Thoughts on the Staging Turntable

A turntable at the end of the staging yard will enable me to simulate the action of the Y at Golden Lake. The mixed train will break apart there, replacing outbound with inbound cars, and the engine will turn, before coming “back up the branch.” We will have to fiddle or switch the daily passenger […]

Pembroke:87.1 – A Stretch Too Far

The deadline for accepting the invitation to RAMMA next year is coming up at the end of October. So, I spent the weekend researching the travel, and thinking about all the other commitments we have in the year ahead. Finally, I decided that 2015 is not the year for us to travel to Europe. I […]

Track Planning in the Large

After we’d finished with the check rails for the staging yard last night, Andrew and I got out some paper and tried fitting templates around for the portable version. Bottom line: we think a 2×4 foot module is viable for the plan that I have in mind. So, now, I’m wondering if Prof Klyzlr was […]

I’d Like to Call a Friend

Work on the staging yard stalled for a couple of weeks. I got all the points installed almost two weeks ago, and then crickets. Well, it wasn’t actually stalled so much as waiting. In this case, I was waiting because I wanted Andrew to come and install all the guard rails. Of course, I could […]

Shapeways Turnout Control

Well, I finally gave up on Mitch’s FDM printer and went back to Shapeways. I tried a couple of different designs on the FDM printer, but they all came off the bed. Mitch has loads of success printing quad-copter parts, but they are substantially less complicated than what I am trying to produce. After the […]

Track Plans for Pembroke:87.1

I had a minor trampoline injury on Sunday evening, and so, I didn’t feel up to building anything. I used the time to dream about possible track plans for a display layout for RAMMA. As you can see, I started with the prototype, of course. This came from a diagram that is a little later […]

Force Majeure!

My kids like to play Zombie Apocalypse on the front lawn. I thought it was just them shooting imaginary zombies with imaginary guns. However, today Canada Post tried to deliver a turnout control from Shapeways, and must have run full-tilt into the apocalypse:

Staging point throw bars

Tonight, I finished all the staging point throw bars. This followed the same springing scheme I explored with a proof of concept a couple of weeks ago. As I was finishing the last one, I thought to myself that not only was I in danger of almost knowing what I was doing, but that perhaps […]

Thoughts on Shipping

The RAMMA thought experiment continues. If I were to construct a micro-layout for the show in Sedan next fall, how would I get it there safely? The Rexroth option, while interesting, sounds awfully expensive to me. Also, I would still need something on the sides to protect the layout. Then, looking at some other foamcore-based […]

Staging Yard Closure Rails

Last night we completed the closure rails in the staging yard. Also, Andrew prepared all the springs and throw bars for the switches. Tonight, I prepared the remaining points, ready for soldering up tomorrow or on the weekend. It was a good point to clean up and take a quick photo.