Rio Grande Southern T-19 Number 20

I recently added an additional Rio Grande Southern locomotive to the roster.  I purchased this locomotive a Precision Scale T-19, back in 2014 at the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Overland Park, Kansas.  I added a Soundtraxx Tsunami-2 Steam Decoder, the TSU-1100, a Soundtraxx Currentkeeper, and a Mini Cube speaker.  All of this equipment fit into the small tender!  The headlight is illuminated with an LED made by Evan Designs (www.ModelTrainSoftware.com).  This LED operates on 7-19 volts AC, DC, or DCC.  It includes a tiny bridge rectifier, which I was able to install in the smokebox.  The leads are simply soldered to the F0 function leads from the decoder, which are the white and blue wires.  There was no need to calculate the size of resistor necessary, as it is included with the LED.  I added window glass, painted the tires, axle ends, and journal boxes a weathered white, and installed a coal load made from real crushed and sized narrow gauge coal.

The Rio Grande Southern T-19 Number 20.  

Electrical Plan for the Rio Grande Southern

Attached is the electrical plan for the Rio Grande Southern railroad.  This diagram shows each of the power districts, reversing sections, and the programming track.  The railroad uses the main NCE Power Pro command station, two NCE Boosters, eight PSX circuit breakers, three PSX-AR auto-reversers, and three OG-AR auto-reversers.  The Ridgway, Telluride, and Pandora portions of the layout have not yet been constructed, so the electrical components for these towns are not in place.

Booster for the Rio Grande Southern

I recently added a booster to the layout to provide additional power, and resiliency during operating sessions.  I added an NCE Power Pro PB5 booster, and two additional PSX-1 circuit breakers.  The result of this enhancement is that the long power district supplying power to Dolores, Rico, Ophir, Vance Junction, Vanadium, and Placerville is now three separate districts.  Dolores is on the original district, while Rico and Ophir are within their own district.  Vance Junction, Vanadium, and Placerville are also a separate district.  The advantage of providing the additional districts is that, for example. a derailment/short circuit in Dolores will not cause the operators in Rico to lose functionality.

A note on the installation of the PB5 booster would be appropriate.  This booster is located beneath Ophir, about 40 feet from the Power Pro Command Station located under Durango.  This necessitated adding a control bus between the Command Station and the Booster.  I confirmed with NCE that the control bus can be up to 300 feet long, so 40 feet is not a problem.  Additionally, I confirmed with NCE that a floating ground should be connected between the Command Station and the Booster.  I used 16 gauge wire, and ran it from a case screw on the Command Station to a case screw on the Booster.

An interesting note on the effectiveness on the floating ground:  When I first installed the Booster, I tested the installation without the floating ground between the Command Station and the Booster.  All worked well, with a smooth transition of the locomotive from the Rico power district to the Dolores power district.  I thought, "Great!  I had a 50% chance of connecting the track wires in proper phase, and I got it right!"  I immediately completed the installation of the floating ground, test ran the locomotive from the Rico district into the Dolores district, and had a short circuit, indicating that the polarity of the rails was reversed.  I reversed the track feed from the Booster to the PSX circuit breakers, and now the polarity is correct, with a smooth transition from the Rico district to the Dolores district.

My recommendation is to be sure to install the floating ground between the Command Station and the Booster.  Incidentally, no mention is made of the need for a floating ground in the instructions that came with the Booster.

NCE Booster installed under Ophir.  The track power goes to the PSX Circuit Breakers, the control bus connects the Command Station to the Booster, and the floating ground at the rear of the Booster connects to the case of the Command Station.

PSX Circuit breakers installed under Ophir.

Final Track Plan

I have completed the final track plan for the Rio Grande Southern Railroad in HOn3!  Note that Ridgway has been moved into the adjacent room, and that the Enterprise Branch and Telluride Branch are now included for additional operating interest.

The Enterprise Branch is physically located above the town of Dolores, with a connection to the town of Rico.  This branch will be operated by a Shay locomotive, and has several mines, which have been relocated from my previous layout.  The Enterprise Branch is freelanced, although it is based upon the prototype Enterprise Branch.

Ridgway, Telluride, and Pandora follow the prototype track plans, although they are compressed, as always seems to be required!  We never have all the space we want for our railroads!

Trains are currently operating through Placerville, with the end-of-track at the far end of Placerville.  I anticipate beginning benchwork construction of the new portion of the layout within the next week.

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad, as modeled in HOn3.  This is the final version of the trackplan.

Telluride Coal for Rico

I recently completed the Telluride Coal facility for my town of Rico, CO.  This is one of the buildings included in Banta Modelworks new kit, Rico Outbuildings.  This kit was a very easy build!  I prestained all parts using Hunterline Creosote, which has become my "go-to" stain for aged timbers.

Telluride Coal at its location in Rico., near the Pro Patria Mill.  The building needs to be "dirted in".  The vehicle is a Classic Model Works Chevrolet pickup

A front view of the Telluride Coal facility in Rico.

A side view of the Telluride Coal facility.  The Pro Patria Mill is in the background.

Dedicated Programming Track

This is my first post in quite a while.  The past several months have been quite busy!  I was recently married to a lovely woman, Patty, that I have been seeing over the past year, and model railroading, particularly updating my blog, has not been high on my priority list!

