Author Archives: Dan Bourque

First “Squealer” on the Layout

September 30, 2024

ISE Squealer Installation — A pair of L&N hoppers cross the ISE Squealer sensor

Last week I picked up a “Squealer” from Iowa Scaled Engineering at the Colorado RPM meet. I’ve been eyeing one of these for a while, and I’m so glad I finally took the plunge! If you’re not familiar with it, the Squealer is a static system installed at a curve on the track that detects the motion of a passing train and emanates recordings of high-pitched flange squeal sounds. While this may strike some like the torture of nails-on-a-chalkboard, I find the sound to be very prototypical and not annoying at all. In fact, now that I can hear my train going over a Squealer, when it’s not going over it, things sound a little empty which tells me this is a GREAT product!

Installation was very simple and took me about an hour from start to finish, to include testing. The basic Squealer consists of a sensor (about the diameter of a pencil and around 2″ long), a speaker with a ~1″ cubed souknd enclosure, and a circuit board with terminals for connecting power and sensors, a spot for a micro SD card (in case you want to load your own sounds… I find the built-in sounds to be great), and two buttons for volume control. It supports multiple sensors, so I also picked-up an extra “TrainSpotter – Motion Detector” for an adjacent track. The trickiest thing about my installation is it was into finished track with no way to drill a hole from underneath as the instructions recommend. Instead, I had to drill downward through the ties. The instructions recommend a 3/8″ drill bit–I used this on my first sensor install and found it to be overly large. For the second sensor install, I used an 11/32″ bit and found it to be just right. I wrapped my sensors in a couple layers of electrical tape to help them fit snugly and to mitigate moisture from ballasting getting to the circuit board. Per the instructions, I lined the sensor up in the correct orientation and set it about even with the ties.

I hooked up the sensors per the instructions. Since the white and blue wires each go to a common terminal on the board for all sensors, I found soldering the two white wires together and blues together made it much easier to install them (and keep them) in their respective slots. ISE recommends cutting a 3/8″ hole into the scenery for the speaker sound to escape. It was easy to cut a hole into my red-rosin-paper scenery and install the speaker to the adjacent sub-roadbed using a piece of 3M double-sided foam tape. I covered the speaker hole with a little piece of green clump foliage. For power, the Squealer can take a wide range of DC, so I hooked it up to my 14V DC accessory bus which works just fine. That was it for installation, and it worked as advertised right off the bat. The only adjustment I made were dropping the volume to a level that sounded right in comparison to my locomotives. I was able to carefully add and glue some ballast over the top plate of the sensor to hide all but the silver portion on top, and I noticed no decrease in performance.

My only complaints (a very strong word for it) are very minor regarding the sensors: 1) they’re pretty big, so if you can’t drill the hole from underneath, you’re tearing up some ties, and 2) the sensors are very reflective and create a bright glint when viewed from certain angles. It’s a pretty complicated sensor for its size, so I don’t anticipate this can be easily fixed at a reasonable price point, and the benefit is far greater than these drawbacks.

If you haven’t already, you should check out the video to hear what it sounds like with a train. To me, it now makes it sound like all my cars have sound decoders… at least in that one spot. That means I’m now plotting to put a series of Squealers all around the layout on all major curves (probably 3-5 per deck) so you can enjoy the extra ambiance no matter where you’re working. It’s not cheap, but now that I’ve experienced, I am a huge fan, and it would sound flat to go back, just like I could never go back to locomotives without sound. Install these at your own risk… if you install one, you’re likely to want several!

Operating Session – Sep 14, 2024

September 15, 2024

Working Kemmergem — The Black Mountain Local spots a pair of empties at the Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple

Yesterday was a great operating session on the St Charles Branch full of old friends and some new milestones! First, my good friend Stuart was in town, so he and local good friend Patrick came over for a 3-person ops session. We ran three of four scheduled trains, including the Black Mountain Local which made a run to the new Gin Creek Branch and Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple on the upper deck–this was the first use of the upper deck in an ops session which is exciting. The branch is a blast to switch because the only run-around is the tipple track at Kemmergem, the tail track is short (but not annoying short… it’ll hold 2 locos and 2 hoppers), and there’s a small loader on a facing-point stub switch at the end of the branch. It means placing the caboose and cars for the small loader behind the empties on the tipple track, moving the locos to the other end, and using the string of loads and empties to work the stub tracks and push the caboose and small tipple loads onto the main where the train has to back up the branch to get them. Takes some thinking. It’s also awesome to work the tracks at eye level where you really get a railfan’s perspective! I also finally have enough tipples to justify two Southern mine runs plus the L&N’s mine run which means there’s really no “bad job” on the layout–you’re doing switching no matter what, and you’re either working the tipples or handling long cuts of hoppers around S-curves and wyes with a trio of units and too few yard tracks (also challenging).

