A new brand of turnout motor

Well, new to me anyway.  A friend recently introduced me to a brand of turnout motor that I had not hear about before.  These MP5's are slow motion motors that run on AC or DC, and 2 sets of double pole contacts.

This photo shows the comparison between one of the existing Tortoise motors on my layout and of of these new MP5 turnout motors.

Another feature I like about these is that the wires are connected to a removable plug which would make things easier when working under a layout.

I have been testing these motors out with some new Peco turnouts.  Using the stock rod that comes with the turnout motor, the movement is strong enough that there was no need to remove the over center spring in the Peco turnout.  On other types of turnouts I would use a more flexible wire linkage.

The turnout points need to move about 3mm.  The amount of movement on the motor the way it came was too much so I needed to change it from the stock 6mm to 3mm.

After removing the two screws on the bottom, the bottom can be hinged open and the slider part removed.

The cam inside rotates a half turn with voltage in one polarity and then another half turn in same direction when voltage is reversed.  If the cam cannot continue it's rotation because it has reached the stop on the turnout, it cannot be reversed by reversing the polarity.

A pin on the cam fits into a slot one the slider and the rotation caused the slider to move.  The holes on the cam are at 3, 6, 9, and 12 mm from the center of the cam which correspond to how much the slider will move.  The pin is installed at the 6 but can be pulled out and moved to the 3 for N Scale turnouts.




These seem like great little turnout motors and they cost about the same as a Tortise motor.  The small size makes them great for modules or layouts with shallow frame bench work.  They are made in the Czech Republic by MTB Models and are sold in the US by Model Railroad Control Systems.

Tunnel portals at Palisade Ranch

The next expansion of the layout will include this scene.   This is one of the most photographed areas on the prototype.  On the layout the scene will be viewed from the left as indicated by the arrow and after entering the tunnel portals the tracks will cross the lift bridge which was the subject of this recent post.  I already have the two  bridges and those were featured in this post.  Now it's time to create the tunnel portals.

This will be the portal for the SP line which is on the left in the above reference photo.  The curved top of the tunnel liner was made by cutting a section of 1-1/2 ABS drain pipe in half then adding sidewalls of 1/4 inch plywood.  The face and angled retaining walls are 1/8 inch hard board and a scrap of .060 x .060 styrene strip finishes the top.

Once the basic structures were finished the tunnel portals were placed over a straight section of track on the layout and all of the larger rolling stock were driven through to verify that they would clear.

The portal for the WP line was made the same way but without the wing walls.  It is longer and more of the top is finished as it will be exposed.  Both were painted with Testors concrete acrylic paint.  They will get a light smoke weathering and another pair will be needed later on the other end of the tunnel.

More experiments with Azatrax

Lately I have been finding more ways to use the Azatrax Infrared (IR) train detection circuits and sensors. Recently I received a pair of single channel detector circuits that operate a bit differently than the 8 channel circuit that I featured in the posts Experimenting with Infrared detection circuits and Automation of the yard's reverse loops.

This is the MRD1-V.  The V in the model number is for variable delay.  When the timing adjustment is turned all the way counter clockwise,  the relay will turn on for 1 second then turn off even if the beam is still blocked.  This is called one-shot operation.

The one shot operation is like pressing a momentary button on the control panel.  By connecting the relay in parallel with a panel button this could allow for some automation of the staging yard.  I built a small brass structure to mount an IR transmitter on top looking down with the receiver in the track.  The actual IR beam is invisible but the green line indicates where it would be.

The 1-1/2 inch spacing of my yard tracks is enough for the the trains to clear the 1/8 inch poles of the structure.

So with the relay output connected in parallel with one of the push buttons on the control panel this concept was successfully tested by pushing various cars through the structure.

Here is the MRD1-V temporarily sitting under the staging yard with the beam blocked indicating occupancy.  There is an occupancy LED on the board plus connections to have a panel mounted occupancy LED if desired.

I also tried out the reflective mode with the IR transmitter and receiver mounted through an old section of Kato track.   This also worked quite well with several different cars and locomotives but passing a hand over the sensors also could trigger the circuit so I will be careful where I use this setup on the layout.

Building an entry lift bridge

Over the past week I have been designing and building a lift bridge to carry the layout past the entry door way.

