Tehachapi, BC

[reinhardtjh]

Supervisor Banjo (2003-2018).  Rest in peace old boy.  You had a good long run.

Awww.     Sorry Gary.

[MichaelWinicki]

I'm sorry to hear of this Gary. 

[C855B]

Robyn, Moe-Ray and I are saddened by your loss, Gary. Indeed, 15 years is a good run.

[USMC0351]

Been following this thread and a couple of other tehachapi pass threads for quite awhile. Sad to see the other two build threads discontinued because of life changes. Hopefully you’re still good to go?
Happen watch one of the best Tehachapi Pass videos ever filmed. Great epic terrain shots that is a must see when modeling the terrain of the Pass.
Looking forward to your next update.
-Semperfi, Curt

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh man I just saw this. I know it's been a while, but I'm sad for your loss Gary. He looks like a very good boy indeed.

I'm sorry man.

[robert3985]

Gary, Sorry about the loss of Banjo   I am sure he had a good life with you and your family, and 15 years is indeed a good, long run. 

Bob Gilmore

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the well wishes guys.  Banjo is indeed missed, but we've now put down 3 dogs in the last 3 years, so we're getting a bit inured to the process.  In some ways, Banjo was the easiest because he lived to a ripe old age, but he was also the hardest because he was our first dog.  However, not more than 2 weeks after putting him down, we took possession of a goofy new rescue dog from Thailand, named Ashrei (or Asher Dog), seen here with our punk Chihuahua from Texas named Matchbox:



They both make me laugh. 

Thanks for the video Curt - I'll be sure to have a look.  TBC is indeed alive and well - see below for an update.  However, for the past few weeks I have been taking a bit of a break from layout work to upgrade some covered hoppers: body-mount LEZ couplers, BLMA trucks, FVM wheels with resistors, cross-walks, conspicuity stripes, graffiti & weathering.  Here is what my wife puts up with on the dining room table:





Layout-wise, the following progress has been made over the last few months - none of which is photogenic:

* Added a Raspberry Pi and a new router to serve Loconet over TCP.  This lets us run jmri on the laptop with only a wifi connection to the layout, which in turn lets us move the dispatcher into the house to alleviate crowding in the garage.

* Added a radio connection between the house and the garage (a re-purposed baby monitor!) so the d/s can communicate with crews over a party line.

* Hosted two ops sessions for RMMBC.  The new d/s arrangement worked very well for that.

* Vortex infrastructure: installed 2 new Tortoises to activate two helper pockets; wired up 4 more detection blocks to improve the management of traffic into and out of Mojave (helix staging); and converted the signal logic at Mojave to ABS to make the dispatcher's life a bit easier there.

* Bakersfield infrastructure: wired up 4 detection blocks in the ladder and cleaned up the bus wiring.  (There was a very subtle interaction between the reversing loop circuitry and the detection circuitry that had to be sorted out in the process.)

* Labelled a lot of boards and wiring with a new Dymo labeller.

* Installed one more Motorman board to handle the turnouts in Edison (still to come)

* Last, but definitely not least: built my first signal and wired it up to a Signalman board and sorted out all the programming needed to control it with CTC.  Here is a quick grab of the first signal resting in place:



Still much work to finish this off, but TBC's first working signal is a milestone. 

[jagged ben]

First signal is a big deal!

Is that a Showcase Miniatures kit?  Looks great.

[GaryHinshaw]

Yep, it's a Showcase signal.  They are beautiful kits!  (They'll look even better when painted...)  I'm using the RR-CirKits 3-colour LED (bottom of the page) which fit nicely in the Showcase head.

[C855B]

Yep, it's a Showcase signal.  They are beautiful kits!  (They'll look even better when painted...)  I'm using the RR-CirKits 3-colour LED (bottom of the page) which fit nicely in the Showcase head.

OMG, thank you, Gary. I didn't realize Dick was selling that LED. Looks to be a much better fit than the one Showcase commissioned from Richmond Controls (and 1/3 the price!). The bad fit had me procrastinating signal assembly. I shall order several forthwith! Now I just need somebody to make a decent US&S Type D.

Your non-photogenic progress sounds like my non-photogenic progress. Wiring and computer stuff makes for boring pictures.

[GaryHinshaw]

Yes, the RR-CirKits LEDs are highly recommended.  The green is a true signal green hue and it is very bright.  I had to program the intensity down on that aspect by more than 50% to make it comparable to the Y and R aspects.  (Easy to do with the Signalman board.)  IIRC, I reamed the housing of the Showcase signal with a 1/16 drill to make the fit a little more comfortable, but it was not at all close to compromising the walls of the housing.  Next task is to attach one of @Wutter 's bases to this signal and mount it properly.  Then I'll tackle a 2 head mast and see how it goes threading 8 magnet wires down a 1/32 tube... 

