Category Archives: General

Lenz DCC Equipment For Sale – SOLD

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I’ve decided to sell some of my Lenz equipment.  I’m offering a command station/booster, a computer interface, and several throttles.  All items are like new, clean, no scratches or dents, and are complete, and have the latest version 3.6 software.  My layout is not operational yet; equipment has only been used for testing during construction.  Manuals are included.  If you’d like to take a look at what I’m offering, head over to my For Sale page on the main website.

In my last post I had indicated my need to take a bit of a breather from layout construction.  I think that was a good decision as my spirits are taking a lift with this time off.  To be sure, my enthusiasm for the hobby hasn’t waned a bit, as most every day I find myself focused on something hobby related.  One of the things I’ve been mulling for some time is a slightly different approach to the method I’ll be using to control the layout.  I’m going to take something of a hybrid approach to this, hence my decision to sell off some of my Lenz equipment that won’t be needed in my new scheme of things.

I spent a little time last night visiting the MidSouth Model Railroad Club over in Baton Rouge, and I enjoyed seeing their relatively complete layout in action.  Getting around an operational layout helps to get the juices flowing again.  I spec I’ll be back out in the train room pretty soon for some construction.

-Jack

Side Stepping Burn-out, Part Deaux

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I have to confess, I really haven’t felt much like working on the layout for a couple of weeks now.  Sure, I’ve been heading out to the layout room most each day, but I really haven’t been very productive . . . mostly looking for “low hanging fruit” to work on.  I reconditioned a bunch of old Tortoise switch motors.  And I transferred a sound decoder and speaker from a “basket case” Bachmann modern 4-4-0 to another similar model I have that is running and intact.  Another small project completed.  And I spent a day checking out my newly repaired digital camera.  But none of this was advancing the state of the layout itself.

The last two weekends have featured back-to-back NRHS* Chapter banquets, one in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and the other in Hammond, Louisiana.  I attended both and thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of each day.  The journeys were good, the meals were good, the presentations at both were excellent, and most importantly, I really enjoyed the company of fellow modelers, railfans and historians.  Today was the Hammond event, and afterward Ron Findley and I headed over to the train depot to hopefully catch a few trains.  Traffic was a bit slow, so we decided to just stroll down Cate Street (along the track) and I started photographing the wonderful old buildings along that street.  I guess Ron and I really got caught up into it, as we ended up strolling to the end of the business district, then started down Thomas Street where we repeated our photographic endeavors.  And then there was Oak Street, and finally, Church Street.  I believe I ended up with several hundred images, and I totally enjoyed our little foray.  We eventually found our way back to the depot, where I noticed that there was quite a bit a material staged along the tracks and maintenance-of-way area.  There was a crane parked on a spur, and one of those neat (Difco?) side dump ballast cars.  Lots of rail, ties, ballast, spikes, tie plates and more.  I suspect that this was material left over from the recent trestle repairs down at the Bonnet Carre Spillway. For those of you who are unaware, the CN experienced a major fire there a couple weeks ago that took out an entire span of trestle between two concrete fire breaks.

But back to my original confession above, I have been going “hot and heavy” on the layout construction for over a year now.  You long time readers may remember I went through an intense period of burn-out during my second year of construction and got very little accomplished, relatively speaking, as a result.  I even wrote a post about it, Side-Stepping Burn Out.  When I returned to serious construction a few months later, I knew I would have to change my work habits to help avoid this problem in the future.  In large part, I’ve done better because I will work on something -say, trackwork- for several weeks, then I’ll switch off to something else; benchwork, electrical work, workshop projects, just about anything to break up the repetition and boredom that sometimes occurs when building a relatively large layout (mostly single handedly).  But the burn-out symptoms have been rearing their ugly head again for some time now.  And I’ve simply backed off from what I’ve been doing.  I’m feeling a bit better about things now, especially after these two great Saturdays, and I suspect in another week or so that I’ll be raring to get after it again.  To be sure, I continually feel some guilt for letting this time pass without “real” production, but I’ve told myself that this is after all, a hobby.  And if I’m not happy doing it, then it ain’t a hobby!

So not to worry, the Louisiana Central will continue to see heavy construction, albeit with just a short delay.

Hmmm, now I’ve got to figure out how I’m going to fit those neat city buildings in over at Willis.

-Jack

*National Railway Historical Society

Railroad Construction Crews Advance Despite Interference by Others

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As I mentioned in the previous post, I have managed to get some work done on the layout.  I’m a couple weeks behind where I’d like to be, but all-in-all, things are still moving along nicely.

The Spencer logging operation received a bit of track, extending from the high line (along the wall), down to the mainline that will head back to the mill.  Last weekend I cut out the next section of sub-roadbed that, when installed, will take the mainline past Whitcomb to the point where the Spencer line ducks beneath the Louisiana Central mainline (see the track plan).

