Monk Subdivision - Fine Tuning the Tracks

The loop of track is in place; it is wired and functional. The first train even made the inaugural run. What’s next?

The first train to ever complete the loop

That’s a good question. Part of me is wanting to dive direct into scenery but it cannot be done yet until running has been assessed. Until I can prove a large 2-10-2 or 4-8-4 steamer, a 16-car long passenger train or a 35-car freight train can navigate safely and reliably over the layout, it would be foolish to ballast the track.

Inaugurating the staging with a proper mixed train

Several key issues have been identified, including the following:

1) Superelevation is neat but it doesn’t like to start after a turnout. I haven’t experimented that much with it, but I reckon that you need at least 12 inch of flat track on both sides of a turnout. This is the only way to make sure locomotives with long rigid wheelbase can navigate them without derailing. In this case, my BLI ATSF 4-8-4 with its huge drivers is a perfect candidate for testing.

Vertical transition and patchwork of track near a turnout isn't a good idea

2) Superelevation on very broad curves add very little. In this specific case, I’m talking about the broad curve at Langlois station, in front of the feed mill. I made the superelevation half what it is elsewhere, but it still look silly. The reason is simple; this is a switching spot and having your freight train partially tilted doesn’t look good. It just looks like poorly laid track which induced unwarranted tilt. Also, that curve is so broad I gain virtually nothing from that superelevation. It's not high on the priority list, but it may be "improved" in the near future.

3) Superelevation on very sharp curves looks silly. This is the case of the 28” radius curve leading to the staging right of Armagh. For some reason, the trains look far too much tilted on this curve, as if they were going to fall. Visually, it’s not pleasing at all and mechanically, it induces the aforementioned issue with transitioning with the turnout. While superelevation is desirable, I think it should be half what it is there.

This superelevation may be reduces... maybe not

4) At the culvert, between Langlois and Armagh, there is a slight grade. Nothing major, but it’s there. Visually, it had a little bit of interest because in real life, there was a grade there. The issue is the grade isn’t constant vertically, which induce some optical effects that don’t look good. I will need to rework my risers there.

The plywood creates a sounding board and must go

5) The next issue is linked to the previous one. I used plywood to create a flat surface at the river level for the culvert, then screwed the risers on it. This created a dreaded soundboard. When trains run over that section, a very loud noise is unheard, which is really bursting the suspension of disbelief. I will need to remove that plywood as much as possible and rethink the way risers are fixed. Not at easy task, but a necessary one.

6) Elsewhere, the tape I used for superelevation isn’t always perfectly located under the ties. This variation causes trains to wobble a little, which is unsightly. The same also happens here and there because nailed track is not always perfectly laying flat on the cork. When ballasting, there is a risk of gravel going under the lifted ties and making these deformations permanent. Tracks will need to be secured with latex caulk before adding scenery.

7) The staging yard lift bridge is sitting a little bit higher than the yard, which created a substantial height difference at rail head. This is a likely source of future derailments. My idea is to either rise the yard tracks or find a way to lower the bridge. It is my suspicion that the later is probably easier and won’t add further vertical deformation along the route.

This is almost 1mm vertical difference between the layout and bridge!

8) Team tracks and sidings in real life often sit lower than the mainline and I wonder if I should implement that everywhere on the layout. It is visually interesting, but that vertical transition could create issues at the double ended team track in Armagh. I can already imagine a lot of running issues raising from such an aesthetic choice. It can work at Langlois station, but I am more doubtful at Armagh. Had the track been 10 feet long, it wouldn’t be an issue, but when shorter, it becomes a roller coaster of poor decisions.

9) Finally, I need to test if all the staging tracks have a good geometry that works well with long trains. Lots of curves there which will inevitably reduce the pulling power of locomotives. Also, I need to identify which ones are best for passenger trains or large steam locomotives.

Nothing beats the feeling of a train running freely around the room

As you can see, there is a lot of things to figure out but I feel like brushing them away would be the perfect recipe to be disenchanted with the layout. Poor track always leads to frustration and untimely death of a beloved project.

So I guess I have still a lot of work cut for me!

Monk Subdivision - Sherlock Holmes and The Short

Yesterday, Jérôme paid a visit to the layout to run some trains… if we could troubleshoot the short circuit plaguing it. The first hour was spent trying to find out if there was something wrong with the wiring. Could some of the feeders or bus wires be inverted somewhere? Well, we did find two problematic feeders that needed to be moved around, but the problem persisted.

