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Post by countryroads on Jul 31, 2020 5:37:17 GMT -5
Cool Mike that your getting goods in and out of the upper level now
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Aug 12, 2020 12:21:35 GMT -5
Been working hard at getting more and more of the upper level completed. My goal is to have all track and roadbed down by this weekend, and I seem to be on track for that. Here's an overall shot of the upper level taken from the room door, this was last weekend so more progress has been made. The track at the Lincoln Warehouse, which is the terminus of the beer line, is down.....though oddly not connected yet to the rest of the layout. The track along the wall will be the Milwaukee Road Freighthouse and the WEPCO power plant, that roadbed and track/switch still needs to be installed this weekend. This area is the Pabst Shipping Center, I was working on this last nite. Got the roadbed installed and the switches installed leading into the loading area. Tonite I'm planning on getting the three loading tracks installed. After this all thats left is the switch and tracks into the Schlitz C house and its time to start wiring under the layout again! (funny thing, I've been running trains on the upper level already and the only feeder is on the ramp......so far I can get an engine to crawl almost 20-25ft from the feeder, using only rail joiners!)
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Post by countryroads on Aug 12, 2020 16:14:04 GMT -5
Cool beans Mike so gives you a 50 foot overall distance on the feeders.
Must Be nice to actually get more up and running.
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Aug 17, 2020 15:30:58 GMT -5
I'd love to say I'm this good at figuring the trackage needs but I really just backed into this one. I was sure I'd need another piece of flex, but......all the track is installed on the upper level and this is all I have leftover for scrap for the entire layout! Not too bad!
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Oct 1, 2020 22:21:48 GMT -5
Lots of progress on the layout, I need to post some pictures this weekend. All feeders for the track are in. I have 6 more switch controllers to install on the upper level. This weekend the LED lighting for the lower level is going in and the fascia for the upper level should get cut. Getting close to scenery!
Now it's really time to start the H 10-44 builds....
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Post by countryroads on Oct 5, 2020 1:06:24 GMT -5
Here the FM's
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Oct 10, 2020 17:21:48 GMT -5
I’ve been plugging away at the layout, sacrificing diesel build time unfortunately. I’ve gotten quite a bit done though. All of the switch controllers are in now, need to finish the wiring on them though. I did get the LED lighting on the upper level installed though. I bough some LED tape light from amazon and installed in on some lath strips that I split in half and attached to the fascia brackets. The dimmer/switch is connected to my 12 volt power supply for the layout. The install was pretty easy but as you can see from the picture above, the adhesive on the LED tape is pretty bad so I ended up zip-tieing them to the strips. Holds pretty well. Below is the dimmer controller for the LED tape. As with any good layout, expansion has occurred before scenery even started 😊 My plan initially was to just leave the space behind the ramp curves as dead space, which is what happened for two of them. The one at the bottom of the ramp though is very visible. I ended up removing the shelf bracket the was supporting the end of the ramp and filled the corner in with foam. This will end up being the back of houses up against the lumber yard, which actually is exactly how the prototype was set up. Should add some nice visual interest to the layout. This afternoon I also installed the upper level fascia and the background fascia on the ramp. Waiting on some glue to dry before I mud the seams and paint.
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Oct 21, 2020 19:12:52 GMT -5
Havent been able to work on the layout too much the last few days since I painted the track (spray paint), and the fumes chase me out of the room for a day. I did get the fascia cut to finally hide the waste pipe. The sides are going to be painted sky blue and the front will end up gray to match the fascia. Still needs a little trimming for a good fit. Im laminating 1/8" hardboard to a foamcore backing, just for some added thickness without adding much weight. I need to glue everything together still. This will just be a pressure fit in the space so I can remove it if needed. This weekend hopefully we're painting backdrops and fascia!
