New Layout

The dispatcher gave Brynlee a green 🚦 She enjoyed taking the railroad’s guest through the Alaskan wilderness abroad the Denali Star 🚂

Great photographs, Zach!!!

Hey everyone, I’ve been back at it with layout construction. Hope everyone is doing well!

Nice work, Zach!  Nice lighting effect.

Well done!

Peter

Made some headway on the layout over the past week!

The biggest being the inner loop is wired an operational!

I also started my two grade transitions, did the math and started cutting plywood for the inner section.

Question for dcs wiring though in interest of minimizing wiring. With this layout I have the inner loop done in 5 blocks. Of three of them, one is a bridge, the other a fixed table and the third a raising lift out.

For the two outside tracks with will create a twice around the room, instead of the 6 blocks , would it be okay to wire in 3 and have wiring spliced together since the tracks are broken at those joints anyway?

Zach, it’s great to see a train running on your layout!  A first run is always a time of satisfaction!  

As to your outside loop wiring question, I’m not sure I understand how your outside loop is configured.  Is it like your drawing on your 7-17-23 post?  If so, it looks twice around with end to end switches connecting the two loops.  Please let us know a little more about the track plan to better understand your question.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Zach, it’s great to see a train running on your layout!  A first run is always a time of satisfaction!  

As to your outside loop wiring question, I’m not sure I understand how your outside loop is configured.  Is it like your drawing on your 7-17-23 post?  If so, it looks twice around with end to end switches connecting the two loops.  Please let us know a little more about the track plan to better understand your question.

Mark, thanks for the reply. The area in question will use the same power source. Here is a rough drawing.

@Zach Dalton posted:

Made some headway on the layout over the past week!

The biggest being the inner loop is wired an operational!

I also started my two grade transitions, did the math and started cutting plywood for the inner section.

Question for dcs wiring though in interest of minimizing wiring. With this layout I have the inner loop done in 5 blocks. Of three of them, one is a bridge, the other a fixed table and the third a raising lift out.

For the two outside tracks with will create a twice around the room, instead of the 6 blocks , would it be okay to wire in 3 and have wiring spliced together since the tracks are broken at those joints anyway?

Sorry for the delay, Zach.  I think you would be okay doing that.  Your room isn't very big, like mine.  If you have trouble, you can put in separate runs.  I put in way more than I probably needed, and at the cost of wire, it was probably wasted.

Mark,

Thank you for the opinion on wiring!

Zach

After a lot of aggravation, I finally got my first grade started. I wired it up to ensure the 611 and an ES44 with the semi fixed pilot don’t have front end clearance issue.

I hope the outer track in this section goes a lot smoother.

It’s been a while. Nevertheless, the layout is fully operational!

Mark, you were correct on wiring having the three separate sections coming off one wire from the terminal block.

Getting the last section complete was tedious, ensuring there was no binding in the track work.

This layout design really aligns with how I like to run trains. Which is modulate the throttle and switch routes while being easy to access everything.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. May you, your families and friends be blessed and maybe find yourself some orange and purple 🎁 under the 🌲

Looks great, Zach!  Merry Christmas!

@Zach Dalton posted:

It’s been a while. Nevertheless, the layout is fully operational!

Mark, you were correct on wiring having the three separate sections coming off one wire from the terminal block.

Getting the last section complete was tedious, ensuring there was no binding in the track work.

This layout design really aligns with how I like to run trains. Which is modulate the throttle and switch routes while being easy to access everything.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. May you, your families and friends be blessed and maybe find yourself some orange and purple 🎁 under the 🌲

Very nice, Zach........always great when trains are running!

Peter