Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern - into the second decade

[Adrian Wintle]

They just treat them as a very reliable knuckle coupler, basically. If they need to uncouple, they do it on the spot using a small tool.

 

Exactly. My primary concerns are that the train stays coupled together, the cars aren't miles apart, and that the couplings don't induce derailments. Hands-free uncoupling is way down the list.

 

Adrian

[DanielB]

Sounds good.

[Barry Ten]

It's been long enough since a proper update, but I haven't completely neglected the layout - it's just that I've not wanted to rush the tricky bit of the turntable and roundhouse, because once it's in, it's going to be fairly difficult to change much of it. I put the turntable and most of the shed tracks in last year, but I've spent most of this year just making sure the alignment is acceptable and that all of my locomotives can use all of the roads without derailing. Diesel is easy enough - the turntable and roundhouse roads only need to be sort of roughly aligned - but steam is a good deal more finnicky. That said, the Walthers turntable is a very reliable product and once you've got your head around the instructions, programming it is pretty straightforward.

 

I've also completed the 9 road roundhouse - again, the Walthers kit (the basic shed plus two add-ons) goes together superbly well, with nothing needing any sort of adjustment to fit. It's huge, even in N - a really impressive structure, but I'll have tidy up before I take any overview shots. For now, here's one looking into the shed, through one of the rear walls, which will be left removable for just this sort of view. I've painted the floor, service wells,  and walls, but not the support beams, which are still bare plastic. I look forward to adding some typical grot and details in here, and I'm thinking of how to light it for night shots. It'll be great to look through the windows and see the locomotives and work crews.

 

 

Cheers!

[Tove]

Hey Barry,

 

Nicely built layout you`ve got here,enjoyed reading through the post`s and pictures.(especially the pic`s with CofG loco`s in!) 

Look forward to some more.

 

Cheers,

Brian

[Barry Ten]

Couple of shots of the developing locomotive terminal:

 

 

 

There's a machine shop to go in next to the roundhouse, served by its own siding off the turntable, and then a few

outdoor tracks for extra stabling. The hatched area is where you can't run track, due to the wiring of the Walthers turntable, so you need to plan for this when setting everything out. The piece of track hanging in mid-air in the background will eventually meander its way to a small industrial area above one of the turnback loops.

 

What am I going to do about those brackets jutting into view in the top photo? Nothing, to be honest, other than maybe paint them blue. They're just something I have to live with, with the alternative being not having any scenery on this section of the layout. Ultimately it's no biggie - if this is the one part of the layout where the backscene is compromised, so be it. The fun value of having the locomotive terminal more than makes up for it, to me at least. As I've mentioned before, the reason I've run into the bracket problem here is that I wasn't ever planning on extending the American layout along this wall, so I went for beefier brackets to support the 4mm layout, allowing for a much deeper scene on that part of the layout. If I'd thought ahead I might have gone for lighter brackets but then I'd be dealing with a much narrower area on the 4mm layout, which would bring its own compromises. And indeed, on the 4mm layout, some of the lighter brackets have turned out to be too light, requiring some additional bracing here and there. Basically there's no ideal solution, just a bit of compromise and accepting what you have to work with. I read a good quote in MR recently - something like "make the tough decisions and live with them".

 

Cheers and thanks for reading.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Barry Ten

[Barry Ten]

I get stuck on one thing for about 6 months, I think. In theory it shouldn't happen because the 4mm and N scale layouts are only inches apart, and a lot of the materials are common to both, but there's a mindset I think, I have to be "into" American stuff to feel any enthusiasm to work on it, and vice versa for the 4mm one. It could be anything, like getting a model I ordered ages ago, which pushes me over the edge and makes me neglect one layout at the expense of the other. One thing I've tried to force myself, though, is to operate both layouts fairly frequently, as this seems to stop weird faults developing. Don't ask me why - maybe they like the attention?

[Mikkel]

Hi Al, that roundhouse shot is superb! You should post it in the "most realistic photo" thread.

 

I hadn't actually noticed the brackets until you mentioned them.

[Dr. John]

Great roundhouse shot! It's difficult to believe that it's N scale.

[John B]

As luck would have it, Al, I'm currently staying very close to the (probably last remaining) Central of Georgia Roundhouse / depot in Savannah. It was closed last night (and the light was all wrong for iPhone shots) but I'll try to get back there and get some decent inspiration shots for you.. the Walthers roundhouse and Engine House look like they are fairly close in design & concept to the layout here in Savannah.. the old CoG terminus is also preserved as the town historical museum, complete with (allegedly) the longest remaining vaulted train shed in the US..

[Barry Ten]

As luck would have it, Al, I'm currently staying very close to the (probably last remaining) Central of Georgia Roundhouse / depot in Savannah. It was closed last night (and the light was all wrong for iPhone shots) but I'll try to get back there and get some decent inspiration shots for you.. the Walthers roundhouse and Engine House look like they are fairly close in design & concept to the layout here in Savannah.. the old CoG terminus is also preserved as the town historical museum, complete with (allegedly) the longest remaining vaulted train shed in the US..

