Layout
Track Plan
DCC
Structures
Scenery
Railroad
Locomotives
Rolling Stock
Maintenance
Layout
Track Plan
DCC
Structures
Scenery
Railroad
Locomotives
Rolling Stock
Maintenance
Daley Train Log
Page 19
I have just returned from a quick trip to the Model Baron hobby store where I bought some packages of short track sections. This should enable me to complete laying the track for the Coaldale Yard. The first step will be to finalize and nail down the mainline track for that area.
I have the mainline track nailed down near the Coaldale Yard. I have tried a number of combinations of switches and track as one enters the yard and have finally come up with a combination that gives me an extra classification track. Now to take a break and then re-look at it again before nailing it down.
This continues to look good. I now have all the track in place in the Coaldale Yard and am pleased with the result. I have drilled holes in the surface for the wiring for the switches and have cleaned up the mess in the Yard. I then tested a locomotive to confirm that there were no shorts in the ciruitry. Everything is working. I still have lots of work to do to wire the switches to a control panel but the Yard is basically functional as long as I move the switches manually.
After dinner I will set the rolling stock back on the rails and place all of my DCC locomotives in the Coaldale Yard. Tomorrow I will shift my emphasis to attaching the scenery views to my wooden barriers between the various sections.
Incredible. I had 6 locomotives all idling at the same time. Then one at a time I ran each locomotive into the center of the layout and then reversed it back into the Coaldale Yard. The noise in the Yard was substantial. The 0-8-0 steam locomotive is special. It is tempting to convert the layout totally to steam. But there is always room for improvement. The steam locomotive does not have an operational headlight.
It is daunting to imagine running two or more trains simultaneously on the layout. One also must control the switches so there is a lot to keep track of. However I am very close to reaching my original objective of 15 years ago - namely to be able to run a realistic railroad. However I never imagined sound and all of the special features that are possible with DCC.
There is one minor glitch - some of the locos momentarily stall when going through some of the switches. I hope that it is due to dirty track and not some "undocumented feature".
Here are a few photos:
My first steam locomotive!
1720 (a GP-7 diesel) & 8414 (a 0-8-0 steam locomotive)
7847 (an Alco RS-3 diesel)
9408 (an Alco FA-2 diesel)
1720 (a GP-7 diesel)
Coaldale Yard
Coaldale Yard