Short circuits and solutions

Nothing is more irritating than hard to find short circuits and nothing is more pleasing than finding them (and have a solution).

Several hours was spent on this issue but now we are up and running on the major switching area.

Summertime - no time for trains

Summertime means gardening and outdoor activities, at least according to my wife. Consequently there is limited time for model railroading.

But occasionaly I read Model Railroader.

And I met a long lost friend who is the owner of a fantastic Rivarossi locomotive i O-scale.

Switch engine problems

What to do if there is a obstacle in the way for the switch engine and you have to mount the engine on the side of the hole?

Answer: Rebuild the engine.

A bit of plasticard and super glue and we are up and running.

The Brewery is connected to the world

A nice smooth curve now connect the Brewery tracks with the yard and main line.

Mainline complete

"Sekt and Cigarren" said Mayor Clarion when the final solder was made on the mainline. It is now complete all through the layout, at least the switchin area.

Ready for the staging yard.

First turnout ready for traffic.

Turnout manufacturing - half way

8 right and 4 left turnout skeletons are now ready for the next step in the process.

Wodden tiles are clued onto the templet supplied (for free) by Fast Track http://www.handlaidtrack.com/

When this is dried and ready the skeleton is glued onto the tiles; a rather tricky moment since the moving part should continue to be moving after the glue have dried.

Air business (luftaffärer)

A couple of years back I got myself a rather cheap kompressor plus airbrush. It has served me well but the time has come to upgrade since weathering is a big interest for me and also the procedure that turns a plastic toy into a model.

The package consist of Iwata Smart Jet Compressor, Iwata Hi-line CH (HP-CH) aribrush and Pistol Grip Moisture Filter.

I better control myself otherwise there will be very little without some kind of color in my hobby room.

More turnouts

Five out of eight skeletons for right turn switches now ready, three more to go. And then four left turn before the wooden tiles can be added.

Fun

Running out of turnouts

Sorry about the mess.

In the middle of the creative phase I run out of turnouts. 8 right turn and 4 left is now needed for the switching area, including the brewery, so there was no alternative to start the production.

Well, that is also part of the hobby and also a fun procedure. It has been a while since I did it so it took some practice to get it right.

Mainline at the final stage

The building speed is now extremely high and I am soon ready for a test run on the mainline. Well that might be an exaggeration but the tracks and turnouts are more or less in place.

First turnout after Clarion Yard (module). It could have been nice with a #10 or #12 but home layouts lack space so one have to do compromises.

The empty cork to the right is only 1mm thick and should host C40 handlaid track for the drill track. 

Hand made turnouts. A bit more complicated than the ones from the factory but in my humble opinion they look better (once painted)

Electrical work in progress

Red, black and white cables are soldered onto the tracks and switch engines. Bit by bit the layout is getting electrified. Sure, it has to be connected to power and tested but soon it will be ready for trains.

Soldering in progress

Lots of cables

Almost invisible connections to track

First run

Dear followers (both of you).

I am sorry for being so passive here. For about a year I have focused on moduls in accordance with FREMO´s AmericaN standard but now I am picking up the stick again for an ongoing progress.

Today I connected power to the line in order to test functionality before continuing with track. Short circut (naturally) was found in one of the home made turnouts. Once the faulty part was disconected it worked fine, at least as long as the track was powered.