The outhouse is done, as is the shack too. Next up scenery and I started that today as well. Since this outhouse is currently in my house, would it be an indoor outhouse? The shack/crew house/office/whatever it is called is ready now. Bird’s eye view of the scenery so far. The ground cover is potting soil to simulate chewed up ground from the logging work. I think it works out pretty ok. There will be a little green added here and there as I complete more of it. Trackside view of the structures.
This is the last update on this layout for a few days. It needs to dry completely before I pour the water and make the waterfall. I planted a few tree stumps and finished the scenery today as well.
With the RT4 layout officially finished and soon to be delivered to it's new owner I am once again working on the 2x4 travel layout. Imma put the Kiddie layout on the side for a few, but that will get some love here soon. I still need a name for the 2x4 layout, I don't want to keep calling it the 2x4. I am not sure where I want to model, most likely something like the PNW since I live there and I know what the area looks like. My home layout which will be 5x3 ish will most likely be from the South West, like my T-Trak modules. So the layout got some love tonight like I said, it was painted brown so no more Pink Prairie land, I drilled most of the holes for the wiring, and cut out the base for the upper city to live on. I decided to make the upper deck removable to access the tracks in the tunnel area rather than make doors to access the area. I think it will work out pretty ok. As for the holes that I couldn't drill, that's because I do not have a 1/4" drill bit long enough. I will venture out tomorrow and see if one of the local hardware stores has one, or one close in size. I also purchased a TCS LT-50 system to use as the command station for DCC operations. This should be a perfect system to use as the layout will only be running one locomotive at a time and wireless doesn't really matter all that much on something this small. The ability to switch to DC mode will be provided as well using my MS-02 switch, which I now have the new boards, they look great, I will assemble one here soon and see how they do once built. Sorry no pics tonight, my iPad died so I am typing this out on my new Raspberry Pi 5 that I may be using in another project. I may just keep it as a desktop computer, it works pretty good as such, way better than the previous models of Pi did.
Nice work on the 'out-going' layout and will be following the soon to be renamed 2 x 4 layout. Wonder if you have looked at DCC-EX at all. Looks like a natural for you and your abilities. The command stations can be built for way under $100. The newer TrackManager addition can give you DC and DCC from the same WiFi command station and the ability to use a phone or WiThrottle (JMRI) throttle to control a DC or DCC loco..... https://dcc-ex.com/trackmanager/index.html#gsc.tab=0 Here is a video showing some of that.... The video also shows some of the 'automation' options available but one doesn't need to go into that. They can take advantage of changing blocks (if you want more than one) back and forth between DC and DCC and running either type of loco on those blocks with the same throttle. Sumner
I have thought about it and I just may be building one here in the near future. I have been getting into custom building more and more of my own equipment lately and you are right, this is right up my alley.
Show is over, I had fun, ended up with a new G scale locomotive and some wooden reefers and a bulkhead flat car with pipe load. But more importantly I was playing with N scale trains all weekend. The RT4 layout was delivered to its owner and he was extremely pleased with it. He wasn’t expecting the detail or creativity I put into it. He was expecting a small hill with tree stumps only. Here is the last pic I’m going to post of it, it has its Shay running on it pulling some log cars. There is a hidden figure on it as well, but it was added after this pic was taken.
Yes he was. He added a Squatch to it as an Easter Egg for people to find. He was not expecting a pond or a worksite shack. I really wanted to find a steam tower skidder like the one at a museum near us, but I couldn't find a model and didn't have time to build one.
I have been working a bit on the 2x4 layout and it’s starting to look like something. Before I can lay the track for the final time I had to get the road installed to make life a bit easier. I also decided to move this into the South West so I changed the color of the base “dirt” so something more sand like. I found the warehouse I plan on using, it’s in its place. I also cut out the hole for the DCC/LCC panel. Here is an overall shot of the layout. Notice the salmon colored tunnel portal? Better view of the road. Not sure yet if I’m gonna do the yellow stripes too. Here is the final tunnel portal. The salmon colored one was just a prototype. Here is the TCS DCC/LCC panel. This is the command station. Yes, a hand held throttle is the command station. This will make transportation easy. And lastly a bonus. These are new items a friend designed and I have printed out. They are 2x2 and 2x4 socket frames for the Anderson Power Pole that will snap into a project that uses 1/2 ply or other material and is shaped so to be router friendly. No more cutting the rounded corners square, not you just use a 1/2” flush cut bit and a simple template we made to make the perfect hole every time.
