Tehachapi, BC

[C855B]

...what's the reason for those wires that terminate at the screws in the wood block?

Ground.

[MK]

You ground to wood????   

[C855B]

JOKING. Just joking. Maybe.

[GaryHinshaw]

Next item on Gary's wish list:  https://www.amazon.com/DYMO-LabelManager-Handheld-Label-1790415/dp/B005X9VZ70

BTW what's the reason for those wires that terminate at the screws in the wood block?

Ed

Have one!  If you look closely, you can see that the controller boards are labelled.  The rest of it is 'obvious'.    That said, this may come in handy some day:



The empty terminal block is for the last (BNSF) crossover.  The two wires bring in the switched power from the Motorman board, which will feed both Tortoises.  (BTW, I terminate any component with moving parts in a strip like this, in case I ever need to replace it.)  The relay in this installation made for a bit of a rat's nest.  I may reroute those wires before all is said and done.

In theory, this is the last bit of wiring I need in this area, unless I decide to add some dwarf signals to these crossovers. 

[GaryHinshaw]

BTW, when I  get to ballasting the BNSF side of the Junction, I want to use some Santa Fe pink lady ballast.  I'm looking at this:

https://armballast.com/product/125-pink-granite-pink-lady-2/

but I see that ARM also lists some other Santa Fe ballasts:

https://armballast.com/product/500-cactus-berry-winslow-santa-fe-mauve-ballast/
https://armballast.com/product/1931/

Anyone have any experience with these? (Maybe @Cajonpassfan ?)

[tappertrainman]

I've used quite a bit of the pink stuff from ARM.  Unfortunately, I can't vouch for the color accuracy of these photos, but I tried to include a variety of options so you can see what it looks like.  For what it's worth, I was very happy.  Your work is a few cuts above mine though! 

[GaryHinshaw]

Oh, that's fantastic!  Thanks very much @tappertrainman.  Could you confirm that this is what they call Pink Lady?

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. Let's see some more layout photos!

[tappertrainman]

Sorry for the delay @GaryHinshaw .  The ballast is located at my uncle's house, along with the layout!  The bag we have says #117-1 (not 2?) - Mauve C&NW Santa Fe.

Hope this helps!  Sorry, don't have a lot more photos handy, but my Layout Engineering Report still exists with at least a few of the photos visible with Photobucket watermarks.  Not much work has been done since I moved out I'm afraid, that and two kids under 4 will do it to you...     https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=32451.msg366927#msg366927

We bought a condo last year, and while there's no large wall space to use, I'm working on negotiating an entryway closet space for a 2x4ish micro layout in the future.  We'll see!

[GaryHinshaw]

Ah, so this one:



Thanks!  Congrats on the condo.  Give yourself a few years to enjoy the kids. You'll get back in the game in due time.

[GaryHinshaw]

Odds & Ends

I haven't had much time to devote to sustained projects lately, so I have been going through a bunch of the odds & ends on to-do my list, mostly infrastructure related, and thus not very photogenic.  The following may now be checked off:

☑ Swapped out my ceiling fluorescents for LED’s, including replacing some failed ballasts.  It’s really bright now.
☑ Installed LED strips lights over much of the lower deck.  I ended up using Philips Hue because I was gifted several sets.  Before & after samples shown below.
☑ Separated my DCC bus into a train control side (a Loconet bus for the command station & throttles) and a layout control side (a standalone bus for blocks, signals, & turnouts).
☑ Installed & programmed 11 new Signalman signal driver cards.
☑ Ballasted about 25% of the lower deck trackage.
☑ Got a small tripod for my iPhone, so I could start to get some better Helicon shots.

Here is a before & after example of the strip lighting:




Here's some Helicon shots of Kern Jct, over & under (not much has changed here since the last update - the BNSF tracks on the left are still temporary):





This last shot illustrates the beauty of DCC: just 2 wires and you're up and running!

Finally a bit more experimenting with Helicon (still several artefacts):



The signal control wiring is the last major under-carriage wiring in the list, so scenery can't be far behind.  It's time to make this scene at Monolith more presentable!

[Cajonpassfan]

Still a lot of progress, Gary. And good lighting makes such a huge difference!
I enjoy watching your layout creep forwards. It may seem slow to you, but it’s steady, and first class all around. Getting the wiring done now is a smart move. I regret taking some shortcuts and now it’s much harder to get under there...
Otto

[Jbub]

Man that picture of the hoppers is awesome!!! Or as Ed would say, it's hawt.

[Sokramiketes]

This last shot illustrates the beauty of DCC: just 2 wires and you're up and running!

Quoted for truth.  The dead rail guys are down to a zero wire policy.  All fine and good until you need signals!  Where's the progress on zero wire signaling? 

[GaryHinshaw]

Still a lot of progress, Gary. And good lighting makes such a huge difference!

Thanks Otto.  The lighting is a huge improvement, like night and day. 

Man that picture of the hoppers is awesome!!! Or as Ed would say, it's hawt.

Thanks jbub.  The low angle and depth of focus make all the difference.

Quoted for truth.  The dead rail guys are down to a zero wire policy.  All fine and good until you need signals!  Where's the progress on zero wire signaling? 

And in that shot, I still don't have the CAT5 cables run from the signal controller to the signal base.... 

[GaryHinshaw]

Meh.  Time to summon the experts

With wiring pretty well advanced, it's time to tackle scenery on the Mojave desert shelf.  Yesterday I thought I had a passable approach to making the creosote bushes which are so prevalent there, and I posted an example in Weekend Update.  But today I'm sure I don't. 

I tried making more wire armatures in the same vein as yesterday's and I failed miserably.  The results look like misshapen candelabras:





An actual creosote bush up close has a rather rag-tag branch structure with very small waxy leaves that make it quite airy:



The examples in Mojave are about 18-36" tall and pretty water starved, typically.  Cultivated one can be much taller, and the leaf colour ranges from quite light to quite dark.  I'll go for something a bit lighter than the above trials.  In any case, I'm looking for alternatives for the branch structure.  I've tried making static grass tufts, but mine usually look too radial, and they didn't take ground foam all that well.  I've also tried twine, but could not get it to hold a shape at all.  (Anyone have a recipe for stiffening twine a little bit?)

One product that looks interesting is Silflor's late autumn Savannah Grass, but I haven't been able to find any decent close-up photos on the web, so it's hard to tell.  (It would also require a bit of work to add ground foam leaves convincingly.)  Their standalone tufts are pretty nice:



but I don't have any taller ones in house to experiment with yet, and the structure is still a bit too regular/uniform for creosote.

Suggestions welcome!  Maybe something like furnace filter, or something meshy from the florist world?

Here's an overview of the hodge-podge of experiments in progress:



Don't worry about the dead looking creosote bushes in the backdrop photo.  That was taken in 2014 during an extreme drought year.  I have a better pan taken last year that is much greener (a sample is in the Weekend Update post).

Thanks in advance for any leads.