Here's an article about the layout I just finished for the local newsletter:
Terry Builds a Layout.
Progress continues on the O gauge floor layout. The track is back down, but only the outer loop is permanently wired. The other two are just on lockons. I'm going around each circle of track and connecting feeders to the track, installing blocks, and adding insulated outside rails where needed for the streets and signals.
Here's some pictures of the layout as of October 11th.
The west end of the layout with the ladder to the passenger yard, the end of the mountain, the Schoenhut village and the backside of the transformers. That's a difficult to find prewar 027 Lionel 1022 tunnel.
This is the south side of the layout. The inner and outer lines just go through here. The middle line has passing sidings. My goal is to put trains on the sidings and use relays to run them in opposite directions. With the mountain blocking views from the north, you'll see trains running back and forth, but not the parking sidings.
At this point, I'm not sure I can get trains to run automatically. The switch machines just aren't reliable enough. The youngest of those switches is 78 years old. Those are the best switches I have mated to the best motors.
The southeast corner of the layout has a road crossing and gives way to the marsh with the bridges. To wire the trains and track near the edge and back to the diner is quite simple. I just stick some wire through a hole and reach under and grab it. For the areas farther back from the end, I have a 40 inch long copper rod I tape the wires onto. This is a learning experience. When I jam the stiff rod though the layout, it snags on the carpet. Last night I realized a small bit of Masonite slid under the hole would help.
Pictures 4 thru 7 show the bridges and the marsh area. I have a few dozen wonderful weeping willow trees to sick in here. Once I get the face board on, I'll pour the Woodland Scenics water into the marsh and plant the trees.
The piers for the bridges were the result of a lot of time spent trying to figure out something that would look good that I could make with what I had. I ended up cutting a ¾ inch slice off a 4 by 4, and then using the slice as the base. It looks good. I have another bridge with a light somewhere.
In the last picture with the bags of water you can see I already cracked the side of the marsh. That's the only area of the whole layout where I didn't color the plaster. This happened because I was using old bags of layout material and the crap failed to set. I scraped the mold-a-scene off and then used whatever the bag was and got even worse results. In my frustration at having to redo it again, I forgot to add pigment to the plaster.
I cracked the marsh when I lifted the side of the layout to stuff a wire under the water area. You can see the 153 block signals at the bridge approaches. I'm wiring them up to relays. The trip wires go from one side of the marsh to the other.
If you watch the video you can hear the relay clicking and buzzing when the City of Portland comes out of the bridge. That's an old 1950s era telephone relay. I ordered a box of new, and hopefully, quieter relays after listening to it click for a while.
The northeast corner of the layout has the ends of the freight yard, and otherwise is bare. I'll add trees and some cows or something later. Post-it notes tell me where the insulating pins go. I'm not planning on using the blocks when running trains. I wired the entire layout so there are 12-15 foot blocks so if there is a short in the layout later I can isolate it to a specific area.
Here's the operating accessories. The inner and outer loops are hooked to an MRC transformer with a hand held controller. I'll wire the accessories so the controllers are at the front edge of the layout. This way I can run the switcher up and dump the car, then run around and refill the cars.
Here's the power supplies. The MRC transformer on the post will be hidden in the framing of the standard gauge layout. The three Z transformers are already connected to feeders under the layout. Two of the big knobs on the single Z are used for the middle loop of track. The other knobs each do a specific area.
This shows the terminal strips under the layout. The back wires are for the freight yard switches, and the red/black wires are for the track. When I just soldier wires to the track, I can do the permanent feeders quickly. Making track sections with insulated rails takes longer.
It's coming together.
