Over the winter, I could run two trains...kind of. The outer mainline could only run counterclockwise while the inside main could only run clockwise. If I changed directions, there were 3 or 4 spots - on each track! - where I would inevitably derail. So I spent some time working on the trouble spots over the weekend, focusing on them one at a time until eventually I was able to get the trains to run continuously, either direction, with only intermittent issues. Still seems like I might be getting some voltage drops along the line but I will wait on that issue.
Last night, while the trains were making their rounds, I spent some time reorganizing the car cards. Every time I had derail, I would first swap out cars to see if it was the track or the car. Over time, this lead to the matching car card to be in any box BUT the one representing the track where the car actually sat. I ended up needed to create some new cards too since I had built a half dozen freight cars over the Christmas break but forgot to create the cards.
While the train on the outer loop ran, I decided to try a switching job using the inner train which was facing Eastbound. The first issue is the switch leading into Herminie, another case where there is a slight gap in the point which can derail cars, The second issue appeared when I pulled the hoppers out of mine siding and the engine derailed - apparently the distance between the rails on the curve out of Herminie is just too much for the engine to handle, and this was my big RS-3 not the SW-1!
On a more positive note, switching LAS Fabrics in Greensburg went off with no problems but hand a couple derails going back to the Irwin Yard because this was the first time I had run several of these cars on the mainline.
Car Maintenance team is going to be extra busy this week!
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Quiet Time
Not a lot has been happening on the layout over the last few weeks for a couple reasons. First, it is really, really cold outside and the layout room is an unheated room off the garage. True, I have a space heater that will eventually warm things up but the trains are sluggish in the cold and it takes some time to warm up. Second, with the electrical issue I've encountered in the mainline passing through Irwin Yard, I have been discouraged. I think I know how to fix it but to do the job right, I need to get some solder flux which I have been having trouble locating. Finally, we have been on vacation for the last week and of course, could not spend any time in the train room.
Hopefully I will get back in there soon.
Hopefully I will get back in there soon.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Bruce helps find the problem
Bruce and I have been trying to meet over the Christmas holidays so we could review the process on the layout he designed. We never did get together over the holidays but we both finally had a free Sunday afternoon so he dropped by today. Last time he saw the layout, the trains were running but it was all cork, track and scene dividers. Now, there is actually scenery, if somewhat temporary.
A couple weeks ago, I started having a problem with the trains running and I could not figure out why. With Bruce's help today, we finally isolated where the problem is...although not why.
Oddly enough, the problem occurs if an engine on the inside main (does not matter which engine) is just east (right) of all the yard switches AND the engine (any engine) is approaching the entrance to the west yard, both trains stop. We think it has something to do with the fact that there is only one feeder to this whole section so maybe the two engines are drawing too much current (voltage??) and neither can run. Next week I plan to drop at least 2 new feeders, one on either track and see if that improves the performance.
Looks like the Maintenance Dept better get cracking!
A couple weeks ago, I started having a problem with the trains running and I could not figure out why. With Bruce's help today, we finally isolated where the problem is...although not why.
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| Point where both trains stop |
On a funny note, I pointed out to Bruce that my Repair-In-Place, or RIP, track can hold 4 freight cars that are not running well on the layout. That was not enough, so I started placing RIP cars on West Yard #3 right behind the RIP and maintenance shed. Now that is full with 4 freight cars and 1 cabin car. Worse, doing our running today, a second cabin car kept derailing but at least I was able to squeeze it onto the RIP track.
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| RIP Track full, so is West Yard #3! |
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Some Scenery
Had to take a break from the layout for a while so progress has been limited to an hour stolen here and one there. The twins and I went to the train show in Springfield and I bought an interlocking tower and the end track bumper for Herminie. I am (sortof) taking a couple of weeks vacation over the holidays and last night I spent the evening adding some grass to the Irwin Yard and Herminie.
Today, I added some people, trees and stumps to help bring the scene to life.
Tonight, Adam and Nicholas can into the train room to run trains and make sure we can fit 3 operators inside the layout. It worked out pretty well. My enthusiasm to work on the layout is so we can have some friends from St. Helen come over and see the trains - their son is a huge train fan!
