TY'S MODEL RAILROAD

Summer 2020 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 21:35:00 +0000

I’m back! A lot has changed over the past 5 years since I last posted, so here’s a quick update.

This Blog

Over the past 10 years this blog has proved to be a resource to model railroaders all over the world, more so than I ever expected. Thus, I’ve decided to start the process of updating the site to a more modern layout. This will also include new/updated wiring and how-to diagrams.

New URL

You can now access this site through the new www.tysmodelrailroad.com URL.

My Layout

In June of 2017 I relocated to Edmonton. Unfortunately, I had to remove my layout from my basement and was unable to take it with me. On March 25, 2017, my layout met its fate and it was dismantled. Though the plaster scenery was not salvageable, the buildings, trees, and most of the electronics were saved and sold to local model railroaders. Taking it all apart was bittersweet. Seeing what took years to build come apart in mere minutes was tough. On the other hand, it was a learning project and I had gotten everything I could out of it. The time was right to move on.

The Future

Though I currently don’t have the room for a full layout, I definitely want to get back into model railroading. My short-term plan is to further develop my skills with small items like custom structures and electronics as well as weathering/detailing engines and rolling stock. These smaller projects will be updated on this blog. This will all lead into my long-term plan of developing a new, full-size prototypical HO layout. Stay tuned, there’s a lot more to come.

The Newest Addition: Rapido GMD-1 #1118 Engine

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Wed, 20 May 2015 16:58:00 +0000

The newest addition to my collection, a Rapido GMD-1 1100 series replica of diesel engine #1118 from the Alberta Prairie Railroad. This model was given to me as a gift from my employer, which is one of the most unique and thoughtful thank-you gifts I’ve ever received. Best of all, the engine is local and is still in service today.

The engine itself runs on a daily excursion line (Alberta Prairie Railroad Excursions) between Stettler and Big Valley, right here in Alberta, Canada. The Excursion line features mostly older steam engines, however the GMD-1 #1118 is used to help out when needed. This model from Rapido, in association with MLW, is available in both DC and DCC, and comes in several road numbers and paint schemes. Furthermore, sounds for this model were all recorded directly from engine #1118.

Pre-Fall Scenery Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 00:18:00 +0000

Almost five months has passed since my last post, and unfortunately I have made little progress over the summer, mostly due to my schedule being insanely busy. However, with the leaves turning yellow and snow on the mountain-tops west on the horizon, my sights are now turning back to my layout now that I find myself staying indoors more often. Plus, a little break from something you love doing never hurts.

Structurally, I think everything is done. I try to find things to add, or even modify, however find that quite often more is definitely not better. Details on the other hand, there can never be enough of those, so I will be looking into further detailing, including figures, wildlife, foliage, etc. Vehicles and rolling stock also still need to be added. I have done a little experimenting with weathering trains, though I will unquestionably need more practice at this point before I start on anything worth any significant value. Acquiring HO scale vehicles also seems to still be quite difficult.

Running My USRA Light Mikado 2-8-2

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:03:00 +0000

I finally got to test my newest locomotive: the USRA Light Mikado 2-8-2 by Broadway Limited. This model is Canadian National road number 3725 and features the factory integrated Paragon2 DC/DCC dual mode decoder. This is a big advantage for me, being that my layout is a DC layout and I can finally enjoy the benefits of DCC sound, though quite limited on DC tracks.

The model itself is beautifully detailed and has many separately applied details such as ladders, handrails, whistle, brass bell and engineer and fireman figures. Along with the locomotives 1lb weight, the 5-pole can motor with skew wound armature ensures ultra-smooth operation right from startup.

With a slow throttle increase from 0, the locomotive begins to produce the same startup sounds it would make as it builds up steam pressure. With a bit more throttle, the engine begins to slowly roll forward, all with accompanying sound effects. As it begins to gain speed, the valve and piston sounds increase accordingly. Slowing down the locomotive activates brake sounds. The key here is SLOW throttle movement. This will produce the most realistic operation under DC control.

Of course using a DCC system unlocks all the sounds and features which include:

Record and play operation
16-bit sample rate for exceptional sound
Whistle, horn and bell sounds
Johnson bar sound
Ambient sounds for passenger station, freight yard, lumber yard, maintenance yard, and farm scenes.
Grade crossing signal sounds
Forward/reverse signal sounds
Chuff sound that changes in intensity based on load size
Individually adjustable sound effect volume

DC users can purchase the DCMaster by Broadway Limited to unlock the horn/whistle and bell as well as adjust several other features. The DCMaster works with all BlueLine, Paragon2 and Paragon 3 series engines. DCMaster is not required for startup, brake and chuff sounds when using a DC system.

For a sample of the Light Mikado in action on my layout, see the video below. Note: I do not have a DCMaster system installed so the sound effects shown are the limited defaults that active with a basic DC throttle.

Layout Scenery Part VI - Final Details

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 04:06:00 +0000

I haven’t had much opportunity to work on my layout this last month, but in the time I have had, I’ve dedicated it mostly to adding scenic details. These details include traffic signs, additional foliage, figures, and vehicles. It is amazing the amount of detail products readily available by dozens of different manufacturers, and really comes down to just deciding which products to use to achieve your desired look and level of detail.

The first details I added were from a Walther’s Cornerstone City Accessory pack, which included garbage cans, pay phones, fire hydrants, bike racks, mail boxes, and parking meters. These parts require assembly and painting, which isn’t that bad as you then have free range to customize them as you please. I did this with the mail boxes by painting them red to resemble a Canadian Post mail box instead of a blue US Postal Service box. I used these parts almost exclusively in my downtown scene, but did use a few details elsewhere on my layout.

Traffic and street were next on the list. I couldn’t seem to find commercially-made signs that offered the style I was looking for, so I turned to creating my own. I found high-resolution sign images online and used Adobe Photoshop to scale them down to a prototypical size. Most provinces/states have online traffic standard manuals posted online which I found useful for sizing. I printed the signs out on 5x7 photo paper at Walmart then cut each sign out and glued it to a thin sheet of styrene for extra rigidity. I trimmed the styrene right to the edge of each sign with sharp scissors, keeping them nice and tidy.

Syrene posts were glued on next and painted an aluminum colour along with the back of each sign. I used a dull black sharpie to colour the edge of each sign black so it would seamlessly blend the white edge of the styrene into the black border of the sign. Using a new marker seemed to bleed into the photo paper so I used an almost-dead black marker. I then glued the signs to the scenery with superglue. For the Coca-Cola billboard and walkway, I used the same process with scrap styrene and printed graphics on photo paper.

People figures were probably the most enjoyable details to add as they really brought the layout and scenery to life. Most of the figures are from Woodland Scenics and a few from Model Power. I still have neglected to give my layout an exact era and as a result some figures seem a bit dated while others are much more modern. However, everything seems to blend together almost seamlessly. Woodland Scenics offers an amazingly large selection of detailed figures and scenes and there are still several figures that I will be adding in the future.

Vehicles are proving to be much more difficult to find than anticipated. Cars and trucks for the steam and transition eras are readily available in a wide selection but more modern vehicles, especially North American prototypes, seem to be almost impossible to come by. Model Power seems to be the most promising as far as selection, though most of their models are European makes. Atlas had a run of North American vehicles but I currently cannot seem to find any other than the two Ford Explorers I purchased last month. Adding more cars and trucks will definitely be an ongoing process.

My latest detail was a small woodland Scenics tool shed die-cast kit which I installed into the turn-table yard. This small structure is highly detailed and comes with several separate tools and details which I used elsewhere on my layout. Other details I added were small benches that I purchased off eBay and wooden pallets from a local hobby shop. I added a small pile of scrap rail and lumber right behind the work shed and used unwanted spare plastic wheels on the turn-table spurs to represent a locomotive repair area.

I don’t think there can ever be enough or too much detail. It's these details that truly prevents a model from ever being entirely complete, as there is always something that can be improved upon. After 3 years of construction, the skills I have gained are significant, and there are several items and details from the beginning stages of my layout that I now want to re-model or enhance. I am sure that any future time spent on my model for as long as it exists, will be dedicated to adding and enhancing details.

Layout Scenery Part V - Lighting

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Adding proper lighting to a layout can turn it into a completely different scene. Installing accessory lighting allows details and scenes that were once less noticeable (such as detailed building interiors), to be a main focal point. My layout includes interior lighting on most of my buildings, street lamps, and nighttime lighting effect to illuminate the overall layout.

To assist with adding accessory lights as I constructed my layout, I planned all of the wiring into my master wiring plan at the start of construction. I pre-installed power bus wires under my bench work and installed switches on my control panel to turn power to the bus wires on and off. The bus wires are powered directly by a dedicated 12V 2A DC power supply. These and are split into two separate circuits, accessory 1 & accessory 2. These two circuits are each controlled through two automotive-type relays connected to a corresponding toggle switch on the main control panel (see master wiring diagram).

