Quick Update, A Unique Switch Box, and Installing Cut-Out Switches

The photo above shows where things sit in Deep River since my last update there... As mentioned, this is just base scenery (dirt & ground foam) for now, along with a mockup of the photo backdrop showing the Connecticut River, shot at the prototype location.

Since getting to this point, I've had an open house in conjunction with the NHRHTA's annual reunion, as well as an op session. I may do posts about those events at some point, but the main thing to report here that resulted from NHRHTA weekend was the return of the #3016 from the shop!

The photo above shows her having just arrived at Essex (which reminds me - I gotta get some more scenery done here!)

I also received a nicely-done reefer from my friend DonM, which I show above at Ballantine's in Wethersfield, having just delivered some product.

As wonderful as those new (and not so new) acquisitions are though, the main focus of this post is on two quick projects that were prompted by my most recent op session.

Ever since the layout was operational, the power and command station switches have been located on the fascia at Middletown.

Unfortunately, for some reason during this last session, they got bumped - not once but twice! - during the session, shutting down the entire railroad! Something had to be done . . .

The crew made many suggestions, including moving the switches, recessing them, etc. I thought boxing around them would be the easiest thing to do - especially since the aisle here is by far the widest one I have, so no concern with something sticking out too far (except power and command station switches, apparently!)

Not wanting to go to the trouble of building a box (or moving or recessing the switches), I searched around for something suitable. And found this . . .

This is an old cufflinks box I found in the attic. Turns out, it's perfect for my purpose. . .

I used scrap paper to make a cutting template, then used spade bits to do the actual cutting (a vise held the box during cutting...)

And here it is in place!

Another issue that's become more and more apparent lately, especially as I power up the layout for testing, op setup, etc., is that I have too many engines starting up, doing nothing. I'd previously cut out all of New Haven staging and 1/2 of New London staging, so engines stored there only power up when I turn those particular tracks on.

But in "Somerset" (the supposed south end of the Airline Branch) and Middletown, engines are typically stored there too. So it was high time to have a way to turn off those storage tracks. . .

I started in Middletown. There's one stub-end yard track there that I often use to store & display power - but there's no good reason to have engines just sitting there idling if they're not needed. The first step was to see if a regular wall switch would fit where I wanted it...

Once I marked the hole location, I used a 1" spade bit to cut the first hole, centered.

That allowed me to insert the switch far enough to trace around it . . .

And I used the outline to guide the cutting of the other two holes, as well as where to drill pilot holes for the mounting screws.

The steamer is sitting on the unpowered stub track. Not wanting to have to construct (or find!) another box to protect this switch from being bumped, I just located it under the bill box for Middletown. 

Should be pretty safe here... "should" be...

Next, I turned my attention to Somerset. The easiest location for the switch was to put it right next to the switch for New Haven staging.

Same process, except this time I used a double-gang faceplate to make sure I put the 2nd switch in the right location.

And here it is installed. The "Pit" is the stub ended track otherwise known as the engine service track, located where you see the coaling tower in the pic above.

Unlike the stub track in Middletown, which branches off using a Micro-Engineering turnout (and thus already had an insulating gap - I only had to reroute the feeder wire to the switch and back), I needed to cut a gap into one of the rails on the pit track. A razor saw made quick work of it, without creating too wide a gap. But I needed to fill the gap with some styrene strip (HO scale 1x3) ACC'd in place.

Before we go, since we're in Somerset already anyway, let's check out #3016 that's just arrived with a local it needs to switch out . . .

Here's hoping you and yours have a wonderful weekend - and get lots done on your projects!

Cab Bus - Final Touches & Tips

After installing (what I hope is) the last of the cab bus, it was nice to have my buddy Mike come down to help me set up JMRI, LokProgrammer software, and WiFi throttle on a couple of old laptops I had lying around. Now that I have my cool PowerCab box, and access to the LokProgrammer hardware, it's nice to have a dedicated laptop to use with them at the bench. Unfortunately, the plan to use an old Macbook as a dedicated WiFi throttle server was a #Fail, but we got Wifi Throttle set up on the Missus' computer - figuring we'd need to borrow it "only once a month at most". Now I can't wait to get to some fun decoder programming - thanks Mike!