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| Irwin Yard getting some landscaping |
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| Westnmoreland Coal Company Mine No. 4 |
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| Adam (background) and Nicholas running trains with Dad |
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Busy Thanksgiving
Hope all my friends had a good Thanksgiving, I sure did. Turkey, stuffing and all the fixings spending time with Lisa's family and a couple of days with Dad, Cathy and her family. In between, I got a lot of work on the railroad.
First, I put all the fascia back up, this time permanently. I had thought of cutting new fascia since there were a lot of screw holes from the old but I decided it was OK. I did have to paint 3 pieces of lighting valances that I reused for fascia. With the front of the layout having two sides I needed more green masonite than previously and likewise, with the train against 3 walls, I needed less sky blue ones. I mounted all the throttle and waybill holders as well as the Digitrax UP5 and UR90 panels.
Most of this was done before we headed to PA to visit Dad. On the way, I was able to stop at T&K Hobby in Bridgeport OH with my shopping list. I did not get the fine ballast I was looking for but a few things I was not able to find at the train shows this fall - rubber tipped tweezers, a Zona saw and 2 soft handle XActo knives. I also stocked up on a few Polly S paints (including Aged Concrete) and the last rail stop for the supply track at the mine. It's heavy timbers in a pile of ballast. Will look great.
Finally, I was able to rough in the mountains around the tunnel portals in Manor and Herminie. With different portals - one concrete and one stone - it looks like 2 different tunnels. Things are coming along very nicely. I even have a plan for operations where the city will be E. McKeesport for west bound traffic from Irwin servicing two sidings and Jeannette for east bound traffic servicing one spur.
First, I put all the fascia back up, this time permanently. I had thought of cutting new fascia since there were a lot of screw holes from the old but I decided it was OK. I did have to paint 3 pieces of lighting valances that I reused for fascia. With the front of the layout having two sides I needed more green masonite than previously and likewise, with the train against 3 walls, I needed less sky blue ones. I mounted all the throttle and waybill holders as well as the Digitrax UP5 and UR90 panels.
Most of this was done before we headed to PA to visit Dad. On the way, I was able to stop at T&K Hobby in Bridgeport OH with my shopping list. I did not get the fine ballast I was looking for but a few things I was not able to find at the train shows this fall - rubber tipped tweezers, a Zona saw and 2 soft handle XActo knives. I also stocked up on a few Polly S paints (including Aged Concrete) and the last rail stop for the supply track at the mine. It's heavy timbers in a pile of ballast. Will look great.
Finally, I was able to rough in the mountains around the tunnel portals in Manor and Herminie. With different portals - one concrete and one stone - it looks like 2 different tunnels. Things are coming along very nicely. I even have a plan for operations where the city will be E. McKeesport for west bound traffic from Irwin servicing two sidings and Jeannette for east bound traffic servicing one spur.
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| Tnnnel portal at Herminie |
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| Manor tunnel portal passes behind Dailey's Coal & Fuel and Keystone Sand & Supply |
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Dad...how long did you spend on the last layout?
Adam recently asked me that question as I was showing him the progress I had made ballasting all the track. It was a fair question since most of his pre-teen years were spent watching the previous layout come to life and in less than a year, I have gone from benchwork to running trains.
Our last move was in 2000 and I had originally planned to build a train in the entire basement. Four kids and limited time to work on it meant that was impractical. Bruce and I had lost touch so I was on my own to create a trackplan which took about 3 years and ultimately was a pretty simple point-to-point with staging yards. Another year or two for benchwork, a few years for cork and track, etc. To some degree my interest (or availability) waxed and waned and I needed to invest in almost everything brand new, I had a couple of locomotives and a lot of rolling stock but had not taken the DCC plunge yet (I knew I wanted to do this layout in DCC). I had some track but had to piece a large number of switches so I broke the purchase over time. I remember thinking each stage as being difficult - benchwork (I am terrible at measure twice cut once), electrical, ballasting, etc. Every step I did some reading and research, figured out how I would do it (sky backdrops comes to mind), try it, get frustrated, walk away for a while and then try again.