Next, we moved our attention to the staging yard control panel since we got short indication. However, when disconnected from the layout, it was perfectly fine. Using a multimeter, we investigated two Peco curved turnouts. They were electrofrog and could have been insulated incorrectly. Alas, they were fine… I even went so far as removing one, just in case. 

Then Jérôme started to probe the screw connectors. Most of them were shorted, which meant something wrong was going on with the tracks. Pushing forward the investigation, our attention turned to the staging yard lift bridge. Even when disconnected, we got shorts on a few tracks. This would became the focus of our attention.

The problematic situation as discovered

After a while, an idea crossed my mind. Could the soldered PC board ties used at the ends of the bridge be the issue? Well, it was. At first, we suspected solder bridging the gap in the copper foil, but it wasn’t the case. Then, the real problem reared its ugly head. The PC board ties are secured in place with two nails at each end. While the copper foil is notched on top to prevent shorts, the plating under it is continuous. When you drive a metal nail through the tie, it bridges both copper layers, creating short. 

Our solution was to add an insulating notch on top

The solution was easy and I simply removed some copper at one end so the nail could no longer be electrified. In hindsight, I should have notched the copper plating underneat each tie. Once you know the issue, it is extremely easy to remedy, but tracking it took several evenings, and finally two brains. Since I’m not that proficient with electricity, I was suspecting my wiring was wrong, but couldn’t figure out the mistakes. It would have been hard to think the PC board ties were the main issue… or should I say, my way to secure them.

A notch should be made in the bottom copper plating first

With this problem figured out and troubleshooted, I can now complete the basic wiring and start to improve track geometry. I can still see a few things that bother me, including superelevation at turnouts, running noise over plywood and some vertical alignment issues here and there. If I was running only diesel locomotives, I wouldn’t care that much about it. However, large wheelbase steamers don’t like it.

Monk Subdivision - Running Trains! Or Almost...

My posting rate isn't that stellar due to a simple reason. Is wiring really an interesting topic?

A week ago, the long weekend was an excellent occasion to get immersed with the layout work and try to make things happen, which means to be able to run a full train all around the room. On Friday, I was able to finish the laying the main staging track until I ran out of track. Then, the next day, a few other sidings by purchasing some remaining track stock at BV Hobby. I didn't expect running low of track and joiners, but sure I did and I scavenged everything I could to make the project progress waiting to gather everything I need to finish my work.

A classic 1970s MLW CN consist over Abénaki Bridge

To celebrate that milestone, a prototypical 1970s CN Monk Subdivision diesel consist was assembled, with two Bowser Big Alco and one RS18. It truly made the concept shine though it was too soon to run around the staging track since it wasn't wired yet.

And since then, my life has been all about wiring track, soldering feeders and running bus wires under the layout. I'm using screw terminal blocks with connectors. It gives a more professional look while being much easier to work with and move around. I know I have already some trouble shooting ahead of me and not having to unsolder everything will be quite helpful.

This sums up my modelling life since two weeks

To be honest, I have a big picture of how wiring should work for the layout, but I'm kind of figuring it out directly under the layout. My approach is simply to do small sections according to my operating logic and come back the next day to extend it.

I also have been working on a control panel for the staging yard. The concept is to have each staging track fed individually and controlled by a switch to turn it on or off. I have many reasons to implement that system. First, I don't want all train loco running for no reason, particularly with DCC and sound. Second, I'm using my NCE Pro Cab DCC system which isn't designed to handle a dozen of locos under power. Thus, I figured out the best thing would be to store a train after it had made its appearance, shut the track off, turn on another track and run another train. This is also a way to reduce the risk of runaway trains in a room I'm rarely standing in it.

Ugly but efficient, I like the feel of old metal toggle switches

The panel is simply a scrap piece remaining from the 4' x 8' project. It may be replaced in the future by something more aesthetically pleasing, but right now, it is doing its job nicely.

I also implemented another safety device for the staging yard lift bridge. With a single micro switch, it controls the common bus wire directly from the source. If the bridge is open, all tracks in the staging yards are without electricity. I didn't want to only cut off some short sections before the bridge. My reason being that I'm not always standing in the staging yard and can't really see what is happening. On the main layout, everything is easy to monitor and the bridge there can be left opened without stopping operation if in "switching layout" mode and not running the entire loop.

The temporary train control station at Armagh

I've yet to see how much time will be required to finish up the layout, but it's progressing at a steady pace. I would love to see trains in action soon, but time will tell... and may need much more wire than I anticipated and some troubleshooting will require my attention. I also ran out of wire only to find out it is no longer available. If you have been following copper wire costs lately, I can confirm that the type of wire I uses has almost doubled price since 2024. My answer to that was simply to install more terminal blocks and plan better my feeder location. That way, I have been able to reclaim enough 18 AWG wire to make all the feeders I need for the staging yard. It will only be required to purchase some bus wire later on.