Before he left though, Mike brought up a good point about the cab bus - "Why not install a simple switch so you won't have to keep going under the layout to plug and unplug the bus power supply?"

Why indeed.

I thought I was done with the cab bus, but in addition to a handy switch (which I'll get into below), I discovered a couple of helpful hints:

• You cannot power the cab bus from a panel that is at the end of a branch.

Apparently it doesn't back feed or something, I dunno, but all I can say is that when I tried to connect the power supply to the panel at the end of the west end staging yard (to be able to plug it into an existing power strip - and switch), I got no power to the panel at the east end yard.

• If you don't have enough power for the bus, the throttles won't work.

You'll know you need to add power to your cab bus if you wired everything right and your panel still doesn't work. It'd be a good idea to plan the location of at least one of your panels near an outlet.

Or, do what I did and use an extension cord(!).

But Mike was right - it didn't take but a few times to realize that I really needed an on/off switch. I decided to cut it in near the front of the layout (might as well make it as accessible as possible), right near where the cord bends up to route underneath the layout toward the panel:

At first, I was going to put the switch on the fascia but 1) I didn't want a toggle/switch sticking out into the aisle unnecessarily (especially right near the entry door), and 2) I couldn't fit an electrical box between the fascia and the benchwork anyway. But there was a very handy 2x4 already there, soooo....

I decided to just nail the box right to that. You can see the location above. Also note that I've cut the extension cord.

Note: I am not an electrician, but I've done some minor electrical work in my time - and I don't mind looking up stuff and asking for help. That said, do not consider this electrical advice nor rely on it. I'm just relaying what I did (and hope folks will chime in if they have a better way of doing it).

I've wired wall switches before, but this cord was different - there's no black (hot) or white (neutral) wire - and the color of the wire is all copper (rather than a dark brassy or silver). Of course, I figured this out after I cut the cord. And I needed know which wire to put the switch on. So, I learned a couple of things about a typical, polarized extension/lamp cord:

There  are two ways to keep track of the wire in a polarized cord: 1) the wide spade of the plug is the neutral side (corresponds to the white wire in typical house wiring), and 2) the grooved side of the cord (see those ridges on the left side of the cord above my thumb) is also the neutral side.

Ergo, the small spade and smooth side of the cord are the "hot" side (corresponding to the black wire). You put the switch on the "hot"/black/smooth wire on the cord.

Once I figured that out, the rest was easy straightforward: knock out the knock-outs on the back of the box, thread the wires through, wire nut the "neutral"/ribbed/grooved (aka white) wires together, and connect the "hot"/smooth (aka black) wires to the switch.

Pack it all in the box, add your faceplate, screw everything in and you'll have something like what you see above. I positioned the toggle so it points away from the aisle when off. All I have to do now to turn on the cab bus is reach under and throw the switch!

Of course, I discovered later that this is all a bit of overkill. I could have just followed these instructions and been done in about 5 minutes . . .

Friday Fun: Finally Finishing Feeders

It's my first busy time of the year at work, so there's not much layout progress to report - and the progress there is, is pretty much invisible crews and such. Other than building a box to house my new NCE PowerCab components, I'm wiring up the (hopefully) last of my feeders!

Yes, like most folks, I was anxious to get the railroad up-and-running ASAP so I just installed enough feeders to get by. But now that we've had a bunch of operating sessions (and have completed what I hope are the last of the track modifications) and are now starting some scenery, it was time to audit/check what tracks didn't yet have feeders.

So, I reconnected all the feeders in the East End Staging yard and under the Saybrook Scene (including adding additional new ones), and I'm "finish feedering" the line from Essex up to East Haddam (electrifying every section of track).  Click here and here for how I do feeders. I'm not going to take the time to go into it in this post since I have to get back to work!

