Scattergun HO American interlude...

flexible_coupling

Western Thunderer
This project came about as a very thinly veiled excuse to buy a sound-fitted loco and an NCE Powercab 'starter' DCC system - under the premise of learning all there was to learn about the ins-and-outs of DCC again, a full decade after I'd last dealt with the subject! Things had changed somewhat since the first-gen Roco LocoMaus systems and $100 a piece decoders...

I scored a new Broadway Limited NW2 switcher for a very good price, and picked up a Powercab set and put it together on my short length of test-bed track in the garage. Fun, sure.... for one night. At the same time, I'd been agitating for a desk of my own in the study of our compact house (with an idea of being able to have micro-layouts taking part of the desk space up). As my dear lady departed for a month overseas (London, Paris, Rome and Malta) last week, everything kicked into top gear. L-shape desk acquired and assembled. Timberwork bought for a small Inglenook-esque shunting puzzle layout. A visit to the father-in-law's very well equipped woodworking shed saw the layout built up in about 3 hours to a very good standard - I gave the edges three coats of paint to make it all presentable. Midwest brand cork/rubber hybrid underlay material has been applied to the majority of the board surface, including under the buildings - I've used it before and really liked the result. Preparations are underway for the wiring, which will be relatively straightforward I hope, despite this being my first endeavour into DCC wiring. Cobalt IP Digital motors will be used under the 3x Peco #5 code 83 points, controlled directly via the Powercab.

Buildings have been great fun to make/modify; a Woodland Scenics 'O'Leary's Dairy' has come up beautifully and I look forward to painting it; the main structure is a Walthers 'Magic Pan Bakery', augmented with a set of Walthers 'Propane Tanks' and some added Plastruct laddering and steps. The bakery kit was broadly intended to be a single rectangular building, but the modular construction and their own intentions allow for it to be built up in different shapes - I've pushed the envelope and turned it into a lengthy 'low-relief' structure, and I'm very pleased with it.... plenty of 'blind them with science' piping too.

Most of the rolling-stock intended for the layout is still on lay-by at the shop (hopefully will nab it this week and bring it home) - a DCC sound fitted 57' mechanical reefer by Athearn Genesis will add some auditory interest along with the idling BLI switcher. A few grain hoppers and short tankers also added into the shunting-puzzle mix.

While this is very HO USA, I do plan to run some of my Australian HO stock on here too. This layout will neatly fit on its' end into the wardrobe - permitting the next micro to take up residence on the desk.......

Some pictures to go along;

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- Planning stage

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- Leaping forward to woodwork complete... showing the rest of the desk space

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- The bakery precinct

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- There will be a 4th siding between the two buildings.

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- Front of the dairy

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- Point geometry set down, Midwest cork laid down everywhere. Preparing for drilling holes everywhere for feeder wires and point control.
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
I spy more than one loco already... :)
I'm interested in the sound-fitted Reefer; my Weaver O scale reefer has provision to fit a speaker in the floor. I believe a "rolling stock sounds" chip is available on it's own. I hesitate though because working occaisionally with real road trailer reefers I know how irritating that drone can soon become :eek: :( & don't particularly fancy hearing it during my time off. :rolleyes:

One tip though - wardrobes are rubbish places to try & hide things from SWMBO.... :oops: :D
 

Ei-Turkey

Member
Very neat work, the only time when I am that neat is when I'm doing absolutely nothing...
The buildings make an excellent backdrop.
 

flexible_coupling

Western Thunderer
Jordan, look up the Soundtraxx website, the Tsunami SoundCar is what Athearn are using.

The second loco is a very cheaply acquired 2nd-hand Bachmann GE 70-tonner. Not really a runner at the moment but hopefully it'll come good.
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
Ah yes, I knew I'd seen it somewhere, thanks.
The two Tsunami chips I have used (in both HO & O locos) are rather "fussy" I found; they stall & the sound & lights drop out at any place on the track, even if it's really clean, whereas other chips sail through :mad:
So I'm a bit wary of Soundtraxx at the moment. I suppose fitting a keep-alive is the answer.
 

flexible_coupling

Western Thunderer
I have a feeling that the factory-fitted gear in the Athearn wagons has a stay-alive.... I'll find out in a few days!