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Dec 26, 2020 13:04:03 GMT -5
Today marks the one year anniversary of the Beer Line. A lot has happened in the past year, hard to believe a year ago the room was more or less empty, and now there's a full layout in there. I'm tempted to put together a slide show of pictures but for now here's the start and where we stand today! Dec 26, 2019: December 26, 2020: Scenery has started, roads are beginning, and building mockups have begun. There's 6 40 ft insulated boxcars waiting to be converted to URTX and DSDX and one H10-44 halfway thru detailing. I'm starting work on the overpass at Humboldt yard, and waiting on some scenery materials to arrive so I can get started on the Humboldt area. Its been an exciting for the layout (at least), looking forward to see what the next year brings.
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Post by countryroads on Dec 27, 2020 20:29:31 GMT -5
Coming along very nicely
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EMDX6043
Chairman
Future ex-modeler
Posts: 837
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Post by EMDX6043 on Dec 28, 2020 20:57:58 GMT -5
Looks nice and clean with the fascia installed. Maybe I missed it, but what type of turnout mechanism are you using?
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Dec 30, 2020 10:47:06 GMT -5
Looks nice and clean with the fascia installed. Maybe I missed it, but what type of turnout mechanism are you using? Yeah the fascia really made a big difference, so did painting the pink foam an earth color The turnout controllers are a home made version of a blue-point. Its a single throw, double pole switch mounted to a piece of hardboard. I drilled a hole in the top for a throw rod that goes thru the layout and catches the small hole in the turnout points. Since my layout is only 1" thick from top of foam to bottom of plywood the throw rod is rather short. It would probably still work up to 2 or 3 inches, but you may need a thicker rod. I use the contacts in the DPST switch to power route to the frog, and eventually to light up an indicator light on the fascia for turnout direction. The throw on the fasca is just a 1" craft ball thats connected to the same throw rod you'd use for a blue-point. Its a pretty simple system, though a little time consuming to build. But they are way cheaper than any other options out there. Here's some pictures: This is the DPST switch mounted to the hardboard with "pigtails" attached (I didnt want to be soldering under the layout) Terminal barrier strips on the "pig tails" to make connections under the layout easier. The clear plastic rod connects directly to the DPST switch with a small screw. The other end pokes thru the fascia and attaches to the orange craft balls to give something substantial to grab. The red sleeve just protects the inner rod as it threads thru the wiring and makes bends. Its a pretty simple system to put together. Id have to dig up my receipts but I think I spent something like $75 or so on all the supplies and that got me 42 turnout controllers! Pretty good trade off considering thats about the cost of 5 blue-points or 2 tortoise switch machine.
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Dec 31, 2020 20:31:28 GMT -5
No point in slowing down! LOL The first structure on the layout started, I decided to start scenery first in the Humboldt yard area. Still waiting for some materials to arrive but I started work on the North Ave overpass. The overpass is a combination of a kit and scratchbuild to fit the space. The overall bridge is around 225 scale feet long, and the piers and supports are somewhat unique which forced me into some scratch building. The project started with five Rix early highway overpass kits, and a ton of styrene!!! They are pretty close to the correct look, though I'm modeling it about half the width it should be. Any wider and I woudlnt have room for Tews. Here is a view of the overall length of the overpass, every 75ft or so the railing is drilled out for a light pole. (The hotwheels cars are for a rough idea of where the final cars will go, they should be here sometime next week) The bridge piers are unique in they support concrete arches under the road. The Rix kit doesnt look close so I have to build everything under the bridge from styrene. The image below is the cut out arch. They actually ended up pretty easy to make, some time with a dremel and it turns out our metal oval garbage can in the basement is the perfect arc for this! A little time sanding and they turned out really nice. I also go the bridge piers cut this afternoon but I need to get some electrical run for the light poles and cars/trucks before I finish assembly and painting. Hopefully in the next few weeks the overpass will be more or less done. Then its just waiting for scenery in Humboldt before it can be permenantly installed.
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dekon
Staff Member
Posts: 634
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Post by dekon on Jan 5, 2021 20:42:33 GMT -5
Just read this and then read the whole build at Model Railroad Hobbyist. I really like the track plan. Amazing what you fit into it.