Tuesday Tip - Recessing a Wire with a Dremel

During my recent construction push, I decided to swap out one of my MicroMark switch machines for a Tortoise. I needed the MicroMarkMachine somewhere else, and I had the Tortoise on-hand.

There was only one problem: There was a feeder wire coming down Right Where the Tortoise machine would have to be located. The machine couldn't be turned 180 since there's a joist in the way; and the feeder wire couldn't be moved since it powers a 2" section of rail between a frog and an insulated joiner.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd have extended the rail up to the frog rather than have to power that short bit. But since I didn't feel like ripping out and replacing track, I decided on an alternative - I'd use my handy-dandy Dremel with a router attachment (which I hardly ever use - until now) . . .

Once I decided on this course of action, I got into it pretty quickly - so quickly, in fact, that I forgot to take a pic showing where the wire came down. But it came down where you see the LARGE routed-out section there on the right. And you can see daylight through the hole where the machine's throw rod will go.

It was just a matter of routing out a channel to recess the wire so the Tortoise could mount on top of it. Be VERY careful! My particular Dremel only has two speeds - fast and wicked fast - and you want to go as slow as possible, hang on tight, and control it as best you can.

I started with the feeder hole and went left. As you can see, I didn't control it very well at first. That thing cuts pretty fast!

But the result was worth it - a nice recessed feeder wire and a machine that mounts nice, firm, and evenly on the plywood.

Next time though, I'll plan (further) ahead and just eliminate having to power such a short section of rail . . .

A Relaxing Evening

Installing a new Digitrax AR-1 auto reverser to control the west end loop...

Modifying the Saybrook Control Board, Part 1 - Wiring

It's nice and easy out on the Valley Line - the local freight meanders along, stopping as needed along the way to shuffle cars and throw switches. On the branchlines, the switches (a.k.a. "turnouts") are thrown by hand - and on my layout the points are moved by a finger (MicroEngineering turnouts have points that lock with a center-over spring).

But down on the Shore Line where the Valley connects in Old Saybrook, it's a different story. The switches are thrown remotely by the Saybrook tower operator. And on my layout, they're thrown by machines controlled by toggles on a control board. It's a pretty cool contrast to how things are done on the branch. But it's pretty annoying when you have to add additional turnouts. In addition to a new machine, every new turnout needs a new toggle (though crossovers can be controlled by 1 toggle), so the toggles need to be added to the board. And the diagram on the board itself needs to be changed eventually too.

The prototype had to do this from time to time as well, so that's some consolation.

Buzzards Bay, MA control board, posted by John S Greene on the New York New Haven & Hartford Railroad group on Facebook

Thankfully, my panel doesn't need to be modified quite that much - and I'm adding, rather than subtracting track, which results in more white pencil lines rather than blackout...

Click to enlarge and see the new markings showing the new track arrangement. The post-it shows where the new toggles will go.

First step was to run additional power lines from the panel to the machines. As I described here, power goes from an old 12v power pack, through two buslines (+/-) in the panel. The toggles are soldered to the buslines and are connected to a terminal strip. From that strip, 18ga lampcord goes 25' from the panel, under the stairs, up and over a doorway, to another terminal strip. And from that strip, more lampcord goes to each machine.

So, opening up the panel, here's what we see (click here for how I built the panel):

I've already drilled a new hole for the additional wires and the new wires are poking through.

Next, I needed to drill new holes for toggles, including routing out recesses (as described here).

I already had one extra hole from before - I wish I'd thought ahead more. Oh well. I extended the center line and marked 1" centers.

Then it was a matter of drilling a small pilot hole (1/8"), then the toggle hole (1/4"), then the recess (5/8" spade bit, then - when that was insufficient a 3/4" spade bit).

Drilling/recessing these holes was my biggest mental hurdle, but once I'd gotten the bit between my teeth (sorry for the pun) it actually went quickly (if stressfully).

