Untergroeningen: The Box

[ Untergroeningen posts ]

As part of the Welztalbahn extension, two segments of the Untergroeningen module will remain connected to the Welztalbahn when the layout is not in use. Since the segments are out in the garage I needed a quick and easy way to box them for dust protection, while minimizing the activation energy needed to work on the segments. My solution is a shadow box that integrates the backdrop with a ceiling cover and lighting and mounts to the segment base as shown in a previous post.

The shadow box leaves the front open. I cut hardboard pieces that fit in front of the opening and are held in place merely by gravity and a small clamp. Here's a view down the length of the segments, with the backdrop on the left and the opening on the right. The LED bands for module lighting are visible in the top right corner.

Streetcar, Lightrail, Airplane

I took the Seattle Streetcar from South Lake Union to Westlake. It's nice, but ... wow ... getting through traffic in downtown Seattle on this tram is amazingly slow. It probably would have been faster to walk the last 4 blocks to Westlake Transit Center than to wait for cross traffic at every intersection.

Taking LINK Lightrail out to SeaTac airport was dramatically less pleasant than on the way into the city on Monday. The train was packed and standing room only for most of the ride.

My flight is here and should get me into San Jose on-time later tonight.

Space Needle

I really like this photo of the Space Needle taking on my Pixel 3 in Night Shot mode.

Seattle at Night

In earlier visits to the city I didn't quite realize how colorful it is. Yes, this is an HDR photo, but the view was actually like this. At the north end of the Highway 99 tunnel is a ventilation system to remove the exhaust from the tunnel. They could have built the usual concrete bunker to house the ventilation fans.

Instead, there's a lighted glass structure with changing colors turning a utilitarian machine house into a colorful counterpoint to the surrounding streets.

I did make a quick stop at the Space Needle. I haven't been here in years, so I figured it's worth at least a quick selfie.

When you cross Mercer Street near Amazon headquarters, you find this.

Need more energy!

Volcano View

While I had a window seat, after we left the Bay Area I didn't pay much attention to what was happening outside. That changed when we crossed the Columbia River and I noticed the snow capped mountain top of Mount Adams. Right! We're flying along volcano alley.

Next I noticed the blown away top of Mount St. Helens. I was so captivated seeing this in the late afternoon light, that I forgot taking a photo. Here's a looking back shot of Mount St. Helens, with Mount Adams in the background.

We took a right turn to line up for a south approach into SeaTac, which gave me an opportunity to capture Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams with Mount Hood in the distance.

As we descended into SeaTac Mount Rainer grew larger and larger in the light of the setting sun.

SJC - SEA

My original booked flight was supposed to be this morning on a 737 MAX. It was canceled due to the well-known issues with the MAX, thus my trip to Seattle was shortened by half a day.
Gate 32 at SJC is in the new "temporary" annex to Terminal B and rather ... utilitarian. We'll see how long it will take for Terminal C to be constructed for real.

I'm mildly amused that they installed jet bridges here. We board from ground level and walk UP the jet bridge. Yes, it's convenient for passengers and easier for the ground staff, I just enjoy the open air feeling of walking up the aircraft stairs, vs. walking through an enclosed jet bridge.

Introduction to the Welztalbahn: Track Plan Evolution

[ Intro posts ]

I drew many track plans in Xtrkcad for the Welztalbahn, especially in the 9 months before construction started in 2008. The outcome of that is a series of blog posts that led to a train room update when the train room in the garage was actually complete. Note to the self, don't go into detailed planning until exact room dimensions are locked in. Otherwise, you find yourself redoing a good chunk of the plan...

As construction progressed, I made many changes to the plan. Emsingen station probably changed the most from the initial plan. I added a Lokstation with turntable and various freight facilities, and decided to change the freight area after I built it and ran some trains, by rearranging yard and loading tracks. Finally, in 2012 I added a 4th yard track in Emsingen to help smooth the flow during operations.

In the plan from 2008, Talheim has only a couple rudimentary tracks. Over time, and through multiple revisions the track arrangement grew into supporting 4 industries with multiple car spots. With that many cars in and out of Talheim, I needed to extend the run around track, too.

In 2019 the modular expansion of the layout started off by adding another turnout in Emsingen.

Staging remained mostly unchanged over the years. I added a few more staging tracks under Talheim. You can never have too much staging.

