Fascia mounted DCC meter

Sometimes an idea for a project comes when it is least expected.  This happened to me recently when sorting through a box of electrical parts and came across a pair of banana plug connectors labeled "shorting bar".   I don't know where or why I got these or if I would ever use them and was about to throw them in the trash when I noticed the holes that are on the side and got an idea of how I could use them.  First step was to make a cut with a hacksaw that would sever the shorting bar.

Here is what I ended up doing with these.  I have had one of these DCC amp / volt meters for some time and it's quite handy when troubleshooting a wiring or track issue on a DCC layout.  I have always wanted to mount it somewhere to monitor the the layout but wanted it to be removable to also use as a portable instrument. 

These meters have banana jacks on each end and come with a pair of test leads.  Either end will read DCC voltage and if the meter in placed in line between the DCC source and load, it will read the DCC current.  With these modified banana plugs connected on each end of the meter, the holes provide a connection that is at a right angle allowing the meter to be easily pushed on or pulled off of the 4 fascia mounted banana plugs.

From scraps of tempered hard board I made up this fixture that will hold the panel mounted banana plugs and a bypass switch for when the meter needs to be removed to trouble shoot somewhere on the layout.

Here is the completed project.  After painting the fixture the fascia color, the bypass switch and banana plugs were installed.  The iphone camera does not show the LED display clearly in this photo because of the way these type of displays work and the shutter speed of the camera.  To the human eye the numbers are clear.

This is what the finished fixture looks like when the meter is removed.  When the meter is removed to troubleshoot a problem somewhere on the layout, the bypass switch can be moved to the ON position to allow DCC current to flow.

This was a really satisfying project.  I always like projects were all of the parts come from things that were laying around the shop.

Vehicles help set the era on a layout.

This layout has 3 different eras that are changed every few months.  Besides swapping out the locomotives and freight cars to match the era, I also swap out some of the vehicles on the layout.

In this example I am changing from the 89-96 era to the 75-82 era.  The most notable changes are made in fleet type vehicles.  The fire station in Carlin has 3 doors that can be opened or closed so I don't actually change the fire apparatus but just open different doors.  The door on the left is opened in the 1988 to 1996 era showing an International 1990's era fire engine from a Lineside Models cast resin kit.

In the 2 earlier eras modeled on this layout, that door is closed and the other two are opened exposing an Ford C cab pumper by Athearn and a 1963 Chevrolet fire engine from a Lineside Models cast resin kit.  

Maintenance of Way vehicles are going to be noticeably different in different eras.  In this case I have swapped out my Union Pacific trucks with Western Pacific ones.  The large UP truck was built from a Showcase Miniatures kit, the van is from a Lineside Models cast resin kit, and a Ford F-150 pickup from Atlas.

The Western Pacific vehicles include a cast resin Chevrolet flatbed truck kit from Lineside Models and a Ford F-100 pickup from Atlas. 

The U-Haul dealer which is part of the Sinclair gas station is another example of where vehicles can be swapped out to suggest a different time period.  The type and paint schemes on these rental trailers had dramatically changed during the 1980's.

Interior bracing for the grocery distribution warehouse

The kit came with some reinforcing strips that are intended to be glued along the inside at the bottom of each of the walls.  As I was building a unique structure out of this kit, there was not enough for the whole building but I did use them along most of the walls except for the back wall that had been made from the roof material.  

When I purchased the 24 inch long .040 sheet styrene for the roof, I also picked up some .250 x .250 styrene strip that was 24 inches long.  This was used to provide reinforce the back wall along the bottom.  This was also used to provide something for the roof to rest on along the back wall. 

This .250 x .250 strip material was also used to support the roof and columns were added in the middle of each horizontal beam.  From the photo below, these strips can be seen on other areas as well.

Building the grocery distribution warehouse

Having established the shape and size of this building in the previous post, I removed the spues that were holding the wall sections together temporarily and peeled off any remaining dried canopy glue.  Then I started to permanently glue together each of the walls by bonding the sections together using the connecting pieces that came with the kit and Plastruct Bondine solvent.  There are pins on the wall sections and holes on the connecting pieces that insure all the wall sections will be aligned in the same direction.

Starting with the two longest walls, I assembled the walls together using a square to insure 90 degree corners.

Because of the size of this building, I felt it necessary to use plenty of interior support.  Triangles were made from scraps of .040 styrene with a notch in the right angle corner.

These triangles were then added to the main corners on the inside of the ribs that run along the tops and bottoms of the wall sections.  Then .080 x .080 pieces were added as shown in this photo.