CV Local at Mayflower — The sounds of an Alco 244 prime mover fill the air as Patrick and the L&N CV Local work the Mayflower tipple at the end of the Baileys Trace Branch

We cut the ops session short to head over to an open house for Bob Bandy who lives nearby and has an enormous and beautifully done western-themed layout. While there, I ran into a couple more old friends who used to operate on my previous layout, Nathan and Seth. They came over after we were done at Bob’s and ran the last train (St. Charles Switcher to Mayflower). I think a good time was had by all.

Seth and Nathan worked the last train of the session, the St Charles Local to Baker and Mayflower

Notable “firsts”:

First use of the upper deck!
First official use of “yard limits” to control movements in St Charles–the rule on the fascia simply says “yard limit: proceed at restricted speed–coordinate movements with other train crews”
First “meet” of two trains during an ops session. The schedule is designed to avoid having two trains in the same area at the same time. However, the yard limit came in handy when Train 61 (St Charles Local) was a little long working St Charles. Using one of the yard tracks as an impromptu passing siding, 61 cleared the main and enabled the L&N’s CV Local to get back to Pennington without too much delay after completing its work at Mayflower
First use of a Digitrax UT6 during an ops session. It’s got some great features that make it more capable than a UT4 (my normal throttle), but having no “stop” point on the knob is tricky with so much momentum built into the decoders–not a show stopper, but it will take some getting used to

Learning points and observations:

The 3:1 fast clock continues to work well and keeps crews from rushing
I tried to give the St Charles Local a single tipple to switch to keep things more interesting, but there really isn’t time in the timetable (based on the real-world timetable)–I’ll probably stick with just drop offs and pick ups for future runs which still makes for an interesting train due to the wye and limited yard tracks available
The Gin Creek Branch on the upper deck still needs some refinement of the trackwork. One switch was causing one locomotive to consistently derail–this was remedied with the installation of a guard rail mid-session, but there was still a bit more “clicking” over certain sections of track that I want fixed before installing scenery

This session left me super motivated to keep extending the tracks on the upper deck, though I may pause to rough in the scenery around Kemmergem first. But first, I’ll be off to the Colorado Railroad Prototype Modeler’s meet (RPM meet) in Greely, CO next week where I look forward to taking over at least a chunk of the modeling area with Appalachian coal field models… I hope Patrick brings some of his Chessie and early CSX hoppers so we can complete the infiltration.

New Branch Up-and-Running

September 15, 2024

Kemmergem Tipple Mock-Up — Newly completed Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple mock-up on the Gin Creek Branch

I’ve been working feverishly on the Gin Creek Branch which served the distinctive two-track loader at Kemmergem, VA. This branch occupies about 1/3 of my upper deck and is the first piece of the upper deck to be operational. I went out of my way to make the trackwork look like a well-used and minimally maintained branch with some crooked ties and rail. This branch is also laid out on an S-curve where you can look all the way down the straight portion where the loader will lie between the curves, and because of this curve, I think this might become the “signature scene” for the layout.

First Train on Upper Deck — Here’s the first train on the upper deck rolling through the junction onto the Gin Creek Branch at Turners Siding

To get things operational, I had to run the DCC bus wires and install manual switch mechanisms. At this point, I was able to run the first train to the upper deck and make sure everything worked. It’s a cool arrangement with double-ended loader tracks but a short tail track that barely holds two GP38s and two triple hoppers. I’ve also installed a stub track alongside the tail track for the Ralph Baker coal company that built a truck dump here in the late ’70s / early ’80s. Since I’m currently running the ’60s, I decided to use the track to house a small ramp-style loader (which will be replaced by Ralph Baker in late ’70s ops sessions). Switching the track arrangement is a lot of fun and requires some extra thinking since the spur to Ralph Baker is a facing-point stub track, and the only run-around is under the Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple. You’ve got to place the cars for Ralph Baker and the cab behind the empties for the big tipple and then push them into the right tracks using the loads and empties under the big tipple.

While it was “operational,” there was still no tipple, and the switches had to be thrown by reaching far under the layout. With an upcoming ops session, I was motivated to give it a bit more finish, so I cut and painted the fascia and put in the switch controls. I also took the opportunity to install my fast-clock controls in their permanent place, a little cut-out in the fascia. What’s a mine run without a loader, so I created another temporary “paper doll” mock-up from cardstock prints and foamcore for the Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple. This is a really cool looking loader that has two loading points with a long covered conveyor between them making the thing look a bit like a corrugated diplodocus dinosaur. I created some drawings of a slightly compressed version based on a series of photos from the ’50s-’90s (it didn’t change too much) including some great detail shots by Robby Vaughn. While I was at it, I created a little temporary dock for the Ralph Baker spur (which I’m calling “Darbyville Dock” for the ’60s sessions). A couple of paint brush handbrakes on the steeper spotting locations, and the branch was ready for an ops session!

Kemmerer Gem 2 1998 — The prototype Kemmergem tipple shot by Robby Vaughn in the late ’90s

Mock-up of “Darbyville Dock” at the end of the Gin Creek Branch–note the gnarly trackwork on the tail track to the right

Fast Clock Controls — Here’s the finished fast-clock control panel recessed into the upper deck fascia.

Upper Deck Progress

August 24, 2024

Rails for Kemmergem — Rails for the Kemmergem Loader are almost complete

Progress on the upper deck is now in full swing! I’ve got the ties, some of the rail, and the backdrop for the Gin Creek Branch (Kemmergem) in place. This is the first rail I’ve laid on the upper deck, so it’s been good to knock the rust off. It’s been a good reminder that I really enjoy hand-laying track and find it relaxing. I’ve also finally followed through on a promise I made to my wife nearly 5 years ago to add some storage above the layout. It is nice being able to get some things off the floor and out of the way. Next step is finishing the rails and adding the wiring for the track.

DJ running trains — My son recently got married, and his wife’s father came over to run some trains

On another note, my oldest son got married this month! His wife’s dad likes model trains, so it was fun having him over for a little impromptu ops session running the mine run to Mayflower.

Ties for the Gin Creek Branch — Ties in for the Kemmergem loader

Upper deck backdrop — The upper deck backdrop is 24″ tall to create some distance from the lighting valance benchwork

Working around ducts and stairs — The end of the Gin Creek Branch goes under the stairs and an air duct–this was by far the most challenging piece of backdrop to install!

Upper deck backdrop painting — Amazing what a lick of paint will do!

First rail on the upper deck — First rail laid on the upper deck! This is the junction of the Black Mountain main (left) and the Gin Creek Branch to Kemmergem (right)

Turners Siding track — The grungy, little used spur for the lumber yard and mining supply at Turners Siding–this is the only piece of code 55 rail so far, and I plan to bury it in dirt, so why bother with ties

Storage above the layout — My wife is very happy that after nearly 5 years I’ve delivered on the promise of adding some storage above the layout

10 Cent Solution to a $50 IR Sensor Problem

July 22, 2024

IR reflector installation F7A — Aluminum foil IR reflector installed on the coupler of an Intermountain F7A

When I installed my automatic detection circuit for crossing signals using infrared (IR) sensors from the WeHonest company, I installed them between the ties. They were initially a bit too sensitive, but after a while of running and changing out lighting to LEDs, the sensors weren’t quite sensitive enough. They would often miss a passing train which is annoying and not up to my standard for how I want things to run on the layout. After reading up online about how this type of sensor works, I tried a super simple and cheap solution that now has them detecting every time!

