Free-moN Staging Yard - 16"x10'

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Before we get to the blue light, here's another nifty addition to the staging yard:
 At the last show, we had to jerry-rig a NEC PCP with a piece of track to act as a programming track, so...
 I isolated two tracks (the outside diesel service track and the machine shop track) to serve as programming tracks during operations:
 


During normal ops, the tracks are connected to the main bus, but we can flip to programming mode through an on-off-on toggle on respective sides of the module:
 


The toggles are hooked up to some short wires that have Anderson powerpole connectors, so we can hook up the "DCC in a Toolbox" I'll be building later today:
 


As this Staging Yard is designed for primarily practical purposes, I think the programming tracks (with enough space for 2-3 loco consists) will help out moocho.
 
The main bus splice will also allow me to run trains at home, or if we don't have the fabulous "DCC / JMRI in a box" that we normally use.
 
Now back to that blue light...
 
[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

So I made the Machine Shop with the roof removable for access:
 


And will be detailing the interior over the next couple weeks.
 Need to get a bunch of machine shop equipment in there.
 Might put up some interior walls, too, to cover the plastic window frames & detail-less walls (though nobody will really see it, given the 50" height).
 
But started with some dudes working:
 


The grates in the middle cover a hole that houses a welding circuit:
 


Operated by a toggle on the fascia.
Workers need to do some work while people are programming, right?
 
Very silly feature but adds some fun.
 
For now the welding lights are run by 9V battery mounted by a clip to the module wall:
 


Eventually the circuit and more lights might be connected to the accessory bus, but for now, that's it.
 
And now it's back to watching the Portugal / Germany game while installing low-pro wheels and MT trucks on some old reefers so I have more rolling stock to roll tomorrow
 
Happy weekend, all.
 Thanks for looking.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Had a lovely day running trains with the Silicon Valley Free-moN dudes at the Coast Division Meet in San Leandro, CA:
 

The space we had available was a funkily-angled atrium at the Boy Scout Headquarters building, but, hey, Free-moN can fit anywhere!
 
Speaking of fitting things in, here's a "Behind-the-Scenes" of how I get my Shoo-fly & Staging Yard modules (& equipment) to meets:
 




Notice the high-tech shock-absorbing packing material.
 If I build another module, it will be a good excuse to get a bigger car
 
Thanks for looking!

[GaryHinshaw]

Nice looking setup in the video MC - the shoo-fly module looks especially great.  I guess it's a tribute to your construction standards that those modules survive a trip packed like that!  (It's probably not as bad as it looks though...)

-gfh

[eric220]

If you want to borrow a router in exchange for a gander at your marvelous creations, check your PMs.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Seems like after a show the train stuff just sorta sits for awhile, as I play catch-up with work and figure out what project to tackle next.
 I need to install a Tadpod support for one of the Bullfrog cables (just a few inches too long for firm action), but I really didn't feel like diving back into benchwork.
 So I pulled out a box of Tichy Wreck Crane Train kits I got awhile ago and gave that a go.
 The crew, supply & boom cars were all fine & straight-forward enough: hardest part was gluing the nuts centered.
 The crane was fun, too, until The Threading Of The Cables:
 


Talk about blowing your eyes out.
 Next time I'm painting everything bright yellow so I can see the thread easier.
 
But it all worked out, and now we have a wreck train to help out during shows:
 


Still need to paint the trip pins and add some details to the boom car.
 Now to build the MOW shed next to the MOW track:
 


But it's nice to be back modeling again.
 
Thanks for looking.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Sorry for not posting my usual 20 kabillion pictures a day, but Other Things (like Life & Family stuff) been happening lately, especially with Japanese School Summer Intensive and then Summer Vacation in full force. But I just finished building, installing and getting operational the manual turntable for Effett Yard, and so, in an onslaught of quantity over quality, I present a plethora of progress photos.

 Our Silicon Valley Free-moN group held a work party June 30 at Steve Williams’ house, and we worked on Murf’s Junction module as well as some single-to-double track modules. Scott Forrest also brought his RotoSaw with nifty attachment that allowed us to cut the 8ish” turntable pit hole with surprising accuracy:





As you can see, we just cleared the Bullfrog support, which would necessitate cutting a notch in the pit floor to fit around it.

