What did you do on your layout today?

Life has kept me pretty busy lately, but I was able to test out my high-side mosfet driver circuit for controlling my switches and accessories via an arduino. Then I let the magic smoke out, so it's back to the drawing board for a few days this week before we take a little vacation out to New Mexico

Lots of great work by everyone.  My subway line opens up on the backside of the layout so it is no longer underground. I was planning on really not having this be seen (thus using old tubular track) However,  I have a few inches between track and bench work holding up main part of the layout.  Wanted to add some grungy storefronts in this area so using Google images and photo shop was able to make 14 feet of unique storefronts.  Have to still finish sidewalks and ballasting track in this area.

Sorry I haven't been around much the last couple weeks. Been a little busy with non train stuff, so not much to say on this topic.

Went to the doctor again last Friday, and had more x-rays. They looked good at a glance. But while I was at dialysis, my wife got a call. The radiologist saw a small break. I'm not sure on which of the three sets he saw it, but if it was the original set, those are a month old already. Whatever, I'm feeling better and moving better, and that's what counts.

I did go downstairs on Tuesday and Thursday last week and did some light work, then Patrick came over Saturday.

Tuesday I mostly sat at the desk and entered new cars into my inventory / car card system. I went through all the packing slips and entered the prices, then put them in the file.  

On Thursday, I worked on this little track diagram and drilled the holes for the carriage bolts which will connect to the touch sensor board to control the uncoupler magnets.

I also numbered the switch controls.

On Saturday, Patrick installed latches to hold the step platforms in the up position.

He also finished the skirting in aisle four.

Then he finished this little corner of aisle three.

Then he finished this little section right as you enter the train room. There are just a couple small areas left to get the skirting done. Should wrap that up this Saturday when Patrick comes back.

I entered more cars into inventory, but later turned to making these wire leads for the uncouplers. 

The capacitive touch sensor circuit is so sensitive, that if it isn't transmitted through a shielded coax cable, it is subject to interference from neighboring lines. The ring end connects to the bolt in the fascia. The spade end goes to the terminal block on the board, and the butt end will get another small wire to ground the shield. Credit to Gunrunnerjohn for being the brains on this one. I'm good at following directions.

        Elliot,  glad you are  " feeling better and moving better",  that's GOOD !

                          layout and all the skirting is looking great !

Thanks Brian, it's all starting to come together. I'm not sure which is more exciting, the skirts or starting to get the uncouplers hooked up. The uncouplers get me closer to hosting operating sessions, which has always been a goal.

 Elliot, what do you think of maybe adding removable scenery to this corner someday...

               do not want you to run out of any projects on the layout soon...

   rendering by IZZY...

Paul, That building is looking great!!!

Brian, so it is NH today!!  Great!

Bryan, nice work!

Elliot, more cars for a great Railroad!

Patrick, that’s nice looking work on the latches and skirting for Elliot

Brian - Interesting concept with the trestle. I had thought of a little scenery for down there, but not that. For now it will just get a lower skirt to cover the wood. That track is part of the reverse loop for the small hidden yard, so not a lot of traffic. I'll just keep thinking about it, but it does look pretty cool that way. Right now the scene at the entry is more important, and I have to make a curved version of a specific bridge that is straight in real life. 

Mark - The railroad isn't full yet, but I can see the end. This morning I ordered 600 more car cards from Micro Mark. That should be the last batch forever, and leave me with some spares.

Looking good Elliot.

If I dropped a pile of orange boxes like this on my basement floor I'd be using them to build a house to live in

The looks I get from the CEO now when one or two come into the house is bad enough.

Bob

briansilvermustang posted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice photos Brian. The first one looks like what you'd get if the New Haven and Norfolk Southern had a baby!

Bob

Mike g, I got the building to sit beside the Menards Power Plant as its corporate headquarters.

Brian, those are the tank cars I wish Menards would make

Bryan, nice job so far on your building fronts although you seem to be veering away from working on your elevated line LOL.