IR sensor between the rails — Here’s a WeHonest IR sensor in place between the rails

The WeHonest IR sensors are a single unit. unlike paired sensors that detect a break in the IR beam, the single units use a paired IR LED (bluish dome) and IR detector (black dome) and rely on reflected IR energy to close the circuit. Since the bottoms of most of my locomotives and freight cars are flat black, I wondered if they weren’t reflecting enough energy to trip the sensor. To improve the reflection, I stuck a piece of double-sided Scotch tape to a piece of aluminum foil and cut small reflector squares to attach to the bottom of locos and cabooses. I attached them under the coupler, behind the coupler, and even on the bottom of the truck–wherever I could get some good adhesion along the centerline (where my sensors are mounted). It doesn’t have to be perfectly flat because the IR transmitter and detector seem to have reasonably wide beams, so they’ll work with IR reflected at an angle. With just this tiny and simple modification which is invisible from trackside, the IR sensors now work every time without fail!

IR reflector installation RS3 — Reflector installed at an angle behind the coupler on an Athearn RS3

IR reflector installation on caboose — Aluminum foil IR reflector installed on a caboose

One concern I have is a piece of conductive material coming loose on the tracks. To mitigate the chance of a short, I cut the rectangles small enough that they can’t bridge the rails in case they accidentally detach in a spot of hidden trackage. They could cause a short if they come loose on a switch, but all my switches are easily reached, so the reflectors would be easy to spot and clear. Thought I’d pass this trick along in case anyone else is struggling with the same issue.

***UPDATE***

This technique worked so well I added tiny rectangles of aluminum to the underside of every car on the layout. It’s easy to find a spot on a coupler pocket or on the center sill that can’t be seen while it’s running. Now there’s almost zero drop out for the signals while a train is crossing.

Operating Session – Jul 13, 2024

July 14, 2024

CV Local departing St Charles — The CV Local heads up the Baileys Trace Branch to work Mayflower

Yesterday marked a small (two people) but fun operating session with Patrick Tillery. We ran four trains including three mine runs (two Southern and one L&N) and the St Charles Local which delivered a fresh set of empty hoppers in exchange for the loads waiting in St Charles. There were a few notable “firsts” in this ops session:

First use of the new LED lighting
First use of finish cabooses! My two new kitbashed “Brosnan brown” bay window cabs made their debut–only the L&N was left with a stand-in
First use of 3:1 for the fast clock–it was previously at 4:1, and 3:1 works much better with all the switching
First video recorded! Managed to catch the last 1/3 of the last mine run, so enjoy!

Learning points and observations:

We were able to stick pretty closely to the crew call and timetable times without rushing.
I’m happy with the amount of work Train 61/60 has to do. I was originally worried it would be boring because it’s role is so simple: bring up empties to set off in St Charles Yard, pick up loads in the yard and head back to Andover (staging). However, the yard is only big enough to hold the loads or the empties, not both. This leads the crew to use the wye to turn the train and start building the outbound train on the main to make room for the set outs. Add to that the semaphore that protects the branch where the L&N is working, and it means Train 61 has to make the shove into the yard in 2-3 cuts instead of all at once without messing up its blocking too bad. This adds up to a decent bit of work that took more than 2 fast-clock hours, about the amount of time this train was given in the prototype timetable.
Patrick commented that the momentum in the locos forces you to take it slow, and that’s a good thing. With two-person crews for the two biggest mine runs, there were plenty of “2 cars… 1 car… that’ll do” with enough anticipation that a throttle cut and coast would lead to a gentle couple–it really adds to the realism and challenge, in my view, and it feels a whole lot more like running a train than having no momentum.
I’m also extremely happy with the SoundTraxx Tsunami2 decoders in all 5 of the Southern F-units and single L&N RS3 that were used. Their “Dynamic Digital Exhaust” (DDE) feature works perfectly with the grade contours and switching style of operations on my layout. I don’t have to touch anything but the throttle knob (no manual notching, no “drive hold”), and the prime mover automatically notches up when it’s working hard upgrade, notches down when it’s moving downgrade, and surges briefly when I give the throttle a little “kick”. Love it!
The track worked mostly flawlessly… mostly. One switch point seemed to be sticking a bit after the ballast work, and it picked a couple of trucks–it’s fixed now. Still waiting for the first ops session that’s 100% trackwork trouble free, but it’s getting close.

This might be the last “single deck” ops session. I hope to start work on laying track for Kemmergem on the upper deck very soon!

Train 61 at St Charles — Train 61, the St Charles Local, has the yard full dropping off empties and picking up loads

Black Mountain Local at Mayflower — The Black Mountain Local runs around cars for Baker at Mayflower–this is the maiden ops session for the new “Brosnan Brown” caboose

Black Mountain Local at Baker — The Black Mountain Local eases down to Baker to swap out three “yellow ball” empties for three loads

First Cabooses

June 16, 2024

Southern Brosnan-era Cabs — A pair of Southern cabooses in “Brosnan Brown” are caught on the bridges crossing Bailey’s Trace

You can now see the full, 4-part article on kitbashing these cabooses on Appalachian Railroad Modeling.

HO-scale Southern Railway modelers all know that it’s tough to model a Southern bay-window caboose! There are some resin kits that are pretty complicated, some brass models, and kitbashing an Athearn (or other) incorrect bay window model into something credible. I’ve been avoiding this project for years (both on this layout and my last) because I knew how much work it was going to be, and I had to be in the right mood. I’ve been working on this pair of Athearn kitbashes for about six months, and I will tell you it’s the most challenging modeling project I’ve ever completed!

The basic Athearn body, modeled on a Southern Pacific caboose, is within 6″ of the prototype in length, and the body is the right height, but that’s about where the similarities end. It needs windows to be added an enlarged, a completely new bay window, roof extension, porch reduction, truck lowering, and step recreation. In the case of these ’60s era cabs, it also needs a new roof. Once you’ve got all these modifications made, you’re about halfway done because the ends are crazy with complicated bar arrangements, a unique brakewheel bracket, ladders, and circular marker panels. When complete, this kitbash still has windows and length that are slightly off, and the truck spacing is a bit narrow, but it’s a pretty credible representation.

Most Southern fans are familiar with red cabooses, either the original red and gold scheme or the more modern red and block lettering scheme that made it to the NS merger. In the middle, during the Brosnan presidency of the Southern in the 1960s, cabooses were painted the same brown color as all the other Southern cars as a cost saving measure… the red paint wasn’t any more expensive, but Brosnan reasoned it saved the time of having to swap out paint colors in the shops. Needless to say, one of the first changes after Brosnan left was to reinstate the familiar red. Since I model the late ’60s (at least for my initial era), I needed at least two of these brown cabs.

Despite how much work they were, I’m really happy with how this pair turned out! These represent cabooses originally built in the ’40s, and each sports slightly different variations and modifications including different roof styles, blanked out windows, and variety on window sunshade use. I’ll also point out that the marker panels on the ends are functional, and either red or yellow can be displayed, like the prototype. I’m not sure if I’ll incorporate that into operations, but I probably will. Now that these are complete, I can finally run a complete train with accurate and weathered engines, hoppers, and now cabeese.

Benchwork and Lighting Complete!

May 29, 2024

Upper deck lighting — View showing the upper deck lighting and lighting benchwork. A 12″ valance will cover the lights

Passed a big milestone this last week, the completion of all benchwork! The last layer of benchwork was the lighting valance above the upper level. It was made from 1×4″ boards for the valance and 1×2″ supports ripped from 1x4s for the rest of the structure. This allowed me to place the light fixtures for the upper level, 22 total fixtures spread out about every 2 feet. Like the lower deck, the lights are multi-color, dimmable, LED smart bulbs controlled by an app on my phone. I’ve got them grouped to work as a whole either by deck or the whole layout including overheads.

Very last piece of benchwork — Here’s the very last piece of benchwork ready to be installed

While the bulbs only draw 9W, they’re 60W equivalents… 47 60W-equivalent lightbulbs in a 12×16′ room!… Let’s just say it’s about as bright as daylight which is the idea, right? Even with all these lights, I’m still only drawing around 420W total, so I’m nowhere near the max capacity of the circuit. Technology is pretty cool! Next step, track for the upper level.

