Jim, you know better than I about servos, but I'm still not clear what happens to a servomotor when its controller is no longer connected to it. Does the motor free-wheel, or is there some other mechanism that will hold the turnout points in their last-commanded position? A short internet search indicated a servomotor will not hold it's last-commanded position once the controller is unpowered or disconnected from the servomotor.
It is possible you could implement an over-center spring mechanism that would hold the points in their present position for you while the controller is unplugged. The servomotor would simply overpower the over-center spring when commanded to change the switch's position.
It's been a bit, but progress was made, unfortunately I did not document much of my progress. Here is the south module, main line now complete. You can see the piece of track that I have formed with a 22-inch radius track gauge to make the start of the passing siding. One of the reasons I like Micro Engineering is the fact that the track holds its shape. By using the ribbon rail gauge, seen next to the screwdriver on the module and a Tracksetta gauge for the straight pieces, alignment is a piece of cake. You'll also see the other project that has taken some time, the new work area. The old metal 2X4 foot table was sent to the garage, and I built my own custom peg wall and storage space. The 6-foot table is one of those resin fold up banquet tables I picked up at Menards. This is much better than the old set up. Now we move on to the North module, one we haven't really seen much of until now. One interesting potential problem I foresaw was the installation of the team track turnout in the passing siding. I first had to join the north and south modules together and lay the main and siding so they would line up with the track on the south module. Before I glued down the small piece of track that would make up the siding, I carefully cut two ties off the end that would face the turnout. I then slid the rail joiners onto the rail as see above. Using the 22-inch radius gauge, I carefully conformed and trimmed the track that would transition from the siding to the main. This is the track to the left with the push pins. Likewise, I trimmed the rail and ties and slid the rail joiners in place. here you can see the turnout can simply be slid in place and the rail joiners slide to connect the turnout, but we are not done yet. A 22-gauge green wire is soldered to the bottom of the turnouts frog and a small hole under the throw bar will be added for the actuating wire to go through. With the holes for the frog wire and actuating wire drilled, all that was left to do was apply some Titebond III glue sparingly and slide the turnout in. Once in, I slid the connectors in place and held the turnout down with push pins. Once dried, I added feeders and as you can see here, ties as well. Still need to add a few ties. The turnout above the team track switch is for Sweetheart Plastics. So, with that, all of the mainline track and turnouts are finished. Here is what's next: Finish installing feeders on the rest of the main and passing siding. Finish installing ties Install the three spurs made of code 40 track, add feeders and ties Test track Paint and phase one weathering of track Test track Build the DCC and DC bus wire line, wire up feeders testing as I go Ballast Test track Phase two of weathering track Test and run an ops session or two. I'm taking a break on this layout as I'm now getting for Galesburg RR Days and have built a 2X4 foot NTrak module. Once Galesburg is over in late June, I'll be back at this little layout and will probably start building the shadowbox for it. More to come...
The peg board works great. My work bench is still covered. Must be how a flat surface attracts everything.
You are too kind. Right now it is a mess due to working on a few projects at once but I do try to stay organized. I have found that any job, be it in the garage or in the model shop is 10% working on the project and 90% looking for the tool you just put down. It's true. Any flat surface almost begs to be cluttered in my workshop.
Even my 2' x 4' folding table. When I put it up for projects, it just gets filled very quickly. So indeed it is flat surfaces attract a mess Maybe @Jim Wiggin cleaned up for the photo opt And maybe not? I will say his pegboard and bench being so clean and organized is impressive. Unlike me trying to remember where I put my magnifying glass headset, he simple looks on the pegboard and there it is Or styrene, or tools, or paint, you get the idea!
Nice progress so far! One nice thing about industrial designs is you don't need tall ballast shoulders or a groomed, neat mainline. The more weeds, the better. Unkempt, fouled ballast? No problem. Low rail joints? Look at the prototype!
Indeed and certainly, what makes these layouts so interesting. The catch 22 is however that you want to simulate industrial track with all its quirks but still be reliable for out models to traverse. The "main" will have a ballast and cinder mix but the spurs will be mainly dirt and weeds. I'm looking forward to painting and weathering the track then carefully planting weeds and grass between the ties.
Lightly built industrial tracks can also add operating interest, by forcing you to use additional railcars as "handles" on drop-offs and pick-ups, to keep the heavy locomotive off the tracks not rated for their weight. I like how we use "operating interest" to describe "pain in the neck"!
I wonder how to recreate low joints on stick rail in N scale and still maintain reliability? I mean, the prototype also has derailments in such trackage...
