Questions answered...
Arlaghan, if they ever figure out how to type I'm in trouble!!
Val, I learned how to do the wiring with a little reading and a alot of questions to Mr. Mac. He has an engineering degree, so he's a huge help in the consulting area. He's also the one who helped work up the bench work, although I did most of the actual construction myself.
interurben, What would you like to know about the trolley line? It won't be an overhead system, although I considered putting one up "for show" with the idea of actually hooking it up someday, but it might get too busy looking and would interfer with views into the town too much. It is a seperate point-to-point line. I will wire it up using opto-sensors and a reversing circuit from Circuitron to control track polarity. I will be working on hooking it all up this week, so we'll see what happens. I also have bumpers at both ends, so my old Lionel gang car can reverse using it's bumpers. Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to know.
Ralph, you're right. The control panel is sheet metal. And a real pain in the you-know-what to drill holes in. so, I did a little online research and came across a get little tip. Sandwich the metal between 2 layers of plywood to get clean holes. It worked like a charm. The switches are DPDT C/O from Miniatronics. I used out label maker with black on clear tape to label each of the switches. I've installed them into the layout like drawers that pull out from between the 2x4s. We had a bunch of friends over for train day yesterday and they were very impressed with what they fould behind the drawers. There are 3 of them in fact. 1 for the switch controls, one for the directions and cab controls, and one is a drawers for my tools and stuff that I need, but don't want resting on my lake area. If you want to know anything else, let me know.
Mrs. Mac