Friday nite was pretty active. Members had to let off a little steam since the layout was down for a month or so for ballasting and scenery work. All four loops were smoking with trains runnin'...until...one of our new members train stopped abruptly at one of the crossovers on track 2. Then the fun began. A short had mysteriously developed on track 2. All the track was inspected for anything that might be shorting the rails. A magnet mounted on a car was pushed around the track in case something had fallen off and was shorting the rails. Tried various combinations for powering tracks 2 (we can use either the Z4K or TPCs thru a bypass switch) were tried. Nada, zilch, nothing was determined to cause the short. Our past President suggested connecting a sacrificial transformer to "burn" the short out.
Fast forward to late Saturday morning. Ted arrives with two ancient sacrificial transformers (one is in serious need of a new cord - repairs tried to no avail - use the other one). Main power disconnected from the terminal board for track 2 and the sacrificial transformer connected (has a lovely low level AC hum). Placed a caboose on the track, turn power on and low and behold the caboose lights up. Good to know that our efforts looking for a short in the track the previous night were worthless...but.. the track wiring is definitely good. Connected the TPCs directly. Short. Bypassed the bypass switch (thinking the switch might be bad). Short. Z4K connected. Short. Tried a few other combinations but the short still persisted. Finally, disconnected the TIU (we're using Passive TIU mode so only the output is connected to the track). Bingo, the short disappears. Few more checks, including reconnecting the TIU and insuring that the wire connecting the TIU is not shorted, confirms that the fixed output 2 of the TIU is shorted. Ran an engine with no problems (oh, the caboose's light still lights). Reconnected all the wiring to the terminal and connected variable output 2 to the track. track is now operational. Have yet to confirm if we can run an MTH PS2/3 engine with DCS (didn't have one with us).
The NYC Mohawk hauling a consist of Dennis' beer cars was run under Legacy to confirm there were no additional problems on track 2.
One of our members (an HO guy) brought in a lighthouse that his father had some thirty years ago. McDonald's was replaced by the lighthouse in the corner.
Unfortunately, a sink hole developed under the lighthouse.
The corner piece will turn blue and a few boats will be added for the lighthouse to guide to a safe landing.
Alice thru the scenery. A smaller tunnel portal has been located and will be used to enter the scenic mountain.
Apparently the heat is drying out the mural on the south wall and has caused some separation and loosening of the mural. Thoughts are to hide the gap with the York hotel. Mural will have to be reattached and gap filled.
