Idaho Belt Freelanced plan

[basementcalling]

Peter - one thing that is becoming abundantly clear: the two-deck freestanding peninsula is a very complex piece of engineering.   

I think I understand what you're proposing for the top deck but the last photo is throwing me off.  In your 3rd photo, the 1x2s are below the plywood deck and supporting it, but in your 4th photo I don't see them.   With 1x2s below deck, I think the scheme should work fine.  My only recommendation would be to line up the 1x2s with the vertical studs, so the weight is bearing more directly on the studs, not on the 3/4 ply between them.  Further, once you attach a fascia to the outside, that will provide further protection against warpage.

Thanks for the photo tour.  I think I have correlated every picture with the locations on your plan.  It took some study though!  This layout should provide plenty of operational interest.  I think I agree that omitting Cottonwood is plausible, but I don't think you really need to decide that until later.

Cheers,
Gary

Complex it is. Dammit, Jim, I'm an English teacher, not an engineer. 

I took the pictures in a different order than I posted them, but the strips are there. I went back to the last photo post and added a track plan with numbered photo locations. Numbers are next to the scene on the layout featured in that shot. Anyrail needs a photo icon object.

I am going to pull a page from the LK&O and brace the plywood runner more than I think I should so it never moves again, probably with scrap 2x3 cut to fit between the verticals. I will put support pads over the top of them and screw down into the verticals with 3 inch drywall screws. I might also have a scenic divider that comes to the fascia in one spot that would help support the edge and break up the top deck for certain, so the loop and the hill climb are two different scenes.

Gary, I love mags like MRP, but it drives me nuts on the construction shots until I can figure out where the picture was taken, and on occasion I never can because the as built version features changes from the published plan. You can reread the last post with the photos (not the warping one), and see if your guesses were correct.

I think Cottonwood is on hold. We might find a way through the Palouse without going through there. I can always add it in later if I start laying track with just the main and curve. That would be easier than putting in the town and then going back to take it out.

I am also removing one other industry. It would have been on a graded portion of the main with a very short passing track to use for a run around. Not a good combo. Switching the gravel mine would have tied up the mains no matter what, and keeping a train parked on a slope while switching could prove challenging.

It also gives me a huge 20 inch sweeping curve of about 70 degrees to scenic. I might do a large fill over a valley with a mountain range distant on the backdrop, or make it look like part of a horseshoe curve with a sparsely tree covered gentle hillside behind it.

Glad you think the plan has operational interest. Interest is good. Now plausibility is another thing altogether.

 

Thanks for reading and contributing if you so choose.

[basementcalling]

What this world needs is a USB powered soldering iron. 

[Philip H]

What this world needs is a USB powered soldering iron. 

I"d buy one from an  .  Just saying . . .

[DKS]

http://www.amazon.com/MEGATONE-ELECTRONICS-CORP-Portable-Soldering/dp/B00C9NWR4I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375883307&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+soldering+iron

[GaryHinshaw]

Just out of curiosity, what advantage does USB have over an extension cord?  (A laptop is a very expensive battery.)  At a whopping 6 watts, you won't get much satisfaction, I imagine.

[Philip H]

At a whopping 6 watts, you won't get much satisfaction, I imagine.

TWSS

 

[basementcalling]

Just out of curiosity, what advantage does USB have over an extension cord?  (A laptop is a very expensive battery.)  At a whopping 6 watts, you won't get much satisfaction, I imagine.

Fewer burned fingers, Gary.   

I soldered some feeder wires onto a piece of ME code 55 track using that hidden feeder method you highlighted and it worked like a charm, but walking back and forth across the room from computer to track location cost time and a burned finger.

Posted that as much to say bump, without saying bump. Hope to have some documented progress to show soon. Waiting on an order from MB Klein, but minus the HO cork roadbed box. That stuff is EXPENSIVE to ship. A box of HO and a box of N cork almost doubled my shipping costs because of weight. Looks like Hobby Town gets a return visit even though I hate going there. Their train selection is depressing.

I obtained bus wires yesterday, so I can start running those, but now I need a source for suitcase connectors that will lock in the 12 gauge wire to my feeder wire, which I think is 18 solid. I am not sure of the size as its a bundle of on hand stuff from WAAAYYY back.

Debating how to run the power bus on the multi deck sections and if I can get away with one bus under the lower deck with longer feeders run down inside the backdrop for the upper deck areas? I don't want to create a situation where there is a lot of voltage drop from resistance.

Wiring is my weak spot. And this will be DCC layout 1, so I am hoping to avoid melting some poor engine on a short.

[Philip H]

Run busses on  each deck. Feeders up the backdrop will drop too much voltage. Just get. 1 inch diameter spade bit to drill holes through your cross members. You won't regret it.

[LKOrailroad]

Run busses on  each deck.

Without a doubt. Feeders should be as short as possible. Many say no longer than 12". No longer than 6" would be be sweet. Definitely do not want feeders going from deck to deck.

[basementcalling]

Glad I read this thread before delving into my wiring.

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=post;topic=17795.15;last_msg=155284

Electrical is not a strength here.

