What did you do on your layout today?

Peter the QR code is a great idea!

I really like how your platform has turned out and thanks for the description on how you built it!

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Although, it won’t look as good as yours.

Jay

I’m sure yours will be fine!
Peter

The "get busy" bug struck the other day, so off I went casting walls and columns. Laying in batting for paint and ground cover. Also rearranged a bunch of storage to take advantage of the "under layout" space.  The hill in the background was saved from the trashman during the Champaign move and found a new background home. Buildings are all temporary placement waiting for wiring and a final location.  The space to the right will become a wharf scene - due to limited space this may become more of a barge facility. Will try to work in a modest grain silo and oil storage area.

@ScoutingDad posted:

The "get busy" bug struck the other day, so off I went casting walls and columns. Laying in batting for paint and ground cover. Also rearranged a bunch of storage to take advantage of the "under layout" space.  The hill in the background was saved from the trashman during the Champaign move and found a new background home. Buildings are all temporary placement waiting for wiring and a final location.  The space to the right will become a wharf scene - due to limited space this may become more of a barge facility. Will try to work in a modest grain silo and oil storage area.

Looks good Jeff. The piers and wall panels came out nice too.

Bob

Starting a New layout this week this one will focused towards O27 and I’m going to try to keep it retro 50-60s  as much as I can with different road names and Engines.

@lee drennen posted:

Starting a New layout this week this one will be for focused towards O27 and I’m going to try to keep it retro 50-60s  as much as I can with different road names and Engines.

Looks like a fun project Lee. Lot's of Plasticville buildings out there to fill the center. Are you going to add operating accessories or just leave the loop with scenery?

Bob

@ScoutingDad posted:

The "get busy" bug struck the other day, so off I went casting walls and columns. Laying in batting for paint and ground cover. Also rearranged a bunch of storage to take advantage of the "under layout" space.  The hill in the background was saved from the trashman during the Champaign move and found a new background home. Buildings are all temporary placement waiting for wiring and a final location.  The space to the right will become a wharf scene - due to limited space this may become more of a barge facility. Will try to work in a modest grain silo and oil storage area.

Morning Jeff, things are really looking great! I like how things get saved from the trashman! LOL I do have 1 question, just wondering about the clearance of the inside track next to your portoal? I thought you had some larger steam engines with long front overhang?

@lee drennen posted:

Starting a New layout this week this one will be for focused towards O27 and I’m going to try to keep it retro 50-60s  as much as I can with different road names and Engines.

Looks good Lee, keeping it simple is sometimes the most fun! When and if we ever get moved when we get unpacked I will look as I am sure I have some stuff on my layout that would work on your new 027!

@lee drennen- I Love it!  HA! Looks like mine   Now all you need is an operating gate man and at least one Plasticville house!

Don

Finished up with my 022 switch signs. I manufactured 15 of these to replace the old hoods and incandescent bulbs. The layout is more user friendly and they look cool!!!

@Tim A#1 posted:

Finished up with my 022 switch signs. I manufactured 15 of these to replace the old hoods and incandescent bulbs. The layout is more user friendly and they look cool!!!

Those look cool. I assume the LED's change with switch position?

@Don McErlean posted:

@lee drennen- I Love it!  HA! Looks like mine   Now all you need is an operating gate man and at least one Plasticville house!

Don

Yes I plan on getting some kinda crossing gate later. I’m glad I kept the rest of my O27 rolling stock. 😂

Today I worked on a small siding on the O27 layout. When I get more track I’ll be expanding it.

@RSJB18 posted:

Looks like a fun project Lee. Lot's of Plasticville buildings out there to fill the center. Are you going to add operating accessories or just leave the loop with scenery?

Bob

Thanks Bob. I would like to add at least a couple old Lionel ones somewhere. I like the overhead crane one the best. I’m starting to look for some Plasticville stuff and old Lionel buildings. I have a few Lionel I’ll see what I can do. Thanks again for the complement.

