Zomboid Posted September 13, 2017 Author Share Posted September 13, 2017 (edited) I hit a milestone today. All the track is now stuck down (and dropper wires attached too, I did that before sticking it down - you can see where because there are larger sleeper gaps...). Much swearing was achieved, but everything runs smoothly when I push cars around manually. To celebrate I posed a few freight cars on their spots, and got the ever popular RS11 out. Not great quality because it's on my phone and the room doesn't have the best lighting in the world... Electricity next. I've been putting off thinking about that, but I'm not sure I can avoid it any longer... Edited September 13, 2017 by Zomboid 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 What could be simpler? I'm already wishing I'd bought dead frog turnouts, but it's too late for that now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Nothing like a exhibition/freemo meet to get the juices flowing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 The frog juicers are waiting for me at the post office... That (adding with poking the turnouts over with one's finger) was always the plan. When you're as bad as I am with a soldering iron you plan things to minimise that kind of thing. I'm presently working on a plan to have just about every wire crimped, as that's a tool I can actually handle. Saying that, the big unknown for me is getting the two boards to work together and with external boards. This is my first multi section layout... And yes, nothing like a meet to get things moving. Might yet achieve my internal deadline for having trains running. No, I'm not going to say what that deadline is publicly... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 Update Time! Just what no one was waiting for... So I've done some wiring. Highly amateur, particularly the chock-block busbars, as I cunningly avoid soldering as much as possible. And yes, in this picture I have selotaped some wires to the bottom of the board. That's not the permanent solution... And the coloured splodges are to identify which leg goes where. Having done that to both boards it was time for the Inaugural Train. My RS11 always gets positive comments when I let it out in public, so it was the obvious choice for this duty. So here's a sequence of photos of the big event... It worked! One thing I noticed was that the Gaugemaster frog juicers were quite slow to operate (half a second or so, which you definitely do notice). I suspect this is because I'm running the layout from a Sprog 2, which probably can't ramp up the short circuit current quickly enough to get a fast response. All 4 were the same, so I doubt it's a problem with the juicers. I know the sprog 2 hasn't got enough oomph for the Tam Valley juicers, so either way something with a bit more power will be needed. And I did indeed achieve my deadline - I wanted to have it operational before the October meet at Bearwood, which is next weekend - though in the event I won't be taking it, and probably won't even be able to go myself. Maybe November, then... Gives me a bit of a dilemma, as I don't really want to do anything scenically with it until I know for sure that it actually works with other modules. Guess when I get some time to play I'll have to spend it practising my weathering or something. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 Postman came a bit later, so I couldn't resist posing this. The daily mixed train arrives into the siding/ passenger line as a freight awaits the road on the main. I don't know about everyone else, but I love the American steam engine aesthetic. I'm going to re-label the tender for the fictional (as far as I know) Louisiana Midland, but it'll probably keep its number, on the basis that when the LAM bought it, the number it had didn't clash with anything else on the stocklist, so no need to change it... Needs running in, too - it's not particularly smooth at low speeds. And being 10-coupled, even with a flangeless middle set, it's not very forgiving of any less than brilliant track laying, but a bit of filing here and there and it's not too bad. The trailing lead connecting to the tender is too long and fouls pointwork, so that wants fixing, which is a truly terrifying prospect. I'd like to make that problem go away by using money, if I could... But I believe I have now scratched that steam engine itch. Beautiful, isn't it? 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tove Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 I'm going to re-label the tender for the fictional (as far as I know) Louisiana Midland, Prototype for everything...and nearly every name as far as shortlines go!... http://www.msrailroads.com/Lou_Midland.htm If i remember correctly,it formed part of the 'Natchez Route', along with the Mississippi Central and another carrier,though i think the MSC was the only one to brand some of their stock with the slogan. http://protocraft.com/category.cfm?Itemid=658&Categoryid=20 Anyhow the Mississippi Rails site is facsinating site if you like deep south railroading,and well worth a look though... http://www.msrailroads.com/Mississippi_Railroads.htm Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 Cheers. Interesting sites, those. I should have guessed really. Good job I haven't already bought the decals. I might stick with it anyhow, see if any other inspiration strikes. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tove Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Cheers. Interesting sites, those. I should have guessed really. Good job I haven't already bought the decals. I might stick with it anyhow, see if any other inspiration strikes. I did`nt want to put off,and anyway 'rule 1' applies at all times..!! Just so long as you don`t paint it in the purple-white & red livery that adorned one of their RS1`s......... http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1058092 Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Nice progress dude! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 I'm closing in on a name. Doesn't seem like there were that many places in LA without a railway, thanks to the way the railways created towns over there, but I'm imagining a railway heading south from Gueydan (where the SP Midland branch turned through 90deg to head N-S after running E-W from Abbeville) to White Lake or possibly beyond, no reason why it couldn't be a through station, to a newly invented settlement named after the lake. So "White Lake" is the front runner, or I might contract it to "Whitelake", or switch it round to be "Lake White". The other idea I had was "East Lake Arthur", but the SP already had a line from Lake Charles to Lake Arthur, so the idea of them providing another station in the town is a bit far fetched, even though a line connecting from there to Gueydan is a bit of a "why didn't they build that?" for me. At this point I invite any comments on those ideas... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 11, 2017 Author Share Posted November 11, 2017 News rather than progress - today I took the module to the Bearwood group meeting, and set it up with another module to see if it worked. It did. So now I've got no excuse for not doing the scenics... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Fab! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Winner! So glad to see this prototype being modelled, as it's always been "the one that got away" for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 12, 2017 Author Share Posted November 12, 2017 I wouldn't say I'm actually modelling Abbeville! A loose "inspired by" is about as far as I'd go... Thanks though :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Aren't all models of prototype locations "inspired by", as none of us have got the room to truly replicate it? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 Progress over Christmas - I've painted the sides of the rails, and done most of the ballasting ('ve done the turnouts since this photo). The far right turnout (almost out of shot) I nearly broke by filling it with ballast, but I managed to rescue that, but not completed ballasting it yet. The big gaps are where grade crossings will go, one conveniently covering the transition from the dark brown to the greyish stuff.. I'm considering moving the tank facility to the top right, and then the bottom right can be a team track for boxcars, gons etc... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHohn Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Ballasting: one of my least favorite modeling activities. Maximum opportunity to foul turnouts; rail needs a good cleaning afterwards; dead spots show up where glue gets into rail joiners (we do know that every section of rail needs its own electrical connection but we still try to get away with not doing so). . . . But the results improve track appearance so much. RS11: one of my favorite locomotives. Steamer looks great as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrail Joe Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Looks great! I'll be following along with your build!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 I only cut the "every rail needs a feed" corner on two very short rail sections (3" long, so shouldn't really cause a problem with modern diesels), after about 4 attempts to get the wire on without ruining the track mechanically I gave up and will be relying on the joiners. Haven't tested that since ballasting actually, probably should do that soon... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 Well I just tested it with a multimeter, and one of the sections is fine, but the other is dead. I think "rats" is appropriate at this time, not sure how I'll solve that, but I guess you reap what you sow... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 (edited) Is it the loop that is dead? if so you need to feed from the narrow end of the turnouts, and have an insulating joiner on the other end - back shortly with diagram. EDIT - sorry got sidetracked by SWMBO with mugatea - these should show where to break the loop if that is the problem Edited January 7, 2018 by shortliner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 It's actually just the 3" bit from the toe of the turnout to the edge of the board, and only one of them (I managed to get a feed attached at one end by soldering the wires on before putting it on the board - that's how I did the whole layout, but the end where I've had the problem I tried that about 4 times and the track just disintegrated when I tried to get it on the board. After painting and ballasting, the rail joiner was providing electrical continuity to one of those sections, but not the other). However, I have just fixed the problem by scraping the paint off, soldering a wire on and connecting it up underneath - I did both rail sections whilst I was at it... The multimeter now shows that everything is connected which should be, so that should be problem solved. It looks a bit crappy close up, but still passes the "at a glance from normal viewing distance" test, and once I've painted over it and run over the whole lot with a rattlecan/ airbrush I think it'll be fine. I load of ballast fell off as I was shifting the board around though. Clearly it wasn't as stuck as I thought! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 As a matter of interest, are you soldering the wires to the track or to the rail-joiners? It can be easier to do that and then just touch the solder and iron to the joiner on the end of one of the tracks - that way it can still expand, but the length of rail is attached to the bus feed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 I've been soldering the wires to the track. Which has worked pretty well so far, though I hadn't considered the option of soldering the joiners onto the rail. I'll see if I remember that next time I'm laying track - all being well that'll be some time away! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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