 

Hi John - sent you an email a few days ago - are you still on the same account as two years ago? All that CoG stuff sounds fantastic - wish I could be there!

[pH]

As luck would have it, Al, I'm currently staying very close to the (probably last remaining) Central of Georgia Roundhouse / depot in Savannah. It was closed last night (and the light was all wrong for iPhone shots) but I'll try to get back there and get some decent inspiration shots for you.. the Walthers roundhouse and Engine House look like they are fairly close in design & concept to the layout here in Savannah.. the old CoG terminus is also preserved as the town historical museum, complete with (allegedly) the longest remaining vaulted train shed in the US..

 

Definitely worth seeing, John. We were there in 2011 (some pictures here - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/47868-roundhouse-railroad-museum-in-savannah-georgia/?hl=%2Bsavannah+%2Bcentral ).  Photography isn't too easy, though. It's not like you can remove the back walls in 1:1 scale!

[Barry Ten]

Couple of shots showing slow but steady progress on the town scene. Most of the buildings here are from the DPM kits, and most of those came in a big box of them that I bought from an RMweb member a few years ago, marketed by Woodland Scenics:

 

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/item/s1485

 

It's a pretty good way of getting a nice selection of properties, most of which are shops, bars, hotels and so on, but with a factory thrown in as well. They also include some castings, decals and vacuum-formed parts for awnings and so on.

 

The DPM kits are quite fun to work with. They don't look all that inspiring in the package, since they're just a few biscuit-coloured mouldings which are quite hard to cut, and they need a lot of sanding down before they fit properly. They really come alive when you start painting them, though, and the architectural details look very crisp. Looking at some of these shop fronts, too, I reckon some of them would work in a UK scene if you trimmed the top of the front down and substituted a British-style roof. They do take a lot of time to paint and detail, though, since painting a wall full of windows in N is just as tiresome as in any other scale. What I've tended to do is build a few of them at a time, then paint them all in one session spread over a few nights with a good selection of reds, greens and greys.

 

Anyway, the town scene is coming along slowly and I'm beginning to get a sense of how it will look when finished. The town itself is built on foam-core modules which can be lifted out to access the storage tracks.

 

 

 

My Bachmann 2-8-0, incidentally, just runs better and better as it gets older. This was the first of the Spectrum steam models, as far as I know, and they've really hit a streak of great looking and running models over the last decade or so. A short wheelbase loco like the 2-8-0 doesn't look too out of place taking the tight curve onto the peninsula branch. As for the peninsula extension itself, there's really nothing stopping me from building it now - in fact, I've already begun salvaging a 30-year old baseboard from my old layout in Holland, which will be just the job for the peninsula.

 

cheers and thanks for reading.

[DanielB]

Fantastic progress, your layout really is incredible. Inspired me to return to American N scale, and now I'm hooked!

[Dr. John]

Living in the lower Appalachian foothills as I do, I'm struck by how well you have captured the 'feel' of the region with your scenery and structures. Your layout looks 'familiar' in the sense that it looks like places I've passed through. I wish I had the confidence, skill (and eyesight) to work in N scale as it provides opportunity for scenic vistas difficult to attain in the larger scales.

[Mikkel]

A short wheelbase loco like the 2-8-0

 

2-8-0s are short wheelbase locos, eh? Hmm, this US modelling business is really getting in your blood now!

 

Seriously though, this is getting better and better. A lot of time must have gone into all that foliage. Very nice.

[Barry Ten]

Pleased to report that Model Railroader have accepted an article on the layout.

[trisonic]

Look forward to that, Al. Nice one!

Best, Pete.

[roundhouse]

Pleased to report that Model Railroader have accepted an article on the layout.

 

Look forward to seeing the article. have they said which issue yet?

 

Ian

Edited October 15, 2013 by roundhouse

[Barry Ten]

Look forward to seeing the article. have they said which issue yet?

 

Ian

 

I imagine it will be some while, Ian - maybe a year or two, since I gather they have

quite long lead times. Stil got to sign and return the paperwork, anyway, so nothing

will happen until I do that!

[roundhouse]

Yes its a bit more work than for a UK magazines the way they go back and forth on info.

 

I know it was some months before they published the article for Fort Myers soem years ago.

 

Ian

[Barry Ten]

Inevitably in a project which takes more than a year or two to finish, you're going to find yourself learning as you go - and trying to correct those mistakes you eventually find you can't live with. Although there's nothing ground breaking about my layout, it was my first time using N scale trackage of any kind, and in terms of the amount of wiring and points, it's by far the most complicated layout I've been involved with to date.

