Essex branch HO v4

[Ed Kapuscinski]

As far as turnout control goes, I'd recommend local toggle buttons too. Your layout is mostly hand throw territory, right? If so, replicate that!

[nuno81291]

As far as turnout control goes, I'd recommend local toggle buttons too. Your layout is mostly hand throw territory, right? If so, replicate that!

Im not sure that it is. I am doing a fictional line in MBTA territory which is CTC. I absolutely will provision for fascia mounted toggles if I do go ahead and DCC' my turnouts. One of my goals through DCCing the turnouts and hooking my whole system up to a computer/JMRI was to use their method of routes. As i understand you can trigger any MRC programmed routes or create your own in JMRI. MRC is limited to 8 accessories in a route, which would be enough to line up any path through the yard, or town area... So being able to throw a route versus a handful of switches to line up the yard ladder would be useful I think. I am unsure how I could make this happen on the fascia toggles though, i.e. throw the switch for track 5 and all the switches line up like a diode matrix would do... I am sure there is something I am missing. While I build the new benchwork and lay track I will have to find a solution. I want to go ahead and pull the trigger on whatever is required to make fascia toggled routes and perhaps interface with jmri to use WIFI throttle....I also noticed people making virtual boards/panels and using a tablet or touch screen device for turnout control...this I thought was novel and interesting. I do not mind and old fashioned fascia panel but perhaps there is a way to alleviate the wiring for the toggles/leds and use our Ipads as the turnout/route controller.

Any feedback about using NCE decoders with JMRI for routes would be good. I am unsure if I make physical panels where to locate them. 1 for each side of the yard? or 1 centered on the yard with enough view of both ladders? 1 centered in the town would probably work.

Again there is no reason for dispatching on this tiny chainsaw layout, but getting introduced and feet wet with JMRI seems interesting. I saw a tutorial last night of someone developing switch lists for an industry with all sorts of variables and it was very intriguing if not way over my head... Have some reading and head scratching to do! Hopefully I can find a solution for turnout control/routing in a few weeks when I anticipate I will be done installing all the new engine facility goodies. By the way the 9 stall roundhouse grew to 12...because why not? 

 

[nuno81291]

Had a day off and spent it building bench work. I spent ample time lining up my roundhouse foot plates and turntable template. A piece of plywood, some ripped pine 1x2s, screwed and glued I have this:


I am very pleased, everything appears aligned as planned, everything is level and I picked up the sag that formed in that corner of the yard with a hefty shelf bracket. Depending how much I can squeeze in on my downtime I look forward to focusing on roughing in the track and seeing an engine turn. 12 stalls is nothing to shake a stick at, especially in HO. For fun I picked up an RS11 in DH livery to mate up with my freelanced Springfield terminal rs11.

Before I install the turntable I am going to weather it, I am actually pleased with walthers molded color (not the sun stripe ones I have seen online) and plan to attack the pit with sponged other tones of gray and concrete yellow, some pastel work and oil rust streaks from the stall tracks at the edge of the pit. All photos of the end of the BM/MEC well into guilford show turntables with cracks in the pit as well as grass. Static grass on this thing scares me and I may try to scribe and color some cracks and place a few hues of groundfoams to represent grass. I would hate to muck up the operation of the TT and will weather with caution.

[nuno81291]

I spent my modeling time searching for a way to resemble concrete. I have never done such large areas of styrene so my search led to various rattle cans at the big box stores. My eventual favorite turned to be rustoleums khaki with an acrylic wash and various water soluble oil and pan pastels for weathering. I had multiple goes and disasters and am pretty happy with my end outcome. Man do I need a camera and some better lighting. Anyways the roundhouse floor and pits are mostly done, as well as the first pass at the turntable. Lots more weathering of the TT and bridge before I set it back in hoping it still works... atleast I don't skimp on the tamiya masking tape   




Anyways it looks lighter and more sand toned in person. Here is the progress and a train level view showing some of the detailing of the pit. I worked from  photos of Billerica shops at iron horse park and interior photos of Waterville I found via google. Some touch up and more embellishments will happen before I lay the rail. I am unsure how to conceal the lighting in this kit and have the roof be removable. Perhaps drilling the supports or modeling conduit? Anyways my girlfriend took up a new interest in ship modeling and we are chewing at two models of the USS Constitution, 1:96 and 1:196... talk about a diversion from guilford!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Whoa, that looks great man!!

