Follow the construction of the JLandT Railroad, a HO single deck, proto-freelanced layout set in the 70s to 80s, based on the Reading Lines and Conrail merger era...
So after resolving a LocoNet issue that plagued the layout for well over three (3) weeks I have begun the final push of installing the detection wiring for signalling & operations. I have now added a fourth BDL168 to the layout to detect the remainder of the mainline turnouts and few other tracks that needed to be detected. So for the last few days my time has been spent scooting around on an office chair under the layout connecting the blocks to the BDL Zones.
I have three (3) BDL zones wired in and one more to go, and then onto the last BDL and the detection wiring will be finished.
Last week I had my good friend and resident electrical guru, Brendan over to see if we could find the issue of the slow detection on the panel. After about an hour of checking the detection blocks, running these while checking Loconet Monitor and a few other things it was decided that the layout panel .xml file was either corrupted or had some leftover artefact from the panels that was causing the panel to be delayed anywhere between 5 - 10 seconds. It was therefore decided that the best option was going to be to start from scratch, so for the last couple of days I have been doing the layout again.
Once I had the first section of track in I tested out a few detection blocks to ensure that the slow detection issue wasn't coming back. After this initial test everything was in sync with real time, LocoNet Monitor and the panel displaying the detection blocks. I added the remaining sections of the layout and have began the process of adding all of the detection blocks back in gain. This time I fixed a few little track issues that had been bugging me on the previous version too.
Now the layout is back in panel view and waiting on the remaining blocks and the signals to be added back in again. Far better than the last panel and I managed to get it looking a lot better too. Jas...
So after a little break from the layout due to family, work and other commitments it's back into programming the blocks into the JMRI - Panel. The process is repetitive but once you get rolling and have a pattern going it goes rather quickly. Along with adding the various sensors to the panel I am also recording them on a table for future reference and troubleshooting if required.
One of the great things about JMRI is the WebServer function that allows you to display the panel, and other JMRI features from PanelPro on either your iPhone, iPad or Laptop using a WiFi enabled router. I use the LocoNet Monitor & WebServer on my iPhone through the WiThrottle App to look at the detection blocks on the JMRI Sensor Table as a locomotive runs across them to check the sensing of each block. You can then switch to the panel display and check that the sensor block corresponds to the panel block too. Below is screen capture of my iPhone showing the LocoNet Monitor and one of the Digitrax SE8C's as I was testing the Tortoise Switch machines.
Next stage is to get the last BDL in and connected to the LocoNet and trackwork and begin loading the signal logic onto the panel.
My very good friend, sounding board, freight relocation engineer and astonishing layout builder Alan Bailey has just reached a major milestone on his LK&O layout build.
Alan has completed his number 13 module which sees the top portion of his LK&O layout build complete. For those that have followed his progress or for those that haven't seen it, if you want to see what detailed planning, engineer level design and master level build execution looks like take a visit and look through Alan's website. http://www.lkorailroad.com/module-13/ His wiring is astonishing and his electrical engineering is amazing. Alan is also one of those true gentleman that would literally give the shirt of his back to help someone out, even when they live 16800 km away!
If you are looking at building a layout this is a complete reference level website that will put you on track for an excellent start, and provide a rock solid foundation for a great layout. Jas...
Hi All, Just a quick update to let you know what we are up to, seeing there has been a lull in my posts over the last month. The layout and I are on a small break at the moment with being busy with family, work and other commitments. The next stage is completion of the remaining detection & signalling wire, and then onto working out our operations plan & scheme too. I have been watching our "popular blog posts" feed and its been interesting watching posts move around and end up near the top. Of late some of my old posts from as far back as 2013 have been popping up into the feed which is great to see.
Even though the layout build progress has been slow, there is always time to switch a boxcars around the Reading Branch... Jas...
Now that school holidays have finished its back into the wiring of the blocks into the remaining two (2) BDL168's. The next section is the Rutherford to Manheim Junction section, this will use two of the four (4) blocks and eight (8) sensors. The configuration is not really pretty but it works and makes problem solving much easier if required. The labelling is quite time consuming but again makes identifying the individual blocks easier.
Each zone wiring block is marked so that is identifiable from the other wiring under the layout. The red (thicker) wires are the block power feeds from the BDL, and the white (with red stripe) are the corresponding track feeder. The plain white wire is actually the black wire and common for the layout.
Keeping everything in order and labelled will save time in the future if you ever need to find faults in the detection wiring, it is also mind numbing and quite boring at times too. Checking each block when connected is essential when working with so many wires and feeders, already I have picked up un-isolated block boundaries that required insulated track joiners to be installed.
Two more zones (8 blocks) to go and onto the last BDL168... Jas.
