Well as far as makeing any progress on the track work that's on hold untell parts come in. So worked on the buss wireing between modules. Useing #8 guage stranded wire with trailer connectors between modules and #22 drop wire for every piece of rail. I know what some are thinking Over Kill! I could get by with #12 or #10 but with the connectors at each module will create a little resistance so #8 guage should compenaste for that. With DCC system of 20 amps per district and #8 guage buss should be no worry's. So alternate plan is to work on Hendricks Station. I will post some flicks on that in a few days. "Still Training After All These Years"
I put together and installed the last of the Loconet cables and ran a complete test of the entire system. A good set of crimper/strippers is a must when putting those cables together-definetly made things easy. With that last cable - the wiring phase of the layout is complete and now I can concentrate on eliminating the plywood plains. I still have a big task in front of me with only 2 of my 35 locomotives DCC-equipped. I must have 20+ decoders around here though that I've bought over the years, so I need to start marrying them up so I have something more to run. Over the remaining two weeks of the party, I will see about increasing the number of DCC engines, if the urge to start on scenery doesn't get to me first. Peter
The package was delayed somewhat from Vermont due to bad roads.... Last night we entertained some guests, so I have had no time to work on it yet.
I just spent the last 2 hours in the basement, wiring up that PM42. I got the staging turnback loop operational!!! I double-gapped the entire helix, and double gapped the Plain wye. Next up, wiring the wye at Plain, the helix, and installing feeders everywhere!
It sure was nice to run an engine all the way thru staging, the loop, and back, seamlessly.... That PM42 is slicker than a greased doorknob!
L Lee Davis posted: " I know what some are thinking Over Kill! I could get by with #12 or #10 but with the connectors at each module will create a little resistance so #8 guage should compenaste for that. With DCC system of 20 amps per district and #8 guage buss should be no worry's. " I know you are a big scale guy, but your wiring is more robust than my house's. Have you concidered using jumper cable. VBG:shade: It doesn't hurt to have excess capacity, just be sure it's well protected. You don't want to melt or weld stuff. Michael S
I guess with that sort of capacity, you can skip the 20A power supply,a nd head straight to the 250A welder... God forbid you run a switch, you'll weld the loco to the rails!
Mopman, that is looking cool! Others are moving right along. Slow progress again ends week 3 for me. No pictures yet until it is changed enough to make it worth photos. This week I'm painting the sky, all the uprights are finally in place, and the beginnings of curved facia is going in. Oh, I ordered some track and turnouts (Atlas Code 55), and some electrical bus is already in. Originally hoped I'd get some track glued down by the end of the Layout Party, at least on Module 1, and at this point its gonna be close. I'll probably at least have some foam down, and track centerlines on Module 1, maybe even 2. Then track can start. I will be feedering every piece to the bus, via suitcase connectors. Thinking about avoiding track joiners wherever possible. Building in modular domino style, its been hard getting some of this early stuff completed. Eventually there will be 7 modules total. Lots of engineering experiments and a few trips back to the drawing board. Mostly its working out pretty good.
Over the past week, I had a lot of success and progress on the layout. I finalized the track plan, thanks again to Dave (PPUINN) for his invaluable comments and suggestions in the final days of that exercise. I have my track order in and ready to go. This weekend I managed to get up about half of the bench work and have the wood cut for another section that is 8 ft * 30 inches. I might try to get that completed tonight, however I think I have had enough of callouses and wood splinters for a day. I will try to get some pictures taken a little latter maybe on Monday, once I have cleaned up the mess I have made. Right now I think it is time for a beer, and sit back and watch a movie.
I didn't get much done this week. The little notch on the front edge of the framework is where the wiring is run. This coming week I'd like to draw in the track plan and build some mock-ups of the structures here. Then with a clearer view of how the scene will look, finish the backdrop. Michael
Today marks the end of week three of the Layout Party, that leaves two weeks to go. Looks like everybody has made good progress and most are on track or close to the goals established at the start of the party. Keep the progress going guys, and lets have some fun.
Late to the party Ok, i'm late hope I can still join in. I was looking at everyones progress. nice work guys. I even saw lichen. I looove lichen. I don't care if its' not state of the art. the smell of lichen takes me back to xmass 1970 when I got all kinds of train stuff and a huge bag of lichen. What a great day for a seven year old! My layout is gonna have lichen on it too. Ok, plans for layout party: I have begun track weathering. I was stressing out over it, but decided to go ahead and do some work. I am using this technique: http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/4x8/weathered_track/ This involves hand painting rail with a 000 brush, not as bad as it seems it would be. So far I like my results and the track painting is sort of therpeutic. also, I need to slip some ties undere the track where the flextrack joins other pieces of track. Goals: Make the track look good and have some fun. If I get a tenth of what needs to get done finished I'll be happy.
Yesterday, I doubled the number of my DCC-equipped locomotives to 4 when I outfitted a set of Kato PA's. I realize that these are probably the simplest conversions that I have but they went together easily with no problems - a definite confidence builder! I may have 30+ locos but I figured out that I only need 6-8 DCC-equipped ones for a skeleton crew (couple of switchers, the PA's, and 2-4 road switchers/transfer units) to start with. Peter
There is not a lot to show since my last posting, a bit more track weathered and ballasted. I built a pad for the intermodal siding and plastered around the tracks. I will post some pics after I have painted it. I have a glitch with two of my signals, I think one of the relays I use to change signal polarity has died . I will investigate when I summon up the courage to tackle under track wiring:bat: I think I have a couple of spare relays somewhere? Hmmm! later. Cheers, Ken.
I wired up another section of the PM42--the helix, and the thing reverses when the train leaves staging!
DCC Buss Wires Hey, L. Lee, Sorry for the jibe (a little bit sorry anyway), but you raise a question. Is the big wire to accomidate big equipment, or to avoid voltage drop on a long run of wire? I am no expert, I took electronics 40+ years ago in high school. If you're concern is about the power draw of your equipment, then my guest is that, yes, it is over-kill. However if you are looking at long runs of wire, this raises another issue, that being inferance. Did you ever notice how the power company switches the three wires around every so many poles, or that the phone company uses twised wire pairs, that is to combat inferance. power/signal degradation. If it's the later I'd check with the DCC guys here on the DCC forum or elsewhere on the web. Michael
Here are a couple of pictures of the bench work I completed over the weekend. The foam arrived today, so I will complete a couple more legs and finishing then start setting up the foam. Still a bit of a mess but we are about three quarters through the construction of the bench work. Just need to build the bench work for the lift out, right peninsula and a small staging area.
