Module Construction


Pushing past the issue with the Power Pole Connectors were I started a separate thread on https://modelrailroadforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/power-pole-connectors.32643/#post-484731

I set the modules up to do a full op check on them. Right away the command station was indicating a short. I isolated the modules in the initial trouble shooting steps and it turns out that two of the modules had shorts in them, both being the 6' end modules with the turnouts. I benched one end module and began isolation of sections and found it was an air gap that had closed and made connection with a powered frog. I guess there must have been some kind of magnetic pull between the rails that made them pull together. I've been gluing the rails were I made air gaps to prevent this very problem, but somehow, I just didn't do it to this one.

20200704_094841.jpg


OK, air gap re-established and the module is good. Now the other end module. No closed air gaps, all rail drops are correct so there is no wrong connections there. The only thing left I can think of would be a faulty contact system within a Tortoise Machine that powers the frogs. I tested each one extensively using jumper wires before soldering them. All stapled wires have the staple holding only one wire so there are no staple shorts. That got me early in the wiring work. Talk about a tough to find short.

There is a short somewhere on this. Can ya see it?

20200704_094853.jpg
 
Last edited:
turns out it was the Tortoise Machine frog juice connector. Second from the left of the bottom left two.
Not sure how it got by my inspection, but two wires were inverted. Straightened that out and it is ready for another full test of the modules.
Gonna watch the fireworks on TV this evening so I'll do the test tomorrow afternoon.
Hopefully I can move on to painting the rail and ties tomorrow afternoon.
 
Did some painting on one of the modules today. First coat of mud brown. Several more coats of various colors of earth will be applied.
Track is painted rust red on the rail web and ties are a dark brown. Ballast will be applied a little later.

20200705_211235.jpg


Started work on the transport case. This is about 60" wide by 102" long. This is just the base of it. The box will be built up from this.
Pretty hot working out in the garage.
The modules will slide in from the end with two of the 4' modules end to end and two side by side. There will be 7 levels of slots for the modules. 4 rows for the standard modules of the yard. 1 row for the two 6' modules. 1 row for legs and one additional 2X4 module and 1 level for two curved modules which will be built at a later date.

20200705_211156.jpg
 
Last edited:
Breeze from the woods would be cooler as they have their own micro-climate. In my case, my subdivision is like most built in the past 20 years with no TREES....any breeze is usually 15-20 MPH and accelerated by the way the buildings in the neighborhood are laid out. Since I have 10 acres of an open field on the south, (we can't seem to get the church to plant any wind breaks) and unbuilt fields within a block (living on the edge). So everything is Little House on the Prairie..lol

On one hand, I'd love to be back in the Great North Woods again (lived in western Michigan as a Kid) but I like winter here a lot better...about 2 weeks off and on of snow and ice on the roads and I don't have to shovel rain.
 
Got the main box completed this afternoon. This is a little over 8 feet long so it can carry two 4' modules end to end. The right side rack is a little higher than the left side. This was so I could get the screws into the support wood from the opposite side of the plywood. This thing is going to weigh a to when its loaded with all the modules. It will store on a very short table that has wheels so I can wheel it over to the door and load it onto the flat trailer I'll haul it with. Dragging it on and off the trailer will be done with block and tackle.
Ran outa plywood. Have to make a trip to Lowes tonight so I can work more on it tomorrow. Supposed to rain tomorrow so need to get the wood back home tonight.

20200709_185310.jpg
 
WOW - I would think that ONE stack of those would be heavy enough - much less TWO of them.
Sum-bich - impressive!
 
Working on the modules in the kitchen makes life so much easier. The two track pieces hanging off the end are there while I'm putting the ballast down. They transport without those tracks in place. The CA on the end designates the end piece that goes there to protect the track that comes up to the edge of the module.
Kinda disappointed that the show in August where I would have done the first run with these modules has been canceled. Next opportunity will be in October at the Timonium show, but as things are going, Maryland will still have things pretty well locked down.

20200720_090123.jpg
 
Sorry to hear the first show was cancelled. There's still some discussion as to if they have the local one in late September here as well.
 
Dang, it's been 9 months since my last update to this project.
With the COVID ravaging our population, there have been no train shows to take the modules to.
I put all the modules into the transport case out in the garage and did a couple of bike trips since June.
In December I made a truck trip out west to shoot some video of the Wyoming Division Model Railroad and have been putting my time into editing that footage. In addition, I've been studying solar panels and finally awarded a contract to get a system installed on my house so I can run my trains by sunlight power.
Now that I have some free time, I've resumed work on the modules.
I brought all my carpentry tools up into the living room yesterday along with a few sheets of plywood and went to work measuring twice, cutting once and came up with an 80"+ radius modular curve, in three pieces. The picture doesn't look like it but it is in fact a 90 degree turn. Basically where a standard module would link into modules on each end, this system links into modules 4 feet further on each end and extends this mainline yard around a corner. Each section will fit into the transport case as well.
I'm laying the cork road bed now but I have to stop by a hobby shop to pick up some .20" styrene strip to build super elevation on the two mainline tracks that run through the yard. The regular yard track will stay flat. The black lines are inner most line of track and the outermost line of track.
Yeah, the saw dust does get everywhere, but then, that's what vacuum cleaners are for.


Corner Modlue Frame Work.jpg
 
Laid the road bed and sanded down the edges of the cork where the modules meet. They always swell up a bit over time causing a bit of a hump.

20210311_131639.jpg


Started laying track this weekend.


20210314_095852.jpg


One piece of flex track is not enough to span one of the modules so I joined them by offsetting the track joint. That helps keeps the curve in a constant curve.
All the track is glued down using silicone caulk. That makes minor adjustments easier.
The joints at the module ends will still be flush with the end of the module instead of the 4 1/2" setback because these modules will always work together and not join with other modules.

with rail joiners.jpg
 



Back
Top