DCC, LED, & JMRI oh my. . . .

Well, apparently I got so excited about working with lights and the DCC control board that I forgot to take photos.  But, I did get the headlight working on the F3 loco; there is no taillight to worry about.  I also put LED's in the SW1 loco along with resistors as recommended.  The F3 using a 1.5V incandescent bulb as I recall from doing this several weeks ago.  I am still amazed at what DCC can do.  The F3 now has the "Mars" headlight effect.  I can vaguely remember seeing "streamline" locos show up at the Kingstree, SC, station with the headlights doing some sort of funny, sweeping action.  I think that is the "Mars" effect.  I couldn't help myself in programming this for one of the locos.

The SW1 loco still has some headlight problems.  Maybe it's the + and - ends of the LED that I didn't figure out correctly.  Otherwise, it's running well.  I've programmed this little switcher to ring its bell at low speeds automatically.  It will also honk the horn once when stopped, twice (I think) when first moving forward, and three times when first backing up -- again, all automatically.

In the meantime, I've been messing with the JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface).  It's free software, but seems more complex than it needs to be!  Since the DCC system I have is MRC, I've been using their software primarily to "adjust" the locomotives through computer and wireless interface.  However, the wireless possibility with JMRI plus potential for iPad and iPhone throttles has me pursuing JMRI.

Of course, I had to obtain a wireless "receiver" for the MRC system, as well as an extension outlet so the wireless and handheld throttles could both work.

Fortunately, our local Internet, landline, and cable TV supplier has upgraded our modem and it now includes wifi capability.  That meant I could remove my Linksys router from the house and put it where?  In the workshop with the train layout!  Now, for essentially no additional cost to me, I have two hand-held, wireless thottles -- iPhone and iPad.

The only additional "device" needed was an app called "WIThrottle".  While there's a commercial version available, WIThrottle LITE is free.  To get the additional throttles working, my iPhone and iPad have the Lite version installed.  I'm not sure I would need the commercial product.  I had to use the iPhone to photograph the iPad, but I've had both devices running locos at the same timeCheck it out:

Using iPad WIthrottle and MRC wired Throttle

Notice movement of both locos; F3 #4189 controlled by Withrottle and
SW1 #2008 controlled by MRC handheld throttle

F3 obviously traveling faster and throttle value
confirms it!

Now the Tobacco Plants

What's a 'Baccer Barn without the tobacco plants -- certainly tobacco was common to South Carolina in the 1950's!  So, with many pieces to put together, I started constructing 56 tobacco plants.  Obviously, this was a kit; by Busch (German, I think).  Several (!!) months ago, I put together the first plant, complete.  Then I put the kit aside until I found a corner of the layout that needed some scenery and was encouraged by Paul to construct a Tobacco Barn.  A week or so ago, I was back to the plants having completed the barn.

Each plant started with a "topknot", a "medium" size three-leaf swirl, and a metal post:

The five in front are at that stage.  Then, three more medium size swirls are added, yielding the group in the rear.  Note, the completed plant at the rear, right corner!

Next came four, larger three-leaf swirls.  All of this was glued together with CA glue.  This could be the final edition, but.. . .

note the small bag of pink "stuff".  While many people have seen the green-leafed tobacco plants (at least in this area and closer to the coast, they have), not too many non-tobacco-farmers may have noticed the delicate pink flowers on the plants.  I actually believe these are removed to ensure the plant continues to put energy into the leaves as opposed to its "progeny"!  I've heard removing the flowers is called "topping" -- might also be removing the top of the plant to keep it from growing taller.  Then suckers like you get on tomato plants begin to grow and you have to "sucker" the plants.  Glad I wasn't a tobacco farmer.  I thought this little detail was too much to leave out, so a little Testors glue (for clear plastic parts and windows) on the topknot, a dip into the pink stuff and:

 I'm not enamored with the "field" that comes with the kit AND you probably need more than 56 plants to fill that barn.  Unlike another modeler, whose work I admire (http://themodelrailwayshow.com/cn1950s/?p=1970), I don't intend to produce four to six hundred of these plants.  So, I plan to put these plants in curved rows that tend to run off of the corner of the layout, implying many more plants in the field, but they will have to be imagined!

Maybe this field will be a good job for the next grandkid visit.