This afternoon I went down to check on the building and found I had to reglue a couple of places. Once they dry I should be able to glue the roof on. Pic..............Paul 2

Bryan, nice job so far on your building fronts although you seem to be veering away from working on your elevated line LOL.

 

No, actually I have to get this done because I wont have access to it because the beams that will hold up the elevated line will be blocking it.  Don't worry this time next week I plan on having the wood cut for that line.

Thanks Bob. Fortunately, my wife doesn't give me a hard time about the trains themselves. What she doesn't like is the brown cardboard outer boxes that they come in, and the peanuts. I do take a lot of the boxes downstairs to keep groups of car boxes together, but a few of them do get recycled. The thing is, compared to all the Amazon boxes, the train boxes are a drop in the bucket, not necessarily by value, but by quantity. I didn't mean to tease you with that picture, but you may be able to use it to your advantage, with the line "It could be worse, look at this guy's pile of trains!" Followed by, "Consider yourself lucky, I'm not that bad."

Elliot, Yes indeed your photograph could be used in a "It could be worse" statement!  My guess is that it won't impress Mrs. Bob!    I will have to pass on it myself.  My wife just took retirement, and I signed up for Social Security a couple of months ago.  I hope to call it quits on this terrible part-time job soon and go into full-retirement mode!  I'll Just tune in to OGR Forum for my fix of watching long, modern trains while I plug away on my little steam-diesel transition mountain layout!    

Mark, unfortunately the forum doesn't have a shrugging smiley. This one is kind of appropriate though. I've been retired for years. Now I'm just tired.

Elliot, I like it!!!  

More work on the pond last night. Water lilies courtesy of my 11 year old daughter. Lol. 

Kevin, I think these are moments she'll always remember, and cherish, years from now! "Hey Dad remember when I helped you make the lily pond on the layout in the Attic? " Fun times for sure!

Rusty

CoastsideKevin posted:

More work on the pond last night. Water lilies courtesy of my 11 year old daughter. Lol. 

Kevin- I've climbed through many attics over my years as an electrical contractor. I never ran across one as cool as yours...usually just tons of crap and the occasional squirrel

Did see a few excellent basement layouts though.

You're doing a great job.

Bob

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Thanks Bob. Fortunately, my wife doesn't give me a hard time about the trains themselves. What she doesn't like is the brown cardboard outer boxes that they come in, and the peanuts. I do take a lot of the boxes downstairs to keep groups of car boxes together, but a few of them do get recycled. The thing is, compared to all the Amazon boxes, the train boxes are a drop in the bucket, not necessarily by value, but by quantity. I didn't mean to tease you with that picture, but you may be able to use it to your advantage, with the line "It could be worse, look at this guy's pile of trains!" Followed by, "Consider yourself lucky, I'm not that bad."

True but I probably wouldn't get the last words out before something came flying in my general direction.

Considering my layout is only 4 X 8 I probably have as many trains per square inch (well maybe), as you do on your monster layout.....

Great use of the attic.  We had one in our house before I was born, but when dad found out about me, he had to work fast.  So our attic area became an upstairs.  Still had the attic area around it he didn't get to use, or maybe didn't on purpose, but it was just squirrel nest and storage for stuff we didn't want to get rid of. 

I think I have mentioned my layout, since this does follow the lines of "good use for a dead space", resides in an abandoned water cistern that we thankfully connected to the house rather than just piped water in from a separate tank.  Got the idea when dad built our new house in 1977.  He turned the garage floor into a cistern top, or visa versa, the cistern top became the basis for a garage floor.  The rest was a concrete wall basement where the cistern wall on one side separated itself from the pump room on the opposite side.  A pvc pipe with a foot valve led up the cistern side of the wall, through a piped hole in the wall to a pipe running down to an electric water pump.  And yes the pump room became the storage place for all of the Christmas ornaments and the tree used once a year.