I have not gone back and updated the original track plan with what was actually built. As you can see, even today it's a work in progress. Just like in the prototype the layout of tracks in stations and in between is dictated by the operational needs of the railroad. Many of the changes I made were driven by a specific problem or idea I wanted to address. While ready-made tracks plans are nice, it's important to recognize that these plans are driven by the specific needs and desires of the person who drew them. Maybe they are interested in a specific operations scheme. Maybe they are trying to replicate a prototype faithfully, or more likely using selective compression fit the prototype into their available space, with compromises that work for them.

When creating a model railroad, it's important to think about what _you_ want, and what makes _you_ happy. If you are not sure, start with a published plan and find out what works for you. Then change the plan to fit your needs.

Slim Staging: Now Portable

[ Slim Staging posts ]

Well, ... yeah, I have not built the second half of Slim Staging yet. However, I'd like to store the half-finished modules out of the way for a few weeks. So I took the opportunity to make protective end plates for the yard segments with a carrying handle. This is designed to be assembled with no tools. 2" bolts and wing nuts are my default choice for module connections, so they are used here as well.

Let's Go!

Halloween

We had over 150 young and not-so-young trick-or-treaters at our door today. I think that's a new record. The vast majority of kids and parents had put quite some effort into their costumes, so I was more than happy to pass out candy.

Welztalbahn Operations Session 14

I put on an ops session on the Welztalbahn today because Balazs was visiting the Bay Area this weekend, and Dakota is still here. With the extension, and the recent schedule changes, I was really curious whether a session could keep 3 operators busy at a leisurely pace. It did, but the leisure was unevenly distributed. Dakota had his hands full in Emsingen, Balazs was busy in Talheim and running the hidden staging yard, while I mostly took care of trains to the extension in the garage.

With a 1:3 fast clock and a couple times, when the clock was stopped, we completed the whole schedule in slightly over 3 hours.

Along the way we also tried out FREMO-style train announcements to notify neighboring stations about upcoming trains. Of course, on a small layout like the Welztalbahn this is overkill. However, it did extend time, and produced a log of what trains ran where. Definitely created a different operations feeling.

This was a fun evening, I should do this more often ...

Welztalbahn: New schedule for extension

I revised the Welztalbahn schedule to include the extension to Untergroeningen in operations. Since the new staging yard is not ready yet, in this schedule I'm treating the extension as Prechtal, and overall moved a few things around to account for trains having to change direction in Emsingen as they make their way to the "new" Prechtal.

The red numbers indicate which schedule book to use for each run.

Slim Staging: Paint

[ Slim Staging posts ]

Slim Staging got a coat of paint of today, and left the two boxes out to dry and air out. I was lucky that the wind blew only the box without tracks off the saw horses ...

Slim Staging: Wired and Tested

[ Slim Staging posts ]

I have wired and tested the tracks. The next step is to install turnout motors. I'm planning to use RC servos controlled by a Tam Valley Depot QuadLN-S stationary decoder. This decoder has support for programming routes and can drive up to 8 servos. There will be a simple control panel with push buttons that can be mounted on either side of the staging yard.

Slim Staging: Turnout Ladder installed

[ Slim Staging posts ]

I love it when a plan comes together. I went from bare box to installed track this afternoon.

Using Dynaflex 230 silicone caulk, I attached 1/4" cork tiles on top of the box. This stuff holds well, dries clear, and remains flexible. I've used this on the Welztalbahn quite successfully to reduce roadbed noise from rolling trains.

The cork tiles are 12x12 inches so I used the overhang cut-offs for the mainline track to the module edge. I aligned tracks and the Fremo faceplate and glued everything in place. I'm using Dynaflex 230 to tack down the tracks as well.

Using a mirror, I ensure that the track is hitting the module edge at a 90 degree angle. I also lined up the staging yard with Untergroeningen segment 1 to verify alignment. Looking good, and a nice demonstration why I call this yard slim staging...

Finally, I wired and installed the yard tracks. I do want detection in the yard to facilitate automated running at some later time, but I haven't decided yet which detection method I'm going to use. For now I'll just make sure that the yard tracks have dedicated feeds to allow retrofitting detection later.

Slim Staging: Second Box

[ Slim Staging posts ]

The second box of the portable staging yard is slapped together. This is not high-precision work, but it should get the job done. The photo shows the test fit with a standard FREMO F96 faceplate that will be shortened to fit the width of the box.

