Into the winter season updates.

 

The DC HO layout has changed a bit. The hill was remove and the track plan is now 2 ovals on a flat surface.  Here we see Don S. putting in two sidings on the inner oval. With these changes and when all the trackwork is in, there will be numerous switching opportunities on this small layout. 

Hunter, on the main layout received a large renovation. Turnouts were replaced and powered, a second passing track was added and switch control panels were installed. The Elsewhere yard also got some powered turnouts with accompanying control panels, all made by Jim F. Joseph also got the club new capacitor discharge units to power the turnout motors. A job well done by all who helped out. These changes have seem to correct most of our problems. 

A small glitch in a turning switch, joining Elsewhere and Wellington yards, was also rectified by Jim F. And he is now working on a problem with some of our controllers not being to pick up the correct address. He has found unhooking one WiFi unit corrects the problem. Now to find out how to get the system to work with both WiFi units hooked up. 

Into The Fall Season

As noted in the previous blog, the basic layout scenery has been com-pleted and this provides the opportunity to add details to existing scenes or to the making of new scenes. This steam shovel with operating parts was made from the 1950's vintage kit shown by a club member and now resides at Oxford Sand & Gravel on our layout. Nice job, Jim.

This new detail scene depicts a road construc-tion crew taking care of a pot hole or other street surface problem

 

Summertime offers many distractions and the layout work takes a back seat to other things of the moment. When the fall arrives, serious work resumes.

Here Dave under Prez Don's watchful eye continues the construction of an N gauge layout in the Rec Hall's kitchen area. N gauge is half the size of H.O., the gauge of our main layout. 

In another area of the Rec Hall, Rick is attending to the con-struction of a DC layout that is primarily for kids to run their own or club locomotives and learn how a real railroad operates. 

Tuesday nights year round are for operating sessions and here Colby, son of a new member, is running a train under dad's supervision on a recent Tuesday evening. Other members can be seen in the back ground following their trains around the layout. We sure do appreciate the wider aisles com-pared to those of our previous layout. Control is by Digitrax and allows for both plug in and remote controllers

Aug. 31 at the RHR.

 We have reached a milestone. Except for a small campground, back on a hill and a few clouds, all the layout has had scenery added. So this post will be a few pictures of what it looks like now.

The town of Woodstock. This is actually a continuous running loop from Elsewhere to Wellington. On the left is a freight yard and on the right is a 2 track passenger car storage yard.

The town of Admiral is the end of the branchline. Connected to it is a log loading area. Circling below this town is the middle point loop of the mainline, which is mid way from the Elsewhere and Wellington yards.

This is the town of Fidler on the Elsewhere sub. Standard Tube, Eureka Foundry and Cullen Mills are names of industries once located in Woodstock. Fidler is the name of the street our clubhouse is located on, well with the rerouting of Rathbourne, the section of Fidler we are on, is gone. You see our clubhouse was at one time the Recreation and Dry Canteen building for the Army Camp that was located here before the fairgrounds was built. All of out layout towns are named after streets in town, except for Woodstock and Elsewhere. 

Start of summer update

 

As seen by comparing the above 2 pictures, the layout has come a long way. We are currently working on a problem area in Admiral and installing a new yard connected to the Elsewhere yard. This work should be done in the next couple of weeks. 

We will again be open in conjunction with the Woodstock Train Show on October 16th, donations will be gladly accepted. We hope by that time to have at least, all the base scenery in place, on the main layout, were almost there. We had a lot of interested visitors view the layout at the last open house a hope to have many more. We are located in the building to the west of the Casino. 

The On30 scale layout is also, mostly completed. The N scale layout has some of the track laid and is slowly but surely progressing. The DC, HO scale railroad is running with some scenery in place.

May 1 Open House

 At the monthly club meeting in March, it was suggested that we hold an open house for our layout in conjunction with the Woodstock Train Show on May 1. After discussion, it was loosely agreed to do so if logistics such as volunteers, advertising, layout condition, reliable track and switch operation, etc. could be met.

At the following April monthly club meeting, it appeared the above logistics could be met by May 1 and it was decided to have the open house. The room was tidied up, an escape route for emergencies was put in place, signs were organized and responsibilkities assigned.