Monk Subdivision - Completing the Draw Bridge

First official train over Abenaki river bridge!

It seems the new schedule is bearing its fruits. Over the last few days, I have been able to lay all the track on the scenic portion of the layout and complete the basic wiring. It could have been a daunting task, but working little by little each days brought excellent results and made it possible to trouble shoot issues along the way.

Installing a locking device was high on my list...

However, as I often mentioned, this project isn't quite linear and I am constantly revisiting things done before to improve them. One of these is the draw bridge which required an extensive rebuild after the tragic incident earlier this summer. The first order was to find a way to secure the bridge when opened and after designing several complicated locking systems, I simply used a standard window hook which took less than a minute to install and provided the most intuitive and safe system I could wish for.

A simple hook was more than enough for that purpose

It was then time to rethink the wiring issues before laying track. My initial idea used electrical dowels by DCC Concepts but they had two major flaws. The first one is self explanatory and is linked to the fact these dowels are designed to fit together in a linear fashion. You push them together. However, with the draw bridge rotating motion, they never perfectly aligned and you could feel a strong force between them. Surface scratches showed how bad that non linear motion was grinding the metal and could ruin the connections in the not so long run.

The second issue was temperature and moisture variation. The dowels tight tolerance made them prone to misalignment, more tear and poor electrical contact. It was already happening... a single expansion of 1 mm made it impossible to lay the bridge flat and level with the layout. So, it was not a good option from the start and I had to find a way that could take into account the motion and the dimensional variation.

Microswitches provide a more reliable mean of electric control

I decided that the draw bridge tracks would be permanently wired to the layout bus wires. Open or not, it didn't make a difference if it was continuously powered. The real sections requiring a power cutoff were the approach tracks on each side of the layout. To control these, I installed micro switches salvaged from a pair of Bullfrog turnout controls on the feeder wired of both insulated track sections. One on each side and activated when the closed bridge reach its final destination. If the bridge slightly contract or expanded, it has no impact on the contact with the switch, making it an ideal solution. 

Latex caulk applied to the bridge piles

The wiring was also rerouted inside the draw bridge to make maintenance and troubleshooting easier than wires buried in scenery. New access holes were cut for that purpose and I tried to keep it neat and clean.

No need for a complicated solution here...

I then proceeded to glue the steel deck bridge on the concrete piles using latex caulk. So water on an old brush was useful to clean up the mess. Only some touch ups will be required to weather these spots. The rest of the track was laid, wired and testes. And yes, it worked on the first try, which was more than I could ask for.

The completed bridge sitting in place

I had the pleasure to run the first train over it and it was gorgeous. Having the bridge on a diagonal line was the best decision I could make since it really create a dramatic vision when the trains are running over it. So far so good and it really is a motivating factor to finally see trains running over the entirely of Monk Subdivision after too many years of procrastination.

I won't regret that sweeping curve at all!

The staging isn't complete yet, but it's only a matter of connecting 6 feet of track, wiring it and installing a similar system of microswitch on the other draw bridge. Once all this is done, it will be time to address the few track geometry issues here and there to ensure perfect and smooth running of all locomotives, including the pesky big steamers. Had to order some extra track to finish the sidings and add a few staging tracks. As I said, I recycled a lot of old track, but I may need to replace a few damaged sections and rework some transitions where I added superelevation.

I can already say it will be a favourite scene of mine

Monk Subdivision - Laying Track & Summer Vacation

Progress has been slow but steady on the Monk Subdivision this summer due to a long road trip on Quebec North Shore, Manicouagan, Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Some real classic trains were witnessed without being scheduled into the program, which made it a nice serendipitous discovery. More on that in a future post.

Otherwise, I have adopted a 1-hour per day work schedule. It's long enough to progress while keeping my mind sharp and not compromising on quality. No idea about when I will complete the entire loop, but I'm far enough that I can run a train from Armagh to Langlois.

As a matter of saving some money and not encouraging overconsumption in my hobby, I've been reusing old Peco track from the previous layouts. Some had been painted, none ballasted. Good sections are reused, bad ones discarded. It's all about ensuring a smooth and reliable geometry for mechanical and aesthetical enjoyment of trains.

I'm working slowly, but steadily, following that old army motto of "slow is fast". As an example, I used masking tape to implement superelevation in my curves. That tape is a little bit unreliable when you stretch it around curved lines. Some was simply ungluing itself due to tension in the tape. My trick is now to lay it in place and cut it later with my hobby knife at 3-4 inches intervals. It removes all the tension and makes sure things stay in place.

