The Insane Engineering at Trains and Scones

[Updated per Graham’s corrections]

For about ten Decembers, Graham and Leddy Stokes have hosted a layout visit for the North Shore subdivision of the NMRA. Graham shows off the progress on his trains, and Leddy makes delicious scones, and nobody is sure which is the bigger draw. Anyone with something to show is invited to display it as well. I brought the cattle chutes, on which I’m making some progress, however slow.

Graham’s main project for the year has been what he calls the “Kenny Lift.” This is a big section of cliff face that separates the upper level of his layout from the lower and hides the staging yard behind. It’s eight feet long and covered in plaster, but with cunning counterweights (thanks to Dan MacDougall) he was able to easily slide it up to expose the staging yard behind. It might be the biggest lift-out section I’ve ever seen!

Then on a counter around the corner, I found this work in progress by Dan MacDougall. It is a complete DCC test and programming track tucked into a repurposed poker chip case. The DCC system consists of a Raspberry Pi running JMRI (standing to the left end) and connecting to an Arduino running DCC-EX (below the left-hand screen). The project box on the right provides a rig for testing decoders. Even the keyboard with built-in track ball fits into the case. Dan plans to further refine the setup so everything fits and he can just show up at a friend’s house, plug it in and get straight to programming.

This hobby continues to amaze with the diversity of opportunities it presents, and the innovative solutions modellers can devise. Thanks once again to Graham and Leddy for bringing us all together, feeding us delicious scones, and giving us an opportunity to share and learn from one another.