Freelance 2018-1
#31
This photo may explain the situation at the north side. The tables are empty now but you will find a TV at the left, an iMac in the center and solder station etc. at the right side. Reaching over the tables to handle the staging yard (track cleaning etc.) is no fun.

The router is usually under the yard at the wall. the table tops are to thin. They are not level and all larger buildings have the shape of a boat. The carpenter will make new one like the table tops in kitchens.

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Reinhard
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#32
Hello Reinhard,

that is my solution:

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And because it is an electric switch, although misused as mechanical switch, it has still it's electric abilities and so why not use to power up the frogs?
The photo shows also a solution for more far away located switches. A halfpipe below the rails is guiding the actuation rod made out of a piece of 0.8mm brass wire. The actual funny is the misuse of the brass wire as spring element also. This ensures a soft but reliable pressing of the points against the stock rail.
The adjustimg is simple a rule of thump of placing the el. switch.

My 2 €ents
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#33
The switches of the staging yard will be controlled by two Digitraxx DS64 under control of Intellibox II track routing. That logic remains unchanged and is perfect for a hard to reach yard (the DS64 replace the builtin DCC decoders of the former first generation ROCO switches).
Reinhard
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#34
Lutz - love your switch ideas
Best
Jack
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#35
The layout room without any traces of a layout.... Removed what needed to be removed, electric installation done, walls prepared for wallpaper patches and paint on Monday.

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Reinhard
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#36
End of carpenter's day one.

Looking East. The staging yard 24 cm wide at the north side, the 60cm wide scenic part at the south wall and the east wall with a 15cm connection and the hatch at the door to be built tomorrow.
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Looking West. The staging yard 24 cm wide at the north side, the 60cm wide scenic part at the south wall and the west side with window and balcony door with a 15cm connection and the other hatch to be built tomorrow.
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Reinhard
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#37
The theme of Freelance 2018-1 will be inspired by the industry area of Miami Westgate.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.google.de/maps/place/Miami,+FL,+USA/@25.8293409,-80.2518608,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x88d9b0a20ec8c111:0xff96f271ddad4f65!8m2!3d25.7616798!4d-80.1917902">https://www.google.de/maps/place/Miami, ... 80.1917902</a><!-- m -->

The mainline at the left (north - south) is CSX and the Mainline on the top (east - west) FEC.

Tolga Erbora wrote in FB (Florida railfan group):
CSX works the East rail section in the nighttime with only three active customers, Suburban propane, SALCO (off of 59th St), and Sentry Chlorine. A fourth is south of 54th St.
FEC works in the mornings between 4am and noon with a half a dozen active customers in the immediate area, Trujillo, the NS Bulk Transfer, Omni Transloading, and a customer near NW 27th Avenue. I have also seen cars spotted at the side track just east of Douglas Rd.
GP38-2, GP39-2, GP40-2, or the rebuilds, GP38-3 or GP40-3. The latter two require custom building but the rest are available. FEC uses GP38-2s or GP40-2s for the job.

ps. If you stroll the streets of Westgate with Google it looks very similar to some streets south of LA (e.g. Vernon) and LA warehouse district.
Reinhard
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#38
It looks like trains were once very busy in that area, a lot of old spurs snaking around curved buildings.
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#39
The carpenters completed their task today.

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The concept of base frame and replaceable top board introduced by Alcanman to me has been implemented. The top board resides on the base frame between the fascia in the front and the backdrop.
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That implies to have extra hatch support mounted to the base frame and not to the top board
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Both hatches got an extra enforcement
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The transition from the hatch is via a 61cm curve 47cm from the rear wall.
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A possible staging yard ladder
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I will start with the staging yard to have the cabinets and table tops moved from the center to the north side of the room asap.
Reinhard
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#40
Wow ... all looks very good. I bet you're happy to be so close to starting the next version of your layout.
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#41
dingbat Wrote:Wow ... all looks very good. I bet you're happy to be so close to starting the next version of your layout.
Yes I am but I intend to slow down a lot. A brand new layout needs a lot of base work for the staging yard, cabeling etc. I will also try to focus more on scratch build structures. I scrapped all styrene buildings stored in the basement to prevent the fast and easy reuse.
Reinhard
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#42
DCC power applied to both sides and temporary feed to two tracks and engines!.
Intellibox II at the south side and a booster at the north side. The black cable runs around the half room and provides the DCC signal to the booster.

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Reinhard
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#43
The staging yard is operational. The switches are controlled by two Digitrx DS64. The routing is done in the Intellibox II.
I installed everything on top of the board for easy access after the cabinets are pushed back into position (yellow markers at the fascia). The black cable connects the booster with the DCC controller. The DS64 is feed with the rail DCC signal only. I have not installed an extra power supply. The testing runs fine so far except the Atlas #4 switches and switch machines need some fine adjustment.

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Reinhard
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#44
You're a man on a mission ... looks good! So what was the final length of the staging tracks? Looks to be just under 6'.
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#45
dingbat Wrote:You're a man on a mission ... looks good! So what was the final length of the staging tracks? Looks to be just under 6'.
About 6.5‘ (2 m).
Reinhard
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