First post here. Member for over two years. Mostly I've been studying, reading, absorbing. Learning DCC, very excited by what can be done JMRI, computers, occupancy detection, signaling, routes, dispatching, oh just say everything and be done with it. I built my first computer in 1980. Worked with communication electronics in the Navy. Experience on PLC programing troubleshooting and general everything electronic fix it man.
A little background
My first reported words to my adopted parents were, "Ding ding" referring to a wig-wag railroad crossing as we were leaving the orphanage in Bloomington/Normal Illinois. I was adopted just before I turned 4. Living in Galesburg proved very interesting. I would walk the dirt road to a creek and watch F units hauling freight roar past. My father would take me to the hump and we would sit and just watch the cars be uncoupled and roll down the hill.
One very odd incident. For Christmas one year I found a Lionel Passenger car under the tree. This was very perplexing considering there was no track or train to use it with. I think now that this might have happened before I was adopted. Asking my father only deepened the confusion and mystery,
My father had a model railroad. HO scale, a couple 4X8 sheets on saw horses. I don't remember ever seeing a train run on it. I do remember he had a bunch of rolling stock, boxcars built from wood kits, metal coal cars, tank cars, a track cleaning car with a metal tank to hold the liquid, and a Russel Snow plow that fascinated me. At some point I built a wooden kit boxcar, Painted it, put (Big 4) decals on, metal wheel sprung trucks and couplers. Still have the car today, but it has suffered some damage due to age and moisture. I'll clean it up and put it back in service eventually.
While I was off playing Army after High School, my father boxed up his railroad stuff and sold it in a yard sale.
I've been collecting rolling stock, a few locos, a bunch of kits, but frequent moving has kept me from doing anything with it.
Current day.
I have a small test bed, 4' by 16'. L girder open frame, on edge with wheels so I can roll it out, stand it up and test run trains and cars. It has been a learning progress. At present the outer loop is finished but being broke into blocks so I can study sensors for occupancy detection. Signals will come later. The design calls for a passing siding on the inner loop on the back side. Turnouts on the front side at each end, single slip switches on the inner loop allow trains from either loop to enter what would be a passenger siding or small yard in front. I haven't got that far.
Bought a double slip switch jig from Fast Tracks. My first experience with hand laid track was making the left and right hand turnouts and two half slip switches. Learning experience, putting the turnout and slip switch together is the same as making a single crossover. Printed a bunch of switch templates, played paper dolls, cut and tape, figured out what I wanted to do and everything came together perfectly. Keeping with then test bed theory, I experimented with using a servo mounted underneath the turnout, for the slip switch I used two servos and bell cranks and came up with satisfactory results. I have since then come up with improvements but will save those for later discussion.
I understand winter is a good time for working on model railroads. Considering I have to roll mine outside to work on it, I went a different direction.
I read where a model railroad needs a theme, a story, a reason for existence. O.K., Having been stationed in Germany, England, Spain, and traveling my theme has a bit of European influence. Also I have a bunch of 86' flats and High Cubes so it has always been my intention to run wide radius and long turnouts. Basing my layout in modern day will allow me to run older equipment, (preservation society excursions). The base idea is a point to point dual mainline with a city at each end. Where I live the traffic I see is all coming from one place, passing through and headed somewhere else. See a lot of double stack container, mixed freight and some coal runs. CSX, Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern and others. The only local traffic is grain and sometimes they do an entire train a day. Not after last years drought though.
So mostly I'm thinking mainline running through my layout, trains will leave staging pass through one town, travel the length, through the other town, and either enter staging there, or return to fist city and staging. The main town will have a terminus style station, (I bought the Milwaukee station) Four platforms with 6 tracks. When designing the car shed and platforms I measured my TGV at 7 foot, so the car shed will be at least 7 foot long. I also want the cover of the car shed to be glass so we can look in and see the trains. Probably removable in case something needs service.
In addition to the Historical Preservation Society with their steam excursions, a possible narrow guage logging camp, also for tourist operations, there is one resident who is wealthy and very eccentric indeed. Silly fool bought a used French TGV electric set and makes daily runs between cities. We don't have electrified catenary so he converted the power units to Diesel/Electric. Ho scale the train measures 7 foot long. So now you know why the Car shed had to be that long. In fact, I will have to re-build the entire train using American high speed wheelsets, new frame, motors, flywheels, lighting and of course, sound DCC. I think I'm gonna need some help with that one.
Having worked out the dimensions and most of the construction details in my head, I turned to the track work needed to get in and out of the terminal. I wanted an in and out track to the mainline, in and out to the staging area representing far-far-away. I also wanted two tracks to a service area for refueling and turning the passenger trains around. Ride Amtrack into Chicago, they always turn around and back into the station. I'm going to try to add a photo of the trackwork just before a station in Chicago that is just what I'm trying to build.
I set out printing turnouts, double slips and double crossovers, played paper dolls again, and taped together a track system and then sat back to figure how to build it. In the attached photo you will see three double crossovers, one more behind you not in the photograph. Each crossover has instead of a turnout, a double slip switch. 16 double slips, maybe a few more. 32 Servos, all sorts of bell cranks and linkages. And how the heck do I do it?
I mentioned earlier my test layout, and not having the room to build anything yet. I was hating not being able to do anything so I decided to break my station, carshed, and approach track into individual modules small enough that I could work on them, flip them over and work underneath, just something manageable.
Well, I wasn't going to start this blog until I had figured it out, and proven to myself I could do it. So, in the following installments I am going to explain in boring detail how I went about putting it together. I'm far from finished.
Anyhow, I just wanted to set the ground work and get acquainted. Now, we can get into the details of building the complicated track work ahead..
Oberdorfer
Oh, didn't I tell you? I have a 40' by 70' polebarn and will be using most of the loft?
