JPT Sub - my new layout project

BNSF FAN Mar 14, 2019

  1. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Didn't have the pics yesterday to post but here is stuff from the weekend.

    Here is the start on the temporary control panel. Not much to look at but a start.
    20190421_135904.jpg
     
  2. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    A sad look at the blue and yellow bus wires. Hoping to get green and maybe the white finished in the next night or two.
    bus wire 2.JPG
     
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  3. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    My son who is 14 now didn't seem so impressed with this visitor to the layout. Didn't realize until I uploaded this that it was a bit fuzzy. Sorry about that.
    20190421_131027.jpg
    I guess I bought this when my son was maybe 3 or 4 thinking when he got a couple of years older, he could learn to run it on my layout at the time. It got put in a cabinet and there it sat until I came across it when we were moving so this is the first time it has been out of the package and on the rails. I was impressed with how well it runs.
     
  4. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    In working on my temporary control panel, I was short 2 toggle switches. I have been emptying boxes the past couple of nights and no luck finding the rest of the ones I'm sure I have somewhere. There is one of those generalized hobby stores that is near one of or other facilities that isn't too far from my office. Since I was at that site at the end of the day yesterday, I took a chance and stopped by that hobby place on my way home. Luck was on my side as they actually had 2 and just 2 toggle switches that matched the ones I already have installed on my temporary control panel. Bonus number two was they also happened to have one of the Kato power adapters for the switch controllers. That was definitely an unexpected find there. Now if I can just find the time to get back down to the layout and get these installed.
     
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  5. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Last night's layout work consisted mainly of sitting at the desk and doing more assembly on the control panel and starting to plan the wiring for it. Should be pretty straight forward.
    20190425_193200.jpg
     
  6. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Working on the layout was a bust over the weekend. My dad fell and broke his arm (and thankfully nothing else) so it was dealing with that through mid day Monday. Last night I was at least able to pick up a new terminal block and some more colored electrical tape at Lowes and then cut some lengths of wire to run between the terminal block and the toggle switches for my power blocks. Hopefully tonight will allow me to get some of that wiring finished up and maybe have all the basic wiring in place by the weekend. Wish me luck!
     
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  7. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    Good luck! As parents get older, the children become the parents!
     
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  8. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Thank MK, I know what you mean. My wife and I have taken to calling them our other teenagers.
     
  9. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Got home last night and worked my way through all the honey do list stuff that I could for one evening and by then it was bed time. Laid down for a bit but couldn't sleep so it was off to the train room. Managed to get the temporary control panel put together and in place. Also got the leads in place from the toggle switches to the terminal block which I still have to mount behind the control panel. Labeled the toggles with post it notes until I get them wired to the blocks they belong to. Now I have to run the wire from the toggled to the appropriate block feeders and print some decent labels to replace the post its. That brings me to a new problem, what to name my blocks and switches. :unsure::confused:
    CP1v2a.JPG
    CP1v2.JPG
    As a side note, when I get around to putting a wood fascia around the layout, I will make a nicer control panel that will most likely be mounted (in this view) on the right hand end of the layout. This of course is subject to change at any time. :D
     
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  10. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I named blocks on my past layout using two letter codes on the controllers for station names like High View, Raven Rock, Midway, etc.. A problem surfaced when I couldn't easily recall which block was where.

    My new layout will use easier to remember block locations such as OW - Outside West (the outermost mainline to the left) and IE - Inside East (innermost mainline to the right), etc. I'll also use geographic features on some blocks such as VI - Viaduct and MC - Muleshoe Curve, etc. These will all be easy to reference and locate.

    I'll also use station names along the route, but most won't have blocks named for them.
     
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  11. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Thank you Hardcoaler! I saw you mentioned this naming in another thread and thought it was interesting plan. May actually go with that same scheme or something very much like it.
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2019
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  12. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Got 3 of the switches and one additional power block wired up last night. Need to do some additional wire management before getting too much further along. Trying to make sure I follow a path as I wire things up. Test as I go and make sure the next section wired is compatible with the previous section. That way I hope to have no surprises when I get everything hooked up.
     
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  13. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Put in a couple more eye hooks under the layout last night to help with the wire management and keeping things semi orderly.

    Last weekend, dad fell and broke his arm. He had surgery yesterday and when the hospital released him last night, my brother brought him down to stay with us. He will be staying in the basement guest room, means when home, I will probably be spending more free time in the basement so I can be close by while he is there in case he needs something. Good for me but my wife may not be so excited. :D

    Might mean I will actually get to finish my basic wiring this weekend and maybe even start some work on the backdrop/scenic divide. I don't think I mentioned it before but I am not a fan of wiring. My last layout was 8 years old and there were sections that were never wired and many of the blocks were wired together rather than through a control panel. This time, I decided to do this early on and not face that issue later when it will be harder to accomplish.
     
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  14. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    Get Dad to run trains for you! He can operate a throttle with a broken arm, can't he???? :D
     
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  15. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    LOL, that is either a great idea or very dangerous, not sure which.
     
  16. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

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    The wiring is very much part of the foundation of the layout. Crappy wiring leads to headaches and crappy operations. It can be sort of like taxes, they have to be paid whether you agree or not. Wiring has to be done whether you like it or not. But a good wiring plan and implementation will be truly rewarded with better performance and more fun, and less hassle!
     
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  17. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    As of Sunday morning all the blocks are wired and are working nicely. Missing the Kato 24-842 DC converter to finish the turnout controller's. Have the wiring plugged in between the controller's and the turnouts so just that one part to finish all the main wiring. Trains have been running on both mains now without any issues. Have run trains trough all the turnouts as well to insure no track issues and all was good. Have to admit, I am extremely pleased with the Kato Unitrack. Really happy I decided to go that route with this layout.
    20190505_080910_resized.jpg
     
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  18. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    As noted in the post above, wiring done for now except one item. Ran an Amtrak on one main with some auto racks on the other and looks like all the clearances are good. Started playing around with ideas for the backdrops. Industry is a possibility on this side. Possibly a city or town on the other but undecided on both at this point. Need to think about it for a bit.
    Did discover that a few of my superliner cars need work. One constantly derailed one axle of one truck. I suspect either a bad truck or an out of gauge wheelset. A couple wanted to lean to one side so probably need the bolster adjusted and a couple need the trip pins adjusted. Despite that, I was usually able to get some consistently long runs out of this trainset so I am pleased. No issues with any of the auto racks or boxcars that I used when testing and all seven of the locomotives I ran this weekend performed well.
    Will probably pick up the Kato 24-842 DC converter today but with scouts tonight and travel for work the rest of the week, I most likely won't get the turnouts power operating until next weekend.
    20190505_155651.jpg
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  19. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

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    Can not go wrong with ATSF on your rails!
     
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  20. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    As a side note, dad is still surviving the broken arm but has shown zero interest in checking out the railroad despite my encouragement. Guess you can't win them all.
     
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