And speaking of the Louisiana Central, the sub-roadbed has been extended from Maynard westward to within about three feet of Whitcomb.  The next section of sub-roadbed, which will carry the line up to the middle of Whitcomb, has been cut out and is waiting for installation.  I’ve also started laying cork roadbed from Maynard out to near the end of the new sub-roadbed.

Electrically, all of the bus wiring that was run a few weeks ago has been tied into the circuit breakers beneath Whitcomb.  Now they are energized and ready for service.  And the Tortoise motors serving the Spencer trackage have their wiring extended down to the control panel location at the (future) fascia.

Finally, Wayne and I made a lumber run and then ripped enough joists, risers and fascia supports to carry us through Whitcomb and Oneida (the next town down the line).  We also cut several sections of Masonite fascia, and even managed to cut some long wooden tapers to use where track needs to drop from the cork roadbed down to the tabletop.

I’d like to complete just a bit more work before posting any progress photos, but I think that will be soon.  I’m optimistic about September and look forward to some solid progress during this month.

-Jack

Spencer Camp 6

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The Spencer Lumber Company will play a significant role on the layout.  Spencer will have a sawmill at Oneida (on the peninsula closest to the top of the track plan), and will have a railroad mainline running from the mill up to Camp 6 (a re-load point) in the woods east of Whitcomb.  Camp 6 is physically located along the wall at the top of the track plan.  The Louisiana Central mainline between Maynard and Whitcomb will also run along this section of benchwork, near the aisle.  My construction protocol is to work from the wall out toward the aisle (a lesson learned the hard way).  Therefore, I needed to build and install the Camp 6 roadbed and trackage before advancing the LC mainline from Maynard (where it presently ends) to Whitcomb.

The sub-roadbed for Camp 6 has been in place since last September.  However trackwork was never started only because I’d not tackled the task of modifying the Shinohara code 70 switches required for this area.  As I mentioned in a recent post, the switch modification program has finally gotten under way, and work up at Camp 6 has resumed.  The high line was designed to be removable for construction work.  Two weekends ago I removed the right half and started laying track.  This past weekend, the track was completed on this section, the Tortoise switch motors were installed, and all wiring was completed.  I sprayed all the track with a coat of Rust-Oleum Camouflage Brown paint (first time I’ve done this), then re-installed the entire section of benchwork atop the risers.  The left side benchwork has been removed and next weekend, similar work will ensue.  As the final step, the double switchback will be constructed which will bring the trackage down to roughly the level of the (future) LC mainline.

Once all this happens, both the Spencer and Louisiana Central trackage can advance to Whitcomb, and then on to Oneida.  This will be a major milestone for the layout.  I am anxious to achieve this progress, and have an excellent start to making it happen.

The trackage along the wall and the peninsula written about above will be powered by the 3rd of the three DCC booster districts.  Booster districts 1 and 2 have already been completed.  This past weekend I set about installing this final district.  The Lenz booster feeds two DCC Specialties PSX circuit breakers, one each for the LC and the Spencer operation.  All components have been installed and wired, and some of the Spencer track bus wiring has been strung.  The only work remaining will be the LC track bus and the Spencer track bus onto the peninsula.

This summer is turning into a fairly productive one.  I’m pleased with the progress being made on the layout thus far.

-Jack

The 3rd Anniversary

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Well, we are wrapping up year number three on the Louisiana Central.  Much work has transpired over this past year, though not nearly as much trackwork was completed as I would have liked.  But significant progress has been made nevertheless.  All of the basic benchwork is completed, however two of the five sections are still needing roadbed for the track.  Benchwork fascia has been installed along a substantial section of the center aisle and at Maynard adjacent to the rear wall.

Electrical districts have been clearly defined and the DCC power, cab and booster bus wiring for five of the seven districts is complete.  The optical detection system was completed with the exception of the panel indicators (which need panels before that happens).  The first four control panels have been constructed and test fitted into their fascia “frames”.  A few hours of wiring will see them completed.  I’m pleased with these initial panels as they present a neat, clean appearance and are recessed to resist damage from passers-by.

While trackwork has lagged, a good bit of it has indeed been installed.  All of the staging tracks are in, and the entire Illinois Central presence is complete.  The interchange to the Louisiana Central has been laid, and the passing siding at Willis yard is nearly complete.  At the Monterey end of the line the mainline and passing siding have been installed, along with the turning wye, the house track, the MOW track, the Texas and Pacific interchange, and a spur to the Sean Cannery Company.  All of the trackage at Maynard was completed some time ago.

