Spring 2025 Layout Update

Since returning from Japan in January I have been mostly working on my modules in preparation for the 2025 edition of the Hiller Aviation Museum's Trains and Planes exhibit.  Our part of this went from the 9th to the 13th of April.  We had a real good turnout with the Ntrak club and it was great to visit with all the guys.  And I ran a lot of equipment that I don't run on the home layout.  Here's a shot of our Ntrak layout with the AsiaNrail layout being behind it.

Since last fall I have been trying out Vallejo paints and like them.  They are quite reasonably priced if purchased in sets on Amazon and I also found an ebay seller that sells them individually at a reasonable price.  So in February I bought a rack specially made to hold these paints.

The Vallejo paints don't have the same colors that we are used to with Floquil paints which were more focused on model railroads.  I discovered that Model Railroad Hobbyist which is an on line magazine I follow had color matching charts showing how many parts of each Vallejo paint to use to get a close match to a Floquil color.  So I printed all the pages and have them hanging on the inside of one of the cabinet doors where I keep some of my painting supplies.

In late March my friend Roger visited the layout and we ran a couple of jobs while letting the glue dry on a new Ntrak module he is building.   He is experienced with layout operations and one suggestion he had was more uncoupling picks and holders around the layout so that is something I'll be working on.   

A new locomotive was recently introduced the layout.  This Atlas GP35 was given to me last year and I finally got around to installing a DCC decoder in it.  It was custom painted many years ago by another friend from the Ntrak club who has since passed away.  I could not find any evidence that the prototype number 644 ever made it into UP service but it will on this layout.

Organizing operations

 As I am interested in having a few friends over for operating sessions in the future I thought it would be useful to start simulating some operating sessions to run by myself

I have always read that staging trains for an operating session can be a large chore.  Yes, moving many freight cars around to specific locations to stage everything takes a bit of time but what I was having a hard time figuring out was how to organize the flow of trains.  I have 3 staging yards and the idea is to be able to move trains from an occupied position in one yard to an unoccupied position in another yard.  My first step was to make track diagrams using the same graphics that I used for the staging yard's control panels and assign a number to each track.

Next I made up a magnet board from a piece of sheet metal I had laying around.  This was mounted to the bottom of the DC test setup that I keep on hand to test DC equipment.  Enlarged versions of the track diagrams were pasted to this.

The magnetic "trains" were made from sections of .040 x .125 styrene strip with labels pasted on them and small magnets on the back side.  The train symbol is printed twice, once in each direction so it can be easily read from both orientations. There are two of these for each train, the yellow ones are to trains that have not started their run and the blue ones are for the trains that have completed their run.  In some cases the same train is used once in each direction and when it arrives at the first destination, a yellow one with a different train symbol is placed in the new location.

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By running through the exercise on the magnet board, I was able to put together a job list showing where each train departs and arrives both in theory and actual location number.

From this list I have been running the 17 jobs listed in sequence by myself, fine tuning it as necessary.  Hope to have a few of the guys over sometime this summer to actually run the layout together.

 

Connection to the Modoc line

Last winter while attending the International Railfair in Sacramento I was able to purchase this Western Pacific book that I had been looking to get for awhile.  While looking through the book something caught my attention.  There was a mention in this book that the Southern Pacific had trackage rights on the WP between Weso to Flanigan to make a connection to their Modoc line.  I was surprised that I had not been aware of this before and had to dig deeper.

Looking through some other books and on the internet I found out that this arrangement started in 1962.   Prior to that the SP Modoc line had crossed the WP at Flannigan and made a connection to the SP main line at Fernley.   This is a Google maps satellite view of how Flannigan looks now that I added some labels to.  The scars from the old connection to Fernley are still visible many decades later.

I made up with this simplified drawing showing this arrangement.  The Modoc line itself is also now abandoned and is a rail trail. 

I had never considered any SP traffic coming off the WP line at Weso on the layout and all of the interchange traffic has been from SP manifest trains running east and west between Roseville and Ogden.  Now I can see the possibility of also having trains running between Klamath Falls and Ogden also stopping and exchanging cars.  I have already redone a couple of Freight waybills that reflect this routing.

Here is a Klamath Falls to Ogden manifest coming off the Western Pacific line at Weso and starting on the east bound paired track.   This change will add an extra element of interest to operations on the layout.

