Bernhards Random Ramblings BACKUP

[ Kurve posts ] I mentioned yesterday that I'm reusing old track for this project. That includes the turnout which was involved in some surgery several years ago . Then I needed the turnout to be shorter. Now I needed it to be longer. The solution was to cut away more of the turnout ties, and modify a piece of flex track to fit. The Dremel got quite a workout here until everything fit together. It's not perfect, but good enough for now. Operations with real trains will show if I need to put more work into this. All the track planned for this module is spiked down. I do have to find a bumper for the sawmill spur on the right. All the wiring is done, too. Almost ready for Phase 1 to be operational.

[ Kurve posts ] Today I turned my attention back to Kurve. I continued arranging track on the transition segment I started yesterday , and connected the segment to the larger box. Kurve is a fairly large module. The extension segment is removable, so that it fits under the Welztalbahn for storage. I continued to lay out the curve towards the Untergroeningen side and cut the curve piece I removed from the Welztalbahn last April  so that the turnout comes off the curve at an angle that allows a gentle counter-curve to the edge. Except for the three 2241 curves I'm reusing track from other projects. The roadbed is installed and painted. I'm done for tonight.

[ Slim Staging posts ] I glued the servo mounts under the yard throat and aligned the servos to their respective throws. Next up was aligning the track at the Fremo-Puko modular faceplate to the Kurve module which doesn't have a laser-cut faceplate. I turned Slim Staging around, and started laying track. Done. The two outer tracks have just under 60 inches usable length. The two inner tracks even 65 inches, which is well beyond the ruling Welztalbahn train length of 45 inches. I finished wiring power for the tracks in the morning.

Hanging out on the coast at Point Lobos. There were tons of people here and we didn't stay long, but the view was worth the hassle. We finished the day at Carmel River State Beach.

I'm using Micro RC-Servos for turnout control in Slim Staging.  The hook reaches into the Maerklin throwbar from underneath the layout. This technique does not require any modifications to the turnout. The servo is screwed to a wooden base which I will glue under the module. This allows me to replace the servo if needed, hopefully without much realignment work. I'm considering using the same approach for Gaildorf/West, hence this is my experimental setup before I splurge on the electronics for the much larger station. A little while later I had fabricated the needed turnout throws. The zig-zag is important for small adjustments of length and to protect the turnout throw if the servo ever loses its programming. I connected the power module and test drove a servo with the Tam Valley Depot QuadLN_S decoder. The Remote Aligner is really neat, even though it's overkill for this use case. I'm thinking about building a small control panel for the yard including route control t...

... and a Happy New Year. This year I started on a substantial modular adventure , extending the Welztalbahn into the garage . I'm following the Draft FREMO Puko module standard , converted Peco turnouts for use with Maerklin rolling stock, and started building a length-compressed rendition of Untergroeningen station . I did more research into freight operations at Deutsche Bundesbahn in the 1970's and gave a talk at Eurowest. Of course, I also participated in operations sessions at Silicon Valley Lines , La Mesa , Cumberland West , and in Germany . A busy year.

Und ich wandre aus den Mauern Bis hinaus in’s freie Feld, Hehres Glänzen, heil’ges Schauern! Wie so weit und still die Welt! -  Joseph von Eichendorff  

[ Kurve posts ] Kurve: Scenery outline When I planned the arrangement in the garage, module "Kurve" was intended as a temporary filler module that would eventually be thrown out and halfway through its lifetime would even see a substantial reconfiguration. Hence I planned to keep it flat, maybe paint it brown and call it a day. However -- as usual -- once the module existed and I connected it to the Untergroeningen module my brain brought earlier thoughts back to the surface. Which areas of the module would be untouched during the reconfiguration? Can I do something "interesting" with the extra space I created by accident? Do I really need to keep this a straight track and a curve as in the plan? ... Can I arrange tracks so that the module fits both locations, and reconfiguration becomes unnecessary? Since it is still a throw-away module what new techniques can I try with it? After an hour moving tracks around on the module and playing with the track planning soft...

