Elliot, I sure am glad you are feeling better! You sure have been busy and the signals are looking great! I like the computer stuff, but that's way over my head as I have a hard enough time just wiring signals! LOL Keep up the great work and stay strong!

I too, am glad you are better and it sure shows in the stuff you have gotten done. How did you ever manage to get those stick on letters so uniform? I also like the computer stuff and JMRI so this is getting more exciting for me as well the signaling part! Hope all stays well and you continue to feel better this month. Also glad to hear the hard drive was successfully recovered and the plumbing is working once again. May all your future backups be limited to hard drives only.  Keep the updates coming and good luck! 

Thanks for all your support guys! It really helps!

Pat - That wiring project on the signals was a great way to pass the hours. I was a little bummed today, because I finished that aspect on Monday. Today, I started reading up on JMRI for part of my time, and the other part was spent thinking about what my control panel would look like. I had wanted a very simple linear design, but I don't think it's going to work that way, because of all the twists and the helixes.

Mark - No, I,m going into the clinic for now. I will be finding out about home dialysis pretty soon though. The big question is, can my wife stick the needles in me. The only part of the signals I did at the clinic was threading the wires through the masts. It was clean, quiet and allowed me to keep my left arm fairly still so I didn't trigger the alarm on the machine. My right arm has full range of motion during my session. I might be able to apply water slide decals to cars. That would probably be clean enough. It's true that at home I could do more.

John - I'm changing my middle name to "Computer Backup" after that fiasco. An expensive lesson I won't soon forget. As for too much computer control, I promise I won't. The computer will have three basic tasks, throw turnouts when told to do so, change signals based on turnout positions and block occupancy, and occupancy detection itself. I will also have my TMCC base hooked to the computer, so if I wanted it to, it could run some trains. I don't have the kind of layout some people do, where they can set it and forget it. I'm always on high alert when trains are running. It's not as relaxing as you might think.

Alex - JMRI is a BIG set of topics. Because I'm using C/MRI, It totally makes sense for me to use it. It's going to be my software, but there are still a lot of C/MRI users out there using Visual Basic.   Once I get my track plan drawn using  JMRI Panel Pro, it's more or less plug n play. I just assign my input and output bits to the devices on my plan. Most 3 railers don't use either of these techie solutions, which is in my opinion, unfortunate.

Mike - This computer stuff scares a lot of people, but it isn't really that difficult to understand or even implement. I've never actually done any of this before, but for a long time I have understood the concepts involved. I even have a computer programming background, going back to my college days. The only thing is, none of that really helps with this. That aspect is built into JMRI already.

RTR12 - Good question about how I got the lettering so straight. I cut two strips of Masonite, one for the upper deck and one for the lower, to use as a guide. The strips were set to the correct width so as to vertically center the lettering on the fascia. Then I just clamped on the appropriate strip, with its bottom edge flush to the bottom of the fascia. The horizontal spacing is done by eye (with lots of practice). The letters are "repositionable", move it til you get it right. As for the plumbing situation, we were never really without. Over that weekend, we just had to go easy on the wastewater, until they came and pumped the tanks first thing Monday morning. The plumber came first thing Wednesday to fix the pump, which was fine. With three empty tanks, we could have gone more than a month before any liquid spilled over into the third.

Elliot, My wife used to show people how to do the home dialysis back in the '80s.  I hope your wife is able to do it.

I finally remember the guy's name.  Is C/MRI the same system that Railroad Model Craftsman did a long series of articles by Bruce Chubb again back in the '80s?

Actually Mark, the original series of C/MRI articles by Chubb was in Model Railroader back in the 80's. I think he just recently did a series on signaling in RMC.

Just another reason I wish we lived closer. I suspect that with a little training, my wife will enjoy sticking needles in me.

Elliot - I haven't been posting much of late, but I do always look forward to your progress reports.  I am sorry to learn of your medical problems and wish you the best with them.  Your positive attitude will be a huge asset for you in combating it.  