Winter 2025 layout update

Not much new to report on the layout.  We were in Japan from the middle of December to the middle of January.  While I was gone I missed one Ntrak layout and another one we were supposed to have in February got canceled.  When I returned home I was happy that I was able to start up the layout and run a train with no problems. 

Been trying out a couple of new to me paint brands.  The only brand of paint my local hobby shop carries now is Tru-Color so I picked up a jar of white last fall to paint the Sinclair gas station.  Did not like this one at all.  Has to be cleaned up with acetone and I did not like working with it.  Then shortly before leaving for Japan, I got a basic set of Vallejo paints on Amazon.  The price is quite good per bottle when buying a set.  I have been using these on several brush projects and one air brush project and I do like working with it.  For use with the air brush it thins with distilled water.  So I will likely be buying some other sets to get some other colors and of course I could also mix the colors to get the one I want.  They also offer an additive for use with an air brush and I plan to try that out.  I also still like using the Mission Models brand of paints.

Expanding the signaling, again.

Over the past few weeks I have been working on the signaling on the layout.  First to correct some problems I've had in one of the signal blocks, and then to expand the signaling to the upper helix. The signaling on this layout is just red / green aspects with the actual signals being something I have scratch built myself.  Below are links to some of the earlier posts I have made on the signaling.

July 2021 - Expanding the signaling

July 2020 - My home made searchlight signals

May 2020 - First working signals on the layout

So the first step was to correct a problem I have been having with sensitivity on the Southern Pacific line in the 3rd signal block which includes the Carlin yard.  The NCE detectors I have been using don't have any sensitivity adjustment so I picked up a circuit from Azatrax that does have a sensitivity adjustment to see if that would make a difference.  After installing it, I was able to adjust it to get the results I wanted.  A nice thing about this Azatrax circuit was that the double pole relays were included on the board so I did not have to make up a relay board like I have been doing for the NCE sensors.

The sensors and relay board that had been removed from the 3rd signal block location was installed to provide detection for the upper helix which has become the 4th signal block.  They works fine there, I think because the track arrangement is simpler.

At the top of the upper helix the occupancy for each track is indicated with bi-color LED's that were added to the upper return loop control panel.

At the bottom of the upper helix near the east end of the Carlin yard, a pair of signals indicate the occupancy within the helix.

At the west end of the Carlin yard where the crossover leads to the WP track, another signal is connected to the WP signal block.  In the future I would like to have the signal only be green if the block is clear and the turnout is aligned for the crossover.

Renting a U-Haul in a small town

U-Haul rental trailers and trucks have been part of the American scene since the mid 20th century and nearly everyone has rented one at some point in their life.

Years ago I was making cast resin N Scale U-Haul trailers.  It all started with me making replicas of our Ntrak club's trailer and giving them to the members after finding out that it was a retired U-Haul.  After that I made several different versions of U-Haul trailers shown in the photo below and and also painted and decaled cast resin trucks and vans from Lineside Models.  I sold many of these on ebay but kept a few for myself.

From left to right: 5x8 in the older paint scheme, our Ntrak club trailer was like this one. 6x12 in the older paint scheme.  6x10 in the super graphics scheme that started in 1988.  And 5x8 in the super graphics scheme.

On a club module I had built a U-Haul rental center using several of these trailers plus some of the Lineside Models cast resin trucks.  Rental centers like this are common and larger cities and towns.

In smaller towns where there might not be enough business to support a rental center, various types of existing businesses are authorized U-Haul dealers.  The most common types of businesses that become U-Haul dealers are gas stations and self storage facilities and tool rental centers.  So, on this layout the Sinclair gas station in Carlin has become a U-Haul dealer.  

As I have both the pre and post 1988 versions, I will use the older models in the two earlier eras of the layout and a mix of those plus the 1988 super graphics versions in the 1988 to 1996 era.

Fall 2024 update and layout 10th anniversary

Where did the summer go?  The older I get it seems like the summer months go by faster and faster. Most of what I've been doing on the layout has already been documented in previous posts. Throughout the summer I was working on the buildings for Carlin.

I recently had one turnout motor start acting up.  It is one that had been in operation at the far end of the WP staging yard for almost 9 years.  When I removed it, I could tell that this motor was from 1997 so this was it's 3rd layout.  It sounded like a gear had stripped so I replaced it.  Also had one point rail break loose on one of the hand laid turnouts and that was easily fixed.  I think it's the first one and I have been happy with how well they have held up.

