Peter Borcherds December 30th, 2008
I’ve installed the yard fencing on one of the intermodal boards, along with some basic weathering around the loco storage shed, ie. oil spills around the oil tank and fuel hoses and oil stains on the tracks.
This view shows the newly installed fencing at the yard track entrance, showing the fencing and the gates:
This view shows the loco shed with some of the weathering and another view of the fencing & gates:
I have also added the Mi-Jack lanes on the second intermodal board, and will be installing the fencing on this board later today.
Here is a shot of one of the Mi-Jacks and the newly added lanes:
I have started with the trees for the farm scene- this I will finish off on the weekend as I need to pick up some supplies from Model Junction as I ran out of scenery cement and realised I need a few more highway overpasses to finish off the farm scene, plus as usual I ran out of white paint, needed to paint the windows of my barn!! Plus I am short of 4 yard lights!! Note to self…next time OVER-ESTIMATE supplies needed! Extras can always be used at a later stage or sold on Ebay…
Last night I put together a list of things still to do on the layout, and realised I had completely forgotten about wiring the tortoise motors to the DAC10 point controller! Doh! I also still need to add the two block detectors to the end boards…
On Monday I will be putting the whole layout together (one of the intermodal boards is out to give access to the garden!), clean the track and give it a run to make sure it all still works…! My task then will be to add the layout plan to Railroad & Co. and to set up a display panel to check that all the point motors and block detection work as expected and to set up a basic automation plan for the show.
Right, time for a cup of hot coffee (it is freezing out in the conservatory!) and then on with the work!
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Peter Borcherds April 17th, 2008
Finally I have the conservatory to myself again…the modules are back up and I have started work on painting & weathering the track. I have started with the yard tracks as they are firstly wooden sleeper tracks, and secondly will be mostly hidden by the concrete apron of the yard itself. I have airbrushed these tracks with Pollyscale Roof Brown, and will be painting the rails using the brilliant Rusty Rails Painter from Joe’s Model Trains – I’ll be using the ‘Brown Rust’ paint for this.
The main tracks are going to be more of a challenge as they have concrete sleepers. I am trying to work out the best paint to use to simulate concrete sleepered track…suggestions have been made to use various shades of grey…I’ll be experimenting with a spare piece of track to see what I can come up with…
One thing I do need is prototype reference photos of concrete track – I’ve found lots of photos of wood sleepers, but not many of concrete sleepers…if you have some photos in your collection please pass them my way! Ta!
In the first (and only!) photo of this update you can see I have started to install the Hayes Wheel Stops on the yard tracks. I am just test fitting them at the moment, so they aren’t glued down yet. I am using the Tomar Industries white metal Hayes Wheel Stops.
Hopefully I will get started on the concrete tracks soon – in the meantime I might get started on the styrene base for the intermodal yard apron.
Another update coming soon!
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Peter Borcherds March 5th, 2008
Finally I have had the chance to upload some photos of the progress on Rochelle Intermodal! Click on the Photos link to view the latest photos.
Intermodal module B is now completely wired and is ready for scenery. Last night I finished off the soldering and installed the Tortoise motor (there is only one turnout on this module) . All the PowerPole connectors for power feeds between modules are wired up, along with the PowerPole connectors that carry the block detection wiring between intermodal module A and B (the block detector board, Digitrax BDL168, is on module A).
Tonight I will attempt to complete module A – at least I will get the wiring finished, but hopefully will be able to finish installing the turnout motors as well. I had to move the bus location slightly at the end of module B in order to install the Tortoise motor there, but that might not be possible on module A. I have a remote mounting kit for the Tortoise motor which I might have to use. At present I am not sure whether I will install motors on the yard tracks or find a method to switch them manually.
So, one board done and another almost done…the end modules (kindly donated by Jim Bainbridge – thanks Jim!!) need slight wiring alterations for the installation of block detection, but already have the PowerPole connectors in place for the power feeds.
I have successfully tested two signals on the main modules (intermodal modules A & B), and these work correctly, running off a JMRI PanelPro panel through the Digitrax BDL168 block detector and the Digitrax SE8C signal controller. Now all I need to do is finish installing the signals! I have been considering purchasing a few cantilever signal gantrys for the main tracks, as that will make signal installation a lot simpler, and will require less signals, as my main tracks are both bi-directional.
However, no rush for that as those can be installed at a later stage.
Right, back to work now…must earn some money to pay for all this!! 🙂
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