We are pleased at the outcome on May 1. Weather was raw and rainy yet we had approximately 40 people - singles, families, train show venders from far and near across Ontario, one from North Battleford, Sask. and four who live in Scarboro but flew from Vancouver to Toronto and then decided to come to the train show in Woodstock [talk about dedication!]. All had either seen our layout open signs or heard a train show announcement about our nearby layout. Two trains were constantly running the layout and the fact that some parts are not yet scenicked allowed all to see how a train layout is constructed. Many, many good questions were asked of those of us who were volunteering our time and hundreds of pictures were taken. All in all, a great time for everybody despite the weather. Even some employees of the next door slots came in to see what we were hosting

A real benefit for us was to see our layout in operation in an open house mode. A major problem with our previous layout was aisles that were too narrow, leading to constricted areas when more than a few people were present. This layout's aisles handled those attending without any jams whatsoever. The layout design of a double loop allowed the continuous running of trains which is what visitors wasnt to see. For dedicated model railroaders, we could also offer switching at times to demonstrate our method of operation.

It was a good start to more open houses to come.

April update

 Most of the track is ballasted and track clean up continues. Everything but the turntable in Dover is wired and working. Although some scenery is down, there is a lot more to do. Even thought the layout if far from being completed, we will be open from 11 to 4 on May 1st, during the Woodstock Train Show. Our building it to the west of the Casino. 

Drop in and see our layouts. The main HO layout has over 400 feet of mainline.  We also have a 23 foot On30 shelf layout, a small HO DC layout and have started a 2 x 8 foot N scale layout. There may be a couple of displays also. Hope too see you there.

Friday April 1st

 All but the light over the DC, HO scale railroad, have had the diffusers remove, creating a much brighter layout. There is only a few more flip cards to be added, and throttle holders were put up in high traffic areas.

By adding some more hoppers, that were previously used to haul gravel, to the unit trains we now have 2, 10 car trains, 1 empty and one loaded. There still needs to be cars with horn hooks at 1 end and kadees at the other made. Flip cards still are needed for the single hoppers of coal loads.

In a couple of weeks the backdrop painting should be complete, at which point all the background building flats and pictures can be permanently installed. 

Almost all of the Wellington division's mainline is ballasted, but there is a lot of the darker ballast to be put down on the Elsewhere division's mainline and many sidings and yards.

Power and a control switch still needs to be installed for the turnout at the log pond.

March meeting

 Treasurers report accepted as read. We agreed that if a member joins the club, the fee will be pro rated at $20 a month plus $25 for insurance.

Our working  hours are Tuesday and Fridays 1 to 3 and Sunday morning. Tuesday nights 7 to 9 are running nights.
We will be open, to the public, from 11am to 4pm on May 1st while the Woodstock Train Show is on.
It was decided not to paint the fascia for now, but holders for controllers, in heavy traffic areas, should be added. Exposed floor tiles will be removed, for safety, and we took off the florescent light diffusers for more light.

The coal, unit trains will have a center section of cars with horn hook couplers until we have time to put on kadees.

Mike brought in his scratch built engine for us to see.

p

The Newfoundland Railroad had its first run, but scenery is still on going.

 
An uninvited Hobo, was found riding the rails.

Construction milestone.

 We are at various stages of construction, on 4 layouts, in 3 different scales. Of course the, HO scale, main layout is by far the largest covering an area of 23 feet by 50 feet. The On30 scale layout has legs 13 feet and 10 feet long. 

The On30 scale,  Newfoundland Railroad has had a harbour and fascia added, also all the track has been laid and wired. The little DC, HO scale, layout is wired and running and has some scenery added, work on the N scale railroad continues.

 
The main layout has some more scenery added and a few of the flip cards have been mounted on the facia. Now that all but 1 piece of the fascia has been installed, any gaps between the fascia and the foam are being filled in.

Meeting night is next Tuesday, a financial report, fascia colour, results of the last train show sales, items for sale, and if we will be open for the May 1st, Woodstock Train Show, will be some of the topics.

March update on the Rec Hall Railroad

 With all the elements of the electronics in place, the curtains were hung and the fascia was installed. 

Scenery has been started along with ballasting. Nice to be starting this stage.

The backdrop also needs to be touched up. In this close up, a picture, a house, barn and cows has been painted into the scene. 

Our flip card system is up and has been tried out by some members. 

Update

 Almost ready to run!