Recently my friend Clif was over to return the throw tie fixture I had loaned him.  The throw tie fixture was something I made to help me make stronger throw ties for my fast tracks turnouts.  Link HERE to the post on that.  Clif took the idea a bit further and had PC board throw ties made and gave me a sheet of 32 of them.

The timing of Clif's gift of throw ties was great as I am considering an expansion of the layout and will need to build several more turnouts.  Just in the early planning stage of this and I'll post more details as they develop.  Another change I am considering is to convert the existing area along the front edge of Carlin into a general transload facility.  Right now it just handles chemical tank cars and I would like to be able to have a greater variety of freight cars in use on the layout.  The area would be extended over the control panel housing as shown with the blue outline in the photo below.

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the layout.  I started the layout room the year before that shortly after retirement.  At that time, I thought if I got 10 years out of the layout I would be happy.  There was always the possibility that my wife and I would decide to move after retirement but we are still here and don't really have any plans to leave.  I have been happy with this layout and amazed at how far it's gotten.  But I'm not done yet as there are still more things I want to do with it and of course there is always something that needs fixing.

A gas station for Carlin - Part 4

It has taken over a month but this is the 4th and final installment on this project.  It has been an enjoyable project and I have taken my time with it. Being satisfied with the interior details, I installed the roof decking and the roll roofing material that came with the kit.   After the roofing material was installed, I painted it a dark green.

I did some more work on the pump island, adding water and air hoses made from .020 brass wire on each end. No smoking decals were added the posts, and more details with paint and decals were added to the pumps. 

One of the things I remembered about the gas station I worked at in high school was the tub of water they had to find the leak in a tire so I included something like that seen here as the yellow tub at the corner of the building next to the Coke machine.  I also added the hoses that would ring a bell whenever a car rolled over them.  Those were done with some small black wire.

The roof over the pumps was just large enough to mount the large Sinclair signs that came with the decal set.  The roof got some plumbing vents over the rest rooms and a TV antenna.  The exterior walls got a light weathering using brown detail wash and the roof got a light dusting with weathering powders. 

The sign on the pole is made from decals that came with the set.  The sign with the prices was made as a paper sign printed out from the computer and glued to a scrap of styrene.  The prices are about what I remember paying in the mid to late 70's before they just about doubled in 1979.

So with the completion of the gas station, all of the structures along Main Street have been finished.  There will always be little things that can be added and there are still things I want to do with the rail yard.

A gas station for Carlin - Part 3

Welcome to part 3 of this saga of me building a gas station.  The summer between my junior and senior year of high school, I worked just about full time at a gas station so I am drawing on my memories of that summer to add details to this gas station scene taking advantage of the height of the layout and viewing angle.

My plan is to have at least one of the garage doors open and to light and detail the interior of the garage.  Some of the details seen this this photo such as the tool chests, locker, compressor, and tire rack are scratch built from scraps of styrene. The lift, tanks, and the floor jack are details left over from other kits.

The office area of the building is also getting some interior details.  The chairs are from a Faller set and the remaining furniture is cobbled together from scraps of styrene shown here before being painted.  The bathroom area will not be seen and will serve as the place for the wires that power the lighting to go through.

When I add lighting to buildings, I often use left over locomotive LED boards from the many DCC installations I have done.  In this case, I am using the just the boards replacing the original LEDs and resistors to get just the right amount of lighting.  Surface mount LED's are being used because of their small size.  The garage gets two LEDs mounted on a scrap left over from a kit.  This assembly will rest on small blocks attached near the tops of the walls.  One of these is visible in the upper right hand corner in the photo above.

Here are all the assemblies with the lighting now added to the structure and viewed from the bottom.  With the stiffer 22 gauge wire going through the hole in the bench work I decided to add a small magnet in the bathroom section that will mate with a washer on the floor to stabilize the structure within the perimeter.

And here is the structure assembly set in it's place before the roof sections were added.  The small 30 gauge decoder wires are soldered to the PC board in the upper left corner of this photo and that board has a pair of 22 gauge wires that will connect to 12 volt DC power under the bench work.

And here is the effect of the interior lighting.  The pump island has now also been finished and glued to the base.  Next will be installing the roof and this project will be almost finished.