PRR Panhandle 2.0

Updated 12/30/2020:

Not a whole lot of forward progress today:

• Spent some time de-bugging a malfunctioning Legacy PowerMaster (6-37146) that's not putting out a full 18 VAC in Command mode.  Nor is it shutting off when give the proper command sequence.
• Drew one of the remaining windows for the Steubenville train station using Microsoft Visio and sent it off to be reviewed and 3D printed.

George

Well George, you certainly are making a lot of progress on your layout. I'll be anxious to come over and see it again in person once this pandemic situation improves. And BTW, after much deliberation, I ordered myself a set of those E-7's as well. Like I need more trains like I need a hole in the head. Happy New Year to you!

@PRRMiddleDivision posted:

Well George, you certainly are making a lot of progress on your layout. I'll be anxious to come over and see it again in person once this pandemic situation improves. And BTW, after much deliberation, I ordered myself a set of those E-7's as well. Like I need more trains like I need a hole in the head. Happy New Year to you!

Thanks Neal!  I will be very happy when the pandemic is over or at least under control.  I would love to have you visit.

I hope the E-7s turn out correctly, for both our sakes.

A happy new year to you as well.

George

I hope they are painted correctly too.

Updated 1/3/2021:

I have a number of irons in the fire at the moment, but the big ones are:

1. The Steubenville PRR Station - this hasn't been on the radar, but I've been working on the different types of windows for this very large and ornate train station.  Sidehack (Ray Mansfield) has been of invaluable help in refining my crude drawings and 3D printing the windows, for which I am very grateful!  I have also managed to draw an overhead plan to O scale and then reduce it to 90% size (all the space I have).  I've got to move those subway stairs to the right.
2. I am investigating use of the PSX-AC boards for circuit protection.
3. I've got a malfunctioning Legacy PowerMaster that needs assessed and, if possible, repaired.
4. I am also looking into ways to protect my 42 Z-Stuff DZ-2500 switch machines and 3 DZ-2001 Data Wire Drivers and simplify their debugging when problems occur.  So far, the Lionel break-out boards do not make economic sense.  Determining a realistic approach will affect how I wire the switches and their switch buses;  right now that is being held up by this issue.

More when I know it. 

George

In reference to item 1:

Unless Ray has some sort of trademark or something, I would LOVE to hear how the windows were made! It would help add some windows to the repository here.

And Steubenville had a subway??

@BillYo414 posted:

In reference to item 1:

Unless Ray has some sort of trademark or something, I would LOVE to hear how the windows were made! It would help add some windows to the repository here.

And Steubenville had a subway??

Not exactly.  A "subway" was a reference to a passage beneath the railroad tracks allowing passengers to get to a platform without being hit by trains.

George

Ahh I follow now.

Sounds crazy but I didn't realize there was a subway in Pittsburgh until a few years ago. That's what I asked.

Here ya' go, Billy.  Tracks and additional platform to the left.  Main station is on the right.

George

Cool! The B&O station in Youngstown has the "tunnel" which is really just where passengers walked under the rails to get to the other side like you're describing. Must have been a common design back in the day.

@BillYo414 posted:

Cool! The B&O station in Youngstown has the "tunnel" which is really just where passengers walked under the rails to get to the other side like you're describing. Must have been a common design back in the day.

Yep.  Always bad for business when your customers get wiped out crossing the tracks. 

George

@G3750 posted:

Yep.  Always bad for business when your customers get wiped out crossing the tracks. 

George

Many stations on SEPTA's ex-PRR commuter lines still have the tunnels going under the tracks. I believe that all stations on the mainline (Phila- Paoli) have tunnels to cross the tracks with the exceptions of Overbrook, Berwyn, and Paoli which have pedestrian bridges over the tracks. 

