The Atlantic and Southern Build, Part 1

[ACL1504]

Looks like l'il Tommy has taken a break to have himself a R oh Cee Cola!!
Hang in there, Diet Pepsi - your loyalty may be questioned!
And poor l'il Bober - he's havin' a cryin' fit!!! 

Gman,

Good to see you again and so soon! I must say that the "cut back on Diet Pepsi" experiment was a failure. It lasted 6 weeks and I decided if people can live longer drinking the real "Royal Crown" HA, I can live drinking the DP's. But, time will tell. This should make Bober feel better.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Hi there

Tom,that´s an impressive yard with a lot of storage tacks.....looking great.Now I´m getting an imagination how big your layout room is......
Those two cars are looking fine.

Keep the progress going,
Cheers,Chris

Hey Chris,

I appreciate you stopping by. The storage tracks will certainly come in handy as I get the rest of my stuff unpacked. The layout room is 12' X 48' with a 7' X 10' kickout space. The 7' X 10' area is where the ovalix is located.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Love the first layout picture!  The telegraph car is sweet!

Leo,

Thank you. I loved the first layout. I was big stuff with a 4x8 sheet of plywood layout.

The WUTX car is very sweet, thanks.

Glad you were pleased with the care package.


Tom

[GPdemayo]

Looks great Tom.....check the track a litle behind the Zephyr, I think you missed a bent nail! 


See you tomorrow.....

Greg,

Thanks, I appreciate you stopping by. We had fun today didn't we? The SBG is a great group.

Tom

You bet.....I really enjoy our get togethers. 

[jbvb]

Tom, I'm guessing your Western Union Materials Car spent more time parked at a work site than it did in regular passenger trains.  In some cases WU rented wires from the RR, in others they had their own pole line. I think the materials car was used by WU linemen working out in the field, and only got moved when the crew changed bases.

They are both very nicely built models.

[ACL1504]

Tom, I'm guessing your Western Union Materials Car spent more time parked at a work site than it did in regular passenger trains.  In some cases WU rented wires from the RR, in others they had their own pole line. I think the materials car was used by WU linemen working out in the field, and only got moved when the crew changed bases.

They are both very nicely built models.

James,

Thanks for checking in and letting us know about the WU materials car.
It does appear to have some sort of crew quarters on the one end. It's really neat and the man whom built this one and the Hood's Milk car certainly did a fantastic job.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I have a little update on the layout build. This part of the build is slow moving but I still have my eye on the golden ring.

I wavered about a month on how I wanted to wire the staging area tracks and turnouts. I considered using LEDs and IR for train position indicators but decided against this method. Frank Baker, Erieman, uses this method as most of his staging tracks can't be viewed by the operator. My layout is a little different as I can see all of my staging tracks as they are only 10 inches below the second level benchwork. However, it will be difficult to see the turnout position.

This was the problem I was wavering on. On the middle and third levels I plan on using the Digitrax DS64 for turnout control but this option still won't give me the needed information for the lower level. There is a way to wire the DS64 with LED panel indicator lights but this requires two additional wiring steps. I decided to go with what I'm comfortable using.

I'm using a control panel wiht LED and a DPDT (double pole double throw) toggle switch to control the turnouts. I'm using a simple on/off switch for the staging track. My staging tracks are visable to the operator as the tracks are staggered so the operator can see when to stop the train.



Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

I gave a complete tutorial on the other forum on how I build my control panels. You can view it here.

http://www.kitforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3262&start=300

This is how I'm doing the staging level control panel.

Continued tomorrow evening.

[ACL1504]

I decided the lower level control panel would be located on the end of the staging yard where the various trains would be headed. I took a piece of cardstock (3X3' cardboard @ $3.49) from Sam Flax and cut a section for the panel. I then drew lines where the tracks would be located. I then marked where the toggles and LEDs would go. I then used quick grips to hold the panel on position.



I then placed the LED holders and nuts on the cardboard indicating the locations on the panel.



Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

Being satisfied with the panel, I used the cardboard as a template and cut a piece of 1/8"  Masonite. I painted the Masonite a semi-gloss green. The paint came from Lowes @ $28.00 a gallon. The paint is by Olympic and is #C63-5 Country Club Green.

I went with a semi-gloss as it is easier to keep clean. I used an ege shell finish on the last control panel and it very easily showed marks and smears.



Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

You can see in the next photo that I have started installing the toggles and LEDs.

The toggles on the left are simple ON/OFF toggles to the staging tracks. I needed these in order to turn off the power to the tracks. With the locos on all staging tracks, the sound is very distracting with all the steam and diesel sounds going at the same time.



And, here I've started the wiring process to the panel.



This system is very simple. The position of the green light is the position of the turnout and the clear track for the train. I call this "Getting a green board".

[BandOGuy]

Tom,
Green with envy; never bored. 

[Janbouli]

looking good , and giving me ideas. Thanks

[cuse]

Beautiful work. First class all the way.


John

[gnatshop]

I went with a semi-gloss as it is easier to keep clean. I used an ege shell finish on the last control panel and it very easily showed marks and smears.     Continued in a few.

Excellent idea, as you never know what them other  SBG fellers are gonna have on their fingers!
SBG Bobby may smear any thing from paint to whatever,
and SBG Cuse may smear onion juice, ketchup, and mustard, with a little ice cream mixed in for Jaime!!