Wordless Wednesday #71

Mid July Update

Did not think I would be publishing a Mid July progress post, but after doing work last night on the Lakes Forest Products spur I had the momentum to continue working on the east end of Bay Yard heading eastbound.

Signals will be installed at the "BAY" AEI reader site.

Area Refresh

Just like when Walt Disney World "refurbishes" rides with new additions, enhancements, or fresh paint the same applies for model railroads. The area around Lakes Forest Products was the first on the layout to receive scenery a few years ago. Since its creation there has been a lot of new scenery products that I wanted to introduce in this area. Icing the cake was the need to cutout scenery for the ABS signal masts and bungalows that will be joining the railroad shortly.

Contractors clearing the vegetation and excavating for the signal foundations.

Site excavation cleared, engineering dumped in fresh ballast for the area.

Signal site - timbers will be added to support the terrain on three sides of the sites.

In addition to adding the signal sites, engineering took the opportunity during the MOW window to dump fresh ballast from the east yard lead up to the "EDSE" DTC block sign. 

Ballast work on east yard lead and mains.

Ballast glued down - SuperTrees and static grasses will be added this week.

Signal installation at this site is expected to begin first week of August.

Lakes Forest Product

Circled back on this industry over the weekend. I had originally hit a road block with the pavement for the customer. After trying different mediums I settled on the Busch flexible asphalt sheet. Of course not before messing up at least two rolls.

Pavement installed on the mark this time.

Once the pavement was installed it was time to plant the facility and blend it in with surrounding scenery.

Sculptamold used to blend industry with scenery

Dirt mix wetted and glued down, a little dark but should lighten some once dry.

Overall view of the dirt over Sculptamold. Ground foams, grasses, and bushes will be added over the week.

Later this week with everything dry I will spray the asphalt material with a thinned Acrylic mix to help weather it.

Wrapped up for the weekend. Existing scenery refreshed, ready for new material and trees.

It was amazing what I got complete during four hours over two nights, always pays to have different types of projects "Shovel Ready". This scene has been given and prepped for updated look, paired with new materials it will look great for years to come.

GM

A Run Over The "Clair"

Instead of my normal update post, I had promised to do something a little different. This post we are going to follow a manifest train over the road from Port Huron to Bay City (Bay Yard) from the crews view perspective.

       Power on today's M-PHBA-15

Train Departure - (East Staging)

Coming out of staging the we enter a broad curve with a slight grade before reaching the first online station of Gerhard.

 Curve coming out of staging towards Gerhard. Scenery required....

Train Passing - (Gerhard, Michigan)

Approaching the east siding switch at Gerhard where we have been authorized to occupy the "GRAYS" DTC block. We see the rail lines future next to the concrete silo.

Staying on the main we continue on through Gerhard.

Rolling along soybean and corn fields west of Gerhard. Soon these crops will be harvested and on their way to

market via this very rail line.

Continuing west, we see the setout track for the Grays Lake Local and continuance of the passing siding from Gerhard.

Train Passing - (Grays Lake, Michigan)

Entering Grays Lake we see the power for the "Grays Lake Local" tied up on the industry spur to our right and the passing siding coming back into the mainline.

Passing thru town we approach the Quincassee Creek truss bridge in need of some serious engineering work.

Train Passing - (Grays Lake, Michigan)

Crossing the bridge, we reach the east wye switch. In the distance is the sugar beet plant with stored cars on the east leg of the eye. 

Curving through Upper Huron we see the east leg of the wye to the right with railcars on it, and the west wye leg straight ahead which continues to Port Belle.

West leg of the wye converging back into the mainline. From this point to Bay Yard the line has a gradual declining grade.

Train Departure - (Edsel and Weiss, Michigan)

                   Helix - Turn 1

                  Helix - Turn 2 

Transitioning from Edsel to Weiss. Neither stations are modelled beyond the sign in Turn 2.

Train Arrival - Bay City (Bay Yard)

Train slows prior to reaching the end of Weiss DTC Block limit, where Yard Limits begin.

Passing the "BAY AEI" reader site prior to reaching the east yard lead switch for Bay Yard.