For the last week and half I have been pretty much stagnant as far as layout time has been concerned as we are in the middle of our first term school break, and with this comes little to no time for the layout. However over the last two days/nights I have been designing and completing our layout division/system map. It is now completed and has been designated as the "Harrisburg & Shippensburg Division - System Map 1975". This has planted the layout in a era and will set the scene for the operating sessions on the layout. Whilst having a little get together a few weeks ago it was decided that we needed this map as it will allow operators to see the divisions and how to get to the specific towns and areas.
Hopefully once holidays are finished I can get stuck into designing the operating sessions. Jas...
So to complete the track work for the locomotive servicing facility, the Rutherford Yard industries including the wood chip mill I needed to install the extra track feeds to the track work. The locomotive servicing facility was the most intensive due the amount of switches and sidings within the complex. To ensure that the number of sound equipped locomotives in the area didn't continuously keep tripping out the remainder of the layout I installed a PSX for the area.
The two extra industries will add a little variety to the operations of the Rutherford Yard area and allow crews operating the yard switches to take a break and do something a little different. The first area is at the north end of Rutherford Yard and is a wood chip paper mill that will supply the York Haven - Pulp & Paper Mill.
There will be another storage siding added to the right of the existing siding (with the three hoppers) to increase the overall capacity. My Walthers - Saw Mill kit along with the Saw Mill Outbuildings kit will be used in this along with some scratch built structures for the loading of the wood chips. The second industry is still undecided as to what it will ultimately be, I am thinking along the way of a MOW depot with a small industry that supports and works well with it, say a cable manufacturer or something similar.
The best part of the two extra industries is the fact they are located on the ends of the yard and can be switched without interfering with the operations of the yard/layout. I also had a chance to finish off the remaining section of fascia for the Rutherford Yard extension too, all that is left is to add the drop curtains and paint.
Ok now I know why TCS put the WOW at the start of their new diesel decoders...
They are that good thats all you can say... WOW!
The last two days I have been installing the first of the WOW Diesel decoders into a Athearn SW1500 switcher. The switcher was previously owned by Matt Fisher and was weathered & detailed for Matt by Tom Adair.
The switcher is the typical Ready To Run model from quite a few years ago, these are generally great slow speed runners but do need a little work to make them more reliable. If all wires are soldered to the board & truck tabs these become great runners.
For this installation I'm installing the TCS - WOW 101 Diesel Decoder.
The decoder has the 9 pin JST connection to it connects directly to the Athearn OEM board. There is actually a fair bit of room within the shell to fit the decoder and the wiring, it does come with a capacitor which needs to be fitted into the cab inbetween the electrical cabinets.
The only alterations required to the whole switcher was to trim off some plastic at the bottom of the cab to get the capacitor through, and to trim down the LHS electrical cabinet. I also used to opportunity to fit a Kato - Scale Engineer.
The speaker is a Soundtraxx - Small Oval Speaker (part no 810112) this fits in perfectly inside the shell and above the front truck with plenty of spare space. I would normally place the speaker in a baffled case but the shell not being opened through the vent top works well.
At a later stage I may make one to see if there is any improvement.
The install for such a small switcher went really well, I may in the future replace the standard Athearn bulbs in the lights with LED's but they are all working so no need. The rest of the RDG SW1500 will be getting this treatment as soon as the funds become available.
And I can honestly say that there will be no more Soundtraxx Tsunami's in our fleet! These things straight out of the packet, with virtually plug & play capability (I needed to solder the speaker to the wires) and the features are astounding. The sound needs to be heard in real life to full appreciate the CD Quality as stated.
Below is a short video showing the motor, horns, bell and manual notching sounds that are produced from the decoder. Once I've had a chance to get used to all of the functions I post another video of the switcher under load using the manual notching and switching Reading...
The last two days I have been working on finishing off the remaining changes & additions to the track work for Rutherford Yard and the Locomotive Servicing Facility including the new switch lead and river crossing. I needed to add two double slip switches to the Rutherford Yard lead and add the switch lead which extends over the Susquehanna River (duck under) to the servicing facility. I was also waiting on a second Walther's Single Track - Truss Bridge which has now been finished and installed and the track work connecting the switch lead to the servicing facility is complete.
This will allow locomotives to be cut out of consists for maintenance, re-fuelling and/or sanding and keep the yard clear. It will allow interchange locomotives from the Shippensburg Classification Yard to also use the servicing facility too. The final stage was the alteration and addition of the two double slip switches to the Rutherford Yard lead, and the addition of the switch lead too. These three key additions allow the yard to be switched and for cars to be cut and blocked without having to block or interrupt the main. It also allows locals to be dispatched to either the south (through Rutherford & Manheim) and to the north (via Carlisle Junction & Shippensburg).
The next stage is to test out the yard for operations and begin to map out and build the operating sessions for the layout. Jas...