 

I started with the best of intentions, and vowed not to cut corners as I went. This meant a serious, methodical approach to track and wiring, with plenty of power feeds, neat arrangement of circuits, and rigorous colour coding. I also quickly decided that all my points would have switched frogs, necessitating quite a bit more work for each installation. All the same, I've found that I could still have done a better job. Over time, and especially after ballasting, some areas of track have not had the electrical reliability I'd like. The basic cause of all this is an over-reliance on rail joiners to conduct electricity. They work fine to start with, but in my experience the conductivity gradually worsens, leading to dead spots and areas of reduced track power. The dead spots are easy to diagnose, of course, but the areas where the track power is reduced aren't always so obvious - whether a train slows or not can depend on the characteristics of the motor. I never had this problem in 00, so it wasn't something I gave much thought to when I started building the GA&E - I just assumed that having a power feed every meter or so would be good enough.

 

Before I move on to the next phase of the model, Ive decided to upgrade the electrics on the existing part. Most of the work involves ensuring that all points have their own independent track feed, rather than receiving power from the rail joiners at the toe end. Soldering in place would be messy and difficult, but luckily the fact that the frogs are switched means that I can feed in the necessary power from below, simply by adding a few more wires - just a simple screwdriver job. I've now upgraded all the points where there was a noticeable power drop, and the remaining ones can be attended to on a longer timescale, all but one of which should be simple. Trains now move through the points at a constant speed, as it should be.

 

The points are the main problem, but there are also one or two areas of dicky trackwork where I didn't provide enough power feeds, resulting in intermittent power issues. Where these have been worst, I've resorted to soldering across the rail joiners but that's really only a partial fix and I'd much rather have improved feeds coming in from below. I can't get at these tracks from under the baseboard, however, so the only viable solution is to lift, resolder new power feeds, relay and reballast. I was a bit wary of doing this as in nearly six years of construction, I haven't had to lift a single piece of ballasted track and I had no idea how easy or messy this would be given that the track is laid onto foam. As it turned out, it wasn't difficult at all and the exposed foam appears almost totally undamaged and flat. Today I lifted a bad piece (using a cutting disk to slice through the rail joiners at either end), cleaned it up, solderered new feeds, relaid and wired it in, and I'd finished ballasting within an hour or two. Since I used the same piece of track, it's already weathered and therefore already looks at home. It's a small thing, but the possibility of having to relift track has always been at the back of my mind, and now I know I can do it wiithout too much disruption, which gives me a lot of confidence in moving forward.

 

Going back to the start, the advice to myself would be:

 

1) do not rely on rail joiners under any circumstances, with the possible exception of plain track in fiddle yards and so on. Every single piece of track, no matter how short, should be fed indepdently.

 

2) all points must have their own power supply, and not be reliant on power arriving from the toe end.

 

Perhaps the best way to enforce this discipline would be to build the entire layout using only insulated fishplates. However about a year ago I started routinely soldering all rail joints before ballasting, and I think this is a good half-way measure.

[Barry Ten]

Although it's not the most exciting purchase I've made for the layout, I'm thrilled with this bit of kit:

 

 

It's a DCC Specialities PSX-1 circuit breaker, and I bought it from the Digitrains stand at Warley. Prior to adding the PSX-1, I'd found that the short circuit protection on the NCE Power Cab wasn't working in a way that gave me a lot of confidence. I'd already had a blown decoder following a derailment, and another loco (see earlier posting) needed a replacement tender truck when it shorted out over a switch that was thrown the wrong way. Perhaps my layout wiring wasn't beefy enough (it was originally done for sectionalised cab control, and I've kept to that scheme ever since) but the Power Cab did not always trip when there was a short circuit. I did the "coin test" on various parts of the layout and found that even having the coin at one end of a length of track rather than the other was enough to make the controller trip or not trip. If I arranged a short at one of these spots where the coin test fails, the Power Cab's red light would dim but it would not trip and reset.

 

As part of my general attempt to tidy up the wiring, I wanted more positive short circuit protection so after chatting to the man at Digitrains, I bought this device and wired it in last night. It's very simple to set up, with the only soldering needed being to set the desired level of current protection. You can also program it instead using CVs if you fancy.

 

I soldered in a jumper to set the current trip setting to 1.27 amps which is the lowest available value and somewhat lower than the Power Cab's own 1.7 amp protection. The unit is easy to wire up and I had it temporarily installed within a few minutes. Test running showed no problems with the 1.27 amp threshold, and - more importantly - the unit now detects and protects against a short wherever it happens on the layout. This should protect not only my trains, but also the Power Cab itself - pretty good peace of mind for 30 pounds.

Edited November 25, 2013 by Barry Ten

[roundhouse]

They are very good circuit breakers.

 

I have 4 of them on ROUNDHOUSE due to the number of sound fitted locos.

 

Ian

[Barry Ten]

They are very good circuit breakers.

 

I have 4 of them on ROUNDHOUSE due to the number of sound fitted locos.

 

Ian

 

The day when I have to worry about having that many sound fitted locos in N will be a good day

[AndrewC]

I'll second Roundhouse's comments. I junked my Digitrax PM42 for 4 PSX units. Best decision ever. They are by far the best power management units available. Their only downside is they shut down power too fast compared to most auto-reverse units. I still have to come up with a solution for the wye. Anyone need a very slightly used AR1 auto-reverser?