Oh, and two additional infrastructure items I was able to check off the to-do list that I forgot to mention earlier:

* Constructed another built-in storage shelf under Bakersfield and acquired a new rolling tool chest that fits under there as well.  This let me reorganize a ton of stuff in the garage and finally clean up the room once and for all.

* Reclaimed a work-space in the attic that my son was using as a music studio (he moved out last year).  I have re-installed my paint booth and purchased a new Iwata airbrush to commemorate the occasion. 

[Spades]

Gary

Pure 160th awesomeness. The Railwire's own Wutter makes signals as well.  Contemporary Darth Vader signals, etc  The etchings are excellent.  Some poorly composed shots of his work.

[C855B]

Yes, the RR-CirKits LEDs are highly recommended.  The green is a true signal green hue and it is very bright.  I had to program the intensity down on that aspect by more than 50% to make it comparable to the Y and R aspects.  (Easy to do with the Signalman board.)  IIRC, I reamed the housing of the Showcase signal with a 1/16 drill to make the fit a little more comfortable, but it was not at all close to compromising the walls of the housing.  Next task is to attach one of @Wutter 's bases to this signal and mount it properly.  Then I'll tackle a 2 head mast and see how it goes threading 8 magnet wires down a 1/32 tube...  ...

The Richmond chip is probably too bright as well, but Y and R are equally bright. The signal decoder I'm using (Team Digital SHD2) can also modulate each color, but I haven't tried the feature yet.

The main concern I have with threading two bundles down the tube is I noticed the RR-CirKits design appears to have a tight twist in the wire, which is going to increase the effective diameter of the bundle. I know two bundles will work if they're not twisted. Experiments threading bundles for three heads have not been fruitful to date; I'm looking to find a way to reliably make the mast a common to reduce the wire count. A Plan B I've used in the past is reaming the tubing, but that gets real touchy real quick, and makes for sharp edges around the entry holes.

Another trick I've been pondering for a while is driving three LEDs wired in a circle, nose-to-tail, with three wires, taking advantage of tri-state µ-controller outputs. But since other folks are doing the really hard parts for cheap - attaching the leads and building DCC decoders - I'm going to work with the four-wire system.

Remaining challenge is partnering with somebody like Dick Bronson to do a R-Y-lunar chip. Not necessarily common, but used enough on Western roads to be worth developing. I have some R-lunar BenScale heads in the project box, but want to go for the better modeling fidelity Showcase provides.

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the heads up @Spades .  I didn't know that Alvin had Darth Vader signals - are those published anywhere?  I'm hoping to make my searchlight signals removable (for cleaning) and it would be cool to have the option to swap in more modern signals, if desired.

Mike, the RR-CirKits photo does show a twisted lead, but they were delivered as 4 separate leads (see the 4 wires exiting the bottom of my signal).  Caveat: I took delivery of this LED about a year ago.  I just received 30 more LEDs earlier this week, but I haven't opened the package yet.  I can confirm this evening whether or not these were also delivered untwisted.

[Wutter]

Thanks for the heads up @Spades .  I didn't know that Alvin had Darth Vader signals - are those published anywhere?  I'm hoping to make my searchlight signals removable (for cleaning) and it would be cool to have the option to swap in more modern signals, if desired.

Darth Vaders are still in development, same goes with working on splitting up my current lineup into individual US&S H-2 Searchlight, TP-5 (Type G) Trilight, and N-3 Vertical (Type D) Colorlight products.

Quick trick that may be helpful, I don't know what brand or the ID of the 1/32 tubing you are using currently is, but if you search for Albion Alloys Micro Brass Tube - 0.8mm x 0.6mm; (https://www.mmodelstore.com/mbt08.aspx) that is the tubing I use for my own signals. I have found it to be much straighter and with a larger ID than K&S tubing.
Similar alternate product: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alliance-Model-Works-1-24-35-48-72-1-350-700-Precision-Brass-Tubing-0-8mm-TW004/123188487141
I have not tried this one but it has the same OD and ID dimensions.

Also 0.8mm = 0.03149" and 0.79375mm = 0.03125" = 1/32, so just keep in mind that the metric tubing is 0.00625" larger on the OD, in case the Showcase parts are a very tight fit. But personally, using the metric tubing with the 0.6mm ID has allowed me to feed a maximum of 12, 38ga wires down the tube so far.