I echo the many comments regarding how amazing your layout accomplishments are.  Not only do they put most of us to shame, especially me, but I am always learning something new from you that is useful for my layout.  The most recent example is your use of stick-on lettering for the areas on your layout.  I need to do that for my operating sessions, but it is also nice when you have just plain non-train visitors so they can more easily recognize the towns and areas that I am modeling.

Hang in there, you have a lot of friends and fans rooting for you.

Art 

Chugman posted:

Elliot - I haven't been posting much of late, but I do always look forward to your progress reports.  I am sorry to learn of your medical problems and wish you the best with them.  Your positive attitude will be a huge asset for you in combating it.  

I echo the many comments regarding how amazing your layout accomplishments are.  Not only do they put most of us to shame, especially me, but I am always learning something new from you that is useful for my layout.  The most recent example is your use of stick-on lettering for the areas on your layout.  I need to do that for my operating sessions, but it is also nice when you have just plain non-train visitors so they can more easily recognize the towns and areas that I am modeling.

Hang in there, you have a lot of friends and fans rooting for you.

Art 

Elliot as I said before you get more done in a day then I do in a month  and supposedly Im good health. The facias look awesome. Are you planning on doing scenary soon? If so what type ?plaster or foam? 

Chugman/Art your layout is also amazing to view in photos.

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Actually Mark, the original series of C/MRI articles by Chubb was in Model Railroader back in the 80's. I think he just recently did a series on signaling in RMC.

Just another reason I wish we lived closer. I suspect that with a little training, my wife will enjoy sticking needles in me.

Elliot, Very good.  At least I am thinking of the right guy and series of articles, though I forgot which magazine published them.  I subscribed to both back in those days when I was modeling in HO.

My wife does have a knack for coaching the most out of people in a nice way.  Now that she is back to work after our girls are grown, she works in the schools and can really take the fear away from diabetics, tube feedings, cathartizations,  and other children with high medical needs.  It would be a piece of cake with your wife; and before long, you would have to be very good or your wife would enjoy sticking you!!!  

good morning Elliot  good to hear the dialysis has you back in better health again.

I really like the signals you made and how you used the dialysis time to string wires into the tubing very creative.  I really enjoy reading all the progress and photos of what your working on.

the computer stuff is all greek to me but will enjoy reading about it and seeing it work am sure in time you will make a video showing us all how it controls the various functions while trains are running. so does each card inserted to mother board control only one item as in a signal or a switch or does each card have multiple uses?

Ray

Chugman posted:

Elliot - I haven't been posting much of late, but I do always look forward to your progress reports.  I am sorry to learn of your medical problems and wish you the best with them.  Your positive attitude will be a huge asset for you in combating it.  

I echo the many comments regarding how amazing your layout accomplishments are.  Not only do they put most of us to shame, especially me, but I am always learning something new from you that is useful for my layout.  The most recent example is your use of stick-on lettering for the areas on your layout.  I need to do that for my operating sessions, but it is also nice when you have just plain non-train visitors so they can more easily recognize the towns and areas that I am modeling.

Hang in there, you have a lot of friends and fans rooting for you.

Art 

Art, I'm glad to see you are keeping up on Elliot and others here!!  I do miss seeing posts from you about your layout, but I can appreciate whatever reasons you have for not posting much as of late.  Actually we can spend too much time here on the Forum and not get much done on our layouts.  

Art - Thanks, and it's always great to see you on the forum. I do miss your construction updates. Sharing ideas is one of the best parts of the forum, and it's very gratifying when people find my contributions useful.

George - Thanks, and yeah, I've got to get going on scenery. I was thinking all foam for the little bits that need topographic relief, but I may try some plaster cloth as well. April is still my target to have a bunch done. Then I have until the end of August to really get it looking good for the convention.

Ray - Thanks, I want to see it work too. No, each card controls 24 devices. Turnouts are one output each, signals need two each. Track detectors are one input each. There may be a few other odd devices that I need to incorporate, but they are more of an after thought. JMRI has a fast clock, and it should be possible to use it and C/MRI to run a bunch of 7 segment number displays to have the clocks around the layout.