@RSJB18 posted:

Those look cool. I assume the LED's change with switch position?

Yes they do. The yellow is constant as is the bulb inside the red pex post.

Took a work from home day as I recover from a bad head cold. I decided to tackle the upper level track and switch change that I've been planning.

Hey! It's still work!

I took out 3 Lionel switches and replaced them with 3 K-line that I've been scouring the internet for. They are getting harder to find.

While I had the upper level apart I serviced the two switches below which are hard to reach. They are working much better now.

Things were cruising along, I had the track reassembled, and I wanted to check the switches before I screwed everything down. Even after testing the switches on the bench, I discovered a short in one that took a little while to sort out.

First the bare wire looked like it may be touching one of the buss bars so I lifted it. The red wire next to it looked OK so I left it. Turned out that one was shorted too....... A piece of tape later all is good and I put the switch back together.

Put everything back together and ran an engine to test the track. Still need to finish wiring the switches and button up a few things. These K-line switches can be powered from the track or accessory power, I'm using accessory. Luckily I ran 4-conductor wire when I built the layout so I just need to pick up 14v off my accessory buss for them.

After this is done, I'm going to do something with the gaping hole between the main and siding.....

Bob

Very nice work Bob! I’m intrigued with the Morris park switcher.

If you are interested in Morris park, at this very moment there is a cool spotlight tower from arista on eBay that is a Long Island Morris park Jamaica piece. It’s not in my budget but the Morris park theme is something I don’t see often for sale in             o gauge.

RMT/Aristo

RMT/ARISTO 99532-11 Rotating Beacon Tower Long Island

Bob, these switches can be frustrating.  I had trouble with a Ross switch I jumpered.  🤦‍♂️ The ones they did have been fine.  It looks like it should be easy to follow from underneath.

I bought the thunder and lightning circuits from Evans Designs. The lightning has 2 individual circuits. Each one has 15 5MM bright white LEDS. Each of the lightning circuits fire randomly. The thunder does as well.

I installed everything in the floor joists above using cup hooks.

It creates a really fun effect on the layout. I turn off the room lights and building lights so that the lightning flashes illuminate the freight trains below. I could shoot a squirt gun over the layout to simulate rain like in Rocky Horror show but I thought better of it.

I tried making a video on my iPhone but it doesn't do it justice.

So I now have 4 times of day/night on my layout.

• Daylight - basement lights on
• Dusk - Basement lights off and white Xmas lights on
• Night - All room lights off and building lights on
• 3AM - All lights off and thunder storm rolling in

@ChiTown Steve posted:

I bought the thunder and lightning circuits from Evans Designs. The lightning has 2 individual circuits. Each one has 15 5MM bright white LEDS. Each of the lightning circuits fire randomly. The thunder does as well.

Interesting! I went to the Evan Designs website, but the only lightning sets I could find only had a single LED per circuit, nothing like the 15 you mention. Did I miss something? One is adequate for a small diorama, but far short for even a small layout IMHO.

@Steve Tyler posted:

Interesting! I went to the Evan Designs website, but the only lightning sets I could find only had a single LED per circuit, nothing like the 15 you mention.

I bought extras. You can go up to 20 per circuit as I remember. The amount of light you want to create depends on how far it needs to travel. In my case the ceiling is 5 feet above the layout.

Good evening everyone!
Just had a rough week at college but it is nice to be able to come here to decompress. Such a relief!

As stated in my last post, I was given a second Bar Mills kit and that hopefully I would be able to start it soon. Well, soon came quick!

The kit on subject is Bar Mills Crie Mercantile store. Since my layout is based on the Great Smoky Mountains region I realized a hardware store is required to really make the layout feel like it’s from that region. Thus, this kit has found a home.
It was a fun build and I was able to incorporate leftover details from my coffee shop build such as, news papers and roof shingles. The building now sits nicely on the corner of Main Street at the entrance of the industrial strip. I currently have some brick road strips loosely placed to fill in some gaps.

