Tehachapi, BC

[C855B]

500!?  I’ve got bad news for you, because, in my experience, I’d say triple that estimate. 

Well, originally Ed was suggesting 5.5 Kapuscinski-months. Now you're saying it's gonna take 1.37 Kapuscinski-years?

Bear in mind that Tehachapi is mostly scrub. So we may have to adjust by using a smaller value for tau, the tree-size constant.

[GaryHinshaw]

LOL.  Consider that the central peninsula in the above shot is attempting to model this area:

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/852244/

I could probably get away with about 20 trees for that scene.  I'm guessing 500 might be about right for the whole layout - mostly on the upper deck.

Are you going to put any covering on the foam (Sculptamold, plater cloth, ...?) or just smooth & paint?   Likewise how about rock formations -- plaster (molded? carved?), directly carving the foam, ...?

I have a goop mix that is mostly lightweight spackle plus some paint & grout that I will use to cover the foam.  I still need to settle on how I want to handle the final soil layer though...

[Sokramiketes]

LOL.  Consider that the central peninsula in the above shot is attempting to model this area:

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/852244/

I could probably get away with about 20 trees for that scene.  I'm guessing 500 might be about right for the whole layout - mostly on the upper deck.

I have a goop mix that is mostly lightweight spackle plus some paint & grout that I will use to cover the foam.  I still need to settle on how I want to handle the final soil layer though...

Don't underestimate the ability for painted scenic materials to look better than finding the perfect natural material.  Go for texture when scenic'ing, and then paint the colors you need on top. 

[GaryHinshaw]

^ 100%.

[GaryHinshaw]

 



An hour before my ops session two nights ago, I encountered a short in one of the frogs of the Mojave crossover which connects the staging helix to the mainline.   To my knowledge, this had never happened on the layout before, but it seemed to resolve on its own just before the crew showed up.  I investigated this more today and discovered that both pair of contact wipers in the Tortoise had sheared off from the arm.  Apparently the short was caused by one of the wipers getting stuck in the wrong polarity for a while, before falling out of place (creating a dead, but otherwise harmless frog).

About two months ago I had a session where there was a mysterious short in the Bakersfield yard that seemed to resolve itself during the session.  In retrospect, I'm guessing it was the same issue with a different Tortoise.  Given the solid reputation of Tortoises, I'm shocked at how shoddy this wiper connection is.  The fix is to screw these parts to the arm, but what a royal PITA that is going to be!  In the meantime, I have to live in fear of more random shorts in my other 66 Tortoises, with VanRail approaching in 2.5 weeks...

 

BTW, Larry Puckett has a good video on the repair:

[ednadolski]

Rut-roh, looks like you voided the warranty... 

Ed

[turbowhiz]

Consider giving up on the built in contacts, and just glue a lever switch on the outside case activated by the throw block. Easy repair without much screwing around, and more reliable too. 

I did this MANY years ago when I used a tortoise for operating crossing gates on a club layout. It was very abused with a tremendous amount of cycles and the contacts weren’t up for the job, but the lever switch worked reliably, as did the tortoise mechanically.

Just another option…

[GaryHinshaw]

Good idea Andrew.  Do you have an example lever switch model you could point me to?

The Tortoise mechanicals have been flawless, and up until now the contacts have been fine.  But I never realized until now just how feeble the slider attachment was.  I did repair the one in the photo with screws (conveniently, the same M1.2 screws I'm using for your coupler boxes are perfect for this).   The repaired contact seem very robust.  I just wish they'd have used screws to start with.

"Model Railroading is Fun."

[Sokramiketes]

Ouch.  That's an annoying failure mode.

I have added contacts using lever action contact switches. 

Here's a data sheet, and you want a SPDT (one tab NO and one NC).  I use what they call a "simulated roller contact" which just has a bend at the end of the lever that you can line up with the throw nub on the tortoise at it's end of travel. 

https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/307/B032_E1-3446765.pdf

While you could carefully screw it into the Tortoise case, or make a fancy bracket... for a non-portable home layout I'd probably just hot glue it to the case and move on. 

[turbowhiz]

Good idea Andrew.  Do you have an example lever switch model you could point me to?

The Tortoise mechanicals have been flawless, and up until now the contacts have been fine.  But I never realized until now just how feeble the slider attachment was.  I did repair the one in the photo with screws (conveniently, the same M1.2 screws I'm using for your coupler boxes are perfect for this).   The repaired contact seem very robust.  I just wish they'd have used screws to start with.

"Model Railroading is Fun."

Along the lines of what Mike posted, Amazon has a myriad of choice...

I bought some of these recently which would be fit for purpose:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07MXC524Z?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2

Contacts are rated for 5 amps. I've used this type of switch for switching frogs with servo operated turnout controllers with no failures, but they've not seen tremendous use either.

[GaryHinshaw]

Ouch.  That's an annoying failure mode.

Yep...


Thanks for the switch links.  Going forward, I will approach this on a case by case basis.  Once I had the Tortoise on the bench it only took about 15 mins to screw the contacts to the arm, and the results seem very robust.  So the repair decision will hinge on how easy it is to remove a Tortoise and repair it vs. adding an external switch and swapping out the switch wiring.  You may recall seeing images such as this before:



  At least all of the Tortoise wiring is run through terminal blocks, and the Tortoise mechanicals are otherwise bulletproof.

[mark.hinds]

I was very interested to read about the issues which you had with the built-in contacts on the Tortoise.  I always regretted not using them, instead using display motors and separate "lever switch" contacts from Radio Shack.  Looks like my original decision wasn't so bad after all.  (Yes, I know your wiring is prettier...).  MH

[basementcalling]

LOL.  Consider that the central peninsula in the above shot is attempting to model this area:

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/852244/

I could probably get away with about 20 trees for that scene.  I'm guessing 500 might be about right for the whole layout - mostly on the upper deck.

I have a goop mix that is mostly lightweight spackle plus some paint & grout that I will use to cover the foam.  I still need to settle on how I want to handle the final soil layer though...

Given the grain by grain approach you used to get such excellent results on your ballast, if you only need 20 trees will you take a needle by needle approach to constructing them? Inquiring minds want to know. 

[ednadolski]

^ it can be leaf-by-leaf for the oaks.   Grass otoh?  hmmm...

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

LOL.  I'll let you know when I know...  In the meantime I've had this video by @M.C. Fujiwara bookmarked for years now:

This is my most likely approach, though 3d printing the armatures is another interesting option now...

I was very interested to read about the issues which you had with the built-in contacts on the Tortoise.  I always regretted not using them, instead using display motors and separate "lever switch" contacts from Radio Shack.  Looks like my original decision wasn't so bad after all.  (Yes, I know your wiring is prettier...).  MH

I wouldn't say my wiring is "prettier"...   FWIW, this is either the first or second time in 10 years that a frog has shorted like this.  Further it seems to be a temporary state because the contacts will fall to the bottom of the Tortoise after a few throws.  The result is a dead frog rather than a shorted one.  This is much less problematic (but still annoying!), so I can fix them when it's convenient.