Day by day, the loop is closing

It's a little bit weird to speak about so little progress, but at the same way, it demonstrates another point. I generally considered these steps to be technical hurdles to overcome as far as possible to reach the real hobby (paint, ballast, scenery, structures, etc.). With the slower pace I implemented in my life and the reduction of useless time spent online, these less savory steps are now the hobby itself. Laying track carefully is a mind soothing process and an exercise in precision. There is joy in doing that just for the sake of doing it.

Also, having finally discarded a lot of my big dreams - or should I say, delusions - it's much easier to reach to the basics that counts. I'm no longer focussing in laying all the tracks or wiring in one go, having the staging yard figured out right now is basically irrelevant, even the sidings are. As long as that loop of track is built in such a way it can be refined, expanded and modified, the main goal is reached. The rest is just gravy when the current steps will be done.

A small train is enough to give it life...

I used to be extremely nervous about having it all figured out with the layout, down to the type of screws holding the fascia in place. It's all irrelevant. It led to two undesirable outcomes: the accumulation of a lot of stuff thought to be required to "build the layout and motivate me" and worst, the loss of motivation when the proof of concept was going to far. Over the years, I have found out that projects I plan in minute details reach that point where my mind has built the thing in virtual in my mind. It has been figured out and made "real". Under such circumstances, building the real life layout is just a repetition of what happened on paper and in my head. No challenges, no fun, nothing... It's just a sterile repetition. On the other hand, if the planning process gets the basics done but don't go to deep into the details, my brain still has many motivating problem solving opportunities to keep interest high.

At this point in my life, I'd rather build than dream. Monk Subdivision proved me since early this year that making mistakes in that hobby isn't the end of everything and it's generally a matter of spending one evening correcting the situation.

I can't promise when trains will run on that loop, but I'm already having my fun making my mock passenger train longer and longer as flextrack is added everyday!

Monk Subdivision - More Roadbed

 As I reassemble the splines in a slightly improved location, I have to make a few adjustments. The original splines were built when, for a short while, I envisioned to have the station in the foreground and the team track in the background for visual interest. It was a fascinating idea, but I left it alone because the foreground buildings would be a real nuisance during operation, having the team track far away behind the traffic was not optimal and the most intricate facades of the each structure would be invisible, which would be... self defeating.

This change of plan means that the outer left curve in Armagh (West) was build with some compromises due to being a passing track but the inner curve was the right radius. I cut the spline where both the main and passing track had constant radius to remove the discrepancy. To save on material, I cut away the funky old passing track easement to the turnout and only kept the inner portion that had the right 42" radius with a large sweeping easement to the turnout.

On the right corner (East), it was just a matter of matching splines

That salvaged piece of spline was then reattached to the outer track, making a beautiful constant 42" radius for the mainline, which was always the goal.

In the station area, the old splines fit perfectly

I could have saved myself some troubles and relaid the splines from scratch, but that would have meant to buy another sheet of MDF, rip it into strips and build a new series of splines. The recycling option was interesting in the measure I got my desired radius without compromising on the geometry. If such a compromise would have been required, I would have built new from the ground. Track geometry is the place where half-baked efforts and cheapskate strategies never pay of.

Swapping the outer spline for the inner spline in the right corner

Monk Subdivision - Reinstalling the Roadbed

After rebuilding the bridge and adjusting it a bit, it was time to finally reinstall the roadbed aka the splines. I had carefully cut them in sections for storage a year ago to make it easier to rebuild the layout. Unfortunately, I recalled I had buil them according to a different track geometry. 2 years ago, I had in mind to have the station in the foreground and the passing track near the backdrop. However, plans have reverted back to having the depot facing people in the aisle.

A mockup always help to raise your spirit!

It shouldn't take too much work to adapt the splines since the curve radii are corrects. However, I still had to build from scratch the pesky S-curve entering the staging after Lake Therrien. This is probably the most tricky area of the layout. Since I want to run passenger cars and large steamers, I have no choice but make sure the straight transition is over 13 inches and that my curves all have a generous easement.

The track leaving the staging is a 28" radius. I wish I could use a large one, but there is a limit to what can be achieved with the staging. With this tight geometry, not mistakes can be made. So, instead of build the spline right on the layout with a part inserted into the wall and no way to really figure out the radius, I decided to draw a perfect template on a sheet on plywood, drive locating nails at regular intervals and use that as a tool to build the MDF spline. When done, I installed it temporarily and checked the alignment using Kato Unitrack curved tracks. Mind you, I was less than 1/4" out of alignment in the staging room, meaning it was well within building tolerances.