Diverging onto the East Yard Lead at Bay Yard.

Proceeding at 10mph we see main 1 and 2 to the right.

      Beginning of the east yard ladder.

Yardmaster lined us for the "Yard 01" track.

Bringing the train to a stop, the journey from Port Huron to Bay City is complete. In the distance we see the Bay City Division office which will also be our off duty point.

Our next post here in a few day will walk through each station diagram from east to west on layout. I had hoped to put that content in this post, but it ended up being too much for a single post. Stay tuned!

GM

Wordless Wednesday #70

Early July Update

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July for my readers here in the States. For everyone else around the world, I hope your summer has been going well since my last update at the end of June showcasing the NMRA Lone Star Region Ops Session. Since my last update, I have been traveling considerably for work, leaving little time for the layout but that's part of a hobby. The time that I have had available has been utilized to finish up two Soundtraxx Econami installs  for a good friend. Lets walk through these installs, showcase two new railcars on the railroad, and talk about the next few posts in July.

Soundtraxx Econami Installs

A few months ago I began doing Soundtraxx installs for friends. Having done quite a few of the TSU, AT, KT, and IM 1000 type sound decoders, my customer asked about new items on the market. It worked out well that Econamis were in full force so I recommended we use the PNP board for his two Athearn R-T-R engines.

PNP board is very similar to the AT boards making install straight forward.

One improvement I enjoyed immediately was the plug for the Currentkeepers. I have been adding these to most every install, although the smaller the space the tougher it can be to find room. Partnered with a Railmaster DS1425-8 speaker the sound fidelity and motor control out of the box is definitely an improvement over the older generation boards.

For lighting on the engines I upgrade all to LEDS. Streamlined Backshops makes a custom clear tube with microled mounted on the end. These are self contained with one light per headlight so there is a lot of light output once installed.

Package of 4 SBS4DCC custom LED lights for Athearn engines. Resistors included!

While these lights fit right into the headlight, a #51 drill bit is used to open the headlight a little more. Using Microscale Micro Kristal Klear, I simply create new headlight lenses for the back and front once the led light assembly wired and installed.

Bottle of Kristal Klear - $3.00, last a long time.

Kristal Klear applied on rear light housings

Following the directions and using a toothpick I apply a dab in the headlight housings. Within 15 minutes it begins to go transparent, I give it a entire day to setup and dry.

Front and Rear light housings dry - perfect lenses!

With this MKT SD40-2 install complete I put the engines through around 6 to 8 hours of running to test and break in if they are new out of box. Completing this engine, I have turned my attention this week to the last work order which is a Cotton Belt SD40-2T. 

Initial board installed with Currentkeeper and speaker. 

This install will six led tubes, 2 on headlight. 2 on nose light, and 2 on rear light. Additionally the locomotive will have a flashing beacon on the cab roof like its prototype.

Details West cored out Rotary Beacon and wired micro LED from Streamlined Backshops.

I should have the locomotive finished this weekend with photos of the operating lights next week. If I can get fancy, maybe even post a video of the operating lights on my Youtube channel..

Any questions on my installs, parts used, or techniques please feel free to ask.

New Railcars

Two new Athearn 60' plate F boxcars lettered for CRLE arrived today. These will be in service hauling plywood, OSB building materials from the Upper Peninsula via Mackinac City gateway.

 Very nice railcars - will be great adds to the overall fleet.

July Posts Outlook

Previously I had asked for ideas about future posts and you the reader provided great feedback. Since there will be no layout work until August I am going to use July as an opportunity to fulfill the post requests. 

- Next week we will tour the layout from a locomotive engineers perspective heading westbound. Along the way we will look at each station and their diagrams to give you an idea of the track layout.

- Late July we will look at a behind the scenes of the layout showcasing its construction, lighting, wiring, and control systems.

Beyond July we are going to have a exciting series of posts working on a great layout project that will build on each other in phases as we progress from Summer into Fall. The series will be designed to help you the modeller get inspired to add the same items to your pike. 

A sneak peak of the series coming in August.

Have a great month, stay cool.

GM

Wordless Wednesday #69

Wordless Friday #68 (Been Traveling)