Since my last update, I’ve been working on a variety of things on the layout.
So here’s a recap of what’s been going on. Might wanna get some popcorn, a box of peanut M&M’s, and a large soda. 
Staging Level
The staging level is pretty much complete, though a little redesign of one end of the ladder is planned (you’ll see in a minute). I need one additional turnout to complete the yard ladder ladder not getting a makeover. Last night I finished putting the track feeders in place and got the level connected to the DCC bus. The reverse loop hardware, a PSRev PowerShield Intelligent Reverse I bought 4 years ago from Tony’s Trains and luckily still had, was installed as well for a reversing loop section.
At the moment the track is just sitting on the benchwork, not secured down. I need to go back sand down a few spots to try and level them out a little more. Once everything is nice and happy, I’ll just use dabs of hot glue to secure the track to keep it from sliding or anything. I don’t think I’ll need anything major here.
For the turnouts on the staging level, my plan was to use the existing open ports on my two DAC10 turnout controllers. I have 11 turnouts on staging, and 11 free spaces. Perfect. But then I discovered the DAC10 doesn’t play very well with the two-wire motors like the Kato Unitrack motors. You need to build some kind of controller card for each turnout to handle the three wire connection from the DAC10, to the 2 wire Kato connection. I found a diagram on how to do it, but I’m not very savy on electronic diagrams. I would also need to re-wire the turnout wiring connections in the wire panel for a three wire connection as well. Not impossible, just extra work.
So I thought I’d see what other alternatives are out there. There’s three Digitrax products I could use; A DS64, a DS52, or a DS51K1. All three products are made to run out of the box with Kato 2-Wire turnoutsDS1K1 is actually made specifically for Kato turnouts).
I’ve been reading up on the Digitrax DS52 and it looks like it’s the best way to go. Each DS52 has two outputs, but you can hook up to *4* Kato turnouts per output, so can double up some outputs to cut down on the number of decoders needed. So if I redesigned the staging yard to be a typical double-ended yard (instead of the current design where it flip flops at the other end, no idea why I did that), I can connect the 2 turnouts on each end of a ladder track to a single output. I would only need 3 of these decoders for a cost of about $57 to control the entire staging level. Sweet.
I’d to sell off some these 4 Right Hand turnouts I will no longer need to cover the cost of purchasing 4 Left Hand ones. If you need some #6 RH Kato Unitrack turnouts, or have some Left Hands you’d like to trade for Right Hands with the Kato connector cut off, lemme know!
Staging Elevator
The staging elevator is just about complete as well. Everything is place except for the sidewalls to prevent stuff from falling off and hitting the floor. I plan on using pieces of 2″x24″ styrene for the walls. I tested out .030″ thickness on a spare piece of wood, securing it with hot glue, and it worked out pretty darn well. The hot glue held better than I thought. So probably next week I’ll have that styrene on hand to complete the bridge.
I didn’t take many photos of the building process because a lot of it was sorta improvised on the spot. Here’s a look at the bridge in place.
The elevator “lifts” move up/down on a telescoping heavy-duty drawer slide, and a cleat is used to hold the elevator in place at the lower deck. I do plan on painting all of the wood probably the same color as the fascia.
The bridge has a guide screw on each end that plugs through a wood piece on the top of the lift. A wing nut secures the bridge to the lift.
And power wire to the bridge.
I plan on removing this entire piece of facia and install on larger, taller piece that covers the whole end. It’s act as the “end plate” of the layout. A bridge will be installed right at the end of the layout on the otherside of the fascia, so a train will pass under the bridge, and then “off the layout”.
Scenery
In the middle of all the staging work, I’m still making a little progress on my groundwork. I’m currently working on the cliff corner, covering up the tape and plaster cloth with mold-a-scene. With the Staging level going on hold until I complete the bridge and turnouts, I’ll be able to focus a little more on the scenery. I also added a motorized oil platform to the layout, got the other old crossing track embedded some scenery, and relocated the double target signal before the bridge (just after the road crossing) instead of after it as before.
In the refinery, I decided I didn’t need all the tracks and turnouts I had. A simple double track unloading platform will work for any operations I want to do. I don’t think I need to get fancy with multiple tracks all over the place that I’ll never ever use. So up came two turnouts and two sections of track. The two humpyard throws no longer in use will be removed, and the third one that remains in use might get replaced with a tortoise. Still thinking about that one.
Upper Level
I’ve also been working on the upper level roadbed. There’s a spot in the benchwork where two meeting pieces don’t line up. When I first install this section I didn’t worry about it because I had no plan of putting track here, but since I am now I needed to fix it. In came cork roadbed and a lot of sanding. Now I’ve got a nice transition from one section to the other.
The mainline on the upper level will be put down on two layers of cork to give it a higher profile, while the siding will be on only one layer of cork. Hope to get the roadbed and mayyyyybe some track installed through half the upper level in the next week or so.
The Room
Another side project I’ve been working on is tidying up the office/layout room. Previously, I had several short bookcases under the layout with bins of stuff on them. Kept stuff organized, but still looked like a chicken coupe to me. I tried covering it with a tarp/sheet hanging under the layout, but that looked just as bad to me. So last weekend I replace the bookshelves with cabinets with doors. Now everything is tucked away behind doors, leaving a nice, clean appearance.
Before…………………………………………and After
And that’s all!
Shaun Previous Layout
