Two Birds with One Stone...

So as part of moving forward with the detection system I've decided to do a little maintenance on all of our turnouts as we install the associated wiring.

Predominately the layout turnouts are all PECO Code 83 with a few Walthers - Shinohara's thrown in.  Now that we are going to be detecting all of the mainline turnouts, one of the issues with detecting them is that they need to be their own isolated block and require power from one of the sixteen (16) BDL detection circuits & a common return.

To accomplish this I need to wire small feeders onto the turnouts themselves, this is actually a good thing on two levels.  Firstly its actually relatively easy with the PECO turnouts as they have a small gap in the middle that you can place the feeders to serve as jumpers between the point rail and the outside stock rail.

Secondly this eliminates PECO's only real flaw with their turnouts, and that being that the remaining rails are fed power from the tip of the point rail when normally powered from another section of track prior to the points.  This addition eliminates that issue and almost makes these turnouts bulletproof.

I've discussed this recently with others as to why PECO didn't factory install the jumpers in the first place, I know cost would be the reason, but it would make the reliability (not that it's not there know) so much better.

The finished PECO turnout with jumper soldered in position:

The Walthers Shinoharas are the same too, although these turnouts already have the jumper strip installed it is not a very strong bond.  When soldering the feeders to these they often break, so the best method is to remove them and solder the feeder proper to the bottom of the rail.

When I solder the jumpers onto these I remove the plastic tie that the jumper sits in (as it melts) and again like the PECO's solder it across the bottom of rail.

More soon.

Jas...

Saturday night is wiring night...

So this Saturday just been ended up being a good session of wiring on the detection & signaling system.

I began the installation of the power supply for the SE8C's & BDL's and managed to get three (3) boards hooked up to power by the end of the night.

I am trying to keep a wiring standard across the entire layout, hopefully this will help out later on for troubleshooting faults or making further additions the system.

I also started making the LocoNet cables and so far have all three (3) boards hooked up and receiving LocoNet signals.

Last night I continued on and decided to wire up the first Detection Zone on of the BDL's, this involved the wiring of the four (4) detection circuits.  I wanted to achieve this as part of the learning process for wiring the remainder of the layout.

After wiring the four circuits I ran one of our CR MP15 switchers across all four circuits and good detection across them all.  To aid in checking the detection side of things I added one set (two pieces) of resistive wheel sets to our CR Widevision Caboose, each truck has one resistive wheel set on it located closest to the knuckle of the caboose.

The LT5 tester that comes with the BDL is a great way to test the wiring and the detection on each zone of the BDL.  The below photo shows blocks 3 & 4 occupied and zone power on.

So after all the wiring the first zone is completed, the black wire is zone power from the NCE Booster and the red wires are Detection Circuit power feeds to the individual detection blocks.  This BDL is covering the entire centre peninsula of the layout.

You know when things are all good when you get two occupied blocks on your Panel, the above screen shot shows the occupied main & passing siding with the switcher & caboose in each.

After checking a few things last night and playing around I've decided to actually detect each mainline & passing siding turnout as individual blocks.  This will require the installation of another two (2) BDL168's to the layout.

More soon as we continue to install the detection wiring.

Jas...

And that folks is that...

Today marked the completion of the last SE8C and with that the final Digitrax Board for the detection & signaling system on the JL&T.

So in total we have eight (8) SE8C's & three (3) BDL168's all placed onto mounting boards and placed around the layout.

The next phase is to wire in all of Tortoise Motors to the SE8C's and connect all the boards to the LocoNet too.

Time for a beer or two...

Jas.

And that folks is the...

Last of the Digitrax - BDL168's to be wired up onto mounting boards for the layout.  The three boards that are now completed will provide detection for the all of the mainline & passing sidings on the upper deck including the leads into the classification yard.  

They have been mounted onto the layout central to each of the three power districts and are ready to be wired to the individual block sections

These boards have also had the new screwed terminal blocks added to them, they are far superior than the last lot I was using in both quality and size.  Being a little smaller they take up less real estate on the board and make it easier to wire.

There will be one more BDL168 made at a later date which will provide detection for the lower deck staging area under the north side of the layout which will be some time away.

Jas...

Progress at the weeks end...

So at the end of the working week we have managed to accomplish the completion of another three (3) boards.  Two SE8C's and a BDL 168 have all been completed and installed onto the layout ready to be wired up.

The SE8C boards have had a change in screwed terminals, they are now smaller and the screw connection is much better the last one.  I now have these down to being made in around 30 mins.

The BDL168's have had the same change to the screwed terminal connections too, I'm finishing these in around 45 mins now.

The next stage is to wire the Tortoise Switch Machines to the SE8C's and configure the boards in JMRI, then interface them with the new Panel.  Then lastly the installation of the fascia mounted push buttons.