Your layout is looking great and I love to see your updates. You have come back a long way and I would love to have the space you do in my basement.. Thank you for keeping us updated every month.

Hope you feel better soon......

David

Elliot.

Good to see you back and feeling better. The layout is really looking good as you add finishing touches and start working on your control system. If you plan too experiment with plaster cloth, the following ebay link is one of many for the plaster bandage (cloth) used in body casting. The plaster cloth is offered in various quantities by some vendor's at prices more reasonable than those offered by major scenery suppliers. I have used some form WS and an ebay vendor which I can't recall with good results. Most vendors do not charge shipping which is a plus.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3pk-P...b:g:QLoAAOSwJQdW-yHE

With the National Narrow Gauge Convention getting closer by the day (Labor Day Weekend) I've really got it kicked into gear. 145 hours this month without a day off, and the progress shows. A couple months ago, the guy who is in charge layout tours for the convention, made what I took as a somewhat snide remark. Ever since then, I have been so motivated, partially out of spite for that comment.

Then there's the added motivating factor of hosting operating sessions. That requires all systems functioning smoothly, whereas the convention needs the layout to look good. So here I am going off two directions at once!

Dialysis days are mostly spent doing reading or organizational paper work. I am documenting all aspects of the layout and putting everything into a notebook. Most of the time I come home, have dinner, and I'm wiped out. If I do manage to get downstairs, it's usually a light project that I work on, computer stuff or the signals were the ones that got the attention this month.

I worked on a lot of different projects this month. All of the ones with the green bars by them were live, 11 in total, and those are just physical projects, not the bookkeeping.

This is the list of detection blocks. It has been updated to assign C/MRI input bits and give them JMRI user and system names. This is the kind of stuff I do while at dialysis with printed worksheets and my clipboard, then I transfer it to the computer when I get home.

This one is all the signals. There are 173 heads on 93 masts. I have printed track diagrams with the signals placed, and I'm cross checking to make sure I haven't missed anything. Yesterday, I found four heads on two masts that I missed. I had to fix two different lists because of that mistake.

This is the turnout list.

This thing takes the three previous lists, and allocates all the C/MRI input bits and output bits in a single table. It's the only way to keep track of all the bits. The green ones are the signals. The red are the detection. The yellow are the turnouts and the blue are relays that will be used to turn power on and off to the hidden yard tracks. I may add some more blue ones later for some fancy controls.

Back to signals. I took some liquid electrical tape, and sealed up the back of the LED's and their wires. This has the added benefit of stopping light leakage from the back.

More liquid electrical tape to get the wires to stay together in a bundle.

I built a test rig to simulate how these are going to be connected in the field.

I tested all of the SSD cards. I thought I had a bunch of bad circuits...

so I started this table to keep track of all the problems. As it turned out, the problem was that I was being lazy, and not screwing the test LED's to the terminals, but instead I was just pressing them against the screws. Proper testing revealed that there were only two bad circuits. I'll have another go at those later, but I know which ones they are.

My "rainbow spaghetti". These are the old C/MRI wires from enterTRAINment. I spent a number of hours clipping tie wraps and old electrical tape off them to prep them for their new life.

This is what is still left in the trash can they've been stored in.

This Molex connector is the actual prize. I'm going to clip off much of the old wire, and splice on Cat5 cable.

Time to work on the layout itself! I started filling in the holes in the benchwork over at Hastings. The new plywood will be the Mississippi River.

Back to the signals, now they need to be grouped together and assigned to their SSD's. These two track diagrams have all the signals on them, but they are very small. The chicken scratchings are those allocations.

Here it is condensed into yet another table.

This panel is the result of those calculations. Twenty one Cat5 cables will come in from seven C/MRI output cards, and twenty one more will go out to the actual signals.

Picked up some Plasticville signal bridges off the Bay.

I hung this small piece of backdrop. That completes this section.

Supports 1 - 4  were added for the final section of backdrop that will wrap around the helix.

