Wanted to make some changes from the now gutted 2x4 layout: one level, no grades; number 6 turnouts; larger, went to a 28" x 80" door. I wanted to stay with DCC but ran into some issues. One of my locos was acting flaky, working occasionally. Tried to reset it but could get the Digitrax to only partially recognize it, never confirming that it was really reset. It would run forward, with lights and sounds, but no reverse. While examining the Kato terminals from the old layout, I discovered one that was factory miswired (reversed wires). With my inexperience, I don't know what problems that might have caused. I suspect the loco decoder got partially fried. Might replace it in the future. Anyway, this is what I came up with, earlier this year. It's a DCC double track mainline with a single industry in the middle. Also in the middle is a DC trolley line (distorted figure 8), for the benefit of my young grandson. The whole top is attached to the base with a piano hinge, at the back. This was done so all the wiring could be kept at a manageable level, without having to crawl underneath to work on it. The door is easily lifted and propped up. Underneath is the original 2x4 benchwork, now with an lower shelf, and on casters. The lower shelf supports made the legs stronger and rigid. Working on the layout requires the car to be moved out of the garage, and the layout to be wheeled away from the wall. When I started this version, the front shelf, from the first layout, was removed. The Digitrax controller was on a side shelf extension of the door. After I gave up on DCC, the front shelf was reinstalled and then enlarged, to accommodate 4 controllers. The side shelf will remain to store rolling stock. There have been a few more changes. Will post more, later.
The tunnel is made with cardboard arches and lined with heavily wrinkled printer paper, coated with PVA glue and a gray wash. It has three tracks and is barely wide enough, but it works, so far, for this test run. Most of the track has been glued down with a weak PVA (in case it has to be worked on... it may).
This is how it looks today. The plateau above the tunnel will be a residential area nearby the commercial street in the lowland. The ramp is a road connecting the two. The blue top buildings are RR properties for administration, operation, and maintenance. The trolley is owned by the town to bring visitors from the main passenger station to the quaint/historic commercial shopping district. You see, the town was where Unobtanium was first mined and refined. After the Unobtanium disappeared, the facilities were partially converted to making cement. That's how the made-up story was told to me.
Nice work! I love the creative use of space in smaller layouts. A question for you... do the casters lock to prevent movement? Keep posting!
I come back from vacation and I see this! LOVE it! Like BNSF said, adding that trolley line is a nice touch.
Yes, the casters lock if you remember to press the levers. Otherwise you push it around the garage floor. I try to move it so I'm facing the fans. There are 5 of them running to keep the garage between a sweatbox and a sauna.
Looks nice, you have access inside the tunnels I would guess? Too bad DCC did not work for you at this time. Can't wait to see more progress in the future.
It was my original intent to have an access panel to the tunnel. Perhaps someone with more experience could come up with a way to make it happen, I couldn't. So I did a couple of things to lessen the chances of problems. First, I made the two mainlines, in the tunnel, double track with the minimum number of joints. Second, I thoroughly cleaned the tunnel track and then applied NO-OX to that track. Later I ran locos and cars on both main lines for hours, to ensure that the NO-OX was evenly distributed. That leaves the trolley line as a possible problem. To date, the trolley has run without the slightest hiccup. I'm putting a lot of faith in NO-OX and cleanliness. I still have one loco that has DCC, but it also runs well on DC. I do enjoy the sounds it makes and its momentum. Also have a Kato DCC switcher preordered for early next year.