The Spencer Lumber Company’s line up to Camp 6 in the woods is under construction.  The upper roadbed is installed and waiting for track.  As I’ve mentioned before, that trackage needs to go in before the Louisiana Central can advance it’s mainline west out of Maynard.  The hang-up (as I’ve also mentioned) has been the modification of about 40 Shinohara code 70 switches to make them “DCC friendly”.  Well, the good news is that the program has finally started.  It shouldn’t be long before that trackage starts going down.

Speaking of trackage, I’ve installed the Tortoise switch motors on those turnouts presently down.  And I’ve got a good stash of Tortoises that have been inspected, lubed, pre-wired, and are ready for installation as additional track is laid.

I started roughing in for a bit of scenery recently.  There is a stretch between Willis and Maynard that consists only of the track on 2″ wide roadbed.  I thought it might be prudent to at least install the hardshell scenery base between the roadbed and the fascia and also a bit to the far side of the track just to make sure nothing takes a quick trip to the valley floor 385′ below.

Oh, and car kits . . . I’ve started assembling some car kits.  I’ve completed nearly 50 kits now (of the 300 or so kits in my stash).  Admittedly, I started with the low hanging fruit, going through many Accurail kits, along with a few Walthers, Atlas and McKean.  All of these cars now have metal wheelsets and Kadee couplers, and all have been certified road worthy.

Plenty of other things have been done, some not directly related to the layout (shelving in the workshop, drill press table, Dremel bit rack, and a few other improvements).  Even a bit of lighting work was done.

All-in-all, it really wasn’t a bad year.  During the second year, I had started burning out on construction.  The vast majority of the work had been on benchwork, roadbed and some track.  I decided to broaden the scope of work on the layout and began putting more time in on the other aspects of the layout.  After all, the layout will not become operational until all these things are done, including some basic scenery (as mentioned above).  After a long break from trackwork, I’m now in the mood to tackle some more and have refocused on that task again.

I had decided during my last annual assessment to not make predictions of what I’d accomplish in the upcoming year, then promptly made a prediction (which of course, failed to materialize).  This year I’m sticking to that tenet.

However, I’m optimistic about the fourth year ahead.

-Jack

Dremel Tool and Bit Rack

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Over the years I’ve acquired four Dremel Moto-Tools, each of which came with an assortment of bits, accessories, and tool parts.  And each time I needed a bit or accessory, I’d spend more time rummaging through the tools cases where the tidbits were stored than actually doing the work.  So I cobbled this rack together from “scraps of scraps” (literally).  I liked the finished result so much that I caved at the end and shot a coat of paint on the thing.

Dremel Bit Rack 1

Dremel Bit Rack 2

The blue plastic box came with my last motor tool purchase.  I simply screwed it to the rack and will use it to hold sanding drums, polishing pads, etc.

-Jack

Tracing the Louisiana Central

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This past Friday Wayne Robichaux and I took another field trip. This excursion was a repeat of an earlier trip in which we had “followed” the Louisiana Central from it’s beginnings near the east bank of the Mississippi River, to it’s eastern terminus at Bude, Mississippi.  That trip was made in the dead of winter so that we would be able to see better into the terrain.  Friday’s trip found the landscape in full summer greenery.  While it was considerably more difficult to see beyond the edge of the road in places, the look is more akin to the way the modeled scenery will look as I will be placing the time period in the summer.

We were able to precisely discern several of the locations where I’d taken photographs several years ago.  However several other scenes I’d previously photographed were hard to identify this go-around due to the extensive foliage and because of the passage of time.  I re-shot many of the scenes as a comparison, but didn’t discover anything “new”.  While there are way too many photos to post here, you can see the original collection on the website.

We broke off late in the afternoon and headed over to McComb, where we caught the northbound Amtrak train, with a northbound CN freight hot on his heels.  As most of you know, a local railroad museum makes its home in the depot at McComb.  Outside, a former Illinois Central Mountain steam locomotive, along with a few cars, are on display under a shelter roof.  We were pleased to see that an extension of the train shelter is well under construction.  This will place the recently acquired passenger cars on display under shelter as well.  After checking things out, we drove south on Highway 51 to Hammond where we caught one additional train before heading back west to home.  It was an enjoyable day!

Progress on the layout was a bit light this past weekend, but I did manage to assemble a few more car kits.  I also painted a new rack I’m making that will hold Dremel bits.  Oh, and I finally got started on those code 70 turnout DCC modifications that I’ve talked about several times in the past.  I’ve got a pair ready for installation on the layout now.  If anyone shows any interest, I’ll have to take a few photos showing what I’ve done with them.