Gluing some cork before installation

Before installing the spline, I glued some cork at the end to ensure I could align the roadbed with the fiberboard in the staging. Installing the spline was a child's play, using some cardboard template to make sure the alignment was perfect.

Installed and ready to glue

All in all, this step proved to be much easier than anticipated, which was a great relief. But it also made me think about the future of the layout, my level of energy and my desire to run trains in a smooth and simpler fashion.

Reverting back to a saner and simpler staging concept

At the end of the day, my philosophy has been rehashed and tested again and again in this blog. Vince Valley just cemented my hatred of complicated wiring, how this stuff can take all the joy from the room. It also thought me the chances I will operated complicated scheduled trains are very scarce. For that reason, I removed the complicated crossover that made it possible to reverse trains. Sure, it was excellent on paper, but execution was complicated, made DCC and DC use incompatible and was a source of derailment even in the best conditions. I decided to reduce the number of available tracks, get rid of the troublesome curved turnout and have a nice and simple staging yard. Sure, trains won't be reverse, but I also have enough loco and rolling stock to stage enough trains in both directions to be happy. Wiring will be simpler and if I ever decided to do some automation, things will be far more user friendly.

Monk Subdivision - Bridge Collapse

While installing the last piece of backdrop this evening, I shut the door off while cutting a piece of MDF in the workshop. I heard the distinct noise of a wood stick falling on the concrete floor. My brain immediately knew what it meant. I may have missed the loud noise made by it due to my ear protectors, but only ONE stick could have produced that highly recognizable noise. It was the lift bridge that collapsed after the retaining stick had fallen due to vibration.

For a few weeks, I wanted to make a stick with anti-slip rubber ends before building a proper stopping mechanism. I failed to implement it for various trivial reason and there, the bridge was down. Given the falling height and the bridge weight, I knew the damage would be substantial.

The lip shattered and took away the spline and abutment with it

The lip exploded, including the bridge abutment and the piece of spline glued to it, shattering wood under the stress of screws. On the hinges side, their wooden support unglued themselves while the 3/4 inch plywood forming the structure splintered like cardboard. The bridge itself was no longer horizontal, but sank down noticeably and the backdrop jammed itself on the rest of the layout. It was a mess.

I must have been quite tired because I calmly assessed the situation and started to dismantle the hinges to relieve some stress. Moving the bridge out of the doorway required quite a lot of strength. It was jammed as if someone had driven it with a sledgehammer.

Plywood was badly damaged at the hinges where the shock was absorbed

Fortunately, the mechanical parts, electrical dowels and hinges were intact albeit laying all over the place. The resin abutment, thought shattered, could be repaired because it broke in three large pieces. No missing shards and the weathering job wasn't affected.

I carefully cleaned the splintered pieces of wood, removing the screws and loose wood fibers. I then reglued everything in place, carefully filling the fissures with carpented glue and making sure everything was square and tight with many clamps. After 30 minutes, almost everything was repaired. Another hour will be required tomorrow to reinstall the hinges supports, the spline and the electrical dowel at the far end.

The abutment broke, but didn't shatter... fortunately

Until I build a safer stopping mechanism, I won't reinstall the lift bridge. I knew it was a liability and I'm lucky the damages weren't fatal.

With that said, the backdrop is almost all in place and sanded down. It will require some putty work after primer, but so far, the result is good. I didn't expect it would be so challenging, but truth to be told, it is! I still need to address a weird corner though. Can't wait to paint the powder blue sky and the Appalachian landscale. It will means that I'm finally ready to reinstall the splines, lay the track and wire them. Something that I've been waiting for more than 5 years.

Monk Subdivision: Circling the Circle

Work on the layout has progressed tremendously over the weekend. Small but crucial tasks made it possible to get the benchwork in place and firmly attached to the stone wall. I now have an almost complete shelf all around the room.

If you have followed the building saga of Monk Subdivision, you know the original benchwork was independent from the stone wall and self supported by a pair of legs and braces. This arrangement had several pitfalls, the more severe being its flimsy nature. It was 16 feet long and wobbling a lot. Another issue was the legs and braces that took a lot of space while providing very little stability. So, this time, steel shelf brackets were mounted on 2x4 attached on the stone wall with concrete screws. I thought it would be a nightmare to drill that wall made of rubble, but it worked very nice and in about 3 hours, all the benchwork was back in place.