The road looks really good, but I think you will not be satisfied if you don't do some sort of striping. And those templates are a great idea.
OK so I hooked the DCC system up today and gave it a test run. Well it works pretty good. At first I was wondering woo woo woo is going on as the loco which was running on the layout before I did some work, wouldn't run. The lights just flashed in a Morse Code pattern, and no movement from the motor. This was strange, So I tested it on my Digitrax Zephyr and a test track and it was good, a bit jittery but good, then I decided to read the decoder just for giggles and it came up with BS numbers for the road number. Out came JMRI and it looked good there, I did a decoder reset and set the speed tables and address and all was well... but still just a Morse code pattern. I took out another engine I have used on this layout in the past and it was a happy engine. OK, it's not the command station it's the locomotive. I decided to clean the wheels and WOW were they dirty. So the wheels are darkened, which is why I didn't think anything about the treads being dark too. They are now brass colored, not dark like the faces. The paper towel had some really dark stripes on it when I was done, now the engine runs perfectly. I have it going counter clock wise on the layout right now, and all is good, Tomorrow I will test the train going clockwise to see if there are any issues, and if all goes well I will be making the power drops and getting everything ready to set permanently. On the 3D printing front I am working on a house that is pretty close to HO scale in the model but I am trying to get it to be N scale. I have printed 2 so far a bit smaller than they should be but I think the 3rd one is close enough, I will find out tomorrow when I break it off the base and cure it. Oh and this house will have an address 1428 Elm Street. This house is going to most likely be on a T-Trak module and I will prolly print another for my home layout. Just a few Easter Eggs for people to find when I am at shows.
I watched them when I was a kid, but now not so much. My daughter on the other hand loves horror movies and she was the inspiration for the haunted house module and the Nightmare Before Christmas. I will be honest here I do love Nightmare Before Christmas.
Just a quickie 2x4 update. I have not gotten a whole lot done lately but the track is now all glued down and the wires are poking through. So, there are some considerations I need to take into play here. First is DCC/DC operation. I have the switch for the conversion, no problem there, but what about the DS52s that are going to control the Kato turnouts. Are they going to like DC? If not I will have to isolate them with a relay… more to come on that. Then there is the programming track. With this command station, or should I say command throttle, there is no dedicated program track output so all programming is done on the main. I may at times have more than one locomotive on the tracks so I will need to deal with that. My solution is to make a programming track and when the switch is in programming mode it kills power to the rest of the layout, thus leaving only the program track powered. Things to think about… for now, I have wires to organize. Oh, the throttle pockets turned out great, and with some serendipity, they also fit the UWT-100 throttle as well. Here is the current underside of the layout.
Wiring work is mostly complete. What isn’t will require some additional carpentry to finish, but no big deal there. I have a tram powered on the tram line, and an F-Unit trundling around on the mainline. I have been debating on how to power the tram, and I think I’m just going to go with an external throttle rather than building one into the layout… keep it simple kinda thing. On a strange note with this DCC system, none of my Atlas GP engines want to run on this layout with the TCS command station. I have 4 GPs and they either have the factory installed decoder (1) or an NCE decoder (3) and they are all not happy. Well one was for a little while then not. They operate fine on my test track which is powered with a DCS52 Zephyr. Track is clean, wheels are clean they just act wonky. The one that was working before now moves a few inches then loses all power, regains power moves maybe a few inches, rinse and repeat. The other 3 just have their front and rear lights on and kinda flickering but not moving. And yes I’m sure they are all DCC. But anyway, I will have to figure that out or get some Digitrax decoders. Look at all the pretty wiring. The 2 circuit boards are Digitrax DS52s for controlling the turnouts. Here we are again with the trains running.
Well I haven’t figured out the deal with the GP locomotives yet. I had Digitrax hooked up to the layout just to check and see if it would work better and it was pretty close to the same. I will look into deep cleaning contacts on the locomotives. Now to the layout. I tested a few different locomotives on it today and the best runner was a Kato SD40-2. It has been happily running around without issue for a few hours now. It wasn’t the locomotive I was planning, but…. I got the front tunnel closed up, I just need some sculptamold to clean up some gaps and good to go. Imma need to custom build some buildings for the top area, more 3D printing for me… YAY. And speaking of 3d printing… I printed the throttle holder in black today, and it looks great on the layout.
