Lumber Mill and Stage II Progress

Latest project was the building and installation of 3 more code 40 turnouts for the lumber mill trackage, and pushing through on completing the rest of the trackwork there also.  Just a bit more wiring and this industry should be ready to receive it's first cut of cars in conjunction with the inaugural ops of the new layout configuration.  It's as close as I could get with selective compaction for my version of Pope Talbot.  The trackage arrangement is close comparing the SPINS diagram to years gone by (minus one track), but I don't have the real estate for accurate structure placement.  I have a temp structure set-up for now until I can get more info on how it looked vs what I have to work with.... then these stand-in structures should eventually move to the proposed Klamath Northern Gilchrist mill location on the upper deck of the expansion.  

Looking out the West end of Oakridge:

Meanwhile also got both temp staging yard panels installed.  They don't show exact track alignment as it made the ladders appear a bit confusing, so this is kind of a test for the permanent panels, but want to see how it all flows with emphasis just focusing on the track numbers needed for movements.  Staging will be where those new to the operations will board their first run, and I'm hoping to make it as seamless as possible  just to get the feel of the layout, without being submerged into the intricacies of full ops...

Here is a view of Portland Panel with arrival / departure's break down.  Note the 5 throttle slots are typically for the corresponding 5 departure tracks (top of control panel board is visible here also):

So now that all track feeders have been finished and all Tortoise wiring is completed for Phase II expansion, it was time to run the first test train through the staging yard!  

A 45 car MT lumber drag pulls out of Klamath Falls after a run through into Portland and "through" the staging yard for testing:

....only a few minor issues.  Once I added a few more feeders and filed some switch points it appeared to be pretty seamless running both ways through the yard with the first test train.  Got it wired now temporarily to run trains and verify the flow, as the booster and associated wiring for block detection etc is still progressing.  The DB150 Booster will sit on the shelf behind the new control panel board installed under the Portland yard location.  Work still progressing on the front of the panel board which will carry the support for the DB150 (power districts) and detection / signaling related devices.  Have progressed most of the way through on the Loconet connections for the new throttle racks and booster.  All throttle racks have been tested and are up and running...  

Klamath Falls Panel and Throttle Rack:

...but not without issue.  After installing the new throttle ports around the addition, we tied it into an existing UP5 with it's own PS, but the system failed to power the throttles with the DCS turned off.  After putting the LT5 tester on the output jacks of the UP5 we found that it was wired different than the schematic included with the Digitrax user manual...  The side port output was wired with the LocoNet rear jacks rather than to follow the front Throttle jacks!  No evidence of this found anywhere on the web or otherwise from anyone else, but that is what it was.  So Ray modified the UP5 circuit board for pin 6 output to configure it as per the user manual drawing, and it all works perfect now!

Optimistic the signaling gets integrated into staging soon so we all can resume our erratic schedule of Ops...     :)

Staging Completion on the Horizon

Hit a few milestones over this past week...

 -All of the trackage has now been installed in the staging yard, but still have to block all the sections, and finish dropping feeder wires... I anticipate being able to complete that soon.  I read a trick about using ACC to glue the sliding rail to the ties before cutting any gaps in the Atlas flex track, so hoping that a test of that will be successful and I won't have to worry about any kinks in the rail where cutting gaps on the radius curves...

-Basic Tortoise motor installation is now complete at both ends of staging, but a bit more wiring to go.  Edge connectors are working out really nice, and a must if you don't want to spend a bunch of time under the layout soldering wires.  We took old edge connectors and cut them in half, then glued in styrene strips to keep them aligned properly when installed on the tortoise motors.

Plug and play.    :)    Well, still have to run the frog feeder wires to the turnouts...

 

Ray and I installed and tested the first Matrix Board to control the yard ladder at the Portland end.  The boards that he built are from a design that Rob Paisley designed and can be found at Rob's Web Page (this guy has a lot of info for other projects at his home page also), and are a huge leap forward from the old ways of using the diode steering with ice cube relays... this is just cool:

 

It was a smooth install with the terminal blocks mounted on the boards, as they were quick to terminate the field wiring and verify correct orientation for normal and reverse turnout positioning.  Excited how nice the matrix controls are working at this point.  Special thanks to Ray as he has spent a number of hours researching and building these matrix boards for the layout, as well as helping on the install.  The control board for the K-Falls end of staging is also completed and here now awaiting its turn to be installed.  I still have to make up more temporary panel displays (just using foam board for now) to mount the push button switches on so crews can follow the ladder diagrams, but they are all wired and ready to be installed into the panels.  This will get us back to operations again until I figure out what the final panel designs will be for all the yard panels on the layout... 

-Each yard throat end is now connected to the helix also.  Here is a view looking away as departing from the Portland Staging end:

Basically I just chopped out a short section of the lower track in the helix, and brought the remaining ends out on new roadbed where they connect to each end of the staging yard leads.  Maximum gradients are still well below max as well as minimum radius curves on this addition.  A view departing Klamath Falls staging end:

 

There will be a scenic divider between the two yard ends where I will make an attempt to separate them visually...  There won't be much in the way of scenery here other than some ballast, a couple yard structures, and maybe painting the backdrop / divider to simulate the feel of appropriate yards....  6" above the new bridge elevation will be another deck (the next phase), so this should also help to force viewing the mini-yard scenes from an acceptable perspective.  Once arriving trains flow through the yard leads into the yard tracks they will disappear under the bench-work of the other deck also.
Still haven't been able to run the first test train through the staging yard trackage yet, but looks like we are getting pretty close now.

