Free-moN Staging Yard - 16"x10'

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Had started posting some of this over on my "Shoofly" module construction thread, but then realized that there's going to be a whole bunch of photos & how-to's specific to staging yards & module construction (especially Free-moN), so thought our new staging yard module should get a thread of its own.
 
The story begins on April, Friday the 13th (duh duh duh...) when the Silicon Valley Free-moN group set up for a week-long show at the Hiller Aviation Museum. With four main modules, a large turnback loop, and many small 45 deg. fillers, we were able to get a decent mainline going, with trains of 10-16 cars running through some nifty scenery.
 
However, after operating Friday & Saturday we soon realized that, besides the turnback loop, Steve Williams' Lockhart, TX module was the only one with a passing siding, which soon became the passing / runaround / staging / terminus, as well as limiting us to about two trains at a time: one running out to the loop & back while the other loco did a runaround to get ready to leave when the first returned.
 
We needed staging, and another runaround, and we needed it bad.
 Like an oreo needs milk bad.
 And by the next weekend when the whole group would be there to run trains.
 
So Sunday, April 15, I looked at the sheets of wood in my garage and found two pieces of 16" x 4' 1/2" very nice ply (birch?) that my dad had used as center cross-supports when he built a queen-sized mattress box-frame for us when we moved back from Japan 10 years ago.
 
That determined the size of the yard sections (4' is perfect for transport), but using #7 turnouts limited the tracks to 7 in just 12" of space (using 1 1/2" centers). What to do with the other 4" of width? Ah, hah!
 


Free-moN module standards call for a minimum of 12" wide endplates (of 3/4" birch ply), so I centered the main at the 6" mark, offsetting the whole yard to one side. This left room for 1) a diesel service facility on one end and 2) a turntable for those of us who run steam and F-units. Later I realized I could squeeze in a MOW track for the wreck crane set I just got as well as a Machine Shop that could double as a programming track (something else we didn't have).
 
Using the two sections, that'd give us a 6'+ main, two 52" and two 30" staging tracks plus runarounds on each side.
 Which would work fine as the passing siding on Steve's Lockhart, TX module is about 5'.
 
Still, it seemed a bit short to me (can you ever have enough staging?) so I designed a 12"x24" insert that curved 15 deg.
 As it lines up with and extends the middle yard tracks, it can be inserted either way, bending the whole yard in either direction.
 And the extra 2' means plenty of room for long trains!
 
So Sunday morning I went to the hardware store and got some 2'x4' 1/2" sanded ply handipanels, 1 1/2" sq fir for the legs, and bunches o' bolts n' washers. Also stopped by the LHS and got a bunch of Atlas C55 flex, but was heartbroken to find only 3 each of the L & R #7 turnouts! D'oh!
 
Usually I handlay turnouts, but since I had less than a week to get something built & operational, I went with Atlas. Luckily I found a few more #7s at a shop down in San Jose, so had just enough for a main, two staging & one runaround.
 
So Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday, after appointments or being at the show, was all cutting (no tablesaw, only circular, chop & jig), gluing & screwing.
 Was moving so fast I took only one "progress" shot:



That's my McGyver compass to get the 70+" radius of the insert (eyeballed it over a dot on the concrete)
 By Wednesday it looked like this:
 


Thurday: finished track across gap & on insert
 


Friday: feeder wires, handles
 Saturday...
 
[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Saturday: installed temp Caboose Ind. ground throws and buswire
 


And Sunday:
 


We ran trains, using our new staging yard!
 Woot!
 
And here it is in action:
 

What was cool is that Steve's Lockhart, TX module, which use to be the end (though there was some single main after it), now became the "meet", so a train could go out to the loop while one entered staging and another left.
 Nice long runs with long trains!
 
More important: both the Shoofly module and the staging yard fit in the back of my car with all their legs (and mine)!
 
So the show is over, but there's another one coming up (hopefully) in June, so I have time to finish the yard.
 
Installed the phone jacks at either end we use to connect the control buses between modules and UTP panels:
 


Good ol' Gorilla Glue keep's em rock solid.
 Steve has a 6-pin crimper, so the wires are straight through.
 
Got more turnouts, so I installed the rest of the ladders on both sides:
 


Notice I don't run the track up to the edge: need to leave room for the track to "float" a little over the PC board ties (which are raised a little) but I explain all that in a video I should have edited tonight or tomorrow.
 
[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

For the feeders I've been soldering the wire "L" bent under the rails / joiners:
 


Then I solder them to the buswires.
 At first I tried suitcase connectors, but 22 gauge to 12 gauge doesn't work too well.
 Luckily, I can just put the modules on their sides on my workbench. (yeay!)
 