The 'Baccer Barn

I couldn't help myself.  Paul kept sending me suggestions and structures; I figured ONE more structure on the layout couldn't hurt.  Besides, I already have a kit to make a few dozen tobacco plants, so a tobacco barn needs to show up somewhere.  And, the layout is in South Carolina in the 1950's.  I had settled on a board and batten structure until Paul showed me the Clever Bros Tool Shop.  It was corrugated metal.  I decided to change my mind. . . . The prototype would be something like this:

The Tool Shop had too many windows and doors, so some Paint"ing" was called for.  Also, the lean-to on the Tool Shop would need to be eliminated.  A stone foundation might look good, from Clever Bros Creeky Roofing file.  With most of this pieced together (except the stone) on one sheet then cut out, it looked like this:

Don't know why the floor and stiffener from the Tool Shop came over as one piece; I guess I wasn't thinking too well.  Also used the stone illustration to make a "hearth" to give us smoke cured tobacco.  Hard to round everything off in stone, but maybe from a distance it will look OK.  Used some plastic rod that would be about 6", scale, to hold up the roof on the front -- gets pretty hot when you're stringing tobacco to put in the barn, I guess the shade is important.  Need to paint the rods, probably add steps for the door (really should have cut the door into the stone foundation, but wasn't thinking ahead), do a little color work on the bottom (white) side of the roofing.  Are we close enough?

A Boiler House for the Smokestack

In early January -- 2012!! -- a Smokestack appeared for the Cotton Factory.  But, what good's a Smokestack without a boiler house.  With help from Paul and the Small Brick Machine Shop files from Clever Bros, a Boiler House began to shape up.

Machine Shop

Boiler House

Paul got me started by removing arched windows on the side of the Machine Shop and replacing with "square" windows.  I was able to totally blank out one side wall with brick (not shown above).  All of these modifications using Paint.  The boiler fronts are from a photo I took of the Cotton Factory, itself.  Although somehow I ended up needing to reduce the printout to 85%, and then make a final adjustment to 97% of that, I finally got it to fit together, sort of.

Somehow, for example, the rear wall wanted to buckle.  Fortunately, the front and rear are double walls -- a kind of false front.  I happened to have a piece of balsa that just fit inside the "pocket", so I cut it and inserted into the pocket to create a flat wall.  Except that using white glue caused lumps in the wall -- the cardstock was wetted by the glue and the glue was not evenly distributed.  Fortunately, the knitting needle I had borrowed from The Wife to use to score the cardstock for creases had a cylindrical end opposite the point (see the orange object in photo, below)!  I used that to "roll" the glue flat.  I think it will be OK:

Glued and Smoothed

Buckle and Balsa

Notice, also, the totally brick, no arched or square windows, side wall.

To fit on the layout, I may have to move the Cotton Factory a little, but there still seems to be room.  A coal pile, and a little more details in the scenery should make things look realistic -- and a little weathering for the plastic Cotton Factory.  I've trimmed the standing seam metal roof on both sides to fit more closely to the Cotton Factory and Smokestack than seen in these photos.

 

The Real Deal

OK, so it's not an exact replica, but the intent is to be representative!?!

More DCC Experience

Nothing like progress!!  Remembering which and how many switches to pull allows DC or DCC by choice (OK, so I've since found that you can run a DCC decoder-equipped loco on DC if you know what you're doing, but I'm not there, yet; AND, I'm not sure if there's room in Thomas to ever install a decoder).

Not satisfied with just "running" the locomotives via DCC, new decoders were procured with SOUND!  These things are amazing.  Not only specific diesel motor sound for each engine used in a particular loco -- my Walthers SW1 and Athearn F3 both use an EMD 567 "prime mover" as they say -- but also horn, bell, brake squeal, air compressor pop off, and so forth.  However, Soundtraxx recommends different sound decoders due to the manufacturer or company -- Walthers versus Athearn.  The Athearn is a Tsunami GN-1000 while the Walthers is a Tsunami Micro 750 so it will fit in the smaller locomotive [I had these decoders interchanged when first posted; now corrected].

Used an oval speaker (18X53X14mm from RailMaster Hobbies) in the Athearn F3 but still chose to cut the "sound chamber" to allow placement in the body:

Trial placement seems to be OK.  Need to remove "temporary" motion-only decoder and hardwire Soundtraxx decoder!  If I could only solder well.





Finished product looks OK to me:

Actually, some issues with overload, hesitation, and such; but attention to cleaning track may have solved most of that.  Minor issues such as replacing headlight with 1.5V bulb and adjusting momentum on decoder so loco doesn't make 2 1/2 laps before stopping are just fine-tuning what seems to be operating now.  I wonder which air horn should be used -- there are over a dozen choices!