Updated 1/9/2021:

• Windows for the Steubenville PRR station have been designed (or at least drawn to size) and are now awaiting 3D printing.  That was a job-and-a-half!
• Currently working through the circuit and component placement for what I call "East End Interlocking".  This is spot where trains exiting the Weirton Steel Yard (and possibly the Staging Area) will meet the westbound mainline.   The idea is to have the DZ-1060 signal and the signal head on the MTH signal bridge "do the right thing".  When the DZ-1060 says "STOP", the MTH signal should say "CLEAR".
• 
• Hanging out in my workshop typing this and listening to Supertramp's "Crime of the Century".  Pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IccIn770nJM

Photos of the area under under the layout follow.  I've got figure out how to get a bunch of components situated there - probably on a thin piece of wood.

The area to the left of the diagonal 2" x 2" is probably where the wood holding the components will be mounted.

More when I know it. 

George

George,

  Everything seems well designed and thought out. I was also a fan of Supertramp.

Tom

@PRR8976 posted:

George,

  Everything seems well designed and thought out. I was also a fan of Supertramp.

Tom

"Everything seems well designed and thought out."             

Famous last words. 

George

True, but better to start off with the goal and/or illusion of well thought out plans!

Tom

@PRR8976 posted:

True, but better to start off with the goal and/or illusion of well thought out plans!

Tom

What, me worry?        

George

Never got into Supertramp much. I was always into Sabbath, Zeppelin, and Canned Heat.

Progress looks great! I'll be interested in seeing these windows and seeing how you wire up the signal.

EDIT: After further review, I could get on with Supertramp.

I do not know anyone else who has planned a layout in such detail.  On the other hand, I know the best plans can unravel at any time.  Southern Rock was more my speed.

Just for fun!

Yesterday, I did some planning and arranging of components on a board (still on-going), but I also played around with the Decapods.  Have a peek.

Yes, that signal works!  And so does the one you can only see the back of.

At some point, I need to put 20 ore cars behind the double-heading Decapods. 

George

That looks great! I think I got a bad case of bridge envy haha

Looking really good George!

All that hard work is really starting to pay off now!  Congratulations, George. 

@Bob posted:

All that hard work is really starting to pay off now!  Congratulations, George. 

Yes, as the song says "With a little help from my friends..."

Thank you!

George

The scene and the Decapods look great, George! 

Yes Bill, wouldn't we all like to have that bridge?!  Of course I wouldn't even be able to fit the curved track approaches and the bridge in my layout room!! 

The bridge would positively dominate my layout. It would be a bridge with a layout instead of a layout with a bridge haha

@BillYo414 posted:

The bridge would positively dominate my layout. It would be a bridge with a layout instead of a layout with a bridge haha

Billy, it was designed to dominate the layout.  That was Neal Schorr's suggestion to me almost 20 years ago.  Then, as now, I think it was absolutely the right thing to do.

I have joked with my NMRA buddies that I should have had the bridge built to scale (1,902' = 39' 7.5") .  That way, I could put an O27 curve on each end and have it fit in the 47' long room.                      And of course, I could run my bump-and-go trolley on it.  

Wow, I wonder how much water that would have required?   $$$$$$ 

Actually, I am perfectly delighted with what has been done and how it's going so far.

I am a blessed man. 

George

That would be a bridge of bridges right there haha

Updated 1/12/2021:

Have spent the last few days working on a very vexing electrical issue.  It presented as a Legacy Powermaster delivering less than 18 VAC to the track.  This was for Power District #7.  In fact, the real issue was phasing among the 3 transformers powering districts 4, 7, and 8, respectively.  With help from my friends Bob Bartizek and Price Bradshaw, I was able to correct the problem.  Bob really identified the issue from the symptoms I described and Price helped me methodically inspect my track feeder wiring for mistakes (there were none).  It turns out that I had incorrectly phased a number of my transformers.

Tonight I successfully ran a locomotive all the way from the end of district 8 (Staging Area) to the other end of the layout (~47’) through districts 7 and then 4 without incident or malfunction.  This is a long overdue major step forward.

