Eagle Scout Project - Success!

Rich,

I have some excess rolling stock I can ship your way.  I sent an email requesting your address.

-Dustin

Thank you so much!  My son is thrilled and is more inspired than ever.

Pictures posted of the levels with track.

Fantastic!

Thank you all for helping my son! we now have enough amazing rolling stock to operate the railroad.  Re-building will begin in September.  We'll keep you posted

RichO,

If you need another set of hands(and tools), I can donate some time. I live in the Woodbury area.

My email is in my profile.

It's a nice layout and deserves to be rebuilt in memory of the child.

I have a 027 K Line steam engine and some other odds and ends if you are interested.

Reply By Scott T Johnson: Eagle Scout Project - Help Please

Scott,

That would be amazing of you.

We have one diesel and a Beep on loan.

A steamer would be great.

I’ll copy my son and he will send the shipping info.

Thank you so much.

Rich



*From:* O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum [mailto:alerts@hoop.la]
*Sent:* Tuesday, August 26, 2014 11:00 AM
*To:* RichO
*Subject:* Reply By Scott T Johnson: Eagle Scout Project - Help Please

Scott,

The box arrived today.   WOW!  My son will be thrilled when he sees your generosity tonight.  I love the Police car!

Thanks Again!

Rich

We have one suggestion for operation and one request from the museum.

The suggestion was to run the three loops independently for ease as operation for the museum staff. 

The request was from the staff to allow children to run the trains.  On their HO layout we had a push button that allowed us to set the speed and the kids would run the train at a constant speed.  In O gauge, is this possible with out excessive speed and can the reverser be bypassed?

Thank you for your thouhghts and suggestions.

Rich,

Most conventional engines have an e-unit lock to set the direction in the forward.

Dale H. is the guru of setting up automated wiring and train control for conventional engines.

 He posts a lot of his techniques here. Big buttons can be had, wired to timers and the track power can have diodes and train detection circuits, automatic horn\whistle blow, station stops. he is always kind enough to answer emails about specific problems\solutions related to a project.

I don't care for the three separate level\loops approach. It would detract from the layouts interest. Perhaps three levels and two separate loops, having one train change levels. Much more interesting to watch a train ascend and descend. The switches can be eliminated and the sidings kept for scenic use. Just my opinion.

By the way, 9/16 looks good for me, but you are moving to quickly

Rich,
I have a number of scenery sections that were pulled out of a layout a number of years ago when the owner passed away.  I don't think I will be using them.  I can also help you out with some trains, buildings, bridges, etc. as I have them coming out of my ears.  I might also be able to help out in other ways.  My oldest son is an Eagle Scout and I remember how much help he got on his project.  I'm in Northern NJ so not too far away.  Send me your e-mail and we can converse directly.

John

Thank you John.  Will do!

LionelFlyer and Moonman came down to help with the Layout Saturday!!

We made GREAT progress and had a great day.

You were amazing and thanks again for your help!!

Second level pieced together.  Third level height identified at rear corner.

Layout Progress 09/27/14

Rich,  I just sent your son an email.  I have some extra track I would love to donate to him.

Ralph

Thank you GTW Ralph! We're adding trolleys to the layout and your track will be a BIG help! Thank you again.

Rich

RichO,

What else do you guys need for this project?

Let me know, as I'd like to contribute. 

Thanks,

We received a donation of a Lionel N&W J.

Anyone have a tender??

First train running on the lowest level yesterday!

Thanks for all th ehelp.

Casey Jones on the throttle? Looks like a big step to success, congratulations.  

There is a lot of work that is unseen. The layout is 9' x 17' with a 2' bump out on one side. It was a built in place layout.

The removal process cut a lot of framing. The framing has been repaired\replaced and modified so that it assembles\disassembles into 3 main sections and the bump out section for ease of transportation. It is 1" x 4" framing. The tall guy in the video was standing on it. It holds.

So, there is now a solid base in a sectional format. We hope progress on the upper levels will move along faster. Less framing reconstruction and lighter sections. A fun project with an interesting layout.

Behind the scenes, planning and design is completed and a fund raising event is planned for the construction of the display room in the Marconi Hotel\InfoAge Science Museum thanks to an architect friend of the project.

Casey Jones is working hard to earn his credits planning and managing this project. He has his hands full trying to keep a bunch of adult train nuts in line. It certainly helped his work sessions with the Scouts. Made it easy to manage his peers and accomplish multiple tasks.

Stay tuned...

Back to work after a long cold winter.  We'll be starting work again tomorrow.

The layout seems to have held up OK with no heat in the building.

Are you mentally projecting or something?

  Out of the blue I've been thinking about my time in Scouting for a few days straight.

Temperature itself isn't the issue. But fast temp change is. Rises, or drops in temp that cause condensation. When metal that is much cooler than the air around it then you get condensation & rust.

 A few strips of blanket/sheet can be laid on just the track, to keep the direct sun coming in windows, from heating the air around the track. Its worst in the a.m.

(& it keeps dust off for cleaner track)   

Level two installed and wired!

Thanks Moonman !

Email sent to your son

A simple way to do the consent speed of a loop is separate transformers or controls on a transformer  and one lead goes thru a push button so they can ( the children ) push the button and train will run as long as they are there. Growing up in West Chester, PA heading out on RT 202 going towards DE. there was a place called 202 Choochoo next door to Jimmy John's hotdogs ( I believe both are still there anyway they had a way that they had wire going to what looked like masking tape in the shape of a hand and you would put your hand on it and the train would go. This was on glass as trains where behind glass/plexiglass I was about 7 or 8 at the time so early 60's 

Just some idea's if you contact me or your son we can discuss somethings you might need that I can supply. 

If you get a Williams engine there's a way to lock them out for forward only that some of the other guys can tell you as not sure how to do so. 

PROGRESS 5/9/15
Cleaned track and ran 6 passenger car train over both levels. 

On to level three next weekend.
 

Rich please contact me I sent your son a E-mail he returned telling me what he needed I replied with what I had telling him to pick which engine no reply that was like Wednesday evening. Not sure if for some reason he never received it. My email is rtraincollector@yahoo.com 

Bill

 You should post your "shopping lists" too.

Not only would it be of interest, but you never know what might be just laying around out there somewhere. 

Been looking for  a progress report like this project. Are all 3 levels running now how about some more pics

Hi rtraincollector (Bill),

Level 3 is not running yet. Next work session is June 6. We will have it running then.

The photos in the Aug 12 post above show the pieces. They are L1, L3 & L2 in that order.

We remove all of the track from a section, apply contact spray, and reinstall using better track screws and fit the joints tightly as all of the moving and years of storage took it's toll.

Then we fit a section and reuse the original supports and make what we need for a solid fit. Some section joints get a flange to help secure the joint. Then the feeds are soldered to the connectors underneath and the rails are cleaned with a wire brush on Dremel flex extension and wiped with lighter fluid and then denatured alcohol.

Here are some photos that I took. I had the camera on a light setting from a previous shoot and hurriedly took these shots before leaving the last work session. A lot of the layout was designed where the train is in tunnels after the scenery is applied, including the helix. The fourth level is a scenic mountain top between the helix and the end. You can see the final section on a storage table behind the layout.

Planning is complete for the room in the museum (InfoAge Science Center). The layout will be disassembled, moved to it's home and the scenery work completed there. The building we are working in was part of Camp Evans, when the site was a military base.