12Ga stranded bus wires going a part of the layout today, mainly so I can connect 18Ga feeders I am dropping from each piece of flex track and get a couple engines test running things before I glue any track down. The hidden feeder wire trick works nicely, and I've been able to use joinerless joints in most places, though sticking with rail joiners between turnouts and flextrack sections.  Not sure if I should drop feeders from the turnouts or not and no idea where to hook them to power all the turnout when using DCC. I know the Atlas products are supposed to be one wire to frog to power.

Found out that my entire layout room is 1 circuit - wall outlets and lights - so I am going to need a new cuircuit or two installed to handle the power needs.  I plan to use LED strips to light the layout, but even those add up to current when you string enough together. Overhead room lighting is fom 4 recessed can style lights, but they are not putting out the light quantity I want with CF bulbs installed. Not sure if I will try to add a track lighting system or perhaps florescent tube fixtures. The lack of light is especially noticable in the center peninsula where the tall spine isolates the aisle. That will get worse with the backdrop going in I am sure so a solution is needed.

I am planning to use Digitrax - have my base - but will want a booster fo rthe lower level and upper level. Thinking the branch is one power district, the main yard one, and then upper and lower level each one. Might try to make the town with the paper mill a separate one too. Not sure that will be needed.

[Philip H]

Just see if you can get the lights and outlets separated into two circuits.  If they are both 20 AMP they should be able to carry the load.  Then add a couple of GFCI outlets to be sure.

[GaryHinshaw]

I forgot about that thread, but I see that the questions I asked in DC carried over pretty directly to my experience in BC.  Here are some tips for planning your power and circuit needs.  The bottom line is that you'd probably be fine with two 15 A circuits, but read on if you like.  I ended up with 3 15 A circuits in my BC garage (in addition to the heating circuit) but mostly out of convenience, not need.

* Heating / cooling - hopefully these are on separate services, but if you have a need for supplemental service (e.g. a space heater), plan ahead for at least 1500 W for that.  A dedicated 15 A circuit would be fine for typical space heaters.

* Lighting - more is better, especially for N scale.  In my 10x20 garage, I have 10 2-bulb T8 fluorescent fixtures and, while it's plenty bright, it's not too bright.  Each bulb is 32 W, so 640 W total when they're all going.  They put out light that is equivalent to a few thousand watts of incandescent bulbs.  I have them on one 15 A circuit that is shared with one other outlet, so plenty of spare capacity for LED lights on that service, if I want to supplement the lower deck lighting in the future.  (I also have the lights spread over 2 switches: rows 1,3,5 and rows 2,4, if I want a lower overall light level).

* Power tools - if you run any AC tools in the room, plan for surge loads.  This probably means that you want to run them off a separate 15 A circuit.  It could be the same one the layout is powered from, assuming you're not running trains and power tools at the same time.

* Trains - A 5 A booster running at 12 V will only need 5*12=60 watts of power, so this is quite modest.  There may be an efficiency factor in the booster that I'm overlooking, but your layout power requirements will usually stay under a few hundred watts total.  Note that a typical N scale engine running at modest speed and load will only pull about 0.1 A, so each loco consumes a few watts typically.

* Accessories - unless you're planning some mega-high-end sound system, this will be in the noise.

So, one circuit for bright lights and small items, and one for the layout and occasional tools is fine.

Re the turnout feeders: I wire them at the same time I wire the flex track.  For my hand-laid turnouts, I attach N & S feeders to each of the two diverging routes, then power is transferred to the closure rails via the PC board ties, and to the points by jumpers from the closure rails.  Some turnouts are wired differently, depending on which rails are connected and isolated to/from each other.  The frog is separately powered by a feeder switched through the Tortoise.  The question of how you power and control the Tortoise is a separate one, but definitely attach the track power feeders now.

HTH,
-gfh

[basementcalling]

Here are the planned power districts. Each color is a separate district or powering option.



The lower level above has 4 districts: blue branch, yellow town and loop, gray climb, which continues onto the upper deck for the next town. the 2 brown areas are separate yard districts on the 2 levels. The blue in the bottom photo may not work that way as it was supposed to only be the other side of the hill descent from the summit wye into the town of Klugmann.



I have strung bus wires from the top of the J peninsula to the turn back loop at its end. Not sure if I should continue going with one piece of wire or break the bus at that point. How continuous should a power bus be within one district?

I am thinking the lower level wye area makes a good place to station power supplies. It is near two outlets and also 3 separate power blocks. From there the bus wire runs would not be overly long to their ends, especially on the sections on the top wall - lower level branch and upper level descent to Klugmann.

Locating reversing sections is trickier. Do they have to be where the current flow reverses in DCC? My actual section of track that is responsible for the direction reversals in the wye is the shortest piece of track in both cases. I am wondering about wiring the main segment as one reverse loop and the ends of the layout as the regular sections, even though they would not operate that way for trains.

[LKOrailroad]

Have you considered arranging the power districts by function instead of physical location? i.e. the main on a district separate from the yard which has its own district, industrial switching on separate district from main, etc. This way through trains will keep moving if there is a derail in the yard or industry switching area. Presumably, one operator is working switching while another is on the main with his train. Functional arrangement of the districts allows crews to work (and trip the breaker) without affecting other crews. Just a thought.

[basementcalling]

Alan, I hadn't thought of it. What would be the other advantages in your mind to that organization?

Wouldn't that mean three or four separate power bus lines around the layout and more distance in the wiring with corresponding voltage drop? I'm not sure I have enough space under the layout to keep that many sets of power bus lines separated.