What did you do on your layout today?

p51 posted:

I put down some hay remnants in the cow pasture. It's a little detail that I knew was missing, I just had to find some material that would look correct for it.

I can smell the cow pies from here Lee!

Naturally, Shop Supervisor Norma Bates Kitteh was on hand to make sure the work was done properly.

Looks like Norma's sporting some new jewlery there Mitch. Gotta love flea and tick season.

Bob

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

mike g. posted:

Wow Elliot, you sure have got a lot done! Question what is the chicken wire under  your layout for?

Thanks Mike. The chicken wire is under almost all of the upper deck. It acts as a ground plane for TMCC. I wish I had used it on the main level when I first started construction. It seems to make a real difference. Still not exactly sure how and why it works, but my trains run better up there.

Hey Elliot- we had an issue with stray RF signal a while back when our water department installed "smart" meters that they can read via a wireless signal. My wife was concerned with the stray RF so we did some reading and found that aluminum window screen knocks it down to almost 0. I was sceptical but to make sure I bought an RF meter and tried it out. 

I was amazed at what a difference the screen made. I don't remember the exact numbers but if the meter was at 100 uf in free air, it went to almost 0 when I wrapped the screen around it. 

I suspect that the chicken wire has a similar effect on the signal for the trains and keeps the noise from below isolated.  

Bob

Exactly what is the screen connected to? I seem to have no signal problems, but am always looking for ways to improve operations.

modeltrainsparts posted:

Exactly what is the screen connected to? I seem to have no signal problems, but am always looking for ways to improve operations.

In my case I fastened the screen to the copper pipe with hose clamps. My guess is that as long as it's grounded to a good earth ground it will work.

Bob

I added labels to my throttles, which is something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. I also made labels showing west vs east bound on the layout during op sessions.

RSJB18 posted:

modeltrainsparts posted:

Exactly what is the screen connected to? I seem to have no signal problems, but am always looking for ways to improve operations.

In my case I fastened the screen to the copper pipe with hose clamps. My guess is that as long as it's grounded to a good earth ground it will work.

Bob

I would say if it ain't broke don't fix it. In my case the chicken wire is tied to the earth ground via the house electrical system. My layout lighting is done with metal conduit and metal junction boxes. The whole thing is grounded by code. The chicken wire is sandwiched between the plywood and the metal boxes.

I haven't done anything today, but yesterday, I planned out my roundhouse area, even though I don't have the turntable yet, so it may or may not work, not 100% sure yet. As well as figuring out exactly what I need for the backdrop, since I need to get that put in before I do any scenery work. Then figuring out how I am going to get the Masonite for my backdrop, since I don't own a truck.

Finished installing the lights on my shed. I painted the LEDs with a little silver paint to cut the glare a little. I tested them with a 9v battery, they will run at 6 volts on the layout so they shouldn't be too bright.

Bob

Great looking work there Bob! Thanks for sharing!

I agree with Mike, Bob!!   Thank you for the interior photograph also!  Your shed is better lit than mine in my backyard!  I have a flashlight sitting on a shelf!  LOL

Mark Boyce posted:

I agree with Mike, Bob!!   Thank you for the interior photograph also!  Your shed is better lit than mine in my backyard!  I have a flashlight sitting on a shelf!  LOL

Thanks Mike and Mark.

Funny you mentioned outdoor sheds Mark. I had run a wire out to mine years ago and then struggled with a flashlight until I finally got around to installing the lights and switches. And I'm a licensed electrician!

Thanks for the "like" Max.

Bob

Working on the lights 

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Progress continues on the uncoupler project as well as a number of other fronts.

The mess at Hiawatha is indicative of a variety of activities.

The Ford Plant module is mounted to the layout and the uncouplers are connected to it.

Same just down the line at the St Paul Ave yard.

The final step in the process is to drill the fascia and mount the carriage bolts that will be used to activate the magnets. To further that cause, I've done the final Spackle touch ups, in preparation for final painting.

I added a piece of Masonite where the Cleveland Avenue bridge will cross over the Ford Plant lead.

I've started to patch the screw and nail holes in the roads.

More rolling stock keeps hitting the rails. The Western Avenue yard is nearly full.

On the other side of the room, I finally finished cleaning the rails at Interstate, allowing me to move all the cars that had been parked over at 44th Ave.

