This is the exact one I use. Except I changed the wheels. To handle my 240 pound frame - LOL Oh - I'm 57. My layout has a duck under. No injuries - as of yet. We'll see if a layout redesign is my future. So far - so good Wolf
Just a 'lessons learned' observation>>> Get a mechanics stool that has (5) casters. The ones with (4) casters will flip out from under you when you move. My A$$ knows this from experience.
Just built this Atlas Signal Tower. I was blown away by the quality of this little kit: 1. The pieces have little flash and the windows look good and fit near perfectly into the walls. 2. It is well designed, so for example the 20-eave brackets are all in one piece! 3. The glazing with the drapes printed on them really add character. 4. The pieces are small particularly the gutters but with an Optivisor, one can sand off the flash. 5. The multiple colors make sense, I just need to find some Dullcote. It is 5-years since I have built a kit, so struggled to find and then apply glue in the tight places. But, this kit is a really nice surprise after trying Lifelike kits previously. I bought it for $19.95 in Minneapolis in 2000. - Tonkphilip
The hole in the middle will be to reach/repair things I can't get to from the outside . . . I hope I don't have to spend too much time in there, but thanks for the suggestion. I will certainly consider it and look at some other options as well. DAN
Make sure the trackwork in the small yard in the back is bulletproof and you shouldnt have to go 'in the hole' at all...JMO
I installed body mounted Microtrain z-scale couplers on my CMX track cleaning car. I never liked the truck mounted couplers because they derail too easily when subject to buff and draft. A while back I put ink dots on the body and value knob to show the valve position. I also use 36" wheels to raise the height slightly. It's not my day for pics; they're all upside down and I can't get them turned around.
l have been keeping busy with various hobby projects while staying at home and not really going out at all. Everything now has to be ordered and I have started several projects only to have to stop while waiting for material. I did finish the older fuel truck I was working on. This is the cab from an Athearn C cab Ford tractor mated to a cast resin fuel truck body from a Cars N Scale kit. Carl Sowell was nice enough to send me some Chevron decal he had made - Thank you Carl ! And I am still working on the Royale Models 3D kit. I had air brushed the tanks and cab body semi-gloss white then started to brush paint the frame and other area dark ghost gray from an older bottle. The area at the tops of the tanks also needs to be the gray color but I want to mask and air brush that so I don't have the jagged line like in the photo above. So now waiting for a paint shipment which includes a fresh bottle of dark ghost gray. Also getting a some red and orange sharpies for tail lights. This truck will also get some of Carl's decals. Then I got started playing around with some IR detectors for my staging yards. I am making some stands from brass so the beam can look down. One side has a .125 brass rod which is threaded so can be mounted to the deck with 6-32 nuts. The other post will be .125 brass tube so the IR transmitters can be fed down through it. Now waiting for the brass tube. The layout needs a few more telegraph poles so I have started finishing another batch of 12. I paint them roof brown, then paint the cross arm supports and insulators before installing them. So far the layout has 88 which is about half of what will be needed by the time the layout is finished. So everyone keep having fun and stay safe.
Still on my workbench is the automated tram. Update is I finally got all the pieces from all over the world, and while not the most elegant code, I believe I have written code that finally works as intended. I have been having issues with the tram acting wonky and stopping when it shouldn’t, and passing the station stops when it should stop. Edit: I lied! It worked fine when I went to bed last night but this morning it doesn't. I am getting so frustrated over this project! I'm going to look into using a Pi over the Arduino.
This weekends progress. Taking it slow. Added stanchions to the front of the SW900 Added the dynamic brake air intake grills to the SW8 Thanks, Wolf
Ok so my Automated tram is coming along pretty well. I have the base stained and is almost dry enough to handle. I’m going to urethane coat it next for a nice glossy finish. (Pics soon I promise) The automation feature is doing much better. I found that the tram works fine if I start the system with the tram between station 2 and 1. If I start it at a station that’s when all sorts of wonky happens. So I’m still working on it but just about got it locked down.
I'm dabbling with something similar at the moment so I'm interested in seeing how others do it. I like your idea of an overhead gantry hiding the IR LED. Do you plan on housing the sensor overhead as well, or in the roadbed? I'm using QRD1114s mounted between the rails, they blend in quite well. Just needs a bit more fine tuning to get the readings into a more workable range.
In this application I am going to have the IR transmitter on the top with the receiver between the ties. This is in the staging yard so I am not concerned with it being seen. I do have another setup where I am using the across the track method to trigger the reverse loop turnouts. I did a blog post on this one: http://palisadecanyonrr.blogspot.com/2020/04/automation-of-yards-reverse-loops.html. That QRD1114s unit you are using is a nice little package and I may look into that myself for places where I don't want anything to show. I am trying out several different kinds of detection right now, it a learning process.
This is what's on my workbench. Seems like a long time now. It's getting there, have a few more details to add like smoke lifters, number boards and class lights. Soon, I hope.................................. We may be "opening up" but please be careful and stay well, Carl
