Bernhards Random Ramblings BACKUP

[ Emsingen posts ] After matching the existing ground cover in Emsingen yard to the freight tracks I did yesterday , I spent quite a while today cleaning up the layout room and getting ready for cataloging the remaining freight cars for the new car card system. An intentional side-effect of the cleanup is that I can get to the underside of the layout again, and install the wiring for the new platform lights.

[ Emsingen posts ] The lights are on the layout. Since the platforms are made from styrofoam, I made mounting holes from 1/8" styrene tubes. I would have preferred brass tubes, but didn't have any in the right size in stock. The tubes are glued to the subroadbed and the platform. The lights are sitting loose in the tubes. It was still a bit early, so I proceeded to work on ground cover between the tracks. This is very fine, dark brown sand with a very pleasing color that nicely captures the look I was after. Here and there I added a bit from sand used for the platforms, as well as some weeds. In the early 70's this active freight area would have been reasonably well-maintained, so the main areas should be mostly devoid of weeds. A nice side-effect of using a different ballast color for the main track, with the darker sand as background, the main track now really pops. One even gets the impression that the yard tracks are lower in the ground.

[ Emsingen posts ] I really like the ring light ("Ringleuchte") lamps for stations that have not had their lighting upgraded to modern lamps, so I decided a couple years ago that Emsingen will get ring lights, while Talheim station will have upgraded platform lights. I selected Brawa Nr. 5504 for Emsingen. However, what the catalog picture doesn't show you is the black wire from the lamp body to the top of the brass mast as shown above on the right. This completely destroys the effect of the ring holding the lamp. I replaced the black wire with thin magnet wire as shown above on the left, which in my opinion looks much better than the lamp out-of-the box. Das Katalogfoto der Brawa Nr. 5504 Ringleuchte zeigt leider nicht das duenne schwarze Kabel von Birne zum Lampenmast (siehe Bild oben rechts). Ich habe meine Lampen mit feinem Spulendraht umgebaut. Das Ergebnis ist im Bild oben links. Here's how I'm converting the lamps. 1) I start by cutting off the black wire...

[ Emsingen posts ] All tracks in Emsingen are now ballasted with exception of the curve around the railroad crossing, which is on the project wait list. Time to go to bed while the glue dries.

[ Emsingen posts ] I put the tower back and the mess doesn't look quite as messy anymore. I'll hold off on the Gruppenablenkung for now. A thin coat of watered down matte black gives the right base for final colors later.

[ Emsingen posts ] Maerklin K-track turnouts have an unusual mechanism to move the points. The mechanism is located halfway up the turnout and moves the points using a flexible lever. The advantage of this approach is that the points will snap back into place if a train fouls the turnout. The disadvantage is that turnout throw and lights are at the completely wrong place. Thus, detailing Maerklin turnouts with fine Weinert parts for mechanical interlockings (Nr. 7208) is somewhat an oxymoron. Nevertheless, I'd like to try. The wire loop from the tower arrives through ducts from the right entering the main mechanism.  I'm adding a turnout throw closer to the tip of the points and "drive" it from the main mechanism, i.e. the main mechanism is where certain turnouts on the prototype might have a center lock ("Klammermittelverschluss") and the look is reverse from what it normally should be. A workable compromise for now. I built enough of the remote throws in ...

After enjoying a very nice walk in the foothills in south San Jose, we had more German Christmas goodies. For dinner the family tradition called for baked ham and cheese in pastry with Knuddel's herring salad. Followed by games and fun. All in all a great Christmas Day.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we had a bench in the entryway? Maybe with a somewhat rustic look? I saw some on the antique market in Watsonville, but didn't quite like what they had."  --- Beautiful wife a few weeks ago. Mission accepted. Sadly she also mentioned there are many vendors at that antique market and she didn't remember the stall or the name of the vendor that had the stuff she liked. Alright, time for Plan B: If you can't buy it, you make it. I have "vast" wood-working experience (a train layout and a coffee table ), how hard could it possibly be to build this: A frame. 3 pullouts for shoes. Some nice finish. Shouldn't take me more than 2 days. ... Hah! Obviously, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Last week I got a sheet of 3/4" plywood, decided to stop messing with the computer model, instead just used a hand-drawn sketch, and went to work with the portable circular saw. The cuts were even fairly straight. Once the workbe...

As in most recent years, the kids took care of decorating the tree, while the parents provided logistical and some moral support. It all came together nicely.

Huh! The tree didn't look this tall when we cut it at the tree farm. However, the one  5 years ago was taller. There are times when you are thankful for 14ft ceilings.

A layout surface is just such a convenient place to put tools and supplies. Even when it's already partially finished.

[ Emsingen posts ] On the  Welztalbahn I picked up from where I left of in November. Today's project was rebuilding the platform for track 1 in front of the station building. I removed the old plaster / sand cover and fitted a sheet of Evergreen tiles instead. A fun part of this section is fitting and building the crossing to the track 2 platform, as well as working around the turnout lever. I spray painted the styrene sheet with Tamiya Primer, which to my surprise turned out a bit darker than before. Some weathering should help hide the difference. I started building the platform edge replicating the original method used in Emsingen five years ago. Next I added to the foundation of the shed just kept going all the way over to the railroad crossing hiding away the edge of the city segment. Both the station segment and the city segment remain removable, though it will be a somewhat of a pain to take either one out.