Wordless Wednesday

DRGW3054, an EMD GP40, leads the ski train WB over Bulls Gulch between Tunnel 2 and Tunnel 3 in February 1990. Photo by John Shine.

Cameron Turner

Project Segway - Signals

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

A Classing PRR/N&W Signal. 

It seems that I am doing a lot of other projects these days. One of the latest is a signal project for Bob Folsom's HO N&W Model Railroad. Bob had purchased some 2mm LEDs and had figured out how to wire them up to create his signal system. What he was lacking was a viable set of signal heads for his railroad. That is where I came in and designed and 3D printed a set of heads to his specifications.

I printed 6 different round head configurations with block-out plates over any unused holes, and 3 different single row configurations. In addition, I designed the finials for the top of the signal poles and built them into test assemblies. These went out to Shapeways for fabrication in black PA13. The test prints came back and looked pretty good.

Round Signal Prototypes.

Single Row Prototypes.

The holes are just about perfect for the selected 2mm LEDs, generally forming a solid press fit.

Round Heads with an LED installed.

View from the back. Once painted the back of the LED should resemble the mechanical components at the rear of the signal.

There were a few minor printing flaws int he prototype signals that need to be resolved, and Bob has identified a still smaller LED that should fit even better into the back of the signal head. But, the first prototype has been constructed and is working.

Prototype Signal Head showing Clear.

Approach Clear.

Restricting Signal.

Diverging Clear Signal.

So, a few more tweaks, and my side business, the Model Works at Otowi Station will have a set of new products and Bob will have the parts to build all the signals his layout needs. Come to think of it, I have some other projects to finish for that business.

Cameron Turner

Wordless Wednesday

DRGW 3098 leads a train west to Tunnel 1 in December 1990. Photo by JohnShine.

Cameron Turner

Project Segway – A Revised Olympia in the Office Plan

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

Based on the results of the gradetesting project, I reworked the Olympia in the Office plan that I originally developed. The new plan has grades of no more than 3% and a minimum radius of 170mm (6.7”). I kept the basic structure of the layout, with three decks and a similar footprint. Even most of the towns were conceptually retained. Nonetheless, the incorporation of the car floats meant that there were changes in the layout to accommodate the car floats.

Deck 1 - Gladhaven and Cave Port.

The first deck is actually two separate parts. The first one is a staging area in the form of a town of Cave Port. This is a fiddle/staging yard, analogous to the town of Cave Point on the MR version of Olympia. It uses a simple manual turntable at the left end to allow engines to escape. I am thinking that I will try to make this turntable work similarly to the MR sector plate, and I can even make it removable to manually turn the engines (or allow it to pivot around to do the same). Cave Port is actually reached from the second deck connecting to Olympia Timber. I envision Cave Port as a land connection to the outside world.

Cave Port Fiddle/Staging Yard.

At the right end of the lower deck (albeit at a lower height) is the port town of Gladhaven. Gladhaven receives both coastal ships and a transfer point for cargo to be loaded onto barges for the trip to Olympia Timber on Deck 2. Thus, Gladhaven is primarily a switching location, built around harbor traffic and the Hyde Pulp Mill offered by Republic Locomotive Works in N-scale. The new plan gives me a lot more room for the harbor, but does place the yard back behind the Pulp Mill.

The Port of Gladhaven.

The ferry barge at Gladhaven provides a connection to the sawmill at Olympia Timber and the main line that runs between Cave Port and Camp Union on Deck 2. I ultimately envision the barges functioning much like they do on Mark Dance's Columbia and Western. There is a nifty video about the barges on Slocan Lake, BC that is linked to below.

The second deck connects the fiddle/staging yard of Cave Port to the ferry from Gladhaven with the Sawmill at Olympia Timber and the main logging camp established at Camp Union. Camp Union has a second ferry slip that connects Camp Union to the settlement of Sand Creek. I have isolated these two ferry locations with a mountainous canyon crossing similar to the Georgetown loop. Not only does this climb add a lot of mainline to the run. While Olympia Timber and Camp Union are physically about 4 feet from each other, a train needs to run almost 20 feet and climb 6 inches to travel between them.

Deck 2 - Olympia Timber and the Sawmill to Camp Union.

Camp Union is connected to the settlement of Sand Creek via a second set of ferries. While I have planned on all of these sharing a common footprint and interface, I do not intend for the ferries departing from Gladhaven to arrive at Sand Creek, or for ferries departing from Camp Union to end up at Olympia Timber. These would make the mainline redundant.

Deck 3 - Sand Creek to Eureka Camp 8 and the other camps.

