N Scale Hi Rail - Retro Hollow Core Door Layout

[OldEastRR]

Are you going to build a route connecting the two levels?

[wm3798]

It's not off the table, but it would have to be off the table!  I could build a loop at the far end that connects the top and bottom, but it would have to be detachable, since it would block the stairway a bit.  It's not really a priority.
I'll probably leave it as is for the time being.  As you can see, the wall still needs to be finished (as does the rest of the room) and when that happens, I may design an entirely new layout that offers a bit more operations, but occupies a smaller footprint overall.

Last night I stabilized the upper yard platform, so structurally at least it does what I need it to do.  I have to work out the wiring scheme and get that done before I can semi-permanently mount it to the brackets.  But it's coming together.

Lee

[OldEastRR]

Well, if you build a brand new layout, please retro Loopty-Loop back to what it was, it's got character. You could leave one interchange track to the New Layout for access, but for all intents and purposes it would be a small RR connected to a major one -- it could keep "its" equipment online in the holding tracks. Maybe a sleeper that was left on the station track overnight is forwarded on to the BIG Layout and a Big City. I really love that little layout. I like Chris333's small Erie layout too.

[wm3798]

Time to make with the Dremel tool!


Lee

[wm3798]

Started tearing up the place earlier this evening.


A short time later


By 11 p.m. trains were running again.






Lee

[nkalanaga]

That first picture looks like Appalachia after one of our rainstorms.

[wm3798]

Really... except the bridge is still there!

[OldEastRR]

It's now Retro+ Layout.

[nkalanaga]

We don't always lose the bridges, especially the older stone and concrete ones.  Often we just have to remove the mud and debris from them.

[wm3798]

I feel an old school control panel coming on!


Lee

[davefoxx]

Oh, man!  I was just perusing some 1965 issues of Model Railroader and was reminded of the complex block wiring we used to have to do.  Good luck!

DFF

[OldEastRR]

I feel an old school control panel coming on!


Lee

Hey, if you'd like a shitload of DPDT heavy-duty toggle switches I've got ones I've been hanging onto for some reason.  Let me know if you want them.

[dem34]

I feel an old school control panel coming on!


Lee

Dual cab control that'll get used once then never again? I've done that for a client once.

@EL3632 and @VonRyan know who I'm talking about.

[NorthWestGN]

I’m so glad I went DCC, almost pulled the pin on 18 new DPDT switches to wire for dual cab block control….

Post some pics of your Retro Control Panel when you get there!

Brent

[wm3798]

I just got 25 DPDTs, but I only expect to use a handful of them. 
The first thing I have to do diagram the track plan to see how complex I need to make it.
The big Chonky SPSTs are to control the 5 yard tracks on the upper yard.  Having been an English Major, it always take a bit of head scratching to sort it all out, but I usually start with what I need the tracks to do, then set up the blocks accordingly.  As for style points, I'm not really going for any.  Here's what my present control panels look like:



I'd like to try to work the new block switches into these, although I'll need to build a new one to operate the upper yard.

As it stands, there will be only a few blocks, each of the four tracks through the passenger station, the two wye tracks leading into the yard, and the bits of main line between the new double crossover, the wye, and the station tracks.

I expect the usual process of trial and error, the "AHA" moment where it all becomes clear (usually at 3 a.m. when I have a meeting in the morning) followed by the feverish work session to get it all wired.  This of course will be followed by the mystery short, the exploration of everything possible I could have done wrong, and the eventual discovery of the absolutely last thing I check for errors.  Depending on the time and day of this discovery, there may be pot of black coffee or a fifth of brown liquor applied smooth the rough edges, and finally, at long last, trains will again be running.

No problem, right?
Lee