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AVRR-PA
Fireman
Premium Member
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 Posted - 08/02/2008 : 11:57:33 PM
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Hi, everyone --
This is the third (and last) spinoff from the thread I did on building a "FreeMo Module to Display Craftsman Kits."
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11232&whichpage=26
In this thread, I'll continue to chronicle the triumphs and trials of the Module Maniacs of the Keystone Division.
Just a brief callback to the earlier thread. At the last show, over half the modules were new because we are growing rapidly. We had a lot of electrical and derailment problems, plus motive power and rolling stock problems. We decided we definitely needed a non-public get-together to sorts things out.
At the moment, we are in the midst of this debugging and operating session. Once again, we are set up in Holy Family Social Hall. We started setting up Friday afternoon and evening. Den the DeBugger (not to be confused with Vlad the Impaler ) started checking the modules out electrically before anyone was allowed to connect up or insert connecting rails. That went pretty smoothly. The biggest problem was with mis-connected Cinch-Jones connectors.
Different people were able to make it at different times, so you will never see the whole crew in one photograph. Let's do introductions.
On Friday night, we had, from left to right:
Bob Meier, Chairman of the FreeMo project, and builder of a large yard module.
Den Lippert, DCC and wiring guru.
(Bob and Den together built a new loop module which is lighter and easier to transport. The first loop wound up as part of Bob's home layout.)
Patrick Altdorfer, who is building the brewery module
Vagel Keller, who now has three modules nearly completed, including a dual-gauge module.
and me, behind the camera.
Bud Brock dropped off the wye but couldn't stay.
Here's Patrick, under the layout:
We discovered that someone (me) had suffered temporary brain death and made some of the module legs too long so I took them back to the shop (not far) and quickly them by an inch. Not quite as easy as it sounds since I didn't want to waste the adjusters expoxied in on the bottoms of the legs so I reworked the tops, which involved the table saw, the band saw, a back saw, and a drill.
On Saturday, we added Jerry Kyslinger's module - a corner without which we couldn't connect Bob's yard. After a few more checks, we started plugging in the Cinch-Jones connectors and adding connecting rails, with Den checking things out as we went along. The DCC system was connected and turned on and did not go up in smoke, as it did at the train show. We spent the rest of Saturday just running trains - looking for problems with locomotives shorting out in turnouts, rolling stock with Kadee "air hoses" set too low, etc, etc. We were also checking out coupler heights on a test track provided by Bob.
I spent most of the day working on the track on my module. We found and fixed the short that caused problems last time, but we still have problems with the power-routing turnouts on the narrow gauge portion. I'm afeared I'm going to have to switch to power-routing ground throws or something of that sort. (Groan.  ) I also glued in the rest of the ties on the narrow gauge section and did a lot of individual tie painting and weathering. I have a bit of touch-up painting of rail to do and then I can ballast, which I'll do this coming week.
Here are some pictures from Saturday. I should explain that the two steel mills were separately de-bugged (Den made house calls, I guess) and aren't set up this weekend. So the setup is relatively small, although still pretty substantial.
In the following pictures, I turned the camera over to Jerry and got myself into the picture.
Tonight, Vagel is making up switchlists. Sunday, we'll try our hand at operating using Scenario Cards.
I'll post more pictures Sunday evening.
Don
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MarkF
Engineer
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 12:48:11 AM
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Don, that looks like an impressive size! It's good to hear you didn't have any electrical problems with set up as I have to imagine that with a set up of that nature, problems would be difficult to de-bug. Hope all goes well Sunday. More pics please!
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Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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elwoodblues
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 07:43:50 AM
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Don,
You guys have a great looking layout there. I'm, glad you got the electrical problems worked out and were able to run some trains, it looks like a fun layout to operate.
As Mark as already requested, more pictures please.
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Ron Newby
General Manager
Clearwater Valley Railway Co.
http://www.cvry.ca |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 08:22:56 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkF
Don, that looks like an impressive size! It's good to hear you didn't have any electrical problems with set up as I have to imagine that with a set up of that nature, problems would be difficult to de-bug. Hope all goes well Sunday. More pics please!
Hi, Mark --
The secret to successful debugging is to do it one module at a time, in electrical isolation.
We're finding we need to insist (on pain of death) that nobody either connect their plugs (the Cinch-Jones connectors) or put in the connecting rail sections (which also join the modules electrically) until Den has checked each module for shorts, connector polarity problems, etc. That's just going to have to be one of the rules for doing set-ups.
Theoretically, once a module is checked out, it should be good forever. But most of these modules are works in progress. Even the Cinch-Jones connectors can become problems between runs because they're prone to getting pulled loose during transport. (Everyone is working on securing them up inside their modules.)
I'm sorry about the typo's in my first post. I forgot about the dreaded "can't edit" problem. I forgot to credit Den with his two-module yard.
Yep, I'll do more pictures. I'll try to get a picture of each module with its owner so you know who did what.
Don
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Dutchman
Administrator
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 08:47:45 AM
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Don,
I'm glad that you started a new thread for the FreeMo Modular Layout. A set of pictures of the modules with their creators would indeed be helpful.
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Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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MikeC
Administrator
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 08:55:23 AM
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Don, thanks for the photos and picking up on the theme of the original thread. Your group has some really impressive looking modules, and I'm glad you're getting some of the glitches ironed out.
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Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm a busy man. I have a railroad to run.
