26 June 2022 – Photos from March 20, 2022 to June 23, 2022
I have given a couple of update presentations on the Thursday Zoom calls we do with the Michiana Division of NMRA, but haven’t updated the blog in awhile, so here goes.
The last post was on the Ore Dock and that got set aside for a few months because I didn’t like where I was going with the wiring for the track and LED lighting. I had some ideas about how I wanted to finish off the benchwork so I started working. In the past I have planned my track work using Third Plan It, but this time I just started measuring and building. There were a couple of hang ups because of this approach, but generally it came off without too much trouble.
The Western Passage
The last benchwork I had installed was tricky. I had to get around the water heater which would be hidden (see Traversing the Water Heater from January 2021). The picture above shows what I refer to as “The Western Passage.” It’s actually east on the railroad, but it is the western most part of the basement and it is an area where the four lines coming off the layout travel over about eight feet of hidden trackage. Two of the lines (from Powers and Felch Jct.) go directly to Escanaba staging and the other two go to the Ore Dock and to a TBA industry in the alcove by the heater (more on that below).
S Curve to TBA Industry in Alcove
As you can see it’s a tight fit back there, so I will need to stay at my current weight or less in order to get back there to maintain the water heater and clean track. The S curve goes under an exhaust pipe from the heater. That wound up being problematic but at this point I measured and had plenty of clearance.
Framing in the heater alcove – future home of TBA Industry
I framed this area using mostly scrap lumber that I had accumulated. The basement floor is not level and the stairs that I was enclosing were not uniform in length, so the walls are a little wavy, but I was trying to save space (and $$) and it came out okay.
Dry wall installed in heater alcove
I measure carefully and was sure the holes through which trains would travel on both sides of the alcove were level. I am using milled homasote from Cascade Rail Supply (now defunct) for road bed on the S curve and the TBA industry, and 1/2 inch generic homasote from Menard’s on the other side of the wall in Escanaba (staging). I was careful to account for this difference (or so I thought).
Track plan for TBA Industry, Western Passage, and Escanaba Staging
I sketched a plan on a sheet of paper and started cutting boards and putting up benchwork in the laundry room. I had originally planned to have the railroad go through the laundry room and require a raised bridge for access to the laundry. I live alone, so I had no one to tell me that this would be impractical. Luckily I wised up as I was drawing these plans. I sacrificed about five feet of track running for easy access to my paint booth and laundry facilities. A good trade.
Shelf braces in the Western Passage
I had cut and assembled shelf braces for the Western Passage in January 2021. I finally got around to installing them and attaching plywood.
Plywood on risers in Western Passage
I had enough scrap plywood to complete this area including the S curve. I did purchase one piece of decent quality plywood for staging and the engine facility. I am glad to be done purchasing lumber for awhile!
Adjusting staircase to accommodate engine facility in Escanaba
One of the reasons I had put off building this last bit of benchwork was the difficulty of altering the staircase to save space for the railroad. I finally bit the bullet and got it done.
Drywall installed over furring strips on staircase
I used L-girder construction on the wall behind the laundry and the engine facility areas. It may be overkill in these areas, but I had the lumber for the most part and it turned out very strong.
Benchwork in laundry room
As I mentioned I was careful to plan the transition between the heater alcove and the laundry room.
Testing transitions for level
Ultimately I got the plywood and homasote cut for staging and the engine facility and moved on to the heater alcove.
Homasote installed at engine facility
The heater alcove was painted and open grid benchwork installed.
Benchwork complete in heater alcove
Now that everything was rock solid, of course the S curve was about 1/2″ below the grade in the heater alcove. Did I mention how carefully I planned this?!?
Raising the heater exhaust to gain clearance on the S curve
I was able to raise the roadbed for the S curve, but once that was complete, I no longer had the clearance I needed under the exhaust pipe. I learned a new skill and cut myself a new pipe and installed it. When I did this, the temperature outside was over 100 degrees. Fortunately the air conditioner still worked after I was finished.
Custom PC Board for Ore Dock bus termination
With the benchwork largely complete, I moved back to the Ore Dock. The good idea that I needed to get back on track with this project was provided at the NMRA Indy Jct convention in the form of a clinic by Bill Schoonmaker. Bill presented on how to create custom PC boards. More to come on that topic in the next installment.
Having a week off of school to work on the railroad, really helps the progress! I try to spend an hour a day on the layout when I’m working, but I don’t always make it. All that to say that progress has slowed on the ore dock, but it is not a race after all!