With all the walls except for the back wall glued together, I started to add some of the roof to strengthen the structure and keep things square.  The roof material that came with this kit would not have been enough for my kit-bashed building so instead I used 24 inch long .040 styrene sheet to make the roof.  The small section of roof over the part of the building where a refrigerator car can enter did not get glued so it could be lifted out for access.

The roof material from the kit was then used to make the rear wall that would not be seen.  I had considered just leaving the back side open but because of the size of this structure I felt it need the support of all the walls.

Then the last odd section of the roof at the rear of the building was added.  With that, the basic structure was completed and I could set it on the bench work and plan how the scene was going to lay out.  The structure still seemed a little too flimsy so in the next post, I show some additional steps I took to further strengthen it.

Layout for the grocery distribution warehouse

As I have been operating the layout I have noticed the interchange traffic is largely loaded tank cars in and mostly loaded covered hoppers out.  The Lovelock expansion will have one actual industry, EP minerals which will be also be covered hoppers empties in and loads out.  I wanted to create a couple of freelanced industries that would provide for a more diverse traffic flow.

So with the bench work complete, I need to decide what those industries are going to be and the general placement before I can start laying out any track.

The concept for the first freelanced industry is a medium sized grocery distributor that supplies independent grocery stores and supermarkets throughout the region.  Besides receiving loaded box cars and refrigerator cars, it will be a great place to display truck trailers as some products arrive by truck and this company will have it's own fleet of delivery trucks and trailers.

The starting point for this project is a Walthers Cornerstone modern concrete warehouse kit.  As this will end up being the largest single structure on this section, it's a good place to start to see how everything will lay out.

If the kit were to be built following the instructions, it would result with a rectangular 12 inch x 6-1/4 inch warehouse. But the way the kit is designed with multiple small wall sections, it can be easily modified to make a building of your own design.  There are quite a few of these wall sections with both single or double wall panels.  Some have various sized opening for doors and windows and some are solid like in the photo below.

I used the spues that the wall sections came on to temporarily connect several wall sections and form the sides of the building.  I used canopy glue to do this as is can easily be peels off when I am ready to glue the sections permanently together.

After mocking up a couple of different configurations, this is the one I have decided on.  It offers the features I wanted and this shape being narrower on the left side makes the best use of the space for the two turnouts for the two separate spurs.  This kit did not come with a railcar sized opening but it was easy to modify one of the sections to allow a refrigerator car to be pushed inside the refrigerated part of the warehouse.  As the back side will not be visible, it will end up being open or with some solid styrene sheet.  The size of the roof area will require some interior support which can also be done with Evergreen styrene.  So I will soon be returning to the hobby shop for those materials.  Watch for a future post as this project progresses.

Bench work for the Lovelock expansion

This new section of the layout which will represent Lovelock, Nevada will be 76 inches in length and 20 inches deep with the far-left end angling out to a 24-inch depth.  This time I used 2 ft x 4 ft panels of 1/4 in and 1/2-inch plywood from Lowes as they are much easier for me to handle by myself than a full 4 ft x 8 ft sheet.  This worked out very well and was strong enough as I doubled the frame where there was a seam.

The floor of the train room is the flattest surface I have so after cutting the pieces in the garage they were brought into the train room for assembly.

This new section will need to be removable.  It will be 20 inches deep at the end where it connects to the helix so just over 20 inches of the fascia on the helix base was removed.  A ledge from a piece of 3/4 inch plywood was mounted under the helix base so that it sticks out 1 inch.  The end of the new section will rest on this. 

Strips 3/4 inch and 1/2-inch plywood were added to the 20-inch-deep end of the bench work section with the 1/4-inch deck then attached to the entire frame.  This created a little lip on the end of the section that will rest on the ledge.

Several methods were used to make this section removable but still be secure when it's in place.  On the left end I mounted a 2-inch-wide strip of 3/4 inch plywood on the wall that the bench work section will rest on and used a cabinet latch to hold the bench work section to it.

On the end where this new section meets the helix base, I used a long 1/4-20 bolt with a wing nut to secure the lip of this section to the ledge built onto the helix base.

And in the middle, I installed a shelf bracket with a single 8-32 thumb screw going into a tee nut that is on a horizontal cross piece on the bench work. 

So here is the completed bench work for the new Lovelock section.  Next step is to seal the whole thing with paint, and it will be ready for track layout planning.  At some point a tempered hard board fascia will be attached along the front and painted the gloss gray color.