The little SW1 was a little more difficult to work with.  Got the TSU-750 Soundtraxx decoder and a 3/4" round speaker with enclosure (QSI).  Did not use all of the enclosure (there's an extension with the unit) but still had a tough time getting hardware into the loco.  Speaker and capacitor ended up in the cab to begin with.  However, while trying to use heat-shrink tubes for insulation, the hot-air gun melted the insulation on some other wires.  Tried wrapping with electrician's tape, but didn't like the results.  So, found some 30 AWG wire (that is REALLY small stuff) and rewired the thing.  Placed the capacitor under the hood after moving the decoder rearward a bit; speaker still in cab.  Still need to work on lights with this loco, but it's running and we have sound.

Before (left) and after (right).  Does not look much different, but it is!






And one grandson is pleased as punch!  Notice the "motion" of both locos -- F3 without body installed near camera and SW1 in rear, right from camera view.

Ebenezer Grill

One of the local hangouts -- that The Wife and I like to visit -- is a hot dog restaurant called Ebenezer Grill, or Loyd's (for the owner).  The left, front corner of Blacktop Crossing seemed to be a perfect place for a gathering spot of some sort, so Loyd's was a natural.  The construction is a representation, not an exact reproduction.  However, since Loyd uses a trailer in the rear for storage, I began by constructing Clever Bros cardstock model of a construction trailer.  I was doing this while visiting in-laws for Thanksgiving, and I didn't get any construction photos.  But here is the actual trailer -- it's a house trailer, not a construction trailer; remember, the goal was a representation. . . .

I also started the main part of the restaurant around the same time period.  However. I found no model that resembled Loyd's close enough so I designed my own structure.  I used an Autocad program called Inventor to draw out the restaurant from rough dimensions I obtained from pictures and from pacing off the actual building.  The scaled drawing printed out to the converted dimensions, so I cut the "parts" from the printout for patterns.

The restaurant is basically red clapboard siding with yellow trim.  Clever Bros has a weathered red clapboard that looked good, and I used scale 1X4" and 1X6" "lumber" that I found at H&R Trains in Tampa during Thanksgiving visits!

I'm not even sure that Ebenezer Grill existed in the 1950's, but it looks like a fit for that era.  Today, you can find everything from a Rolls Royce and a red Jaguar convertible to a city pick-up and an old Ford in the parking lot.  The vehicles in this photo, then, might be appropriate:

The windows and doors are also "store bought" and have "glazing".  Although I've included Venetian blinds on the windows and doors, there are a couple of openings where a light might shine through.  Maybe I'll get industrious and rig up a couple of LED's inside.

Update, January 15, 2015:  Heather said the front door was green and The Wife said I was missing the flag:

Here is a better view of Loyd's:

I guess I need to add a flagpole and, obviously, a bit more scenicking is required, but maybe I can get a grandkid to help me over Christmas Holidays!

I'm not bragging about my cardstock skills, but I like the versatility provided -- from a freebie "kit" to self-designed building from purchased cardstock textures and other material.  Work I've seen by others with cardstock keeps me striving to improve!  How ANYone does this in N scale is a mystery to me.

Trying Out DCC!?

A purchase at H&R Trains in Tampa, FL,  over Thanksgiving was an MRC DCC system.  It was supposed to be simple and "intuitive" to connect.  The only problem was I needed to have easy access to the DC wiring to run Thomas for the newest granddaughter!  So, I hoped to install a switch to disconnect the DC system and then connect the DCC system.  That seemed simple enough until I stopped by Radio Shack to find the appropriate switch.  I finally picked up a blade-type switch; if nothing else, I could see what should have been happening.  I left all of the red (-) wires connected and inserted the switch into the black (+) side like this:

Before

After

Then I went to work on the locomotives.  The Southern F3 A/B set had come with decoders that I had removed and replaced with shunts for DC operation.  I replaced one in the F3 A unit and put one in the SCL loco The Wife gave me as a gift.

SCL Shunt Disconnected

Decoder Ready to Connect

Job Completed

 I connected the DCC system under the control panel to the switch (black, +) and to the gang bus (red -).

When I plugged it in, I got an "ovrld" signal; I assumed that was "overload".  I disconnected the DC red (-) wire from the gang bus and got rid of the overload.  But the locos wouldn't run!  I got out the ole multimeter and started testing from the power supply through the switch to the Atlas controllers.  No current downstream of the controllers!?!  On a whim, I moved the top Atlas direction switch.  Lo and behold, it worked.  Now, should I figure out why or just don't mess with success?