Here're a few pix from reopening day.
Gerry and Jack watching Dennis' beer train go by. Choose one or choose them all.
My new Budweiser set with a couple of extra cars.
Ted's C&O coal drag.
Tony wondering if that's his NJ Transit while Dennis' beer train continues on to its destination (Noel's Bar).
It's great to see you fellows running trains again!
2 pictures of our O and G gauge layout set up at the Ocean County Museum in Toms River, NJ on Nov. 27 for their Santa Victorian Day event.
Our own retired Army colonel, Doug Chung who also is our S gauge American Flyer guru/expert was there running his O gauge trains. We started to convert him to 3 rail!
Great photographs of the layouts with Doug. Those small layouts often are what mesmerize children! We had one boy about 5 years old who couldn’t get away from our PE themed layout in Zelienople, Pennsylvania last week.
I’ll be posting on our Western Pennsylvania topic as soon as I collect photographs from the other guys.
Ted,
I'd like to thank you for allowing me to visit last night, you guys really have a great setup! If anyone in the area has a chance to visit, and hasn't checked them out yet, make it a point to do so!
Jeff,
Yep, we welcome new members and have an open invite to anyone who is in the area to contact us here, on the website through email or phone. Many of us live close by to meet folks to show the club. And yes, we have a great set up that is still in the building process and pretty much take up most of the basement there.
A picture of our 6 table fastrack layout at the Brick, NJ Elks Lodge. Had the Lionel camera caboose operating on the outside loop and it was displayed on the large monitor.
So we started back up working on the layout wiring up some operating accessories in an elevated area that Bud built about 2.5 years ago. I caught Bud drilling access holes with his 2 foot long drill bit for wiring the push buttons on each operating accessory.
Basically I caught him “screwing around” with the layout since he is famous for his 8,000 screws he used building the layout!
Guess Ted just wanted to make sure that I wasn't drilling holes for loooonng screws.
We're making holes in the edge of the ceiling tile and trenching to and under the accessories so we don't have wires hanging down on the underside of the plywood that might interfere with the trains going underneath. It's the only advantage using soft ceiling tile for covering as opposed to the more sturdy Homasote.
Ted wired up the MTH gas station, fire house and carwash accessories on the northwest corner of the layout. Used JST connectors under the accessories with holes dug in the covering for the excess wire. Good thing since the car wash didn't work right and had to be removed to fix the problem. Made it a lot easier than removing the wire from the fahnstock clips.
A shot of the underside of the gas station showing the hole for the wires and trenching which is accessed thru the hole drilled down the thickness of the ceiling tile (as shown in the pic two threads up). Decided to eliminate the trench for the other two accessories (we had a loooong drill).
Overview of the accessories. Switched positions of the fire house and car wash.
Still have to run a power line for the accessories.
Nice job, Ted! Those will provide lots of action for visitors and club members alike!
Glad to see you guys are keeping busy!
Ted went underground to redo the wiring for the lights in the turntable area.
Using switches on the S-gauge track is being reassessed since they are proving problematic. Since the S-gauge track is not conveniently accessible this is a definite operational liability. Was checking out an interesting capability of the switches. The silver button on the right side of the frog area can be moved to select either both legs of track on the switch are powered or only the track "switched" to is selected. The other is unpowered and can simplify wiring for sidings by using the switch to control siding power.
Here's a pic of the American Flyer collection on loan to us from the Ocean County Historical Society in Toms River. The cabinet was made by our Treasurer Frank, an HO guy, who is exhibiting some excursions into the O-gauge side.
Our S-gauge superintendent Doug has a desire to install a 30B American Flyer transformer. Rearranged the Z4Ks to see if it would fit. Unfortunately, it won't. Plus, the operation of the handles overhang the sides of the transformer and it appears that it can't be put close to the Z4K and might interfere with their handles.
It is good to see Ted back at work on wiring! 👍🏻
Ted, is it harder on the body than it was before you had to close for the pandemic? I know I can’t get in and out of places without suffering during and after! 😄
Mark,
Back to where I was before the pandemic. No harder and no easier to get underneath for wiring. I completed the 3 MTH operating accessories and have about 8 buildings to wire for lighting.
