 |
|
||||||||||||||
| Links to Notebook Pages: | Literature |
Sunday July 30, 2006 7:20 am Lethbridge Alberta Sunrise 5:59 Sunset 9:17 Hours of daylight: 15:18
 |
 |
From rear window |
South patio |
Both images taken at 2:40 PM |
|
A. Morning Musings
5:45 am It is + 15 C at the moment, with a forecast high of + 21 C. Winds of 50 km/hr, gusting to 70, are forecast for this afternoon.
Sunday mornings are for planning the major items for the upcoming week. The forecast is for sunshine with temperatures in the low to mid 20s.
Chores: I will have no difficulty completing the book boxes as they only need one more coat of paint. The weather looks like it will be ideal for edging the front lawn. I will also tackle the grouting in the kitchen. That will bring two months of steady household chores to an end.
Model Trains: I will wire the Lower Mainline track using the terminal strips and set up the control panel for this operation. I will wire at least one turnout as well. I will cut the berms for the oil tanks ad begin placing the piping for the connections between the tanks, the refinery and the oil loading platform. Finally, I hope to make substantial progress on building the wooden trestle.
Literature: I hope to complete the third volume of "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever". The story is okay and it is easy reading but I am not being captured by it. I think I have read too many epic fantasies of good versus evil. It doesn't help when the key to the power is in a ring. I will finish the third volume, but will delay reading the next 3 volumes called "The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant".
Chores have been my first priority over the last few weeks. This week I will shift the emphasis to Model Trains as I want to continue to make noticeable progress toward an operational layout. As indicated above, I have a three-prong approach identified: wiring the mainline and control panel, completing the oil refinery (aka distillery) diorama, and building the wooden trestle.
Now for a second cup of coffee ...
B. Plan
Immediate Health Walk & exercise 1 hr Chores Apply second coat of white semi-gloss paint to book boxes 2 hr Model Trains Wire lower mainline track for a power block 2 hr Assemble wooden trestle kit 2 hr Literature Begin reading "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever: The Power That Preserves" 1 hr Later Chores Repair grouting on a few kitchen tiles 1 hr Edge front lawn along sidewalk 3 hr Investigate water softeners for home 2 hr Technology Read manual for cell phone 1 hr add keywords to iPhoto records Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac" 2 hr Begin reading "iPhoto" 1 hr digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings Mathematics Larson "Calculus" Read "The Computational Beauty of Nature" Chap 2 1 hr Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles" History Continue reading "Citizens" Watson "Ideas" Model Trains Add blue backdrop to layout 2 hr Cut oil tank berms from wood scraps Assemble second oil platform kit Review layout for under the table turnouts
C. Actual/Notes
5:20 PM This has been a very relaxing day. I spent about 2 hours this morning thinking about the wiring for the Lower Mainline track and another couple of hours this afternoon assembling part of the wooden trestle kit. It is genuinely therapeutic losing oneself in a hobby (not that I need therapy!). It has been years since I have done that.
As I am fairly new to the entire idea of wiring a model train layout, this morning ended up being devoted to clarifying exactly what I intend to do. Upon finally developing a clear idea of exactly what wires would go where and how they would be attached to each other I realized that I would have to buy some more wire and terminal strips before actually beginning.
I think it is very important to get this right the first time. The first step was to realize that I needed about 50' of red 14 gauge wire to pair with the 50' of black 14 gauge wire that I purchased a couple of weeks ago. This will enable me to follow the NRMA standard of using red wire for the right rail (mnemonic: red and right both begin with the letter "r") and black wire for the left rail. I assume right and left is determined with the overall layout in front of one and then treating the main loop as going in a clockwise direction.
The next problem is to be clear about how to wire a terminal strip. This depends on how many power blocks I will have in a power district. I plan to have 2 power districts: one for the Lower Level and one for the Upper level. The Lower Level Power District will have 2 power blocks: one for the Lower Mainline loop and associated sidings and the other for the Lower Mainline Reversing loop and associated sidings.
My immediate task is to wire the Lower Mainline loop. I will begin with 2 terminal tracks at opposite sides of the loop. I want to then test this and see if there is any noticeable loss of power at any stage of the loop. I will then place a 4-position dual row barrier strip near the terminal track that is close to the control panel. This will be mounted below the layout on the supporting table structure. The second 4-position dual row barrier strip will be mounted in a similar fashion near the second terminal track on the opposite side of the layout.
I will use a short piece of red & black 14 gauge wire to connect the power source to the first barrier strip. Then on the other row of the barrier strip I will have one pair of short red & black 20 gauge wire connecting the barrier strip to the terminal track. Then I will have another pair of red & black 14 gauge wire connecting this barrier strip to the second barrier strip on the other side of the layout. This wire will loosely follow the route of the Lower Mainline track. At this second barrier strip I will have a short pair of red & black 20 gauge wires connecting to the terminal track.
Here is a diagram of the wiring for the first 4-position barrier strip:
I will also need some red and black 20 gauge wire. I think 50' should be enough for awhile. I will also need some additional (say 6) 4-position dual row barrier strip.
In the afternoon I began assembling the wooden trestle kit. I have now put together all 20 vertical support structures as well as the track bed. The next step will be to assemble these structures into the final structure. Once I have completed the structure, I think I will spray it with dullcote to remove the plastic shine but keep the dark brown color.
D. Reflection