It has always been planned that there would be a lift bridge of some sort here and when I built the room in 2013 I added short sections of half walls on either side of the door to give the bridge something solid to attach to.

There will be tunnel portals on the layout at each end of this bridge so this bridge will actually be a pair of tunnels on the layout.

Here is the left bridge in the up position.  Anything that will go through the doorway such as modules will also pass by the gate.

When the tracks are installed there will be a short feeder cable on the hinge side to power those tracks.

The deck of the bridge is 1/2 inch plywood with 3/4 inch bracing on the bottom at each end.  This gives the hinge screws thicker material to go into.  The sides have 3/4 inch thick rails on the top side of the deck.

Both ends of the gate rest on 3/4 inch thick rails that are attached to the wall structures.   The entire bridge and the supporting structures were sealed with a primer then the outside parts were given two coats of the gray enamel that I use for my fascias.

So when the next layout expansion comes, the gate will be ready.

Modern truck for the diesel distributor

The fuel truck presented in the recent post "N Scale roots - cast resin vehicles" is OK for my 70's-82 era but I needed something more modern for the later eras.

I discovered a new line of 3D printed vehicle model kits from Royale Models.  I ordered this fuel tanker with trailer kit from their web site www.royalemodels.com.  These kits come in a package like the one shown in this photo.

This is what the 3D printed parts in the kit look like.  They are printed from the bottom up with many support fingers rising from a base.  There are no instructions included.

These fingers need to be carefully cut from the models.  I used a flush cut spue cutter to separate all the little fingers from the models starting on the outside edges and working my way in.  There was very little sanding needed with a 600 grit sanding stick to clear away any remaining nubs.

The only problem I had with this kit was getting the tank to sit correctly on the truck frame.  I ended up adding .020 x .040 styrene strips along the truck frame to raise the tank above the rear wheel fenders.  I also made a hitch on the rear of the truck for the dolly to fit onto.

There was not a very solid pivot connection between the trailer and the dolly so I made my own using .047 styrene rod then drilled out the hole in the dolly to match.

The truck chassis, tank, dolly, trailer, and wheels were all painted prior to final assembly.  Details were added with Sharpie pens.  Then it got decals and a spray of Dullcote.

Since the label on the box identified this model as being part of the Interstate Series, it seemed right to display it on the short section of I-80 that is on my layout.

These are excellent models and in my limited experience with 3D printed models represent the best available in that medium.

Adding tail lights to the Amtrak Superliner

I wanted to add working tail lights to the last car on my Amtrak California Zephyr train like the ones in this prototype photo.

So I decided to make my own working tail lights on one of my Amtrak sleeper cars.

The stock lenses are solid red plastic so I replaced them with my own made from .040 fiber optic.  I mushroomed one end by holding it close to my soldering iron.  This helps the fiber optic capture more light.  After cutting to the right length, the cut end was sanded smooth.

The openings left by removing the stock red plastic lenses needed to be slightly enlarged to fit the new fiber optic lenses.  Then the fiber optic lenses were installed from the inside.

Using some small LED's from one of my boards, First I tried to paint them red but when gluing them in place the red paint dissolved so I made filters from disks punched from a sheet of .010 red translucent polystyrene sheet.

A simple circuit of bridge rectifier, 5 volt voltage regulator, and super capacitor are attached to the bottom of the upper deck with E6000 adhesive.

Some of the interior walls had to be notched or removed from the floor section for the circuit to fit. 

So that the circuit components would not show through the lower windows, those windows were painted a gunmetal color from the inside giving them the look of being darkly tinted.

Once the windows and upper deck were re-installed the circuit was tested for a couple hours to make sure the components would get hot.  They don't even get warm because the current used is very small.

And this is the result was looking for.

Because DCC power is always on the track, the LED are always lighted.  And with the super capacitor in the circuit acting like a "keep alive" circuit they don't flicker with interruptions of contact and will even stay on for several seconds when the car is removed from the track.

First working signals on the layout

I have always enjoyed railroad signals on a layout but have also found them to be one of the more challenging things to accomplish correctly.  In the past either on modules or on friend's layouts I have installed a few signals that were animated with either a connection to a turnout or a detection and timer type circuit.  This time I wanted to try some actual occupancy and the helix seemed to be in need as I had a couple of occasions recently where I have lost awareness of which track in the helix a train was on.