Next task is to run power feeds to all the terminal strips under the north side of the layout. Then, it will be off to the south side where the S gauge track is. Get the buildings and accessories placed and wired.
We are moving along once again!
Ted, I’m glad you are doing well and getting the wiring done
Mark,
Getting the wiring done without any help from Bud. All he is good for is being the roving photographer catching me in awkward places! Lately he has been working on the S gauge loops one track at a time. With that being said, he might get done by 2023? Lol!
Bud has all those leftover track screws he has to use! You would think he would work faster!
Below is a picture of the new location for AF transformer 30B as it would not fit on the same shelf with the 2 Z4K transformers. We were thinking of expanding the shelf but the area is always crammed with members so we added a shelf with a 90 degree iron bracket in an area that you can the 2 S gauge loops.
Waiting for Doug to complete the inner loop so we can wire track power to it from the terminal strip underneath. Outer loop is complete and ran fine tonight.
Definitely solves the space problem by the Z4K transformers. Wonder if there's any significance of the AF 30B "aiming" at the UFO. Gotta get that S-gauge track tweaked.
There has to be some weapon that can take care of that alien aircraft! Why not an AF… could that be Air Force???
More wiring completed on the lighted houses and the Starlite Diner which only using the lighting as we are not using the smoke unit and the sounds don’t work.
Most of the buildings there are dedicated to club members who are no longer with us and looking down on the layout. Have to swap out Crazy Ken’s Cars with Honest John’s Cars that is dedicated to another past member.
Next up is to start running power lines to all the terminal strips from a ZW. What works well is the ability to regulate the brightness of the lighting with a zw.
Junior member Sean set up a 18 car passenger train on the HO layout including challenging the helix in both directions.
Here're some pix.
And the video.
Running the 18-car Broadway Limited on the HO Scale Layout - YouTube
So I caught Doug and Ed last Tuesday night working on the S gauge part of our layout finalizing the outer loop. Tested it and trains ran real well on that one. The inner loop needs to be expanded and finalized and then the EZ streets to be added. Some of the track is there, just needs to get done.
I believe they had the nutty professor’s OK to ‘screw around’ with the layout without his presence. Surprise, one loop finalized in 1 night! Lol!
It's nice to see the S gauge fellows getting some work done.
Got two train shelves from Jerry who is thinning things out in his basement. Went a long way in freeing up sidings that were used as storage for member and club trains.
Haven't found a good place for these shelves yet. Amazing how many cars the club accumulated over the years.
Not sure if all will be able to travel or park on the layout (and we still have more stored in boxes}. Ken's Used Cars may have to have a sale to reduce inventory.
The S-gauge loops have finally been finalized. The switches were removed because they proved to be problematic and no amount of tweaking made for reliable operation.
Doug doing some final checking of operation.
Ed doing the final installation of S-gauge track.
And, here's the finished S-gauge track installation.
The EZ Streets' loop needs to be modified to add a second loop so we can add buildings and scenick the area (please ignore any future comments that our dear club President may have) and the ball field finished (please ignore any future comments this author may have).
Members have been running trains. We also decided to run trains on the first and third Wednesdays of the month (we'll also run on the fifth Wed. of this month) from 3 to 5 pm. If any Forumites are in the area and would like to visit during this time stop by or any Tuesday or Friday evening from 7 to 10 pm.
Jim's trains.
Here're a few of mine.
After hibernating in a suitcase for quite sometime, the Blue Comet finally emerged.
@LocoBudd posted:Not sure if all will be able to travel or park on the layout (and we still have more stored in boxes}. Ken's Used Cars may have to have a sale to reduce inventory.
Just for verification, there are normally no zombies in this scene for Krazy Ken's Car Town. This is primarily used for our October Halloween Open House.
Thank you.
John T
So the club president will give an update on the S gauge side of the layout. The professor showed me what and how to place the 2nd EZ Streets loop. The black was painted awaiting white striping so we can park the over-abundance of diecast cars. You need parking for the ball field that has been laying idle due to a pandemic closing and supply chain issues getting dirt and grass delivered!