I added the 8' section of fascia to the upper level, but it's just tacked in place until the backdrop goes in. Note the control panels in this picture, they will be moved later.

I started with some foam to make the river banks.

One of those Plasticville bridges with my signals mounted to it. This one is called Oakland.

Here's a Lionel 450, which will go back to Red Wing.

More foam in place.

I hung some LED lights in the big hidden yard. I have two more strings of these yet to hang.

I repaired the broken wall of my old Korber roundhouse.

The old 24" Bowser turntable that goes with it.

I took the last sheet of buffalo board, and laid out the locations of both...

then cut the hole for the turntable.

This is where they will go.

Here you can see where the previously mentioned control panels were moved to. There's a red line and a red circle, but they are a bit hard to see.

In all of my signal counting, I found I was a few short. These will go on a new bridge.

I picked up some 450's on the Bay. I will be taking two of them and making another triple track bridge.

I finished the lower level fascia in aisle one. I started just past the painted section...

I added a little benchwork to support the new fascia.

I did a step down cutout for the Hastings control panel.

The new fascia connects up to the existing Red Wing fascia.

Today I spackled in all the screw holes and seams.

I added this Masonite wall to hide the track against the wall. this will become part of the scenery.

Here I'm doing the same thing over in aisle two. I'm making and installing the supports for it.

Here's the completed wall.

The last thing I did today was cut the hole for the turntable. Looks like I need to trim it in a couple spots, because it didn't quite drop in.

Major WOW! As always an enjoyable read Elliot.

Eliot

Love the tracking and charts, As a former project manager they look real good. Sure wish you were not 1/2 a country away, would love to help you out, especially with scenicing. Use what ever motivation you need to get to the elusive "completed" state. BTW our club on Long Island, TMB Model Train Club hosted a visit during the 2016 TCA national convention, Our layout was operational and only about 30% scenery complete. They loved the fact they could see into the layout and many had questions about how we approached things that helped them out. Those narrow gauge guys will love it!!!

Steve

Ready? I think you are going to be bored when this is done!!  WOW!

Elliot WOW. I find the signal towers to be awesome nice work. Your layout is the NASA of layouts akin to the space program with all that wiring my mind is boggled. Are you an electrician/engineer by trade and or what was your training in ?

amazing as to what you have accomplished as a party of one this month!  am curious it's been a long time seeing your layout in person the areas you added Masonite to block wall track views if something goes wrong do you have access to re-rail cars or?

side note am glad they finally fixed camera 2 at the wye found it odd that its now on you tube!

All I can say is I've GOT TO SEE THIS SOMEDAY!  What a project!

It's coming along...

Eliot - You are doing an amazing job when others with your health issues might be doing nothing.  Your organizational abilities and drive are second to none.  And besides all that your layout looks fantastic!  Thanks for posting your progress every month, it is very interesting and extremely motivational.

Art

This is AMAZING

Alex

L.I.TRAIN posted:

Eliot

Love the tracking and charts, As a former project manager they look real good. Sure wish you were not 1/2 a country away, would love to help you out, especially with scenicing. Use what ever motivation you need to get to the elusive "completed" state. BTW our club on Long Island, TMB Model Train Club hosted a visit during the 2016 TCA national convention, Our layout was operational and only about 30% scenery complete. They loved the fact they could see into the layout and many had questions about how we approached things that helped them out. Those narrow gauge guys will love it!!!

Steve

Steve- Road trip appears to be in order.

Elliot- We all continue to be amazed at and by your layout. Keep up the good work!

Bob

Always like seeing the updates for this large layout, though I will probably never get it out to see it, it would be a sight to see. 

WOW, Talk about hanging the Christmas tree from the ceiling............ 

WoW thats alot of work in 1 month eh   Lookin good Elliot eh

Incredible.

Elliot thanks for the amazing update. You are an inspiration! Enjoy looking at your lists and seeing items as they are checked off.

Thanks everyone for all your wonderful comments and well wishes. They are greatly appreciated.

