What did you do on your layout today?

mike g. posted:

Someday I hope Lee.

I'm sure you will, Mike. You just gotta keep plugging along. Show some of that Marine spirit!

Had to work on some house projects. Would of had them done today but I kept checking on my orders. Bad move on my part. Made time stand still. Maybe tomorrow some layout time....Paul

Started planting some test weeds and such. Mike Cougil is a major inspiration for the look I am going for. If you have not read Mike's blog,I encourage you to. It's all P 48 modeling but a very knowledgeable man. With a unique modeling philosophy that is inspiring 

I opened my new Atlas O Rio Grande ABBA, only to discover a loose coupler with no screw.  The engines are beautiful. One F7B unit can pull 15 Atlas O Amtrak passenger cars.

I am having difficulty in TrainLink version 1.6 because the red reversing marker lights on the nose of the F7A don't light in TrainLink.  They light when the engine is by itself moving in reverse and ID #2. Tried to reach Atlas O service, but there one repairman is out until Monday.

And another....

Installed the first few street lights. Grabbed a couple of my son's Hummer's for the pictures

Now that the wiring and terminal boards for the layout lighting are done the rest is easy...

Failed to plan ahead and ran out of glue 1/2 way through the roadbed project for the day.

Off to the hardware store for another quart of Titebond today.

p51 posted:

Do you ever have one of those moments when you feel like you just can't believe you have a layout?

Had a moment like that last night. I walked into the 'toy room' like I do almost every evening (sometimes, just to walk in, glance around and leave). I'd bought some small trees made by Grand Central Scenics at a show recently, and I placed several of them (I still have two boxes unopened right now) where they seemed to look right.

I grabbed a bright boy and cleaned off some rails that were getting little oxidized. I have to be careful at the turnouts as I never got the connecting wires for the blue points cut to the exact length and a few stick up just over the level of the tops of the rails. I really need to fix that as someone swiping down the tracks and going over one, it could probably snap the throw bar in half.

Then, I clicked on the DCC and ran a passenger run to the opposite end of the layout, turned the train and returned to set it up as I'd found it. My layout concept is largely self-resetting in op sessions, so I could have an op session any time I wanted with very little setup needed.

My layout is only about 2 1/2 years old and the scenery very recently got to a place where I now consider it, "largely completed."

Every time I walk in there and look at the layout, I still can't believe it's there. I'd been planning this for most of my adult life and put a great deal of time and effort into the build as I did over 90% of it totally alone. Goodness knows it's far from perfect and I'd do many things different if I had to do it over, but I just stood there and felt like a lifetime of yearning for the layout I'd always wanted was finally fulfilled.

I guess some of you have those moments, too?

Sometimes I stand looking at all of it and am just amazed we have done so much thus far, and almost intimidated by how much work is left to do to arrive at the station on time.  "The Plan" has taken some major whacks lately.

Kerrigan posted:

Sometimes I stand looking at all of it and am just amazed we have done so much thus far, and almost intimidated by how much work is left to do to arrive at the station on time. 

That must be common. When I got started, knowing even for a small layout how much work was ahead of me (and that I was going alone on 95% of it), it almost freaked me out. I do not like long-term projects and I hate leaving stuff undone. So, seeing the layout for several months in bare plywood, then in various stage of "I'm not ready to show this to anyone" really put me on edge. I guess that's why I did a little bit almost every single day and some people who've seen my layout have said they couldn't believe one person with a full-time job and plenty of other side projects was able to get all that done in less than 2 1/2 years.

I am putting a ship in a bottle...Well, almost.. While l knew it would be trouble, l sealed up, floor, sides, and roof of this bashed Walthers combine kit before painting and INSTALLING window "glass".  Since this is a steam coach and one end carries a turning power truck, the body needed to be sturdy while the bugs, many, were worked out of the mount.  Much trial and more error. However, tweezers, a bright light, dabs of glue on an EXACTO tip, and patience have completed one side. Glass is put through windows in car and poked around till windows are covered, then enough glue applied to hold and dry before more thorough gluing.

The dispatcher's corner is really starting to take shape. I started my day by running to Menards to pick up the counter tops. Got them home and into the basement without incident. They're standing in a quiet spot out of the way. I hope to get them up this weekend.

