HO Scale Working Hump Yard

So I have this test track and it sits on the carpet running round the edge of a room.  I used the the Life-Like Power Loc and some Life-Like flex track to build it.  Along 1 wall the track runs about 10' on flex track that has some carpet tape to hold it in place.

At the corners where the curve starts I used Power Loc...2 sections 22'" then 2 sections 9" straight followed by 2 sections 22" radius curve again then back to straight.  Then the Power Loc continues around the next 2 curves and back to flex and back to Power Loc and then into the 10' section of flex.

For the transitions I used just plain old wood door shims with some carpet tape.  My daughter wanted a large cardboard tube for a tunnel where the track runs under a credenza so a couple more shims on each end of that.  Then there is a spot close to the wall where a couple shims where needed on the Power Loc curve due to a slight bulge in the carpet.

In total there are 7 grade changes  between ¼" and a ½".  It took a lot of tweaking to get this to work out just right.  When all couplers are correctly height adjusted everything works perfect.  This is one way I use to identify locomotives and rolling stock that have couplers to high or low.

I usually pull 15-20 cars in a train on this track with 2 locomotives.  I have just a handful of locomotives that can do it alone -  GG1 can pull anything I thrown at it with no problems at all, a Bachmann pancake motor GP38-2 High Nose can do it and my Tyco C630 Power Torques can do it also.  There are a couple others that will surprise you also, but I'll save that for later.

There is one section of uphill grade for about 10' that tests locomotives and plastic couplers.  I don't have a good solution for getting Kadee #5's in those locomotives because the Bachmann couplers fit perfect..  I'll think about that one later.

All of this experimenting has lead me to believe that I can construct a working hump yard, but not in the way you would think....

What I have in mind is this:  a long lead track of about 15' or more, probably with a very curvy form to fit the layout room shape.  Near the end, 3-6 car lengths back will be an under track magnet.  I'm not real sure on the position yet, but that's my first guess.

Instead up a traditional hump, what will be at the control tower will be a ½" grade change going down.  Cars that have been uncoupled and "placed" in push mode will be pushed off the grade change left to roll into the yard on the track set by the Tower Operator.

The Tower Operator will have the switch list and will direct the pusher when to uncouple a certain car or cut of cars.

This design is more along the line of Gravity Yards, rather than true hump yards.  Here is a link to wikipedia article that has a blurb on Gravity Yards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_yard

I've identified 2 problems on my test track already....metal wheelsets will roll freely and crash into the car ahead on its track, or if the first car, it can roll past the end of the bowl.  A possible 1/8" grade change at the end fixes this, but there is a bit of rollback.  Not that big of a deal.

Plastic wheelsets that are really cheap may not roll at all or not far enough.  I have 2 solutions: 1.  Allow the Tower Operation to use the "magic stick" to push the car and 2. Have the bowl switcher come up and get it and bring it down into the bowl.  Obviously at the far end of the bowl there will need to be a switcher on hand to help tidy up the bowl.

One of the things I like about the design is that it takes 3 operators.  This meets one of my goals in that I want the layout to require lots of friends to come over and operate the thing.

Anyways this is something to chew on for a while - I'll be testing the concept in the near future and talk more about it then....

Using Cricut Explore to make stencils for "patch" work

So I got kind of tired of making decals for everything, especially patch jobs on freight cars where I want different numbers on everything.  I was cleaning my supply closet and found some stencils I used to use in the Army on all kinds of gear.  This gave me an idea.....

Since I model a Belt Railway which has to get lots of stuff second hand, it occurred to me that a set of old Milwaukee Road 50' box cars that I had might make good "patch" jobs.  Rather than send the cars through the paint shop, I made some stencils using my Cricut Explore and just taped them onto the sides and sprayed some new reporting marks and numbers on each car.  It turned out pretty decent.

So here are some pix I made from the project:

Above is 3 Rail Box cars that I did this way and a screenshot of how it looks in the software...

And that's about all there is to it....

The Cricut Explore as a CNC machine for Model Railroads

The Cricut Explore as a CNC machine for Model Railroads

Shortly I'm going to give you a pretty good review of the Cricut Explore.  But first I wanted to give everybody the heads up that I'm experimenting with now and I have a couple first impressions.