 

Finding the real alignment on such an imperfect wall was the big challenge, not the work itself. After some pondering, we decided to install the already assembled benchwork in place, in the right alignment and mounted on temporary legs. Using a long aluminium straightedge, we made sure it was perfectly aligned. 2 x 4s were screwed on the benchwork, then shims were installed to fit the uneven wall. Everything was solidly fixed, painted and brackets installed.

The result is a surprisingly strong and stable shelf. The ergonomics are also much better than the original installation. I may have been set back by a year and a half, but honestly, it pays off. I also decided to make the backdrop 24” high for better photography. Armagh is the main focal point and I prefer a scene that surrounds you.

The next steps will be to close the little 24” long gap in the benchwork, then install the MDF backdrop and paint it. At this point, I will be ready to reinstall the original splines I had carefully cut and stored. Having carefully disassembled the original layout helped to save a lot of rebuilding time. If everything goes well, I could be able to glue the roadbed, install track and do a temporary wiring job in the next few weeks. Without pressure, I would like to be able to run trains around the room by the end of June, which is my main goal with that project.

Benchwork back in place, except the little gap at left

As you have probably observed, I changed my mindset to progress instead of perfection. Good track work, good benchwork, step by step implementation, possibility to go back and improve. I was originally stalled by wanting every steps to be finalized and perfect before moving forward. It doesn’t work. I still don’t know how I will address the staging area turnout issues and crossover, but I know I can still use it as long as 1 track is functional. Others will follow later when and if they are required. Wiring will be minimal then improved according to my empirical needs and not my list of “nice to have”. At the end of the day, a moving train on a loop beats an uncompleted exciting vision. That said, I make sure each steps I do will ensure I can improve and implement more things in the future. In that sense, I'm really glad to have streamlined that projects to a single track mainline with a passing track. It takes out of the window so much hassle, misery and complexity.

As an example, I will start with Peco turnouts with their spring-loaded throw bars. Sure, the holes will be drilled and the frog wire solder at installation. But Tortoise, complex wiring and signals will come later, when the basics stuff is in place and troubleshooted. I guess getting older makes me more impatient to run my trains, yet more pragmatic in what I can achieve.

Monk Subdivision: Wiring the Swing Gate

Wiring isn’t my cup of tea, but I must admit I had to step up my game a little bit over the last few months. At least, enough to barely understand what I’m doing.

One of the challenges on Monk is the lift gate. Not only it must be electrified, but current must be cut off on each side of it to prevent a train running over the gap accidentally. While there are many approaches to do that, I had a few DCC Concepts Legacy Connectors on hands. They are metal alignment dowels with spring load gold plated plungers that ensure electric contact when they met. They use a male-female arrangement. I thought they could be really useful because the alignment property would be desired at the open end of the gate where they can be a 1mm tolerance, enough to cause issues and derailment.

My concept is simple: Each track on both sides of the gate is insulated from the rest of the layout. I selected a minimal length of 2 feet, but on the right side, it’s about 3 feet long. That should be enough to take care of any locomotive running full speed with inertia.

Connectors on the hinge side

I run a flexible bus wire to the lift gate on the hinge side. This bus then split in three feeders. One to the hinge sides, one to the opposite side and one to the bridge track itself. Each of them is soldered to a male Legacy Connector that mates with a female connector located into the fascia or on top of it, depending on the geometry. The lift gate thus acts like a switch.

Connector on the opposite side

When closed down, both approach tracks on each side of the lift gate are alive and trains can run over the bride. If opened up, electric current never reaches these tracks and trains are safe from taking the proverbial plunge to the concrete floor. This is a fail safe and low tech strategy I like.

Connector installed on the opposite side benchwork

As you may have noticed, the bridge track always stays electrified with this design, but it isn’t an issue. Nobody will open the lift gate with a train on it… at least, I hope so!

Scenery will take care of these wires in the future

The DCC Concept Legacy Connectors aren’t probably the first choice for that kind of installation, but they are easy to install and helps with alignment. We shall see if they are able to survive constant handling.

Monk Subdivision: Lazy Signals for Dumb People

I wanted signals on the Monk Subdivision because they always appears on 1960s and 1970s pictures, but the truth is that adding the detectors to get a true railway logic according to Canadian standards is both a costly endeavour and a descent into madness. If you aren’t an electronic wiz, a programming enthusiast or haven’t that level of very specific autistic obsession with such intricate intellectual challenges, let’s just say it’s not for you.