The next challenge was to install remote Tortoise stall motors to control the turnouts on the approach to the dock. In the last installment, the motors will located at the end of the ore yard. With some glue, some prayer and careful measuring the remote actuators went in with out too much trouble.
Remote actuators for Tortoise switch machines on ore dock approach
I also began wiring the platform segments for track and the bus for LED lights.
Underside of ore dock platform with pigtails for connection to track bus
I took some extra parts from the ore dock kit and some styrene and built an enclosure for the remote Tortoise actuators. This will be supported by additional stanchions going up the shore line to meet up with the ore yard when the dock is placed back on its platform.
Scratch-built enclosure for remote Tortoise actuators
I am experimenting with SIP pins as a means of connecting the platform segments to the track and LED busses but this has not been completed yet.
Example SIP pin installation on track bus
Wiring the lights on the light poles was somewhat challenging. Tom Stathis helped with the design which was explained in a previous post. The trick now was to secure the wires and paint the poles. Styrene solvent and CA did not work. I used Walthers Goo with decent results, but when applying primer, the goo did not work well.
LED wires secured with Walthers Goo
I was also unhappy with the appearance of the light shining through the top of the light where the holes were drilled for the wires.
Light leaking through wire holes in lamp
I mixed up some “spru goo” using waste from the ore dock kit and soaking it in styrene solvent (MEK) overnight.
“spru-goo”
The styrene melted overnight and became gooey allowing me to fill the wire holes in each of the lamps.
Lamp with wire holes filled with plastic goo
I decided to try quarter-round styrene strip to cover the channels in the light posts where the LED wires were located. This provided good results, but it took awhile for my styrene to arrive. Here are the results after applying primer.
Lamp post with quarter-round styrene covering wire channel
While I was waiting on the styrene quarter-round, I began looking at the chutes that are used to move the ore from the dock to the lake boat. These chutes would be in the up position on my layout and there were many mold marks on them that I found unacceptable. I needed 48 chutes and found that many had the nub used to attach the to the dock broken off. Luckily with the ones I had in the kit and the ones intact on the model I had exactly 48. I began an assembly line process that took weeks where each chute was sanded to remove the mold marks with sanding sticks and a jeweler’s file. I also roughed up the chute itself so it would look used. Then I painted each side and set it aside to dry.
Chute showing mold marks on exteriorChutes after sanding and painting
There will be a part four to the ore dock as it is still sitting on the work table and I haven’t quite figured out how I’m going to complete the wiring and installation of the light poles. Until then, I’ve moved on to completing the back passage and Escanaba/Green Bay Staging. More to come.
Fixing the alignment problem (see last installment) was a big deal. This got me going on the dock again (I had built several other models in the meantime).
This shows how the alignment problem was solved.
On September 16, 2021 members of the Michiana Division of the NMRA visited my layout. Among them was Tom Stathis who specializes in electronics and LED lighting of miniatures. When Tom saw the dock he suggested that we light it up.
Duane had originally started building light poles out of brass that were wired for incandescent bulbs. Tom and I looked at the light poles that were included in the kit and Tom took one home to see about adding lights to it.
Looking at all of the Walthers photos on the kit box, there are no photos that include the light poles. I don’t think they ever installed them and the model does not have any specific spot where they should be mounted.
Tom came up with a design to run the lights on 12 volts and wire the LEDs through the light itself and down the pole. Because the lights will be mounted on a thin piece of deck, I decided to leave the deck pieces as removable so that the wiring could be accessed for maintenance. This meant that the rails at each section would be separate and that first few section would need a track bus.
The first task was to shave off the bulb casting and carve out some space to make room for the LED.
I began an assembly line process with the 18 light poles that I had. Some had broken over the years, but none were ruined in this process.
The next step was to drill two small holes into the lamps to carry the leads to the LEDs. The key to this type of work is having the right tools. This variable speed miniature drill that Tom made for me came in very handy!
The LEDs were secured with a drop of canopy glue.
The platform or deck then had to be cleaned, painted, and track superglued to the deck. I finally found a use for all the scraps of track I had been saving!
Tedious work, but starting to take shape.
Next I needed to figure out how to attach the turnouts to the approach and control them from remote Tortoises.
Patience and lots of superglue got it done.
I found room for the Tortoises at the end of the ore yard.
There was no room for the actuators under the approach, so I constructed a cover that would blend in (I hope) with the rest of the dock.
I found room beneath the deck to locate the 12V and track buses that would carry power to the track and the lights.
Then I created the platform to attach the remote actuators for the turnouts.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I expect another installment soon will show the dock in place but Tom and I have started discussing the addition of motors to animate the ore shafts to allow them to move up and down. Happy new year!