We have been given the green light by the professor to restart construction.
Upon that completion, we received a large Plasticville building donation that we will used there.
The club had to say goodbye to our once-junior club member who has moved onto college and who moved out of New Jersey. We are going to miss Sean who really was a great help when it came to repairs and electronic issues.
A very big wish in your future endeavors. Going to miss the kid who joined the club at 8 years old.
We all miss Sean. We watched him grow up. Here he is about 6 years ago.
The zombies must have heard about a sale of excess used cars and gathered at Crazy Ken's to be first in line to get an early buy. Crazy Ken will sell to anybody because he's CRAZY.
The EZ Streets are installed and operating. Ted did the heavy work of installation and wiring. Did try to place the small loop on a 45 deg but that really didn't work out and stayed with the current configuration. Dennis intends to bring his K-Line UPS van to run. May see what I have on the pile to run too.
The S-gauge xformer shelf has grown to accommodate a DC power pack to run DC American Flyer. Will have to bring my DC switcher along with the AF Rectiformer to power it.
Nothing like state-of-the-art switching to select AC or DC power.
The shelf add-on projects into the aisle and could cause someone to bump into it. Will make a new shelf and panel to mount the xformer and toggle switches to select type of power (got some 10A bridge rectifiers instead of the 30 VA power pack), and a place to mount some additional switches (both toggle and AF controllers).
The HO guys are working on the upper run as Frank was placing wet gauze pads to become the base of a river that runs through Belmar. Next picture is the track laying on corkbed with T-pins holding the track in place temporarily.
Krazy Ken’s was filled up with a news reporter, cameramen and fans of the famous lady sitting on the car. Plenty of folks showed up for Krazy Ken’s blowout car sales.
A picture from Tuesday night’s run of 4 steamers lined up ready to transport people and goods.
I'm glad to see all the scales being worked on by the Ocean County folks!
Ran my 4th of July train last night.
Jim's Chessie.
Frank's restored tinplate. He does amazing work. Not too bad for an HO guy
For our S-gauge guru Doug, brought in a K-Lionel Super Streets "American Flyer" Truck. Apparently, something Doug was unaware of and looks like he'll try to get one. May have to keep an eye on it.
I caught the nutty professor cutting wood and using a few too many screws revamping the S Gauge transformer shelf that Doug, Ed and Jim made for the 30B AF transformer and for a DC transformer.
Bud was busy yesterday finishing it up even though it came out a centimeter shorter than what he wanted! Take note how many screws he used? Maybe 2 more!
The other picture is a corner pop up we have and Dennis finally finished the club cemetery scene dedicated to our members who look down on us. Very well done!
Ted, isn’t more always better. Nice job by Bud and Dennis’ corner scene
Mark - Thanks for the compliment. That shelf used to be a 1 by 12 that was recycled from another layout
As for the use of lots of screws (like trains, you can never have too man). There is something enamoring about a power screw driver especially if you have fully charged batteries. It just wants to be used. Along with that, Ted and company rearranged and organized a lot of the bits and pieces we have. Among those were a lot of new screws. These screws were just crying to be released from their box. What could one do with having a freshly charged drill and screws just waiting to be used? You accommodate them by using them in the latest project. That way the screws are happy. There is nothing more satisfying than happy screws.
Bud, I agree that those battery powered drills and screwdrivers just want to be used.
Friday night was theme night. Since we haven't had one in quite a while, Jim, our O-Gauge Superintendent, thought of running camel backs would be a good one.
Not to be left out Doug's S-Gauge Shops showed up with a home brew camel back.
Mounted the shelf for the AF 30B transformer. Offset the transformer in the tray to the right to allow room on the left side for smoke fluid storage. Drilled four holes for the AC/DC and DC direction switches in the instrument panel. Lotsa room for additional toggle or AF accessory switches. Shame the track switches aren't being used. They would have looked nice on the panel. The shelf with the power pack along with the hi-tech switch have yet to be removed.
Looks great!
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