For detection I was thinking of using the occupancy outputs on the PSX-1's but found that they would not drive my low current relays so I instead used NCE DB20 block detectors.  Check this recent post to see how these work.   These were mounted under the helix.

Where the lower yard goes into the helix this is the searchlight signal that indicates occupancy on the inner loop of the helix.

The pole and mounting bracket were made from brass, then a #6 washer was used for the target and the hood was made from polystyrene tube.  The LED is bi-color and 3 mm size.  Magnet wire was run down the brass tube pole.

Where the upper yard enters the helix I made the same type of searchlight but without the pole.  Instead it was attached to a bracket that was mounted to the side wall of the helix.

This signal indicates occupancy on the outer loop of the helix.

Both signals are mounted near where the gap is between the helix PSX-1's and the yard PSX-AR's.

Here the signal has turned red as the train has crossed into the helix.  In the case of this Amtrak train the entire train must clear the helix because of the wheel contacts on the Kato passenger cars.


These signals would be close to O scale in size but since they are in the staging yard that is not an issue and it has given me a chance to get into some signaling.  The next step will be to buy or make some signals closer to N scale for the top of the helix.  

N Scale roots - cast resin vehicles

There was a time when very few mass produced motor vehicles were offered in N Scale and most of those were models of European prototypes.  Because of the small size, cast resin vehicle models were practical and several smaller manufacturers developed cast resin kits for the N Scale market.  I had purchased and built my share of these in the 1990's.

As time went on some great ready to run plastic and metal N Scale vehicles became available and my box of yet to be finished cast resin kits got neglected.  Every one in a while I get the itch to pull one or more of those old kits out and finish them.     Recently I finished two more kits to create some trucks I wanted for the layout.

I chose this Lineside Models cast resin kit to make a Western Pacific Maintenance of Way truck.  In the past I have had some problem with wheels coming off when just attached with adhesive so I made axles for these which should give them a bit more support.  I used the metal front wheels that came with the kit and some cast resin wheels I had for the rear.

The yellow I painted this model with was not much different than the raw casting.  The windshield and window were painted gunmetal, the tires weathered black and the hubs engine black.  The Western Pacific decals were from nscalekits.com and the license plates from Microscale.

As even in my earliest layout era this early 1960's model would have been in service for quite a few years it got a good amount of weathering.  From my details bin I found a barrel and a stack of ties and then glued together a stack of scrap code 55 rail for a load.

The second vehicle project was using the back end of a Cars N Scale fuel truck and mating with with a cab from an Athearn Ford C cab tractor.  This makes the model fit more closely to my earliest layout era plus I like the detail on the Athearn model.  That 54 Mack cab from the resin kit is great too and I'll use it somewhere, someday.

So here is the finished fuel truck that will serve the diesel distributor in the 70's - 82 era.   I am working on some other trucks that better fit different layout eras but I won't have to use the TomyTec model of an Isuzu milk truck as a stand in anymore.

The latest in track cleaning

Recently I came across a YouTube video about using something called NO-OX to clean model railroad track.  After looking at a few more videos and also finding some other references to it on the internet I decided that I wanted to give it a try.   Turns out that this has been around for years and I was quite surprised that I had not heard of it before.

Shopping for NO-OX I found that it is used in a wide range of applications to prevent corrosion and to promote electrical conductivity.   

I ended up buying this 8 ounce tube on ebay.  Considering the tiny amounts used to clean track and how long the effects of an application are supposed to last this tube may last me for a very long time.

Because this is a paste like substance I was concerned about loose ballast getting stuck to it so want to keep the application very thin.  The way I applied the NO-OX was to smear a thin layer onto the pads of my Woodland Scenics track cleaning tool.   Did not press hard, just slid it around the track.

I still use my Aztec track cleaning cars with the frabic rollers and my home made Masonite wiper car.  I may also be able to use one of the wiper pads on my Atlas motorized track cleaning car to get into the spur tracks.



It has been about 3 weeks now since I have started using this product and the results have been quite noticeable especially at slow speeds.  The one application 3 weeks ago has not been repeated except for a few areas where I had leaned on the track while working on the layout.