Last night after I posted my progress report, I checked my email and found something interesting in it (and not in a good way). It was from one of the guys on the convention committee looking for volunteers. In the email was the link to the convention website. I clicked on it and out of curiosity went to the layout tour section. Why was I not surprised that mine was not listed? Fortunately, I don't think the final chapter is written on this. Maybe I'll shoot for 200 hours this month.

Steve - I just hope they are given the chance to see it.

Joe - If I ever get bored, I may just have to run trains. I'm not too worried about that.

George - I studied computer science and geography, but I never graduated. A lot of my electrical skills I picked up hanging around with an electrical engineer at one of my train clubs year ago.

Ray - Not to worry! First, I can't remember the last time anything derailed back there. There's only one switch, and I made sure it was a new Ross. Second, I'll be able to take the top off and reach in there, much like Dayton's Bluff around the corner.

I had all but given up on that camera.

I'm sorry that I didn't mention each of you by name, but I love you all just the same! I've said this many times before, but there is an open invitation to all forum members to visit. Just drop me an email to set up a visit.

Elliot I haven't posted much and at times I have gotten days behind in checking out the forum, then have to play catch-up. I have been watching your progress though, you are an amazing worker even with your handy caps. The computer work and wiring are way beyond me and I get lost following your posts but I do follow along.

Like others have said wished I didn't live so far away from you, if I were there I could learn a lot from you.

Keep up the good work.

Elliot, I think you are the Gutson Borglum of model railroading.

Eliot

Thanks guys.

Redball - You don't have to be here to absorb knowledge from me. Feel free to ask questions. If I know the answer, I'm happy to tell you. Email works too. Chester7 is building a helix for his layout, and wanted to know how to calculate grade percent. As for the computer stuff, I keep telling people it really isn't that complicated. Put simply, C/MRI is just a bunch of on/off switches for layout devices. JMRI is the software that tells C/MRI which ones to turn on or off. I'll explain as I go.

Eliot - I totally get the reference, and find it rather apt. This is something of a monument.

Elliot, Amazing progress this month. I love following along. You might consider getting a tablet. That way you can do computer work when in dialysis and not have to load it into the computer later. Just transfer the file. A lot quicker with less transaction errors. Regardless, the amount of work you have completed this month despite your medical issues is amazing. Thanks again for letting us follow along.

Thanks Pat, actually I just remembered I have a spare laptop that I haven't used much. That may be the perfect task for it. I'll have to load some software, but other than that, it could work. There is one potential problem and that is, I have very limited range of motion with my left hand. It kind of depends on how the needles are set. Some days are better than others. I have been meaning to try it out, maybe Friday.

Looks like another great month!! And you are getting deeper into the part I like with the automation stuff. It will be really amazing when it's all up and running!! Sorry to hear about them leaving you off the list for the convention, I hope it was just in error and you will be added. It would be a shame for folks to miss your layout, but it would be their loss. Good luck and I'll be watching for the next update!

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of this layout construction topic. I'm going to do something a little different this time. Instead of doing a month end review, I've provided links to my posts over on What did you do on your layout today? via the permalink feature. So if you want to see the pics from this month, in chronological order, and read my commentary, you can find it there. The dates are the links.

12/2

12/4

12/5

12/9

12/10

12/15

12/16

12/22

12/27

12/30

At the end of last year, I included a list of things that I wanted to accomplish in 2017. Not everything on that list got finished, but everything did get attention, and many are very close to completion. There was also a bunch time spent on projects not listed. Here's a link to last year's post .

For the purpose of clarity, I'm going to rearrange the list a bit. I am notorious for jumping from project to project on a whim. It is both good and bad. Good because it helps me not get bored with long projects. Bad because they can drag on for a long time. However, in my defense, sometimes the nature of construction dictates things be done in a certain order. The underlying goal this year has been to get track laying and wiring completed. I would say both are at a 99% level, just a bit of clean up left.

All of the items on last year's list received some attention. Some were completed, some got a serious dent, and a couple were barely scratched, but overall, it was a great year of progress. Here we go, over 100 photos and a half dozen videos!!