Slim Staging: A staging yard for the Welztalbahn Extension

[ Slim staging posts ]

The slim staging yard is 10 inches / 25 cm wide and 98 inches / 248 cm long. The 4 tracks are all long enough to comfortably hold a regular length train for the Welztalbahn (130 cm) with room to spare for the occasional extra-long Staging to Staging train. The left hand side will be built with a shortened Fremo-Puko F96 faceplate, so that two of the three standard holes fit the box.

There are two locomotive tracks on the left-hand side. The staging yard will be operated like a terminal station with trains running locomotive first into the storage tracks. Cars will be taken over by a waiting locomotive and form a new outbound train. Once that train has left, the original locomotive will move to the engine track to take over the next train. I'm planning an elevated road crossing the tracks at an angle as a view block separating the layout from staging.

Tonight I tested the track arrangement on the first of the two 4 foot boxes that will make up the yard. There will be protective barriers along the long sides to prevent equipment from falling to the floor. I added a mockup of the road, too.

Welztalbahn: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report for layout extension

Proposed Welztalbahn Extension Phase 1a

Almost 8 months ago, I had submitted a Draft EIR for approval by the local land-use committee. Since then I have built the Untergroeningen modules that make up phase 1 of the draft EIR. Along the way I revised my operations plans towards intensifying traffic through Untergroeningen. This requires more staging capacity behind Untergroeningen. When I had Untergroeningen set up a couple weeks ago, I realized that I could set up a modular staging yard along the front of the garage. If I made that staging yard slim enough, I could still fit 4 tracks and later make it fit into the aisle between the garage cabinets with just under 2 feet to spare. It's tight, but feasible assuming no active staging, and no reblocking of freight trains in staging.

Proposed Welztalbahn Extension Phase 2

The Staging yard is only 25cm wide and equipped with a partial Fremo-Puko faceplate, so that two of the 3 standard alignment holes are usable. There is a separate post with more details about Staging.
The Phase 1a Connector would be a fairly generic box with provisional alignment holes for the Fremo-Puko endplates of Untergroeningen and Staging. It would get only minimal scenery around its generous 60cm radius curve to Staging. Phase 1a requires a revised schedule and revised waybills, which will keep me occupied for a little while, but once complete it is expected to keep at least 3 operators engaged. I can build the Gaildorf/West segments in parallel to running operations sessions on the Phase 1a modules.

Once Gaildorf/West is ready for operations, we enter Phase 2. Connector A will be built with Fremo-Puko face plates, with specific angles to match up the curve between Untergroeningen and Gaildorf/West.  Phase 2 Connector B will be rebuilt from the box used for the Phase 1a Connector with revised track alignment to fit the needs of the location. Due to proximity and back-to-back arrangement of Gaildorf/West and Staging, the curve between the two locations will be very tight. That's unfortunate, but a compromise I'm willing to make for this somewhat temporary arrangement. The advantage here is that all areas on the extension can be accessed without requiring operators to duck under the layout.

As in the original EIR, there isn't much of a run between towns, but that problem will only be resolved with the future Murrbahn project incorporating Gaildorf/West and Untergroeningen.

The End of the Greenly Northern

Today marks the end of the Greenly Northern, my office switching layout. Two of the turnouts used on this N-scale layout became more and more problematic, not throwing all the way, leading to derailments when switching. In addition, the baseboard had warped badly enough that cars started rolling on their own when leaving them on certain tracks.
This layout had a good run. I learned quite a few things with it.

I'm considering building another switching puzzle in N-scale, so I kept various parts and of course the electronics. The rest went into the trash.

Untergroeningen Underground

I wired the Tortoise turnout motors to the local controls for Untergroeningen segments 2 and 3. General wiring was also cleaned up.

And here's a shot of the adapter to the Welztalbahn.  This is not often seen by itself, since usually there's segment 3 in the way.

At Davenport Pier

There are plenty of pretty pictures of the beach at Davenport Pier, including the swing.
I have some, too, but I thought this perspective was a bit more unusual.

Taking Caltrain Home

A team dinner ran later than I expected and I got home rather late today with a smooth ride on Caltrain's Bombardier cars.

Workbench

I spent yesterday and today on turning a 8x4' sheet of flooring plywood into a nice, sturdy workbench.

Dave Parks' Cumberland West - Knobmount Yard

I clearly didn't get enough ops over the weekend. I ran Knobmount Yard at Dave Parks tonight.