Problems with alignment on the ore dock prompted me to take it apart and rebuild it. The first thing to do was to shore up the foundation. This was done by adding additional bracing and then building a larger foundation to attach to the benchwork eventually.
Gluing in additional braces helped a lot, but there was still one major alignment problem between the third and fourth sections of the dock.
Those horizontal lines needed to line up, so the model was further dismantled to fix this problem.
After much bracing and gluing, the lines were as close as I could get them so I proceeded to build the wood base for the structure. This had to be carefully measured to ensure that the dock would line up perfectly with the ore yard that was already in place.
Once the platform was built, it was test fit and seemed to be about right.
The base was then fitted with a styrene facade to help it look like a part of the model. Curving the corners was a challenge and my first approach with the styrene was not satisfactory. I ordered some larger pieces of Evergreen styrene and eventually got it right.
I painted what I had so far but when I went to mount the deck pieces that I had painstakingly sanded to remove all of the adhesive I encountered a new problem.
If you look carefully, you can see that the guides for the rails on the deck do not align between sections. Fixing the horizontal line problem had caused this section to misalign. I thought I could probably just sand it down, but this would be a pretty glaring problem. That had to be solved. After weeks of thinking about another complete dismantling of the model, it occurred to me that cutting a deck section in half and allowing a full section to straddle the problem area might work. I had extra deck sections so if the experiment failed I would be able to recover. The half section idea worked. I was ecstatic!
After solving the alignment problem, I went on to some other projects around the layout and prepared for a visit from members of the Michiana Division of the National Railroad Association in September 2021.
April 25, 2019 to February 6, 2021 – This post will probably be done in several installments, but I thought it would be prudent to document the work done this year since some progress on the ore dock has been made. It is a long way from completion.
On April 25, 2019 I acquired my Walthers Ore Dock (consisting of four kits) from Duane Hall in Holland, Michigan thanks to a tip from my friend, Ron Christensen. It traveled home with me in the back seat of my Acura MDX.
I got it into the train room safely and stared at it for a few weeks.
Duane’s original work to assemble this model was considerable and he did a nice job on the model. As can be seen, the model was in fair condition when I got it home, but there were some serious problems for the way in which I intended to use it. Medium-sized nuts had been used as weights connected to thread to allow the ore shafts to move up and down. Some of them were broken and didn’t work. The turnouts were frozen on the approach and were isolated from the dock tracks with large plastic track connectors. The track had been glued to the deck with Walther’s Goo and would need to be relaid. The base of the dock was falling apart due to the size of the model and the rear section of the model was not aligned, causing the horizontal bracing to show the misalignment. Since this dock was going to be the first thing people would see when viewing the layout, I felt like it needed to look better and operationally the turnouts needed to be functional. I put the model out of the way on a shelf until February 2021 (almost two years).
On February 6, 2021 after constructing the benchwork that the dock would be placed on, I got the model off of the shelf and started working on the base. This would be a large project.
July 2, 2021 – Uncle Heavy’s Ore Lines is a model railroad located in Gary, Indiana. It is set in 1963 (the year taconite pellets began shipping from the Groveland Mine) in Dickinson County, Michigan. The model features ore and freight operations on the Chicago and North Western (CNW) and the Milwaukee Road (MILW). Since I am learning more and more about the area as I build the layout, it is not strictly based on the prototype (maybe next time). There are two major sources of information that have helped to organize the operational design of the model railroad. Chicago & North Western Peninsula Division 1940-1996 Volume Two by James E. Lewnard is an invaluable guide to the railroad during this period. I have also benefited from C&NW Freight Train Schedules by Joe Piersen and produced by the Archives Committee of the Chicago & North Western Historical Society.
The Peninsula Division was made up of several subdivisions and included the major cities of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Escanaba, Ishpeming, Gladstone, Iron River, and Iron Mountain, Michigan.
Peninsula Division 1955 Map
Ore Train Service
In the 1950s (Lewnard, p. 11) C&NW convinced mining companies on the Gogebic Range (Iron River) to ship the majority of ore from their mines through Escanaba instead of Ashland, Wisconsin. These trains originated in Watersmeet and ran to Escanaba via Stambaugh. On the layout, Watersmeet is represented by four tracks of staging (C&NW points west).