-Jack

A Special Car

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I just finished assembling this boxcar commemorating the 1973 NMRA National Convention in Atlanta.  My good friend Bill Williams had picked up this kit during that convention which he and I, along with a couple other guys, had attended.  Bill passed away a couple years ago and several months later, some other friends were liquidating a bunch of Bill’s railroad equipment during a railroading get-together and banquet.  We found this car in the box and I just had to have it.

SER Boxcar

The car is an old blue box Athearn that the NMRA had specially made up for the convention.  I decided to leave it more or less in “stock” form, adding only Accurail trucks, Intermountain wheelsets and Kadee couplers.  The car (by virtue of the date) is really too new for my era, however it will find a display spot in the train room and will likely be quietly added to an occasional train.  I’m thrilled to have this car, both for the memory of the convention and especially of Bill.

-Jack

Layout Construction Photos

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I’ve completed a major reorganization of the Layout Construction Photos section on the main website.  As the layout has grown (and the number of photos has increased), I found it getting increasingly cumbersome to add material.  I originally started by adding photos in a linear fashion as I worked around the layout.  But as I started jumping back and forth to various layout sections, that approach wasn’t suitable.  I really wanted to keep photos of a given area together, but it was difficult to do that, and navigation through the photos was poor.  Now the photos are grouped, generally by the various areas of the layout that they pertain to.  Hopefully this will make things simpler for all of us.

I’ve had to rename a ton of files to accomplish all this.  One negative side effect though was that all of the links referring to the renamed pages had to change as well.  Hopefully, I’ve gotten them straight.  But if you find something out of order, please drop a line and point out the error.

I hope you enjoy the new format . . . let me know what you think.

Last Saturday I made the pilgrimage over to Hammond to attend the annual banquet of the Southeast Louisiana Chapter, NRHS.  As usual, I enjoyed visiting with the folks there, and after an excellent meal we had a nice presentation by Rick Pitcher on passenger service back in the “good old days”.  Afterward I spent a few hours over at the depot and managed to catch a few trains going by.  Another great day!

And I’ve installed a few more Tortoise switch machines on the layout.

-Jack

Happy New Year!

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Well, in just a few hours we’ll be into the new year.  I thought I’d take a couple minutes to wish all of you a very happy new year, and I hope it’s a prosperous one for each of you as well.

I’d like to thank you for taking time to read my various ramblings through this year, and I’m appreciative to those who left comments.  I’d like to make this blog interesting to all who read, so if you have ideas, suggestions or complaints, please feel free to let me know.  Your comments are important to me, so let me hear from you this new year.

cheers

Best regards to all,
-Jack

KCS Holiday Express

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Last Friday I went over to Baton Rouge with my daughter and her family to visit the Kansas City Southern Railroad’s Holiday Express train.

KCS Holiday TrainThis is really a fun train to see for both kids and adults.  My three grand kids enjoyed the spectacle despite the extremely long wait in line to go inside the train.  But it was worth the wait.  There are two cabooses and a boxcar (the reindeer stable) that are heavily decorated inside with just about anything you can think of with a Christmas theme: colorful lights and ornaments, Santa Clauses, winter scenes, holiday villages, two O scale and one HO scale train layouts (lots of fun to watch), Christmas trees, and just way too many other things to list here.

Outside the train sits Santa Claus.  And while waiting in line to see Santa, one can enjoy the large scale model train running around the flat car that displays the huge lit-up Santa sleigh and the reindeer.

My oldest grand daughter is nearly twelve now and is in that grey area of belief vs. disbelief in Santa.  Well, ‘ole St. Nick would not hear of it.  He sensed her hesitation and whispered something in her ear.  Later we asked what he told her.

“When you quit believing, you start getting socks and underwear for Christmas.”

biggrin

-Jack

Sunset Over the C&O

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Yesterday many friends and I attended what was to be the final operating session on the late Lou Schultz’s Chesapeake and Ohio, Alleghany Subdivision layout.  We had a nice attendance, and the session went pretty well I think, with just about all the trains on the schedule having been run.  I felt comfortable being there running my favorite train, #147 on the Greenbrier Subdivision branch, but at the same time I felt an emptiness, with Lou and our other friends Bill Williams and Shawn Levy, not being present at the session.  A special “funeral” train was run near the end, essentially a World War II troop and military equipment train, with a nice open-end observation car on the rear.

This was the third and final session that we’ve had on Lou’s layout since he passed away.  Lou’s wife, Dee, has been so gracious to allow us these last few opportunities to get together and celebrate the friendship and camaraderie that we shared in Lou’s attic.

Repeating (and paraphrasing) the ending  of our first session:  …back home, Wayne Robichaux and I analyzed the session and stopped to partake of a meal at the Lagniappe Restaurant in Denham Springs.  What a way to spend and end the day . . . a fine day indeed!

-Jack