Fourth Level Benchwork

May 21, 2024

Top shelf lighting benchwork — A wide-angle view of the layout showing how the lighting benchwork follows the shape of the lower levels

No, that’s not a typo! I’m about halfway through my fourth level of benchwork for this layout. The first level is staging, the second is the lower deck, the third is the upper deck, and the fourth is for the lighting valance. I decided to go ahead and knock this out before putting any track on the upper level so I can install the lighting before I start hand-laying track (which will be most helpful). The good news is once I complete this level, it will complete my benchwork for the layout!… at least phase 1… if there are future phases.

My basement ceilings are 9 feet high, so I’m putting the lighting benchwork around 7.5 feet. The backdrops for the upper deck will be a lot taller than the lower deck, but this is necessary because you’re looking up at them. There will be a 1-foot tall fascia on the front of this level to constrain the view a bit and to hide the lights. I’m making it strong enough to hold some thin plywood so I can use the top to store some lighter things–a requirement from “building management” to compensate for me taking over the storage room.

Rethinking Layout Lighting

April 5, 2024

Upper Deck Benchwork Complete — Upper level benchwork showing the new lighting fixtures for the lower level

A few weeks ago I posted about installing the first lights on the layout. I’m using multi-color, dimmable LED smart bulbs, and one of the surprises I faced was the limited angle of “light throw” from the LEDs compared to incandescent bulbs when mounted horizontally like they were on my last layout. I experimented with ways to get the bulbs to sit vertically and came up with this style of lighting fixture. It’s a simple setup with two blocks of 1×2″ lumber about 3″ long and a piece of 1×4″ lumber about 5″ long cantilevered off the top. The 1×2″ pieces are cut 45 degrees on one end which allows the plastic fixture to snuggle into the blocks above the benchwork edge to get the lightbulb as close to the layout edge as practical. The globe area of the bulb now sticks out about 1″ below the benchwork which does wonders for eliminating awkward shadows from the benchwork (this 1″ will be covered by fascia eventually so you’re not staring at bright bulbs while running trains). The major drawback to this method is it requires a lot of vertical space, so I’m having to adjust my track elevations on the upper deck upward about 1″, and I’m having to strategically space my lights to avoid areas where creeks and valleys will run all the way to the fascia.

Old Layout Lighting Fixture — The original horizontal orientation for the simple plastic screw-in bases

Layout lighting fixture — The new lighting fixture that casts more light downward

Despite this drawback, I’m REALLY happy with the lighting this provides and the flexibility inherent in the multi-color smart bulbs! Like my last layout, I’m placing them about 24″ apart to get good lighting into all the spaces. They’re 60W equivalent bulbs, so when they’re on full power, it’s really bright… too bright. I find dimming them to about 65% is just about right, but the beauty is I can change this at any time using my phone app that controls them. I can also adjust the light temperature anywhere between 2700-6500K to get a good “daylight” feel, and I’ve found a nice blue/cyan color I can turn down to 1% brightness to get a moonlight feel and still be able to see what’s going on. To counteract some of the shadowing on the extreme aisle edge of the lower deck, I installed the same LED smart bulbs in my four overhead fixtures–they can be tuned to the same color as the layout lights. I also installed a smart dimming outlet I can run from the same app that controls the strings of cheap LED soft white Christmas lights under the layout that illuminate the staging yards and aisles.

Nighttime at Mayflower — The new LED layout lights can be used to simulate a wide range of lighting conditions including “moonlit night”

I’m running the lighting with three groupings in the app, one for “main” (all LED smart bulbs), one for “overheads” (just the four overhead lights), and one for “aisles.” This setup gives me the ability to control the intensity and color going to the layout, and it allows me to turn the overheads to full brightness even if the lighting closer to the layout is dimmer. The aisle lights can be turned off or on independently, and the brightness can be adjusted based on layout lighting conditions.

Under layout lighting — Cheap strings of LED Christmas lights light up the aisles and staging yards

All told, the layout will need about 45 of these bulbs. At ~$6.50 apiece, it’s not the cheapest option, but I’ve been very happy with the results! Hopefully I’ll get at least a few years out of the bulbs before having to replace them. I’ll keep playing around with the colors and intensities and seek feedback from other operators and will share what I learn over time.