The majority of my structures had lighting installed during their construction (see any of my posts regarding structure kits for details). I left a long wire lead protruding from either the bottom or side of each building which I then passed through a small drilled hole in my bench work and tied it into the pre-installed power bus below. Any visible wire leads on top of my layout were simply hidden with scenery material.

The brass street lamps along my streets were installed with the same method. I did need to wrap the base of each lamp a couple times with electrical tape to provide a snug fit once I inserted them into the drilled holes. The street lamps are rated for 12 volts, but a full 12 volts produced way too much light, so I added a 110 ohm resistor to each street lamp to provide a softer, more realistic glow. Both the building lights and street lamps are wired onto the accessory 1 circuit.

Accessory lighting on your layout is most effective when, quite obviously, the room that houses your layout is dark. However, having a completely dark room void of any light is much too dark and the majority of your layout will not be visible. You can create low levels of ambient room lighting by simply dimming the room lighting, but this is only effective if you use halogen or incandescent-type bulbs. If you use fluorescent lighting (like I do), you will need to completely turn off the lights as most are not dimmable. More so, dimming your layout room’s lights still doesn’t create a realistic nighttime effect, so the most effective method is to have separately installed “night mode” lights.

For this “night mode” effect lighting, I wanted to recreate a moonlit scene with a soft, bluish-white glow. To create this type of light, I constructed three light diffusing boxes out of styrene measuring 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” with a curved diffusing lens protruding out from the base by about 1 ¾”. I then installed one super bright white and one super bright blue LED into the base of each diffuser box, about 1” apart off center. After adding the proper resistors to each LED, I wired all three diffuser boxes to my accessory 2 lighting circuit and installed them to the ceiling above my layout.

The diffuser boxes combine the intense light from the blue and white LED’s and emits an even, soft blue-white light similar to moonlight. This glow provides just enough of a natural nighttime effect that the entire layout is still visible, while allowing your scenery lighting to stand out and be the main focal point.

In regards to the main daylight lighting, I originally had installed standard incandescent bulbs over my layout, which were fine during construction but recently changed to mini fluorescent spiral bulbs. I use 6 of these bulbs (3 bright white and 3 warm white) in combination to produce a bright, natural daytime light. I found that incandescent bulbs alone produced way too much yellow-red light and the typical bright white mini spiral florescent alone produced an unrealistic blue hue. I also uninstalled the large florescent ceiling light next to my layout as it cast a very blue, overpowering light onto the right half of my layout.

Layout Scenery Part IV - Bringing It Together

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 04:08:00 +0000

I find it quite amazing how fast things sometimes come together. I’ve been working on this project for just under 3 years, and though it’s a ways from being complete, it’s definitely now past the 90% mark. While building a project like this, you constantly wonder what the final result will be. You meticulously plan everything out, trying to achieve a certain look and feel. Even though you have a good idea of the direction you’re heading, you never quite know exactly how everything is going to come together in the end. This is especially true if it’s your first go at building a layout.

Then it happens. That most exhilarating part of model railroading that so many modelers talk about; the part when everything all of a sudden comes together. And what a rewarding moment it is. After all of those long evenings planning, painting, plastering, sanding, nailing, wiring, cutting, and gluing, you finally get to see the results of your efforts. I reached this point with my layout just last week.

I had previously posted about completing my main-street town scene which took up almost one full half of my layout, so here I will cover the second half of the layout. This includes the turn table and industrial area. The first steps I took here were to prepare my layout for the building structures. I used plaster to build a parking lot behind the turn table which my Cutting Scissor’s Co. and scratch-built garage buildings would sit on. After sanding and leveling the plaster, I painted it with the same coloured paint I used on my roads.

My Pioneer Press (Northern Light & Power Kit) will sit upon a gravel lot so I used sifted sand and applied it directly to the plywood base using diluted white glue. At the same time, I started the process of adding the same sifted sand to the turn table area and track. I ended up having to lay the sand down quite thick in this area to make it level with the tracks. I used a pipette to first wet the sand with isopropyl alcohol then used a second pipette to apply diluted white glue. After drying overnight, I noticed that some large cracks had developed in the sand. This required reapplying more sand to fill in the cracks and sealing with white glue.

Before positioning the structures on the layout, I drilled holes through the bench work for the power leads to pass through for lighting. I also drilled holes and installed the remainder of the street lights along the roadways. I carefully positioned each building onto its intended position. The leads to both the buildings and street lights were then wired to the electrical system beneath the benchwork.

Fencing was added next. I used a section of fence from an Atlas White Picket Fence kit that I painted brown in front of the Pioneer Press building. For the turntable yard, I surrounded it with custom built chain link fencing (explained in my Layout Scenery Part III - Downtown post). The rest of my structures were added at this point, including the signal tower, water tower, freight station, and 2 small shed structures made from spare pieces.

The switch machine controlling the turnout into my turntable has been an eyesore since it was first installed. I wasn’t able to install an under-table machine here like I did on my other turnouts so I had to find a way to cover the mechanism. To do this, I built a small platform out of polystyrene which I then painted and weathered to look like concrete. I added small railings made of brass rod. The platform sits on top of the switch machine, conveniently hiding it from view. Now you might ask, “What exactly this platform is for?” Well, I’m not exactly sure. But one thing I can tell you is that it looks a whole lot more believable then the big black ugly switch machine. It blends in well with the rest of the scenery and goes mostly unnoticed. Mission accomplished!

Vegetation and greenery where added next. This included adding ground cover, bushes, shrubs, and trees to the remainder if the layout and to blend separate scenes into the surrounding terrain. I still have a few small places to touch up and a few foliage elements to add, such as little grass tufts, but overall the main scenery elements are complete.

Ballasting the remainder of my track was the last major step in completing the track work. I didn’t have much left to do at this point as I ballasted most of my track section by section over the last year. I did however have to take some extra time and precaution when ballasting all of the turnouts at the front of my layout. I had to make sure that I didn’t get any glue onto the turnout’s moving parts, so I used a fine paintbrush to apply small amounts of glue around the ties. After carefully adding the ballast, I vacuumed up the excess and ensured the turnouts moved smoothly. I finished the track by weathering it with black powder pastels.

Currently I am working on completing some nighttime lighting effects that represent a moonlit sky, which I should have complete in the next few days. I am also currently on the hunt for vehicles, figures, and other scenic details needed to complete the finer details of my layout. Street signs are also on my current to-do list.

Water Tower Kit by Atlas

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:52:00 +0000

I purchased an HO Atlas Water Tower kit quite a while back, even though I originally had no intention of using it on my layout. This was mostly because my layout wasn’t going to be set in the steam-era, and lack of space on my layout. However, now that most of my structures are situated, I decided that that maybe I could make room for it after all. And as for it being from the steam era, well that hardly mattered as there are still many original water towers standing today, some still even currently being used. The water tower will stand in front of the turntable, directly to the left of the signal tower and will service directly on the main line track.

The first step was to paint the components that made up the main structure. The Atlas Water Tower kit shows the completed model painted with a light green tank, however I opted for a more generic look by painting the entire structure brown. I started by spraying each piece with Camouflage Brown Krylon paint, letting them dry for 48 hours. The brown base coat was quite dark, so I mixed several washes of brown enamel at different consistencies and randomly painted different pieces of the superstructure with the varying washes. These slight colour variations add a more realistic, natural look to the overall wood structure. The same process was also used on the vertical planks that make up the main water tank.

Assembling the pieces was quite straight forward and they all fit snugly together. I needed to scrape off paint on every joint of the tank’s support structure to ensure the pieces slid completely into each other. For the roof, I painted it flat black then dry brushed it with satin aluminum enamel paint. I finished it with orange powdered pastels to represent the presence of rust. Once the entire structure was together, I weathered it with various powdered pastels and sealed everything with 2 coats of Testor’s dull-coat.

A final detail that isn’t included in the kit but is highly recommended is the chains and counter-weights that support and raise/lower the water spout. You can represent these with black thread, however chain link has the most prototypical look. I found some small chain link in the jewelry clearance section at Walmart which I then cut to length and painted black before installing it onto the model. Even though the chain is a bit larger than a prototypical sized chain, the look is quite convincing. Now that the model is complete and installed on the layout, I’m definitely happy that I decided to use it.

Layout Scenery Part III - Downtown

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:17:00 +0000

Constructing the main town site of my layout was my next major scenery project. It consists of my Walther’s Merchant’s Row II, DPM Other Corner Café, and Kate’s Colonial Home kits. These are all set around the circular main street with my Walther’s White Castle Restaurant kit overlooking the scene from up the street. The number of buildings is quite limited due to the terrain and size limitations of my layout, but the few buildings I do have give a good representation of a full-sized urban town.

The town site sits on an area that I had previously allocated for a small pond, but I decided early into my layout’s construction that building a town site would be a better utilization of the space. The pond will just have to wait for another layout. I had already planned the overall layout of the town site, including the street, sidewalk, and building locations, so all I needed to do at this point was start laying down scenery.

