What did you do on your layout today?

@RSJB18 posted:

I moved my PRR 0-4-0 consist out of harms way (don't ask). Otherwise layout time as been a big goose-egg!

@necrails- 2-rail shelf layout? Do tell.....pix to share?

Bob

RSJB18, here is the shelf layout so far, the cutout helps with storage.  Wired for DC, upper left is a simulated car float, two sidings on the right will be a freight house, lower right siding will be locomotive storage.

@necrails posted:

RSJB18, here is the shelf layout so far, the cutout helps with storage.  Wired for DC, upper left is a simulated car float, two sidings on the left will be a freight house, lower right siding will be locomotive storage.

Nice. Keep us posted as you put it together.

Thanks

A busy summer  and fall it has been. Starting to work on my layout again. A few early pics of a scene I'm working on to finish the front of my layout which you see when you first come down the stairs

My boys helpd me paint some barrels and wood I cut into pipes for the layout. My older son also built a small corn field for the farm in the corner of the layout.

@farmerjohn- welcome back. The new scene is coming together quickly.

@ArtsModelTrains- nice work by your boys.

Bob

I finally finished up building the passenger car lighting kits.  I actually enjoy soldering and assembling kits.  Still have one of my original Heath Kits from way back.  Anyway, a big thanks to John for designing these in the first place.

Next comes the not to fun part - installing them in the cars.  Oh yea...

WOW guys! I have been so busy with non-train stuff I haven't been able to see what is going on. Seems like while I have been gone everyone has been doing outstanding work!

All I have been able to do is put up Christmas lights, shovel snow and use my tractor to dig people's driveways out. I was able to make a few bucks for layout money. Which brings up a question, how many of you use a MTH AIU on their layout and are they worth it or is it just more to worry about with the remote operation?

I see one for sale and have been thinking about it, just not sure. I would really like your thoughts!

I hope your all having a great weekend and finding time for your layout and fun with your trains!

Continued working on my "plant room" turnaround loop.  If you've seen Jim Barrett's book, in the chapter titled "Run Around the Furnace", he makes a turnaround loop that's elevated.  So, I too, am making elevated towers to carry the upper & lower turnaround loops.  My woodworking skills are not on his level but they'll suffice. Wood was free, prior homeowner left lots of dimensional lumber in the workshop.

Rich in SD

My son recently gave me an ETS Merci boxcar.

I finished up putting the signs on it and installed it on the layout.

Bill, looks like you will be busy until next year installing all of those.  Great job, nice looking boards.

@mike g. posted:

WOW guys! I have been so busy with non-train stuff I haven't been able to see what is going on. Seems like while I have been gone everyone has been doing outstanding work!

All I have been able to do is put up Christmas lights, shovel snow and use my tractor to dig people's driveways out. I was able to make a few bucks for layout money. Which brings up a question, how many of you use a MTH AIU on their layout and are they worth it or is it just more to worry about with the remote operation?

I see one for sale and have been thinking about it, just not sure. I would really like your thoughts!

I hope your all having a great weekend and finding time for your layout and fun with your trains!

I have been delinquent here as well because of non-train stuff, though I didn't earn any money doing it. 

I installed AIUs on my layout to control power to track sections and switches.  I find controlling the power from the remote to be convenient, but I ended up controlling the switches with the local pushbuttons or manual ground throws.  I could use the AIUs to control operating  accessories if I add them or turn lights on and off.  Forum member Bill Webb shared how he wired everything, and I followed his method.  I hope others answer your question, because like most things, everyone has a different experience.

Thanks Mark, I hope Bill Webb shares some input.  I would really like to know if it hard to wire and learn!

@mike g. posted:

Thanks Mark, I hope Bill Webb shares some input.  I would really like to know if it hard to wire and learn!

Mike, they are pretty straightforward, but since a lot of the AIUs have relays only rated at 4 amps, it is advisable to wire in 10 amp relay boards to handle the potential load for controlling power to the rails.  That adds another layer of complexity, but once you see what to do they are all the same.  Wiring switches, accessories, etc is a breeze.

@farmerjohn posted:

I like that road winding up the mountain, the rocks, and that Mail Pouch Tobacco building in the top photo looks very authentic!