Prior to the construction of the new ore dock in Escanaba in 1968, ore was transported to the Escanaba dock from April through November. Some ore was moved entirely by rail to the steel mills in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The all-rail movements were typically made during the winter when the Great Lakes were impassable. In the 1960s, steel mills in southern Illinois, Alabama, Colorado, and Utah received train loads of ore bypassing the ore docks altogether.
In the 1960s ore trains frequently ran as turns from Escanaba to Antoine (or Partridge) to avoid the cost of having crews overnight in a dormitory. During this period, the C&NW transitioned from shipping a majority of natural iron ore to shipping taconite pellets. Taconite is produced by adding bentonite clay to concentrated iron ore in a balling kiln.
Ore came to Escanaba over the C&NW from three major ranges. The Menominee Range was centered around Iron Mountain, the Marquette Range included the mines and taconite plants around Ishpeming, and the Gogebic Range mentioned earlier included the mines in the western part of the Upper Peninsula. Operations on the layout will include Gogebic ore from Watersmeet and taconite from the Groveland mine. Marquette ore traffic is not modeled as Ishpeming is off the layout in staging.
The Antoine Turn took empties from Ore Dock No. 6 to the yard in Antoine and returned with a loaded train to Escanaba (Lewnard, p. 28).
A list of Menominee Range mines is included by Lewnard on page 29. The table below is excerpted from this list and includes only those mines active in 1963.
Mine
Location
Railroad
Bristol-Youngstown
Crystal Falls
CNW-MILW
Tobin Mine
Crystal Falls
CNW-MILW
Cannon Mine
Stambaugh
CNW-MILW
Hiawatha #2
Stambaugh
CNW-MILW
Homer Mine
Iron River
CNW-MILW
Wauseca Mine
Iron River
CNW-MILW
Sherwood Mine
Iron River
CNW-MILW
Buck Mine
Caspian
CNW-MILW
Groveland Mine (on layout)
Randville
MILW
Active Menominee Range Mines in 1963
In 1937 the C&NW and the MILW entered into a pooling agreement owing to the downturn in business in the Menominee Range. Cars, locomotives, and crews were pooled through Escanaba. Revenue and equipment were divided 34% MIL and 66% CNW. The agreement was such that Milwaukee cars were not to be loaded on the Marquette or Gogebic Ranges, but in practice cars wandered outside of the pool areas. The pooling agreement did not apply to ore destinations outside of Escanaba and did not apply to other commercial traffic.
The Antoine Turn frequently carried cars from pulp mills in Canada that were received from the Soo Line at Larch and were destined for the Niagara paper mill (Lewnard p. 30). A special rate was paid to crews on the trains that included this commercial freight.
Gogebic ore was shipped after 1962 with one ore train per day. These trains were not mixed with Menominee trains owing to the pooling agreement with MILW. There was also a pooling agreement in place for ore bound for Ashland with the Soo Line. The MILW agreement stated that non-pooled ore could not be moved on a train that included Milwaukee Road crewman (Lewnard, p. 35). Gogebic Range mines active in 1963 are listed on the following table.
Mine
Location
Railroad
Geneva-Newport
Siemans
CNW-SOO
Peterson Group
Siemans/Bessemer
CNW-SOO
Active Gogebic Range Mines in 1963
The implications for operations on the layout are that ore trains will run from both Channing (MILW Points North) and Watersmeet (CNW Points West). A typical day should see one train of Gogebic ore coming from CNW staging (Gogebic Ore Turn). This train will turn at Antoine in order to take the ore line to the ore dock. There will also be a daily Gogebic train hauling empties from the ore dock to CNW. These cars will be waybilled to/from Geneva-Newport Mine and Peterson Group mine. There will be one loaded ore train from Channing (MILW Points North) that will turn at Antoine and take the ore line to the ore dock (Channing Ore Turn). A complementary train will run empties back to Channing every day. There will be a turn from the Groveland mine. This train will start in staging with empties, exchange these for loads at Groveland and then follow the MILW pattern to and from the ore dock (Groveland Turn). A fourth ore turn will begin at CNW Points West and follow the turn pattern through Antoine to the ore yard and return (Antoine Turn).
To do this correctly, empties should be directed through the staging loop on to the line through Powers into Antoine. This settles the issue of whether a return loop is required. After dropping off loads at the ore dock, all locomotives will then back empties through Felch Jct. and then proceed to Escanaba through the loop and then back onto the layout at Powers.
Gogebic Ore Turn
Acquire train from Watersmeet (CNW Points West). This will require locating the train cards from the bill box and activating the track which the train is staged on. Select the locomotive using the DCC system and proceed out of staging into the arrival track at Antoine.