Having previously wired up the additional toggles conveniently at my workbench (as I describe here), it was just a matter of putting them in - the most complicated task was soldering the toggle wires to the power bus (I ended up unsoldering a couple of the other connections in the process, but that was easily corrected - once I discovered the problem).

By contrast, one of the least-stressful (and almost relaxing) steps in the process, was cutting the remaining wires to length and connecting them to the terminal strips.

You can see the additional terminals I've added, as well as the additional wires - all nicely labeled.

So Many Wires going up and over the doorway! They come from the panel under the stairs and out through the stud in the lower right of the photo, and end up at the terminal strip under the layout next to the door knob.

It was a long process and I would have been perfectly happy if it hadn't been necessary. But for the most part, there was nothing particularly difficult about it as I'd already done it all before %^)

The pic above show everything all connected. Well, almost everything. As you can see (or maybe not, considering the bundle of wires) there are some loops of disconnected wire. Those are the wires from the new toggles that will go to the LED indicators. I haven't done those yet because 1) I need to find 3 more 5mm green 3v LED bulbs, and b) I need to redo the track diagram (and by "I" I mean Bill, hopefully) and won't know where the bulbs (and their associated mounting holes) will go until that's (re)done and (re)mounted.

We'll make it look all nicey nice when I/Bill have the extra time. That'll be "Control Board, Part 2." But for now, everything is functioning so it's ready to go for my next shake-down session.

Control Board in its current state - 17 toggles, all marked up, and temporarily relabeled.

Tuesday Tortoise Tips

Since I decided to redo my East End Staging and Old Saybrook track arrangement (with a little, um, "encouragement" from Randy & Tom), I discovered that I'd need to add 8 more turnouts. And since all of those turnouts would be on the mainline, I decided they needed to be powered.

Ever since reviewing Circuitron's Tortoise switch machines versus Micro-Mark's SwitchMaster machine, I decided to give the Torti a try. Bottom Line: over half of my machines are still SwitchMasters and they work well, but I've discovered that I like the Torti just as well - especially since I've gotten used to putting them together and installing them.

Here are a few quick tips to help you build/install these slow-motion machines. . .

Assembly/Preparation

Each machine has 8 (?!) contacts: 2 for power and 3 each for two internal SPDT switches. I decided to do all the wiring at the bench. And the first thing I do is cut all the bits of wire I need. The 2 power wires (which are the outermost contacts) get 20 ga solid wire, about 8" long (I'll cut to length when I install). The remaining 6 wires are 22ga stranded and are 6" long so they can reach a terminal strip installed on the underside of the layout. For now, though, they're just bundled together until I need them.

Next - one of the most important tips of all - use some solder flux on the metal contacts. SUPER helpful for getting a quick and solid solder joint.

Just a touch of solder does the trick. I cleaned off the flux with denatured alcohol and a brush. Looks purdy, eh?

I swear, the first machine took me over an hour to do. The last few took me less than 10 minutes each - from removing it from the box, through testing and cleaning.

 Installation

The holes under the turnout's throwbar are drilled using a 5/16" bit - which matches the diameter of the lug on this styrene drilling template. The masking tape is to mark how far I can go when reaming out holes that were too small (so I don't end up drilling too far and up and through the turnout!)

Here's drilling template in place. The lug fits snugly in the hole under the throwbar, keeping it in place without you having to hold it. Then it's just a matter of drilling the 3/32" pilot holes for four 1/2" #4 mounting screws.

Since the template (and thus the machine) has to be in-line with the turnout, I will often drill two small (1/16") holes along the tangent rail from above and then use those to draw a line on the underside of the layout, as above. This makes it easier to line up the template - and your machine will be in line too.

Like most things in this hobby, I've discovered once you do it a time or two, it becomes MUCH much easier. Like with prepping the machines, my first install took almost an hour - now I can install one in about 20 minutes. Still not as fast as the MicroMark machine, but not nearly as bad as I'd always feared.

In fact, installing the machines turned out to be the least of my work in reworking Saybrook and staging. Next I have to modify my control board to add the toggles that'll power all these new machines and turnouts! <facepalm>