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June 1, 2006 6:10 am
Here is a short list of some next steps:
- review all of my materials and tools and get them organized.
- lay down scenery roll of "summer grass" on the lower level. This should be done before I put down the road bed. Then once the mainline track is glued in place I can add the ballast.
- review lower level mainline turnouts to see if I should modify them to be operated under the table.
- buy wire for power bus.
- rewire mainline on lower level to incorporate track feeder connections to a power bus.
- begin work on building the loading platform for the oil refinery.
- buy 2 sheets of blue poster cardboard for a backdrop.
- Repair existing model structures.
5:30 PM
I have completed the first item on the list. It is a beginning. I have begun repairing the stockyard adjoining the meat processing plant. There are a few broken parts and there may be a missing part or two as well.
June 3, 2006 7:40 am
I have been working on my layout for much of the last two hours, with only the time honored coffee breaks. I now have all of my groundcover material on the layout. I need one more large roll of "forest green" and I will have completed this phase of the layout.
- lay down scenery roll of "forest green " on the upper level.
- review lower level mainline turnouts to see if I should modify them to be operated under the table. I may decide to leave the switches above level and use some scenery to help hide the mechanism. My idea at the moment is to have all mainline switches electronically operated and all sidings and yard switches hand thrown.
- buy wire for power bus.
- rewire mainline on lower level to incorporate track feeder connections to a power bus.
- begin work on building the loading platform for the oil refinery.
- buy 2 sheets of blue poster cardboard for a backdrop.
4:20 PM I continue to make progress. I have the "forest green" surface on the upper level lumber mill area and have purchased one large roll of the same color for all of the upper level siding areas. I still have to lay this last roll down.
I also purchased some sheets of blue poster cardboard and now need to try mounting this as a backdrop for my layout. Once I have this in place my layout will have "nature" in place and I should be able to begin improving my train features. The first step will be to get both the lower and upper mainline tracks working (lay the roadbed, attach the track, add the ballast).
June 11, 2006 8:25 PM
I put in a hour early this morning and another hour this evening. I have now a schematic drawing of both my upper and lower level mainlines.
I also placed two sections of blue sky cardboard against the east wall. It looks like this will work just fine.
I hope to show my diagrams to someone at Trains and Such in Calgary tomorrow. I want to discuss the wiring for DCC and continue to compare the Digitrax equipment with the MRC equipment. At the moment I think I need one power pack and two boosters (unless the power pack counts as one booster?) as well as 2 automatic reversing boosters (one for each reversing loop).
I still need to understand what other attachments are available. For example, one for handling turnouts, one for sensing if a section of track is occupied.
I also want to compare the hand controls for Digitrax and MRC. I sense that the MRC control is more intuitive. But I am not sure about the relative features of the complete package for each.
June 12, 2006 7:00 PM
We are back from Calgary. I had an excellent chat with a person from Trains and Such about DCC. Here are a few points I learned:
- the 14 gauge wires (both of them) do not need to form a complete circuit. That is optional. It is okay to simply put a tape on the end of the wire.
- I should view the web sites for Lenz and North Coast Engineering (NCE) ( ncedcc.com ).
- I rough estimate for a DCC starter set for one power block would be $350.
- There is a package called a PM42 that is a gang of four chips that can control 4 reverse loops or power districts. I have 2 reverse loops and 2 power districts so this should be exactly what I need. Now to see if I can find out more about this on the Web.
- A decoder chip for each turnout costs about $20. A decoder chip for a locomotive costs about $30. There are chips that can control 2, 4 or 6 units, but it is best to keep things simple by not going beyond 2.
- I should decide if I want radio (i.e. wireless) before I begin. MRC is supposed to have a wireless unit available this fall.
- The NCE starter package is the most expensive at $690., but it may well be worth the price.
- The ease of use of the hand control is a very important factor.
I also bought 4 magazines:
- DCC Made Easy by Lionel Strang (2003). This looks like an excellent beginners manual.
- Trackwork and Lineside Detail for Your Model Railroad by Kent Johnson (2000). This has some excellent articles on the preparation and laying of track. Exactly what I need for my next step.
- Canadian Railway Modeller. November - December 2005.
- Canadian Railway Modeller. January - February 2006.
The latter two issues supplement the March - April 2006 issue that I bought on my previous trip to the store. 7:30 PM
June 13, 2006 5:40 am Here is a summary of the important points from "DCC Made Easy" by Lionel Strang:
- the command station, boosters and throttles should all be from the same manufacturer.
- the decoders may be from any manufacturer. (in the case of the mobile decoders in the locos I should see what I can find with google first as some decoders may be recommended for particular locos.)
- for me, initial cost is not as important as ease of use of the throttle and the potential to expand to incorporate new products.
- "One of the most critical elements to successfully installing a Digital Command Control system is first-rate wiring." [p. 11]
- keep the two wires (called the track bus) under the layout parallel to each other at all times. They should closely follow the actual track layout since there will be numerous feeder wires joining them.
- the book suggests a pair of feeder wires every 3', but the fellow at Trains and Such said the real issue is the number of track connectors. Ideally there should be a feeder wire for every other connector. A feeder wire for every other connector seems a good solution.
- a circuit breaker module is an excellent way to break a layout into small power districts. I could use this idea to break my upper and lower levels into 4 smaller power districts (e.g. a main line and three yards/sidings) [p. 22 - 23]
- the main track bus should be 14 gauge wire (which I have). It is "heavy enough to carry as much power as 5-amp boosters are capable of producing". [p. 12]
- "be sure to solder most of the metal rail joiners connecting sections of track. This ... decreases the chance of a weak signal." [p. 13]
- The booster takes the signal from the command station and boosts the signal (i.e. amplifies) to a higher voltage. That is all it does.
- Two boosters should be plenty for a medium size layout such as mine.
- The booster should be placed under the layout where sufficient air can circulate around it.
- If one has more than one booster then one needs a control bus which connects the boosters to each other and to the command station.
- "Radio control DCC is becoming more popular and will most likely become the industry standard. ... A duplex radio controlled DCC system is much easier to operate and install." [p. 26]
- use a reverse loop module (i.e. circuit board) to control a reverse loop. I have two of these on my layout.
- "All DCC layouts should have one section of track where locomotives can have their decoders programmed (called a programming track) . ... This is a section of track (generally a siding of some kind) that can be isolated from the rest of the layout using a DPDT (double pole double throw) switch. This track should be near the command station.
- A terminal strip may be used to connect the track bus to a series of feeder lines to sidings. Or a terminal strip is a way of extending the track bus to a yard layout which then has its own feeder lines.
My idea is to set up the wiring for the mainline for the lower power district at the same time as I set up the track. I will use a pair of feeder lines on every other connector. I also need to add feeder lines for special modules such as a circuit breaker or a reversing loop module. It also makes sense to use as few connectors as possible. That means cutting the flex track into appropriate lengths. I will begin with the lower level mainline. Each time I add a section of track I will drill two holes for the feeder wires. Once I have the entire mainline track laid I can then add the mainline wiring under the table and connect all of the feeder lines. I must make sure to include a programming track. Once this is done I can attach the DCC system and see if it works. Once I have verified this I can add the ballast to the track. At this point I will have an operational mainline on one power district. However the very first step is to draw a wiring diagram that shows all of this.
The idea of a terminal strip shows just how new I am to this! That is the way to extend the track bus to all of the sidings and yard tracks, which will each have their own feeder lines. I am feeling much more confident about what I am trying to do now.
I now need to carefully review the web sites for MRC and NCE. I may learn more about wiring while reading about the capabilities of the various modules and components.
7:10 am