No picture today as I worked on some wiring fixes. From the outside in, the two mainlines are TRK 1, and TRK 2, each on their own controller. The trolley is on its own controller. I then made the station siding, and the interior industrial area, TRK 3, on its own controller. This was a mistake, as passenger train control also moved the industrial loco. So, I moved the station siding from TRK 3 to TRK 2. Then I insulated the rails to the industrial area, and powered the rails just beyond the insulators. All of this was actually not too much trouble. Having the ability to lift up the entire door allowed easy access to the wiring. I relabeled some wires, fed power to the new rail connections using an additional triple feed , and wrapped some plastic wire looms. I used a Kato KAT 24-818 to the rails, and a 28-827 extension to the nearest TRK 2 extension. To install the insulators and the new rail connection some of the track had to lifted. Fortunately, the decision to glue down the track with weak PVA was a good one. The track was raised with little effort. I cleaned up the old glue and then re-glued the track down. There was no need to drill a new hole for the new feed as a nearby one existed. Yesterday I watched a video where the presenter showed how he used a rock mold to make a long continuous rocky wall without obvious repetition. I think i'll be giving the method a try.
Besides oxidation, dust accumulation on the tracks is also a problem for reliable operation. Even if dust does not accumulate in the tunnel naturally, running trains over dusty open track and then through the tunnel will spread the dust onto the tunnel's rails. Make sure you use a dust cover (I have a "California Twin" fitted sheet for my 36x80 HCD layout.)
Never thought of using a sheet. I have thought of getting a CMX track cleaner. Does anyone here have any experience with it?
I have a CMX track cleaner. To me personally it is a God Send !! Made of brass and heavy enough to not derail. Cleaning pads are so simple to change a cave man could do it ! The needle valve for controlling cleaning liquids is great ! I run mine with a trainmaster locomotive in dedicated service. I usually run my CMX cleaner about 3 feet in front of any running trains. This cleans the tracks BEFORE my trains get to any dirty track. My layout is in an older RV. Track gets dusty often if I haven't run trains in a week or so. Track cleaning around here is 'Regular Scheduled Maintenance' !
Numbers, The CMX track cleaner is my most valuable car. Generally, I just use it with the cloth dry. I let my two Kato E9s push it round my 70ft dogbone track four times until the headlights change from flickering to solid illumination. Generally, I use it once a week. It would probably be better to pull the CMX car but the E9s are already pulling the 11-car City of Los Angeles. - Tonkphilip
Got enough of the upper level village made to test fit homes and a couple of small apartments. I'm also planning on a church, beyond the apartments, and a home under construction, somewhere else. Also roughly outlined a road for the residents, ending in a cul-de-sac at each end. That road continues down the ramp, circles to the commercial area, running along the trolley line. I have some trepidation over the road construction, as I've never done any. I moved the RR administration building to allow for a second industrial building. The siding was extended for this yet unknown structure. Also ordered are platform extensions for the passenger station, to accommodate 3 cars. As soon as I can find one or two small items to add to my Kato Japan order to get free shipping, I'll add a small trolley terminal/transfer station next to the passenger station. Was ready to get a small steam engine with a couple of passenger cars, suitable for the trolley line, but it's out of stock. The garage certainly is not the cleanest place in the world, but the trains have been run daily, with no problems. This afternoon, there will be a serious vacuuming of the floor, as most of the extruded styrofoam work is done. The 4" high rock mold arrived yesterday. Switched thinking from using Plaster of Paris, to Hydrocal, to Perfect Cast. Will start making units tomorrow. Planning on using this all along the back and sides. Never did any mold castings, either.
Today was the start of rock wall casting. Never did this before, so I watched many videos and read the instructions carefully. It was a bit tricky to keep the flexible form level, so that the poured material wouldn't leak out. After about an hour wait, I peeled the form back and the result was very good. No edges broke. The detail was impressive. Took 3 pictures and tried to upload them here but received this error message: The uploaded file is too large for the server to process. I then made them smaller (less than 2 megabytes) than any other previous upload, and I still was unable to upload them. Have I violated some rule? Is there a limit on uploads?
Check the resolution. No edge (length or width) can be greater than 2000 pixels. If they are, you need to resize them, despite it being under 2GB (it's actually GB and not Megabyte). Sidenote: interesting I used the two letters for megabyte and it was flagged as that train store in Maryland and changed it woo woo woo.