Add to that the Monk Subdivision slice I depict is just one station, so not enough place to really implement full signalling over many blocks. It wouldn’t add that much of a layer of entertainment. Thus, I thought I should just wire the signals to be coupled with turnout positions. Simple, vaguely prototypical, and at least useful when operating trains because you get an obvious visual indication about what’s going on with the siding.

My approach to my dumb signals is to wire them all on a tortoise switch machine. They have two built-in switches, one will control the turnout frog polarity and the other one the signals. And here is the catch. I need to wire up to 4 signals to that single switch. Sounds crazy, but it is in fact relatively simple and very different to how I wired some on my stuff on the late Vince Valley layout (now demolished to provide free building materials to finish Monk.

I've read a little bit about Canadian signals and decided to replicate a few of their aspects that suits my needs the best. My objective are simple, I won't model occupation but route. It means that a diverging turnout or one aligned on the main line will change aspects. Not prototypical, but not completely nonsense either. As long as signals help you understand where you are moving, I'm fine. Anyway, Monk still used some TT & TO with their signals, and it wasn't a full CTC or ABS system. Just some hybrid thing to automate sidings a little bit.

Dumb signals schematics

Let's say a train is travelling from West to East (Staging to Armagh), if the route is aligned on the mainline, the restricted signal 2 will show green on red meaning to go full speed ahead and continue on the mainline... At the turnout, the signal will also show green on red. In the opposite direction, signal 4 will be also green on red. If occupation and direction of travel was taken into account, it wouldn't be necessary the case. Dwarf signal 5 is red since any train in that siding should wait the turnout is properly aligned to proceed.

Let's say we move in the same direction, but the turnout is set on the diverging route to take the siding. The staggered signal 2 show us red on yellow, meaning the main line is not accessible, but the siding is. Since yellow means to slow down the speed since we take the diverging route, we also get, in advance, an indication of things to come and to start reducing speed. Signal 3 is also red on yellow for the same logical reasons. Signal 4 is red on red because a train on the mainline can't move and must stop there.

If you travel from East to West, things are rather simple. Signals 4 and 5 will display green or red depending if the turnout is properly aligned with your respective track. Signal one is the less prototypical, but it serves a purpose of telling you if you are continuing on the mainline at full speed or if you are entering the staging area an must slow down. Occupancy will probably be done through optic sensors and a track diagram with LEDs... or simply a small camera in the staging room with a screen in the layout room.

I won't stress enough my system is dumb and really simple to implement. Better, it animates the signals, giving them an realistic aesthetic while providing useful information for an operator. Most derailments on model railroads are caused by misaligned turnouts. Looking at LEDs on a fascia isn't always practical, intuitive or interesting because it breaks the suspension of disbelief. Having the signals giving you that precious information is both more realistic, but also visually compelling to the point the route ahead is clear to understand at a glance. As long as the signals have a "real" purpose, they are "prototypical" in my eyes. I can understand if purists will be horrified at these shortcuts, but they make it possible to have working signals on a realistic budget and with bulletproof logic to it. It's simple and at the level I can do myself with some wire, a DPDT and my trusty soldering iron.

Also, it must be noted that with a DPDT on each specific signals, it could be possible to give them a different aspect, but that would need some little thinkering.

Some Work on Monk Subdivision

It was time that things start to move. As things stand, I had the choice to continue working on various diorama projects that clutter my space and will be dead on arrival when its time to run trains, or simply put these same exact efforts on Monk instead. I could wait for the room to be perfectly ready, but it won’t happens soon and it doesn’t means I can’t progress elsewhere.

The real river makes a sharp bend which is perfect for a layout

 Sure, the Armagh section is currently dismantled and need rebuilding after the water pipes will be moved around, but the Langlois Station and Abenakis bridge areas are perfectly suitable for building, track laying, wiring and scenery. I thought to myself, well, better put some work there and get somewhere than wait and get crushed by the need to build everything at once.

The river bed is defined with old cork salvaged from Vince Valley

Using salvaged cork and cardboard boxes, I’ve started to build the scenery by the bridge. Nothing fancy, but general shapes to give an idea about what it will look like. The river shores are defined by old piece of cork that have been in rough shape. This is perfect to replicate eroded terrain.

Cardboard is intuitive and easy to work with... and forgiving

Then I decided to work on was the bridge backdrop. It needed to be put back in place since I transformed the swing gate last year. Some cutting was required, but it’s now back in place. The backdrop is also getting repaired in the room corner. It used to be a sweeping curve made of MDF, but it took too much space, and the geometry was awkward because of the two tracks form staging. I decided to use a wooden cornice molding glued in the corner to merge two pieces of MDF. It was a trick once published in MRR a few years ago. I really like how neat it now looks. I recall James Hilton once told me about how very small coving could have a really big impact. I agree! Can’t wait to finish, prime and paint the backdrop again!