The opposite side of my cistern wall had a pump room built under the stairs leading to the basement.  But thankfully it extended on past the stairs to the laundry area.  When we got "city water" from Frankfort, we just let the cistern sit.  At some point it developed a small leak because the tiny amount of water left in it was gone when I chose to look inside one boring day.  Thanks to that I didn't need to pay to have it pumped out.  Took quite awhile to sweep out all the shingle dust that collected over the years, but I persevered and on March 26 2018 two guys showed up with a massive saw blade and a remotely operated hydraulic motor and cut me the most perfect rough opening you could ask for.  So for anyone following this thread who may be looking for another, larger, more spacious way to run your trains, well, here's one if you have it.

RSJB18 posted:

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Thanks Bob. Fortunately, my wife doesn't give me a hard time about the trains themselves. What she doesn't like is the brown cardboard outer boxes that they come in, and the peanuts. I do take a lot of the boxes downstairs to keep groups of car boxes together, but a few of them do get recycled. The thing is, compared to all the Amazon boxes, the train boxes are a drop in the bucket, not necessarily by value, but by quantity. I didn't mean to tease you with that picture, but you may be able to use it to your advantage, with the line "It could be worse, look at this guy's pile of trains!" Followed by, "Consider yourself lucky, I'm not that bad."

True but I probably wouldn't get the last words out before something came flying in my general direction.

Considering my layout is only 4 X 8 I probably have as many trains per square inch (well maybe), as you do on your monster layout.....

Well Bob, there's your problem. Your layout is only 4 x 8. That pile of boxes is almost 4 x 8. My layout "eats" that pile of trains and doesn't even burp.

RSJB18 posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

More work on the pond last night. Water lilies courtesy of my 11 year old daughter. Lol. 

Kevin- I've climbed through many attics over my years as an electrical contractor. I never ran across one as cool as yours...usually just tons of crap and the occasional squirrel

Did see a few excellent basement layouts though.

You're doing a great job.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. Little by little....

GREAT JOB EVRYONE!

Sorry about the short comment, but I have been up most of the night and its time for me to rest!

I just got my drive motor up and mounted for my crane car! Didn't work how I thought it would so back to the drawing board. It was suggested that I use fine thread all thread, might make a difference! We will see, I am also throwing around the idea of a drive belt. I will let you know what one I come up with. There wont be any work for the next few day due to doc appointments. Maybe by Thursday I can get something done!

Everyone Have a great Tuesday and remember have FUN!

                           get rested up Mike,  and good luck with your crane !

                        a little green & orange for ya'...             have a good day !

Mark, good to see that full retirement is on the horizon for you.

Kevin, like the pond. The water lilies were a great idea from your daughter.

Elliot, one step closer to switching operations.

Mike g, get some rest. Sorry the drive system didn't work. A smaller thread might be a better solution. Also the motor you are using??? Can you adjust the speed of it. Maybe a variable speed motor would work better.....

Mike you wondered where I was going to place the building. Last night I had to reglue a few areas. This morning I glued the roof on. I had to add a clamp because the front and back walls were a little bowed . So I placed the building roughly where it will be. It will also act to hide the track coming out the back of the power plant. Eventually I will be pushing full hoppers in the front so they will be hid coming out the back. Pics.............Paul 2

Test driving my new-to-me B&O GP35. I bought this off of the popular auction site and the thing survived its journey to me despite the sad attempt or lack of attempt at proper packaging by the  seller.  They stuck a sticker on the purple box and shipped it that way. The purple box was never meant to be a shipping carton! The locomotive was not secured inside the styrofoam and free to flop around and beat itself to death. Handrails front, rear and sides were crushed/bent and at least one small piece was broken off. I was able to straighten out the railings and fix the broken piece. After all the dust from the drama has settled, it is a really nice loco.

CoastsideKevin posted:

RSJB18 posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

More work on the pond last night. Water lilies courtesy of my 11 year old daughter. Lol. 

Kevin- I've climbed through many attics over my years as an electrical contractor. I never ran across one as cool as yours...usually just tons of crap and the occasional squirrel

Did see a few excellent basement layouts though.

You're doing a great job.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. Little by little....

Kevin, the pond looks terrific!  Your daughter's help is a great addition!

Mark Boyce posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

RSJB18 posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

More work on the pond last night. Water lilies courtesy of my 11 year old daughter. Lol. 

