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 52
One of the features of this website is that it documents many of the little "difficulties" of maintaining an operational model train layout.
While running my consist of 7 tank cars I encountered a short while entering the reversing loop behind the Jasper Yard. That caught me totally by surprise as I was sure I had run a locomotive over this very section of track and verified that it worked fine. Anyway, I had a close look at the track and the connecting links in this area and noticed that I had two insulating connectors that were no longer needed. I couldn't see that they were doing any harm but I removed them.
In the process of doing this I then noticed that I had a slight kink in the track where I had placed a small section of curved track instead of a straight section. Fixing this then involved moving much of the track, including two switches, to a slightly new position. Unfortunately the two switches will now have to be rewired as the wires to them are too short to reach the new positions. I will also have to drill new holes through the table top for the wires to connect to the switches.
I still am not totally sure why the reversing loop is now working (or why it was not working before) but it is now working again so I will let sleeping dogs lie. I am pleased with the new track arrangement in the Jasper Yard - it simply looks a little cleaner.
Now to get the wiring fixed.
Done. The track in the Jasper Yard is nailed down and the wiring replaced and soldered to the control panel. Everything seems to be working but I have yet to give it the litmus test by running a train over all of the track in that area. I will try this later this afternoon.
So far, so good. I started up diesel locomotive CN 7847 and then ran it around much of the layout, picking up rolling stock until I had a consist of 7 cars. This ran on the outer west-bound mainline without difficulty.
Here is the consist:
CN 7847 RS-3 diesel CNR CN 501417 40' boxcar CNR CN 210048 40' reefer CNR. CN 522360 40' boxcar CNR CN 461010 40' boxcar CNR ONT 90075 40' boxcar Ontario Northland CN 520502 40' boxcar CNR CN 500899 40' wooden boxcar CNR
I have now tested 9 + 7 + 7 = 23 cars that are all running without problems.
This was also my first operating session where I ran a locomotive around the layout, performing the appropriate switching manouvers, and picking up cars wherever they happened to be located. It worked really well. I am now beginning to feel that I am operating a railway rather than building something or solving a layout problem.