I finally completed the wiring for the 4th power district on the main level/third level.  This is the track that runs from Michaelson Jct. (aka Ottawa Jct., KS) both to the West Helix and on the branch line that runs over the top of the West Helix to the third level that has the cities of Michaelson (aka Ottawa, KS) and then to Elizabeth City, OK (aka Tulsa, OK). 

This update consists of five parts. The Part 1 video shows the first train consisting of a Lifelike E8A leading  a few freight cars on the third level entering and leaving the reversing section before coming into the Elizabeth City and stopping on track # 2.  The 4 track yard is for visible staging and each of the yard tracks has a power cut-off with an LED to show whether or not the power is on or off. The SPDT switch (recycled from my previous DC layout) has one power input (red wire) to the left terminal of the switch.  The center terminal is for power out which goes to a two position terminal strip with a loop to distribute power to two feeders on each yard track.  The LEDs are connected to each track to show power on or off. Please note that all of the staging yard tracks (24) on the lower level have the same set-up with power cut-off switches.  The Part 2 video shows the same engine coming into the yard from the east end through the area planned for the stock feed yard and back through the west end of the yard, and back through the reversing section.  This was the last test run as all of the sidings have now been tested and found to be working as they were supposed to be.

I have four more videos showing testing on additional tracks, through Michaelson  where I am still working on some wiring for the last hex frog juicer, how the frog juicers work, a train from Michaelson Jct. up the branch line over the west helix through Michaelson and to Elizabeth City, and finally a discussion video of what problems were encountered and what was done to fix them.

In Part 3, I discuss my first use of Frog Juicers and you can see them working in the video.  One issue came up during their installation that included a possible bad output on one hex frog juicer that caused a short (took about 3 days to trace where the short was because I did not suspect that it was the juicer).  The board was replaced with another one that I had and the short was eliminated.  Additionally, my PXS-1 Circuit Breakers were an older version and have been sent back to TTX for a software upgrade to allow for a delay factor.  The circuit breaker gets an inrush of current from the frog juicers that cause it to not become operational until after a bit of time.  The designer at DCC Specialties was very easy to work with and helped me troubleshoot the issue.  This is also true of Tam Valley with the frog juicers.  My plan is to reinstall the frog juicer that had the possible shorting issue once the circuit breakers are back and re-installed to verify if the juicer has a problem before re-contacting the manufacturer again.

The Part 4 video shows a Kato E8A (has Aztec modified frame and had the Digitrax sound decoder, SDN144K0a, with a 16mm speaker, installed last April) leading a hospital train from Michaelson Jct. up the branch line over the west helix to Michaelson and then to Elizabeth City.  Not shown in the video was the testing of an engine exiting from the west helix (staging level power district 4) and going to Michaelson Jct. (main level power district 4) without any problems. The consist was made up of a Micro-Trains hospital kitchen car and four Model Power heavyweight passenger cars (3-combine/surgical cars and an office-observation car) modified with custom made decals.

Overall, I was pleased with the performance of the circuit breakers, the frog juicers, and the auto-reverser.  Troubleshooting a short was tedious but helped prove to me that the modularity of the installed wiring made it easier to do. The Part 5 video is done but will not be posted until after the circuit breakers are re-installed to see if the video has a some new information to be discussed.

While the circuit breakers are off to get updated, I plan on working on installing a Digitrax sound decoder (SDN144K0a) into a Kato F7 that has had its frame modified by Aztec.

See you next time.  My YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/tanzj