PRR Bellevue Sub Build

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Thank you Jerry and Bob for the kind words.

Today I started putting on the RH walls that I can until the welding lights come in. I also glued down the WS inclines (currently at 2.5 inch going to 4 inches). After that I glued the smoke jacks and stacks on the appropriate roof pieces.

Then it went to crap. I decided to do another test of the TT/RH with a loco. Guess what? It's back to not working again . I did a meter check and the bridge and 3 RH tracks all show 12V on the rails. It has to be the AR unit in the bridge that is only working when it wants to because the engine runs fine on the bridge and the RH tracks. It dies as soon as the leading truck either touches the bridge track or going in the opposite direction when it touches the RH tracks.

Jon S. also suggested the other day of placing a PSX-AR in line with the RH/TT buss. He mentioned he did that one time to get the system to work on another layout, so I will try that tomorrow. I have one that is wired into the layout but it will be months before I get to that part of the layout. If this doesn't work I'll be looking seriously at getting rid of the TT/RH and go to straight storage tracks.

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Today went much better with the layout. I started out wiring a PSX-AR into the RH/TT buss. After that I tested the setup 3 different times each time for each track I did 6 times on-off without issue, so today each track was tested 18 times. I'll keep testing for a couple more days to make sure it's really fixed.

In other news I put plaster cloth on the WS risers that were glued down yesterday and built about half of the Walthers Cinder Tower structure (last structure for the engine service area).

[ACL1504]

Curt,

The roundhouse walls look great. As for the turntable electronics, it sounds like you have the problem solved. I only tested mine a few time and it still works. I also needed to install the PSX-AR on the outbound turntable tracks for it all to work correctly.

Tom

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Tom- Thank you for your kind words. I agree that sometimes DCC seems like magic.

Today I continued testing the TT/RH tracks. Did each 18 times and they had no issue except when I didn't line the tracks up properly . I also ran the bridge 360 degrees twice.

I also painted the plaster cloth I put down yesterday and finished up the Walthers Cinder tower after modifying the base. The tower photo is a representation of how it will be placed. 

[jbvb]

That's odd.  My turntable is DC/DCC so it reverses via an old-style split ring rail. But what I've read lead me to believe one AR module feeding the bridge rails would do the job.

[Judge]

Curt - Good start.  Greg's Cad will no doubt be helpful.  The turntable will be trouble.  At least ours was.  Computers, even small ones, can be a PITA. 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Thank you James and Judge for following along and your insight into our computer driven hobby.

Today I finished the RH finally. After putting in the welding lights that came in last night I finished putting together the rest of the structure. I spent 30 minutes trying to get the damn doors in place but finally gave up on them. I knew there was a reason my last RH didn't have them on. I also noticed that the roof sections are flimsier than before and don't fit quite so good as previously. I'll have to do some thinking on that, but possibly some weight glued on the inside will hold the one panel down.

I also managed to do the last test runs before calling it done. Each RH track had 44 on/offs over 3 days. I think my next step is to layout the TT staging tracks, but I'm taking tomorrow off.

[GPdemayo]

I bet you're glad the roundhouse is substantially complete.....good job Curt. 

[ACL1504]

Curt,

Looking very good sir. Great progress as well.

Tom

[postalkarl]

Hey Curt:

Turntable & roundhouse look great so far.

Karl

[Jerry]

Curt very nice.  A great job!


Jerry

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Today I put in 5 storage tracks on the left side of the RH (facing the front of the RH). They are powered and tested. It went fairly smoothly until the last track power hookup. I couldn't figure out why the last track wasn't getting power since it was hooked up like the last 4 (thankfully before soldering). Using a flashlight I discovered that the wire stripper didn't completely pull the insulation off the one buss wire . No problem after that.

I'm only putting those in until the rest of the engine service facility is laid down and track from there to the TT is in place. No sense putting something in then having to rip it out.

[ACL1504]

Curt,

Look'n good my friend.

Tom

[tom.boyd.125]

Curt,
You have done a lot of work in just under 3 months !
Fantastic progress on your railroad empire.
Tommy

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Tom and Tom thank you for your support and following.

It's been a couple of up and downs the last couple of days. I think on Sunday I ordered some shale rock faces from "Rubber Rocks" which I have used before and like their products. I plan on trimming them in half which will give me a 64" x 3.5" per rock face. I ordered 2 of them. Monday morning I realized that to be able to use the new rockfaces I would have to move the WS Risers that were pushed up against  backboard.

So I tried moving the existing risers after spraying with RA but ended up destroying some of them so I just went ahead and put a new set in, plastered and painted like before. I now have 2 inches to the edge of the riser and another inch to the edge of the roadbed. I also realized that because of the way the feeder wires for those tracks needed to be wired (both going toward the back of the layout) that the roadbed and track will need to be in place before the back drop is finished. 

Although I wouldn't normally solder 3 pieces of flex track together but because of the location and pre soldering the feeder wires it would be easier to do it all together. Although in the picture it looks wavy I did run a Ribbon Rain straight tool and it ran the entire length without issue . I attached and soldered the feeders to the main buss and tested without issue.