Wiring up the layout

Up until about 20 years ago most O scale layouts were wired up using block control and toggle switches, very similar to layouts in smaller scales. Then, Lionel released Train Master Command Control (TMCC) and MTH released Digital Command System (DCS) and things changed. Both of those systems (which aren't directly compatible) operate much like a DCC system in that it isn't necessary to divide a layout into isolated blocks.

However, there are still advantages for doing so which include the ability to cut power to certain track to shut off the sound effects of engines parked on them; the ability to run conventional and command engines on the same layout in different sections without conflicting power signals; electrical troubleshooting; etc. 

Most of this side of the layout will be one large electrical block all wired together because I doubt I could operate two or more trains on them at the same time. But, I did want the ability to kill power to various sections so that I could park several engines on the layout at once. So, each of the three sidings has its middle rail (hot) wired through a on/off toggle switch.

The main layout's bus wires are 14 gauge, and the track feeder wires are also 14 gauge. This is pretty robust wire and should be fine for such a small layout as mine. Per Lionel's own blog, they recommend 16g bus wires and 18g feeders wires which means my choices are a bit overkill. That is okay.

Using old flextrack is a real pain and requires a lot of finagling to assembly, frequently with a hammer. During the process the feeders I had attached to the underside of the rail would occasionally fall out. They snapped in once, but after that the rail spread enough that they wouldn't stay in after trying to jam them in multiple times. So, for a couple I also had to solder them in place from below. For others, I was more careful to to avoid unnecessary maneuvering of the track before attaching the wires. 

All the same, if I discover a break in power in the future I can just solder a wire to the outside of the rail.

To remember where I dropped feeder wires I marked the locations with some beads painted either red or black and pinned to the track. 

Then, I made a diagram of the layout to record this information on the off-chance that it might be useful someday. As can be seen I installed a LOT of feeders now, but I would prefer to avoid messing around under the layout in the future if there is a voltage drop. It doesn't show the isolated three sidings (in blue) because I haven't laid that track yet.

To join the feeders to the bus line I used 3M #560 insulation displacement connectors (IDC), otherwise known as "suitcase" connectors. Some people swear by them and others swear at them, but since I had a ton of them lying around I used them. I first confirmed on the 3M website that they were rated for 14 gauge wire on both sides.

The only complication is that because my mainline has multiple feeders to the same section of track there are places where the same rail is being fed from multiple connections to the bus wires. Normally this is a good thing, but with MTH's DCS system it can sometimes result in mixed-up signals. If you Google "MTH Star Wiring" you will find many pages online about it (including this one) and the solution around this is to make sure that each isolated section of track only has one set of feeders to it. 

At this time I am not concerned with potential MTH DCS wiring problems. I don't have any DCS engines, and even if I did my layout is so small that the signals shouldn't get too confused. If it later proves to be a problem in the future I can deal with it then. 

I do want the ability to use Lionel's Train Master Command Control so I will make sure that the inputs to my layout's wiring can be toggled for that, but I will discuss that more in the future.

The ends of the bus lines terminate at heavy duty, 20AMP block terminals. I found some 12-screw ones for less than $3 each on Amazon so I used them, though I doubt I will need all of those contacts. However, it gives me options for future wiring.

I also used caulk on the underside of the benchwork where the wires came through the plywood. This not only secured the wires further (in case Harrison wanted to yank them out) and it filled the hole up which would stop any glue mess from dripping down when I ballast the track later on.

Organized chaos

Flextrack; cork roadbed; several types of caulk; caulking gun; Dremel tool; soldering iron station; lots of wire; various hand tools; multiple types of ballast; a couple of structure projects; various industry mock-ups; spray paint; glues; markers; assorted weights (gallon container, containers filled with lead shot); paper track templates; etc.

I love track laying, but it sure gets messy fast!

First track laid!

It's official! On 12/21/2024 the first track on the New England Northern Railway was laid. 

I started off by first painting the cork roadbed with cheap flat gray latex paint so that any spots in the ballast later on wouldn't show up as brown. I don't really know if this helps because when I weather the track it will cover most the gray but it sounds good in theory.

Then, some like-new sections of Gargraves track were tested in place. To minimize cuts and gaps which require a bit more effort than trimming HO scale track, I worked from the edges of each section to the middle. I clamped a piece of black Gatorfoam to the edge of the layout and laid the track to that with just a tiny gap (to allow for any future expansion of the rails). My bandsaw and Dremel tool made quick work of cutting the track where necessary.