Kevin- I've climbed through many attics over my years as an electrical contractor. I never ran across one as cool as yours...usually just tons of crap and the occasional squirrel

Did see a few excellent basement layouts though.

You're doing a great job.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. Little by little....

Kevin, the pond looks terrific!  Your daughter's help is a great addition!

Thanks, Mark. The bonding time with the kids is truly priceless.

Mike, Here is looking forward to Thursday!!  

Paul, Thank you for the well wishes on the hopefully soon retirement.  I'm doing so badly that they may just decide for me.    The office next to the power station looks great!  My experience has been that power stations in the North have a covered walkway between the office and the station.  At Possum Point, Virginia, a brick building was butted up next to the metal building so there were two walkways one over the other.   At Mt. Storm, West Virginia, the instrumentation shop I worked out of was actually attached to the one story walkway like an afterthought.   That would tie it all together.  Just an idea.

Ralph, that is a great looking engine now!! 

Back to work on those pesky uncouplers. Today I ripped out the Red Wing panel. I thought I had it done a couple years ago, only to find out that the plain wire that I used wasn't going to work with the capacitive touch sensors, because when I touched one, they all went off randomly. Fail.

As I said in my earlier post, GRJ suggested the use of shielded coax cable to transmit the signal from the bolt head to the terminal block. So I spent a good chunk of the afternoon making up the ten cables.

I started by removing the fiberboard and enlarging the hole for the larger coax cables with a hole saw.

It looks like a mess of black licorice, but it is actually quite organized with each lead being color coded, using electrical tape.

Washer, ring lug, washer, lock washer, nut sandwich x 10.

Here it is sitting nice and flush in its proper position. It still has to be hooked back up to the terminal block. Then I'll be able to test the system, and finish the rest.

I also worked on making components for more of these units. Big job.

Elliot, Sounds like a great improvement!  They are sensitive needing John’s Shielded wire suggestion.  The panel looks nice.

Well... I worked on an unfinished basement closet adjacent to my layout.  My goal is to make it so that it can be a drive in train closet and a future yard for storage and building the consist.  Can even add a few accessories or scenic it if I want.

Inside:  7'6" wide, 8' high.  There are some mechanicals (hose bib shutoffs and AC lines) behind the 3/4" plywood but it is simple enough to take out a few screws to get access.

Outside:  Orange PRR cab where tunnel should be.  There will be an elevated section 7" above this caboose for an O72 loop that will enter the same closet.  

For now I'll simply paint and add some metal shelf standards to hang some train shelves.  Need to get back to wiring now.

Thanks Mark. This whole project has been on the back burner for quite a while now. Almost everything about this project was John's idea. I had made up this panel, with the idea of using a simple "hot probe" to complete the circuit directly by touching it to the bolt head. This is a lot cooler, and more expensive, but easier to operate, because you don't have to hold the probe, just touch the bolt head. Fingers crossed, maybe Patrick and I can test it Saturday.

Decided to take a look at my log loader and clean/rewire it like I did with the coal loader last year. I don’t believe it’s been looked at or cleaned, ever. The good news is the motor is running very smoothly. The bad news is one of the sprockets seems to have shifted and gotten stuck

     there just happened to almost be a full moon on this Chessie night...

Elliot, the skirting is really looking good and it was well worth it. The layout stands out so much better. That little section that runs down to a yard. What if you put a small backdrop along the back and in the front something like the flexible stone walls from scenic express then some skirting from that to the floor. Scenery to the ground might get kicked accidently. That would give you a mini scene that would stand out in that spot. Just a thought.

Today not much done so far. The last last rain we got dumped over two inches and I had a couple of small leaks in the wall. So this morning I sprayed flex seal on all the spots. Got a fan running to push the fumes out the basement window. After I did that I grabbed the building I ws working on and took the clamp off. I noticed that where the sides meet the concrete ledges had gaps so I got some spackling out and filled them in. When that drioes I'll paint them concrete color....................Paul 2

We have a friend looking for a place to rent, so we took him to apartments on our street.  And then we went to our house for bacon and eggs and a half hour playing with my trains.