1.  To use this machine you need to know how to make .svg graphics with alpha transparency.  There are lots of programs that do this nicely and I haven't really picked a favorite yet.

2.  The thinner the sheet of plastic you are using the more accurate cut you will get.  This opens up a whole realm of possibilities that haven't been practical in the past.  I'm especially interested in trying paper thin sheets to use as rounded sheet metal.

3.  The combination of parts to make an assembly is really exciting.  Recently I mentioned a project where I'm placing an MP15DC cab on an Athearn DD40 to make a huge switcher.  I'm going to add 2 details that I'll make with the Cricut - a Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer at the front of the locomotive just like the kind found on tanks and a massive illumination system like the kind found on fishing boats.  It might look crazy, but it will be fun.

The Cricut Explore opens a whole new world of kitbashing possibilities.  I know that many projects take far too long to complete solely because the fabrication of accurate parts is such a daunting task.

On my first try, I made a set of parts to restore the pilots on the front and rear of an FP40 that I've been working on.  It was simple.  Plus, the pattern is saved in my library and I can do it all over again whenever I need to.

Fast Tracks Handlaid Switch Review

So I made my first switch using Fast Tracks

Here's the link: http://www.handlaidtrack.com/

I got the kit to make #6 Code 100 switches in HO Scale.

First thoughts:

1.  They messed up my initial order and it cost me an extra $45 to send back the wrong rail and receive the correct rail.

2.  The customer service takes some patience to contact, mainly because the guy you speak with is the guy who makes the stuff.

3.  That being said, he knows what he's talking about.  Leave a message and he will call you back.

4.  Print the diagram for the switch you are making.  I happened to have legal sized paper and printed mine on one page and it is absolutely a timesaver and really helps you understand what you are doing.

5.  Make your first switch in front of your computer using the videos that come with kit.  I watched all of them first and then watched each one as I completed each step.  Certain videos are out of order on purpose, mainly the ones demonstrating how to actually make the points.  Watch those very carefully.

6.  I used both my 30 watt iron and my 250 watt gun.  I found the iron sometimes not powerful enough to get the solder to flow.  The big gun is too powerful for much of the build and I actually melted a couple pc board ties with it.

Things I learned:

1.  Tinning the parts where ever you can makes things just a but easier and prevents globs of solder from forming.

2.  The Plio Bond glue is good stuff.  Make sure you shake it just like the video tells you and clean your tip everytime you use it.  Keep the box so you can stand the glue upright when not in use.  Be patient with glue, it is contact cement so give it the time to cure on both parts before connecting them.  I had some quicksticks come apart a couple time because I didn't let the glue set long enough.

3.  After I made my switch and installed it into my test track I learned right away that my points weren't sharp enough.  Just a touch from my moto-tool cutoff wheel corrected this problem.

4.  I did not make hinged point rails and have now found out that they are hard to switch positions.  I tried a ground throw, but a plastic ground throw doesn't do the trick.  I still have no intention of ever make hinged point rails at this time because the continuous ones look and perform so well.  The problem of throwing the switch is one that I can solve, just haven't gotten to that yet.

5.  The conditions I tested my first switch on are harsh.  It's carpet taped directly to carpet with no road bed.  That's my standard for testing reliability.  I post more about how and why I do this later, but for now I'll say it's mainly to test my equipment to make sure everything meets operating standards.  I also use the Life Like track with plastic road bed and standard flex track directly on carpet to incorporate a number of grade changes and soft track sections.  Anything that works on my test track works everywhere.  The switch is working better than an Atlas Snap switch that I had in there before.

6.  As poorly as I made my first switch, it's a big improvement over a ready to run snap switch.

7.  Making Fast Tracks is a good example of a skill with a learning curve.  I expect my next one to be a huge jump in quality.

8.  The form needs to be brushed thoroughly with the wire brush that comes with it.  I couldn't understand why the rails were so tough to get into the form until after I was done.  When finished I scrubbed and washed the form with a wire brush and soap to clean the acid paste flux out of it and noticed that there had been fine machining particles in the sharp places.  Rail fits much easier now.