Pending further investigation, I have removed the Legacy Powermasters from the layout circuits.  I will check them out carefully tomorrow in the light of day.

Upon his return from Kentucky, Daniel Boone was asked if he had ever been lost.  "Well", he said, "I wasn't lost, but I was a mite bewildered for 3 days."

I know just how he felt. 

George

I don't know exactly what phasing is but I now understand that it's important. Glad you got the bugs worked out and got to take a trip! That must have been an awesome feeling!

@BillYo414 posted:

I don't know exactly what phasing is but I now understand that it's important. Glad you got the bugs worked out and got to take a trip! That must have been an awesome feeling!

It is a great feeling, but it was a struggle to get there.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that "Model railroading is fun".  

Sometimes.

George

Having worked in various capacities in electronics for 43 years, I try to keep the electronics fairly simple at home.  I always hated troubleshooting.  It is great when it works, but can be bewildering as old Dan'l pointed out.  I'm glad you are on the right track now, George!!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Having worked in various capacities in electronics for 43 years, I try to keep the electronics fairly simple at home.  I always hated troubleshooting.  It is great when it works, but can be bewildering as old Dan'l pointed out.  I'm glad you are on the right track now, George!!

Always, always, always better to avoid a problem rather than have to correct it.  This problem was of my own doing, which bugs me a bit.  A friend and person I once hired described herself as "a recovering perfectionist".  That describes me as well, except for the recovering part. 

George

"a recovering perfectionist"  That describes me to a certain extent.  When I was a technician, if I worked overtime to fix a problem I created in the first place, I would not charge overtime.  In engineering there was no overtime pay.  I learned to try to stop kicking myself when I caused the problem or couldn't come up with a resolution on my own.  You have chosen a very ambitious project.  Do not be hard on yourself.  These things will happen to the best of us.

@G3750 posted:

Just for fun!

Yesterday, I did some planning and arranging of components on a board (still on-going), but I also played around with the Decapods.  Have a peek.

George

When this is done it will be an awesome scene!  Nice work!

Thank you, Marty!

Updated 1/13/2021 (AM):

After some thought, here's my direction this morning:

1. I'm going to further delay re-introducing any Legacy PowerMasters (except Power District #1 - kid's conventional or command loop) into the electrical mix.
2. I toyed briefly with the idea of replacing fuses with the PSX-AC smart breakers, but for now I will apply the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) to myself.  These remain a potential upgrade option.  If they are needed, only the mainline - Power Districts 2, 3, 4, and 5 - will get them.  Yard derailments are unlikely and still protected by fuses.
3. I also considered installing On/Off toggle switches for each of the engine storage sidings in the Staging Area.  That's too much work (track feeders have already been installed and connected to buses) and I can turn off power to the entire power district by flipping off a PowerHouse 180.  Simple is best.  Again, if that becomes a burning issue...

That's where we are.

More when (if) I know it. 

George

Having a whole district to be shut down is a good idea that saves some work. I used light switches as a kid to shut down blocks of track and I assume I would do something similar but I did the idea of just have sections be turned off.

@BillYo414 posted:

Having a whole district to be shut down is a good idea that saves some work. I used light switches as a kid to shut down blocks of track and I assume I would do something similar but I did the idea of just have sections be turned off.

It is a good idea.

Yeah, should be simple but it hasn't worked out that way.  Simplest way would be toggle switches, but I've already wired it.  I'm knee-deep into making the changes on the distribution panel.

I'm also starting the wiring of the Eastern (No. 3) Switch Bus with toggle switches for groups of switch machines.  This will aid debugging when a DZ-2500 switch machine gets its brains scrambled.  I will only have to debug a group of 3 or 4 rather than a string of 9 or 13 or 20.

George

@G3750 posted:

...  This will aid debugging when a DZ-2500 switch machine gets its brains scrambled.  I will only have to debug a group of 3 or 4 rather than a string of 9 or 13 or 20.

George

I wish the machines we maintain at work were designed with this mind set haha