesels or the bidirectional Shays and Climaxes. No need to turn anything in my operations. Got the layout rewired and hooked up to my new dual cab power pack. 000_0858-1 by John Moore posted Apr 14, 2019 at 6:38 PM The layout is wired so there is only one gap between the sections and each section is controlled by separate power cabs in one unit which is the nice feature of the MRC ampac 780. Block control is provided by the Peco turnouts. I can be operating a passenger train on the village and mainline section while switching at the port.