Three more SE8C's and one more BDL168 and we have finished all of the detection & signaling boards.  Then onto the mass of wiring to get it all connected.

Jas...

More turnout wiring...

Over the last day and two night I have continued with the installation of the wiring to connect the Tortoise Switch Machines to the Digitrax SE8C's.

The cat6 cable has made things a lot easier to install the fact that is four pair matchers up with a series of four turnouts (you can connect eight (8) to a SE8c board.

I usually cut a length of cat6 to the longest required run, then if needed peel it back to other that are closer to the board.

 

The small plastic electrical cables make it easy to keep the wiring neat and in place, at certain spots I add a cable tie to ensure everything remains in place.

So here is another board completed, next step is to make up the LocoNet cable and connect to the existing SE8C and program it into JMRI & the tables.

Jas...

Dispatchers Desk Upgrade...

Tonight the Dispatchers Desk got a little upgrade, I installed the twin BENQ - 22" LED Monitors for the panel display.

I also installed the JL&T - Layout Editor file onto the layout PC, and got it connected and talking with the LocoNet I have the Tortoise Switch Machines working on the first SE8C board and have them configured on the new Panel.

Next step is to wire the remaining Tortoise Switch machines to the SE8C's, the blocks into the BDL's and load these into the JMRI tables and get them working on the panel.

One step closer to detection & signaling on the JL&T.

Jas...

JL&T Railroad - Gets Placed into Layout Editor...

As part of the process towards the signaling of the layout I have been placing the track & turnouts into JMRI - Layout Editor.  This will allow me to load this onto the layout PC and test out the SE8C's and the Tortoise Motors once they are all connected.

To date I have managed to flatten out into a line schematic the, bridge duck under, the interchange between the centre peninsula and the Staging Yard entrance (Abrams Yard), the South Bend - Industrial Area, the southern curve transition between the mainline and the centre peninsula and the L&T Branch entrance and the remainder of the branch (which is dark territory.

So far its been quite difficult to get a curved layout into a straight-line layout drawing that makes sense, but so far its working and the learning curve using JMRI - Layout Editor hasn't been that bad...

And the Panel Expands...

As can be seen BAPM Plastics is now incorporated into the panel...

And finished...

And as of tonight the entire layout has been added to JMRI - Layout Editor...

Next step is to add all of the turnouts to the tables and assign them into layout editor.


Jas...

My very first Ops Session...

Things have been a little quiet on the layout front at the moment as we are doing renovations to our home which are taking up most of my spare time, so its basically ground to halt.

However I did get the opportunity last weekend to participate in my very first Ops Session outside of our own layout.  My good friend Brendan Dennis held another shake down session on his D&H - N Scale layout - http://dh2ndsub.blogspot.com.au

I had the opportunity to operate on the Whitehall Yard with another operator John, we were tasked with the North & South switching of the yard operations.  I must say being a yard master is great fun and really gets you thinking, Brendan's Whitehall Yard is around 3m (10') long incorporating an engine facility, yard leads, run arounds, caboose tracks, seven (7) tracks and a passenger siding to the south.

I really enjoyed operating the yard with John, and the session went really well, Brendan's layout is seriously impressive and the amount of work and the stage he is at presently is amazing for the short time that he has been working on it.

As I won't have a full size ladder yard on the JL&T I look forward to spending some time switching Whitehall in the future.  

Big thanks to Brendan for the invite, and for a great insight into Ops Sessions!

Jas...

Another SE8C almost complete...

Well today I started the process of making another five (5) SE8C boards.  The process is relatively easy now that I have made three of them.

Another four to go and then it will be onto wiring all the push buttons for the fascia's.

Jas...

YouTube Live Streaming - Wiring - Digitrax SE8C Board...

Just for fun and to see how it works, I'll be live streaming the wiring of a Digitrax SE8C board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2eLFnw4vqQ

Starting in about 20 minutes.

Jas...

Final stretch of Tortoise Installs...

We are now finally into the last stretch of the Tortoise Motor installs, the northern area of the layout is the last section to receive them, and also one of the most dense concentrations of them too.

The majority of the motors are for passing sidings & crossovers.  I have installed three along the back edge of the backdrop for the small spurs for a couple of industries as it will save operators from having to lean over the bench work.

As can be seen it is fairly busy underneath this section and will get even busier when all the wiring for the push button fascia controls are added too.

Once this action is complete it will be onto installing the remaining SE8C's and wiring in the push buttons and Tortoise's.

Jas...

Next round of Tortoise Installs - Passing Sidings...

So last night I began installing the all the Tortoise Motors for all of the passing sidings.

And at the end of the early hours of this morning, I had most of them installed.  A few tweaks required on the Walthers Shinohara turnouts to get them operating properly.

Another 24 to go...

Jas.

Mainline Tortoise Motors installed...

Well last night I finished the installation of the Tortoise Motors on the mainline for the layout.