Fill in holes between tracks in prep for scenery

 It was really only the lower level that needed this treatment. I just about have two scenes done with four to go. This is Dayton's Bluff.

 This is Hastings.

Do foam land forms

  Back to Dayton's Bluff. The bluff is started.

Back at Hastings the Mississippi River is started.

Paint rails

 I got a few sections of the layout painted. The turkey baster is how I transfer paint from my gallon can to the airbrush jar.

Dayton's Bluff got painted.

Pig's Eye yard.

Interstate

Ballast

 This is the sifted ballast.

This is why I sift it.

Here's Pig's Eye.

Dayton's Bluff.

Interstate.

Host NMRA division layout tour

What follows is all prep leading up to the tour.

Chad (Chester7) brought this sign he made for me when he visited early in the year. I had it up on the door in time for the layout tour.

Some of my other railroadiana.

I finally got my 1970's Amtrak posters framed and hung.

I had picked up a Pecos River engine house on eBay a while ago...

but when I opened the box, it didn't seem big enough.

Fortunately, Mr Muffin bought the line and is producing the parts again. So I bought a building flat kit to add to what I had.

Now that looks like an engine house. The doors still need tweaking.

Dave (Darlander) stopped by one afternoon and helped me unpack cars.

Everything was cleaned and ready for the big day!

I had to stage this shot for the tour info.

This was the only picture from the actual event. Walt (NMRA) is on the left. Scott (Miggy) in the middle, and my brother-in-law Bob on the right.

Host an operating session

 Well this one was worked on, but not completed. Painting the car card boxes.

As cars are added to the layout, my wife writes out the car cards for each one.

At the layout tour, one of my guests was an old acquaintance, Gary. He really fell in love with the layout, because he had helped a guy build one very similar to what I'm building. It covers much of the same geography. Unfortunately, that guy passed away, and his widow decided she wanted the basement back, so the layout was coming down. Gary needed a new project, and I was it,

Gary gave me a list of things to do. The first thing was what he called "stick drawings". So I worked my way around the layout, drawing every section, with MS Paint. This is the overall schematic, a simple reverse loop.

Here is one of 22 such detailed drawings.

Gary made out a bunch of waybills using the information in the drawings.

He also created a schedule...

and train orders.

As the other layout was being dismantled, Gary was able to get the fast clock system, and operator's aprons.

Move hidden yard controls to dispatch area

 This was a huge job. First I had to mud and tape

then paint

then hang the monitors.

Scott's very first visit, he did the clamps on the corner of the counter top.

The three elements in this picture had to be moved, the monitor for the camera system, the board that tells me which trains are parked where in  the big hidden yard, and the control panel itself.

The monitor with all 16 cameras, check.

The train board, check.

Now the hard part! The control panel.

All of those wires had to be moved.

The panel is free!

The small hidden yard panel needed to be moved too as part of this project.

The panels are combined at the desk.

A relay panel had to be built to control all of the stopping blocks. Low DC voltage to control track voltage.

All three elements in place and working.

Install uncoupler magnets and controls

 I decided to go with a system using capacitive touch sensors to control my uncouplers. The two small boards on the ends are the sensors. They drive the relays in the middle which control the magnet power.

There are 73 uncouplers. This module controls ten.

This one does five, and is completely wired.

I went to connect one up to the layout, and ran into a problem. the unit went haywire!

Gunrunnerjohn suggested the use of co-ax cable with its grounded shield to fix the problem. It seems to work.

Meanwhile back on the layout, it was time to install all those magnets, which had been gleaned from 027 uncoupler sections, bought in bulk on the cheap.

Once again, Scott hard at work doing magnet installation.

Finish connecting CMRI wires and test system

 My old computer crashed this year. I got a new one and placed it in the center of the room, next to The TMCC base, and near the C/MRI starting node.

I replaced my RS-232 to RS-422 card which had some smashed capacitors.

Then ran the cable around the room to all four nodes.

I installed all of the input and output cards. I still haven't had a successful test, but I think it's something simple. Once I figure it out, then it's all about the wiring.

