Zman's layout progress...pics!

[Zman]

This track plan is an adaptation of a layout in Marty McGuirk's "N Scale Model Railroading." It includes a northern staging area with a small passing track which will eventually be hidden by a low tree-covered ridge, an inside and outside track in the southeast corner, an industrial siding, and a spur for parking rolling stock. A passenger train will service a depot on the inside track in the SE corner. The main line crosses a river in the west, at one point over a Warren truss bridge, and at onther point over a stone bridge.

I guess it's basically a glorified oval. I wanted to see how much modeling interest I could include in a small layout (a vignette really as it measures only 44" by 24"

 

[Zman]

The signal tower has just routed a 2-6-0 Mogul onto the industrial siding which serves the iron works.

 

[Zman]

A close-up of the iron works. This is an extremely well-crafted model by Con-Cor, the "Cambria City Boiler House." It's actually meant to serve a much larger factory, but due to my space limitations, I'm using it as a stand-alone structure.

 

[Zman]

Cornerstone's "Merchant's Row II" - another great model with intricate window detail, a turret tower, and a cupola (which I decided had been recently copper-plated).

 

[Zman]

The backside of Merchant's Row is being taken over by that ubiquitous New England invader, Wisteria.

 

[Zman]

A bit of the electrical engineering, which requires some explaination...

For a railroad as small as this, I didn't want to have a large, extraneous control panel - I wanted all of the controls except for the DC track power to be built into the unit itself.

To that end, I decided to use a common electricians conduit box made of PVC. I carved out a space for the box in the foam board, and drilled holes for the conduit to receive the wiring from the turnout motors. You can get these conduits in various sizes, and this one happens to be 1 3/4" tall (just the right height to fit under 2" foam board) and 1 1/4" deep (which provides enough volume to house the switches and wiring).

The conduit came with a faceplate - also made of PVC of course - which I decided not to use, only because it would have been tedious to cut holes in it to receive the switches. Instead, I used a piece of electricians perf board, which is fairly strong but cuts easily with a hobby knife.

All of the turnout switches and the AC input jack are mounted into the faceplate. Now all I need to do is shorten the wiring and solder it into place.

I will install another conduit box next to this one to receive the wiring and switches for the DC track power and the DC accessory power before I start laying the track.

 

[Ralph]

Nice work! Your pics are good illustrations of how to use foam as a base that lets you carve out river beds, etc. I like your buildings and electrical work too.

Keep us up to date!
Ralph

 

[Will_annand]

Looking good "Z".

Lots of room for the layout on 44x24.
Keep us posted. I will check back in to see who you are going.

 

[Papa Bear]

Nice layout, Z. :thumb:

 

[ausien]

A great little layout Z,your doing a fine job there. Never thought of conduit boxes to house the switches, new one for me to think about. hope the lonlyness has left you now..have a good one..steve

 

[Sir_Prize]

Sweet!
Great start!
The wiring is the thing I fear...

 

[Zman]

"The wiring is the thing I fear..."

Those are just three-terminal SPDT switches. It looks like a lot of wiring because I've got six turnouts, totalling 18 wires, but the wiring is actually very straightforward.

 

[lsk040365]

What did you use as the turnout throw switches? Are they the Peco PL-26 design?

Lee

 

[Zman]

"What did you use as the turnout throw switches? Are they the Peco PL-26 design?"

Yes, exactly. They're passing contact switches so that the motors only get a brief current. When they're in the up or down position, they're actually off. Peco also makes a handsome housing for them, but I wanted them mounted into the layout. Those switches also look nicer than the stuff you get at Radio Shack, et al.

 

[eightyeightfan1]

Lets see...The red wire goes to...No wait....The red wire goes to....
Looks good, Keep the pics coming.

 

[Papa Bear]

Z, is that an Atlas loco? How well does it run?

 

[Zman]

Yes, it's an Atlas 2-6-0 Mogul. It runs great, but you've got to keep the turn radius larger than 9" or it starts to stutter a bit - I guess that has to do with the 6 wheel truck.