All but the Woodstock loop has been painted an earth brown colour.
Mainline feeders are done
All of the electronics will be checked and running after Jim's Sunday check.
Set out most of the good buildings. Some may need to be moved.
Someone took out the garbage bags, and a lot of boxes broken down and recycled.
Most of the clutter remove from the layout proper.
Cleaning up the tables in the lounge, to be replaced by the fold down, longer ones.
In conversation with Don P. Who has been operating his layout using the simple Set out, pick up cards, with good results. He has about 70 switching spots.
Next week we will be able to at least test run some trains. After that we could start ballasting.
Some buildings need to be repaired
Background needs to be touched up before permanently setting buildings.
More cleanup is needed.

Weekly update

 The tedious job of joining feeders to the bus wire, is ongoing. They have been added down to the gap at the Cement plant, and the North yard in Wellington is done. Almost of all the track from Longworth to Admiral has been glued down, the screws will be removed on Friday. The ore train staging track has been added, but the Springbank interchange track needs to be extended a foot or two, so some adjustments to this staging track are required. The ramp up to the gravel dock received the first coat of gravel.

After cutting down the big stone wall, it was installed along the view block by Oxford Sand and Gravel. 

Progress update

 The tedious job of joining feeders to the bus wire, is ongoing. All the bus wire holders have been installed and the lift out has been wired and contacts installed.

More hills are in or started, around Sunset, and plaster cloth has been applied in Lincoln.

More than 100 pieces of rolling stock have been listed on a spreadsheet. If anyone is bringing in rolling stock please notify Larry B. So I can add them, or they will not have a car car made for them. Looks like we are low in black coal hoppers, covered hoppers and tank cars. We only have 1 piggyback. We have lots of flat cars, gondola, refers, and I think box cars. I have about 30 more pieces of rolling stock to list, right now. With the realization that we have lots of ore cars, and the knowledge that some operators like just running a train, it has been suggested we add a siding behind the cement plant to store the ore train.

Operating system part two

 In this second post about the operating system we will look at The Interchange System.  First we will look at the ready yard at Elsewhere, which is the source of all the interchange traffic.

The track designation is shown below (red circled area above). For this presentation I have made the mainline CN, the Springbank interchange is the connection with the CP. and the O,river interchange is the connection with the TH&B.

--------------------CN---Main line---track--------------------------------------------------

 -------------------- CP SPRINGBANK TRANSFER --track track----------------------

-----------------------TH@B OLIVER TRANSFER---holding track---------------------------

------------------------CARS INTRANSET----holding track----------------------------------------

----------------MAINLINE RECEIVING AND BREAK DOWN----track----------------------

----------PASSING TRACK AND ACCESS TO TURNING TRACK--------------------------

Looking at the TH&B Oliver Interchange, located behind Admiral. The arriving rolling stock will be swapped with those on the interchange track. The Car Cards will also be swapped. The new rolling stock and Car Cards, will be taken to Wellington and put either in the storage yard, if empty, or put on the intranset holding track, if it is to be delivered to an industry. There may also be a time when cars are to be put on the CP Springbank transfer track. Cards will be placed into the appropriate card boxes, corresponding to where each car was placed. Both of the transfer tracks will have train length, limit markers, which will correspond to the length of the corresponding interchange track.

The CP Springbank interchange works the same as above, but has 2 tracks so the arriving train can be put on one siding and the other train picked up.

  

New operating system

 The operating system procedure will be presented in sections because of blog restrictions.

First up, Train Orders.
I am thinking that having a pocket on the back side of freight train orders, to hold car cards might be a good idea. What do you think?

The old, but updated Train Orders for unit trains will still be used. These will include, the logging train, coal drag, oil train, interchange trains, and passenger trains. In with these Order cards, will be Train Orders for freight trains in both directions, probably 2 of each. There would also be a Train Order for a branchline freight, This would make for up to 11 trains, which is more than we would want running at once. Train Orders will be picked in order and once completed, returned to the back of the Train Order box. The only exception is when someone breaking down a train sees that a car they placed on one of the transfer tracks exceeds the train, length limit, they will move the corresponding Train Order to the front of the Train Order box. If we apply the 2 to a crew rule, this would lower the trains running to 5. The fact that the freight trains need to be made up and broken down should also slow down the number of trains running. Special exceptions will be made to accommodate individual requirements or preference.

