New Layout Update! August 28, 2015 edition.

Looks great!!!  Good start.

The legs are every so slightly able to sway on the peninsula so they may get cross bracing.  But the majority of the table is butted up against the walls of the room so there is no movement.  

I'm using the 1 inch blue foam that is readily available at Lowe's here in the Memphis area.  They also have the thinner .75.  It is making the structure much lighter than my previous layout. 

Thanks for the info. I presumed it was just a local issue, if it's not selling they don't stock it. A lot of 2" foil faced stuff here. I suppose due to the colder winters S. NJ.

Do you think having the SCARM plan has made construction of the layout easier?

Yes having the SCARM software made this project MUCH easier!  

Looking good! Can you post some closer pictures of your water area?  I'd like to see how you built your water crossing as I'm planning on the same type of feature for my layout. 

Well the water crossing is FAR from done as two bridges are simply sitting on the blue foam and two are still just tracks crossing the river (soon to have simple bridges built around them).  The third will be a tall trestle crossing.  But I'll post pics soon to show some closer progress.

Looks very nice, looking forward to the finish of the mountain.  Thanks for sharing the update.  Nick

Tackindy, what type of adhesive are you using on the foam?

On the foam I'm using a hot glue gun.  I'm not sure its the best but it allows for super fast assembly.  But then again laying big sheets it also makes for short working time!  I put in some work on the river so I'll have to get a picture of it, but for now here is a blurry picture of the mountain.

The bridge does not stay there... it was just sitting there during the riverbank work.  

Ok, here is the latest!

Here you see the yard as it is getting its decking cut and test fit.  I'll spray it all grey before installing it.  This is made from hardboard (what clipboards are made of).  

View of the layout from the door into the room.

View from workroom door.

Someone asked for river pics.  I haven't poured any "water" or done any landscaping other than paint the base colors.

Another view of the river showing one of the trestles I made in place holding the upper line over the river.  I'm also going to build bridges in place on the lower line (the outer/lowest rails).  

Ran electricity up to the top of the mountain!   

And a video of some trains running around the layout!

Looks Great... Only proves that "Space" is the final frontier. If you got the space you can build.

Nicely done!

Peter

Good job.

I'm sure I need to add some power to the tracks as I only have one on each loop!  It was running the trains fine but when I try to add or do anything with engines in the yard it doesn't see them.  Ha ha.

So how many power drops do you guys think I should put on each loop?  I was thinking three?

Looks great, Not sure what kinds of transformers your using or how many but that could be the limiting factor.  I would just do one drop at each end. The way it's running you shouldn't need more however nothing exceeds like excess.

Yeah I feel like I need at least 2 on the mainlines, and then a third right inside the yard to hit those lines.  The reason I sensed trouble is that I put power switches on the blocks at the beginning of each storage track in the yard.  I then put my Y6b on one to power it up to see how it handled the tunnel but when I applied power to that track with the switch the remote wouldn't see the engine.  I figured it was signal strength and so I thought I was needing more power drops from the TIU.  

By the way, someone asked about bricks and I'm using two MTH 1000 bricks, one for each mainline.   

If i'm not mistaken, the MTH 1000 is only 100 Watts x 2 = 200 watts of power.  This is pretty small depending on the number of trains/accessories you are running.

Power up and check voltage at the end of each of the tracks in your yard.  Should all be about the same reading.  Check various points around your loops. Should also be about the same.  If you see voltage drops, you likely need more power drops.

If voltage is essentially even and you are still having trouble, you may need another or bigger power supply. 

Remember:  Power (watts) = E (voltage) * I (current).  So, 200 Watts @18 volts only gives you about 11 amps to play with.  Big engines and heavy loads will draw more current.

good luck!

Yes I need to get my hands on two Lionel 180 watt power houses to run those mainlines and one yard.  

Its the FasTrack switch internals blocking the DCS signal. Gunrunnerjohn suggested to place a 22uF choke across the Aux IN and Gnd terminals to isolate the interference of the DCS signal by the switch control electronics in place of the jumper.

See DCS signal and FasTrack switches.   email Grj. I think it's just a capacitor, but I may be wrong.

Your power is fine(and signal, I presume) otherwise, so hold off on the power drops until you resolve the switch\yard stub issue. DCS wiring convention would recommend more.

I asked this on the other post too, but do I need that for each switch even if they are manual?  Only the track into the yard is on an automatic switch.  The other switches inside the yard are manual.

You shouldn't need the choke on a manual switch. There's no electronics to interfere with the signal.

Where were you testing, after a manual?

Are the power block switches connected to only the hot rail? 