The third deck works much the same way as it did originally. The biggest change is that Forx was relocated and scaled back. The main line no longer splits at Forx to reach Sand Creek and Eureka's Camp 8. So, Forx is a much less significant place. Sand Creek, however, gains some new industries and real estate.

It is interesting to note that the new plan has more turnouts than the prior plan. This is largely driven by the increase in car ferry locations. These locations added 6 turnouts out of the 11 added to the plan.

An additional significant outcome is that each deck of the layout effectively becomes its own layout. Gladhaven can operate as its own switching layout, with the car ferry serving as a connection to staging. Deck 2 can operate on its own as well with Cave Port and the ferry to Gladhaven operating as staging (without even actually connecting to Gladhaven in reality). Deck 3 also functions independently, with Sand Creek to Eureka working as its own layout with the Sand Creek Ferry serving as a staging connection. This means that the layout can be built in clear phases, and need not even be built completely. I could easily decide that two decks are enough, and not build the third. And if I needed to relocate it someday from my office to home, that could be done too. Indeed, the size of the components, estimated at 21.5" by 60" maximum (exact height to be determined) also makes the layout very transportable, allowing it to even be taken to shows. With that in mind, at a show, it need not necessarily be set up as a two or three deck layout, but could instead take on a number of shapes and orientations as needed.

So, after a false start with a helix, I am pretty happy with the revised plan. Happy enough that I am going to continue detailing the plan. I have assembled three of the 8 bookcases for the layout in my office, and I am working on the other five. So, we may well discuss Olympia iN the Office again.

Cameron Turner

Wordless Wednesday

December 1993, DRGW 5396 leading a train west towards Tunnel 1. Photo by John Shine.

Cameron Turner

Project Segway – Grade Tests for Olympia

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

Picking up from the previous post ( ProjectSegway – The Olympia Helix Tests ), I realized that the designed grades on my Olympia iN the Office plan were just unrealistic for the length of trains that I wanted to run. But, before I go too far in redesigning the plan, I wanted to test out a more moderate set of grades. So, this weekend, I went about testing a 3% grade with a 170mm curve using sectional Rokuhan track re-purposed from the helix. I tested the Rokuhan Shorty Mechanism, a Microtrains Z-scale GP35, and an AZL F59. All three locomotives pushed the cars up the grade. Pulling performance may be different. I videoed the tests and they can be seen below.

This test apparatus was just a short stretch of straight and level track, which transitioned to a 3% grade using Woodland Scenics Foam inclines along another straihgt section. These inclines were taped to my kitchen counter using blue painters tape. The grade continued at 3% around a 180 degree curve of 170mm radius, and into a final straight section still at 3%. Trains were powered by a BlueLine controller powered by a 9V battery.

In summary, weight makes a huge difference. With the Rokuhan Shorty, I could only push 1 car up this grade. That is until I taped a quarter above the drive truck. With a quarter in place, I could push 4 cars up the grade and around the curve. With 2 quarters, I could push 7 cars. The Microtrains GP35 would push 9 cars, and the AZL F59 would push 14 cars.

The Rokuhan Shorty mechanism weighs all of 8.47g (0.3 oz), the Microtrains GP35 weigh 35.8g (1.26 oz) and the AZL F59 weighs 50.37g (1.78 oz). Each of those quarters weighed 5.67g (0.2 oz), so they more than doubled the weight of the Shorty. So, weight is a big deal, and I found that it made a difference adding it over the driving truck (which I did) versus over the training truck. So, use of the shorty will need to carefully build weight into the mechanism. None of this is a surprise. The video also clearly shows the added effect of the curve causing most of the locomotives to slow down as they pushed their trains up the hill.

With the quarters, I may have been able to get the shorty to push more up that 5% grade. However, the GP35 was only able to reliably push three cars up that grade, and the F59 did four. So, I have a couple of data points. I really should put together a proper grade/curvature chart for N and Z scale, which would also cover Nn3. Something else to add to the list of tasks to do.

That said, this gives me some data for the redesign of Olympia in the Office. If I can keep the grades down to say 3%, I think I would be a lot happier. And just for reference, if you poke around on the web, you do find that Z-scalers often recommend 2.5% as a maximum grade for Ztrak layouts and trains, so these results are quite consistent with those experiences.