With this yard emptied, I'm ready to paint and ballast this entire section.

Good morning Eliot,

I'm a little late commenting on this & I apologize if you already answered this.  In picture #1 above, what is the turkey baster being used for?  Thanks for the ongoing updates, always fun to see what happens on your full time job.

Working on cleaning some of the mess on the layout and with the grain elevator we ran beads of caulk where the pieces of PVC come together, and cut and am trying to glue the piece of wood for the top (I'm not convinced that the glue I used is going to hold).  Plan B is already being thought out.

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

decoynh posted:

Good morning Eliot,

I'm a little late commenting on this & I apologize if you already answered this.  In picture #1 above, what is the turkey baster being used for?  Thanks for the ongoing updates, always fun to see what happens on your full time job.

Matt, in the past, I've used the turkey baster for ballast glue, but I gave that up in favor of a simple squeeze bottle. Better control.

I currently use it to transfer rail paint from the gallon can (it's regular latex wall paint thinned for spraying) to my airbrush bottles. Works well too! When I get rolling, quick refills are a big help.

And no, I didn't steal it from my wife. Now you know.

 Off and on the last few years, I ran my Christmas layout with an old Radio Shack 12vdc contant voltage power suppy and a few diodes added to knock down voltage till my 1061 was happy. Later I added a toggle switch and second set of diodes taylored to run my hot rod flame job 0-4-0.

The four amp supply isnt all that strong, but can handle small engines well. The lack of voltage control kinda locked what is run, down to even fewer trains. I needed more variance.

 So Ive salvaged an old HO controller's project box, and emptied my storage box of toggle switches. One more dpdt at the top, horizontal, for a high low +/- 6v and I'll call it quits. That will give me direction (on dc locos only) plus low voltage at 3v, 4.5, 6, & 7.5 or high setting of, 7.5, 9 ,10.5v, & 12v. Kinda like the prewar transformers; but on a simple loop, fine control isnt really needed, +/- 1.5v at a time is good enough. Any switch on the right raises or lowers voltage by 1.5v; no special order of operation. Off is the direction switch (and a second "off" will come with Hi-lo]

RSJB18 posted:

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

GMTA  Bob,  I put some lights in my shack too. Yours is quite a bit nicer application I must say.  

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

GMTA  Bob,  I put some lights in my shack too. Yours is quite a bit nicer application I must say.  

 

Thanks Ted. I first thought about lighting the interior but decided to do the exterior instead. I still need to weather it. I didn't glue the roof down so I could always pop another LED inside. HMMMM.

Yours looks very nice next to the camp fire.

Bob

RSJB18 posted:

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

GMTA  Bob,  I put some lights in my shack too. Yours is quite a bit nicer application I must say.  

 

Thanks Ted. I first thought about lighting the interior but decided to do the exterior instead. I still need to weather it. I didn't glue the roof down so I could always pop another LED inside. HMMMM.

Yours looks very nice next to the camp fire.

Bob

Help me understand the resistor you used. The part number and, does it reduce voltage on the ac side or what, exactly.  May help me in a future application. Thx

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

GMTA  Bob,  I put some lights in my shack too. Yours is quite a bit nicer application I must say.  

 

Thanks Ted. I first thought about lighting the interior but decided to do the exterior instead. I still need to weather it. I didn't glue the roof down so I could always pop another LED inside. HMMMM.

Yours looks very nice next to the camp fire.

Bob

Help me understand the resistor you used. The part number and, does it reduce voltage on the ac side or what, exactly.  May help me in a future application. Thx

Ted- they are 1000 ohm, 1/2 watt resistors. The LEDS are powered by 9 VDC (not AC). I'm no electronics wiz, but I know that they work. I hooked a LED up and forgot to put the resistor in line and fried it instantly. I have some that I bought pre-made that have a small diode as well for AC applications.

I'm sure some of the experts can weigh in with more info.

Bob

Very nice shacks, Ted and Bob!!!!

Thank you for showing what you used, Bob!

RSJB18 posted:

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

Very nice!

RSJB18 posted:

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

GMTA  Bob,  I put some lights in my shack too. Yours is quite a bit nicer application I must say.  

 

Thanks Ted. I first thought about lighting the interior but decided to do the exterior instead. I still need to weather it. I didn't glue the roof down so I could always pop another LED inside. HMMMM.

Yours looks very nice next to the camp fire.

Bob

Help me understand the resistor you used. The part number and, does it reduce voltage on the ac side or what, exactly.  May help me in a future application. Thx

Ted- they are 1000 ohm, 1/2 watt resistors. The LEDS are powered by 9 VDC (not AC). I'm no electronics wiz, but I know that they work. I hooked a LED up and forgot to put the resistor in line and fried it instantly. I have some that I bought pre-made that have a small diode as well for AC applications.

I'm sure some of the experts can weigh in with more info.

Bob

So the difference is I use these led with the resistor installed, and you have just the led that you apply components to for proper current limits.  Is that right?

I have a question and I hope it is not out of line on this post. I'm getting ready to install my new control panel I'm looking for LED's to show red or green to track power.When I turn power on I need the track to show green with power on and red power with off. Can any body help me with what kind and how to wire them up

Thanks

Carl CEO EA&T RR

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

TedW posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Finished the shed and installed it on the layout. On to the next project.

Bob

GMTA  Bob,  I put some lights in my shack too. Yours is quite a bit nicer application I must say.  

 

Thanks Ted. I first thought about lighting the interior but decided to do the exterior instead. I still need to weather it. I didn't glue the roof down so I could always pop another LED inside. HMMMM.

Yours looks very nice next to the camp fire.

Bob

Help me understand the resistor you used. The part number and, does it reduce voltage on the ac side or what, exactly.  May help me in a future application. Thx

Ted- they are 1000 ohm, 1/2 watt resistors. The LEDS are powered by 9 VDC (not AC). I'm no electronics wiz, but I know that they work. I hooked a LED up and forgot to put the resistor in line and fried it instantly. I have some that I bought pre-made that have a small diode as well for AC applications.

I'm sure some of the experts can weigh in with more info.

Bob

So the difference is I use these led with the resistor installed, and you have just the led that you apply components to for proper current limits.  Is that right?

 

Yes- exactly right Ted.

Carl Machen posted:

I have a question and I hope it is not out of line on this post. I'm getting ready to install my new control panel I'm looking for LED's to show red or green to track power.When I turn power on I need the track to show green with power on and red power with off. Can any body help me with what kind and how to wire them up

Thanks

Carl CEO EA&T RR

Carl, in this topic, almost anything goes. However, you'll get more answers by starting your own topic, in this case over in the electrical forum.

We just had a kind of similar question come in its own topic the other day. I would use an SPDT relay that would activate with track power. You'll need one per segment of track that you want to monitor. Then use a 3 lead R/G LED. The LED's would be powered by a separate supply.

  Not all l.e.d. are exactly alike, it's voltage range and expected brightness would come into play too in choosing the resistance, as well as the supply output.

  Add a lot of resistance while at max supply output, then reducing the resistance slightly is the way to "dial in" unknowns. Cheap assortment packs of resistors are commonplace; variation ranges between values vary too.   A need for dialing random components in, then ordering accordingly is not unknown to good suppliers.

You know you'll get help, but this bit of side reading might help you too.

http://www.instructables.com/i...or-To-Use-With-LEDs/

Adriatic posted:

You know you'll get help, but this bit of side reading might help you too.

http://www.instructables.com/i...or-To-Use-With-LEDs/

Thx  I read the 3 steps, and think I can do the math.  

Last swim of the summer......

Adriatic posted:

  Not all l.e.d. are exactly alike, it's voltage range and expected brightness would come into play too in choosing the resistance, as well as the supply output.

  Add a lot of resistance while at max supply output, then reducing the resistance slightly is the way to "dial in" unknowns. Cheap assortment packs of resistors are commonplace; variation ranges between values vary too.   A need for dialing random components in, then ordering accordingly is not unknown to good suppliers.

A couple of things about LEDs.

1 KΩ 1/4 Watt resistor is a safe place to start if you're feeding in 9 to 16 Volts.

LEDs will run on AC as well as DC.  LEDs have an almost unlimited life and using AC power will reduce it; but they will still outlive you on AC if you treat them correctly.

Some people pair LEDs with a diode.  While there is a logical reason for doing it, I never have and I've never had one fail as a result.

Finally, if you want to customise the brightness of your LED, connect a resistance wheel into the circuit, set it to 1KΩ and then try variations up or down from there.  You will soon see the desired result.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/resistance-wheel/p/RR0700

Here, I'm not happy with the over-brightness of the green LEDs in my wheelhouse.  When I get some time, I plan to insert my resistance wheel and find a more pleasing value of resistor.

Cheers

I just finished an op session and it went great. The two guys who ran on the layout had never been here before and gave me some pretty good feedback on a couple of things that I think I'm going to use the next time people run trains here, and they seemed to really enjoy everything. You never know how people are going to take these things, so it's always nice when it works out well.

p51 posted:

I just finished an op session and it went great. The two guys who ran on the layout had never been here before and gave me some pretty good feedback on a couple of things that I think I'm going to use the next time people run trains here, and they seemed to really enjoy everything. You never know how people are going to take these things, so it's always nice when it works out well.

Learning the many ways to skin the cat is always the best part. At least you have time to run trains. 

MaxSouthOz posted:

Adriatic posted:

  Not all l.e.d. are exactly alike, it's voltage range and expected brightness would come into play too in choosing the resistance, as well as the supply output.

  Add a lot of resistance while at max supply output, then reducing the resistance slightly is the way to "dial in" unknowns. Cheap assortment packs of resistors are commonplace; variation ranges between values vary too.   A need for dialing random components in, then ordering accordingly is not unknown to good suppliers.

A couple of things about LEDs.

1 KΩ 1/4 Watt resistor is a safe place to start if you're feeding in 9 to 16 Volts.

LEDs will run on AC as well as DC.  LEDs have an almost unlimited life and using AC power will reduce it; but they will still outlive you on AC if you treat them correctly.

Some people pair LEDs with a diode.  While there is a logical reason for doing it, I never have and I've never had one fail as a result.

Finally, if you want to customise the brightness of your LED, connect a resistance wheel into the circuit, set it to 1KΩ and then try variations up or down from there.  You will soon see the desired result.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/resistance-wheel/p/RR0700

Here, I'm not happy with the over-brightness of the green LEDs in my wheelhouse.  When I get some time, I plan to insert my resistance wheel and find a more pleasing value of resistor.

Cheers

Valuable info Max and Adriatic.

Unfortunately the wheel is out of stock on line so now I've gotta fly 10,000 miles to get one 

Bob

Plus 1 from me Max,      You could help a brother(s) out n send me n Bob a couple of those wheels.    thx. Ted

Today I finished two projects: Holsters for my Cab2 and DCS remote; added lights to the Ice Depot and Gateman.

I couldn't find holsters for my cabs so I decided to cobble two together. 

I turn on my power using a remote key fob originally used on our christmas tree. I keep that on a hook attached to the holster.

I also decided to add lighting to my gateman and my Ice Depot. I activate the Gateman through an ASC2 so I was never sure it was on until a train passed by. Often I'm at opposite ends of the table so  to be sure it was powered up when I hit the ASC 2 I added a cool white LED.  It's pretty cool when the lights are turned down in the room...

In the Ice Depot I added cool white in the "ice business" of the building thinking it looked more industrial...in the small window I  put in a warm white LED more office like.   I also closed off the bottom of the building so the lights didn't light up the base of the Depot.  

Now, I have to get the sounds in my Backshop to work again...it's been a pain.

Nice holsters; i kept mine a little more simple.

suzukovich posted:

p51 posted:

I just finished an op session and it went great. The two guys who ran on the layout had never been here before and gave me some pretty good feedback on a couple of things that I think I'm going to use the next time people run trains here, and they seemed to really enjoy everything. You never know how people are going to take these things, so it's always nice when it works out well.

Learning the many ways to skin the cat is always the best part. At least you have time to run trains. 

I'm not one of these guys who has a layout and has everything engraved in stone. I've run on other layouts like that and it's a drag sometimes.

You can always learn from someone else when it comes to operation as a fresh set of eyes will always find something you didn't. This is why I put out the call to people who've never been to my place before.

As for the time, if I'd bought a Humvee like you just did, I probably wouldn't have had the time! My sympathy meter for you in that regard registers a 0.0 (even though I've taken my 1944 Willys MB Jeep to two car shows this month)...