Mini layout in the works

[RW&C]

Thanks. I tried that right out of high school, but barely lasted a semester... the first year was kind of a 'weed out the weak ones' deal, and I guess I was one of them. Might go into some kind of auto design thing though... dunno.

After a few days of doing other stuff... I finally got the table straightened out, cut the hole, and mounted it up.

It ended up sitting just a little lower than the foam, so I had to shape the roadbed down a little... the engine doesn't seem to mind.

I got tired of fighting with the spray paint (for the record, rustoleum 'painter's touch' paints don't play well with others) on the control panel, so I just chopped off the painted bits and called it good enough. This'll sit like a shelf halfway down the edge of the foam.

And here's my power supply, hiding under the soon-to-be mountain.

Problem is... I'm having second thoughts on the coal mine. For one, I don't have it working yet. For two, I pretty much have one coal hopper that would work. Lots of box and tank cars, though... I'm thinking industrial now. Any suggestions? I could have four tracks if I cramp it, but three would be more realistic.

Edit: Got everything wired up. It all works except the uncoupler... the power supply (100W) shuts down when I try to use it. It holds on when I push the button, but when I release it, the supply shuts off... it makes a whining noise while it's trying to power the coil, and barely moves the couplers. Anybody know if the MT electromagnets are supposed to be above the ties, or?... My more powerful (135W) bench supply will run it, but not enough to make it do much. I'm wishing I hadn't already glued down the track around it! How do you work these things?

 

[RW&C]

Decided to ditch the electromagnet. Turns out, computer hard drive magnets work great. Where I had the electromagnet I'll just put the magnet on a stick and a pivot... push the button and it swings into place.

Just gotta run the engine over the top and make sure it doesn't explode or something... then tear apart another hard drive.

 

[railfan]

Wow I'm lucky......if I ever get the motivation to follow in your footsteps I've got a bunch of old computers I can exploit to move model railroading forward. I have an HP with a failed power button too. I built three xp-pro micro-TX towers seven years ago. They don't have enough memory now and I don't think they're worth upgrading. I just want a powerful new laptop for school.

Mike

 

[railfan]

Just gotta run the engine over the top and make sure it doesn't explode or something... then tear apart another hard drive.

Yes, one must be careful with powerful magets......they can wreck delicate mechanisms made of ferrous material.

Mike

 

[RW&C]

I tested the engine with the magnets... it doesn't seem to notice them at all. I tore apart another drive the other night for magnets, had to make a screwdriver for the smaller Torx screws from a coat hanger; I just filed it into a hexagon, stuck it into the screw, and hammered it until it fit. Only problem so far is that they're so powerful that cars with steel weights or wheels stick to them!

In other news... the tracks are all set up!

Well, okay, not really. The output tracks aren't really laid yet, but I did get them soldered to the PCB. That was a pain... I realized (after I'd soldered everything) that the PCB had all kinds of jumpers going through it... took a while to cut enough chunks out of the cladding to properly isolate the rails.

This ugly setup is my replacement for the electromagnet. It's a coat hanger with a hard drive magnet on the end... push down the lever, and the magnet pops up under the track. (The brownish stuff is the sawdust I mixed with the epoxy.) This doesn't quite work yet... I put it in the wrong place anyway.

I temporarily set up the hard drive magnets for the spur tracks. I found that two magnets could handle three tracks, so long as the centers were right. The only problem was that they were too good: I couldn't pull a car out past them without it uncoupling! My ghetto solution are the 'sabotage' magnets (the round and square ones off to the side). When the couplers pass these bits, both couplers swing that way; it looks a little odd, but they don't separate. I'll see if I even need these once I've got a layer of roadbed between the track and the magnets. Right now though, they work great; cars only uncouple when going in.

Also... finally figured out what I'll do with the spurs. I'm thinking of doing a dock scene, so one track going out next to a barge or whatever, another maybe going to a truck depot, and the third serving some sort of industry. Any ideas are of course welcome!

I've been operating it a bit, just to see how well it works. It's turned up quite a few flaws... but nothing I don't think I can fix. Should be fun.

 

[railfan]

Looking great!

Mike

 

[railfan]

I'm actually not sure quite what it is, I bought it quite a while ago. But yeah, Atlas code 80, #6. I picked up a couple Caboose throws, and they seem to work pretty well, but they're huge!

I was wondering if your caboose ground throws are for HO because you said they are "huge". I have the model 206S for N scale. They have a spring that compensates for the extra travel of the throw and holds the points firmly in place. These are very small size.


Mike

 

[RW&C]

I'm pretty sure they're for N, and yeah, they've got the spring. They just look really wrong to me... about half the size of a scale mail truck.

I got back to it tonight.

My ghetto rig with the uncoupling magnet wasn't working, and was in the wrong place anyway. So I tore it out, patched the hole, and built this slider sort of deal so I could do it right this time.

And it works!

I moved the actuator off to the side here. Press down and the magnet raises.

This also freed up a hole in the control panel, so I mounted an SPST switch to the on/off trigger on the power supply. Much nicer than reaching around the back of the mountain to turn the thing on!

Then I finally installed the three tracks off the transfer table. I didn't want another big bump coming off the table, so I used thin cardboard (thick cardboard that I beat with a rubber mallet) instead of cork roadbed. I decided that one would go into some kind of industrial deal, another would do loading of some kind (you can tell I make really specific plans), and the third would go out to a car ferry.

That meant I needed a water feature. Bring on the fork and the steak knife!

