As we wrap up year number four on My Dream/Nightmare Layout, I thought I would do my report a little differently from years past. I'll start with the highlights from the first 11 months, then go for the "cherry on top" with December's big finish.
It was a great year, and a lot of projects were completed, and a bunch of new ones were started. I've mentioned in the past that I have ADD, but jumping from task to task on a project this large is almost helpful. Letting things sit a while allows me to think things through a little more. It all has to be done sometime. Throughout my life I have been a notorious non-finisher. This year has shown me that I can complete large projects, be it on my own or with the help of others.
In January we saw the late arrival of the Amtrak Empire Builder at the Midway Depot. It only took 13 years to get there.
With the help of Joe, we finished the wiring in the small helix.
In February, I redid the south power panel wiring and cleaned things up.
This Masonite wall is actually the start of scenery. It will eventually get a rock face, and a sloping hillside made of foam will sit on top of the structure and be covered with trees.
This is my TMCC signal strength test train. An R2LC board is connected to the yellow meter to measure levels around the layout.
I drew schematics of both levels of the layout so I could plan out my signaling.
Because some of the new Lionel scale auto racks were hitting the supports of the big helix, it was time to correct the problem with all new supports.
In May I kit-bashed 3 Lionel 450 signal bridges into two 3 track units, then scratch made all the signal heads for them.
My wife and I assembled 9 of these cards. Each card can control 12 bi-color LED's.
In June I added an air distribution system to the train room.
At Hiawatha, I made all the cross streets and sidewalks from Masonite.
In July I started roughing in the grain elevators.
This shot gives a general idea of what the milling district looks like. There will be even more elevators coming soon.
Here we see Joe crammed into the 7" space at Roseville,in preparation for track laying.
In August, using Velcro, I hung the fascia above the bookshelves.
I also wrapped the fascia around the first peninsula, and half way down the other side.
In September, my wife and I created the loco log to keep track of engine problems and maintenance.
Again using Velcro, I hung the backdrop behind Prescott and Hastings.
This event will forever be known as the "train rain" disaster. The train derailed on the top level, and some pieces made it 6' down to the floor.
Luckily, the damage was limited to two sheared off truck screws and some broken off detail parts.
In October, I added these two spur tracks. The switches were numbers 305 and 306, and the very last!
In November, I had the old 1/2" OSB flooring removed and replaced with 3/4" plywood. You'll see the new floor in upcoming photos.
This doesn't look like much, just another turnout control panel. It actually represents the very last of the conversions from the old 12V two wire control system to the new 24V single wire system. All Tortoises are now fully functional and ready for simple conversion to CMRI.
This is the inside of my TMCC command base. I have added a terminal so that I can have an external antenna to ensure good communication with all Cab-1's anywhere in the room.
That brings us to December!!!
I bought a couple new 12VDC power supplies, and hooked this one up to power my Tortoises. Eventually I will hook up the second one and each will power half the room's Tortoises and signals.
They came with this nifty little screw terminal adapter.
The small piece of track connecting the turntable to the yard is the last piece of track on the main part of the layout. All that is left is the connection to the other turntable, yet to be installed.
The dispatcher's corner is the last Sheetrock in the train room.
The task fell upon me to finish the last 10 manual switch throws. Matt got through the first 4 in this bank. I did the last 6 and 4 more scattered around the room.
Some of the turnouts are so far from where the knobs are mounted that the rods and tubes needed to be spliced. That's what that white thing is.
I call this one "red spaghetti". The whole bank is complete and the yard above is functional.
All that's missing is an operator.
Another symbolic photo, the very last manual throw!!!
I pulled wires through the pipe over the doorway. There are VGA cables that will feed signals to two large monitors. One will display the cameras in all the hidden spaces around the room. The other will have the JMRI layout schematic and be used by the dispatcher to control the layout. The heavy gray phone cable will be used to drive various relays that will control the hidden yards.
This mess just needs to be routed to their final destinations.
I had to fix a broken switch point. I was lucky that the pin had not fallen all the way through the throw bar, but It was too far down to grab. Magnet to the rescue! I pulled up the pin, wedged a couple tie wraps under it to hold it in place, and soldered it.
Good as new!
There is no raised floor in aisle 4. That makes it difficult for anyone (except my buddy Dakota who's 6'-7") to see the Ford Plant. I started building a fold up platform for the operators to stand on, bringing them up 15" off the concrete.
There will be hinged legs, and a brace at the bottom to hold them in position when the platforms are in use.
Finally, that brings me to yesterday, and the surprise that I was hinting at last month. After more than a year, Patrick came over for the afternoon. I had saved some projects especially for him. He is the backdrop king, so we started with some easy pieces.
Once painted, and the helix gets its backdrop, trains will just magically appear "on stage" at Red Wing. Almost literally out of the blue.
Then we moved to the southeast corner for a missing link. First we installed a support bracket in a position that it wouldn't block the view of the cameras. Then we added a fence along the outside of the curve, to catch any potential runaways flying down grade from the right.
Then we hung the missing piece of the backdrop.
While we were at it, I had Patrick remove a piece of the existing backdrop.
I had totally missed it, but Patrick caught it right away. The scuff marks on the piece he took out happened as trains came through a switch, and rubbed against the backdrop. The dark line was just a pencil mark I drew around them.
This is the last piece of benchwork. This 4 x 8 sheet will be home to my Bowser turntable and Korber roundhouse salvaged from enterTRAINment.
Now that crossing to nowhere has somewhere to go.
What you are looking at here is the full extent of unfinished backdrop. We still need to wrap the helix and connect up to the Hastings/Prescott section on the left. In order to do that, I need to remove the hidden yard control panel and the number panel, and relocate them to the dispatch area. Hence all the wires.
The turntable...
and the roundhouse.
Earlier this month I did a little test run of the hump yard under power. Results were not bad, still needs some tweaking.
Looking forward to the new year, I have lots of things planned for the layout.
Among them are:
Paint rails
Ballast
Fill in holes between tracks in prep for scenery
Install uncoupler magnets and controls
Do foam land forms
Finish backdrop construction
Finish layout fascia
Finish painting fascia
Apply graphics and labels to fascia
Connect detection wires to panels
Move hidden yard controls to dispatch area
Finish connecting CMRI wires and test system
Create CTC control panel using JMRI
Host an operating session
Host NMRA division layout tour
It should be a fun time on the Twin Cities Central. Stay tuned, and thanks for all your support!!!
Happy New Year!