Learning about static grass - Part 1

One of the wonderful things about this hobby is that there is always something new to learn and new techniques to try out.  Static Grass has been around for a few years now and I have admired the appearance of it on layouts and wanted to try it out from myself.

Of course the expensive part of this technique is acquiring the static grass applicator.  At an open house a couple of years ago I picked up what I thought was a great deal on a Noch static grass applicator that appeared to be brand new but found out after bringing it home that is was apparently burned out.

More recently I made a second attempt by acquiring a brand new Woodland Scenics Static King version of the static grass applicator along with some 2mm and 4mm static grass in different colors.  The Static King feels like it is well made and is compact.

I had been watching a number of how to type videos on YouTube and one of the suggestions I heard in the videos was that the Static King works better with the 12 volt adapter than it does on the 9 volt battery.  I was disappointed with my first attempts using the battery and also found out that the fit of the battery into the battery compartment was quite tight.  Using my multi-meter I found that the Static King was drawing close to 150ma from the battery.  At that rate a 9 volt battery might not last very long and as the voltage drops, so would the performance.

I did not buy the Woodland Scenics 12 volt power adapter when I bought the Static King as I had a whole box of similar items and I was sure one of them would work.  When I first tried it, I got nothing and also noticed that the blue light strip on the Static King was not lighted.  Using my DC power supply, I connected a scrap plug with the polarity reversed and that worked.  So, the Power adapter that Woodland Scenics sells for the Static King has the positive polarity on the outside of the plug which is a bit unusual as most have the positive in the center.  I modified my adapter by cutting the cord and reversing the wires.

After trying it out on some scraps of cardboard and satisfied it was working, it was time to try it out on an actual model.  I got out a photo diorama I had made years ago to experiment on.  This diorama is a simple single track on a raised embankment with one side being more green and the other side being more dry.  They already had some ground foam scenery material on them and I added the static grass over that in uneven patches.  Here is the dry side after I had applied some straw colored 4mm static grass..

And here is the results from the green side.

So far I am encouraged by the results.  I'll continue to experiment with some techniques and make a follow-up part 2 post sometime in the future.

Expanding sounds around the layout

I had received another Soundtraxx decoder and got it all installed as the sound for the road switcher in Carlin but was trouble programming it.  I would get a "No Ack" error message on the DT402 throttle I was using to program.

After viewing a YouTube video presented by George at Soundtraxx I learned that programming voltage is half of what track voltage is and that Soundtraxx decoders in particular are sensitive to this issue.  Soundtraxx had made a booster circuit for programming but it seemed to be out of stock and perhaps was no longer being made.

What I had not considered was how all this extra wiring running around the layout would degrade the programming signal so I decided to abandon the programming bus idea and instead use a jumper cord to program the sound decoders.  

I found these great 3D printed panel mounts for Power Pole connectors on ebay and installed them on the fascia next to each of the sound control panels.

A 1 inch diameter hole was drilled through the fascia next to each of the sound control panels.

The panel mounts fit neatly into the hole.  The wires from this connection are connected to the program position on the switch.

Then another connector replaced the existing Cinch Jones connector that my bench programming track plugs into and I made a long enough jumper cord to reach from the programming track output to anywhere on the layout.   The lead for the programming track also got it's Cinch Jones connector replaced.

Summer 2025 Layout update

Here's what I've been up to for the past few months that has not been other posts.  During our road trip in May I re-visited the old Santa Fe depot in Needles, California.  As a kid in the mid 1960's I had ridden both the Super Chief and El Capitan several times between the Needles station and Los Angeles Union Station.  This visit rekindled an interest I have add for some time to acquire a model of one of these trains so when we got home, I bid on a set and won. I already had an ABA set of F7's and am working on getting another B unit.

One of the reasons I decided on the El Capitan because I had always liked this transition car.  I had not realized it before, but the step down in actually in the car behind this one.  The flaring was just to streamline the look.

In June the first signal detection circuit I had installed over 5 years ago stopped working.  Both the SP and WP loops in the lower helix were stuck on red.  The problem turned out to be the pair of NCE detectors I was using.  It seemed odd that both would fail at the same time but they got replaced with a new Azatrax dual detector circuit.  As the current limiting resistors for the signals were part of the relay board that I had made for this circuit, I left that in place having the output relays from the Azatrax unit trigger it.

And away from the layout I spent a Sunday in mid-July at the annual ETE Eurowest meet at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, helping a friend operate his Swiss narrow-gauge layout and then packing it up at the end of the event.  This year I ran some different sections of the layout than last year.  This is one of my favorite scenes on this layout.