[nuno81291]

Snow day here, took some time to do the pit walls, pit rail and a bit more weathering and grass in the cracks. For my purposes this is mostly done. I may dry brush some different dead grass tones to tone down the WS grass. Remember it is winter on my layout so I figured the tone of grass was a good starting point and a bit of variation via acrylics and some chalks should be good. Tonight I hope to reinstall the turntable and finish the approach tracks and perhaps move on to the stall tracks. I would like to finish this and basic groundcover ASAP as it has displaced my guitar rack this is my basement practice and writing spot and it is enjoyable to write while having a mixed freight run the loop. The engine terminal adjacent to my desk is some distracting eye candy! Very happy with my weathering progress, the oil paints are a treat. And with modeling the big G there are endless opportunities to practice weathering!

[nuno81291]

Working on some brick for the roundhouse. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[nuno81291]

Here is the turntable to a level of completion I am going to move on to finishing ballasting the addition and moving forward with other projects. Will be focusing on the roundhouse area before going back to the rest of the scenery. I decided I need to overhaul the valence and  increase the depth so I can have more light from the front and not just the top. This is a bigger project and I will probably do this in the coming days/weeks and in the process fix the Masonite backdrop seams and start to ponder 1:1 locations to shoot backdrop images for the rest of the layout.

No electrical gremlins thankfully showing the layout off to some pals. Damn if I can't get these walthers amfleets to roll any better. The rapido nh8600s are much better in that regard. Just picked up an Rdc to stick on the back as a cab car. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[nuno81291]

See below

[nuno81291]

So I decided to build one more chain saw before I move on to the much larger engineering challenge of the previously described layout.

The new chainsaw is semi inspired by Mindheims east rail and our own @coosvalley Holyoke inspired canals.
The benchwork will be somewhat L girder I suppose, looking to try plywood as my sub road bed and cork instead of foam on foam. I will be still modeling a small passenger station but this time I will have a mainline radius of 40", to see if this helps the finicky 85's to operate push pull (like mbta and Amtrak do locally). Took about an hour to take down the two sides I will be rebuilding... we will see what happens

[Cajonpassfan]

Whoa, a bit of a change! 40" radius should look and work well.
I sure hope you are keeping the roundhouse/turntable combo.
Good luck with the new project!
Otto K.

[nuno81291]

Thanks! The roundhouse and TT are the only part of the existing layout to remain. Thanks to the not rushed construction my open grid frame with 1/2 ply is straight and true and will be easy to incorporate. I have not touched it since my last update when the main and passing were having issues with the 85' cars I decided to either relay both or just tear down for a full rebuild... every layout to date has been a great learning experience

[nuno81291]

Benchwork has started to take place

[nuno81291]

I made my first piece of subroadbed after finishing the basic benchwork. This 42" turn is the most critical part of the layout as the 24" minimum radius of the passenger cars became the demise of the previous incarnation. Happy to say the amfleets have no issue being pushed through, as well as looking much better with the larger radius.

[nuno81291]

success! Happy thanksgiving! Today I am thankful for a lot and have used my scheduled downtime to finish laying 99% of the track on the layout. Quick lessons: spline road bed and coockie cutter is wonderful for tortoises. I used the same amount of turnouts on the current plan and all 15 or so switch machines went very very quickly. Now to get required materials from Home Depot for the new hinged section and I can finish track work. Then on to feeders and rigorous testing before painting track.

Some of the track plan has changed during construction for the better operationally: I decided to add a downgrade spur starting in the yard on the inside of the large 42” radius curve. I intend to model a larger scrap scene here.

My next alteration was in the yard: I added a spur on the opposite side and an extra stub end track by the turntable. The next addition is by far my favorite; 1 small track of hidden staging. I never liked not having an “off scene” to any of my previous layouts and I shoehorned a thru single track staging yard. This track will act as a staging to an interchange that runs down the bakery (far building on canal) side, around the hinged section to behind the yard, in this case behind the backdrop, the other side being near my computer (shown unattached nearest monitor) and connects to the turntable lead. This means I effectively created a large runaround, or a way for a train to staging to escape to the turntable lead and run around for the next session (or to be changed out via the engine terminal). A lot of possibilities or scenarios operationally by adding this one “hidden” track. It cannot hold a very large cut of cars but some is better than none and considering how everything has shaped up with the track plan itself I am very happy I was able to fit even one track without a severe grade to a lower level.