Fixed the blasted Corssever!

Isn't it funny how minor problems can snowball into catastrophes?  Oh, wait, funny isn't the word I'm looking for. Infuriating is more like it. Case and point, I fired up the layout for some roundy-rounding the other night. ow, when the layout sits idle for a while, things can squirly when it's awakened from its slumber.

So, the first catastrophe, I noticed my T1 wasn't responding to the throttle. So, I placed it on the programming track and readdressed it. Unfortunately I forgot to flip the DPDT switch from the layout to the programming track! I suddenly found myself faced with the task of reprogramming every locomotive on the layout! This took me the better part of an evening.

With the decoder issue licked, I tried running trains. The trains on the inside loop stalling on the Peco double crossovers at the entrance to Johnstown.  After futsing with the point rails (the usual culprit with Peco turnouts) and getting nowhere, I dug out the multimeter.  I found the outside rail was dead as Dillinger. This was baffling since one of the two rail joiners was connected to a feeder wire.

I tried soldering the joint on the end opposite the feeder, something I'm always loath to do on a turnout. That didn't work. I soldered a feeder to said joiner. That didn't work either. So I decided to move the feeder to the turnout itself. So I drilled another hole through the layout, unsoldered the feeder wire and went to feed it through the new hole. It wouldn't go through. That's usually the case, so I grabbed a small dowel and pushed it through and "crack!"

I got out from under the table to see the crossover and part of the inside loop lifted into the air. I just can't seem to catch a break.  Long story short, I got the wire fed and solder, the track repaired and the ballast touched up. Thankfully, after all, that the trains are running fine again.

Done with the Crossing Signal

I know what your thinking, "crossing signals? What crossing signals?I don't see any crossing signals!" Well, you're right. I didn't get anywhere close completing the project, but I am done with it!

These NJ International signals were installed on my previous layout.  I tried putting them in this time last year. But I ran into a problem with the resistors. They simply would not stay sodered to the wires! After some frustration, I threw them in a drawer and forgot about them until today.

I dug the signals out, fired up my soldering iron and managed to get the resistors soldered back on. After a bench test, I set about installing them. Needless to say, on the first attempt at running the wires through the layout, a resistor came off. A bit annoyed, I calmly brought it back to the work bench and soldered it back on. Then I reinforced it with masking tape. It went in fine.

The trouble started when I tried installing signal number two. I tried running the wire and resistor came off. Okay, now I was getting pissed. I pulled the signal out and went under the table to retrieve the wires still stuck in the hole. I grabbed them and yanked. Then I realized I'd yanked the wrong wires. That was it; I blew a 50-amp fuse. I yanked the signal out of the layout, which I had just yanked common wire out of, and threw it across the room. I know, a very childish thing to do.

So yeah, total cluster @#$%.  But the sort of good news is, the common wire appears to be soldered to the signal itself, so it may very well be fixable. Maybe someday I'll be feeling sufficiently masochistic to try again. 

Finished With the Turf in Johnstown

This post's title pretty much sums it up; I finished the landscaping along the end of the peninsula. I brushed the area with a coat of matte medium, applied a line of cinder ballast along the outside edge of the layout. The I added a base layer of green fine turf, then patches of yellow fine turf and "burnt grass" course turf. I wet it all with 70% alcohol and droppered on more matte medium, which cooperated by drying.

With the turf done, I went ahead and added a few more high-voltage transmission towers. Intitially I planned to terminate them at the substation behind Water Street Frieght Terminal. But I really do love the look of the towers; they fit rather well with the industrial theme of the area.

I also decided to rethink the the whole drainage ditch next to supierior paper. I've seen many stormwater catch basins (or "sumps" as we called them on Long Island) in my area and most of them just have a pipe the empties into it and a tall intake structure.

Vis-

 

So yeah, I think just the basin itself is sufficient. That poject is nearly done. I planted a few more sprigs of Woodland Scenic field grass and all that remains is a few more details and pouring the water.

Repainted Johnstown Depot

A project that's been long on the Johnstown to-do list was is painting a Pennsyizing the depot. This building is a refugee from my last layout. It's a Model Power kit and obviously a knockoff of Lionel's Rico Station kit. The prototype is the former Rio Grande Southern Depot in Rico, CO.

The building looks nothing like the real Johnstown Station which, is a magnificent brick building. Anyway, it was already close to Pennsy colors. I simply repainted the bottom trim, doors and windows Floquil Tuscan Red. 

When the outside painting was done, the real fun started. Since I plan to light this building with an LED, I painted the inside walls black to prevent them from glowing. Well, back when I built this kit, I noticed none of the pieces fit together quite right. As such, there were plenty of gaps through which the black paint could escape. And it took advantage of every one of them! So yeah, A lot of touchup.

With the painting done, I really upped the anty and decided to lop off part of the structure base. However, the freight loading docks are part of said base. The result was a lot of precision razer saw work and a whole lot of hair pulling, teeth gnash and bad words. Good thing my kids have gone to bed for the nigt!

