9.04.2016

THE METRO IS RUNNING!

Finally! After months and months or planning, building, delaying and so on, we have activity on Quinntopia again! Whoohoo!

Here are some 'action photos'...

On the girder section approaching the station...

On the high extension over the main railway right of way....
Another angle...this portion of the structure was complicated to build as each of my elevated sections is meant to come apart, and also need to be level, stable and look good (while also allowing for four or five tracks below!)
 This shot sort of shows the entire loop. Ultimately you won't be able to see the entire loop as much of it will be blocked by buildings!
While much of the time was spent trying to figure out how to scratch build an elevated trestle system, an equally large share of time (and money!) was spent trying to figure out how to automate DCC equipped trains so that they automatically stop, wait, and then depart from the station.  The solution to that problem came from the Viessmann 5208.  This is an automatic timer unit that connects to insulated rails (a total of four blocks) and allows for automatic detection, stopping and then acceleration.
I was curious about how this unit would work with my Digitrax DZ-125 Equipped Kato Ginza Line Metro, and it does seem to work just fine! Although the 'crawling' section' portion does not feature the deceleration proposed in the items feature lists, which may be due to the decoder (more on this later). These units are not particularly cheap (about $80) and will only operate on one track, but compared to  upgrading to a Z21 or Viessmann Commander or ESU ECOS, these are much more affordable options at this time.

Now that I've proven I can get train automation to work, I need to get a second 5208, another 'metro' train (I debate whether I should go for an identical or similar Kato Ginza, or something a bit more 'vintage' looking...any suggestions?) so that the elevated line has real 'action' with two trains running in opposite directions!

Then I can finish the station - platforms, roof, lighting (you can see the electrical leads for my eventual lighting of the station interior in the video!) and then start mapping out streets and building placement! And then, and THEN...its on to laying down track for the 'main' railway lines!

5 comments:

  1. Some of you might be notice that the design of the blog has changed a bit. I thought it was time after several years with the same basic format to give a bit of a refresh. Also, I wanted to widen the main blog section to take advantage of Blogger's 'Extra Large" picture setting as it seems like the most interesting content in this blog is the photos! Everything else should still be on the blog! Hope its not too difficult!

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  2. Excellent job! I enjoyed the video and am eagerly awaiting the N-scale reboot of The French Connection :-)

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  3. Way to not give up and get it all working! I have an automated DC setup on my passenger line too, and the lights always go off when the train pulls in the station! I wish I had a work around for that, but I am pretty sure there isn't one as long as I stay DC.

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  4. Glad to see you are having fun again Jerry. Nice work on the metro too. Michelle, have you thought about rechargeable batteries using the DC track power to charge them. Can be switched off and on using a reed switch under the coach roof and magnets placed around the layout under tunnels and bridges? Just a thought. John B, Scotland

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    1. John, that is a great idea. Thanks for the tip!

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