Patty and I dancing the Waltz at our favorite local winery, South Creek Vineyards.

Having said that, my wife Patty is supportive of my hobby/passion, and will be going to the upcoming Narrow Gauge Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul in September!

One of the items that I accomplished recently was installing a dedicated programming track on my layout.  This is the first dedicated programming track that I have had, and it was well worth figuring out how to incorporate such an item into my layout.  This track is an existing track servicing the turntable, and was particularly suited because it had already been isolated from adjacent tracks, as they were part of the reversing loop on the layout.  The following electrical diagram of the Durango Yard portion of my railroad will illustrate the location of the programming track.

Figure 1.  Electrical diagram of the Durango Yard.  The green tracks are District 1; the blue tracks are District 2; and the red tracks are the reversing section, controlled by a DCC Specialties OG-AR circuit board.  The Purple track is the programming track.

Figure 2.  Detailed view of the Durango Yard showing the location of the Programming Track (in purple), the reversing section (in red), and District 1 (in green).  

The programming track is electrically isolated from the rest of the layout by gaps in both rails where it joins the turnout in the reversing section.  Obviously, the track is gapped at the turntable!  The track is fed trough a DPDT electrical switch mounted on the layout fascia,  In one position, the track acts simply as a normal section of trackage; in the "Programming" position, the track is a dedicated programming track.  I chose this track as it is near the location of my NCE DCC system, and that simplified wiring.  Also, because I use JMRI Decoder Pro to program my decoders, I wanted the Program track to be near the DCC system and my laptop computer.

The Dolores Feed and Flour Mill

I recently purchased a kit for the Dolores Feed and Flour Mill produced by Narrow Gauge Colorado.  I have completed its construction, and wanted to share my experience regarding it construction, fit of parts, and instructions.

The kit consists of laser-cut parts that fit together perfectly.  The kit consists of laser-board sub walls, to which one glues the laser cut (perhaps laser-sculpted would be a better descriptor) corrugated siding.  The roof stacks appear to be 3-D printed parts, and fit into the pre-cut holes in the roof panels perfectly.  Kudos to the individual who did the laser cutting and 3-D printing.

 Because the instructions are rather short on detail, I have put together the following assembly sequence which I used to assemble this kit.  Follow along as I describe how I completed the Feed and Flour Mill.

1.  Assemble the subwalls, ensuring that the parts are aligned accurately.  I assembled the walls using Loctite thin ACC for the entire project.
2.  Paint the doors, assemble them, and glue to the backs of the subwalls, centering them in the openings.  I painted the doors using Rust-O-Leum's Clean Metal Primer, which is a nice white color.  I aligned the doors in their openings such that a space was left at the bottom to allow for the sills.
3.  Glue the floor and subfloor together, again using the Loctite ACC.  Ensure that the round holes in the floor are in alignment.
4.  Glue the back subwall to the base, ensuring that it is square to the base.
5.  Glue the second floor to the rear subwall, ensuring that it is square to the subwall.
6.  Glue the two-story gable subwall to the floor, second floor, and rear subwall.
7.  Glue the interior two-story gable subwall to the floor, second floor, and rear subwall.
8.  Glue the single-story gable subwall to the floor, and rear subwall.
9.  Glue the front subwall to the floor, second floor, and all three gable subwalls.
10.  Paint the siding and the roof your favorite shade of silver to represent galvanized metal.  I used Star-brand Smokebox Silver for the walls, and Floquil Platinum Mist for the roof panels.
11.  When thoroughly dry, mask the walls using blue painter's tape, exposing the windows and door trim.  These details are laser-cut into the corrugated siding.  I painted the windows and doors with Model Master White.
12.  Add the glazing to the windows using Canopy Glue.  Note that the glazing is to be installed on the outside and inside of the of the subwalls.  Recessed areas are laser-cut into the front surface of the subwalls to receive the glazing.

13.  Glue the front and rear siding to the subwalls, using Loctite ACC.  Then glue the two ends to the assembly, also using Loctite ACC.
15.  Install all roof rafters, and rafter tails into the slots in the completed walls.
16.  Add the subroof panels to the single-story portion of the structure ONLY.
17.  Glue the final piece of siding to the gable subwall above the subroof panel, using the Loctite ACC.
18.  Add the subroof panels to the two-story portion of the structure, again using the Loctite ACC.
19.  Add the notched rafters and barge boards to the roof, and paint them the trim color.
20.  Pre-paint the window sills the trim color, and install all window and door sills.
21.  Add the corrugated roof panels to the subroof.  I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to allow positioning.
22.  Add the corrugated ridge strips to the roofs.
23.  I weathered the Mill with Pan Pastels.  I used the following colors to achieve a rusty, weathered appearance:  Neutral Gray Shade; Burnt Sienna Shade; and Red Iron Oxide.
24.  I installed the structure in my town of Dolores, where it is ready to receive shipments!

The Dolores Feed Mill showing the painted and installed doors.

The front two-story wall of the Dolores Feed Mill, showing the fine laser-cut corrugations.  Note the Painted window and door trim.

The completed Dolores Feed Mill, prior to weathering.

Another view of the completed Dolores Feed Mill prior to weathering.

Three-quarter view of the Mill, showing the laser-cut wood end wall.

The rear of the Dolores Feed Mill.

The Dolores Feed and Flour Mill in place on the layout.