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 20
Early morning, with a cup of coffee in one hand, is a good time for surveying the model train layout.
This morning I began by cutting the top off one of the Instant Horizons sheets (which was just blue sky) and I began to see where the bottom half would best be placed. There were a few possibilities but then I began to play with a couple of new ideas. I rarely have a clear plan and then execute it to completion. Rather I have a sense of a plan but then often make refinements as I see how it is unfolding. It is best described as a process of successive approximation.
I think one of the barriers should be extended to the wall to achieve a better sense of separation between two of the areas and another short barrier should be installed to accomplish the same aim in another area of the layout. Finally, there are two places where the end of the barrier should be modified to a more gradual slope. There will be sawdust in the garage this morning.
With the weather making outdoor activities unpleasant, this is a good time to make some real progress. Here is a short list of tasks:
When these tasks are completed I will only need to add a few more sheets of Instant Horizons and wire a second control panel for the Coaldale Yard and I will be fully operational. I still have some buildings to assemble but that is a relatively minor aspect of the layout. The emphasis will quickly shift to running realistic trains rather than building the layout.
It has been a productive morning. I have cut and mounted the two new pine barriers and modified the ends of two other barriers. I have cut one of the three Instant Horizon sheets but will need to buy some spray adhesive in order to mount it on the wooden barrier. I have attached the wiring to 5 of the 6 switches for the first control panel. And I have cleaned the entire layout of sawdust. I spent some time trying to join two pieces of 3-strand wire together in order to have enough length to reach the control panel. Once I had that fixed I realized that the area of the join would have to pass through the small hole that I drilled in the tabletop. But I have just found a roll of three strand wire (not the colors I would like but I can handle it) so this will now be easily set up.
I have wired the remaining switch with the 3-strand wire. More importantly, I have wired switch #2 to the control panel and tested the connections. It works. I have no unpacked a solder iron that I bought a few months ago and am about ready to solder the connections at the back of the control panel. It has been over 40 years since I last did any soldering (when I built a Heathkit stereo system in 1965). This is a great hobby, in part because of the all the different skills that are required.
I soldered switch #1 without any problems but ran into difficulties with switch #3 in the late afternoon and ended up spending almost 3 hours trying to troubleshoot it. I was able to take the switch mechanism apart and reassemble it, and it worked fine manually, but it still wouldn't work electronically. The problem (clearly) is with the mechanism and not the wiring.
I came back to this this evening and decided to replace it with a mechanism on another switch in a different part of the layout that would not require an electronic control. This worked fine. I then added and soldered switches #4, #5 and #6. The control panel for these 6 switches is now fully wired and soldered. This will allow me to control all of the mainline switches that are located in the Coaldale Yard. I still need to mount the control panel on to the table. I have this figured out and will take care of it in the morning.
New barrier near Distillery Row
New barrier near Queenston
Wiring the Control Panel for Switches #1 - #6 in Coaldale Yard
Temporary Mounting of Control Panel