Magnets, Buildings, and Pancakes. What do they have in common? Check out the latest update on the Dragonfly!

Time to update the blog with progress on the railroad. The wiring for the programing track is complete. I have also finished the wiring for the lift out section. I will post some pictures but for now I can describe what I did.

I mounted two magnets under the lift out section on the benchwork with the opposing plates attached to the bottom side of the bridge. I then attached wires from the plates through the composite bridge section (3/4" plywood and 2" of foam) to the rails on the lift out section. The magnets mounted on the benchwork adjacent to the bridge seat were then wired to the main track bus under the railroad. When the lift out section is in place, the contact between the magnet and the plate completes the circuit and power the track on the bridge. Seems to work very well and avoids plugging and unplugging jumpers... or worst yet forgetting to and then removing the bridge and the wiring too!

The Great Train Exhibit was in town this past weekend. Our son Carter and I decided to go! We had a great time! After a quick stop at McDonald's for some of those famous pancakes, we were off to the show! We went with very focused intentions- STRUCTURES. I had a list of structures to buy for the various industries on the railroad. We worked our way through the maze of booths and tables searching out and recording prices for the various kits. We managed to find some great deals and purchased 4 kits. We were able to find a petroleum facility for Standard Oil Company in Walnut; a grain elevator for L.D. Spaulding Grain Company in Walnut; and a lumber company for E.W. Houghton Lumber Company in La Moille. The boys had a great time!

Future projects on the list include:
Build some structures (something that I have not done... for a long time!)
Paint the fascia (probably Pullman Green)
Paint the track
Begin to fill out Car Cards and Waybills and begin trial operations! Yahoo!
Scenery (again, something that I have seldom gotten too on the last two railroads I have built.)

I am very please so far with the outcome of the railroad. Careful planning, patience, and proven construction techniques have built a railroad that is operationally solid. I am eager now to move on to the next phase... SCENERY. Check back often to see how that is going!

That's it!
Scott

Photos Photos Photos!

I have finally taken pictures of the progress made over the last month. Click on the links below to redirect you to a specific album. I think most pictures tell the story, but if you have a question, please ask!

Lift Out Section
Benchwork Fascia
Lenz Set 90 and Electronics Shelf
Homemade Track Cleaning Car

Thanks for stopping!
Scott

Update

It has been a while since I have posted to the blog and I have been working a lot and have some great progress! Things worked on since my last post:

• Lift Out Section- Complete! Pictures coming soon!
• Masonite fascia installed along entire benchwork. This really finishes off the layout benchwork nicely. I will be painting it in the near future. I am not sure what color though... earth tone? Pullman green? boxcar red? I have seen all three colors used and I like all three.
• DCC walk-around throttle jacks installed in new fascia. I am also very pleased with the way these look. Very clean and professional. They are easily "removed" when it comes time to paint the fascia. I had five from the previous railroad, so I installed all five. It may be a little over-kill, but I didn't see the point of leaving one or two in the box collecting dust.
• DCC electronics shelf has been constructed under Walnut, Illinois. I decided to build a separate shelf to hold the Lenz Set 90 and associated items. I was not happy with the idea of setting it all on the larger shelf I constructed to help stabilize the benchwork. The large shelf is a great place to temporarily store larger construction tools and I thought that having the delicate electronics nearby would not be such a good idea.
• Started wiring track leads to the power bus which I had previously installed, actually even before the 2" foam was installed. Again, I have learned a lot from previous layouts and from others in the hobby... two words, suitcase connectors. Wow, do these save time and headaches. I have successfully used them to connect the drop from the rail to the power bus. What used to take several minutes to strip wire, twist and solder... is now done in a matter of seconds! Not to mention that fact that I don't have to contort like a circus gymnast to solder the connections! Wonderful!

I will post pictures of all the items described above in my next post.
Thanks for stopping!
That's it!
Scott

Lift Out Section Rehab

From the very beginning I was not totally convinced I could live with a lift out section as part of my railroad. My concerns grew more as I made the decision to make the lift out section semi-permanent (See Previous Post). My thought a month ago was to "live with it" as a fixed lift out section and just duck under it to move around the layout. This past weekend, I decided I had had enough and completely dismantled the lift out section and re-built it as a true lift out.

The idea of using magnets to secure the ends of the section didn't work out like I had hoped. The magnets are gone and have been replaced with two 1x3's that have been notched to form bridge seats. I have further stabilized the section with two small dead bolts at each end. The section will not move and should be capable of holding the proper alignment, but will be easy to remove and store away when I am working on the railroad. This much is done!

I then laid the track back on the lift out section and thoroughly tested it. I have secured the rails on the tangent end of the lift out section using CA and spikes. The end that falls in the middle of the curve will take a bit more work. I did some research and found a link to a website. The website gives an idea to use a printed circuit board cut into "railroad ties" and mounted to the roadbed. The rail is then soldered to the circuit board. Click HERE to view the page. I am in the process of completing this process and hope to finish in the next couple of days. Once things are complete, I will post some pictures of the project.

That's it!
Scott

A set back...

Well it was bound to happen... I have experienced my first major set back while building this railroad. In short, my ideas for the magnetic lift-out bridge did not work! Oh it worked just fine until I decided to cut it free... so to speak. I built the bridge, laid the roadbed, and then installed the track as one continuous uninterrupted piece. Everything was running smoothly. I tested it with several different trains.... so.... I decided to cut the track and roadbed. Well one end of the bridge is on a tangent section, while the other is in the middle of a 30" radius. The tangent end is fine... the end within the radius did not hold it's alignment. After dumping glue on it, spiking it, and clamping it, I was not happy with the result- derailments!

I have since thought about it, studied other lift-out bridges and have determined that in most cases the track is cut radially or perpendicular to the roadbed. My cut is angled to match the face of the benchwork. This introduces a whole new issue of trying to maintain the rail alignment. I realize now that I should have attached the bridge to the benchwork at a location that is perpendicular to the trackbed.

This has been a great learning experience. Nothing is ever permanent and it can be fixed. So I will go back to the drawing board and make some adjustments, some more calculations, and build it again!

I will update the blog with the results!
That's it!
Scott