Nothing much compared to what has been accomplished by others above, but there is a new flower garden at what was a dull little corner of the Lumber & Hardware property. They didn't need the space, so they gave the Department of Park & Recreation permission to landscape it. (Nothing on paper, just a handshake agreement.) Park & Rec (it's singular) put in some nice flowers and made it an extension of Central Park.

@John's Trains posted:

Nothing much compared to what has been accomplished by others above, but there is a new flower garden at what was a dull little corner of the Lumber & Hardware property. They didn't need the space, so they gave the Department of Park & Recreation permission to landscape it. (Nothing on paper, just a handshake agreement.) Park & Rec (it's singular) put in some nice flowers and made it an extension of Central Park.

Really nice work - it fits!

Today I officially start my semi-retired lifestyle. So I thought I would do a quick win project to kick things off. I went old school and bought a Williams BL-2. Which predictably runs great however the lighting from the headlight and markers lights was almost nonexistent running at 8 volts. So I added LEDs to brighten things up.

The original lighting arrangement is 2 12 volt bulbs and an open interior for the light to shine through.

In order to direct the LEDs focus I encased them in heat shrink tubing.

Here are the triple LED light sets installed in the engine. Note the tube completely goes up to or over the plastic lenses. This focuses the light out of the cab and not shining inside.

Here is everything connected up. I removed the 12 volt bulb holder and wired direct to the truck leads. There is enough wire length to comfortably open the shell from the frame. Not too much so that fitting it all into the cab when closed up is easy.

The final result is a focused headlight that shines forward about 6 inches down the track. The marker lights are now quite visible but not too much. The picture makes the headlights look blurry which they are not to the naked eye.

@ChiTown Steve- nice step by step on the LED conversion. I have 2 Williams BL-2's that could use the same upgrade. Did you happen to wire the motors in series while you were under the hood? I've done my Williams and K-lines and it makes a big difference at the lower voltages.

@John's Trains- Your Parks and Rec Dept can stop by my house anytime.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

@ChiTown Steve- nice step by step on the LED conversion. I have 2 Williams BL-2's that could use the same upgrade. Did you happen to wire the motors in series while you were under the hood? I've done my Williams and K-lines and it makes a big difference at the lower voltages.

@John's Trains- Your Parks and Rec Dept can stop by my house anytime.

Bob

Thanks. I’ve wired some proto 1 MTH in series before. TBH I don’t know if this really needs it. It runs smooth as it is with my Z4000 and track wiring. But since you mentioned it I’ll probably  want to do it. 🤣

@ChiTown Steve posted:

Thanks. I’ve wired some proto 1 MTH in series before. TBH I don’t know if this really needs it. It runs smooth as it is with my Z4000 and track wiring. But since you mentioned it I’ll probably  want to do it. 🤣

I use a KW so that 6v jolt gives the crew whiplash!

Hey Y'all,

   I shot this video last night.  I bought a Lionel #8802 and some Southern cars for my birthday.  All NIB.  I am thrilled to have more Southern stock.  I put my camera in the middle of my layout, facing out at me.

Bill

Bill could not tell if you were smiling or not?  Looked like you were trying to keep a straight face. Interesting camera angle none the less. Never seen that take before - that's called innovation!  I would break my camera if I tried that. 

@Odenville Bill posted:

Hey Y'all,

   I shot this video last night.  I bought a Lionel #8802 and some Southern cars for my birthday.  All NIB.  I am thrilled to have more Southern stock.  I put my camera in the middle of my layout, facing out at me.

Bill

@ScoutingDad posted:

Bill could not tell if you were smiling or not?  Looked like you were trying to keep a straight face. Interesting camera angle none the less. Never seen that take before - that's called innovation!  I would break my camera if I tried that. 

I was waiting to see if you moved, Bill.  You finally did at the end.  Were you watching the camera?  I agree with Jeff! That is a great camera angle.  The train ran so smoothly as well !  I always have trouble taking videos, trying to pan with the train.  I will have to give what you did a try!

I was watching the camera.  Next time I'll watch the train.  I would smile then.

