The rebirth of the Canyon State RR
#91
(05-21-2020, 06:20 AM)Tyson Rayles Wrote: Nice job and a perfect addition to any city scene!

I agree, and I would think fairly unique on a model railroad, too!

Very nicely-done, Don. Applause Applause Applause 

Wayne
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#92
Thanks guys, when I look at the photos, I still see things that need cleaning up. None of this shows up a couple of feet away, but it's annoying when it shows up in the photos. I think we all feel the same about what we do, and so I'll keep at it until I'm happy or worn out.
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#93
Been over a month since I did anything worth posting. I did finish my swing-away control center and got it mounted yesterday. When in the up position, it's held in place with two bolts into the skirt. In the down position, there is two door hinges holding it. Just one thing missing, no wiring. I've had the control panel built for some time now, just haven't gotten around to wiring it. Also need a way to secure the power pack in the down position.

   

   

   

   
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#94
Velcro will hold the power pack. Nice looking panel Don.
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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#95
Looks Great Don! Applause Applause

Velcro eh, never thought of that, the pack is light enough for it to work, not a bad option Mike Applause

My thoughts were a U shaped 1x2 setup to put over the top of the pack to hold it in, Mikes Idea is easier Wink
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#96
Yup, thanks, got Velcro, can take the feet off and away we goooooo..... Applause
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#97
Don, you are moving right along. Are you going to use mirrors in the parking garage to make it fuller as did Mr. Allen?
Charlie
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#98
(07-04-2020, 12:51 PM)Charlie B Wrote: Don, you are moving right along. Are you going to use mirrors in the parking garage to make it fuller as did Mr. Allen?
Charlie

No Charlie, there's three levels underground, most of those spaces are rented out so the garage is pretty full, even though it may not look like it. Icon_e_surprised
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#99
Been working on wiring the control panel and the interconnect board. The idea is that the interconnect board is wired to the terminal blocks that are then connected to the layout wiring. The wiring on the control panel will terminate in plugs that will connect the the jacks on the interconnect board. Why? Well if I even want to remove the control panel, all I'll need to do is to unplug the connectors. The first three go to the rail block wires, the next one goes to the power packs and the last one goes to the layout lighting. More work now, easy-peasy removal later.

Control panel rear
   

Control panel wired
   

Interconnect board wiried
   
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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(07-26-2020, 10:46 AM)ezdays Wrote: Been working on wiring the control panel and the interconnect board. The idea is that the interconnect board is wired to the terminal blocks that are then connected to the layout wiring. The wiring on the control panel will terminate in plugs that will connect the the jacks on the interconnect board. Why? Well if I even want to remove the control panel, all I'll need to do is to unplug the connectors. The first three go to the rail block wires, the next one goes to the power packs and the last one goes to the layout lighting. More work now, easy-peasy removal later.

Very Nice Don.
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Eek WOW! Don, I gotta tell ya, I am TOTALLY IMPRESSED!! Worship Worship WELL DONE so far Don Applause  . The whole lighting setup in its self just blows me away Worship  .
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I agree...that sort of stuff is beyond my abilities, and that's my excuse for not having anything on my layout with lights.  Very nicely (and neatly) done, Don. Applause Applause Applause 

Wayne
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Thanks guys, it's been a long time since I did any wiring like this, I never got to this stage with my other layout. We built control systems for some 25 years a very long time ago, just that my wife did most of the wiring, she had a special touch with a soldering iron that I could never do. I'm doing it because I enjoy it, it brings back fond memories and if luck has it, it'll work like I want it to. Icon_rolleyes

If you've been reading the Hobo Camp thread, you'll know that I etched the interconnect board, that's something that I did for those 25 years, just that I never used this formula for etching copper, and it worked really faster than I expected, but it did the job. If anyone is interested, two parts Hydrogen Peroxide to one part Muratic acid. I used a glass dish and left it out in the sun which should have accelerated the process.
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Got the wiring done, well as far as I've checked. Here's a few shots of what I've been busy doing. I already had all the layout wiring going to terminal blocks. I added some more lights to the residential housing and the haunted mansion on the hill. I added the connector board so that I could just unplug the control panel without having to remove any wires. That feature will come in handy when we decide to move the layout out of the tiny room that it's in. I wanted to be able to dim the lighting continuously from low to high and was using an 11 VA power pack to do that. I measured the current and the drain was well under 11 VA, but the thing would kick out, supposedly on overload, so I switched to a dual output supply that I had, so now I have dim and bright, but nothing in between. I'll deal with that later.

Inside wiring, a bit sloppy, but it's been a long time since I did stuff like this, and that was for customers so it had to be neat.

   
   

The control panel and rail power pack in place:

   

Here we have the lighting dim and bright. To me, the dim is too dim, and the bright is too bright, so like I said, I'll deal with that later.

   
   

Lastly, I can turn everything on and off remotely, it's easier that way.

   
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Been back on the layout working on one scene like forever and just can't get it to look like I want. Maybe I'm too picky, maybe I need to just start over, maybe I just need to take a break, but as Charlie suggested, what I really need are some opinions and suggestions. I'm just not pleased with the way it's looking, maybe it's because I've redone it so many times that  it's getting to me. Anyway, it's simply a girder bridge underpass. The first photo shows what I did to get to the basics, no biggie there. I used balsa wood because it cut, glued and painted easy.  I tried to make it look like concrete and failed, so the next few photos shows you where I am right now.

One problems I'm having is that the "peel and stick" that I printed out, is really a "peel and unpeel". I've been dealing with that using double-backed tape, I've redone that blacktop street three times and again, I need your honest opinion on how it looks. I'll do it a fourth or fifth time if need be.

   

   
   

   
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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