Superior & Seattle Railroad Build

[S&S RR]

We had a good day working on the layout today.  I spent the day wiring the DCC system and Wayne Olson came over today and started putting the finishing touches on the track work in the yard. We were working so hard I didn't take time for pictures. Tomorrow I will post update pictures.

[S&S RR]

Today, I finished wiring the first of three drawers full of computer boards for the DCC system. The boards in this drawer provide overload protection for 8 power districts and 2 reversing loops.

[ACL1504]

John,

Wow, you and the layout need to move to Central Florida! Just kidding, no seriously!

Tom

[S&S RR]

John,

Wow, you and the layout need to move to Central Florida! Just kidding, no seriously!

Tom

A trip to Florida is a strong possibility in the next few years. For some reason we always seem to make these trips in the winter.   Make sure you let me know if a trip to Michigan makes it on your schedule.

[S&S RR]

News Flash: fired up the DCC system and ran a train halfway around the lower main without incident.


Tomorrow I can clean the boxes off the rest of the main and fire up the second drawer full of computer boards. We are having fun now!

All those status LED's sure look nice when they are the right color.

[gnatshop]

Today, I finished wiring the first of three drawers full of computer boards for the DCC system. The boards in this drawer provide overload protection for 8 power districts and 2 reversing loops.

Boy, I'm impressed!  The Ledbetter's house wirin' ain't near that complicated!   

[S&S RR]

Today, I finished wiring the first of three drawers full of computer boards for the DCC system. The boards in this drawer provide overload protection for 8 power districts and 2 reversing loops.

Boy, I'm impressed!  The Ledbetter's house wirin' ain't near that complicated!   

As soon as you get that indoor plumbing I will wire you up one of those heated toilet seats I saw when I was in Japan.
You will need to be careful, if you push the wrong button you get a real surprise.

[S&S RR]

I spent two hours running trains on the Superior & Seattle yesterday. The DCC system installation went great - the people at NCE are putting together a real nice system.  Running trains on the lower main has really motivated me to get the rest of the track work done.  At this point I have about 40 percent of the track operational.


I ran a 2-6-6-2 over the lower main and found three areas that will need some adjustment - main issue was with curved track to close to switches - the big steam needs more time to get aligned for a switch.

[GPdemayo]

Great progress John, but the electrical stuff sure looks complicated. 

[Zephyrus52246]

Great to hear you're running trains!


Jeff

[S&S RR]

Great progress John, but the electrical stuff sure looks complicated. 

Gregory

The first board starts out complicated but after that it's just making sure you do every one the same way.  My procedure for this is make a sketch with notes in my log book.  I do this while I'm reading the directions. Those of you that are over 50 will understand why I do that - those of you that are not over 50 - you will - and you should start taking notes now. I wired the actual boards from my log book sketch.  Then at the end before I power up I take a picture - you thought the picture was only so I could post on the forum - I double check each connection on the picture. The final test is the "SLIM" test - hit the power switch and look for smoke. No smoke check the status LED's on each board. At that point I fired up one block and tested it with a engine. Use the one with the $20 decoder. My layout, as designed right now, has 16 power districts, 8 of these have reversing capability. In addition to the power districts I have 120 blocks. Each block has two switches for + and - input so testing for a short is real easy.  I can also turn off engines in sidings and in the yard with a switch.  I have been to OPPS sessions where start up is way to much power draw with all the sound decoders to feed. If I ever wanted to go back to DC block control I would only have to change the two input wires - I don't know why I would ever want to do that but it was nice to test the track with all my old DC locomotives.

[S&S RR]

Great to hear you're running trains!


Jeff

Jeff

Thanks - It is really nice to see things moving on the layout. Really gave me an energy boost to get the rest of the track finished so I can get to the structures and scenery.

I was happy to hear in your post on your thread that the storms didn't cause you any problems.  I have experienced three tornadoes in my life and treat them with great respect.  I was in the middle of the famous Palm Sunday tornado, on the West side of Michigan,  in 1965 (I was 7 so you don't have to do the math) that killed all the people. I was in a car that was thrown into a ditch. I can still see it in my minds eye.  I heard on the news this week when they were talking about the storms in your area, that it still holds the record for most tornado deaths in the US.

[S&S RR]

Today I finished the DCC installation - this is a major milestone - now I can live test each section of track as I install it. In addition to making a few changes in the first drawer, I completed the installation of the 6 reversing control boards in the second drawer. Here are a couple of pictures of the final configurations. I include these picture here because I was looking for pictures just like this when I was designing the system and couldn't find them. I hope someone finds them of value. Please let me know if you have questions - that is what this thread and the forum is all about.




Drawer 1 : 8 power districts and 2 reversing loops.



Drawer 2: 6 reversing loops.

[bparrish]

John


You are now well into the 21st century. 

Looks good to me.

Thanx
Bob

[S&S RR]

John


You are now well into the 21st century. 

Looks good to me.

Thanx
Bob

Bob

Thanks - Do I have all the wires in the right place. So far - no smoke and the engines run .