Cameron Turner

Project Segway – The Olympia Helix Tests

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

So, as mentioned previously ( Project Segway –Introducing Olympia iN the Office ), one of the critical components of the Olympia iN the Office Design is the helix. In particular, the ruling helix between Deck 1 and Deck 2. With a ruling grade of between 4.3% and 4.9%, this is clearly a potential problem. The helix is designed as an oval, with 55mm straight sections on opposite sides and end radii of 170mm. In order to test out the feasibility of this design, I built a helix out of foamcore and Styrofoam using Rokuhan sectional track. The test helix consists of 2.5 turns.

Olympia Helix for testing.

Testing of the helix proceeded with several different mechanisms, including a Rokuhan “Shorty”, a Microtrains GP35, an AZL GP9, and an AZL F59. Each of which I am considering as candidates for mechanisms for the layout. I used several Microtrains Nn3 boxcars for to test the ability of the mechanisms to push and pull trains up the helix.

Unfortunately, the results were not very satisfactory. The “Shorty” was able to only move 1 car at a time reliably up the helix. The other three mechanisms were able to reliably move three cars each up the helix. None were able to move my target of five cars, and none were even able to move four. Three cars is simply not satisfactory, particularly since the helix will be a major obstacle in the layout. Furthermore, I found that in the event of an uncoupling, the trains would rapidly accelerate down the helix and given the tight curves at the ends, the resulting derailment was inevitable and typically were catastrophic. It became clear that the helix was just too tight, too steep and in this case, too inaccessible to satisfy my operational desires. If it were not for the combination of tight curves and steep grades, the helix was more workable. It is clearly the combination that is the problem.

This is a show stopper in my mind. So, the helix is out. Fortunately, the solution appears to be fairly obvious too. The car ferry could be used as the means of connection between the decks, much as Mark Dance does on his Columbia and Western for his branchline operations. But, that will take some redesign work on each deck to make it work a bit better. The lesson to be taken here is that critical elements in a plan need to be tested and confirmed as being viable. I should have tested out the helix concept sooner, and certainly before completing the entire track plan. Based on the erroneous assumption that the helix was viable, I designed in similar curve and grade conditions in other parts of the layout design. These need to be addressed as well in the revisions.

Cameron Turner

Project Segway – Designing a Camera Mount

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

I will get back to the Moffat Plan, but other things have been going on while I have been thinking about options. One of those "things" was a project that sat on my desk since my surgery in March. I found it and figured it was time to get it finished.

The task was to design a mount for a camera board into an HO-scale E-unit for the Central Model Railroad and Historical Association.

The Camera Board next to the HO scale E-unit shell.

Since the unit is unpowered, there is a lot of internal space. In fact, the board fits nicely inside the shell. However, the camera is the small circle on the black component on the left end of the pig tail on the board. The key to the mount is to provide a means to control the direction in which the camera is pointed while allowing the board to be secured within the engine.

Progression of the design.

I took some measurement, and drew up a simple mount, which I then printed using a consumer grade Da Vinci 3D printer and PLA filament. The first design was a simple block, which fit well enough, but caused interference with the plastic glass parts used in the model for the lighted number boards and the porthole windows. The second generation design provides a better slot for the camera, as well as enough space for the number boards, but the fit was too tight for the porthole windows. The third design provided ample space for the entire assembly to slide into the body shell. 

The camera board mounted on the mount. Eventually two screws and standoffs will be added.

The 3rd generation design fit nicely into the body of the locomotive. From the fit of the mount, it looks like the camera lens will align with the logo on the nose of the engine. 

The camera mount placed in the shell of the locomotive. 

Even from the nose, the mount is virtually invisible within the locomotive.

The locomotive reassembled.

The locomotive and mount have been returned to the club where the shell will be modified for the lens, and the locomotive placed into service on the layout. Soon, we will have videos of the trains touring the layout.

Cameron Turner

Wordless Wednesday

January 1992 - DRGW5401 leads three more SD40T-2s on a coal train (with one SP Box Car) west through Blue Mountain Crossing. Photo by John Shine.

Cameron Turner

Project Segway – Introducing Olympia iN the Office

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on in my life currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

I am a big fan of several of the recent project layouts coming out of Model Railroader. Not only do I have a fondness for Canadian Canyons, but I also have a fondness for a completely different project railroad, Olympia featured in the Olympia and Olympia 2: The Log Blog Series. I’m looking forward to Olympia 3: Sand Creek coming soon on MRVP. My office at work has had a long wall that is poorly used. It has a 7-foot bookcase that is partially blocked by the end of my desk rendering several shelves on the bookcase virtually unusable. I’ve long wanted to replace this single tall bookcase with a set of shorter but longer bookcases along the wall. Across the top, I’ve always thought that a small model railroad could be attractive. But the subject of that railroad has eluded me, until now. Let me introduce, Olympia iN the Office.