Layout Lighting Smart Light LEDs — Here’s what I’m using, TreatLife 60W equivalent (9W actual) multi-color LED smart lights

Upper Level Benchwork Complete

April 2, 2024

The layout passed another milestone this past weekend–the upper-deck benchwork is now complete! Most of it was pretty straightforward, and the average deck height (top of benchwork) is 60″. A few sections required some creative engineering and some non-90 and 45 degree cuts. One tricky section was the top of the helix where the tracks transition through the upper deck benchwork. I used a piece of elevated benchwork and a plywood bridge to make this transition.

Crossing from lower to upper deck — This was a challenging section to engineer–the track comes off the helix, ducks under a piece of elevated benchwork, then runs on top of the upper deck

Another tricky section was the last piece which holds the tail track for the switchback to Benedict at the end of the line. This piece goes in front of the basement breaker panel, so I had to engineer it so the door can be easily and fully opened and accessed, and I designed this section to be removable in case any major work is required someday. As you can see from the first photo, the lighting is in but very visible–these will be hidden behind fascia once the upper-deck trackwork is in.

Last piece of upper deck benchwork — This was the last piece of benchwork for the upper level. This piece allows the breaker box to be opened, and it’s removable in case there are bigger issues

Moment of Truth

March 25, 2024

CV Local near top of grade — Here’s a representative CV Local with an RS3, 11 hoppers, and a cab nearing the top of the grade

With a portion of the upper-deck benchwork in place, I was able to complete the connector track from the top of the helix to the top of the grade along the back of the layout. The moment of truth had arrived where I would figure out if a key assumption I had made would hold true. My helix is aggressive: 24″ radius and 3% grade! At the top of the helix is an S-curve into another 24″ curve in the opposite direction and a short straight section to reach the top of the grade. Based on experience with the first helix (also 24″ radius and 3% grade), I estimated my lightest engine could pull about a dozen empty hopper cars and a caboose up the helix. The lightest engine is an Athearn RS3 used on the CV Local, and in the 1960s and early ’70s, this job only hauled a handful of cars onto the St. Charles Branch, perhaps 6-10 on a given day.

S-curve at top of grade — Here’s the track where it exits the helix and continues up-grade to the right through the upper-deck benchwork

I loaded up an RS3 with 12 cars (including 3 really heavy Tangent cars) and headed for the first helix. With the Tangent cars, the RS3 stalled out on the grade–uh oh! I removed one hopper and tried again. Thankfully it was able to climb the first hill, albeit with the throttle at 1/4 speed and the Tsunami2 howling at run 8! After a brief respite of relatively level track in St. Charles, the train attacked the second helix to the upper deck. Three-and-a-half turns and 20″ higher, the train exited the helix and entered the S-curve, coming to the crest of the grade without stalling. So, 11 cars is my current limit, and while it’s slightly less margin than I had hoped, it’s good enough that it won’t restrict my operating scheme.

Southern mine run at top of grade — Two Southern F-units have no trouble pulling 33 cars to the top of the 3% grade

Just to be sure, I latched a pair of Intermountain F7s to 33 Southern hoppers and tried the same thing. No problem! Two locomotives have plenty of power to haul more than enough cars up the grade. It was cool to see trains actually running on the upper deck, even if the section they’re currently in will be hidden by hills.

Let There Be Light!

March 11, 2024

… And there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

Layout Lighting Installation — The first layout lights are in! Here’s the “cool white” that I like for daytime

While my light is nowhere near as impressive as God’s light in Genesis, it still makes me glad to see a little more light on the trains in the basement. Now that I’ve got some upper-deck benchwork in, it opened the way to try out the layout lighting I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I’ve looked into LED strings and other bundled lights, but in the end, I’ve settled on using individual multi-color LED “smart lights” I can control with my phone. It’s not the cheapest solution (about $7 a bulb, and my layout needs 40), but it’s bright, and they’re customizable for a dizzying array of colors and brightness!

This is a more modern evolution of the lighting on my last layout which used cheap plastic fixtures and compact 40W lightbulbs. I was able to recycle the fixtures and wiring for this project, but the technology is so much better than my previous little analog dimmer. Not only are the LEDs brighter, but they run cooler, only use 9W each, and I can get a nice “cool white” that looks a lot more like sunlight than incandescent lights. I was also able to play around with the colors and dimmer, and a wide range of effects are possible including a nice moonlit night and a warm sunrise/sunset. It’s also easy to “group” them so one command changes all the bulbs simultaneously.