I had my first in September 2011 - yes, eleven years after we had moved it. We had a few problems but it was the first time I really tried to "run trains" and use car cards and waybills. It was a blast! We had a few more operating sessions but I did not get much more done on the scenery. In about 6 months I was tearing out the layout in sections for the new house.
It took a little over a year to come up with a trackplan for the new space - Bruce was a huge help in cutting down the track planning time, since it's his design! I also dabbled with multi-deck options and staging yards in the main part of the garage before setting on the current loop layout. A couple of weeks in December 2013 of lighter-than-usual work allowed me to get the benchwork pretty much done. I had a lot of the track I needed so an order of some cork and a few flex track and I was on the way. I realized I had a lot of materials - wire, DCC, ballast, scenery, freight cars, engines - that I was making steady, and sometimes amazing - progress, Of course this kept me motivated.
I had not had an official operating session yet but I am close. Somewhere between 2 and 3 years in the new house and I will be running trains again. A whole lot faster that the 11 years at the last place!
Our last move was in 2000 and I had originally planned to build a train in the entire basement. Four kids and limited time to work on it meant that was impractical. Bruce and I had lost touch so I was on my own to create a trackplan which took about 3 years and ultimately was a pretty simple point-to-point with staging yards. Another year or two for benchwork, a few years for cork and track, etc. To some degree my interest (or availability) waxed and waned and I needed to invest in almost everything brand new, I had a couple of locomotives and a lot of rolling stock but had not taken the DCC plunge yet (I knew I wanted to do this layout in DCC). I had some track but had to piece a large number of switches so I broke the purchase over time. I remember thinking each stage as being difficult - benchwork (I am terrible at measure twice cut once), electrical, ballasting, etc. Every step I did some reading and research, figured out how I would do it (sky backdrops comes to mind), try it, get frustrated, walk away for a while and then try again.
I had my first in September 2011 - yes, eleven years after we had moved it. We had a few problems but it was the first time I really tried to "run trains" and use car cards and waybills. It was a blast! We had a few more operating sessions but I did not get much more done on the scenery. In about 6 months I was tearing out the layout in sections for the new house.
It took a little over a year to come up with a trackplan for the new space - Bruce was a huge help in cutting down the track planning time, since it's his design! I also dabbled with multi-deck options and staging yards in the main part of the garage before setting on the current loop layout. A couple of weeks in December 2013 of lighter-than-usual work allowed me to get the benchwork pretty much done. I had a lot of the track I needed so an order of some cork and a few flex track and I was on the way. I realized I had a lot of materials - wire, DCC, ballast, scenery, freight cars, engines - that I was making steady, and sometimes amazing - progress, Of course this kept me motivated.
I had not had an official operating session yet but I am close. Somewhere between 2 and 3 years in the new house and I will be running trains again. A whole lot faster that the 11 years at the last place!
Friday, November 14, 2014
PRR Irwin Branch Schematic
There are really only a few more jobs to do on the layout and I can seriously run some trains. There are two remote switches that need to be installed, a little more ballasting, trimming out the liftout, installing the last scene divider and completing the Loconet. Of course, I need to have SOME idea of how I want to run trains, so it was time to develop a schematic of the trackplan.
I dabbled with this once before a couple of months ago and I did not get very far. I had created the last layout schematic using Excel and this one was more complex than I realized as I tried to visualize how to make a double tracked loop plan into a linear schematic.
Finally, I got smart and in 10 minutes I had sketched 5 separate schematics which I then used Visio to create and cut and paste them into an overall master.
Too easy!
I dabbled with this once before a couple of months ago and I did not get very far. I had created the last layout schematic using Excel and this one was more complex than I realized as I tried to visualize how to make a double tracked loop plan into a linear schematic.
Finally, I got smart and in 10 minutes I had sketched 5 separate schematics which I then used Visio to create and cut and paste them into an overall master.
Too easy!
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| Irwin Yard |
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| Manor (in previous posts I called this town Penn Hills) |
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| Herminie |
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| East McKeesport |
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| Was was known as the bridge section, now Hannahstown |
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| The entire layout in a linear schematic |
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