My wife helped me hang the two big screens.

The one on the right is acting as my computer monitor right now. That's the ATCS monitor, but my version is out of date, and I have to fix it. What you are seeing is very similar to what my layout is representing. My panel will be done using JMRI. Very soon there will be a second computer sharing this TV.That will be the one running the layout.

I don't need my cheaters to read this screen! Now I can bring my photos down to this computer on a memory stick, and use them to refer to when working on the scenery.

The monitor on the left will display all the security cameras. Once I move the hidden yard controls, both yards can be operated from the desk.

Finally, I put all 16 cameras on the big hub.

1. big hidden yard stopping zone 1
2. zone 2
3. zone 3
4. zone 4
5. zone 5
6. yard ladder
7. yard throat
8. big helix
9. south wall looking up behind the backdrop
10. east wall looking north which has yet to be closed in
11. east wall looking south which has yet to be closed in
12. yard under the bluff looking east
13. yard under the bluff looking west
14. small helix
15. small hidden yard entrance ladder
16. small hidden yard exit ladder

The plot thickens!

Wow Elliot, that's just great looking! Who is going to be watching the trains when your watching the TV's? My brain just burns when looking at your layout on the big screen! LOL Watching your work is wonderful and I always want to see more. But on the other hand I am glad I will only have 2 main loops a small yard and a loop for an oil field area.

Elliot, you have built a layout that many of us can only dream of. It is really coming together. Great job so far .........Paul

Thanks Mike, once I am able to have operating sessions, there will be two people sitting at the desk watching the monitors. The one on the right will have control of all the mainline turnouts, and route trains. The second person, on the left, will be in charge of moving trains in both hidden yards, and updating train positions. Eventually, I hope to get rid of the second position, and have the computer take care of those tasks.

Then there will be another 8 to 10 people running trains on the visible portion.

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Thanks Mike, once I am able to have operating sessions, there will be two people sitting at the desk watching the monitors. The one on the right will have control of all the mainline turnouts, and route trains. The second person, on the left, will be in charge of moving trains in both hidden yards, and updating train positions. Eventually, I hope to get rid of the second position, and have the computer take care of those tasks.

Then there will be another 8 to 10 people running trains on the visible portion.

Elliot, one question. Do you have an emergency stop button to kill all power if needed?

Last night I ducked under the train table to go through boxes of train stuff I don't need.  Taking some of it tomorrow to be sold at the Great Scale Train Show in Timonium, Maryland.  

Of course I had trains running while I was doing all this   Its always nice to hear then running even if I'm not seeing them running.

paul 2 posted:

Elliot, you have built a layout that many of us can only dream of. It is really coming together. Great job so far .........Paul

 

Thank you Paul, if it hadn't been for enterTRAINment, I don't think I would have ever tried this project. A big part of what is going on here is recycling of materials from that layout 25 years ago. Yes, a lot of new materials have been added. Big TV's like these weren't even around back then. Again, I'm taking older technology (C/MRI) and adding newer technology (JMRI), and blending it all together to create something rather different. There are some complicated aspects to all this, but once I master each part, it comes down to repetition to deal with the quantity.

I hope what I'm doing inspires more people here to try some of these things, albeit on a smaller scale.

mike g. posted:

Elliot, one question. Do you have an emergency stop button to kill all power if needed?

There are two light switches at the entrance to the layout. One is for track power, and the other is for everything else. I'll be continuing to add devices to the second switch. Track power is a done deal.

RSJB18 posted:

Installed the first few street lights. Grabbed a couple of my son's Hummer's for the pictures

Now that the wiring and terminal boards for the layout lighting are done the rest is easy...

The streetlights need, well, decoration... 

Mitch

mike g. posted:

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Thanks Mike, once I am able to have operating sessions, there will be two people sitting at the desk watching the monitors. The one on the right will have control of all the mainline turnouts, and route trains. The second person, on the left, will be in charge of moving trains in both hidden yards, and updating train positions. Eventually, I hope to get rid of the second position, and have the computer take care of those tasks.

Then there will be another 8 to 10 people running trains on the visible portion.

Elliot, one question. Do you have an emergency stop button to kill all power if needed?

