Week 63

Week 63

...was our least productive session to date.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

We started getting to work..

 Carlos Baez started to put this mess back in order.

Here are some suitcase connectors Carlos installed in the East Power District.

As we ran the trains to check the track connections the SW Power Districts weren't responding.

We needed Dave Worley back to crack the case. 

Without him, it just took longer.

But we did finally figure it out.

Here are the three amigos pointing it out.

Carlos Baez, Ed Nelson, and Dean Hatzis

showing the bumper as the culprit.

Since the metal parts are soldered to each rail and connect together it shorted the rails.

We solved the problem by isolating the bumper. We were back running trains.

Such a simple fix, but frustrating to find.

So as not to feel like a complete failure, I continued working after dinner.

I had some switches and track to start working on the Union Station Terminal.

Here are some beginning and ending shots of my hour of work after session...

Week 62

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Dave Worley, Jordan Osborn and I went on a field trip.

We headed to Wheaton to attend the monthly Train Show at the DuPage County Fairgrounds.

I found some great deals and was able to purchase some items to continue a few projects we have going on in the Basement Train Layout.

Here are some pictures of the purchased items on the RR...

 I bought this box car made by Atlas for $12. It was listed at $24.95. Good deal!

 I bought 10 pieces of Code 83 3' flex track for $10. Not bad.

I'll use these for the terminal tracks at Union Station.

 If you've been following this blog, you'll know we've been trouble shooting West Proviso Yard for 2 full weeks. As I mentioned in last week's blog (Week 61) I would purchase replacement switches for this troubled area. You'll probably see an update on this on Wednesday, Train Day.

 I bought 5 sections of 3' flex Atlas Code 100 for $33. Also bought the two switches shown here ready for planning purposes. Will need to wait for the slip switch before final installation.

Finally, I bought another #6 R switch for mainline into staging area 

(track to Powder River Basin Coal trains).

We'll need to remove the spur track shown in the background as that is now abandoned due to the new mainline to staging area being added.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Train Crew Session was lean and mean today.
We did work on some of the areas where we purchased items from the train show on Sunday.
Here is the photo display...

 Jordan Osborn and Dave Worley working on the new switch to Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

 Jordan Osborn helps out Dean Hatzis and West Proviso Yard.
This is another of the areas where we bought replacement switches.
It ended up being a very good decision.
Everything was tested and passed with flying colors.

 Dean Hatzis working on the nitty gritty.

 Jordan Osborn running test trains.

Dave Worley removing spur track and switch to make way for the mainline to Wyoming.

This video captures the test trains going over the new rails/switches.

Dave Worley taking over the controls.
Made some adjustments to his technique and scored huge marks at the end of his run today.

 Dean Hatzis checking out his handiwork.
Nice job, Dean.

Final look at the final test run.

Week 61

Week 61

In preparation for our weekly Train Crew Session I thought I'd get some prep work done beforehand.

Chronological Order
beginning...

Sunday, September 6, 2015

I forgot to take a picture of me painting the intermodal crane, but here's the paint box I used.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Labor Day

The next day, I finished painting the hand rails and ladders and then attached them to the crane.

Here are some very cool pics...

 First shot highlights the top ladders and engine control side.

 Moving around in a counter clockwise fashion, I was impressed how this picture turned out with the black background. I only had lights on in the South Power District. 

The rest of the layout was in the dark.

 Continuing around counter clockwise another shot of the operation.

 Moving out a bit to catch a picture of yard activity, I took this picture.

Finally, with the stacked containers in the foreground, I took this picture looking south.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Train Crew Day
Attendance in order of appearance
Curt Berg, Ed Nelson, Dean Hatzis, Josh Jones, Jordan Osborn
Carlos Baez MIA working 3rd shift this week.

 Josh Jones and Jordan Osborn work on the Metra/West Chicago yard parameters.
They were taking measurements for the track needed to finish laying the track.
They also took notes on what switches we needed to purchase at the Train Show this weekend.

 Another "cameo" shot of Josh and Jordan.

 On the other side of the layout Ed Nelson and Dean Hatzis spent the session troubleshooting the switching problems at West Proviso Yard.

 Dean and Ed removed the old cork track bed and inserted the thicker mainline cork to even out the track.

 Another view of Josh and Jordan working on the measurements.

 In the meantime, I took some time to hook up the DCMaster Command Station.
This system interacts with the Dash-9 to activate the bell and horn.

Here's how it was hooked up to the power pack and the track.

This video shows the Dash-9 heading into East Proviso Yard. At .46 you'll hear Dean acknowledge the engine derail right on queue at the location where he and Ed were troubleshooting.

We decided we'll replace the switches next week after I buy replacement switches at the Train Show on Sunday.

Josh Jones taking measurements at Union Station for track needs.
He also wrote down the number of switches needed to build the terminal yard.

Hopefully this project will be able to get started soon.

Week 60

Week 60

Train Crew Session

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Today was a banner day.

We finished all soldering to each section of mainline track tonight.

Here's a pictorial review of tonight's activities.

 Welcome back, Dave Worley!

Dave was our Inspector of rail sections and solder connections.

All systems go!

 Dean Hatzis finished up the soldering on all mainline rails.

Great work! Mission accomplished.

 Carlos Baez continued his work on the suitcase connectors.

He said, "Since we're finished with the soldering, someone can help me with the suitcase connections next week."

Who will that be?

 Jordan Osborn started working at the workshop with switch machines.

 After Jordan was called for engineer duties, Ed Nelson took over at the workshop separating switch machines and checking their operations.

 After Dave and Dean were finished with their respective duties, they worked together to troubleshoot the switching problems at West Proviso Yard.

Another shot of the men working through the switch problems.

Video Length: .10 sec.
Here's a video of a train running over the switching problem at West Proviso Yard. 

As you will see, we weren't able to solve the problem this week, but you can guarantee we'll be at this first thing next week.