Layout Lighting Nighttime — The dimmable, multi-color LEDs can give a lot of different moods like this “moonlit night”

I’ll keep playing with them to try to mitigate the glare spots and shadows. I’m also going to figure out a way to automate going from nighttime to sunrise to day–I’m sure it’s possible with all the Smart Home controls out there now. One thing I hadn’t counted on is the lit portion of the bulb is about 2″ further out from the fixture than the old incandescents. For now that’s creating more shadow along the front of the layout than I’d like. When I put the valance in for the upper deck, I’m inclined to move it out over the aisle a few inches to try to improve this, and I might mount a few of these in the overhead fixtures as well. For now, I’m calling this experiment with 8 bulbs a success, so now I’ve ordered more to keep working around the rest of the layout.

Small Piece – Major Milestone

March 7, 2024

First piece of upper deck benchwork — The first piece of upper deck benchwork is in!

That’s one small piece of benchwork… one giant leap for the upper deck

Hopper Class of March 24

March 3, 2024

Hopper Class of Mar 24 — Welcome hopper class of March 24!

I’ve been on a hopper kick lately, so following close on the heels of the hopper class of January ’24 are these 13 cars comprising the hopper class of March ’24. They were actually built at the same time as the previous hoppers, but these were all custom paint jobs, so it took a while longer to paint and decal them. Among this class are several unique cars including two exact cars I’ve wanted to model since I first saw a picture of them. The first is Central of Georgia war-emergency rebuilt hopper 21781–there’s a photo of this car on railpictures.net at in a line of “yellow ball” hoppers Appalachia in 1978. The other car is Interstate 9234, a hand-me-down offset hopper of unknown origin with arched ends and an 18″ height extension to increase its capacity.

Interstate hopper 9234 — I’ve wanted to build a model of this car ever since I saw it in Ed Wolfe’s first Interstate Railroad book. The Altas offset hopper makes it easy

Most of the cars in this class represent old 50-ton cars relegated to “yellow ball” captive service between local mines and the huge coal transloader at Appalachia, VA where the St Charles Branch joined the Southern mainline. A few cars are regular offsets and war-emergency rebuilds including offset 112773 which spent a lot of time against a 100W lightbulb getting “beat up” to look the part! In addition to the Interstate car, there are four other cars with scratchbuilt height extensions including three offsets and a war-emergency rebuild, representing cars which received their height extensions in the mid-to-late ’70s.

Southern extended height hopper in-progress — Athearn 34′ offset hopper with an 18″ extension made from sheet and T-shape styrene

The class includes a couple unique Southern 70T cars as well. The first is a “standard” hopper from the large 70300-73749 class in its original black paint scheme. The first 3,000 or so cars were delivered in black and made it into the mid-’60s before being repainted. Another hopper, 73921, is a Pullman Standard PS3 70T hopper clone that’s been repainted in the more modern Southern scheme from its Railroad Roman scheme. This car, along with the L&N PS3 70T hopper in this set, were kitbashed from Atlas 70T 9-panel hoppers, one by me and one by Patrick Tillery. These were built before the Tangent model was released and have been sitting on the shelf for years–I’m happy to finally have them on the layout! Rounding out the class is an L&N PS3 50T hopper from an old Train Miniatures / Walthers kit representing a repainted car from the late ’60s.

Southern PS3 clone in modern paint — A Southern PS3 clone and L&N PS3, both kitbashed from Atlas 9-panel 70T hoppers

The red cars were painted with either Tamiya NATO brown or a mix of Tamiya NATO brown and flat red–this mix will probably be my standard in the future, and I intend to vary the mixture to get variety in future cars. Never in my life have I done this many decals in one stretch. All told, there are more than 600 individual decals on these cars! Most of them are from K4 decals with a few Mask Island sets. The L&N hoppers are from a Great Decals set and a Curt Fortenberry set I got many years ago. Some Microscale small lettering and ACI labels rounded things out. Most received pretty heavy weathering since most represent non-interchange cars in their last years of service. I’m happy with how these cars turned out, and I’m happy I’ve got 9 more “yellow ball” hoppers to augment the fleet that’s been needing some help for a while.