I will use this short post to include some extra information, most of which was discussed at the meeting. All industries will have a hook or box for Car Cards. All storage yard tracks, interchange tracks, transfer tracks and intranset tracks will have Car Card boxes. Yard and industry sidings will all be illustrated and labelled, on the facia. A track diagram of the next town in either direction, will be located on the top of the backdrop, and colour coded for each direction.

Meeting night

 Treasures report was accepted. Dues will remain the same. The group did very well selling some of the club's inventory at the last show.

Alternative work times was another topic. With available keys, anyone may come in at any time and in fact several members are doing just that, for various reasons, like, if your working on the electronics there can't be people working on the track at the same time. 

The N gauge layout will be placed over the old stove, until the stove is removed. Still waiting on the fair board for that. This extra module is not a priority at this time, nor is the DC layout, but these provide other work opportunities for more people.

 In short, options for our operating system were laid out. This system was developed after discussion and analysis of ours and other systems short falls. Samples of a new card system were looked at, discussed and accepted as developed. This Card system will include designated holding tracks in Elsewhere, 2 interchanges, all of our old unit train, Train Orders, and Card Cards for each piece of rolling stock. These will identify the rolling stock and it's forwarding information. There is also a self correcting component which requires that at each industry where an operator drops rolling stock they pick up any rolling stock and car cards at that industry. The last fail safe is, if there is any confusion about what to do with misplaced  cars or cards,  return them to the storage yard, the error will eventually correct itself. More detailed information will be in future posts, handouts and discussions.

Paint booth options were talked about. The area by the unused water heater was deemed good area as there is a vent hole there.

 Wiring progress. All the mainline from Lincoln to Admiral is up and running. More bus wires will be run, so that the area from Lincoln to Dover can be worked on, feeders are already done. The electronics for this area will be installed soon. It was decided to use a reversing module to control the power to the turning track.

 The bar area will be our rolling stock repair area and the program track will be wired in there. Eventually shelving and part storage areas will be added. There were other ideas for this area, but......😥

This week at the RHR

 Sometime during the week the foam hill, that is the base of the town of Lincoln, was cut to shape. A road bridge was set in place, to see how it would fit.

The brown base colour now covers the towns of Maple and Pinehurst. Tunnel portals were also added to the Coal mine hill. Trees were planted at the farm area.

More feeders were soldered in place as we progress around the town of Lincoln and also in the ready yard of Wellington. An attempt was made to wire the reversing switch for the reversing loop. The switch motor was replaced and all the wires were added but, one of the terminals snapped off inside the switch. We will have to use a manual DPDT center off switch instead. The feeders for the reversing area  will be brown and yellow.

Friday afternoon at the RHR

 

Very productive day again, although the progress seems slow. Feeders were added to the Wellington yard and the floor was swept up!

The interchange/staging tracks out of Springbank had 2 turnouts added, now all we need is 2 diamonds to complete the scene.

The feeders were installed and wired around the Admiral loop and Interchange/staging track had wires and on off switch added. Need to do 2 more sections at the end of the loop, but it doesn't require climbing under the layout. Many of the feeders were attached to the bus wires in the Coal mine area.

Mother nature has added a hill near Cartier and painted previously plastered hills. Glad to see the backdrop was protected.

Tuesday night at the RHR.

The blitz was on. Kitchen area was tidied up, after the DC, display HO layout was installed. An  8 x 2 foot N scale railroad will be built next.

 With a group working together, another quad unit was wired up, and feeder wires were added to most of the east wall peninsula, but not attached to the bus wire. We are concentrating our efforts to get the east side of the central peninsula and the east wall peninsula all wired in. This would mean that we have 7 blocks wire up, so we can then test the track out.

Tatham had a new, team track/piggyback ramp, added, and Country Feed and Seed was located on the other track. We talked about adding a dummy turnout and 2 diamonds across the mainline, to enhance the look of the Springbank interchange.  With a new turnout, to replace a damaged one, on hand, the Elsewhere yard trackwork was worked on.

Not to be left out, scenic elements around other parts of the railroad were also worked on. More plaster was applied, on the hills between Springbank and Sunset. Foam boards were selected to elevate the town of Lincoln, creating not only a view block but

 also a scenic focal point.