Olympia in the Office Logo.

I’ve decided to name my railroad the Rio Gorre and Olympia Railroad, and to model the railroad in Nn3, hence the emphasis on the “N” in the word “in”. My space (20” by 156”) is similar to that of the Olympia + Olympia 2 project layout (22” by 156”) but since my railroad will be in N-scale, versus On30, I expect to be able to have a lot more dominant scenery. I did think about simply modeling in On30, but frankly, I didn’t want to switch scales, and while my space is similar, I have a door swinging into the space that would make a duplication of the project railroad difficult. Finally, I have an ample collection of Nn3 equipment, and with the introduction of the Rokuhan Shorties, and several of the recent small Z-scale hood diesels, kitbashing equipment for a logging line becomes reasonably practical.

AZL GP-9 Mechanism (z-scale).

MT GP-35 Mechanism (z-scale).

Rokuhan "Shorty" Mechanism (z-scale).

65 ton Whitcomb Diesel Conversion kit (Nn3).

With this idea in mind, I began to consider possible layout configurations in the office. A multideck concept seemed most plausible, as the bookshelves near my desk will be lower than the ones further along the wall. So, I could image a small section over the two 48" tall shelves by my desk, with a second deck running the length of the wall, narrowing to a small town/staging area on the wall behind the door.

Office Concept.

This led to the idea of a small helix in the corner in the upper right of the diagram, which would otherwise be somewhat useless space. However, the helix would have 170mm radius curves (about 6.7” radius) which is tight but not unheard of in Nn3. However, the helix could be oval, with at least short straight sections on each side, extending the run. I estimated that I could get about 1178mm (46.4”) of length into a helix lap at a minimum, and I would need to climb 50.8mm to 57.15mm (2” to 2.25”) at a minimum per lap to get my lap over lap clearance. That translates to a grade of 4.3 to 4.9% in the helix. In my mind, this would have to be checked. It is extreme, but maybe it could be managed. So, I kept going with the plan, although my two decks became three, with deck heights of approximately 48”, 60” and 72” ultimately.

Deck 1 - The port town of Gladhaven.

The lowest deck became the town of Gladhaven, a port town and connection to the outside world via car ferry. The primary industry in the town is a Pulp Mill, although there are also a number of harbor spots associated with bringing materials in for the lumber operations. The result is a small but thriving town – a little rougher when the loggers come to town – and a lot quieter when they are in the hills. The mainline slips out of Gladhaven and climbs the helix into those hills on the right hand side.

Deck 2 - the Sawmill (Olympia Timber) to Camp Union.

The train climbs the helix to enter the Olympia Timber Sawmill complex on the right hand side. Trains proceed to the left, entering Olympia Timber, but then have to reverse course to climb the hills above the sawmill complex to climb to Camp Union. Along the way (about midpoint of the layout) they will pass by a gravel operation which provides material for the railroad. Upon reaching Camp Union on the left, they find the base logging camp. Trains again reverse direction to head into a second helix to climb to the third deck.

Deck 3 – Forxs, Sand Creek and the Camps.

On the third deck, the trains exit the helix into the settlement of Forxs. I envision this as little more than a whistle stop, similar to Forks Creek on the Colorado and Southern. Some trains would continue to the left into Sand Creek, and maybe taking the switch back at Sand Creek, climbing into Camp 5 to get timber. Other trains would continue to the right out of Forxs where they would either climb the switch backs at Junction 2 to reach Camp 7, or to continue to climb the hill to Camp 8. Camp 8 is more of a mining town than a logging town but would be a mixture of Red Mountain on the Silverton Northern, and Camp 8 from the Dolly Varden Railway where I took the name. Camp 8 would be high enough that it would rest partially on top of the hutch behind my desk, allowing a near full scale model of the National Belle Mine.

Anyway, that is one of the segway projects that I have had on my mind, largely driven by the purchase and arrival of the bookshelves for my office. Since a lot of my research ties to mechatronics and 3D printing, having a small layout in my office that has some examples of both types of technology would be useful (as well as enjoyable) so, if I can come up with something that works for me, I would like to have it in my office. This design has potential. Enough so, that I need to now go back a test out the helix. Based on the rest of the plan, it looks like a typical train would be an engine and 4-5 cars. So, time for a helix prototype.

Cameron Turner

Wordless Wednesday

This is a rare view of the Little 10 Curves and Rocky Siding looking east towards Barbara Gulch. In fact, the tower at Chem Spur can be seen in the upper left corner of the photo. Photographer Unknown.

Cameron Turner