Superior & Seattle Railroad Build (Volume 2) Started 2/25/17

[S&S RR]

[S&S RR]

For these installations, the servo motor well will be mounted vertical.

[S&S RR]

Most of the servo installation will be replacing manual turnout controls that have already been installed.  The only area that will continue to have manual controls is the yard above my workbench which will serve as a holding and repair yard.

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Here is a closeup of the servo motor installation in the test module. It works great even with the tape holding it in and the control arm that was fabricated in about 2 minutes.  On the layout the servo motor wells will be glued in place and a cover hatch with screws for access will cover it.  The wells that are on the horizontal surface of the layout will be covered with ground cover or a structure.

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So, after playing with the test module, I'm ordering the the rest of the parts I need to complete all of the layout with the Barrett Hill system. I ordered the glass for the control panels from my local hardware store. I showed the owner a picture of what I was using the glass for and he gave me the glass-  if I let him come see the layout. He said it was a great way to use up a bunch of small scrap pieces from other projects. He also gave me some new glass plates for my workbenches.  I can throw out the scratched up ones.   I will keep posting progress pictures as this project moves along.


On the question of heat, that was asked earlier, you can burn up a servo motor, according to the directions, if you program it to move to a location where it can't overcome the physical resistance.  They are not stall motors like tortoise controllers. With Peco turnouts I have a spring that makes sure of the contact on closing a turnout. The spring in the linkage also serves this purpose, so I don't see a problem with this.  I didn't detect any temperature change in the servo motors during my testing.


I found it very easy to program the servo motors.  It worked the first time I tried it - I just followed the directions on the Barrett Hill Website.


Please let me know if you have any questions - I tried to cover most of the steps that I took to test the motors and controllers - but I'm sure I missed something.


I already have some future projects for the servo motors. Great automation tool.

[PRR Modeler]

Sounds like you made a major step today John.

[sdrees]

Hi John,

I to am using the Barrett Hill touch toggle system.  All my switch machines are tortious so I did not have to do any programming. I bought some picture frames from Micheals for my control panels.  I then drew a track diagram using 3rd Planit Cad software in color and printed it on an Ink Jet printer and used double sided tape to fasten it to the glass. 

I used a 3M heavy duty transfer tape to mount the toggles to the back side of the diagram. 

I found out after I had a panel set up that every time you turn the power on to the system the switches will reset to there default direction.  So I had to reset the default direction of some of the switches.  And I also found out that if I rubbed up against the panel with my arm or belly that it thru a bunch of the switches.

And I do like the system very much and it was very easy to install.

[S&S RR]

Sounds like you made a major step today John.

Curt




Thank you for stopping by the thread - yes, this is a major step now the complete layout will be controlled by the same system. I have lots of holes to drill and wires to connect but it will be worth it.

[S&S RR]

Hi John,

I to am using the Barrett Hill touch toggle system.  All my switch machines are tortious so I did not have to do any programming. I bought some picture frames from Micheals for my control panels.  I then drew a track diagram using 3rd Planit Cad software in color and printed it on an Ink Jet printer and used double sided tape to fasten it to the glass. 

I used a 3M heavy duty transfer tape to mount the toggles to the back side of the diagram. 

I found out after I had a panel set up that every time you turn the power on to the system the switches will reset to there default direction.  So I had to reset the default direction of some of the switches.  And I also found out that if I rubbed up against the panel with my arm or belly that it thru a bunch of the switches.

And I do like the system very much and it was very easy to install.

Steve


Thank you for the advice and details.  I read through your posts on your layout in preparation for this project - it was very helpful.  I have one question from your comments - How do you reset the default direction of a switch?  I am assuming it's just a matter of switching the wires from the tortoise controller. It is important to my design scheme to always have green for one direction and red for the other.  I have two light red/green touch toggles.

[sdrees]

My toggle switches have two green lights.  So on my panel, I have a green light for each track.  So if a track has a green light lite, that is the direction of the switch and if the track doesn't have a green light the switch isn't lined up for that track.  Then it is a matter of turning the toggle switch around.

[S&S RR]

My toggle switches have two green lights.  So on my panel, I have a green light for each track.  So if a track has a green light lite, that is the direction of the switch and if the track doesn't have a green light the switch isn't lined up for that track.  Then it is a matter of turning the toggle switch around.

Steve


Thank you for the input.  I have one red and one green so I will have to flip wires.  I guess I will have to cycle the power to see what the default is and then adjust.

[sdrees]

that is what I had to do John.

[S&S RR]

that is what I had to do John.

Thank you Steve.  I will let you know how it goes.

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Update: The expansion of the layout officially began last night. I moved the furniture in preparation for the delivery of the under the layout cabinets that are scheduled to arrive, today. As soon as the weather allows me (snow in the forecast tonight), to cut wood in the garage, I will switch gears and get all the benchwork built and installed. The first area to be completed will be the reversing loop and helix (see the track diagram above). This will allow me to move the current reversing loop out of my workshop, freeing up more workbench area for future builds.

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The under-the-layout cabinets arrived for the new expansion. My Grandkids are going to have a lot of fun with those big boxes.