ROCK 3.0: Progress Report, Electrical Work and Crossing Gate Signals

Last night, I spent some time assisting the Charleston, Roanoke & Eastern's president in some electrical work on his layout.  We re-crimped probably 12 loconet cables (some of the cables were reversed).  They are now all in the "data style".

This morning, I continued work on cleaning the room.  Everything is off the floor now and I'm starting to put stuff away in its rightful place.

I reviewed the track plan and anxiously look forward to laying out cork later this weekend.

After working with Marcus on all his electronics last night, that got me to thinking. To add some excitement to the layout, I plan on adding one set of lighted crossbucks with moving gates.  They are powered by two Tortoise switch machines.  The train will activate them automatically when it crosses over the Infrared (IR) detection.  The girls have always wanted this.  I have two other potential crossings that I might add another set with gates or just the flashing lights.  We'll see how it goes with the one set first.

ROCK 3.0: Progress Report 09.17.13

Nothing earth shattering to report, but I did make a lot of progress cleaning the room.  I was shocked how much I managed to clean.  Trust me, the room was a mess.  To save trips up and down the stairs, I cut lumber in the room.  That makes for a massive clean-up effort.

In other news, I've been looking at some trackside details.  I came across Century Foundry by Showcase Miniatures (from a listing on eBay).  They have some neat details to add to the realism.  I plan on running telephone/power lines on 3.0.

ROCK 3.0: Progress Report 09.16.13

This evening, construction consisted of assembling a Polly Pocket Race Track set for my daughter.  Oh wait, wrong report.

I worked on the layout.  I drilled the holes, ran the bus and loconet wires and installed six throttle jacks.  I began cleaning the room, but quickly realized that the vacuum wasn't working well.  I found another "cat" stuck in the back tube of the vacuum.  Once I cleared the the massive hairball, we were good to go.

Tomorrow, I will start on clean-up duty.  I'm really looking forward to getting the room cleaned up as it hasn't been fully since before layout 1.0 came down.

• Complete OSB table top
• Pre-drill holes in open frame benchwork for bus wires and loconet cable
• Identify and cut the openings for the DCC throttle jacks
• Clean the room and start placing wire shelves under the layout for storage.

ROCK 3.0: Progress Report 09.15.13

Today, I wasn't feeling to great (sinuses and such), but I did manage to complete one item of this week's To Do list.  All the OSB is cut for the benchwork.

• Complete OSB table top
• Pre-drill holes in open frame benchwork for bus wires and loconet cable
• Identify and cut the openings for the DCC throttle jacks
• Clean the room and start placing wire shelves under the layout for storage.

ROCK 3.0: Progress Report 09.14.13

Earlier in the week, I was hoping to work on the layout today to make some serious progress.  Reality served up a different plan.  Although, I'm happy to report that I was able to do a lot in an extremely short period of time.  I was on the run most of the day helping my brother out, attending a 4 hour long birthday party for my daughter's friend (that was painful), but I had a few short 20-30 minute breaks.

I took this time to cut the OSB table top for the open grid benchwork.  I have all the pieces cut except for one 18" by 7.5' section.  Hopefully, I can get the last section cut tomorrow.

I'm not installing them yet, as I need to cut out sections for the creek and any other scenery features I choose to highlight.   I will need to lay out the track first before I can do that.

I did spend some time with my wife discussing options for the room including lighting, placing of frame railroad photos/artwork, placement and design of the family craft table/workbench and displaying various railroad memorabilia.  I believe we have a great plan.

Immediate Future Goals:

• Complete OSB table top
• Pre-drill holes in open frame benchwork for bus wires and loconet cable
• Identify and cut the openings for the DCC throttle jacks
• Clean the room and start placing wire shelves under the layout for storage.

If I could finish this all up within the next week, I would be very happy.

ROCK 3.0 - Progress Report 09.13.13

This evening, I completed the 1x4 frame benchwork for the layout.  I also laid up two sheets of plywood and marked them for trimming.  Tomorrow morning, I will cut before I go to work.

ROCK 3.0: Progress Report 09.11.13

Tuesday morning, I started on the ROCK 3.0.  I left the 16" deep section along the right wall in place.  I cut and installed an eight foot long 18" deep framework along the back wall.

This morning, I installed the remaining section along the back wall completing wall two of three.

This evening, due to an unexpected opening in our schedule, I was able to cut and install another 8 ft long section for the left wall.  I have a six foot section to build on the left wall to complete the open grid benchwork.

All the legs are temporary for now until I figure out exactly where I want to place them.

Here are some pics of the progress (and the mess).

My daughter sees the new benchwork as an outlet for her creative juices. 

I love it!

Tonight, I was watching a NOVA special on 9/11 on PBS.  I clearly remember that day's events as most Americans do.  It really hits home and makes me visibly emotional when I saw the names listed at the 9/11 memorial on TV.  God rest those souls and peace for their families.