I may have found an easy solution for part of this at Lowe's today.. It's called: Revolve.. It is a rotating Outlets Surge Proctor.. Not sure how to post a link to it, but easy enough to look up on the Lowe's website.. Rated at 15 amps, Spike current 36,000 amps, response time <1 Nanosecond, clamping voltage,1200v, EMI/RFI Noise Filter: 150kHz - 100MHzup to 40Db..

Not much on the layout but did get the Lionel ALCO 200 series A-A set wired and running. A nice puller but need to decide on a paint job for them???? Any Ideas?  Want them to pull RMT NS passenger cars that have the same paint of older NW cars.

Been reading quite few posts here but lots to do on the layout.

P51: I think I have had some moments like yours about getting my layout fairly complete.  Even though I see scenic things that are never going to be as polished on my layout as the true artistic folks have done, I am so fortunate to have what I have.  

Today I made more progress to copy a simple card type schedule system to operate.  It is challenging to modify it for my layout. I also completed my order for an ERR command upgrade that I plan to install in a steam switcher.

Was still working on the last of the house projects but I managed to fire off a question on the forum and got some good replies. So I took the time to get in an order to Gar Graves for some pre formed 0-32 curves along with some track pins and I found they still make transition pins to go from Gar Graves to 0 gauge tubular which I wanted to use on the fast track on the die cast bridge. I guess all and all it was a good day. Looking forward to the Medina Ohio show on Sunday and hope to find something good there along with waiting for the track so I can start working on the power plant area..............Paul

paul 2 posted:

Was still working on the last of the house projects but I managed to fire off a question on the forum and got some good replies. So I took the time to get in an order to Gar Graves for some pre formed 0-32 curves along with some track pins and I found they still make transition pins to go from Gar Graves to 0 gauge tubular which I wanted to use on the fast track on the die cast bridge. I guess all and all it was a good day. Looking forward to the Medina Ohio show on Sunday and hope to find something good there along with waiting for the track so I can start working on the power plant area..............Paul

Paul, can you share the info for the Medina show?

Thaddeus, the Medina Ohio show happens about four times through the year. It is not a total train show there are also toys and models there too. I usually go because you never know what will be there. There are a few layouts running. Here is some basic info and a web site that lists just about all the train shows through out the year......Paul

Cleveshows

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Installed the first few street lights. Grabbed a couple of my son's Hummer's for the pictures

Now that the wiring and terminal boards for the layout lighting are done the rest is easy...

The streetlights need, well, decoration... 

Mitch

LOL

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

mike g. posted:

Elliot, one question. Do you have an emergency stop button to kill all power if needed?

There are two light switches at the entrance to the layout. One is for track power, and the other is for everything else. I'll be continuing to add devices to the second switch. Track power is a done deal.

Elliot- you may want to put covers over those switches. Some unsuspecting visitor could accidentally hit them and bring the entire operation to a screeching halt. Love the progress so far. You are not only building the layout of your dreams but ours too.

Bob

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

The dispatcher's corner is really starting to take shape. I started my day by running to Menards to pick up the counter tops. Got them home and into the basement without incident. They're standing in a quiet spot out of the way. I hope to get them up this weekend.

My wife helped me hang the two big screens.

The one on the right is acting as my computer monitor right now. That's the ATCS monitor, but my version is out of date, and I have to fix it. What you are seeing is very similar to what my layout is representing. My panel will be done using JMRI. Very soon there will be a second computer sharing this TV.That will be the one running the layout.

I don't need my cheaters to read this screen! Now I can bring my photos down to this computer on a memory stick, and use them to refer to when working on the scenery.

The monitor on the left will display all the security cameras. Once I move the hidden yard controls, both yards can be operated from the desk.

Finally, I put all 16 cameras on the big hub.

1. big hidden yard stopping zone 1
2. zone 2
3. zone 3
4. zone 4
5. zone 5
6. yard ladder
7. yard throat
8. big helix
9. south wall looking up behind the backdrop
10. east wall looking north which has yet to be closed in
11. east wall looking south which has yet to be closed in
12. yard under the bluff looking east
13. yard under the bluff looking west
14. small helix
15. small hidden yard entrance ladder
16. small hidden yard exit ladder

 

The plot thickens!