Hard to believe that it has been five months since I've posted in this build thread but then again, I hit the ground running in late May and never really came up for air until October 1st. The summer was filled with work and traveling back and forth to and from New Hampshire with me staying there sometimes a month at a time. Finally, back in Illinois at least until late January 2024, I have resumed work on the layout. I turned my attention to the shadowbox as I needed a place to securely hold my layout as well as properly set the scene. The inspiration for my box design came from Andy Dorsch. Yes, that Andy Dorsch, host of Second Section Podcast. He has a channel of his own for his layout and in this video, he shows how he did the bench work. It also allowed me to finally justify purchasing the Kreg system of pocket holes and screws for construction. It is pricey but it makes assembly easier, neater and the product is made in America! An early Saturday morning trip to Menards was in order and this trip included picking up two 8-foot long 1X4, 2 4-foot 1X4, 2 8-foot 1X2 and 2 4-foot 1X2 pieces of quality lumber. After checking each piece and verifying they did not come from a forest of banana shaped trees I was off back to the garage and measuring twice and cutting once. Here we see the base made up of the 1X4s and the top made of 1X2s. Design considerations. The two former T-Trak modules together are a little longer than 72 inches long. I wanted my 1/8-inch hardboard back drop and my 1 and 3/4 inch supports / backdrop holders to also be inside the "box". I essentially measured the two modules together and added 1/8-inch times two, plus 1- and 3/4-inches times two and added it to the overall length of the shadow box. For the width, only the 1/8 inch and 1 and 3/4 inch was added once as this is the material space needed for the back as the front will be flush with the shadow box. Hopefully I'm explaining that right, if not the pictures should reveal my intentions. The upper 1X2 valance or top of the box mirrors the 1X4 base in dimensions. And here it is with the side supports / backdrop supports. More to come.
Nice to see some lumber getting used. I totally understand the travel situation, as I spent most of the summer in Oklahoma City for training.
Wow Hemi, I can honestly say I have never cut a tool on the chop saw lol! In the last post, the shadow box frame was on the bracket system I built and, on the wall, but it is far from finished. First a bit of background. As most of you know, I'm currently the Brand Manager for Athearn model trains. I built the walls you see here and was going to build an HO corner layout and use this corner as my filming studio for Train Tuesday, Athearn Extra and other videos and Live Feeds. Unfortunately, the radius required in HO to navigate the corner would have made the bench work too wide for this area, so I decided to go another route. If you have watched any of the Athearn videos in the last month, you will have noticed I started recording them with an HO layout behind me. That layout went on tour with us at Athearn shows and was officially "retired" after the St. Louis RPM this past July. It is in my office next door, and it is now easier to produce Athearn videos in my office. That said, this corner is still being set up as a place to do videos for my own YouTube channel. The brackets were built for another purpose and trimmed to fit the shadow box. After leveling the brackets both vertically and horizontally, they were secured to the studs with 2.5-inch wood screws, three per bracket. I then cut the backdrop hardboard and found I needed a mid-section support on either side of the middle 1X3. Out came the Kreg tool. Carefully measuring and cutting two additional pieces of 1X2, I used the Kreg tool to produce two pocket holes, one for the top and one for the bottom. I measured from the middle of the shadow box to the end, divided the distance in half and drew my center lines in with the square. To ensure that the 1X2 supports would remain flush at the top and bottom, I clamped the 1X2 to the 1X4 and top 1X2 frame and screwed in wood screws. the result was a perfectly flush fit. You'll also notice that I re-did the top 1X2 supports. I did this as the LED light strip hung down too far. Moving the 1X2s in the position here allowed the light to move up a bit, making the light fixture a bit easier to hide once the fascia is installed. Since the basis of my layout is derived from two left over T-Trak modules, I needed a solid surface in which to set the adjustable feet. This was accomplished simply enough with the left over 1X2. The 1X2 is really 1.5 width so I cut the leftover pieces 1.5 inches long to get a nice square. Both the front and rear corners as well as the center section had these supports glued and clamped. The shadow box construction is almost done and soon I can turn my attention back to track work. With winter around the corner, my days of working in my makeshift wood shop are nearing the end. Still left to do with this part of the project: Glue on the four-piece backdrop Paint backdrop and interior top Installation of lighting equipment Cut and install top, sides and front fascia Finish sand and paint outer exterior and fascia Have a friends wife sew up and embroider a skirt and install More to come.
I have a Kreg tool, used it to consistently drill holes in finished cabinetry for pulls and knobs. It worked like a champ! The proper tool for the job makes all the difference in the world.
Nice job! However, I'm a little concerned that the single pocket hole joint will allow the cross-member to twist in the frame, especially if something may be nailed or screwed to the cross member, that may encourage it to twist. Even if also glued, end-grain hold on glued joints is questionable. I would consider using two pocket holes per joint, perhaps one from the face and one from the edge on narrow cross-members. Alternatively, one through the upper face and one through the lower face (offset of course) would work well too. On the other hand, I have often been accused of over-designing things.
If I read Jim's thread right, this is a mid point brace for his backdrop so there will be a sheet good of some kind laminated to one side of this joint. I would not worry about a single pocket hole in that application.
Yes it does. I put off buying one for a few years, but I have a bookcase to build in my not-so-distant future and between that and this job, I justified the expense. I have zero regrets and only wish I had purchased it sooner. I have not started it yet, still in the beginning stages and hope to start shooting and uploading videos early next year. Correct Philip! These mid-section stringers are more of a mid-section support for the 1/8-inch backdrop and not structural. The valance section of the shadowbox is held up with a mid-section 1X3 with two pocket holes and screws on both the top and bottom as well as 8 1X2 with pocket holes. The structure is both light and strong.