I had previously used Woodland Scenics Smooth-it to create a large flat area to which the town would sit upon. After sanding and painting the entire area the same gray colour as my roads, I made paper templates which represented the footprint of each building. The templates helped me ensure each building would have a good fit around the small, circular roadway. The painted and weathered styrene sidewalk I had built was also glued down at this point using construction adhesive.

Blended turf was next. This would represent the green spaces between the buildings as well as the yard of the house. The turf in the yard of the house was applied a bit greener then the rest of the town’s green space to represent better upkeep and maintenance. I used an Atlas White Picket Fence kit to border the yard of the house and an Atlas Hairpin style fence kit to between the tracks and commercial buildings. I used superglue to fasten the fences to the layout.

My Walther’s White Castle Restaurant kit is located just up the road from the downtown area, situated at the corner of one of the two t-intersections. I opted for a gravel parking lot, so I started by lying down and leveling sifted dirt. Using a small pipette, I cemented the sand down with isopropyl alcohol and thinned white glue. After drying for a day, I applied blended turf to define the median between the shoulder of the road and the parking lot. I used a paper mask to prevent the turf from drifting onto the main parking lot.

Finding model chain link fences was proving to be difficult, so I turned to the internet to see if I could make my own. After finding several helpful articles, I easily made my own fences using brass rods and tulle I purchased at a local fabric store. I started by drawing a scale 6’ tall chain link fence template on a small scrap piece of wood. I then cut .81mm brass rod into the required lengths of each fence post, and taped them directly over the template with masking tape. A full 12” brass rod was used as the main rail along the top, and a 12” length of music wire was used as the bottom support rail.

I carefully soldered the support rails to the posts. A bit of sanding was required after making the solder joints, as the solder left large, unrealistic joints. The next step was to lay the tulle over the backside of the fence’s frame with super glue. I found that super glue worked the best to attach the tulle material to the brass rod. Once the glue had fully dried, I used flat-head trimmers to gently trim the access tulle from the frame.

Painting the fence was next. For this, I used metallic gray acrylic paint, ensuring all of the brass rod and tulle material was fully coated. After bending the fence to the appropriate angle, I used super glue to fasten it to my layout.

I had a little trouble with this particular installation as the terrain wasn’t level, so I had to bend the fence on its horizontal access, which caused the tulle material to bind in some spots. Many of the small defects in the tulle (that were caused from bending the fence), were easily covered and hidden with shrubs that I added after installing the fence.

The center median and sidewalk for my downtown scene were completely built from scratch using bulk styrene. The sidewalk was built to match the existing sidewalk that was included in my Merchant’s Row II kit, so determining sizing and spacing was quite straight forward. I used a dull hobby knife and metal straight edge to etch the concrete expansion joints into the styrene and painted everything light aircraft gray.

The median features a center-raised green space topped with bushes and a large deciduous tree. I started by gluing the tree to the inside base of the median, then filled it with fine sifted dirt. After cementing the dirt in place with thinned white glue, I topped the dirt filler with blended green turf and various shrubberies.

All of the street lamps were purchased off eBay and run off of 12V DC. I did add a 100 ohm resistor to each lamp however, as running them at 12 volts seemed a bit too bright. To install the lamp posts, I simply drilled a 1/8” hole into the layout and ran the street light’s leads through to the wiring below my layout.

The lamp posts were a bit loose in the 1/8” holes so I solved this by wrapping a small piece of electrical tape around the base that fit into the hole. This made everything nice and snug. All of the buildings were also installed by this point and electrical connections were made for lights to leads that run to the underside of the layout. None of the buildings are fastened to the layout, which makes removal much easier if work is required on any of them in the future.

The final details I added to my downtown scene were accessories from a Walther’s City Accessory kit. I carefully painted each accessory and placed them where necessary along the sidewalks, attaching them with superglue (which came in especially useful when installing the tiny parking meters). The original blue US Postal Service mail boxes were painted red to represent Canada Post mail boxes and include hand-cut white Canada Post logos.

I obviously still need to add the ‘final’ details to my downtown scene to fully complete it, which would be people and vehicles, but that is something that will be completed in the near future. My town, as well as the streets and the overall railroad, still disappointingly need to be named too, so if you have any good ideas, please send them my way!

Traffic Lights Part II - Traffic Light Controller

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 04:39:00 +0000

A note about this post: I do not take any credit for the design of this circuit. I instead turn the spotlight on Rob Paisley and his website, who has without a doubt spent an unimaginable amount of time, effort, and talent developing dozens of model railroad circuits that ultimately make our layouts achieve things we never thought possible. The intent of this post is to only describe my experience of applying and constructing Rob’s designs on my own layout. Please visit Rob’s website, which has a wealth of wiring information and useful model railroad circuitry.

-Ty

If there is one thing I've learned from building my layout thus far, it’s that the most time consuming, frustrating, problematic, and complex projects usually are the ones that are taken for granted. Often, these fade into the background and go mostly unnoticed but play such a huge role in making your model something extra-special. My traffic lights were no exception to this. Now, I’m not exactly saying my traffic lights go unnoticed; they are definitely a nice feature. It's what controls those tiny little LED lights that I'm referring to. I myself took for granted the electrical complexity behind making all the lights synchronized, especially as I was building the entire system completely from scratch. I know commercial controllers are available from $50.00 to several hundred dollars, but doing it myself was a challenge I was up for.

Last year while searching for methods to synchronize model traffic lights, I came across Rob Paisley’s 20 output sequencing circuit. Rob had designed a circuit that essentially created 20 separate outputs that progressed one at a time from 1-20 in a continuous loop. When combined with a novel lighting circuit, synchronization of an entire intersection in both directions is accomplished within the 20 output steps, then repeats. I am going to refrain myself from even trying to go into detail on the particulars of this circuit, as Rob Paisley has already explained it in depth on his website. Rob’s site includes detailed diagrams and parts lists, as well as in-depth explanations of how the circuits work. Rob also offers commercially built circuit boards and kits for this and other circuits he’s designed, many for model railroad use. Nevertheless, I was determined to build it myself.

After placing my parts order with Mouser Electronics (using the parts list off of Rob’s website), I went to work putting together my own wiring schematic for this circuit. I made my own schematic for 3 reasons. First was because I wanted a plan of the entire circuit, from the controller right to the lights on the layout. The second reason was to plan the actual layout of the circuit board. I drew the schematic in a way that I could literally plan exactly where every connection and lead would go when building the actual circuit, ensuring that everything was spaced correctly so I didn’t run out of room on my PC board. The third and final reason was to better understand how the circuit itself worked. Even though Rob explains the function and how this circuit works in detail, if you do not have a good understanding of how it work, then it will be a lot more difficult to build and even harder to troubleshoot. I am no electronics expert myself, so I spent a lot of time researching each component and IC, finding and reading the datasheet for each one as Rob recommends on his website.

Once all of my components arrived from Mouser, I purchased a 2200-hole PC board from an electronics store and eagerly went to work putting it together. I used my schematic almost exclusively to construct the circuit on the PC board, marking off each completed component and section of the circuit with a highlighter to ensure I didn’t get lost or miss a connection, or worse, make a wrong connection. Double, triple, and quadruple checking my work against my schematic as well as Rob’s original wiring schematic almost guaranteed no major errors were made.

I used my soldering iron to make all the connections on the back of the PC board, and used bare steel wire for the leads between connections. Special consideration needs to be made for spacing of connections that pass over each other, which requires the steel lead to pass up through the PC board, over the existing connections below, and then back down through the PC board to its intended location. Care must also be taken when soldering connections that are right beside each other, as it is easy to unintentionally solder two separate connections together. There were also several spots on the PC board where the soldered connections were shorting out on each other because they were so close. To resolve this, I carefully used a razor blade to chisel out a space in between each connection, ensuring the connections were no longer touching.

You will probably notice when comparing my schematic to Rob’s schematics that the LED traffic light portion of my circuit utilizes PNP transistors to control the LED lights, whereas Rob’s examples show the LEDs connected directly to the 20 outputs. The reason for this is because the 20 outputs of the circuit are LOW (negative). To control the red, yellow, and green LEDs of the traffic lights, the LEDs need to be supplied with a common positive (+) current, connected to the anode of each LED. A separate negative (-) ‘controller’ lead needs to be connected to the cathode of each LED, and then to each output of the controller. However, I built my traffic lights the opposite way, with a common negative and separate positive controlling wires. Thus, my lights could only be controlled by applying separate POSITVE current connections to each LED.

To get around this issue, I applied Rob’s wiring schematic where he explains how to use the 20 output circuit to control high-current bulbs by utilizing PNP transistors as switches. In other words, instead of directly controlling the LED lights by having them directly connected to the 20 outputs of the controller, I used the 20 outputs to control the PNP transistors. The transistors act like switches, either allowing or stopping the separate positive, high-current 12V flowing through to the bulbs. The transistor’s switching capability is controlled by its base terminal, which is connected to the 20 outputs of the controller. I then simply replaced the high current bulbs with resistors and my LED traffic lights.