It doesn't take a lot to alright give a sense of the place

Later, I placed the bridge back in place and put a locomotive on it. I must say Mission accomplished. That’s exactly that look I was after and I know the spot has a lot of potential to become one of my favourite.

Not too shaby, but a trio of Big Alcos would be even better

I have yet to figure out a few things about DC and DCC operations, but that will be in the future. I’m seriously thinking about simplifying greatly my staging schemes and removing the crossover. Simplicity and reliability seems to be more important than a reversing capability that could lead to potential issues.

 

Vince Valley - Wiring

I’ve been refraining from posting this article for about a month now. It was already written, ready to publish and then disaster struck in the for of MTB turnout motors, or should I say 2” thick foam roadbed. I’m not a fan of wiring because my brain isn’t wired for that kind of work. Yet, I wanted to try it out.  Give it a chance, at least do it once in my lifetime and call it done, case checked, been there done that. However, while everything went relatively smoothly, I didn’t expect foam to throw a wrench at my efforts.

Slicing the roadbed and cutting a mounting hole

Any switch motor will struggle to move points if mounted under more than a 1” thick sub roadbed. At 2”, forget it. You will need linkages in a way of another. Alright if you planned for that, but a really catastrophe if you didn’t like me. It wasn’t in my plan and dealing with rods and links wasn’t something I wanted for that layout supposed to be fun an easy. I try a tortoise, a MP4 and a bullfrog. They all relatively failed at the task and only one solution remained: cut a hole in the 1/4 “ plywood then carve out some foam to reduce thickness to 1”.

Wooden saddles

My idea was to build a wooden saddle that could be inserted under the roadbed. Under normal circumstances, just gluing a piece of plywood under the foam would have been enough to fix the motor, but since I was using foam splines, they were warping and flimsy when carved out. The saddle was required.

Wooden saddles secured in place

Fortunately, after making a jig and using my oscillating saw, I was able the cut the foam in a reliable and quite precise way. Everything was secured with a generous amount of caulk. Installing the turnout motors was fairly easy and everything is working fine at this point.

MP4 motor in place. I later enlarged the holes to make wiring easier.

However, it just confirms my hatred toward foam as a structural material. Let’s be honest for a minute. This building material is full of dimensional discrepancies caused by manufacturing. Add to that its natural tendency to warp, sag and contract with age due to degassing, it’s inherent inflammable nature as recently seen with Ken Patterson’s layout fire and the unnecessary complications it creates with turnout controls. I see little redeeming qualities remaining to outset these things. For good reasons, I’m phasing out that material from my modelling life, except for very niche uses where it performs as intended. The scenery and landforms will be crafted in cardboard, paper and other more traditional materials. That is deeply informing my choices for the future Monk Subdivision.

I want to credit Jonathan Jones for not having dropped the towel at wiring. He posted an interesting article about his wiring efforts a month ago and it convinced me to soldier on and move forward. I was quite near to trash the project altogether. But back with more positive things about wiring because not everything is dark and gloomy, on the contrary.

Up until now, I only wired layout by running bus wires and attaching feeders to each piece of rail. All that was connected to a DPDT switch which selected either DC or DCC power. Nothing more, nothing else and it worked. Turnouts were controlled manually with Bullfrog rods by Fast Tracks. Simple and elegant for modules. But this time, I wanted to experiment something I had never done with fancy panels, metal switches, display LEDs and electric turnouts. I even went as far as break the layout into 3 blocks for DC operation.

The lesson learned is that just adding a few gizmo makes the number of wires quadruple if not more. Not being the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to wiring, I decided to do it by baby steps. I have drawn diagrams to understand what I needed and built the parts I was the most confident first, starting with feeding power to the track, preparing the LED, installing the switches. I could easily lose track of all that mess if I was trying to do everything at once. In that regard, the UK YouTube channel Horsehay Railway Modeller provided a lot of inspiration. The way he twist wires together to create manageable cables that you can run neatly and trouble shoot in case of defect really made my life much easier.

At this point, I'm about 1/3 done. Turnouts motors still need to be installed and wired, and I have to create the auxiliary power system that will feed the LEDs indicators. Also, having built two control panels, one for each side of the layout, I will need to add another NCE Power Cab Panel to the yard. I'm already regretting not having made my secondary panel larger with DC and DCC plugs. Live and learn I guess! I decided to print another version of that panel to take that into account and to revise the track layout of the yard since turnout location was modified from my original plan when I laid track.