I quickly learned that Gargraves track is nearly impossible to bend if it isn't brand new. Even the slightest amount of oxidation will cause the wooden ties to bind on the rails. You can spray it with WD40 to loosen it up, but that will later cause havoc if you paint the track during weathering. Forcing the track to bend and then securing it every few inches with screws works, but I didn't want unsightly screws (and the 2" of foam would have required me to use 2.5" long deck screws to reach into the wooden table top under the foam). Since I am mostly working on straight track right now I am relying on heavy weights to hold it in place until the caulk cures.

Before I could glue the track down I had to also wire it up. While it is possible to solder electrical wires to the sides of the rails, one nifty trick is to use uninsulated male quick connect tabs and snap them into the underside of the Gargraves rails. I went with 14g wire for the feeders.

You also must drill holes in the cork for the wires to pass through before securing the track. It is a slightly fiddly process. 

Gargraves track's wooden ties insulates the outside two return/ground rails from each other. This is advantageous for signals and accessories, but to ensure good electrical contact for the trains you want to power both rails. One way to do this is to solder jumpers between the two outer rails parallel with the ties. I was too lazy to dig out my soldering iron so instead I just dropped extra feeders. It also will avoid problems later on if I want to use one of the outer rails for triggering signals or accessories, as cutting the buried hidden feeders is near impossible.

Once I dry fitted everything to make sure it worked, I applied a layer of clear caulk and attached one piece of track down. I then heavily weighted it so it wouldn't budge. I ran out of weights pretty quick so I could only do one section of track at a time, but over the course of a weekend I laid the main line. It was a huge inefficiency in time, but I found it helpful because I wasn't used to working with Gargraves track before and I had to remember where to add feeders wires so the slow process was helpful. If I switches to long deck screws and washers I could use them between the ties and speed things up, and later pull the screws.

One benchwork joint required some light shimming with 0.030" styrene, that I caulked down and then flooded with superglue for extra security. 

Three-rail switches have a lot of extra pieces of rail in the middle area, and their frogs are unpowered plastic. That means that when a locomotive is passing through a switch there are opportunities for it to stall out (especially the middle pick-up roller). Operating locomotives with middle pick-up rollers spread far apart avoids this. To address this potential problem, switches can be purchased from RCS with pre-wired jumpers to avoid stalling. Below is a pre-wired switch. 

To be safe, I wanted the inner point rails also powered but many of the used switches I bought didn't have the jumpers, so I had to add them myself. Not having suitable solid core wire on hand, I used pieces of code 100 nickel silver HO scale rail. You can see two of them below, as well as an extra feeder wire I added as well.

After one weekend I had the 12' of mainline laid in place and I could start working on the passing siding. I couldn't believe how slow my progress was and how much more effort it took than HO track. I was learning new skills and also hamstringing myself by using caulk instead of screws to secure the track. But it was enjoyable too and Harrison had fun pushing a test boxcar along the track.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year. Don't forget the reason for the season.

Luke 2, versus 1-20

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

            14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 

Playing with Grandpa's Lionel (1987)

While going through some old pictures from my grandparents, I found this one. It has a lot of great memories for me. The train is probably a Lionel #1543 set which came with the Lehigh Valley #627 44-tonner engine (perhaps the start of my love for GE centercab switchers), a flat car with pipes, a gondola with red canisters, and a caboose. The sets were released around 1956, though I don't know what year my grandparents purchased them. They bought two sets, gave one to my Uncle, and gave the other to the neighbor's son who couldn't afford one. They were low cost sets. I don't know how much my Uncle used it, but whenever I visited my grandfather he pulled out the plywood board painted green with a simple loop of track and one remote control track and off I would go! 

My grandfather later purchased some additional cars, including a red M&SL boxcar and a US Air Force boxcar with missile firing mechanism. Oddly, there was also an unidentified HO engine which is shown on the flat car that I later learned was a "Sakai" brand engine.

The Guidancetown buildings were also a lot of fun to put together and take apart every visit. Also pictured are some other notable accessories: giant orange, purple and yellow alien creatures (I think they belonged to my other uncle); a stuffed animal dog and Boo Boo; and and American flag. Oh the adventures we all went on.