Visit the Central Missouri & Southern
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northern6400
Fireman
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 12:02:30 PM
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Don thanks for your post . When the Burlington club had their modular layout we ran into the same problem with the cinch jones connectors. Then when it came to the yard we connected one track at a time until everything was OK with the module.
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Chuck Faist
Burlington, Ontario
Enjoy yourself it is later than you think! |
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LVN
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 1:49:14 PM
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Lookin good Don. Thanks for keeping us posted. Looks like the layout provides for many interesting activities
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Chris Lyon
http://www.lyonvalleynorthern.blogspot.com |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 8:44:28 PM
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Hi, everyone --
I think the weekend run went well. We found and fixed a lot of problems; everyone seemed to have a good time; and the operating session on Sunday was especially good fun. (I didn't get to participate much in that part of the day because I had wood-working students back at the shop who I had to spend time with.)
Vagel prepared a bunch of switch lists, trains were made up, and lots of people ran trains "purposefully" (to quote Vagel).
Let's continue with introductions. I think I managed to photograph everyone with their module(s) before the days was over.
Here is Bud Brock and the wye, which is his project:
Here's a Boy Scout camp that Bud added to the wye:
Den Lippert and his newly-constructed module:
Here and Bob and Den with the loop, which they teamed up to build:
And here's an overview of the loop:
Here is Jerry Kyslinger and his corner module. Patrick Aldorfer is next to Jerry. Jerry will be adding the church to his module along with other scenery in time for the next Greenberg show (October).
And here's Patrick with his brewery module, minus the mountain which he has decided to re-do. He plans to add a figure of Tony Soprano driving by Pizzaland.
And finally, here's Vagel Keller and his dual gauge module. Vagel has three modules and they're all finished - scenery, structures, vehicles, the whole nine yards. The rest of us need to catch up.
Now a few random photographs from today:
This is the folding test track that Bob Meier constructed. Very neatly done.
And then comes the less-fun part - striking everything and loading it out. With everyone helping, it goes pretty fast. We started at 3 PM and had everything loaded into vehicles by 4:15. Bob gets the worst of it - he has to transport and store his yard (very large) and also the loop (large).
Here are some pictures from the strike:
Den has a really well-thought-out system. First, he adds end plates to one of his modules, using a socket driver on his cordless drill:
Then he bolts on the other half of the module:
And off he goes:
Here's Bob disassembling his yard and removing the legs:
Bob built a large rolling crate which holds all four yard sections. Unfortunately, at Holy Family, there's a short flight of steps so everything had to be carried outside before it could be loaded into the crate.
Here's the loop folded over, ready for leg removal:
I almost had a heart attack when I saw Bob and Patrick folding the loop - I was sure the legs would hit the ceiling and get me in trouble with the parish. But they knew what they were doing.
The hinges on the loop were hand-made by another member of the Keystone Division - who is also married to the Susan, the current Superintendent of the Division.
Finally, here's Bob loading the loop into his trailer. You can see the crate to his left which holds his yard. (Vagel calls it the lion cage.)
Everyone will be working between now and October to improve their modules for the train show. Vagel and I are planning to take our dual-gauge modules to the RPM meet when it returns to Pittsburgh, and also to a narrow-gauge meet in April.
I'll be reporting on work on my module in the separate thread on that subject.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Don
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Edited by - AVRR-PA on 08/04/2008 06:08:32 AM |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 8:49:31 PM
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P.S. --
The members who weren't able to participate this weekend are:
Kent Miller - two modules; engine terminal with turntable, freight house, etc.
John Gallagher - 4 modules; steel mill
Scott Schaller - 4 modules, steel mill
David Neumann - 1 module, interesting S-shape.
Don
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Edited by - AVRR-PA on 08/03/2008 9:19:10 PM |
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Country: USA
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MarkF
Engineer
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 8:50:42 PM
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Looks like a lot of fun. Having been a member of a portable club for many years, I've had some experience in setting up and tearing down layouts. It's a lot of work, but fun at the same time. Looks like you guys have it down to a science. Looks great!
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Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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George D
Moderator
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/03/2008 : 10:21:46 PM
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Don, thanks for starting the new thread. It sounds like you guys (yunz) have gone through the worst part and now that the modules are debugged, setup will be less stressful.
George
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Jerry M
Fireman
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Posted - 08/04/2008 : 12:18:20 AM
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Looks like you all are building up a real nice module setup. It was a good idea to trouble shoot while not having a bunch of people around gives you time to find the kinks. I'm sure all your hard work will pay off big time when you set up in public. Looks like a great time....
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/04/2008 : 06:05:14 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by George D
Don, thanks for starting the new thread. It sounds like you guys (yunz) have gone through the worst part and now that the modules are debugged, setup will be less stressful.
George
From your lips to God's ears!
Don
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Edited by - AVRR-PA on 08/04/2008 06:05:52 AM |
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Dutchman
Administrator
Premium Member
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Posted - 08/04/2008 : 07:49:18 AM
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Don,
It is good to place a face with a name (and a module). Those pictures also give a better idea of what is involved in setup/break down.
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Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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wvrr
Fireman
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Posted - 08/04/2008 : 08:42:18 AM
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Hi Don,
Good idea to find a place to work out all of the bugs before doing another show. Looks like a nice setup. Good luck at your next show!
Chuck
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Wyoming Valley Railroad
http://sites.google.com/site/wvrails/ |
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