Bill

On my new layout I've decided to go the MTH route for control of my switches and accessories. The current game plan calls for 3 AIUs. Given that they will be located in regions that are not extremely accessible, I've decided to do as much prewiring as I can before I install them. So here is an AIU with 2 busses. One side is for switches, the other for accessories. I also have individual leads for each of the switches and accessories. I'll mount this into position and make the connections to the layout with WAGO connectors.

Also, I've stolen an idea from  GRJ (Thanks, John!) and have bought some desk cable groments. I used a hole saw the drill through the front of the layout. I'll glue a back plate to each with a momentary push button switch. This way I can have local control of an accessory, or use the remote through the  AIU.

Chris

LVHR

@Ross posted:

My son recently gave me an ETS Merci boxcar.                    I finished up putting the signs on it and installed it on the layout.

This is really sharp Ross.

What are the individual patches from ? 

I'm familiar with the US patches.  (  don't have to know what each patch is for  )

@Bill Sherry posted:

I finally finished up building the passenger car lighting kits.  I actually enjoy soldering and assembling kits.  Still have one of my original Heath Kits from way back.  Anyway, a big thanks to John for designing these in the first place.

Next comes the not to fun part - installing them in the cars.  Oh yea...

Wow Bill  .......that is certainly some kind of commitment .   

Kudos sir. 

@Odenville Bill posted:

Hey Y'all,

   I shot this video last night.  I bought a Lionel #8802 and some Southern cars for my birthday.  All NIB.  I am thrilled to have more Southern stock.  I put my camera in the middle of my layout, facing out at me.

Bill

Aaha......just what i figured Bill.  You can't hide with that scary profile photo.

Really a neat idea Bill and even with the other train and showing a unique way of showing the Southern layout .

@Dallas Joseph, the costs of arms are from 40 of the French districts that provided the gifts that were contained in the 49 cars.

Dallas Joseph - Big  Ken,    Thanks guys, appreciate the positive comments.  I'll keep repeating them over and over again as I install the boards in the cars !   And guess what, I purchased the General Set from the Fundimensions era from my local hobby shop and that's two cars that won't be getting the lighting boards. I don't think I will build any more although I have plenty of parts left over except the naked boards.

@Greg Houser posted:

But then again, my favorite genre of music is metal and I like it loud

-Greg

What other kind of music is there??

@mike g. posted:

Thanks Mark, I hope Bill Webb shares some input.  I would really like to know if it hard to wire and learn!

Mike I just saw this and am leaving to go fishing in ten minutes. I will try to get back to you when we get home. Will be glad to assist if we can.

The renovation project is done! Roof, siding, 2 new windows, front and rear steps replaced with granite and bluestone.

I returned to work today and found 3 boxes on my desk, 2 from Menards and one from RMT. I'll post pix on BACL later.

Time to get back to the important stuff!

Bob

Built and installed an adjustable bookshelf that doubles as train storage and bench work for a two bay train shed on a side yard for the layout build.  Allows three rows of train storage per shelf.

Didn’t take long for my son to fill it up.

@Ross posted:

@Dallas Joseph, the costs of arms are from 40 of the French districts that provided the gifts that were contained in the 49 cars.

For those who might be in New England, a preserved example of one of these cars is located in the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket RI. A story of it's discovery and rescue/restoration is here:  http://mercitrain.org/RhodeIsland/

There is also one in Hays KS.

This website has a listing of all the cars and their status. http://www.mercitrain.org

Checking that my track is level. Or not.

@Ross posted:

@Dallas Joseph, the costs of arms are from 40 of the French districts that provided the gifts that were contained in the 49 cars.

Definitely a wonderful and unique ( at least to me ) addition to the photo and story line collection on this forum Ross.

Thank you for sharing.

@ChiTown Steve posted:

Checking that my track is level. Or not.

Nice Steve.   On my layout I try to do that but I can't find a level with a wide enough BUBBLE.

@farmerjohn posted:

A busy summer  and fall it has been. Starting to work on my layout again. A few early pics of a scene I'm working on to finish the front of my layout which you see when you first come down the stairs

Nice John.   Amazing layout.     A lot going on here already . This is starting to rival the look of reality.........you are my hero.