9.  Having the rail fit well into the form will eliminate 75% of the problem I had with gaps between the rail and the PC Board ties.

10.  Fast Track swtiches are super forgiving on mistakes, which is awesome because I made so many.  I re-did a bunch of soldering outside the form with no problems.  I used my moto-tool to fine tune sharpness with no problems.

11.  Here's a tip on the point form tool:  take a thick shop rag and lay it across your bench vice and gently secure the point form tool in the vice before filing.  Then use both hands on the file to make the point.  It vastly improves the accuracy of the filing.  Also use a brass wire brush to clean the file, it does a much better job than the steel brush.

And that's my first review....in the next one I should have more useful info and I'll do some pix to go with it.

Final thought:

I invested about $450 into everything I got.  I got enough stuff to make 15 switches and all the one-time buy tools.  That seems like a lot of money, but 10 of those switches are being bought by a couple friends which helped me with the cost.  In my group of modelers, I'm the switch guy now and that should make this investment even up for me over another couple batches.

More to come about Fast Tracks.....my first review says Fast Tracks is some good stuff and it was fun.

My workbench has 2 sides, one side is where I work and the other side is where my 4 year daughter sits and creates various things from her imagination.

There are some extra cabs of various types in a basket close to her side and there is an Athearn DD40 that I was going to replace the cab on it.  I was looking at it and asked her what she thought I should do.  She picked a cab out of the basket and said:

"Daddy this is where the people go on that train.  You need to put this one."

It was a cab and platform for an MP15DC.  I had already cut the existing cab and rear off the shell.

"Trust me Daddy, this is where the people go."

There are about 10 other more realistic choices in the basket and I started to make an excuse, and she said:

"Daddy. This is the right one."

Who can argue?

So all I could do was agree and start making it so the cab from an MP15DC could be mounted on a DD40.  She also pointed out that I would need to install a large wire screen mesh grill on what will now be the front end of an MP40DC....


that wasn't the end of her imagination for the day....

And so I received yet another set of instructions from my 4 year daughter who is a very creative mechanical engineer....

We have a hidden test track in my office that runs under some furniture which is high enough for her to crawl under.  She likes to stage freight cars in hidden places.  It was a little dark under there and she needed a flashlight to find something the other day.

I just so happen to have a super beat up spot light MOW car with a caboose cabin and large light on it. I got it in a batch from ebay and have it all in pieces and was working to restore it.

At the same time I was experimenting with a rectifier and a bunch of LED's that I was going to use for someting else.  She picked an extra large LED out of my bin and told me that that should be the spotlight on this MOW car.

The LED she chose is 28,500mcd and as big as one of those erasers that you put on top on a pencil.  I hooked it into my circuit and showed it to her; it's blinding bright.

She said: "Daddy we are going to need at least 2 of those in case there are any ghosts."

Fortunately I have another spotlight car and now both of those cars are about as bright as a surefire flashlight.


She did approve of the small on/off switch mounted on  the deck of each car.

So what's happening today on the workbench....

I have obtained a Bachmann E60CP which has an identical power truck like that one I posted earlier.  My intention is to place both of them in a Trainmaster Dummy unit that I have create the mighty H40-66.

Yes the H40-66 is the most powerful FM locomotive ever produced, albeit by a 3rd party.  It uses recycled dash 7 trucks and has 2 engines instead on just 1.

The E60CP is going to be recycled into a diesel engine that is very similar to the E60CF using a couple small can motors that I have.

As long as I'm at it, I'm going to repower an AHM SD40 with a couple small can motors and see how that goes.

So many projects.....

What is on my workbench at 3pm April 13, 20014....

Right now is the M650, just about done - down to handrails and some touchups.
The SD45MA4, yes the beast is back with a vengeance....4500hp and a safety cab made by someone else
Then 4 F units, not sure what designation I'll give them all first, depends on what details I add.
Finally, the (tentative) F60 with 3800hp.....

I model the future and due to the political situation this is what happens with locomotives in combination with industrial sized metal printers and copyright laws - use it or lose it....