Whilst waiting for my next lot of track and turnouts to arrive I decided to work on the programming of the turnouts and blocks into the layout panel. It is quite a mind numbing and repetitive task, but it is made a lot easier as JMRI can be quite portable even though our layout is run by a fixed desktop PC running Windows - XP. JMRI has a neat little feature called WebServer, this allows you to remotely run or see what screens you have open in JMRI. So yesterday whilst programming the turnouts I need to record each of them on paper and the location and if they had an associated block (detection section) connected to them. To do this I had WiThrottle running on my iPad (which has WebServer in the app too) and had the LocoNet Monitor tab up and running on it.
To ensure that the fascia push buttons are corresponding with the turnout address on the SE8C and that what is recorded is correct I can use the LocoNet Monitor to see the exact address being used by JMRI. This allows me to move around under the layout and record on the layout sheets and label them as well without having to continually move back and forward from the PC to the area I'm working in. I can also bring the physical layout panel up to in WebServer to check block detection as well. When all of this is recorded it's time to input it the information into the panel in Edit Mode. This is time consuming and requires a lot of double checking, sometimes need to be "inverted" so that they are showing the correct position on the panel and layout.
This is also a great time to see if the panel is corresponding to the physical layout relating to block and turnout positions. Once completed it will be time to add the signal logic to the centre peninsula area, we will be running the APB System on the layout. Jas...
So today was an odd job day as I I'm waiting on the cork sheet for the loco servicing area, and some more turnouts from the USA. So I decided to install the fascia to the Locomotive Servicing Facility area, this is also the dispatchers area & work bench (all underneath) so it was good to get this area finished and not have to worry about dust anymore. The fascia is again the 3mm - 1/8" MDF board and continues on with the theme of the remainder of the layout, it is a little shorter as it has to just cover the LED tube work light and not block the dual monitors for the dispatcher.
The ability of the MDF to be able to be bent into a fairly tight radius makes the fascia flow really well and eliminates hard corners or angles.
To soften the corner on this section I have installed a hardwood end cap that is rounded and finishes off the end without any seams visible either.
Over the last two days we have been in the process of installing the Rutherford Yard switch lead which leads into the future Locomotive Service Facility. In order to get the track levels and alignment right I decided to start the service facility track work. I had planned on a certain design but as normal it turned out to be a little different to the original on the plan.
The track to the left is the Gettysburg Interchange that runs into Carlisle Junction, the track on the right is the switch lead for Rutherford Yard that runs over the Susquehanna River over the new bridge that has been installed.
After the track design was finalised and photographed it was time to install the plaster/drywall sub roadbed to the service facility area.
Once some 3mm - 1/8" cork sheet arrives this will be placed over the plaster/drywall and the track work will be reinstalled. I also installed the Midwest - Cork Roadbed to the switch lead & interchange tracks leading to the facility area.
So after adding the new timber frame to the duck under and cutting out the plywood top I decided to continue on and place the new switch lead bridge that crosses the Susquehanna River and install the river canyon into the timber frame work.
The river is cut into about half of the timber frame work and contoured to provided a steep and gradual slope on either side. The bottom will have a 3mm - 1/8" plywood bottom placed onto it and padded to stop those pesky head strikes on angled timber. I also had time to install the front fascia for this section too...
The fascia continues the theme from the rest of the layout although a little shorter. Jas...
So while waiting for the other double slip switch to arrive to complete Rutherford Yard track work I decided to start building the new frame work for the extension to the duck under. The decision to extend the duck under was to allow the new switch lead for Rutherford Yard to extend across the main aisle of the layout to the locomotive service facility above the dispatchers desk.
The original version of the mainline bridge crossing from Harrisburg to Carlisle Junction over the Susquehanna River was designed to be lifted out if needed. And since starting five years ago the lift out has maybe been out twice. So the decision to make it permanently fixed has been made. The existing frame work is quite sturdy so it only requires a little more to be added too. The pine timber is 120mm x 19mm and is covered with 12mm plywood, the river contour will be cut out at a later stage. First step was to add the extra pine frame work:
The new frame work and existing is screwed back into the major benchwork, and if really needed could be removed at a later date. Next step was to add the plywood top:
The addition of the new switch lead required the deepening & widening of the lead running in the bench work next to the mainline. It also required the alteration of the plywood that was placed in the wall cavity to stop locos & rolling stock taking the long drop down to the floor.
Once the grade and alignment was set it was time to add the Midwest Cork Roadbed, then once this had set to the bench work the grade had to be levelled to remove any undulations. Then when this was correct the track work was added and checked along with the radius of the curve.
When I was happy with the track, roadbed, grade and radius of the curve it was time to setup the location of the new truss bridge. Fortunately the new bridge will be the same Walthers - Single Track Truss Bridge, so setting up was a matter of using the existing one for reference.
Next stage will be the installation of the remaining cork roadbed and track work... Jas.
