LIghting it up......

I've continued with construction of the 2nd level benchwork. It ground to a hault when my local lumber yard quit carrying 1X3X16 lumber. I'm now trying to get them to special order me some. If not, I'll have to head to the local Big Box store and get some "not so good" 1X3X8. Until then, the upper deck is on hold. In the mean time, I decided to start working on backdrop and testing lighting. 

For the backdrop, I'm using 1' X 78' strips of vinyl flooring with the back side showing. It's then painted a "sky" blue. Once it's all up, I'll come back and feather in some white to simulate the haze in the sky. 

I've also hung up some test lights just to see how things look. Right now, I've got two fluorescent strips and a CFL bulb with different color temps in place. I've got my local electrical store ordering me a 10' strip of commercial grade, high output, LED rope lighting matched to the color temp of my room track lighting. I'm hoping it will work as it would be an easy install. I'll post more when it comes in next week or so. So far, the CFL that's been in experiment role is a GE Helican 26 watt warm white. I started with two florescent strip lights in a daylight 6500K temp. These made for some bright, vivid scenes but had a blue hue to them. I decided to throw in the warmer CFL to see what it would do and loved the results. The florescent strips give good, bright lighting while the warm white CFL warms the scene. If the rope light does not work out, then I'll do the tube florescent-CFL combo or get some full spectrum CFLs and pair them with a warm white every 24".

There's only one way to build. UP!!!!

Today, I finished wiring in an NCE Booster, NCE EB3 three zone circuit breaker and a DCC Specialties Auto-reverser for the CAGY reverse loop and another for the lower level wye. All is working well. I've still got to get the command station set in it's permanent home. I want to build a shelf under the layout for it along with a pull out desk for a laptop computer so that I can connect to the command station and run Decoder Pro. Hope to have this in next week. 

In the mean time, I've started on the upper deck benchwork. I debated and debated on what I would use to support the upper deck. Finally, I decided on using 1/8" think angle iron. I've got the first section up and it's quite sturdy. I like this method as it does not interfere with where the back drop will go later.  I attached the angle iron with 5 screws directly to the stud walls. This is very sturdy. No, it's not "I can sit on it sturdy but I believe my 3 year old daughter could and I don't have all the iron in yet. I'll post more as the benchwork moves along.

A few pics from the layout

Once I got the main complete, I decided to run some trains and play. Here are a few photos from the fun. 

This is a shot of an IC local with 9145 in the lead. I backed it onto NS main #2 in Meridian. Notice how the track kinks out for more spacing between the mains at the end of the local. The extra spacing will be for the passenger platform in Meridian. 

Here, the 9145 is overtaken by another local out of Artesia led by IC 9042.  

IC 9145 speeds by the camera on it's local run.

THE lower GOLDEN SPIKE!!!!

The lower level main line is COMPLETE!!! I can now run a train around the entire room. 

The golden spike was driven on the lift-up section of the layout which works smoothly but slightly heavy. The heavy part comes in handy though when in the down position by reducing any possible movement from a bump. To ensure that the rails don't move, I screwed some 1" brass screws under the rails on each side of the gap and soldiered the rails to the screws. All is solid and trains run smoothly across. Here two locals meet nose to nose for the Golden Spike Ceremony!!! 

 

I've also done a little work on the Meridian yard. This is a view looking "East" from the Meridian yard. I've freelanced a bit here. You can see the ICG/MidSouth/KSC main coming around the curve in the background. The double track crossing is the NS crossing on the East end of Meridian. The ICG can either cross the NS to enter the Meridian yard or hit the turnout to get onto the NS main around the yard to connect back with the ICG and on to Vicksburg. 

 

This is looking "West" from the NS crossing into Meridian. At the far end of the yard is the lift-up section with a train crossing. My next project is to get the lower level DCC power districts set and get my two boosters wired in. I'm still waiting on track from Micro Engineering so after the DCC wiring, I'm going to tackle the upper deck benchwork. My goal is to have the upper level benchwork in by Christmas.

Spanning Tibbee

I've run out of track and am waiting on Micro Engineering to make more. Hope to have some next week so I can finish the lower deck main. In the mean time, I've been working on the bridge across Tibbee Creek. Here is the real deal again for reference. 

 

So far, I've completed construction of the Central Valley 150' Pratt Truss Bridge. As you can see, this bridge kit is a great fit for the prototype. This is actually two Central Valley kits bashed into one. Notice on the South (right) end of the bridge, there is a steel deck approach. I had to use the decking from a second CV kit to build this. I also did a few minor changed to the truss as opposed to what the CV instructions said. Over all, it was a fun kit to build. Now for a little sanding, primer and paint. 

The concrete section on the North (left) end has also been a treat to build. I had planned on scratch building this section until someone saw this blog and pointed me to The Scale Segmental Bridge Co. , www.scalebridge.com . They had a kit that was a dead match for this concrete span and it's been a delight dealing with that company. I have to admit that I've had about the best overall kit building experience with this kit than any other kit I've ever constructed from ordering, company support, packaging and to the actual building of the kit itself. A+ product. You'll see more of their bridges on my layout as I move forward. I'm sure we'll also see some exciting products from them in the future.

The first run of the CAGY!!!!!

I'm rolling along pretty good. Today, I finished getting the reverse loop in around the helix. This loop will represent the Columbus and Greenville's track from West Point at Prestage Farms on West to Greenville. I put a curved switch in going around the loop that will lead to an expanded area that will actually be Greenville one day. 

 

Here, the CAGY makes it's first run to Greenville and back with some leased IC power. :)

The part that I enjoyed about his was the wiring portion. I'm using the NCE PH-PRO R system and a DCC Speciallists PSX-AR for the reverse loop. I wired all that in this morning. VERY simple and it works wonderfully.

Lift up section in place

Progress, progress, progress!!!! My original track plan included a helix at both ends of the layout. This would offer continuous run loops over the whole layout. The second helix was going to connect the Meridian yard to the Louisville yard. After getting the first helix in, I realized how much real estate these things eat up. I wanted to keep the middle of the room as open as possible for seating and such. So, back to the drawing board. In order to have continuous run capability, I was going to have to cross a doorway that led into my workshop and attic. I didn't want to cross this but finally decided to instead of the second helix. I toyed with several ideas including lift outs, swing outs, duck unders.....etc. I finally decided to give a lift up a try. I mounted some heavy duty 36" draw slides vertically on 2X4 supports. Now, the section lifts up like a draw bridge. So far, so good but I've yet to lay track across it and run a train. That will determine if I'm successful or not. Here you can see it in the lowered position and the raised position. It's held up by carriage bolts insterted into holes drilled into the 2X4s.  I hope to get some track layed across it soon. I'll report back when that's done and a train crosses...a few times. : )