When laying the track over the middle section, I first put a sheet of 0.020 styrene between the sections before clamping:
 


Even though I use a Ultra Thin Dedeco separating disc, the styrene makes sure that there's rail to file back flush with the endplate instead of wishing it'd grow a 1/32" to prevent a wheel-grabbing gap.
 
I thought of this trick after I cut the first track (at bottom):
 


As you can see, a wider gap than the other above it (when I used the styrene).
 [The styrene is in place in the photo above: normally there's barely a gap in the upper rails]
 
Also, because the separating disc comes in at a slight angle:
 


The styrene allows enough space for a flush file.
 By laying the rail over the PC board ties first, the solder helps create a smooth path over any little bumps or skewed PC boards / endplate top.
 Sometimes there's a little rise but hardly noticeable.
 
[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Once you get ALL the yard tracks smooth & even, soldered / caulked down, & cut, then & ONLY then is it ok to release the clamps, remove the styrene and separate the sections so you can file the rail flush:
 


Gorilla Glue is strong, but I still file only down, and I put my thumb over the rails to relieve any stress on the solder.
 Make sure you file flush + a smidge: if the rails touch each other when mating the pressure of the clamp will pop them off the solder.
 I also slightly camphor the head with a single light pass of the file.
 
The most difficulty aspect of Free-moN is to get the tracks from different modules to line up: fortunately usually there are two people setting up: one to hold the two module endplates flush and the other to clamp.
 Usually it takes a bit of finessing and a lot of patience.
 And that with modules with a SINGLE track.
 This yard has SEVEN, and they all have to line up perfectly or it won't work (or only some will).
 Seems like the model railroad gods were on my side today, as all seven line up great between the two main sections:
 


Now all I have to do is slip the 2' insert between them (with a sheet of styrene between each gap) and then lay the curved track on the insert so it matchs up with the established track on the main sections.
 
My crate of unassembled Bullfrog turnout controls should show up soon, too, so I'll get to figure out how to do the double-actuated (one on each side) control rods.
 
I'm also going to be building a sloped hardboard shelf & lip on each side that will hold our iPhone & NEC throttles as well as protect the Bullfrog knobs below it.
 
Thanks for watching and hope to have a video up soon.
 Cheers!

[wm3798]

The gentle, yet removable "elbow" in the middle of the yard is, simply put, scrumtralescent.  There when you can use it, seamlessly removable when you can't.

Will you create a straight segment of similar length for those instances when a straight yard is required, but without sacrificing track length?

Another possibility would be to create a 90 degree yard insert to compact the yard into a corner should the need arise.

Lee

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, Lee.
(And props for working scrumtrulescent into a post )

Given how our modules already curve this way and that, we'll probably keep the 15 deg. curve in there no matter.
Not only does it not make a wildly-swinging curve, but it makes the staging yard incredibly stable.
When it's just the two straight sections it swings a bit (though I could rig up some removable struts from the bottom of the legs to the opposite crossbrace).

I might build another 2'-or-so insert that's another 15 or even 30 degs (to add up & match up with all the little 45 deg sections we have).
Or maybe a straight section.
We'll see what we need next show

[seusscaboose]

i may have missed it... how are you ensuring alignment during set up between modules?

dowels/pins/bolts etc?

only curious on the answer...  since the set up needs to be perfect...  specifically, locking it into place...

can you share?

EP

p.s. great write up as usual...

[M.C. Fujiwara]

i may have missed it... how are you ensuring alignment during set up between modules?

dowels/pins/bolts etc?

only curious on the answer...  since the set up needs to be perfect...  specifically, locking it into place...

can you share?

EP

p.s. great write up as usual...

No pins
No dowel
No bolts
(too difficult to ensure alignment for everyone's module).

Just butt up & clamp!

It's a bit tricky, but you adjust the legs until they're close (at 50" railheight) and then usually one dude aligns the modules so the track is even and then another dude clamps it using welder's clamps ($5 at Harbor Freight).

In the video I'm editing right now I'll show you how I do it all by meself. 
(Spoiler alert: it takes a looooong time  )

[seusscaboose]

thanks for the quick reply

EP

[Coxy]

MC, the yard looks great.

Clever putting the shallow bend in the middle. I have a couple of unfinished Freemon modules (7' and a 3') and have been bothered by the amount of sway at the deck level. I found a little curve introduced between the modules makes a big difference to longitudinal stability.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, Coxy.
Curves do help moocho in the stability thing.
When Steve and I hooked up our modules back in March there was quite a bit of lateral movement, even though his is an "S" and mine a 30 deg. angle.
At the recent Hiller Aviation Museum show, having all the small 45 deg. sections helped keep things 1 or 2 sheets to the wind, though there was still some movement (and shake one module you shake them all!)