Once the circuit was completed, I needed to make the connections from the controller to 2 – 10 position terminal strips, which I would then later connect each traffic light to. To do this, I first cut a piece of tempered hardboard, to which I attached the 2 terminal strips along the bottom edge. I used ¾” brass flat-head machine bots applied from the back of the hardboard to fasten the terminal strips, allowing the hardboard base to lay flat. I also installed an additional 4 bolts through the hardboard base to support the circuit board, allowing it to be secured without having its bottom circuitry come in contact with the hardboard base.

The final step was to connect each positive output on the circuit board to the screws on the terminal strips. I used high-quality phone cable to do this, which is convenient because most telephone cable contains a red, green, yellow, and black wire, making it easy to colour-code each terminal based on what colour LED will be connected to it. I have a total of 6 traffic lights on my layout, so a total of 18 separate LEDs, 6 of each colour, and one common negative, so a total of 19 connections. The first 9 connections will control 3 complete traffic lights in a north-south direction, and the following 9 will control the other 3 complete traffic lights in an east-west direction.

After I had attached everything to the hardboard base, I installed the entire module unit under my layout. The circuit requires a 12 volt DC power source, so I connected it to a 12 volt terminal on a previously installed power terminal strip. I had already installed my actual traffic lights on my layout’s intersections, running the wires to the underside of my layout through 1/8” pilot holes. I utilized telephone cord again here to connect the traffic lights to the terminals on the controller module. After connecting each traffic light to its corresponding power terminal on the control module, all that was left was to test it. And just like that, I now had working traffic lights on my layout!

Well, it wasn’t really “just like that.” I spent days and countless hours pulling my hair out for over a week, testing and trying to locate small short circuits that arose over and over again on both the control module and in the traffic light wiring itself. With so many small connections so close to one another, it’s pretty much impossible to get it right 100% the first time. There were nights were I literally had to walk away from the entire project in frustration, but after sleeping it off, I always tackled it the next day with a fresh and positive attitude. In the end, the final result was a working, fully automated, synchronized traffic light system, which I will definitely never take for granted. And to be honest, if others don’t notice it, it’s only because it’s working how it should.

Check out my YouTube video showing my hand-built traffic lights and controller based on Rob Paisley’s 20 Output Sequencing Circuit in action!

Traffic Lights Part I - Light Standards

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 00:20:00 +0000

The same day I was putting the final touches on my Northern Light & Power kit, my little box full of green, yellow, and red 2mm LED lights arrived in my mailbox from eBay. It was now time for my next project: traffic lights! I have two ‘T’ intersections on my layout, both of which I wanted to be controlled with traffic lights. I wasn’t satisfied with many of the commercially available light systems that are available in my area as most were unrealistic and far out of scale, not to mention expensive. The ones I did like wouldn’t fit correctly on my roads as I had built them quite narrow narrow.

Faced with the issue of cost and adaptability, I decided to attempt my hand at building my own traffic lights. I had previously built my own track side signals so I figured traffic lights would be quite similar. My model street lights are based on a common North American style with a curved light standard which holds the traffic lights horizontally over each lane of traffic.

I started by cutting the face plate for each traffic light from thin styrene sheet. I then carefully drilled 3 – 2mm holes in each face plate, spacing each hole 1/8” apart (center to center). For the lens shades, I used a single hole punch to punch out round pieces from very thin styrene. I cut the styrene disk back 2mm from its edge, trimmed each pointy edge, and shaped each piece by gently rolling it between my fingers until it had the correct curve to fit over each LED hole in the face plate. I was able to make 2 shades from each styrene disk. I then glued 3 of these directly above each hole on the face plate.

I masked the backside of each face plate and sprayed the front flat back as it would probably be easier to paint these prior to installing the lights. I masked the back side to prevent paint from getting on this area which would cause issues when gluing on the LED lights. I then counted out 6 LED lights in each colour (red, yellow, green) and tested each one with a resistor and power supply to ensure each one worked.

For the light standards, I used 3/32” diameter copper tubing which I cut into 4” sections. I cut the sections at 4” so I had extra length to insert into the pilot holes in my layout when it comes to installing these. I needed to thread 4 wire leads through each so the wires needed to be quite thin. I found an old computer hard drive ATA cable, which is comprised of several dozen very thin insulated wires. I then threaded 4 wires through each copper tube, one for each colour bulb (+) and a common ground (-). There were only 3 colours of wire however (red, blue, and white), so I used a second white wire that I marked with a black sharpie on both ends so I could keep track of which wire was what.

Once the wire leads were threaded through each copper tube, I bent the top of each tube to an almost 90 degree angle about 1” from the one end. I bent the curve over a thick marker container to keep the curve uniform and round. It’s also very important to make sure that the wire leads are preinstalled in the copper tubes, as the tube needs the internal support when bending. Without the wire leads inside, the copper tube will kink. Running the thin wire leads through the tube after it's bent is also near impossible.

By this time the paint on the front of the face plates had dried and it was time to install the LED lights. I first cut off the long connectors to each LED with flush cutters, leaving only a small portion protruding from the back of each LED. I then glued each LED to the back of the face plates, making sure the anode (+) connection on each LED was on the top position. You can distinguish what side is the anode connection on most LED bulbs from the curved profile on the base of the LED. The cathode (-) side is flat and squared off and the actual connection lead itself is usually shorter than the anode.

Now for the fun part; soldering the connections to the LED lights. I used a small cardboard box which I cut a notch into for the front of the face plate to fit into for support. For the common (-) connection, I used one of the scrap metal LED leads I had removed prior. I spanned it across all 3 LED bulbs and soldered it to each cathode (-) connection.

For the controlled (+) connections, I carefully soldered each wire lead from the copper tube supports to the anode on each LED. I soldered the red wire to the red LED, the white wire to the yellow, and the blue one to the greed LED. The other white wire, which I previously marked with a black sharpie, was soldered to one end of the common connection i made in the previous step. When soldering the wires, I made a point of positioning each wire so it would easily exit off to one side of the traffic light. This made the back of each street light look a lot less cluttered and easy to work with.

Once all connections were made, I gently pulled the wire leads at the base of the copper tube supports, slowly bringing each traffic light closer to the copper post. After I had positioned each traffic light right up against the copper posts, I adjusted each light so it was positioned level to the ground when positioned upright. The wires provided enough rigidity that no glue was required to fasten the lights to the copper posts. I then painted the back side of each light, including the connections and face plate, with 3-5 coats of black enamel paint, making sure I put on enough coats that no light was visible from the back of the traffic lights when lit.

The final step was to paint the copper support columns an aluminum colour, for which I used Humbrol metallic aluminum enamel. With the traffic lights now complete, they only now need to be installed and connected to a traffic light controller on my layout. I am currently exploring a couple of options for controllers, including building my own. That will all however be in my Traffic Lights – Part II post, which will hopefully be up sometime this summer. For now, I will return back to my current task of building more trees.

Northern Light & Power Kit by Walthers

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 05:10:00 +0000

One of the last and largest structures for my layout is my Walthers Cornerstone Northern Light & Power kit. I immediately fell in love with this model due to its style and large, round-top windows. The building will be installed in the vacant space between the track leading into the right lower mountain tunnel portal and the road passing around the turn-table area. Instead of a power plant, the Pioneer Press Daily Advertiser will be the tenant. The model will be complete with custom lighting and a printing press. I’ve always had an interest in press-printing and journalism and because I already had the company name on a Woodland Scenics dry-transfer sheet, I thought it was a good fit.

Like all Walthers Cornerstone kits, all pieces are precision molded with quality materials. Besides the 4 walls, roof, one-piece chimney, and base pieces, the kit includes an under-track hopper kit, roof support trusses, an internal firewall, roof vents, and separate windows and doors. I always prefer detached windows and doors as they make painting much easier and convenient as there is much less masking required. I carefully cut each piece off its plastic carrier structure and trimmed and sanded off any spurs. I then washed each piece in warm, soapy water. This step is always very important for proper paint adhesion.

I started by carefully assembling the 4 main walls, ensuring the structure was kept level and the walls joined at a perfect 90 degrees. I painted the main structure with brick red Humbrol enamel, thinned 3:1 with paint thinner. I also used the same paint colour on the chimney and firewall pieces. At the same time, I sprayed the windows and doors with Testors light aircraft gray. I didn’t remove the windows at this point from their carrier, making them much easier to paint in one easy step. Other small components such as the roof vents and trusses were painted with metallic aluminum paint.

After the main structure dried for 24 hours, I masked the entire building to prepare for painting the trim and foundation. I used the same light aircraft grey colour that I used on the windows for the trim, which took about three coats as I was brush-painting them. Once the trim had completely dried, I made any necessary touch-ups with either the brick red or light aircraft grey paint using a fine detailing brush. I then weathered the entire building with powdered pastels and sealed it with two coats of Testors Dull-Coat.

