I'm having some issues uploading photos to Zealot so forgive me posting them on Photobucket instead.
A quick update.
I've been doing some re-tooling if you will. Trying to clean things up and fix mistakes I made or things that were just plain bugging the crap outta me!
First off...the double slip is gone. I know, I know, I was all stoked about this in the spring, however as I got used to playing around with the layout, I realized how silly it looked in the location that it was. Finally, a couple of days ago I manned up, took it out snd replaced it with a # 5 t.o. Sadly, I ended up destroying it for the most part. wall1 However, it gave me an idea for a scene and practical application as well.
The RR for some odd reason left a small section of the old abandoned stub in place. :twisted: Actually...what was left in place, I have set up as a programming track. I provides me with a scenic element as well. I still need to touch up some areas, however I think I can get it to blend in well. (Aside from the shiny railtops...can't be helped.) Also the dead switch in the bottom left corner was for one of the ends of the points on the d-slip. Another plus was I "recovered" a Tortoise when I decided to finally remove it. :thumb:
Here is the end of the stub. All overgrown. I buried some ties in the "mud" and added some overgrowth. Still a work in progress...
Lastly a quick shot at the "guts". I am no electrician, in fact its probably the one area of this hobby I scratch my head over more then anything. wall1 But, before this, and for what its worth, I had just soldered everything together and had a rats nest of wires underneath this particular section of the layout.
Yesterday and this evening I added some terminal blocks and organized (or at least attempted to) the wiring underneath. So Basically, the large terminal strips can accommodate up to four switches and tortoise machines. The two black and red wires going into top are from the switches, meanwhile the bottom corresponding feeds go to the Tortoise. Eventually, I'm going to set it up so I can remove a tortoise without having to unsolder or cut any wires...at least that is the plan. The 4 position (or smaller) block is from the power pack to the switch panels. Right now I have three switching panels fed into this block (15 Tortoise on an 11 volt DC power supply). I have sets of switches on each panel grouped together. I may eventually get around to isolating each switch to make maintenance and repair easier, however right now that gives me a headache thinking about it.
That's all for now. Have a good night everyone!
PS...I plan to use Plasti-dip to insulate the bare track feeds connected to red and green bus lines. I just haven't finished hooking up my feeders yet..:mrgreen: