71 days till NTS 2015 arrives at our door step. Tonight I brought in from storage the Cross Over module. The order of progress to completion will be as folllows......1, add rock castings--- 2, paint the surface the basic earth, grass, rock colors...3, Install some rustic housing units hidden in the hills---4, Finish the moving highway--- 5, add copious amounts of trees, shrubs, and grasses. This needs to be finished in approximately 30 days so as to give me time to complet my last end module which will have an actual business scene with vehicles, structure, and other details. Walt Smith is helping me by providing the necessary vehicles to bring the scene to life. So.....I will try to show weekly update photos. Now, everyone stand back and let me loose. This could get dangerous.
Loren, have you given any thought to how you're going to get the trains to run back in opposite directions on the main lines? The trains on the main lines will run in the same direction from one end of the crossover which is un-prototypical.....except on passing sidings. Even near where I live the trains always run in opposite directions......and that's on a single line. They use a long passing siding for one train to wait while the other train passes in the opposite direction. It's an interesting visual concept but not very realistic. That's why they designate dual mainlines as eastbound or westbound and/or northbound or southbound.
Thom, I actually haven't give any thought to what you describe. I did this just for visual effect of having two trains meet each other in close proximity. I rather like the look. And Thom, when have you ever known lme to be prototypical in the least sense? )
Loren, I don't see a big issue electrically. You're essentially creating a module level reversing loop. Create a couple of isolation blocks on the crossover track and add the appropriate circuitry and you're in business. As far as prototypical? I recently ran across a layout of an eastern railyard with a reversing loop that went around the entire town. I do think it offers some interesting operational possibilities. Mark
Mark, there really is no issue at all. When I first began to wire it I scratched my head a few times, but finally realized I wasn't thinking clearly, (nothing new). The crossover does not cause any wiring issues because there is no intersecting track. Outer is always outer. It is just a visual enhancement. I think Thom is talking about prototypical running of trains with passing sidings. I do have a passing siding on this module which will show up more clearly in future pictures. Jerry Craig from our CZM group also has an over/under or crossover which ever you want to call it and will combine his module with mine at NTS. This ought to keep the viewing public guessing as to what is happening. They will be watching thinking "there just has be a 'head on' coming somewhere" Onward I simply have run out of space necessary in order to build any larger modules which would have an actual reversing loop. If I could go back 30 years and start over................
I was referring to racing trains more than an electrical issue but Mark is right. You might be OK if you and Jerry connect your 2 crossover modules together The above diagrams are for one track only...the black being the outside rail and the red being the inside rail. I would suggest that you put both modules together at the end just before an end module and not connect the wiring harnesses to any other modules or each other......let the rails only carry the electricity.
Hi Guys, I actually have a cross over module and the electrical bit is no problem at all. Inner becomes outer and outer becomes inner, but at the end of the day you still have two electrical loops - and it does look cool to have the trains "switch" position. Mine is actually a cross over and a "T" module combined (with the cross over in tunnels) so a train goes in the tunnel, and then never comes out! (or at least that what kids think at train shows - it actually comes out on the other side of the module mountain where they can't see it.) Electrically it looks like this: Best, -Rob
It's 11 pm on the West coast and I'm just finishing up in the shop. Too tired to take pictures, but I did manage to hot glue abour 140 varied Bragdon resin rock castings to the areas that I want rock to show though the soil. Resin sets up pretty fast in a 90 degree shop so I had to move right along and not get caught with hardenng of resin before I was ready to hot glue it. I also cut out and lowered a small area near the tracks where I will place a small diorama that I showed years ago of a delapidated boxcar turned into a humble abode for a very poor couple. I can't imagine the noise of living just 40 feet from a main line where freight trains rumble past at all hours. The scene will have several wrecked boxcars that the railroad just left in a pile after the accident. This poor hillbilly couple somehow managed to right one car and turn it into a home of sorts. You'll see the placement later as scenery progresses. Tomorrow Sculptamold gets feathered around the rock castings in preparation for paintng the rocks and the surrounding areas before the grasses, shrubs, and trees grow up. Pretty good progress for the first day into it.
I suppose that the image is just the concept or represents 10 feet of more. The over/under grades would be worse than the märklin mini-layouts !
Please excuse the crudity of this model, I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it. ... Dr. Emmett Brown Actually I also think the wiring is easy. I think I'd build a reversing loop control block on the diagonal track. Loren, I actually lived across the street from the SP Peninsula line. It's actually surprisingly quiet. Where you don't want to live is near a grade crossing: just too much noise to get used to. Mark
Another long day, but I feathered the rock casting's edges into the surrounding areas, test installed the run down shack into it future home, and added magnets to the covers that cover the highway mechanism. Rock painting next and then build another shack and run down barn.
Sometimes you have to tool up in order to work more efficiently. I built this 'rotating' stand this morning so I could tilt the module for ease of application of ground cover. You guys know how much fun and waste there is in trying to get ground cover to stick to vertical surfaces. Thus the 'rotisserie' came into being. The light gray color is the base coat of the rock castings. Now it it time to begin to bring the rocks to life and then on to scenery work. 64 days till NTS.
And the neat thing about the stand Joe is that it can be shortened down, to reuse on another module which I plan to do. I think I have about $35.00 invested in it and about 3 hours total assembly time. Since it is screwed together it can be totally dismantled and stored for another time. I'm trying to work smarter, and not harder.
The rocks are painted and now I can move on to ground cover and trees etc. Sorry for the repeat picture. This new format will take some getting used to.