I was testing in the yard on a line which is behind a manual switch AND an auto that leads into the yard.   So it was behind one Automatic switch.  The blocks are wired where only the middle rail is interrupted.  

Ok, I went back and looked at some of my notes(bookmarks).

It is a 22uh choke. It's not a capacitor. A choke blocks RF, which does not need to go to or come from the switch control board.

Mouser electronics has them in the 1/2A (560ma) that Grj recommended in the other thread.

Order some of the those. Use the axial leads to replace the track power jumper under the switch and it should solve your problem with the DCS signal not getting past the switch. Putting a power and common drop on the yard spur will only mask the problem.

You should put them on all of your remote or command switches.

I ordered a bunch from Digi and I'm waiting on them to be delivered!  

That's good! I don't run DCS, but I ordered some for my switches anyway. Don't need stray RF. Digi is better on the shipping.

Let us know if it solves the issue.

Nice to see Alaska on the rails! The yard looks good filled in. It will look prototypical. Nice touch.

Yes the ALASKA paint scheme has always been pretty to me, but after watching that RailRoad Alaska show I just had to have one represented on the layout!  Over this weekend I didn't do a ton but I got some stuff done.  The chokes from DigiKey came in and I put one on the yard switch and that cleared up a lot of the problem with the remote not seeing engines.  I then added a power lead next to the switch and now ALL engines in the yard are being seen and controllable.  I was really excited about that so that is why you now see trains actually staged in the yard.  Only the two that were running the upper mainline are in there along with the steamers but it does make the yard look good doesn't it!  

Next up is probably going to be work on the city that will be above that yard on an elevated platform extending only about 20 inches from the wall.  All of my buildings, lights, people, and vehicles are in boxes and I'm itching to get a few out to fire up the Miller Designs signs!  

Here's the latest!  And yes that is a topside creeper you see in the pictures.  Its a new addition that I must admit is very handy!  

You can see the city taking shape.  This wasn't shown on the original plans but was planned for that location all along.  I used a few AmeriTown store fronts to build a cover for the window AC unit.  The other window with the Ferris Wheel in front of it will be a park in order to keep my view out the window fairly open.  You can also see a bunch of Dept56 armature trees appearing.  I bought them from Amazon for about $17 per six thinking I would add foliage to them but honestly I kinda like the bare branch look.  We'll see.  

In the foreground the mountain will be build up for the upper line to go on, and the 2 lower lines closest to you in the pic will be covered in tunnels.  This will give me a little more needed room for some structures and such.  

 The view from the river back to the peninsula part of the mountain.  You can see the upper line that will cross the river via my home built trestles and continue on once the mountain gets built on the other side of the river!  A stone casement will be built on the points where the track leaves the ground and goes airborne using Dr Ben's granite building blocks.  

A few updates on projects....

Installing the trestles for the bridge.  I used a little hot glue on the base to secure, and then sculptamold around the base to finish it off.  Once it's dry I'll paint it and apply some bushes and grass. 

Used some more Sculptamold to blend the Amazon.com Dept 56 trees into place!  I'm really liking these trees that I got for $17 for 6.  

The city area over the yard is getting an edge to it.  I'll either paint it grey or possibly put a brick pattern over the wood.  It extends about three quarters of an inch above the street level to make a wall.  I'll be putting some street lights in against it also so that will hide the bases.  

So guys (if anyone is still following this), what color should I put on the trestle bridge?  I had thought about staining the wood, painting it dark brown, or even diluting black and painting it that to simulate the creosote look?  

What do you think?

And I didn't pre-paint it due to adding runners and braces after getting it all up and done.  

I always liked the look, and smell, of creosote!

That's my two cents.

If you mean the trestle bents, I would make some black lines with a fine point sharpy to simulate a grain, only a few for highlights. Then take some artist chalks and use some browns, umbers, whatever makes it look like wood. You don't need complete coverage. Then spray it with a dullcoat to seal it. New railroad, new logs.

The skinniest area just looked like it should have a lake/swamp area in it.  Plus it gave me a chance to use up some supports that were boxed up and put away.   I know its a mixture of stone and wood supports but you know the guys just ran out of stone work and threw in the wood supports.  Sigh.... what do you do?

I thought that the stone piers were installed to comply with the weight testing for the heavier axle load engines the rr is now using.

The lake will look nice.

Yes yes Moonman I just talked to my foreman and you are correct!   

A few updated shots to show you guys who are still here...

Tackindy,

Don't worry, we are still here!  Glad you are making such good progress.    How long is the trestle going to be when completed?  It looks like it is going to go on for a while.    Are you going to have to keep access to the windows, or do you plan a backdrop behind the buildings?