A note on the layout construction - as it's designed to neatly fit atop a desk, I used 140mm wide dressed pine planks to form the board framework, deeper than the Cobalt motors would protrude. It looks a little unusual but it works well, and the board itself is quite light - easily handled by myself.
 

flexible_coupling

Western Thunderer
Holes have been drilled for power feeds and clearance for point motor levers - all track has now been cut and glued into place. Power has been applied to the headshunt (awaiting arrival and fitting of Cobalt motors before the frogs etc. are wired up) and a loco has been shunted back and forth in the 18" headshunt.... very exciting!

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The larger gap between the two banks of sidings is to accommodate some telegraph poles for a bit of extra interest. I'm hoping to fit fine filaments of nylon thread to the poles too, branching off to the building corners - it bugs me to see poles with no wires! Painting of the buildings is the next big task, one which might get started over the coming weekend.
 

flexible_coupling

Western Thunderer
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Progress was stunted for a little while as I awaited arrival of DCC Concepts Cobalt IP Digital point motors - wiring of frogs could be completed, which was a little concerning to me as I'd never actually worked with live frog electrics before. My concerns were unfounded, as everything just fell into place. I did have some small headaches in initially setting addresses to the Cobalt motors, however once they "woke up", all was quite well. No dead spots, flawless running of the BLI switcher, the Cobalts are slightly noisy by construction but don't "get over" the sound of the loco idling! I'm currently controlling the three point motors via the Powercab buttons, but I'm considering adding an auxiliary switch panel with indicator LED's on the side of the layout to make things a little easier. It's an excellent feeling to have an operating layout. I have learned that the non-Kadee couplings on the Walthers and Atlas wagons I have here are not compatible with each other, and will be swiftly replaced with proper Kadees.

Most of the structures have been given a spray of primer. A Grandt Line 'section house', Walthers 20' container and BLMA electrical cabinet have been added, along with settling on a layout for the piping around the propane tanks. Track is starting to be painted rusty red. She who must be obeyed returns to the house in about 30 hours - not much more modelling time allowed before the arrival... But it looks very tidy at the moment and is far beyond the point of no return!
 

flexible_coupling

Western Thunderer
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Painting of the rails has nearly concluded - I've been using an American product that all-things-being-correct I probably shouldn't have been able to get (thanks to overzealous restrictions on shipping paints - this is an acrylic though) from Joe's Model Trains in the US. Goes on extremely well with a small brush, only really needs a single coat and you get some great natural variation in the tone with a brush... Just a little time-consuming!

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The Micro-Engineering "buffer stops" are glued into position and have been hit with the rusty paint too. It was quite challenging to actually figure out what it was that the Americans used at the end of sidings, and it was sheer luck that I found two twin-packs of these bumper things at the shop. The end of the headshunt will be adorned with baulks/sleepers bolted across the rail-heads. The only other thing I really need is a proper representation (in cosmetic form) of modern-ish manual ground throw levers - surprisingly hard to lay hands on. The Caboose Industries little levers don't count!

As an aside - SWMBO didn't even notice the layout existed till I pointed it out, some 6 hours after arriving home. The reaction was the one I'd hoped for - "it fits within the confines of the desk... therefore it doesn't require any further planning approval, and doesn't affect me... Do as you please!". Do I take this as open licence for future micro-layouts within the same parameters.... Hmm......
 

JimG

Western Thunderer
As an aside - SWMBO didn't even notice the layout existed till I pointed it out, some 6 hours after arriving home. The reaction was the one I'd hoped for - "it fits within the confines of the desk... therefore it doesn't require any further planning approval, and doesn't affect me... Do as you please!". Do I take this as open licence for future micro-layouts within the same parameters.... Hmm......

Get a bigger desk. :):):)

Jim.
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
I don't think shipping acrylics is a problem? It's the old solvent-based Floquil paints that are a pain to get, although I got some in the UK a few years ago from Metalsmiths. Haven't checked availability for a while though.
 

Big Train James

Western Thunderer
Good luck with Floquil, anywhere - it's not even being produced any longer. Testors dumped it in the last year or so. About the only options left are Tru Color and the Weaver line that's just changed hands as well. And I'm not sure how much of either of those are solvent based.

If you're doing metal, custom mixed auto paints might be the best option these days.
 

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
Having had a rummage through the layouts I came across this little setup. Very nice and simple. Have you got any further and what is the length/width of the baseboard. Looking at the track in the earlier photos and the length of the head shunt I guess about 4 foot six inches long?

Nice to have a shunting puzzle to "play"with after a hard day.

Thanks

Julian
 
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