Sadly, almost everything on the table is now gone. The train disappeared after my grandfather passed away, likely by a visitor who thought it was worth a lot. None of my immediate family would have taken it as they all knew I loved it. I have faint hopes that someday it will turn up. The buildings and aliens are long gone, as are the stuffed animals. But, in 2018 when visiting I removed the track from the plywood board. It was as rusty as sixty year old track can be but I managed to save most of it. I cleaned it up and use it today under the Christmas tree. So, part of it lives on.

Train show bounty

Two recent train shows allowed me to purchase some supplies that I needed for future projects. 

At the Polish Community Center show, I bought a set of sitting passengers from Woodland Scenics (A2759) for my Atlas passenger station project. I wanted some people that weren't dressed like they came out of the 1950s, or something too modern either, so hopefully these will look more 1960s-1980s.

I am always on the lookout for scale size freight cars and two friends were selling ones that I wanted. A MTH RailKing boxcar is scale size but has molded on details like grab irons and such, but once weathered I think it will look fine. I thought it was Penn Central but actually it was New York Central, so I may try and patch it before weathering. The other car is a MTH car lettered for Ralston Purina and I bought it because I think the red/white checkerboard emblem is sharp. I am planning on putting an Agway on my layout so this car might be a good fit for that industry.

At the second show a couple of weeks later, the Great Train Extravaganza, I spotted a Hornby O scale passenger car for $5 that looked lonely. It joined a few other cars I purchased this past spring at a train show in Toronto. A friend of mine also had an old Weaver troop sleeper car that I desperately needed for the trucks so he brought it for me. The Weaver cars are notorious for warping and zinc rot on the wheels and frame but this one was surprisingly in okay shape. I considered myself lucky to acquire it.

No one had any new Gargraves track but for $20 I found a pile of used track that I can hopefully find a few decent pieces in. If not, there is always Springfield in January.

Harrison was not forgotten, and between my wife and I we purchased a Thomas bedtime story book, many wooden Brio-compatible trains (a lot of oddball characters and freight cars to be sure, as we have most of the "main characters" by now) and  $5 Marx crossing gate for his Lionel layout that he will happily manually push up and down.

The highlight of the show was that my friend also brought a set of 710/712 pre-war passenger cars especially for me. I cannot afford a standard gauge Blue Comet set, nor do I have the space to run it even if I did own one (though my wife suggested acquiring it and sticking it in a display case... bless her!) so these are the next best thing. They were made by Lionel between 1933 and 1934, so they are possibly 90 years old. They are in nice shape considering, but I plan to have another friend give them a good look over and clean and repair them. But that is a future project.

Finally, this last picture is a bit of a reunion of sorts. In 2010 I saw an FM Trainmaster painted for the Delaware and Hudson #100 and thought it was really sharp even though it wasn't prototypical. It was a Williams engine custom painted by Frank's Roundhouse. I soon wanted to buy one (despite being an N and HO scale modeler) and looked online for more information. An inquiry on the CTT magazine forum provided some information. In 2011 I purchased one on Ebay, but since I didn't have an O scale layout I gave it to a friend a couple of years later. Now I have a layout and wanted it back, so I made arrangements with my friend to reacquire it.

Some of my purchases were inexpensive, and some were not. However, I have been writing articles for publication in magazines which has provided me some extra train spending money. I am very thankful for that, as well as for a supporting wife who encourages my hobby splurging.

That's all for now, as Christmas is nearly here and there are other priorities. But so far it has been a good hobby show season!

Project: telephone poles

I like short weekend projects. Since my layout has barely been started anything I work on generally needs to put aside for later. Telephone poles are a neat detail that adds a lot to a scene without much effort. For my smaller scale layouts I purchased plastic poles and painted/weathered/detailed them, but for O scale I thought scratchbuilding them would be fun. 

As it turns out, while this was on my mind I randomly pulled a back issue of O Gauge Railroading magazine (February 1998) out from my shelf (of about 100 that I have) and I couldn't believe it when it featured an article on building telephone poles! It was Divine intervention. What's more, the inspiration for the article was based on the reader seeing a layout as a child in Rochester, NY (my hometown).

The basic supplies are 3/16" diameter wood dowels; 1/8" x 3/16" stripwood for the crossarms; green seed beads (size 8/0)' and some metal pins. I calculated the cost to exactly $0.82 per pole with two crossarms and 16 beads. They might not be the cheapest poles to make, and they might not be 100% perfect compared to real telephone poles. But I think they came out great, they were fun to build, and they fit into my budget.