@ChiTown Steve posted:

I bought extras. You can go up to 20 per circuit as I remember. The amount of light you want to create depends on how far it needs to travel. In my case the ceiling is 5 feet above the layout.

Ah, I see. So, you can just add additional 5mm LEDs to the existing circuitry? Is that approved by Evan Designs, or just DIY tinkering with fingers crossed? 😜

@Steve Tyler posted:

Ah, I see. So, you can just add additional 5mm LEDs to the existing circuitry? Is that approved by Evan Designs, or just DIY tinkering with fingers crossed? 😜

I bought the 12 volt circuit and adapter. The way I read it you can add more lights that way. You can ask Evans Designs if you have questions.

@Tim A#1 posted:

Very nice work Bob! I’m intrigued with the Morris park switcher.

If you are interested in Morris park, at this very moment there is a cool spotlight tower from arista on eBay that is a Long Island Morris park Jamaica piece. It’s not in my budget but the Morris park theme is something I don’t see often for sale in             o gauge.

Thanks Tim. The project is on hold at the moment, too cold in NY to be spray painting anything. I did get the underside painted last Saturday when it warmed up for the day but I'll have to wait on the rest.
That tower looks cool but I don't have the room for it.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Bob, these switches can be frustrating.  I had trouble with a Ross switch I jumpered.  🤦‍♂️ The ones they did have been fine.  It looks like it should be easy to follow from underneath.

Yea- and K-line used screws on the rear cover too, not rivets like Lionel. Simple fix once I figured it out.

@ChiTown Steve posted:

I bought the thunder and lightning circuits from Evans Designs. The lightning has 2 individual circuits. Each one has 15 5MM bright white LEDS. Each of the lightning circuits fire randomly. The thunder does as well.

It creates a really fun effect on the layout. I turn off the room lights and building lights so that the lightning flashes illuminate the freight trains below. I could shoot a squirt gun over the layout to simulate rain like in Rocky Horror show but I thought better of it.

I'd like to propose a toast..........

@Trainmaster04 posted:

Good evening everyone!
Just had a rough week at college but it is nice to be able to come here to decompress. Such a relief!

Nice looking building Traimaster. Hang in there College will be over before you know it.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Thanks Tim. The project is on hold at the moment, too cold in NY to be spray painting anything.

Yea- and K-line used screws on the rear cover too, not rivets like Lionel. Simple fix once I figured it out.

Bob

Too cold here in Northwestern Pennsylvania too.  Snow predicted for tomorrow and warm back up next week.  Hopefully you won’t have to wait long to spray paint!

Screws for covers are good!  I don’t know why manufacturers use rivets, unless they hope you will throw it away and buy a new one.  Of course you can drill out rivets.

Ideas are beginning to coalesce around the dock feature and the warehouse feature on TPRR2.

I scrapped the idea of a center island and decided a dock feature is more to my liking. In this image I am trying to work out a quite steep incline/decline to the dock area.  Atlas track does not bend as easily as Ross or Gargraves so I need to have a longer run. The other future idea is to connect the spurs and then enter the mainline. Right now each spur runs into the main as shown.

This image is a longer view of the future dock area. Total length is 82 inches. Upper deck is 12 inches with the lower water level 9 inches or more as needed. Drop is 3 1/2 from main area and another 4 to the water line. I am trying to minimize the vertical distances between each side of the center area, Right now about 3 inches which is noticeable. I think I will raise the ground height on the warehouse side but keep the lower vertical height where the yard is located since that "cannot" be moved.

There should be enough room for a few grain silos and a small petroleum storage area. I would love to have separate spurs for each, but for now I think I will have to have them share trackage. I could limit upper and lower for each - thinking about it.  This whole section will be able to slid out in case I need to get to the wall area or do more detailed work on the town.

Wired the power to the new switches yesterday. Not without the usual bump in the road of course....