[ Kurve posts ] For Phase 1 of the Welztalbahn extension, the plan includes a fairly large module that spans the work table in the garage and connects Untergroeningen to the Staging Yard module along the garage door. In Phase 2, after Gaildorf/West station exists, the module would be moved and rebuilt to connect Gaildorf/West to the Staging Yard. I'm calling this large module "Kurve" (curve). I had cut the plywood for the module in October  when I started building Slim Staging  and built most of the box yesterday. Unfortunately, the sides had warped and it took some effort to align them into their respective proper place. The box needs legs, so I built pockets that allow clamping a leg at any height within a range of about 2 inches. I also added height adjustable feet to the legs, just in case. As always, the idea is to make adjustments without tools as much as possible. I'm using bolts and wing nuts to hold everything in place. The leg pockets are a bit longer tha...

A very nice report about a FREMO meet in St. Valentin, Austria, celebrating 10 years of FREMO-E. A modular arrangement with 400 meters of mainline with catenary (!)

I received some original paperwork that came off a freight car numbered 841 3032-9 in Berlin-Lichterfelde West in the summer of 1980. According to the number range table in Stefan Carstens' book "Gueterwagen Band 1", car number 841 3 032-9 is UIC type Ichs377. It's an insulated refrigerator car (I), with meat hooks (c), heavy insulation (h), and permitted to run at speeds of up to 100 km/h (s). Deutsche Bundesbahn apparently had 29 of these cars. According to "Gueterwagen Band 2", these cars were introduced in 1956 as German class Tmehs50 with electrical heating and steam heating for use in passenger trains. In 1968, the cars were relabeled to UIC class Ichqrs377. Later, the heating connections -- (q)=electrical, (r)=steam -- were removed, and the cars became class Ichs377. The last cars went out of service in 1985. This was a common car in the 60's and 70's for transporting goods that needed to be kept frozen. I have a couple of these cars in servi...

An den Fenstern haben Frauen buntes Spielzeug fromm geschmückt, Tausend Kindlein stehn und schauen, sind so wunderstill beglückt. - Joseph von Eichendorff

I got to the airport a bit early and hung out in the quite comfy living room style waiting area at Paine Field. As is appropriate for the time of year, it has been raining pretty much all day. The inbound flight for AS2742 is 20 minutes delayed. Let's see how quickly they'll turn it around and get us going towards SJC. Looks like we'll be almost on time by the time we get to California.

My hotel room has an excellent view of the transit hub in downtown Kirkland. Sadly, only busses stop here.

I've been visiting Kirkland for business on and off for close to 15 years now. A stop at Eastside Trains is on the schedule if I could manage.

Let's try Everett Paine Field for a change for this trip to the Seattle area. Due to overcast skies there was some really weird light over Seattle during the approach to Paine Field. Mukilteo from above with the ferry to Whidbey Island, the BNSF mainline to Vancouver, the Sounder station next to the under construction new ferry terminal, some airplane parts freight cars on the siding at the station, and the curve to the steep incline leading up to the Boeing factory at Paine Field. For safety, the tracks to Boeing require locomotives specially equipped for operating on steep grades. As far as I remember, at least an additional independent brake system. Arrival at gate 2, one of the two gates at Everett airport. What a cute and comfortable airport terminal.

I'm trying out something different: Building a car kit. This is Bowser #60205, 70 ton wood chip hopper with extension. This is an easy build out of the box, and it comes with metal wheels and knuckle couplers. I'm considering replacing the molded ladders with finer metal wire, and then apply some weathering.

Markt und Straßen stehn verlassen, Still erleuchtet jedes Haus, Sinnend geh’ ich durch die Gassen, Alles sieht so festlich aus. - Joseph von Eichendorff

I built a case for my KPF Zeller roller stand earlier this year  from 5mm MDF. Today I added miniature hinges, clasps, and a carrying handle so that I can store the roller stand away from my work bench when it's not in use.