Tuesday, September 16, 2008

I'm on the map

A little while ago Streetview did a gimmick to celebrate their one year anniversary. They did a special photo shoot of the Google campus with Googlers lined up along the street. It was quite some festive atmosphere.

I'm on two shots. One on Charleston Rd. I'm to the right of the guy in the black pullover raising both arms.


The other shot is on Amphitheatre Parkway. I'm a little bit to the left of that no parking sign on the street.

How did I manage to be on two shots? The Streetview car with the cameras was driving down Charleston Road to Rengstorff and Amphitheatre Pkwy, then headed towards Shoreline Amphitheatre. Between Charleston Rd and Amphitheatre Parkway is Charleston Park. As soon as the car passed, a whole bunch of us ran to the other side of the park and waited for the car to show up again. It was much slower than expected, so we could have walked leisurely over and still made it...

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Catenary installed

I completed installation of catenary on the underground sections that are permanent. I used the old Maerklin parts, since they are very sturdy and easy to install. Later in the visible areas I'm planning to use Viessmann or maybe even Sommerfeldt. Next up, the ramp to the second level, as well as testing automated, digital braking.

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Die Oberleitung ist nun auf den permanenten Abschnitten im Schattenbahnhof installiert. Ich habe die alte Maerklinoberleitung wiederverwendet, da sie sehr robust und einfach zu installieren ist. In den sichtbaren Bereichen der oberen Ebenen werde ich wohl Viessmann, oder sogar Sommerfeldt verwenden.
Als naechstes ist die Rampe zur zweiten Ebene dran, sowie Experimente mit digitalen Bremsen.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Evolution of a layout

While I'm working towards getting the complete layout built, I still want to run trains continously, test tracks, learn about this newfangled digital stuff, and experiment a lot with new technologies that were in their infancy when I stopped working on my father's layout many years ago.

The first phase consists basically of the tracks for hidden staging and a loop.



The track closely follows the final layout with the following exceptions:

  • the curve in the lower right corner to the cross-over switch has no elevation
  • the pink track closes the gap to a loop


This setup allows me to test both loco and switch decoders, and get used to the Intellibox. It's also a nice opportunity to set up a temporary programming track, and pull some freight and passenger cars from storage.


The second phase adds a ramp to the second level, as well as the trackage at Talheim station, and the second level connecting tracks. Again, I'm using a short stretch of track marked in pink to allow for continous running.

Lower Level:




Upper Level:


This phase makes the layout substantially more complex, adds K-track for the first time, and allows me to test out train detection techniques, as well as computer control. I can learn about building the ramp properly. At this stage the layout is small enough to easily correct mistakes in how I'm planning to do things, but complex enough to already make for interesting operation. I could even start working on roadbed, or landscaping around the Talheim station.

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Waehrend ich darauf hinarbeite, die komplette Anlage zu bauen, moechte ich trotzdem Zuege fahren lassen, Gleise testen, und mehr ueber diese neuen digitalen Sachen lernen, die noch in den Kinderschuehen waren, als ich vor vielen Jahren aufhoerte an der Anlage meines Vaters zu bauen.

Die erste Phase besteht im Wesentlichen aus dem Schattenbahnhof und einer Schleife.

Die Gleise folgen dem endgueltigen Layout mit den folgenden Ausnahmen:ns:

  • die Kurve in der unteren rechten Ecke hat keine Steigung
  • das rosa Ubergangsgleis verbindet die Gleise zur Schleife


Mit dieser Anlage kann ich Lokomotiv- und Weichendekoder testen, und mich an die Intellibox gewoehnen. Ich habe auch ein temporaeres Programmiergleis installiert, und kann ein paar Gueter- und Personenwagen ausprobieren.


Mit der zweiten Phase waechst die Anlage in die Hoehe. Ich werde die Rampe in die zweite Ebene bauen, sowie die Gleise in Talheim und die Verbindungsgleise der zweiten Ebene. Wie in der ersten Phase verwende ich ein kurze Stueck Gleis um die Schleife zu schliessen.

Die Anlage ist in dieser Phase um einiges komplexer, und ich verwende zum ersten Mal K-Gleise. Ich kann verschieden Techniken zur Zugverfolgung erproben, sowie Computersteuerung, und noch problemlos Fehler in meinem Ansatz korrigieren. Ich kann sogar anfangen Gleise einzuschottern und die Station in Talheim auszugestalten.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Layout Update

It's been a while since I posted an update on the layout.



I added a 3rd track in Talheim to allow for more interesting switching.