Running trains with Richard Kughn

I'm pretty late to this party, but my name is John Lauter, and I built the layout in Dick's basement along with my partner, John Wetzel.  It was a big challenge, and I'm fairly proud of how it turned out. We built a lot of scratch-built components on that layout. One feature I was really proud of was a set of two inserts that completed the tracks in the gap up the rear center of the layout, towards the control console. Dick wanted under certain circumstances to have a "bridge" sort of thing lock in and complete the tracks to allow for reversing direction on the outside track. I devised a system that had a wood frame, then the ballast substitute we manufactured for that layout, then the track. I opened up the ends of the track similar to the ends of a Bascule bridge's track, so that it would lay over a pin in the corresponding rail of the mating track. I made all this, then drilled gang holes through the plywood deck of the insert bridge, into the main table decking then installed 4 banana plugs like a volt-ohm meter has, these provide two functions. They positively align the insert piece the same way each time, so that the tracks line up perfectly, and they are used as electrical connectors to a) send power to the track on the bridge and b) to complete a lock out circuit that prevents the switches from being thrown such that the train could plummet off of the table!  When the bridge insert is out (which is most the time) the switches cannot be activated because the normally closed contacts of a relay are hooked to the switch to lock the "right way" turn in that position. If you try to change the direction manually, at the console, or through the CAB-1 controller it will buzz a bit, but go back to the locked position, which is the safe "correct" position. When the bridge/insert is installed the relay is energized, the contacts open up on the relay and the switch can be operated in either direction. When the bridge is removed, braking the power to the relay it goes back to the "normally closed" position of the relay and the switches will automatically

switch themselves back to the "safe" position. I can answer any questions you may have about the layout. Derrick is doing the train community a great service with these interviews. I had the honor of being interviewed for his Madison Hardware book re: the NYC neon sign which I restored in 2000. 

I can't wait for the show.  And what a night you had!  I love that monorail with the Disney Contemporary resort--that brought back a lot of great memories--that was where my Mom, brother and I stayed during our first "real" vacation when I was a boy. I seem to recall being impressed with an immense, multi-story (orange) mosaic of some kind in the concourse--very early 70's as I recall, but really cool. It all seemed larger than life then; maybe it still is...?  Looks like an amazing model of that building!

All of that Disney stuff at that end of the layout was a later surprise that Linda (bless her memory) gave Dick after she returned from Florida with her grand children. We had to change that whole section to look like Disney. The hotel and the monorail were sold in the gift shops at EPCOT, and when I was there in March they still sold them. I kit bashed the hotel and “Ball” building, adding lights and masking, so light only came out where it should. 

THANKS for sharing! A GREAT gentleman and a TRUE legend in the world of Lionel. Both he and former collaborator/competitor, Mike Wolf, have always had the PASSION beyond the business side of this hobby, much like Joshua Cowen. May he have many more years to enjoy HIS trains!

thanks to Derrick and all involved in sharing this piece of history and to dick for sharing his story and layout. love his shelfs on the walls. if I was the owner of lionel I would have almost one of every legacy item also😁

how many more x-lionel employees have operating layouts? Thats would be interesting to know. 

Totally Traintastic

John Lauter posted:

That Disney stuff at that end of the layout was a surprise that Linda (bless her memory) gave Dick after she returned from Florida with her grand children. 

His wife passed away? 

Tuscan Jim posted:

I can't wait for the show.  And what a night you had! 

One problem. This post is four years old. The Notch 6 podcast is old news. I’m not sure if Derrick archives his shows. Maybe you can still hear it.

That’s the problem when someone posts on a very old thread and people don’t read the time stamps on each post. I have seen this happen too often on the OGR Forum.

In this case, it would have been better to start a new thread with a link to the old one.

It looks like all the older podcasts are still on the Notch 6 website, you just have to look under the year and month that the original podcast was published.  I hadn't realized how long Notch 6 had been around until I saw this post, that's terrific!

The interview can be found at:

http://notch6.com/2015/04/04/n...owner-richard-kughn/

OOPS! I confess I did not check the time/date stamp - never assume! 😐

RadioRon posted:

John Lauter posted:

That Disney stuff at that end of the layout was a surprise that Linda (bless her memory) gave Dick after she returned from Florida with her grand children. 

His wife passed away? 

Yes, Linda passed away in October of 2015.

That's sad. Linda was a wonderful woman. I was in the museum on a Wednesday before York when Jerry Calabrese had just come on board and I sat for about an hour talking with Linda and her friend. she was a wonderful wonderful woman very friendly. May God bless her and I'm sorry for Richard's loss.

Now that's neat!!

-Greg

John Lauter posted:

RadioRon posted:

His wife passed away? 

Yes, Linda passed away in October of 2015.

I was unaware of that.   Very sorry to hear.

It was the Richard Kughn era trains that brought me to start getting some O Gauge trains.  Finally some larger more prototypical trains.  My NS Dash8 got a lot of use, and I still own and operate Kughn era Lionel trains.