Belated Staging Progress Report

Busy pushing forward on the staging phase of the expansion as of late.  Both yard ladders have been laid at the east and west "ends" repsectively.  Since the layout is actually a loop, the staging is designed to sever that loop creating a West end (Klamath Falls), and an East end (Portland) for trains originating and departing.  This design allows visibly loaded (or empty) trains to continue to operate in the proper direction between runs, without having to turn trains.  Holding the coarse, installation of switch machines aka Tortoise motors is complete at Portland, and progressing through installation at Klamath Falls now.  I am looking forward to the use of edge connectors for terminating wires to the contact strips, unlike what has previously been done. 

Ray has already built the first Matrix board which is ready for the Portland Yard throat's nine Tortoise motors (more on that when it arrives on scene).  This railroad is already years ahead of where I would have it if not for Ray...  that means thanks yet again Ray!  Mulling over the yard throat panel designs...  Preliminary thoughts are to have two sets of  5 push buttons on each panel for aligning specific staging tracks, one set for (5) arrival and the other for (5) departure at each end of the staging yard....  probably based on track numbers instead of a track diagram, and to be located right below each yard throat.  Orders will dictate track number where crews board trains or tie down, and should help to alleviate having to hunt and peck correct turnout positioning.

The final track diagram has been transposed to the benchwork between "ends", and the track gang has commenced laying the Atlas 55 flex trackage as well. Don't really like how one rail flops around in the tie spikes, but it is what it is...  I am also still trying to adjust to the spring action of Atlas flex vs the ME flex, as it is not as user friendly where there is a flex end section on an imcompleted curve... fortunately the choice of contact cement is making things workable... just do not use the heatgun trick on this track as it has a lower melt point than ME also...  A progress shot looking at Portland Yard taken yesterday and already outdated:

The shelving / structural support is now completed under the staging yard. This gives each "end" of the layout a Yard Office for originating and terminating crews.  This includes throttle storage racks, and train assignment pockets for crews with associated paperwork.  In addition there is now supplementary storage space for crews that need a place to lay forms, radios, throttles, or beverages (instead of those inviting flat areas with finish scenery), accessible from almost any location around the layout. 
A view overlooking the entrance to Portland end and it's Yard Office below (short section just to left of throttles is where the yard panel will reside):

Progress at Klamath Falls with it's Yard Office (yard panel will be just to the right of the throttle tray here):

A third Yard Office location also has all the above opposite Eugene Yard for crews and Hostler there.  It all gets painted black eventually to blend in with the motif, which will include more of the same fascias and curtains.

Throttle storage racks are 5 gang holders which will house a connection to Loconet in case of needed programing, and also to keep throttles powered (as a battery save mode) between sessions.  Eventually all staging throttle slots will be labeled with departing track numbers so crews can easily find their train as associated with their clearance / orders in adjacent Assignment Pockets.  Conventional throttle pockets that are currently mounted on the fascias around the layout will remain.

Assignment Pockets follow the existing operating plan that will be modified following the sequence of train assignments that has already proven itself as a stable call system for originating trains.  Clearance Cards with originating Train Orders on the top shelf, with terminating orders placed below.  Typically crews that are still available for Hours of Service, will draw their next set of orders from their terminating destination, similar as any crew would return back on their district.  We will include some orders that will direct crews to take a "Carry All" to Eugene for filler assignments as needed. 

Already got the concept in my head, but really itching to see how incorporating the staging into the layout changes traffic flow, then I can move forward on modifications to the operating scheme.    :)

Nov Update

Little time left for messing with the layout as of late, but felt good to get a full day + of progress in for a change this week.  Some of what has taken place as of late:

-Finished the rebuilding of all 9 ME turnouts so can get back to working on the staging yard project (have now acquired all 75 sections of flex track and the bridge also).

I have always been a staunch supporter of ME track, but I am now on the fence after the latest acquisitions.  The flex track was always superior to Atlas in my experiences, and I had never had any major issues with any of their turnouts...  The latest purchases of their new line of flex track have revealed a strange stagger problem with the rail not being centered on the ties.  And this last batch of turnouts I got on ebay I can only explain as a pre-production set since I encountered so many issues that had to be resolved.  I am tempted to embark on the use of Atlas 55 for the new expansion... but I still want a uniform look since using code 40 in the sidings.  Unable to make any decisions here yet...

-Replaced the ailing Tortoise Motor that has been keeping the DS from seeing / lining the W switch at Oakridge.  This was a thorn in my side as it was the most difficult motor to access on the layout.  Thanks for helping me align that thing back in place Ray!

