Post Christmas Update

Over the past week or so, progress on the railroad, specifically in Oakridge has continued, despite the busy holiday atmosphere. Here is the status of Oakridge and the surroundings post Christmas!

We start in the railroad west/south end of Oakridge. Here the mainline turnout has been installed and secured to the roadbed, and feeder wires are awaiting soldering. I am using 18 gauge wire for all feeders, and 14 for the main bus lines. 

The liftout across the layout entrance was a project put on hold until the larger carpentry projects in the railroad room were completed. This lower level bridge connects Eugene staging to Westfir, and subsequently Oakridge. Grade is 2.5% here. 

Using spline to draw a smooth track center for the curve out of Eugene. Care was taken to ensure a smooth and manageable transition out of the first turnout in the ladder. 

Cork laid directly onto the plywood of the liftout and the approach. Will cut separation when the adhesive sets up. Track and wiring to come in this area, as well as through Westfir into railroad east/north Oakridge. 

In an unrelated project, while cork laying supplies were out, completed the last section of cork on the plywood subroadbed on the top level of the helix. Here, we are looking at the future exit of tunnel 18. 

In addition to structural infrastructure on the railroad, here are some of the new electronics waiting installation. Pictured above are a secondary booster, SE8C signal decoder, the second BDL 168 for detection of upper level, one of the two auto reversers needed, a box of Tortoises, and the Loconet USB buffer. In the background of all the track work, I have been working on the JMRI detection and signalling aspect of the layout, which will be essential for operation. As of this update, all of Eugene staging's turnouts have been programmed, as well as the detection sections for each track. Still working on constructing the panel for dispatcher control. A substantial learning curve has been involved in this process, but it has been a very enjoyable aspect of the hobby I can take with me outside of the railroad room on my laptop. Excited for the possibilities of this system. 

Back to Oakridge. Here are some of the most up to date photos. Track and wiring for the mainline and passing siding in south/west Oakridge are complete. 

Completed ladder for the yard. In order from the main, we have the yard lead off of the passing siding, the lead to P&T, the south leg of the wye, and the split of the storage tracks in the yard (right) and the runaround/MOW tracks (left). All turnouts are manual micro engineering. 

View of the underside of west Oakridge. This ex-SP unit has been the trusty tester locomotive for all of the new wiring as well as programming the detection sections in Eugene. Above, the wiring can be seen. Red wires run to detection sections. Tap-splices are used for connection to feeders. Unconnected feeders are for the undetected yard. 

The helix is now live and connected to its wiring. The helix is located just to the west/south of Oakridge, and serves as the portal into the high mountains of the pass. Hoping to make the connection of helix to Oakridge in the next few weeks. 

One last shot of Oakridge. This is the east/north ladder which is currently under construction. Waiting on a few turnouts on order to finish this section. In the top right of the photo is the pile of left over ME flex track I will use to complete the yard and mainline. 

Brief Update: Staging yard live

The railroad has been under construction for a few years now (this will be the third Christmas), but until this week, has just been benchwork and some track. Now, we have a railroad: trains are moving! Detection and signalling is an electrical journey that from the outside seems rather daunting, and one I hesitated to embark upon, but felt it was necessary to the atmosphere I am trying to achieve. This week I bit the bullet.

Work this week just focused on getting the detection sections in hidden staging powered and operational. The wire was put in almost a year ago when the track was laid, but proved to be robust. I ran into issues with the track however. I handlaid my turnouts for the yard and found that my initial efforts of gapping the PC board ties were lackluster. I was forced to go through each one individually, re-gap some ties, and even adjust some solder joints I felt could be stronger. This fine tuning is ongoing and will be necessary given the limited access to the tracks once Oakridge is built right above it.

Fine tuning the Eugene-East staging yard ladder. Can see the temporary aux power supply for the BDL 168 and a portion of the electrical panel for the staging yard.  

UP 3456, an old GP35 from my previous layout breaking in the track work. Adjustments needed, especially in fine tuning the movement of the points via the tortoises. 

Though seemingly insignificant, powering the Eugene staging yard is a large milestone for the railroad as it has been a project in the back of my mind. It allows us to finish the benchwork for Oakridge and move on to completing the mainline. We have some big projects planned for the December/January holiday that should move this railroad to a new level of completion. Stay tuned!

Late Summer Update 1: Digitrax and Fascia

The past week offered opportunity to get back into the basement after almost 7 months away from the railroad and continue to make progress in any way possible. After a successful winter work session, the project list was still long with a few major projects remaining before more intricate and detailed work can begin. Some time was spent on each major goal, and the coming week will provide more opportunity for work.

Klammath Falls Staging: The two staging yards on the railroad, Eugene and Klammath Falls, are major centers for operation and given their hidden locations, are priorities in terms of reliable operation. Eugene is nearing completion, especially after work done this week, however Klammath Falls is still just plywood and cork. 4 of the 9 turnouts have been built with more time planned later this week to complete the remaining 5.

Benchwork: Fascia Panels have been attached and "beautifying" them has begun for Eugene. While this will be mostly hidden by Oakridge, a finished look throughout the entire railroad will bring a more developed look of completion. Still debating paint colors.

Electrical/Wiring: After a few years of construction, the railroad finally has a control system! The digitrax system is installed and powered up. Work on installing and fine-tuning the detection sections and track power has and will be a major push this coming week, but the goal is the have Eugene powered an operational by Thanksgiving and the mainline up and running by the New Year. We are one step further along in that regard.

New fascia panel at Eugene with fresh spackling to cover the joints and screw holes. Screws counter-sunk for a clean and solid look.

Fascia is 6 inches deep, which will most likely be the minimum for the rest of the railroad. Main level fascia and valences more likely to be 8-10 inches.

Another glace at the fascia

Evolution Starter set is the base for the Digitrax system which will expand for detection, signaling, and JMRI control

Shelf constructed for the Command Station and subsequent boosters to power the railroad. Shelf brackets and scrap plywood did the job.

Hole for the fascia panel (Digitrax UP5) has been cut out in preparation for panel install.

The DCS210 command station/booster resting on the newly constructed shelf.

At the workbench wiring the 44-pin connector clip for the BDL 168 to monitor Eugene and Oakridge.

BDL 168 mounted on Eugene/Oakridge Panel beneath Eugene. May spend time later further cleaning up the wiring to the terminal strip, though content with initial results.

Track Power runs installed from booster and connected to BDL 168.

Loconet and aux power connected, system on! Now time for fine-tuning and working out of the bugs.

Stay tuned for more work to come!

Mountains

As spline roadbed has started to wind itself through the (nonexistent, yet) hills of the Cascades, time waiting for glue to dry has been filled with a multitude of tasks from tuning turnouts, building turnouts, wiring, and most recently an endeavor into backdrop painting.

As previously mentioned, the weather inspiration for the Cascade Subdivision is a chilly, rainy spring day, and to begin to capture this effect, I needed a rainy gray sky to fit the bill.  Studying prototype photos, I found that the color of the clouds is closer to an off-white than a gray and the color chip that matched was aptly called "Evaporation."

I started small with the backdrops on the middle level of the helix, a place with dense trees and tunnels, but small areas that could offer a peak at a hidden vista depending on the viewing angle. The goal was simply to give the impression of distant hills and trees, not to accurately paint each tree individually. Working with cheap acrylic craft paints and my sky color, I worked to paint the distant hills first, then moving into the foreground, paying close attention to color and shape.

 Note: Foreground scenery will fill in where I have not painted and I will document my various methods of hiding the backdrop in the future.