After I gouged it out, I smoothed the surface somewhat with a butane lighter. Then I started painting it, just to protect the foam from overspray when I shoot the track... but then I started to like how it was turning out!

I'm making a seawall sort of deal. This came about mostly by accident. After laying down a large amount of paint (lots of crevices to fill in), I found out that by rolling the loose chunks of styrofoam around in the paint, I could make fairly convincing underwater rocks. I piled these around the banks like riprap.

Here's the completed (ish) yard trackage and the lake(?) bed from above.

I figure I'll make some lighter-colored rocks from plaster to put on the top.

At this point, I'm just trying to decide... should I make a pier sticking out, or a car ferry? I'm leaning towards a pier given that the cut is only about 1/2-3/4" deep, but it'd still need a reason to exist... any ideas?

 

[railfan]

The rip-rap rocks look great.

 

[RW&C]

Thanks! It got better tonight.

Painted the track today, and did the plaster work tonight... the fix-all from however many years ago was still good! No time for a full update (more later) but the hill is in, the ground is covered, and I'm working on scenery! I've got the upper layer of riprap in too, it's just crushed plaster from failed rock molds etc rolled around in the same paint I did the ground with. Took me a while to set it all in there!

The speed control rheostat released the factory smoke today, so I'll be digging back into that. I guess a 40k ohm pot from a stereo isn't really the right tool for the job.

Here's a teaser pic...

 

[Rico]

Funny how you can spend weeks or months on a layout but people don't seem to notice any progress until a splash of paint hits the surface!
That's how my last layout went.
I like the pier idea, maybe a dump onto a barge?

 

[RW&C]

LOL yeah, all sorts of good stuff happens when you leave the blue foam stage!

I like the dumper idea... still thinking how to build the pier, and I may well work that in. Thanks!

The ballast is in!

Lessons learned so far...

Don't use Sharpies on foam you're going to paint over. It'll bleed through multiple coats of water-based paint.
Make sure the tracks ends on something are high enough before you glue it up.
... and maybe having a plan before starting something like this

 

[RW&C]

Another lesson learned... don't apply ballast that's got iron filings in it.

I've got a little short somewhere in the yard end, probably near one of the uncoupling magnets, where the iron filings in my ballast (which I sifted from dirt from the side of the road) are probably bridging things together. It only shorts if I bring it above a certain voltage. I've got it out in the sun drying out, hoping that it won't short once it's dry.

Edit: It dried out and quit making crackling sounds. Works fine now.

 

[waltr]

I'd try to scratch out some of the ballast while holding a magnet close.
But that might only work if you have a good idea where the short is occurring.

Good luck with burning out the short. Just be sure to keep yourself safe.

 

[railfan]

Track is a nice rust color....and the rolling stock has a vintage and slightly grungy and weathered look.....in a good way.

 

[RW&C]

Thanks Railfan, it's just rustoleum primer and weathering powders applied with alcohol.

The short seems to return whenever I get the ballast wet. I'm not sure but I suspect that it's bridging the cuts in the cladding on the PCB I soldered the tracks to... oh well, a few hours in the sun always gets it working again.

So I've been applying more scenery.

I threw an old car into the lake...

and dumped another into a cow field. (Like a force field, but it smells worse.)

I'd been wondering what to do with the area in front of the table, because it was just too flat, but I'd already painted it. I ended up pouring a little alcohol onto it and setting it on fire... it didn't burn long/hot enough to ignite the foam, but it melted it in places and gave me some nice topography to work with.

The weeds are bits of some cheap pine trees I got a while back, folded over and pushed into the foam. They're a little big, but this is freelance... maybe it's agave or something. They'd be perfect for HO.

 

[ho/ttothemoss]

Here is a link to a video with a transfer table in operation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hzQtnz2GuE

Table is after the 5 minute mark.

great video!

 

[Cjcrescent]

Another lesson learned... don't apply ballast that's got iron filings in it.

I've got a little short somewhere in the yard end, probably near one of the uncoupling magnets, where the iron filings in my ballast (which I sifted from dirt from the side of the road) are probably bridging things together. It only shorts if I bring it above a certain voltage. I've got it out in the sun drying out, hoping that it won't short once it's dry.

Edit: It dried out and quit making crackling sounds. Works fine now.

While using natural materials is a very good way to get ground cover, ballast, etc, unless certain things are done before using it, problems can and as in your case, do arise.

There are a couple of things that need to be done to this material.

One. Spread out a thin layer of the material onto a flat surface. Run a magnet through it to remove any ferrous material. Then put material into a separate container. Repeat with the rest of the material until all has had this done to it.

Two. Place the material into a shallow baking pan, and bake in the oven at 400` until the interior of the material, has reached a temp of 300`, for at least 10 minutes. This will kill any living "material" such as mini-bugs, bacteria, and seeds, that happen to be in the material. After the material has cooled, it can be shifted, to remove any out of scale material and then used on the layout.

 

[railfan]

RW&C, Great to see your update. The backdrop and the pier look good. When you get a moment, a photo of the entire diorama from a short distance away, or from above would give perspective. I am with you when it comes to using available natural resources for landscaping supplies.


Mike

 

[railfan]

I wonder if I could use black/gray spray paint on some coarse sand to make ballast? Might have to shake the sand between a few coats. I know there must be some black sand out in the ohio countryside somewhere......but I don't want to mess around finding it. Maybe fine aquarium gravel. Local craft store has diorama supplies.....except...I'm on a zero income budget at the moment. Perhaps some nice gray parking lot sand.