-We have had a problem with slow trains in the Helix for awhile, so have been working on a number of items to mitigate it:

First I attacked an overdue problem that I have known about for quite awhile with my Tunnel Motor fleet.  Been running the drive trains through a rebuild progam since finding out that a large number were not pulling their fair share of the load.  When cleaning their wheels I noted that the wheels would stop turning but the motor would still be spinning while using the Minitrix wheel cleaner.  Come to find out the yoke on the output shaft of the motor cracks, allowing it to spin freely when under any load.  They ran fine as light units, but any cars behind them and the drive shaft would slip, so the unit would hardly be pulling any weight at all.  I simply clean and superglue the yoke to the motor output shaft as a fix, and now they are back to pulling their fare share of the load.

Then I reprogrammed all my Zimo decoder equipped locos as they were running poor when cold (???).  Unfortunately before I tested them under load on the layout I moved to the next fix, so I don't know which really brought them back to life, but they are running great again. 

The main issue appears to have been track voltage under heavy load.  The DCS was set to 12 V which is fine for most layouts, but we have added so many components that the voltage making it to the rails under load was significantly lower than should be.  So we bumped up the track voltage to compensate for the accumulation of V drop going through bridge rectifiers and other in-line devices, and am somewhat astonished at the results.  I had no idea we were only getting 7 volts under heavy load in one stretch (where I know I am lacking in number of track feeder wires).  That section has now recovered to about 10V by raising the output voltage on the DCS by slightly over one volt.  My Tunnel Motor lighting affects had been looking pretty blah for a looong time and this has also brought them back to full life again.  :)   A few test laps reveal that the layout is back up to it's old spunky self again.

-After settling that issue, we were newly motivated to install the meter onto the fascia that shows layout current flow, which had sat under the layout for seems like eternity.

Ray already had a circuit he built in-line so it was just a matter of actually installing and wiring the meter / display.  Interesting to see what different sets of power and locos actually draw on the layout.  About 300 cars with resistive wheel sets only draw about 1/4 amp, the stable of 30 locos at rest also about 1/4 amp,  and a 20 car TOFC with 4 old Kato SDs doesn't even pull 1/2 amp on the steepest sections of the layout.  I don't remember the layout ever pulling as much as 3 amps during a full operating session, but FWIW now we can see what is actively happening.

-Also Ray cleaned up the master signal control panel now that all systems have been verified as stable through the months.  Since moving the layout controls to the central computer in the house I haven't been using the layout computer for Decoder Pro in a long while, so He also brought the layout computer back on line by building one of Hans Deloof's Loco Buffer cards.  Now I am back to programming locos the easy way again.  *Hans also needs some credit here for his Loco IO cards that we use for turnout position sense (shameless plug). 

I forget how much credit Ray deserves till I look back at what we got done, so an ongoing Thanks! ...yet again for all your help Ray!

XtrakCad is Pretty Cool

This program that Ray used to configure things into the existing layout has worked pretty well throughout the design phase.  Appreciate the help here Ray!  ...as we would still be in the design phase if it was just me doing it!
So he brought over printouts of the yard ladders and transitions, and I transferred the track diagram onto the plywood in those areas with old fashioned carbon paper.... remember that stuff?  lol
Looking good so far.

  Meanwhile got all the turnouts, and the first order of flex track is here.  This batch of ME turnouts are junk.. unlike previous acquisitions.... as all the switch pivot points are falling apart.  I have had to replace a couple throwbars on some of the earlier turnouts, but never seen this issue.  These are getting new switch point / closure rails, and adding my own PC throwbars.  This looked cumbersome at first, but is making them more DCC friendly, and actually isn't as bad as it first looked.  Just demo out the old, slide new rail sections into the molded ties, add one PC tie, and the throwbar.  Here's a shot from the feasability study:

Looks like prefab and a mini production run should blow through all nine of them.  Atlas turnouts at the other yard throat is all new to me, so any input on how these perform is welcome, as now is the time to make any mods to make them reliable also...
Not sure of the order of operations yet, but still have to add the shelving under the basic staging framework, as it is part of the overall support in keeping things squared up and solid.  Probably come before all the track in staging goes down....  More on that later.

Guess how many Sugar beets in the jar?

In taking the beet rack train out of service, I was amazed to see just how many anise seeds were in 50 Intermountain sugar beet cars.  This train is a bit out of place since I eliminated the other side of Klamath Falls from the RR, but it is still a kick to have a train with live loads running on the layout.  This train will return once operations with staging are dialed in, but it is a hog in yard space... so for now I will be reviving a couple TOFC moves, bringing the total number of different Train IDs that roll across the Cascade Sub to 20.

Benchwork Progress

Thanks, to Craig and the use of his "woodshop" over the weeks so that we were able to make decent progress in getting all this wood cut.  Ray came over and helped to align the plywood and square up the benchwork last weekend.  Still have to add the plywood on the front corners by the workbench for structure support, and a few other loose ends, but looking pretty good at this point.
Now have to start hunting for more organizers to fit along the back of the workbench...  Then already having a hard time finding the track I need so looks like that could be a stalling point - I'm slowly coming to expect this kind of delay with the Micro Production Run Mentality of today   :(

Here's the latest: