In the Diesel Shop

 What a year 2020 has been!   Despite, or maybe because of, being home more, very little, if any, railroad modeling took place.

Some key things came together this year and I was able to start on a key project underpinning many of the aspects of the design I've had in mind for a while now.

First up, Blue Ridge Engineering developed and released electronics that enable direct xBee interaction with Iowa Scaled Engineering's ProtoThrottle, so no separate DCC system is needed.  DeadRailInstalls makes battery power kits to provide power for the whole shebang.

The entire setup then looks like this:

(image courtesy of BlueRidge Engineering)

In my world, the electronics then all go inside the cavernous body of a mid-naughts-era Atlas MP15DC:

(mine's currently undecorated, but will look like a grimy version of this)

Currently, it's disassembled and I'm waiting on parts and track from Right-O-Way to re-gauge it to Proto:48 standards.

To be determined is selection of a decoder -- I'm thinking LokSound V5, mainly because of their standalone programmer that will keep me DCC-system free -- and sound components that fit in the fuel tank.

I might also remotor it as well depending on the amp draw and / or noise of the Atlas motor; we'll see as the project comes together.

The Plan -- Version #1

Dear -- all two -- Readers!     A wave of inspiration came over me and after a couple hours with 3rdPlanIt, I present to the world Version 1 of an O-scale plan that fits in (a future state of) my basement.

Long term, the edges of the whole basement will accommodate the southern 2/3rds of the line with almost no compression.   I have room for a run of about 70 ft which equates to ~3400 real ft and this covers from the southern tip of the line up north to 31st on the south side of Schutte Lumber.

The first phase shown below covers the southern most ~1700ft with just a touch of compression to represent from the southern tip up just past the south-facing switch for Safeway Bakery.   A temporary shelf containing an eight-foot run-around and a spare track for storage fills the remainder of the south wall.

All-in-all, it's a pretty faithful representation of the Hill Track, though I've yet to work out all of the grades as this level of detailed editing takes much longer in 3rdPlanIt.   Preliminary work indicates that I'll be able to reasonably replicate the signature east-west elevation change of 34th St and the requisite north-south railroad grades in between and level out for the spots.

The unique nature of the spread between Roanoke Rd (front edge, left side) and Terrace St (upper right side) meant that the whole works was pulled away from the wall and a duckunder included under Fred Wolferman's driveway.  Duckunders aren't great, but since I was already planning to have the base elevation up close to (my) eye-level, it shouldn't require much ducking.  A two-plus-ish foot aisle along the right (west) wall allows one to access the spots along Terrace St as well as view the scene from a different vantage point, so no backdrop.

Anyway, here's the plan (click on it for a larger version):

Roster Update

Added a page to the blog with the full roster of equipment.  It needs some formatting work to be more presentable, but it'll do for now.   Click in the top bar to find it or visit: https://kcspur.blogspot.com/p/roster.html

LD SIG

Just (re-) joined the LDSIG and looking forward to upcoming articles, especially those focused on specific prototype recreations.

http://www.ldsig.org/