I felt that the roof pieces lacked detail so I used trip styrene to make a paneled look. I first divided each roof panel into four equal sections and glued on 1mm x 1.5mm strip styrene. I then glued a piece of the strip styrene along the total length of the edge of one roof section. I made sure this piece overhung the roof panel slightly, thus covering the gap between the two roof sections once they were assembled on the structure. The entire roof was then spray painted flat black.

For the large double door, side entry door, and overhead bay door, I used dark green enamel to add a bit more interest to the colour scheme of the building. I masked off the door frames and transoms so they would remain the light grey colour I had originally coloured them. The last step was to weather the doors with dark powdered pastels and seal with a final coat of dull-coat. The windows were also weathered and sealed with the same method.

The window glazing included with the kit is thick and oddly obscure, so I opted to use clear styrene from Evergreen. This product is thin and almost perfectly clear so it looks a lot more like real glass. After removing each window from its carrier, I carefully glued it to a clean sheet of the clear Evergreen styrene. I glued each window side by side to get as much use out of the styrene sheet as possible, leaving only a large enough gap between each window to accommodate a razor blade. After the glue had dried, I carefully cut each window with a sharp hobby blade and trimmed off any overhanging styrene. This process was very quick and before I knew it, I had a nice pile of glazed windows ready for installation.

Before installing the windows, I painted the interior walls with dark grey enamel. I also scraped the paint off the surfaces of the windows and window openings where glue would be applied for better adhesion. I then applied a small bead of glue around each window and mounted it to the inside of each opening, pressing down for several seconds to ensure it was properly seated. Once the windows were all installed, I added the three roof support trusses and the interior wall. Though the interior wall could be optional, there is no additional roof truss to replace it if it isn't used.

Lighting was next. I didn’t use the styrene light diffuser box method used in previous models due to the fact that this building’s interior is completely open and visible due to the large amount of windows. I instead wired two automotive 12v bulbs between the roof support trusses using rigid steel wire to support each bulb. I originally wired the bulbs in series but changed to a parallel circuit as they were too dim. The wire leads run down the back wall and exit out of two small holes in the foundation.

The interior was quite a lot of fun to build. A staple piece of equipment for any press company is the printing press, so I immediately went to work scratch building it scrap styrene. Once the press started to look somewhat realistic, I sprayed it flat black and detailed it with metallic aluminum rollers and highlights. The final and most imperative detail was the print itself, which I created in Photoshop and printed as a long strip on standard printer paper. I then glued 2 printed strips directly to the press, weaving it in between the rollers.

The remainder of the interior is mostly just random pieces, shapes, and parts thrown together in an attempt to make it industrial and factory-like. The large box structure with the grate on top sits behind the interior wall and serves to fill the large void. Its purpose is completely up to the imagination! Just remember, the interior will be mostly out of view but getting just a glimpse of any interior parts scene makes it entirely more realistic and believable to the viewer.

Finishing the roof was the last step. I glued on the vents and added weathering effects. My first attempt at weathering with powdered pastels failed as they almost completely dissolved when I sprayed them with dull-coat. I instead opted for dry-brushing the roof with steel and rust enamel paint. Last, I placed the two roof panels to the main building. They sit snugly on the roof trusses so there is no need to glue them. This allows future access to the interior.

This kit was undeniably a lot of fun to build. It is currently the largest structure I have ever put together. I might still be able to fit one or two very small structures on my layout but definitely nothing as large as this one. I must say that the feeling is almost bittersweet that this kit is finished. Guess I will just need a larger layout.

Scratch-Built Garage

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 02:23:00 +0000

I’ve accumulated a small collection of scrap styrene over the last year or so, mostly from bulk bags of assorted styrene pieces from Evergreen. A couple of the larger scraps I had consisted of various corrugated patterns, so I decided to try my hand at building an entirely scratch-built structure. I decided to keep the design simple for my first attempt. I planned out a small garage/workshop measuring about 2.5” x 5”. The design includes three overhead bay doors, four office windows, and two single entrance doors. There are also two small windows on the front and back. I kept the size of the building to a minimum as my layout is quite limited for real estate at this point.

I started by first planning the design of my building on paper, noting the real-life dimensions of each wall, door, window, and the roof. I then converted these measurements down to HO scale. Using a new blade, I carefully marked the measurements on the backside of the styrene sheet and scored the outline of the wall using a straight edge. I used a square and ruler to double check the measurements after every score line I made, ensuring that the walls were kept square and equal. I then gently flexed the styrene to break each piece apart. I fixed any rough edge with sand paper and a hobby knife.

The overhead doors were cut from scrap v-groove pattern styrene and the entry doors from standard smooth styrene. For the main entry door, I cut a half-length opening for a window and added strip styrene for the insert trim. I masked the very outside edge of all the doors so I could easily add glue to these unpainted areas when attaching the doors to the backside of the walls. The doors were then all sprayed with light aircraft gray paint.

I hand painted the corrugated steel walls with a mix of blue and steel gray enamel paint, mixed 1:1 with thinner. After letting the three coats of paint dry for 24 hours, I glued the overhead and entry doors to the backside of each wall. I then added trim to the doors using 1.5mm x 1.0mm strip styrene. I used the same strip styrene for the window frames and on the base of the building to represent a foundation.

I then glued the four wall pieces together. I added extra styrene support pieces to the interior for extra rigidity. The roof was a single piece of v-groove styrene, scored and carefully angled down the center to fit the slope of the building. After airbrushing the roof a light gray, I carefully glued it to the main structure. After making a couple touch-ups to the paint and trim, I weathered the walls, doors, and roof with a variety of powdered pastels. Lastly, I sealed all the weathering details with two light coats of dull-coat.

Once the structure was dry, I added clear styrene pieces to the backside of the walls for window glazing. The final step was to add a black paper divider and floor to the interior of the so no white plastic could be visible through the windows. I am quite happy with how this little project turned out and can’t wait to mix it in with my other model buildings.

Layout Scenery Part II - Background

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 01:18:00 +0000

The second section of scenery I tackled was the double track portion directly in front of the backdrop. This section runs from the right mountain tunnel portal, over the warren-truss bridge, and in front of the remainder of the mountain scenery in the right-hand corner of my layout. This segment was probably the most inconvenient to work on, entirely due to the fact that I had to lean way over the rest of my layout to work on it. However, now that the background portion is complete, the middle and foreground should be a much easier and convenient experience.

To start, I first needed to complete the tree line that runs along the top if the rock ridges and spans between the 2 mountains in each corner of my layout. I had already painted trees onto the backdrop, however this did not suffice to represent the forest above the rock ridges and required more texture. These rock ridges are only about 1/4" thick so the pine trees needed to be attached directly to the backdrop. When building the tree armatures, I made sure the back sides of the trees were flat which allowed the finished trees to be easily glued to the backdrop.

With the addition of actual model pine trees to the backdrop, I added clumps of Woodland Scenics conifer green foliage to the painted trees. This further added texture and helped to blend the painted trees in with the actual trees. The tops and faces of the rock bluffs were finished with various foliage, ground foam, shrubbery, and lichens.

The completion of the scenery around the road that passes under the warren-truss bridge and disappears into the background was also on the list to complete. I started by temporarily removing the bridge so I could more easily access this area. I applied fine gray gravel to the shoulders of the roadway, gluing it down with thinned glue and isopropyl alcohol. The next layer was earth colored ground foam, followed by coarse turf and bushes which I applied generously around the base of the bridge abutments.

While I had the bridge removed, I decided that it required an upgrade. I originally built the deck using three Atlas bridge girder pieces to allow dual tracks and used the truss supports from an Atlas warren-truss bridge kit. I wasn’t happy with the design or look right from the beginning. The truss structure rubbed against rolling stock and looked inadequate to support the double track.

I started by adding 3/8” wide styrene strips to each side of the deck, thus widening it by 3/4” so trains would no longer rub on the truss structure. I wanted the truss structure to also be supported over the top, which required raising the original Atlas warren truss supports. To do this, I built 1” risers out of styrene which I then glued to the bottom of the trusses, following the angles of the original struts and bracing bars. The horizontal struts and bracing were also constructed out of styrene strips which I built into t-girders.

The truss system is not attached to the deck but instead sits between two slots on the deck. I needed to build it this way so I could slide the deck back under the track as it is no longer easily removable. I sprayed the bridge structure flat black and lightly weathered with powdered pastels. I then simply slid the deck under the track and onto the abutments and placed the support structure into position on top.

Ballasting the rails was next, followed by weathering the center of the track with black powdered pastels. I also applied light vegetation and overgrowth between the double tracks once the ballast was dry. The backdrop section of track and surrounding areas are the same type of mountainous scenery as the completed tunnel mountain so I used the same methods as before to build up the scenery.

I ran out of trees to fully complete the raised section of track leading up to the trestle so I will finish this once I put more trees together. At this point I’m not sure what section of scenery I will tackle next. It will most likely be the area in front of the single and double tunnel portals on the front of my mountain and the area right in front of the backdrop section I just completed. However, I am currently working on finishing my very first scratch built structure which is a priority to complete in the next couple days.

Layout Scenery Part I - Mountain Terrain

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:14:00 +0000

Building my layout thus far has been mostly a linear process, starting with benchwork, then track, electrical, plaster terrain, and so forth. This one-step-at-a-time progression meant that I always knew what I needed to work on and what my next steps were in the construction of my model railroad. Once I finished my hard-shell terrain a couple months ago however, I had several options as for what project I wanted to tackle next. It was now time for scenery.

I quickly realized that the ‘scenery stage’ was quite a broad, encompassing term. I needed to break down this scenery stage into more manageable pieces, starting at the back of my layout and moving towards the front. With that plan in place, what a better section to start on then the main feature of my layout: the mountain.

I unfortunately don’t have any evolution photos of the mountain scenery; only before and after shots. This is mainly due to me experimenting with different ground cover techniques. As I did this, I hit that magic moment when my scenery all of a sudden looked good, all before taking photos. So instead, I will describe the materials used. I had previously already painted the terrain and rock outcroppings which I covered in my Painting the Terrain post, so I didn’t have to worry about this step.

I started by liberally applying thinned white glue with a paint brush directly onto the painted terrain, spreading it over about 6” by 6” sections at a time. I sprinkled Woodland Scenics earth-blend blended turf over the wet glue. The earth-blend turf really complimented the tan colour paint I had used on all of the hard-shell terrain. I used the same green-blend turf to highlight certain areas, such as more level areas where green grass would be more common. I had a rather large gap between the bottom edge of my backdrop and the mountain terrain, so I filled this space using Woodland Scenics light green lichen. Everything was then sealed in with a light spray of thinned white glue.

Trees were the next step, which I had previously completed putting together (see my previous post). I started with smaller trees in the background, placing them quite densely so they would blend into my backdrop. As I moved forward, I used increasingly taller trees which seemed to add a bit more depth to the forest. I also found that placing tall and short trees side-by-side made the terrain look steeper than it actually was. The install the trees, I didn’t use the supplied bases that came with the tree armatures. Instead, I drilled small holes directly into the plaster terrain so I could attach the trees using the small insert pins at the bottom of each tree. Any plaster dust that came up from drilling was carefully blown away with a can of compressed air.

Bushes, coarse turf, underbrush, lichen, and other various types and colours of ground foam were added next. This step took a lot of trial and error and paying around with different materials to achieve the look I wanted. However, nature is quite random and has a lot of variety when it comes to colours and plant life, so applying the different scenic materials in a haphazard manner only adds to the realism of the forest scene. I chose mostly Woodland Scenics material because the different ground foams and colours can be easily combined in any way and still look natural, which is a great, fool-proof method for first-time modelers.

To finish the scene, I added natural talus rock that I found in the coulees near my home. I added small tufts of Woodland Scenics field grass in random areas and added any filled in spots that I had missed or that looked too thin. For deadfall, I used small wood pieces that I carefully picked out of a bag of old potting soil as well as actual real deadfall I found in nature.

I’m quite happy with the final results, and will continue this process across the rest of my background mountainous scene over the next month. It makes sense to finish the background scene first, as I wouldn’t want to be reaching over a completed foreground scene to work on it.

Making Trees - My First Forest

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:24:00 +0000

With the first section of my layout’s ground cover well under way, it was time to start putting some trees together. Since my layout is set in a mountainous terrain, it will feature forests comprised of pine trees, most of which will be in the back-half of my layout. The front half will feature more deciduous type trees around the residential, commercial, and industrial areas.

I used Woodland Scenics plastic tree armatures for my pine trees and for the majority of my deciduous trees. Using the tree armatures does of course require assembly but are a lot less expensive and look far more realistic then most pre-made trees. Making trees completely from scratch is probably the most economical option and I like the look and ease-of-use of the tree armatures, so this was the option I chose.

The first step was to prep the armatures by bending the branches and limbs into a 3-dimensional shape. Once all the armatures were properly shaped, I mounted them by their bases to a sheet of foam board. I will not use the bases of the trees on my layout as they look unrealistic, however the bases worked well for holding the armatures upright while I work on them. I airbrushed the armatures with a mixture of chocolate brown and gray paint to get achieve the desired colour. I then applied a coat of dull-coat to get rid of any gloss left on the trees.

Next I applied adhesive onto the armatures. Woodland Scenics recommends their own tacky adhesive, Hob-e-Tac, so this is what I used. I applied it to the armatures using the supplied brush, doing about six trees at a time. I was careful to not apply too much glue to the trunk of the tree as most trees don’t have a large amount of foliage growing out in that area. I let the Hob-e-Tac set for about 15 minutes until it became clear and very tacky.

I then dipped and rolled the armatures in Woodland Scenics foam products. I used Conifer Green Coarse Turf for the pine trees and a combination of Medium Green Clump Foliage and Underbrush for the deciduous trees. I also had a couple deciduous armatures from Life-Like which I covered with Light Green Coarse Turf. I found that the pine trees looked a little empty, so I used Conifer Green Foliage to fill them in a bit. By using different sized pieces of foliage which I stretched out and placed randomly between the branches, the pine trees lost their generic, pipe-cleaner look.

I noticed the next day that large amounts of the clump foliage had fallen off of my deciduous trees. I realized that unlike the very light coarse turf I used on my pine trees, the heavier clump foliage did not get a good enough grip on the Hob-e-Tac adhesive from simply rolling the armature around in the material. Instead, I had to hand pressed all the clump foliage back onto the armature to ensure that it was properly secured. I then shook each tree to remove any loose pieces and to see where I needed to apply more.

The final step was to highlight the trees with blended turf to give the the trees a more realistic look. I sprinkled a little bit of Earth Blend on the pine trees, and used Green Blend on the deciduous trees. I then gave all of the trees a spray of thinned white glue to seal everything in. Be careful to not get the clump foliage too wet, as the added weight is actually enough to cause the clumps to drop off of the armatures.

The trees are now ready to be added to my layout. I should have my fist post on the first stage of my scenery within the next couple weeks, as long as everything goes as planned.

Homemade Locomotive POV Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:26:00 +0000

I recently completed a little side project that I’ve had on my mind for the last few months. A hobby store I had visited had rolling stock fitted with wireless cameras for an engineer’s-eye-view of your track layout. These were quite expensive, even for the basic starter kit. I immediately began to look for a more cost-effective option and figured that I might even be able to make my own camera car for little-to-no cost.

I have a junk drawer in my office with a couple unused, obsolete cell phones that still function fine. Each cell phone has a camera that shoots and records video that can be transferred to a computer via USB. That got me thinking. Would I actually be able to somehow use one of these old cell phone cameras as a travelling cab-view camera?

The biggest challenge of using a cell phone for this task was making the camera face forward. This is because a phone’s camera is usually located on the back of the phone. Since the phone would need to travel on its side to properly fit through tunnels and under bridges, the camera always naturally faced off to either side of the track. This meant that the camera would need to be physically removed and re-positioned to a forward-facing position.

I played around with a couple different phones without luck as their cameras were directly soldered to the phone’s mother board. However when I took my old Samsung Instinct apart, I noticed that its camera was attached via a flexible data cable, which allowed the camera itself to move independently of the phone. I cut a hole in the back of the phone's outer shell around the camera so the camera could pass through and be accessible and positioned from the outside. I built an external support structure out of styrene to hold the camera in a forward-facing position.

I sacrificed an old Bachmann GP35 engine to carry the phone camera. I removed the engine and cab structure, only keeping the motorized base. To allow the cell phone to pass through tunnels and under my trestle, it would need to be located as close to the track as possible, so I positioned it inside the engines fuel-tank structure, between the trucks. This of course was not long enough to house the phone, so I needed to cut the tank in half and extend it with rigid styrene extensions. The cell phone needs to sit at an angle to clear the bottom of the trestle and the camera was adjusted and installed to compensate for this angle. I used styrene pieces to support and securely hold the phone to the engine structure.

The final product isn’t pretty, but it does the job. To use the camera, I simply activate the camera and set it on video mode and place the phone into position on the engine base. When ready, I press record, energize the track, and let the engine travel around my layout. Once I’m done recording, I simply remove the phone, tether it to my computer via USB, and download the footage. I know the quality isn’t as high as the more expensive commercial products available, but this didn’t cost me anything and the effect is equally as amusing.

You can see the very first test run on my layout in the video below.

Cutting's Scissor Co. Kit by DPM Landmark Structures

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 05:21:00 +0000

The Cutting’s Scissor Co. kit is my second structure kit from Design Preservation Models. My layout does not have much more room for commercial or residential structures, but I do require a couple more industrial structures to fill some empty real estate. I started by removing any edge spurs left from manufacturing with a sharp knife and sanded the edges of the wall pieces so they were a perfect 90 degrees. This ensured a good fit when gluing the model together. This step is required on most DPM kits as the structure joints are not at a perfect 90 degrees and constructing the model without sanding will result in large gaps in the corner joints.