Also I found that making the legs with plates helps.
At first the Shoofly just had 1 1/2" square fir posts bolted directly to the module cross-support with a small cross support between leg pairs about 10" off the floor.
Lots of lateral loosiness.

Then I redid the legs with a large plate o' ply at the top:



The module cross support rests on top of the legs, and the flat plate o' ply is tightened flush against the cross support.
Makes the module move only minutely.

Steve & the other guys use 3/4" birch for the leg plates and the cross supports, so they glued the bolts to the cross-supports and cut two grooves in the leg plates so they could just slide up.
Much easier and sturdier (though heavier and costlier: that 3/4" birch is rather pricy!).
I'd cut the slots on mine but I don't want to mess with the integrity of the 1/2" sanded ply I used for the leg plates.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yet another amazing thing... impressive!

Wanna move the Baltimore?

[seusscaboose]

the leg's thing reminds me of the Bantrak ONE Trak modules...  with the "slid and fit" design... and the wide/robust legs...


the lateral movement comment is interesting...   giving proof to the "curves are good" theory in stability...

personally, i am still not sold on the "butt it and clamp it and go" practice when not using joiner tracks...  that could be because i have ZERO experience with it though; plus, i have been accused of overengineering things before  ... although OBVIOUSLY "Butt & Go" works, so play on player!  ... 

if it works...  then go with it.. that's my motto.




MC... do you and the gys end up spending half the time under the modules realigning (based on your "hit one module and they all move" comment)?

I know in N Trak we average about 1 incident per weekend of "having to bump a module up or down"

EP

[Coxy]

MC, thanks for the pics. I have a similar set up on my modules.



As designed and built, the tall design of FreemonN makes it very susceptible to longitudinal sway. Looking at what happens when someone pushes the modules along their length to the right, each leg assembly is being asked to rotate clockwise around the attachment point with the module. With enough force, one or more crossmembers would twist out of the sides of the module and many modules would collapse to the floor, breaking more modules at the point where the legs attach.

I doubt that this has been tested by the designers but I bet it wouldn't take a lot of force to cause this kind of catastrophic failure - e.g. someone tripping and shoving the line of modules.

Most lengthwise forces don't cause failure, but they do induce unwanted movement of the module. With the weight at the top of a tall assembly, it behaves as an inverted pendulum. The weight of the modules is in the ideal location and keeps the assembly moving while the rigidity of the structure resists the movement. A line of modules has plenty of weight and needs lots of rigidity to stop the movement.

Interestingly, adding the slight curve helps kill oscillation because the pendulum effect works in a line, but not so well around the introduced curve. The curve helps redistribute where the force acts, transferring some of it to the much stronger end plate joint. Even with the curve though, the assembly of many modules is vulnerable.

The legs assemblies themselves are pretty rigid but do flex a little. Can't really do much to stiffen them or make them shorter without making them heavy and less portable. If the legs were fixed rigidly to the floor, sway would be reduced, but in a portable setting, that's not going to be a solution. The answer lies at the connection point of the legs to the module.

The main thing in the assembled structure resisting the longitudinal swing is the rigidity of the module crossmember that the leg assembly attaches to. The more that whole assembly is made rigid, the less swing will occur. The thicker the crossmember, the less it will flex, but the heavier and more expensive it will be as well. Making the joint solid between that crossmember and the module sides will help a lot.

I think beefing up the joint where the crossmember attaches to the module sides would be a really good idea. What that joint needs are 4 good gusset plates either side of the crossmember at each of the joints with the module sides to make the crossmember unable to rotate at the joint.

As far as the leg attachment goes, using 4 bolts though the leg plate into the crosssmember instead of the 'standard' 2 bolts to will help. Putting the bolt holes closer to the corners will also help too, provided the crossmember had been beefed up. Some of the flex comes from the bolts biting into the soft wood so spreading the compression force over more area by using larger washers should help too.

I plan to re-purpose my modules for my basement layout so I have the option of adding proper diagonal bracing to the leg structure. That could also work well with Freemon modules if Freemoners are okay with that extra hardware to cart around, set up and tear down.

Cheers,
Coxy

[Zox]

As designed and built, the tall design of FreemonN makes it very susceptible to longitudinal sway. Looking at what happens when someone pushes the modules along their length to the right, each leg assembly is being asked to rotate clockwise around the attachment point with the module. With enough force, one or more crossmembers would twist out of the sides of the module and many modules would collapse to the floor, breaking more modules at the point where the legs attach.

That's why my module legs tend to look like this:



Vertical legs are inherently unstable.