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After MANY versions I finally made linkage that works to control all four sets of points with a single Tortoise. The solution was to use a stiff push/pull rod connected directly to the Tortoise drive. I used a piece of NS rail with copper plated "wire feed welding wire" for the connections...

I think we need more information but access to the panel is a must (even if not required by law) The drawing below may not meet your local code (3' access in front open in most areas) but will be better than crawling. I think it is much better to have access on noth sides of 5' than one side of 4'.

Works like a champ Parts arrived and I made up a couple of the Tortoise control boards with the Quad input gates. 1 Meg ohm works great for the pull-up resistors and should eliminate any "false triggers" that you might get with 10 meg ohm. If your touch points are smooth it does require a...

I stopped by the location where the F& & DLMX were parked to see what they were doing there before. They were both gone but a P&W worker told me that Doyle McCormack (the owner of these two, the #4449 and many other old steam locos) loaned them to P&W to provide water to fight the fire in the...

The biggedt problems I see is the reach to the upper right if you can't get behind the "top" of the layout * one-way reversing loop. Every thing ends up going clockwise unless you back through the loop.

Russ, Thanks for the detailed information. I thought it might be some type of tank but still don't know exactly what it was doing hooked to the front of the old diesel. If they just needed water to work on the track or clean the tunnel it would have been great if they had used the GS-4 #4449...

Andrew, Thanks for your input. I think I have not been clear with this drawing. The two reversing loops to the left in the hidden area are totally separate. One is about 5" above the other. My plan was to eliminate the requirement for any type of sensing or need to even think about the...

Forgot to add - There is a new version available for free at http://www.xtrkcad.org

I used XTrkCAD. You can download a copy of the datafile from my website at http://dixiemtn.com

There is a track that runs along the river but this is about 500' up and about 2.5 miles from the river next to Cornelius Pass Rd. On the other side of the tunnel it go on to North Plains (near where I live) There is a turnout a Helvetia that goes towards Hillsbboro but I think most of that...

Josh - You are right. It is an F7A that has been restored and lives at the Brooklyn Roundhouse. That is why it was so strange to see it sitting on a very short spur (space for about 5 cars) next to a tunnel about 1.5 miles up Cornelius Pass Road from highway 30 (a few miles NW of Portland)...

You must be right. I have found some pictures of the 4449 and this looks like the "2nd" tender behind the loco. It gets stranger - In searching I found some pictures of the "Brooklyn Roundhouse" in Portrland, OR. This is where the 4449 and other old equipment is located. There was also...

There are no grills or other openings. The thing behind with the grills it is a Great Northern diesel loco.

Did a web search - Found pictures with "DLMX 4219" that identified it as Water Tender number from 2002 but they show it as all black. If it is a Steam Engine Water Tender what is it doing sitting on a very small spur by a tunnel hooked to the front of a diesel loco?

This may be a stupid question but I am new to railroading - model & proto. This car is sitting on a "tunnel spur" in the hills west of Portland Oregon. It was connected to the front of a loco. Looks like water pipe connections but I have never seen a water tank this shape. Seems to me if...

XTrkCAD has both a single and double crossover listing in the turnout designer. For a Walthers #6 double I use 2.875 for the width and 19.25 for the length. Super easy as it only needs these two values.

Thanks for the comment. I was planing a lift gate but I can see where a swing gate would be easier. My gate is about 12" wide so I guess I would make sense to have a small shelf or lip to rest on on both sides.

You are right. I left electronic "tech"ing a lot of years ago. (CMOS was still new) Memory is a little rusty. Getting back into it is a major part of the appeal of model railroading. I must have been thinking about the protection for CMOS inputs where two diodes are connected to both power...

ALso: You don't want to parallel the diode. The voltage wants to increase when you open the switch. If you are using common ground the diode wants to be placed so that it conducts when the switched line of the coil is above the supply voltage. Also was searching futurlec and found the L239...

It would be hard to find one that wouldn't work fine. The 1N4001>4007 series (50v>1000v) seem like a good low cost choice. On futurlec.com the 50v and 400v are both 10 for $0.20. Others a $0.05 each. You would need other stuff (Like 100 LEDs for $5.00 or their project boards, etc) to make...