The extra wire in the 20/4 cable going to the right hand switch was broken somewhere. I decided to run a new 20/6 cable to the spot under the switch and pick up the power from there. I'm not sure what I may need for the scene I'm planning for the upper level but now I have spare wires ready to go.

Next step is to add a shut off switch for the new block I added on the main line from switch to switch. I will be able to park a train there now and move one off of the siding. Also need to source LED replacement lamps for the position indicators. Need to do some fine tuning of the rails and points too.

Bob

Very nice work everyone! I really enjoyed reading all about your projects as it keeps me motivated to stay up with the hobby and makes me jealous of everyone getting to work and run trains!

Bob good luck with the switches!

Jeff I am really intrigued in your new idea and can't wait to see how it pans out!

I hope you all have a great Sunday and find time to have fun with your trains and layouts!

Jeff, it see you have a good idea to be able to pull out the harbor to access the rest of that part of the layout.

Bob, plenty of spares is a good thing!

Finished up adding some figures and doing some detail painting on a couple Williams observation cars I’ve had for awhile.

One step forward 5 back.......

Testing trains through the new switches yesterday and found a few issues that will need to be fixed. The left hand switch off the main has a problem with the points moving over far enough to grab the flange and turn the wheels. I think I can add a small piece of brass to the end of the point to give the wheels something to ride on.
Then for some reason, I now have a clearance issue with anything bigger than a short switcher. The grab bars on the end of the engines are hitting the wall under the window. I need to rotate the switch and see if I can get the clearance back. I could  remove the trim piece, but the CEO won't care for that. The K-line switches are slightly different from the Lionel's, not sure where, but the angles and curves must be a little different. The straight section is exactly the same length as the Lionel.

Bob

Bob, that’s a bummer!  The slightest difference would do it in tight quarters.  You don’t have much choice keeping things tight on a small layout. 😢

Hi Bob,, even looking at.the photo you can see the curve section is pushing the straight track out of alignment with the rest of the track. Maybe you could trim down the curved section. Just a thought.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Bob, that’s a bummer!  The slightest difference would do it in tight quarters.  You don’t have much choice keeping things tight on a small layout. 😢

@mike g. posted:

Hi Bob,, even looking at.the photo you can see the curve section is pushing the straight track out of alignment with the rest of the track. Maybe you could trim down the curved section. Just a thought.

Yes- tight quarters for sure. I didn't realize how far off the switch was until I looked at that photo again today. I'll play with both of them and see what space I can gain back. I did have this issue with the Lionel switches but not to this extent.

Thanks guys.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

One step forward 5 back.......

I could  remove the trim piece, but the CEO won't care for that.

Your just not selling it correctly.  Now if you said i am thinking of cutting a hole in the wall and routing the train outside...or...i could JUST remove the trim piece.  Now she'll figure your just that much of a train nut you might actually cut the wall so removing the trim piece is the safest option and walla! She'll agree!!

Working on a couple of projects right now. Usually this helps me not to burn out on one longer project. The first is working on some wing walls for an overpass. The walls are made from foam and the goal is to distress them and also expose some rebar. Secondly, I am working on a small factory that will act as a "cover up" to the hole created in the wall for the track to go through. I am using Design Preservation Models wall sections for the project.

Dave

Looks good Dave! But I do have to say they both look like big projects! Good luck and I can't wait to see what you come up with!

     With the new windows installed in the train room & elsewhere, I now have a clear path to construct more benchwork.  But I wasn’t happy with a slight elevation change on an 054 curve on the lower level…my “test mule” DL&W Northern had a little hitch there.  Redid the track & went to try it & now my test mule had a short !😕.   Time-out to check everything over & lo & behold a staple fragment stuck to a magne traction wheel made contact with the center roller arm when placed on track.  All better now 😁.  As @RSJB18 says “it’s a marathon-not a sprint”.

Rich -in the train room