All I can say is WOW!  I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FULL LENGTH MOVIE TOUR.  Very impressive.

RSJB18 posted:

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

mike g. posted:

Elliot, one question. Do you have an emergency stop button to kill all power if needed?

There are two light switches at the entrance to the layout. One is for track power, and the other is for everything else. I'll be continuing to add devices to the second switch. Track power is a done deal.

Elliot- you may want to put covers over those switches. Some unsuspecting visitor could accidentally hit them and bring the entire operation to a screeching halt. Love the progress so far. You are not only building the layout of your dreams but ours too.

Bob

Mission Control...We have a problem...

New revenue for the GNRW:

Some 'cost effective' builds.

You know this hobby is all about fun, and the humor we each try to show each other with our layouts, so, I like the Street Light with the beautiful model on display. WOW, thank you RSJB18!! You are Creative...

After cleaning some track I went to the train room. to tinkerstarted the trains up let it run around the track while I wired in more feeders. had to stop the train to make a track change I added 2 more little sidings and wired in 2 buildings one which didn't have lights so I had to add them . here is the progress.

A pleasant surprise today. Another Weaver TOFC landed on my doorstep. I knew it was coming but USPS said delivery on Monday. Had to take it out of the box and add it to the rest of them. But while in the attic I found some sheets of brick I can use as the foundation brick on some buildings that I hope to start on. A pic of the new addition............Paul 

JHAINER, your layout is coming along nicely. I enjoyed the video. Especially the way the train winds through all the areas. Keep up the good work.....................Paul

leapinlarry posted:

You know this hobby is all about fun, and the humor we each try to show each other with our layouts, so, I like the Street Light with the beautiful model on display. WOW, thank you RSJB18!! You are Creative...

leapinlarry- That was @M. Mitchell Marmel's lamp post. (Personally I would have expected a gi-raffe )

Thanks for the kind words though.

Bob

I put in a dead end isolation spur.  My ole Wabash Cannonball fits right in there with room to spare.    Wired it to transformer and it acted up.   Wired it to the other side of isolation cut and found out the switch was dirty.  A little working it and it was fine.   Ran my old conventional DT&I switchers and the Wabash today.  PE is on the fritz!!  

RSJB18 posted:

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

mike g. posted:

Elliot, one question. Do you have an emergency stop button to kill all power if needed?

There are two light switches at the entrance to the layout. One is for track power, and the other is for everything else. I'll be continuing to add devices to the second switch. Track power is a done deal.

Elliot- you may want to put covers over those switches. Some unsuspecting visitor could accidentally hit them and bring the entire operation to a screeching halt. Love the progress so far. You are not only building the layout of your dreams but ours too.

Bob

Thanks Bob. Nah, they're OK. People can't even find them when I tell them where they are. They aren't on the wall, they're on the layout leg, set fairly far back. You'd have to have a pretty bad accident to hit them.

started some scenery on one side. really don't like the joint compound/paper towel method. so it made me mad so I went out and put a 4 inch lift on my suburban instead. only got the rear done .  I put the stock wheels back on with the 35's I don't think it will be able to pull out of the garage to tall .

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

The dispatcher's corner is really starting to take shape. I started my day by running to Menards to pick up the counter tops. Got them home and into the basement without incident. They're standing in a quiet spot out of the way. I hope to get them up this weekend.

Elliot, I know its been said before but WOW! 

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

mike g. posted:

Elliot, one question. Do you have an emergency stop button to kill all power if needed?

There are two light switches at the entrance to the layout. One is for track power, and the other is for everything else. I'll be continuing to add devices to the second switch. Track power is a done deal.

Elliot- you may want to put covers over those switches. Some unsuspecting visitor could accidentally hit them and bring the entire operation to a screeching halt. Love the progress so far. You are not only building the layout of your dreams but ours too.

Bob

Thanks Bob. Nah, they're OK. People can't even find them when I tell them where they are. They aren't on the wall, they're on the layout leg, set fairly far back. You'd have to have a pretty bad accident to hit them.

I should have known, with all the planning you put into this layout, that you wouldn't have let something that obvious happen.