There are 30 in total for the entire mainline.

There are another 24 to install for all of the passing sidings that will also be controlled by JMRI & Fascia Panels.

I've also installed a couple on small spurs that sit at the back of the layout, this will stop operators from having to reach over the layout to operate the turnouts.

Next step is to install the remaining switch motors, then onto wiring them all in and back to the SE8C's, and then the fascia push buttons.

Some of the push buttons will be duplicated so that they can be operated from either side when the track travels through a backdrop.

Jas...

Ready for the detection & signal installation...

Well yesterday I removed all of our locomotives and rolling stock from the layout and cleaned up the deck.  Just waiting on a shipment of another 24 - Tortoise Motors, and another 3 - Digitrax SE8c's and we are ready to make the major push to install all the signal wiring, remaining Tortoise's, LocoNet, power bus for the accessories, and the boards with hardware.  

After placing all the isolators for the detection blocks I found we had created a few dead sections that had no feeders.  These will be added when we do the rewire as the have to wired to the BDL's, so I have another two of them to wire up on boards, and another 5 SE8c's boards to wire up too.

In the order from Litchfield Station I also got some ready made R15k resistive 33" wheels sets too, this will allow me to quickly make up a few pieces of rolling stock and a caboose to be able to test out the detection sections, BDL's and ensure JMRI is working and receiving the data from the LocoNet.

Seeing it's our summer over here I'm hoping to throw a wiring session or two, followed by a BBQ lunch, and then a little ops session after with a great group of guys that live within an hour of us.

Jas...

Finished Blocking the layout for Detection...

Well last night I finished the arduous task of adding insulators to the blocks for the detection rail on the layout.

I also took the time to remove a few turnouts (ElectroFrog to InsulFrog on the main) and remove a #8 turnout that was no longer required.  I also drilled a few holes for Tortoise rods that needed to be installed on some of the sidings.

Next step will be to test the track work as by adding the insulators I have created a few dead spots on the layout.  After that it will be onto adding the remaining Tortoise Switch Machines.

Jas...

It's all clear ahead...

Well tonight I have been playing around with the colour mix of our double head - searchlight masts.  I have installed this one on the layout to test the colours under actual layout lighting.

The first photo is with the LED's being driven at 12V, the two below are being driven at 5V which is the eventually output from the Digitrax SE8c Boards.

So far I'm pretty happy with the primary red & green on the Tomar Searchlights, the yellow which is driven by both the red & green is acceptable too.

I'm finding that I need a brighter green & dimmer red to get the yellow to pop above red, and also not look orange.  Its a slight trade off as I'd like to have the green dimmer but this would turn the yellow more towards the orange spectrum.

Even the camera which is Nikon J1 is picking up the colour difference on the mast, and this is under the layout lighting which is a NEC 6000K 38W Daylight Fluorescent Tube.

Next step will be to try out the double head dwarf and see how they look.

Cheers,

Jas...

Ready for some Re-Wiring...

Well Santa came a little early today.

In time for a few nights of re-wiring the entire layout for the detection & signalling.

The layout power bus will be re-run from the PSX Circuit Breakers and the common rail detection to the BDL168's that need to be installed around the layout.

I also have to install the PSX-AR for the new Classification Yard too.

The next step will be to make up a power district board above the NCE DCC Command Station that will house all of the power district PSX Circuit Breakers, the Auto Reversing CB will be located nearer to the areas.

More soon.

Jas...

Classification Yard progress...

Well over the last week in between working on the detection & signalling I managed to install the remainder of the drywall/plaster roadbed and cork sub roadbed for the Classification Yard.

I have also began laying the track at the entrance that forms the wye in the South Bend area.

Next step will be to finish off the track, and begin wiring.

Jas...

JL&T Detection & Signalling Plan...

Ok folks its taken a little time to get here, but we finally have the detection blocks and signal placement done.

A very special thanks needs to go out to Brendon Dennis who has guided & educated me through the finer points of detection and signal placement.

We both spent about 2 1/2 hours the other night physically marking out the detection blocks and signal mast/dwarf placement.

Here is the detection block & signal mast dwarf plan:

The naming conventions on the plan are area representative as I've only really named one location "South Bend Curve" (SB).

When looking at the plan the triangles are the isolators, these are placed on the inner most rail (nearest to the fascia) and are classed as common rail wiring.

As can be seen in the photo below the inner most rail is marked with a yellow dot, this will have an insulated rail joiner placed at this point and separate the two detection blocks.  You can see the naming convention as well.

The arrow with the dot, dot, M is our symbol convention for a double head signal mast, controlling to the left (east) of this detection block boundary.  The T7-3 represents Tortoise (switch machine) Number seven (7), on SE8C board number three (3).

Next stage is to add all the insulators and then the tedious task of re-wiring the layout for the common rail detection will begin.

Jas...