I started by ordering a pack of twenty 3/16" wooden dowels on Amazon, which cost me $10.79 shipped. Thankfully most were straight with only a few bending a little. I set them all aside one another and marked out 8" from one end (the total height), as well as the four spots which would indicate where the notches for the crossarms would go. My little bandsaw made quick work of cutting them down, and then I used my belt sander to slope the top part of the pole 45-degrees (to allow rain to run off and prevent the pole from rotting). The speed of the sander burned the tops of the poles black, which may prove a problem later during staining. But it sure was quicker than cutting with a razor saw. 

Then, I marked and notched each pole... twice... for the crossarms. This was the most tedious and frustrating part of the project. I tried razor saws, a Dremel tool, three types of hobby knife blades, and the edge of a file. What worked best was to use a razor saw to make the notches, and then whittle the area between with a #11 blade. It is hard work as you need to get in close to see what you are doing, and hold the pole near the top to steady it for the cutting, but you also don't want the blade to slip and cut into your finger. I did all 20 poles in two sittings.

The crossarms were cut using a razor saw to 2" in length, and then I used a sanding stick to clean up any rough edges. They aren't all perfectly the same length and that is okay. I miscalculated while cutting them and ended up with twice as many as needed.

Next, I marked out the four spots where the insulators will go. 

Then, I stuck thin quilting pins into the crossarm at those spots until they stuck/wedged into place. Finally, all four pins were cut to length by eye (enough to hold two beads but not much more) with cutters. Once cross arm at a time. I later put a drop of thin superglue into each wire joint to hold the wires firmly in place. Don't use too much glue or it will interfere with the staining of the wood later.

Then, I gave each pole and crossarm a good brushing of Minwax "Special Walnut" stain. As expected, the stain didn't penetrate where the superglue had pooled around the wires but that's okay because the glass beads will hide it later. 

After letting the stain dry, I used wood glue to assemble the crossarms onto the poles. Fitting them into the notches wasn't too bad though some notches were bigger than others. I made sure the crossarms were generally pointing in the same direction on both poles. Then I let it all dry. Later, I applied drops of thin superglue into the notch joints from behind for further reinforcement.

Then I looked at the poles and was dejected. The crossarms stuck out too far from the poles instead of being flush. Maybe I should have cut the notches deeper? Had I done so, though, the poles might have broken. As I drove to a picnic later that day I looked at the poles I passed and saw that the crossarms were not notched into the poles but were bolted proud of them. Feeling better, when I came home I gave everything another coat of brown stain to darken them more.

If one coat was good, two wasn't better. It dried shiny in places which didn't look at all realistic. So, I sprayed them with Dullcote and several days later game them a black oil paint wash. Then I thought they look more like old posts that would have been exposed to smokey steam and diesel locomotive exhaust. 

However, once they dried they looked worse. The mineral spirits reacted to the Dullcote and superglue and left huge areas of white residue. Some might look like sun bleaching, but the result was terrible. As a last ditch effort I brushed everything with another coating of the walnut stain. This worked to hide the bleaching, but then the stain had dried in spots leaving shiny areas. So, another coat of Dullcote was sprayed on and I called it good. They might not be perfect, but I just need to get out of this cycle.

After a couple of days I glued on some small green beads to represent glass insulators. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue because it dries clear and filled any excess space inside the beads. It was a bit tedious trying to pick up each bead with tweezers because they were round and not cylindrical, but in the end I only lost a couple to the rug. I made sure to line up the beads on top of each other as best I could so they didn't look wonky. A few areas only got one bead if I left the wire too short, resulting in a "broken" insulator.

For the V-shaped metal support brackets that go underneath the crossarms I took regular staples and cut them in half, then glued them on. The next day they were painted with brown paint.

The last detail was to add the bolts holding the crossarms to the main poles. I tried using cut track nails and tiny pins but they without predrilling the hole I risked the pressure of pushing them in would knock the crossarm off . So, instead I used thick black craft paint and a toothpick to apply a small blog where the bolt should be. 

The total time involved was about 10 hours, or 30 minutes per pole. I could probably do it faster next time, but 20 poles should last me for a while. While they aren't perfect, I am happy with the results.