 The Voice of Experience says: Building a custom pit turntable is much easier if you do it before installing track, wiring and turnout controls like Bullfrog [“D’oh!”].

 It also helps to have the right tools.
 A week or so later I journeyed down to Scott’s workshop in Half Moon Bay (name describes the shape of the bay, not any saggy-swimwear styles), and we cut the pit floor out of ¼” MDF and fitted it into place with screws:

 

After using our advanced compass & geometry skills to find the center, Scott used his nifty drill press to create the vertical hole for the ¼” audio jack I used for the pivot and electrical contact:

 

While all the cutting and drilling were not 100% perfect, it was PDC [pretty darn close], and you’ll see how I constructed the bridge and pit walls to bring everything into very PDC alignment in the end.

 [cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

While I love Gallows-style turntables, Effett Yard runs all types of locos, so something more Transition Era is more appropriate. Even more important in Free-moN structure design is Solid & Robust: given all the moving and multiple operators monkeying around with everything, even with the best of intentions something delicate like a Gallows deck wouldn’t last long.

 I found a 6” x 1 1/8” metal tie plate at Home Depot, and then used 0.08” styrene (which was the exact same thickness as the plate) to build an 8” bridge:

 

The channels in the middle are for the wires from the audio jack (with connection screws cut off to lower the profile) to run through the tie plate screw holes to the track.

 Why not use the 8” metal tie plate for the 8” bridge? Having 1” of styrene on both sides allowed me to easily sand the ends into curves to match the pit walls by clamping the bridge to the cut-out circle of ply as a guide:

 

[If you have a grinder, I guess you could have done the same with an 8” metal plate]

 As I hand-drilled the hole in the styrene for the audio-jack pivot, the styrene ends also allowed for slight sanding adjustments to insure centering: I just inserted the bridge in the pit and spun it around, and where an end started to rub against the side I took it back to the circle ply guide and slighted sanded it some more:

 

Surprisingly, very little adjustment was needed, and all the parts lined up pretty well.

 So after soldering the feeder wires to the top of the audio jack, I GorillaGlued the metal tie plate to the styrene bridge base:

 

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I smoothed some lightweight spackle tinted with slate grey craft paint around the pit sides to make a more concretey look and cover the ply cross-section:

 

After it thoroughly dried, I used some fine-grit sandpaper to smooth it down to clear the bridge ends.

 Atlas C55 girder bridge sides (leftover from the car float apron on our “Alameda-Belt-In-A-Box” project last year) got spliced together and then glued to the sides upside-down:



I also GorillaGlued some PC board ties to the top of the deck, and then soldered a section of track to the ties, allowing plenty of extra rail to extend over the side for finer adjustments later:



As the audio jack has just a little too much give and so makes the deck a little wobbly, I glued washers under the outside edges of the bridge to ride on a rail in the pit:



Ultimately, it took three washers on each side, which makes the bridge nice and heavy for smoother turning.

 [cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

The circumference of a 7 ¾” circle is 24.35”, so I had to use two pieces of ME rail (which came in 18” lengths) to create the pit rail. [Although, as I write this right now, I realize I could have just slipped out one rail from a length of 30” flextrack to make it. D’oh!]

 I created a 7 ¾” circle on AnyRail so I could have the grid as reference, printed it on cardstock, sprayed it with adhesive and then placed ¼”-long PC board ties equally around the circle. After bending the rail by hand (not so precise) and then soldering it into a circle, I slipped ¼”-long stripwood ties evenly around & CA’ed in place:

 

After spray painting the whole thing Grimy Black, I CA’ed it to the pit floor:

 

The rail is not in a perfect circle, which really can only be seen when the bridge is removed and you look straight down. But as the rail is just a surface for the washers and not a thin set of wheels, then it’s okie dokie with me (The Yard is called “Effett” after what I say when I’m taking too long on a project and just end there).

 The three washers on each side of the bridge brings the deck up slightly higher than the ply around it, so you can see I installed some layers of grey-painted styrene as a ramp up.

 You can also see that at some point I painted the pit grey / concrete and then stained the sides. The floor will have some gravel and dirt fallen in, or maybe gravel all over with some plant growth. We’ll see.

 If I couldn’t have a Gallows deck, then at least I could have some wood decking, gosh darnit. I installed stained strips of 1/32” x 3/64” basswood to make the decking:

 

Very tedious.
 But a nice effect when done:

 

Still need to add some NBW details here and there, and I’m still debating about building a center arch thingy.

 You can also see the light white wash and stain on the sides. Don’t want to use weathering powders on something everybody & their mother will be touching!

 [cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I spread some caulk and laid down the tracks leading up to the TT, then soldered the end rails to two PC board ties I had GorillaGlued at the edge (definitely don’t want those rails moving!).

 After the solder, I used my Dremel to trim the rails back to allow space for the bridge rails to swing through:

 



A pretty narrow gap, as things go, and cars & locos move onto the deck with nary a bump.

 I used a Digitrax AR1 auto reversing circuit for the first time, and I’ve been pretty impressed. The unit is easy to mount (I slipped some 0.08” styrene behind to not bend the solder bumps behind):

 

and even easier to wire up: two wires from the bus to the AR1, then two wires from the AR1 to the audio jack. No separate power supply is needed, as it runs of the track power. And even on the slowest-speed creep locos passed on & off the TT deck without a single stutter or pause. There’s even a nifty little “click” sound when then power is reversed. It worked great for my NCE Powercab, and there’s a little adjustment screw to move the trip point when we hook up for shows & have more juice.

 So I slapped down two small sections of flextrack as overshot safety, soldered the feeders for the approach tracks, and the TT was ready to operate:

 

The track on the far right is the coal / sand supply spur, and won’t be tacked down until I figure out all the steam engine service details (like do I really want a 6”-tall coal tower on a Free-moN module? Or make it removable? Or?)

 So still need to paint and ballast the track and scenic around the pit, but as is Silicon Valley Free-moN now has an operating turntable and won’t have to run steam and F-units backwards every-other trip around the turnback loop.

 And, of course, there’s a short [2:30] video of the turntable in action:

 Thanks for looking, and I look forward to seeing how others custom-built their turntables!

[eric220]

Very nice, MC! I may have to commission you to do the turntable on my upper deck!

[GaryHinshaw]

Outstanding!  Pure craftsmanship on display there. Are you going to leave the overshoot tracks unprotected at the edge of the bench?   

-gfh

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, Eric: Let's see how well this one holds up first.
[Plus, if I build one for you, I'd actually have to make it all precise and reliable and everything  ]

Are you going to leave the overshoot tracks unprotected at the edge of the bench?

Funny you should say that.... 
As I was filming and trying to operate the train at the same time, I guess I didn't hit the "emergency stop" hard enough because the 2-10-2 kept going past the spill-over tracks 
Luckily I caught it in time.

But, yes, I'll install some bumpers on the tracks soon, and definitely before the next show!

Thanks for the kind words.
Having only two tracks to line up with certainly helped cover for the less-than-precise construction methods
But we'll see how it holds up under operating conditions "in the wild" over the next couple months.
 
I might add a doghouse to the side at the center, or next to the pit just left of the left incoming track.
 Need to do a study on where hands go when operating so nothing gets knocked over.
 
It was so hot in my garage when I shot the video that my iPhone actually shut down to cool off in the middle of the shoot!
 But I wrapped an ice pillow around it for a minute and we were back in business.
 
Yesterday I finished installing industrial railing and ladders on some of the tanks that flank the yard near the diesel service on the other section:
 




I'm somewhat ignoring my own edict not to have anything delicate near the edge of the modules, so we'll see if the railing remains after multiple transports and shows.
 But they'll make a nice partial backdrop for the yard on one side and partial viewblock on the other, so I think a worthy addition.
 Especially after I weather the tanks, add gravel, an office, and a section of chain-link fence between the tanks and trains.
 Gotta love ABS caps as cheap structures.
 
Well, back out into the oven (garage) to work on the yard office before the temp controls get switched to "Broil" this afternoon.
 Thanks for looking.

[dnhouston]

Nice work, and really nice step-by-step on the turntable.  I'm planning to custom build a turntable in the near future, and I will definitely be referring to this thread for tips!