I fashioned a new platform out of another Model Power structure base resembling concrete. No, the irony isn't lost on me. I finished things off by adding a few figures to complete the scene.

Aircraft Warning Lights for Superior Paper

Two entries in one night after a long dry spell, talk about a 180! Anyway, I'd been kicking the idea of adding aircraft warning lights to Superior Paper for a while. I have a bunch of 3mm flashing red LEDs laying around and used them for the same purpose on other buildings. However, in this case, adding them to the tops of the stacks would have been too obtrusive and also a monumental PITA.

My bright idea was to run fiber optics through the stacks and under the layout, where the blinking LED would be located. I started out with running the fiber optics through the stacks and CA'd them on each end of the stack. Them it was simply a matter of drilling through the table and connecting the fiber to the LED. That was no easy task, but I got at least one stack blinking.

The effect is pretty subtle but I think it works and the fiber is nearly invisible when the room lights are on. Now back to that drainage ditch...

A Long-Overdue Entry

Wow, two and a half months since my last entry! I know I pretty much dropped off the face of the earth after December, but life has been crazy around here. That said, I have made quite a bit of progress on the layout. I just haven't found time to blog about it. So brace yourself for an extra-long post!

 First and foremost, I completed the small mountain in the back left corner of the peninsula. It was the usual procedure of building up a mountain out of styrofoam, cover it with plaster-soaked paper towels, paint it "raw umber" and cover it with lichen.

What made this project a challenge was the lack of accessibility. There no way to climb up on the layout to get to it. On top of that, the left side of the peninsula borders the stairs. What ended up doing was balancing precariously on the half wall between the layout and the stairs. I had about eight inches to sit on and do the work. Nerve-racking for sure, but I didn't fall and break my neck, always a plus. 
 

 Next up, I finished off the house on the hill.  This project was dead simple. I brushed the entire hill with Mod Podge matte medium and applied the various layers of turf.

The next step was to add some Woodland Scenics trees. And this is where the trouble started. See, I've never had much luck using WS Hobby Tack to affix the foliage to the armatures and I decided to try something different. While browsing the craft aisle at my local Wally World, I ran across some Gorilla Spray Adhesive and thought I'd give it a shot. Well, I tried it out on one tree and ass soon as I stuck the armature in the bag of clump foliage, one of the branches broke off. Undeterred, I tried out a second tree. Again, several branches broke off. 

After having several trees lose branches, I had to stop and scratch my head. At first, I thought I'd gotten a bad batch of tree armatures. But just to be sure, I went ahead and assembled a tree with Hobby Tack and guess what. No issues what so ever. As it turns out Gorilla Spray Adhesive is not safe for plastics. Good to know.

As I near the end of the heavy lifting in Johnstown, I'm starting to get going on the detailing phase. This involved purchasing a bunch of cars from eBay seller "Chuckthprinter," who offers not only a nice variety of 1940s and 50s vehicles but also a bunch of other nifty N Scale details.

The cars I bought were five packs with some assembly required. First, thing I did was glue the wheels on with CA, always a fun experience. Three of the four wheels would go on without issue but the fourth? The wheen and car would repel each other like two magnets, usually getting my finger stuck together in the process.

Once the cars had their wheels affixed, I took a pencil and colored in the windows. Then I used a silver Sharpy marker for the bumpers and other chrome trim. This being 1956, cars can't have enough chrome, right?

I've been slogging through Johnstown for nearly two years now. I can finally see the light at the end of that particular tunnel. I have only one really big project left to finish, carving out a drainage ditch beside Superior Paper. 

Finished the Rail Painting and Ballasting at Johnstown

As stated in my yearly progress report, one of my goals for the season was to get done with all the scut work. In service of that goal, I painted the remaining rails and ballasted nearly all the track in Johnstown.

Since the track in this area is visible from multiple angles, I had to paint both sides of the rails, essentially doubling an already tedious task.  I just cracked open a beer, put on an Alan Keller video and got on with it.

As for the ballasting, well, you've already read enough blog posts in which I bitch about Woodland Scenics ballast, so I'll spare you. In all honesty, it wasn't so bad this time around. I don't know what I did to make the gods so happy but hey, I'll take it.

 In other news, I decided to add some elevation to one corner of Johnstown. I laid a few pieces of white styrofoam packaging and cut it to shape with my hot knife. And yo, with the window open, the fumes from the white beaded stuff are nasty.

With the foam layers cut, I glued them together with some Elmers and painted everything raw umber. I decided the top of the hill would be a perfect place for my Model Power "Victorian House" kit. This was one of the first structures I built for this layout and for a while, it seemed like I wouldn't find a home for it. It just looked out of place to me, which is mind-boggling since this style of architecture is found all over this part of Pennsylvania. 

I'm toying with the notion of adding a sign reading "Historic Floode Mansion." Hmm, no if I recall correctly, there's some significant event in Johnstown's history that might make that in bad taste. We'll see how it shakes out.

With this done, I have some more mountains to build and a bit more ballasting at the far end of Johnstown.  Stay tuned.