Modeling topic
Vertical staging elevator
My small two siding point-to-point layout has little space for car storage. I finally recognized the value of staging and felt I had enough room for a vertical staging yard. I gave it a try using inexpensive materials I had available.
The elevator is made from 1x4" lumber platforms on which track is laid that are attached to vertical 1x2" strips using 4" angle brackets. I believe there is enough space for two tracks on 1x4" lumber.
Soldering rails above foamboard
I recently started a 4/8 layout after many years of interest and having a few locos and a bunch of rolling stock put away. So I made the bench work, put on some 1/2 in plywood and added 2 in. foam board. Laid my track on foam roadbed, did some neat scenery etc. now I’ve realized that I have a problem not having a long enough drill bit to put my feeder wires through to solder the track. Am I going to have to tear it all apart and start over with the track and roadbed just on the plywood? Any ideas are much appreciated
Representing brake gear - more art than science
Over on my Andrew's Trains site I've been working away at (and writing up how I've been) upgrading the Athearn Blue Box XAF10 Railbox cars (and yes I know they are not exact - but they're cheap and I have a few of them to upgrade and add to my fleet).
For more information you can head on over to the main site but I wanted to share some photos of the progress so far. This is a multi-part project that I've been working on for some time as I get a few moments.
Here are some excerpts from the article on adding brake gear (as art versus science):
A change in plans for the railroad room and a couple of new ideas.
We have decided that the new railroad will go into a smaller but finished attic room in our new house. The issue will be the slope of the ceiling in the room and how high I can build the layout and still have a backdrop. I've been doing some sketches in Cadrail and I am going to post some of them and get people's opinions particularly concerning operations. The Ripley branch is relatively simple, just like the prototype. Ripley is only about 50 minutes from my house and that should make research easier.
Dimensional Letter Building Sign: 3D Print
Using Sketchup’s 3D Text feature, and my Printrbot Play 3D printer, it took me about an hour to design, print and apply these dimensional letters.
Digitrax Problem
I am experiencing a Digitrax problem that I cannot figure out. After two years of redoing my layout, I finally have all my switch machines installed and wired and power to the track. Everything works great when I use the throttle on my Zephyr. The problem that I am having is my UR90 and UR91 are not recognizing signals from my DT402R or UT4R throttles. If I teather them into the panel plug they will recognize my command. The batteries are reading 9.5 volts. I have reset theZephr back to factory settings. I have reprogrammed the two engines that I am using.
Easy steam locomotive wipers.........
......can be made using printed circuit board to replicate the bars (don’t know exactly what they are called) that hold the axle and journals in their pockets on the frame. If you look at the attached photos it should be apparent what they are and how to make them. I cut slits in the top of the board to insulate the center area from the frame prior to soldering the phosphor-bronze wire (.015) to that area. On this model with the large wheels I opted to use two wipers per wheel. On models with smaller wheels I use a single wiper trying to make it as long as possible.
>> Posts index
Navigation
Journals/Blogs
Recent Blog posts: