Rainier Great Western Const Update

RGW Feb 19, 2007

  1. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Looking good Mike I gotta do something similar. Maybe I get the wife to help me, or maybe not.
     
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  2. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    Well our solder fest was in full swing last night. Wain had everything waiting and pretty much all we had to do was bring our favorite soldering iron and plop our butts down in the chair. After Wain gave us some brief instructions, we were off to the races.

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    Each of us had different roles. One table was Seattle Pasco yard, the other South Seattle. There are two ends to the ribbon cable, one goes to the panel the other to the Megapoints board. Ed was working on the connecting wires from the ribbon to the panel.

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    Rey and Doug were working on the ribbon end that connected to Ed's cables.

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    Scott and I were working on the ribbon end that went to the Megapoints panels.

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    It started with using a sharp x-acto blade and a straight edge to pull the individual cables away from each other on the ribbon. In my case 48 of them.

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    If you look at Scott's pic above and zoom in you'll see the connecting cables we soldered to the ribbon, these have pin connectors at the end that tap into the Megapoints panels.

    I'd show you all the guys soldering, but I'm pretty sure you get the idea on how that works. We made great headway and hope to have it done for both panels in one or two more sessions.

    Thanks for checking in. M
     
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  3. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I do pray that you never have a visit from my old nemesis, Mr. Shorty Circuits! He is a real pain in the *%$^*$^!!! :p:D
     
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  4. dalebaker

    dalebaker TrainBoard Member

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    Bet there was a run on optivisors in Washington this week!

    Looking good guys!
     
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  5. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    Actually I thought it was just a jeweler's apprentice mixer.
     
  6. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    My father owned a "jewelry" store. Was an actual "watchmaker". (A real watchmaker can design, scratch build/manufacture parts to create a watch.) Too many battery changers call themselves watchmakers these days... I recall seeing him at his work bench, with his magnifying visor, from my youth in the 1950's through his retirement decades later. We had pictures, but those somehow remain lost. Anyhow, long before the visors we know came into our hobby, he also used a single eye "loop"- which he actually preferred to the visor. Wish I had that, but when he retired, he sold most all those tools. I have a few, including a jeweler's saw I use in my model railroading to this day.

    You can see the (Black) eye loop on his work bench here:

    http://www.train-orders.com/ACS/ACS10.jpg
     
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  7. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for sharing Ken, very cool!
     
  8. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    Since I'm fairly certain you'd rather not see another set of "guys in visors soldering" pics, here's a couple of concept shots of what we're really going for. Since I'm working on South Seattle Yard, and more specifically the leads going into the Megapoints board, here is the first of two sets of my efforts.

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    We did a quick test fit and it all checked out.

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    More next week.
     
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  9. dalebaker

    dalebaker TrainBoard Member

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    Michael,

    While I sincerely applaud all of the groups efforts and amazed at the level of excellent detail done. The above pictures make me appreciate my dozen or so Peco hand throws on the POCR! You guys do amaze me with your craftsmanship! Great work!!!!!!
     
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  10. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Dale. Most of our turnouts are activated on location by simple spdt switches. I would have preferred we continue that method in the yards, but space on the fascia just did not permit that. Besides automating the yards has always been of interest to me. So we solder away....
     
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  11. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    There was pretty much just one goal last night and that was to continuity test all the work completed to date.

    We set everything up on the workbench and proceeded to test over 100 connections.

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    Turns out they all pegged the meter, so we are on to the next step.

    Scott took the opportunity to modify all of our production logs. He started with desert sand on the ends then he's following up with burnt sienna for the log. He'll be dry brushing the raised areas with gray later.

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    That was pretty much it, on to next week.
     
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  12. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    It's been back to normal work sessions these last couple of weeks; almost forgot what that was like . But not to worry, next week we go back to Wain's for soldering part deux.

    This past Tuesday I spent most of the evening working on the hanging plants in Black Diamond.

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    They are looking good and I'm almost done.

    Scott was working on our inventory of logs. After repainting them, he took to dry brushing them to capture the highlights of the bark.

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    I'd say they're coming along nicely...

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    Reynold had been building log cars so that we have a means to convey our inventory. While he's got a ways to go, these look great so far.

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    Doug was busy touching up our recently ballasted trackage. I am really pleased with the look. I envisioned that yard 15 years ago and it's exceeding every thing I imagined.

    One last thing, I just got in a new addition to the lumber yard, a Gerlinger transport. It is a 3d printed masterpiece from Bruce Barney from AL&W Lines. You can find him on Facebook.

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    Incredible detail. Til next time, thanks for checking in.
     
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  13. dalebaker

    dalebaker TrainBoard Member

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    Hey Mike, glad to see your update! I’ve been missing them. Things are looking great!
     
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  14. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I sure remember seeing those critters scooting around sawmills and lumber yards. Are they still used these days?
     
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  15. astrotrain

    astrotrain TrainBoard Member

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    Those poles look like Slim Jims. Good work.
     
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  16. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    I watched a video online of one moving steel plate. Video seemed fairly current, filmed within last 5 years, so I'd say yes.
     
  17. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    They'd be fairly chewy....
     
  18. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    Not much differentiates last week from this week, so not much of an update. I completed the flowers in Black Diamond, so here's a couple of shots of that.

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    We're probably going to take a holiday break and get back to the yard panels in the new year. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. M
     
  19. dalebaker

    dalebaker TrainBoard Member

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    Black Diamond is such a pretty little town, I’m sad to see the streets falling apart like that. Too bad they didn’t have the foresight to pave them with concrete instead of asphalt. They would be standing up better to the traffic. Those drivers are dodging some pretty good chunks there! LOL, Michael, as usual things look pretty good. Your scenery is looking very impressive.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
    Thanks for letting us see it!
    Dale
     
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  20. RGW

    RGW TrainBoard Member

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    It's a ghost town...
     

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