Basement Train Layout: Week 490

Sun, Dec 17, 2023 thru Sat, Dec 23, 2023

Sun, Dec 17, 2023

Working on the RR...

After the reorg last week, I had some spare parts
that needed to be put away...

Looks like the workbench needs some work too.

The mess on the mainline is put away! Yeah!

And the workbench is cleaned up a bit.
Still needs work...

After cleaning up the mess at the workbench, I decided to get the cars ready at the Industrial Park.

The next train scheduled for departure is priority #14
Mixed Freight 5B.

The Train Order Board says Train 5B is ready to move next train out.

That means I need to get those cars ready for PICK UP.

Here we go...

You can see the four cars I will need to place on the
transfer track to get ready for Train 5B pick up.

The CNW SD40-2 6922 "The Hawk" is picking up
the first two cars.

Then I picked up the next 2
cars. I will need to do a runaround
to get out of the middle of this
mess.

I did the runaround and now I will connect these
2 cars with the other two cars on the transfer track.

Putting the four cars in place ready for mainline
PICK UP.

Ready to GO!

That little operation took 19 minutes.

Mon, Dec 18, 2023

Field Trip to Steve Field's home in Lake in the Hills.

The man behind the goggles is the one and only...
STEVEN FIELDS!

Steve is the teacher and Rob is the student.

Marcus and Jordan take a seat to take it all in.

After a thorough decoder lesson we ran the
California Zephyr.

More of Steve's layout.

The cement truck in the foreground center has the
tumbler in motion.

Here's the California Zephyr out for a run.

Another one of Steve's "Make a Scene" on his layout.

Tue, Dec 19, 2023

I've been switching up my times on the RR to early morning instead of evenings.

Here's what I did first thing this morning...

This is the decoder currently installed in my KATO locomotive.

Here's my Walther's locomotive which I will be
installing the new Digitrax decoder made for
a KATO locomotive.

Here's the lineup of Metra Commuter Locomotives.
I plan on adding two more after I finish this project.

Wed, Dec 20, 2023

Working at the workbench...

This Metra Locomotive #151 is a look-alike similar
to the one below which I am installing with a similar decoder.

Here's what I'm working with.
The Red and Blue wires are from the motor.
The Black & Blue wires are combined on each
side of the trucks and are connected to the tracks.

I also drilled out the two back lights in the engine front.

Now it's time to connect the wires to the decoder:
First I connected the two track wires (Black & Blue)
to the solder points on the decoder as shown above.

Next I connect the two motor wires (Red & Blue)
as shown above in the spots reserved for the motor.

Before going any further, it's time to test the locomotive
by placing it on the tracks and turning on the power.

I input "03" into the UT6 throttle and check out the
lights! Clicking on F0 the light goes on in forward direction.

Switching directions and the back up light and reverse
lights illuminate.

Now to test the movement of the locomotive...

Check out the locomotive in motion

Click here

to view YouTube video

Duration: 00:14 sec.

I'm using fiber optic cables to direct light from inside
the cab to the holes I drilled out on the cab front.

This is a different KATO locomotive with it's reverse
lights on display.

I had quite a few optic cables from a previous purchase.
I cut these into separate lengths and will insert them to
direct the light path to where it needs to go.

My workbench as it looks during this project.

My Metra Locomotives all getting some attention.

Thu, Dec 21, 2023

OOPS!

I realized the lights were going in the wrong direction!

So I had to go back to the workbench and make some soldering changes...

I had to unsolder the blue and red wires connected
to the motor and switch them around.

Then I connected some shrink wrap around the three
(3) light bulbs to make a "path" for the fiber optic cable.

Next, I need to connect these fiber optic cables together
with CA and stick them in the shrink wrap tube to see
if this will work.

I will do this tomorrow...

Fri, Dec 22, 2023

Okay, let's see how far we get today...

Up early to continue on the LED Loco project.
I glued these two cables together.
Next I will snip off the end and check to see if this will work...

More work on the fiber optics.

Getting ready to put the shell back over the locomotive innards.

I drilled holes in the headlights. Fit the fiber optic
cables inside those holes and applied CA.

Extended Headlight tubing for easier installation
of fiber optic.

You can see both sets of fiber optics on the left top
inside the shell and the two tubes they will fit into
inserted over the lights on the decoder board.