After sanding the required pieces, I washed them in warm, soapy water to remove any oils that my hands may have left on them. Once dry, I glued the walls carefully together on a level surface, ensuring the wall pieces fit together perfectly and evenly. I made sure each corner was square by using a square wood dowel on the inside of each corner joint.

Once the structure had dried for an hour, I cut 2 roof sections from a sheet of supplied styrene. I also glued on the roof supports which were also supplied in the kit via a bulk length of strip styrene. I did not glue the roof panels on at this point as I needed the roof open to add window glazing and interior details later on. The kit also calls for awnings over the loading bays using a leftover piece of styrene from the roof structures. I opted for a textured styrene awning that I had left over in my scrap bin, which looked more authentic. I also added horizontal supports for the awnings using narrow strip styrene.

After two coats of brick red paint had dried, I masked the structure so I could paint the building trim, windows, and doors. Masking takes time, and as hard as I try to paint free hand, I can never achieve the same crisp lines and accuracy as I do when I mask. I use a small flat head jeweler’s screwdriver to press the masking tape into tight corners and on narrow edges to make sure paint doesn’t bleed underneath. Bleeding paint isn’t 100% avoidable, but is easy enough to touch up in the final steps of painting.

Once the model was painted, I weathered it lightly with pastel powder and applied a dry transfer decal (Velikovski’s Distributors) to the exterior wall. The last paint layer was a final spray of dull-coat to seal everything in. I applied clear styrene for window glazing then cut and applied printed paper blinds to the inside of the windows (click here for my printable blind templates).

As most previous structures I have built, the interior is completely removable from the building structure. By simply sliding the exterior shell off, I can easily access the lights and add interior details in the future. The interior structure is built in such a way that once fully inserted into the building’s shell, the building looks as if it is full of separate rooms when looking through any of the small windows. This prevents a 'see through' look. Craft paper was used for texture and colour on the floors and walls.

Two small automotive bulbs light the structure. Since the interior walls only rise as high as the tops of the windows and don’t go right to the roof, I installed the bulbs above the interior rooms so one bulb could light multiple rooms. Aluminum foil installed on the underside of the roof structure helps reflect the light downward into the rooms and keeps heat from melting the roof structure. I used narrow bare steel wire to supply power to the bulbs. I also used this type of wire to support the bulbs so they wouldn’t have to be attached directly to the styrene structure. Just be careful the bare wires don’t get crossed or you will have a nasty short on your hands.

The last step was to attach the roof structures to the model. Once the styrene roof was glued to its supports and had dried, I applied a thin layer of medium cinders on top of the roof and leveled it with a folded piece of paper. Using a small pipette, I gently soaked the cinders with isopropyl alcohol. I then used the a pipette to apply white glue thinned with water. After drying overnight, the cinders were securely fastened to the model.

Painting the Terrain

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:34:00 +0000

Painting the terrain on my layout was probably the most nerve-racking experience I’ve encountered so far on this project. I’ve been ready to paint since I finished all the hard shell scenery back around Christmas, but in all honesty I was absolutely horrified to paint anything in fear that I wouldn’t get the look I wanted. After two months, I couldn’t put this task off any longer.

Like common practice, I did a lot of research to find the best way to paint terrain and rocks. I found the easiest and most common method to colour plaster rock castings was to use a series of earth-coloured acrylic paint washes using the “leopard spotting” technique, as explained on Woodland Scenic’s website.

Before I could start painting the rock castings, I needed to paint the hard shell scenery. For this I used inexpensive tan coloured acrylic paint, thinned about 50% with water for better coverage. Make sure to use cheap foam brushes for this step and not expensive ones, as the plaster will tear the foam up pretty fast, regardless of how much you paid for the brush.

I decided I wanted the colour of my rock outcroppings to be rich with lots of texture, so I opted for dark browns, yellows, and grays. I used the leopard spotting technique to paint the rock castings using thinned washes of acrylic paint. The first colour I applied to the rock castings was burnt umber, literally applying it randomly just like leopard spots. A narrow foam brush works best for this application.

The second colour I applied was yellow. To give the yellow more of an earth-tone, I mixed with my leftover burnt umber wash until I achieved the desired colour. I then applied this second wash in the same random manor as before, making sure to not over-apply any one colour.

To blend everything together, I did a third and final wash of black, this time applying liberal amounts of wash over the entire surface, making sure no uncovered plaster was showing through. The black wash blends all the colours and settles into all the small cracks and crevices, highlighting the rock’s texture and profile. I made sure I kept the black wash very light, as it would be difficult to lighten the terrain if it turned out too dark. Instead, I used light washes, applying more washes to achieve a darker look.

As most of the tan colour that I first applied will eventually be covered with foam ground cover, I used the same black wash in these areas as well in hopes of making the ground a little more realistic. The black wash gives the tan paint more of a dark clay look, which is similar to the area of Alberta I live in. Applying the black wash also helped to blend the rock outcroppings into the rest of the terrain.

The final step was to very lightly dry-brush the rock outcroppings with white paint. The white paint collects on the high ridges of the rocks, highlighting them and creates further contrast. At this point I’m still a little nervous how the final look will turn out, but I keep reminding myself that there is still ground cover and trees that need to be added, so the final look might be something completely different.

Paving Plaster Roads

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:40:00 +0000

I decided that the next step of my layout would be the roads. As always, I researched the subject online and found that the most effective method would be to build forms and pour the roads with a plaster product. First however, I needed to plan where my roads were going. I determined my road width at 2 1/2" and cut a square piece of cardstock the same width. After drawing the contour of one edge of my planned road on my layout, I used the template card to draw the opposite edge. This allowed me to ensure the road was always the same width.

Once the outline of the road was drawn onto the layout, I installed 4 laser cut wood grade crossings where the road crossed the track. For the road forms, I used inexpensive foam tape that I purchased from a local dollar store. Woodland Scenics sells a similar product called Paving Tape, but it was unavailable at the one and only hobby shop in my city.

I laid the foam tape on the outside edge of the road lines I had drawn. The tape I used was 1/4” wide, which allowed it to be easily pliable for any curves. Because my layout and grade crossings were not all level, I needed to use two, three, and even four layers of foam tape in several areas to allow the surface level of my road to be as level as possible. For a smooth transition between the different levels of foam tape, I always made sure the very top layer of foam tape was continuous rather than being stepped. This is very important when it comes to smoothing the top of the road.

For the road material, I used Woodland Scenics Smooth-It, a special dry-mix plaster product specifically designed for building roads and other smooth surfaces. I mixed the Smooth-It powder with water until it was the consistency of cake mix. Working in small sections, I slowly poured the mix between the forms, spreading and leveling it with the top of the foam tape forms using a wide piece of styrene. I made sure I masked the top of the wood grade crossings with masking tape. That way I could easily level the roadway with the top of the crossings.

After the first layer of Smooth-It had dried overnight, I applied a second thin layer, smoothing over any imperfections in the first layer and making sure the road was as smooth and level as possible. Once the second layer was completely dry, I carefully removed the foam tape forms. The roads were pretty smooth but needed further sanding to improve the surface and remove rough edges.

Using 200 grit sandpaper, I sanded the road surface until I was satisfied with the smoothness. After I vacuumed all the dust off of the roads, I noticed some areas of my road looked bubbly, similar to the inside of an Aero chocolate bar. This was caused by mixing my Smooth-It too thin when I poured it. If you do mix it too thin, add more Smooth-It powder and stir until the bubbles disappear and let it sit for a few minutes prior to applying. To fill the air holes in the road, I simply added a thin layer of Smooth-It on top, making sure to press it into all the holes.

I used three coats of gray acrylic paint for the road colour. I also coloured the wood grade crossings with India ink diluted with water. Once the gray paint had dried, I marked a center line on the roads with a pencil, using the center line on the same cardstock template I used before to measure the road widths. These lines would be a guide for the center line markings. I also marked out stop lines using the same method.

I masked the stop lines first and painted them with white acrylic paint. Once they were completely dry, I masked the center lines. To do this, I took blue painters tape and applied the required length to a piece of glass. I then cut the straight edge of the tape about 1/8” wide to make long, narrow strips. I peeled the narrow strips off the glass and very carefully applied it to the road, following the contour of the center line I previously marked. I also ensured the straight edge of the tape was always facing to the inside.

I found that starting at one end of the road and only sticking down 1/4 - 1/2” of the masking tape strip at a time worked best for getting smooth, straight lines. For curves, I found that holding the tape down with one thumb and positioning 1/4” of masking tape at a time with my other hand worked best. I then did the same with the second strip of masking tape, ensuring the space between the two strips was as equally spaced as possible.

I painted the lines with three coats of yellow acrylic paint. I then carefully removed the blue masking tape strips. Some small patches of the gray base coat did lift with the tape, which I easily touched up. Just make sure you save some of your original road colour if it's a custom mix! I found working in sections and not leaving the tape any longer than 20 minutes on the road greatly reduced the amount of paint that came up. Also removing the tape on a sharp angle helped, opposed to lifting in straight up.