Create CTC control panel using JMRI

 It took a while to draw this, but I think it should do the job. Every switch on the mainline system is represented. The three levels are in order, lower on the bottom and the big helix along the right side. Both visible levels are drawn from east on the right to west on the left. The top level is backwards from how it looks in the room.

I plan to use my time at dialysis to draw this using Panel Pro.

I made charts for the three systems, that the computer will control, turnouts, signals and detection.

This one is signals.

This one is turnouts.

This one is detection.

This is all of the devices and their C/MRI connection assignments.

Finish backdrop construction

 I installed the last backdrop supports.

Then Patrick (CGWforever) came over and we hung the last section...

wrapping the helix.

Patrick finished priming the section behind Hastings.

Finish layout fascia

 I got the lower deck fascia all the way around aisle one, and connected from Cottage Grove, past Hasting, and over to Red Wing.

Wrapping it around the small helix.

This is the last section on the upper level.

Finish painting fascia

Aisle one. There is just a little left on this project.

Apply graphics and labels to fascia

 Got a good start on this on project.

Connect detection wires to panels

 This panel has all the detection wires for the big hidden yard. There are still a lot more of these left to do.

Scott was helping me identify the wires, when he snapped this shot of me under the layout.

Projects not listed

Scratch build signals

 I spent quite a bit of time building the signals for the layout.

I made this little tool out of a piece of music wire, with a hook on one end and a loop on the other.

While at dialysis, I was able to thread most of the wires through the masts.

The finished masts, but there's much more to do.

Don (ScaleRail) 3D printed these relay cabinet bases, so I bought 25 of them to mix in.

Someone here, I can't remember who, suggested using 1/4" mesh to make ladders. Not bad.

Here's a Plasticville signal bridge that I put my signals on. I also have done this to Lionel 450's.

Finish building and testing Searchlight Signal Driver cards (SSD's)

 Last year I bought 18 of these cards and all the components. My wife and I got through the first nine, so this year we did the other nine. The dozen circuits on each control bi-colored LED's, for searchlight style signals.

All done! On to testing.

At first I thought I had a bunch of bad ones, but after retesting, they were almost all fine. In the end there were only two out of 216  that I couldn't get to work.

Got the green light!

I began building a major panel using the completed cards.

Finish laying track

Installing a new switch in existing track is a little tricky

That was part of adding a third track to this yard.

Install turntable and roundhouse

 Last year Patrick and I put up a platform in the center of the big helix. I laid out where the turntable and roundhouse needed to go

I cut out the square hole in the fiberboard.

I secured the fiberboard after cutting the round hole in the plywood deck.

This board is the very last piece of benchwork on the entire layout.

Finish track wiring
I finally got inside the big helix and finished wiring.

Everything is now neatly tied down.

Document the layout

I modified Gary's stick drawings to document all the signals, turnouts and detection blocks. The colors next to the detection blocks tell what color wire they are connected to.

This was a crazy buying project putting together this train. I had always wanted to put together a "rainbow" Empire Builder. It was John Coy who pushed me off the cliff by finding me a good deal on two of the GN BSB K-line cars. It was all downhill from there as in about a month's time I scored eight more cars, two Atlas powered F7's and a K-line dummy B.

I added this video from two years ago so you could compare what the layout looked like then...

to a brand new video shot today. Enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

New goals for 2018

Host layout tour as part of a national convention
Complete basic scenery
Host an operating session
Clean up the final bits of track, fascia, switches and wiring
Finish the uncouplers
Finish building and begin installing signals
Get C/MRI and JMRI up and running using Panel Pro
Start building structures
Work on backdrop images

Elliot,

I like the format you used for the year in review.  Congratulations on all you accomplished!  You did great, and all that with kidney problems and dialysis!  I think it is always good to switch from task to task especially with a big project.  It is a hobby, but with such a large layout, goals are good!  I’m sure you are looking forward to 2018!

 Nice reading to start the new year!

Wow!  Nice year end update. That's Awesome progress eh