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Jan 29, 2021 22:51:12 GMT -5
Quick update, the E North Ave Overpass is basically done. I found some time this afternoon to finish building the last few pieces, which included the load for the stake bed truck that hides my photo-resistor, pulling all the wiring down the bridge supports, and getting the last details and light poles installed. A more detailed post is on Model Railroad Hobbyist. The pictures below show the hidden photoresistor and the wiring being installed. Next up is the planning starting on Tews Lime and Cement. I got a box of supplies from Model Train Stuff earlier this week which had the wall panels and roof for the main building, and the material conveyor. Still trying to place everything to look correct in my small space. (yes the main building will have an interior)
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Feb 10, 2021 13:27:33 GMT -5
The bridge is finally done! Figures after pulling all the wires and hooking everything up for one last test I discovered hat 6 LEDs were out! Spent the better part of a day carefully taking this apart and replacing LEDs. Everything is working now though. Base scenery is down for this corner (ballast is actually drying right now on the main and in the Tews area). Once everything is dry the bridge will be final fitted into place. I have been working on the permeant controller for everything. I ended up mounting an Arduino Nano on perf board with the resistors and screw terminals for all the wiring. This way I can disconnect everything without soldering under the layout if I ever need to remove the bridge. Didnt turn out too bad for my first time soldering circuit components!
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Mar 23, 2021 22:08:33 GMT -5
I've turned my focus to the neighborhood on the lower level for the time being. All together there will be seven houses in this section of the layout, with the tracks running behind the houses. Last fall (I think) I bought bunch of Walthers Bungalows and 2 story houses to populate the neighborhood. These were pretty common in Milwaukee (still are). Started working on the first house last weekend, they're pretty simple kit to assemble, getting the colors mixed was the most time consuming part. Still have a little assembly to do, and I want to get some more color on the bricks. For this and a few other houses I wanted to try and simulate the cream city brick that was so common in Milwaukee, the others will have more typical red brick. Continuing my theme of lighting automation the entire neighborhood is going to have lighting affects in each house. The interior was split up into "rooms" with styrene (basement, 4 rooms on the first floor, and 2 on the upper floor) that will each have an LED. I may try and do a simulated TV flicker in some houses too. Each house is going to run off of an arduino under the layout. I have larger plans to link them all together to respond to a photocell and play sounds at some point (kids playing during daytime, and subtle car sounds, crickets, etc at nite) Thats down the road though.
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Post by countryroads on Mar 23, 2021 22:39:23 GMT -5
I've turned my focus to the neighborhood on the lower level for the time being. All together there will be seven houses in this section of the layout, with the tracks running behind the houses. Last fall (I think) I bought bunch of Walthers Bungalows and 2 story houses to populate the neighborhood. These were pretty common in Milwaukee (still are). Started working on the first house last weekend, they're pretty simple kit to assemble, getting the colors mixed was the most time consuming part. Still have a little assembly to do, and I want to get some more color on the bricks. For this and a few other houses I wanted to try and simulate the cream city brick that was so common in Milwaukee, the others will have more typical red brick. Continuing my theme of lighting automation the entire neighborhood is going to have lighting affects in each house. The interior was split up into "rooms" with styrene (basement, 4 rooms on the first floor, and 2 on the upper floor) that will each have an LED. I may try and do a simulated TV flicker in some houses too. Each house is going to run off of an arduino under the layout. I have larger plans to link them all together to respond to a photocell and play sounds at some point (kids playing during daytime, and subtle car sounds, crickets, etc at nite) Thats down the road though. The fun now begins the house is looking killer
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Apr 13, 2021 16:38:47 GMT -5
The neighborhood grew a bit this afternoon. The second bungalow main structure is together. I sprayed the interior walls flat black, waiting on those to dry before move on to the front porch. I've been playing around with the adrunio again for lighting these, I have the basic idea figured out for each house, need to figure out linking them all together still so it'll be a while before the light show starts. Not gonna update on each house (there's 5 more to go) but you can start to get the feel for the neighborhood now. I really need to get back to working on the H10-44 to......
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Post by countryroads on Apr 15, 2021 5:07:10 GMT -5
coming along very nicely
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