My roads were now complete, but looked a little too perfect and clean. To add some weathering and usage effects, I sprinkled a very small amount of black pastel dust down the center of each lane and smeared it with my finger. I used the same effect on the grade crossings as well. Signage and other small details will come later, but the main roadways are now complete and ready to serve the various areas of my layout.

Train Display Case

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:55:00 +0000

With my very small collection of locomotives and rolling stock starting to grow, I needed someplace to store them while not in use. Even though my collection is currently very small, it is ever so slowly growing, I needed more of a long-term storage solution. I searched my shed and basement and managed to round up just enough scrap material to construct a wood display case which will mount to the wall adjacent to my layout.

The case frame measures 37 1/2” inches wide by 35” tall and is constructed from 3” x 3/4” lumber, screwed and glued together at the corners. The six shelves are made of 2” x 5/8” lumber and are 36” long, allowing for a full length of flex track to be mounted. The shelves were then mounted to the frame with screws and wood glue. The backing is made from 1/8” thick hardboard.

As I mentioned before, this was made almost completely from scrap materials and was done easily on a Saturday afternoon. It is nothing fancy or complicated, but at least I have a place to store, display, and protect my locomotives and rolling stock. Next week I will hopefully add horizontal sliding glass or clear acrylic doors to keep the dust out.

Kate’s Colonial Home Kit by Atlas

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:37:00 +0000

With a 4’ x 8’ layout, there is very limited room for structures, especially after you factor in track space and terrain. As I don't have the real estate for a full-sized town and residential areas, I instead have to represent these zones with only one or two structures. For the residential aspect of my layout, I have room for one house. For this I chose the Kate’s Colonial Home kit by Atlas.

I liked the buildings yellow and forest green colour theme so I used very similar colours when I painted the exterior. I did however change the roof shingle colour to a dark brown instead of the recommended light grey. The great thing about Atlas kits is their injection mold process results in high quality, detailed, and precise parts that fit together easily with little to no prep work.

The window coverings are printed on photo paper which I glued to the inside walls. Because I wanted to light the house, I had to add a layer of dark cardstock to the inside of the walls so light wouldn’t shine through the plastic wall. To light the structure, I used the same method as in my Walthers Merchant’s Row I kit by building a small light diffuser box out of styrene. I built the interior walls around the light box with thick cardstock, allowing light to glow through small doorways.

Once the first floor was completed, I added a styrene floor for the second level. I used the same cardstock wall method that I used for the first floor, building around the light diffuser box. I then added a cardstock ceiling to the second floor rooms to prevent any light from glowing though up to the attic windows and into the roof section. This ceiling can be removed (along with the actual roof) to access the light diffuser box in the event of a burnt out bulb.

The kit was weathered using a semi-soft paintbrush and dry pastels that I ground up into a fine powder. I made sure almost all of the pastel was off of the brush before applying it to the building as it isn’t very forgiving. A final spray of Testors dull coat sealed in the pastel weathering. The chimney and foundation mortar were coloured using thinned black and white washes.

The Other Corner Café Kit by DPM Landmark Structures

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:27:00 +0000

I wanted to add a bank to my small commercial district and the DPM Other Corner Café kit by Woodland Scenics fit the bill perfectly. This was my first DPM kit and if you have never built one either, it’s a very good idea to follow the preparation directions before assembling the model. The Design Preservation Model (DPM) series kits have high quality details and styrene but do require a good amount of sanding and trimming before assembly.

As I did with my Merchant’s Row I kit, I used small strips of masking tape to mask the windows and trim before painting the brick walls. Once the walls were dry, I covered the newly painted sections so I could now paint the trim and window frames. After drying for 24 hours, any touch-ups were made with a small detailing brush. The masking is tedious but worth it in the end. However, it’s only effective if it’s done correctly and carefully. If not, you will have a ton of touch-ups to deal with. The structure was then brushed with dark powdered pastels for weathering effects and sealed with a final coat of Testors dull coat.

Most DPM models do not come with a pre-molded roof or base though bulk styrene is provided for at least the roof. This needs to be cut to fit. A length of strip styrene is also provided to create supports for the roof panel. Clear bulk styrene is also included for the window glazing. Window blinds were used from the same templates I used on previous structures that I built.

I built the interior structure of this building in almost the exact same way as may Merchant’s Row I kit, utilizing my light diffuser box method. The first level interior of the building is built upon a removable styrene base with the light box installed on second floor. The removable base allows access to the bulb in case it ever needs to be changed.

I built the bank’s teller desks out of scrap styrene pieces, as well as the large support column which actually supports the light diffuser box on top. The bank’s floor is a tile design that I made in Adobe Photoshop and printed on matte photo paper. The walls are coloured cardstock.

The second level interiors are attached directly to the main structure. I built these with a combination of coloured cardstock and styrene which I secured directly to the inside walls. When the base and light box are inserted, the light box sits just behind the second level interior rooms. To allow light into the rooms, I simply cut doorways into the back walls. For the rooms I didn’t want to light, I simply omitted cutting in a door.

I decorated the final structure with dry transfer decals from Woodland Scenics as well as a vertical corner sign that was left over from my Merchant’s Row I kit. For the roof material, I used medium burnt cinders from Woodland Scenics which I spread about 1/8” thick. I then secured the cinders with thinned white glue that I applied with a small pipette, mixed with a few drops of isopropyl alcohol to break the glue mixture’s surface tension.

Atlas Turntable Upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:34:00 +0000

While working on my hard shell scenery, I thought that it would be a good idea to also update my turntable to make it look a little more realistic. I wasn’t very fond of all the extra, unused entrance slots on the base, nor did I like my original gloss gray paint job. The paint job I originally did on the rotating table itself wasn’t half bad, but it too definitely needed some weathering effects.

I started by first cutting styrene into curved strips to cover the tops and sides of the unused entrance slots. Once glued on and painted a light gray colour, the foundation now looks like a solid piece of concrete. I also painted the small shack that covers the turntable motor. I then weathered the turntable, foundation, and motor shack with various pastel powders. Finally, I sprayed the whole turn table with a layer of dull-coat.

Plaster Hardshell Terrain

noreply@blogger.com (Ty’s Model Railroad) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:36:00 +0000

For my terrain structure, I opted to use the hard-shell method. This consists of cardboard strips, plaster infused paper towels, and a final layer of plaster. This seemed to be a popular, tried and tested method. The materials are very cheap and the end results are very effective.

I first started by cutting several different length strips from a cardboard box, all between 1/2" and 1" wide. The strips were then bent to the desired curvature and fastened to the benchwork with either white glue and staples. I spaced each strip about 1" apart. For most of the strips, I didn’t require horizontal support strips except where the vertical strips were longer and tended to sag. Crumpled newsprint under the strips also helped with support in some areas.

I also incorporated some crock outcroppings that I had cast with plaster. For the more rugged looking terrain features, I used the same crumpled paper method that I used for my mountain tunnel. For future planned roads, I simply cut a desired sized piece of cardboard and attached it just as I did with the other strips, ensuring a smooth grade from the upper level to the lower ground level.

The next step was to cover the cardboard strips with plaster-impregnated paper towels. For this, I tore sheets of paper towel into strips at various widths. Preparing a good mixture of thin and wide strips cardboard strips makes it a lot easier to cover larger and smaller areas.

I mixed powder drywall compound into a large, shallow container with water. This took a little trial and error to get the right consistency; if too thin the paper towel strips will dry and peel and have no rigidity. If too thick, the paper towel will just rip under the weight. Good quality, brand name paper towel also helps immensely. I had to keep stirring the plaster mixture as I worked as the plaster tended to settle to the bottom of the container. Adding a bit of water to the mixture as I worked will also keep things flowing.

Once I had found the proper plaster mixture, I dipped in each strip of paper towel, wiping off the majority of excess plaster from the strips with my fingers. I then positions the paper towel strips horizontally across the cardboard strips, overlapping them for added strength. I didn’t worry too much if the paper towel strips sagged a bit between the cardboard support strips as this would be leveled off later with the final plaster layer. I used my fingers to smooth the strips as much as possible.

After 24 hours the paper towel shell was dry and I was left with a rigid, somewhat brittle shell. I then applied a layer of plaster to the shell. This adds strength to the plaster shell and levels out any seams or sagging spots that may have formed. I used a gypsum based plaster but made the mistake of using a pre-mixed product. This is much more prone to cracking and shrinking compared to dry mix so, I had to go back and fill several cracks that had formed. I also cast a retaining wall right in front of the turn table using a cardboard mold that I made. The wall is cast with plaster of Paris and detailed with hand carved bricks.

Once the first layer of plaster dried, I spread a second, final layer of plaster over the entire shell, thicker in some areas to eliminate low spots. I blended in all of the rock outcroppings and filled in any holes or cracks. I used a combination of my hands and small plastic spatulas to smooth and level the plaster layer and blend it with the existing bridge abutments and terrain. Ground foam and dirt will fill in any deficiencies in the plaster once it's added. I still have a few things to touch up but I can finally say that the plaster hard-shell is complete.