Turn train at Antoine. The switcher at Antoine will assist in removing the caboose and allowing the locomotive to run around the train. The switcher will tack the caboose on the back of the train, and it will depart using the ore line for the ore yard.
Arrive at Ore Yard No. 6. Run train onto arrival track at ore yard. Switcher will remove caboose and tack it onto the back of empties in the departure yard. Locomotive will attach to empties and back train out to Felch Jct.
Proceed to Escanaba. Train will take turnout at Felch Jct. for Escanaba and proceed through the staging loop.
Return to Antoine. Proceed through Powers to Antoine arrival track. Switcher at Antoine will assist with caboose and runaround to allow train to proceed to back into Watersmeet
Restaging instructions – this train may be restaged by bringing the train into Antoine and replacing loads. The train is then backed into staging and ready for the next session.
Additional notes – Gogebic trains are excluded from the pooling agreement. Only CNW locomotives and cars should be used on Gogebic trains.
Channing Turn
Acquire train from Channing (MILW Points North). This will require locating the train cards from the bill box and activating the track which the train is staged on. Select the locomotive using the DCC system and proceed out of staging into the arrival track at Antoine.
Turn train at Antoine. The switcher at Antoine will assist in removing the caboose and allowing the locomotive to run around the train. The switcher will tack the caboose on the back of the train, and it will depart using the ore line for the ore yard.
Arrive at Ore Yard No. 6. Run train onto arrival track at ore yard. Switcher will remove caboose and tack it onto the back of empties in the departure yard. Locomotive will attach to empties and back train out to Felch Jct.
Proceed to Escanaba. Train will take turnout at Felch Jct. for Escanaba and proceed through the staging loop.
Return to Antoine. Proceed through Powers to Antoine arrival track. Switcher at Antoine will assist with caboose and runaround to allow train to proceed to back into Channing
Restaging instructions – this train may be restaged by bringing the train into Antoine and replacing loads. The train is then backed into staging and ready for the next session.
Additional notes – Channing trains will often have MILW locomotives and mixed cars.
Groveland Turn
Acquire train from Channing (MILW Points North). This will require locating the train cards from the bill box and activating the track which the train is staged on. Select the locomotive using the DCC system and proceed out of staging to Groveland Mine.
Exchange empties for loads at Groveland Mine and proceed to the arrival track at Antoine.
Turn train at Antoine. The switcher at Antoine will assist in removing the caboose and allowing the locomotive to run around the train. The switcher will tack the caboose on the back of the train, and it will depart using the ore line for the ore yard.
Arrive at Ore Yard No. 6. Run train onto arrival track at ore yard. Switcher will remove caboose and tack it onto the back of empties in the departure yard. Locomotive will attach to empties and back train out to Felch Jct.
Proceed to Escanaba. Train will take turnout at Felch Jct. for Escanaba and proceed through the staging loop.
Return to Antoine. Proceed through Powers to Antoine arrival track. Switcher at Antoine will assist with caboose and runaround to allow train to proceed to back into Channing staging.
Restaging instructions – this train may be restaged by replacing loads into cars at Groveland Mine.
Additional notes – Channing trains will often have MILW locomotives and mixed cars.
Antoine Turn
Acquire train from Watersmeet (CNW Points West). This will require locating the train cards from the bill box and activating the track which the train is staged on. Select the locomotive using the DCC system and proceed out of staging to the arrival track at Antoine.
Turn train at Antoine. The switcher at Antoine will assist in removing the caboose and allowing the locomotive to run around the train. The switcher will tack the caboose on the back of the train, and it will depart using the ore line for the ore yard.
Arrive at Ore Yard No. 6. Run train onto arrival track at ore yard. Switcher will remove caboose and tack it onto the back of empties in the departure yard. Locomotive will attach to empties and back train out to Felch Jct.
Proceed to Escanaba. Train will take turnout at Felch Jct. for Escanaba and proceed through the staging loop.
Return to Antoine. Proceed through Powers to Antoine arrival track. Switcher at Antoine will assist with caboose and runaround to allow train to proceed to back into Watersmeet staging.
Restaging instructions – this train may be restaged by bringing the train into Antoine and replacing loads. The train is then backed into staging and ready for the next session.
Additional notes – Watersmeet trains will often have CNW locomotives and mixed cars.
Since all ore trains on the layout are turns, they require no staging at Escanaba. Ore trains will use two staging tracks at Watersmeet and two staging tracks at Channing.
I have one set of Minnesota ore cars. They really don’t belong on the layout. Now these cars will be used on the Gogebic runs to make it easier to distinguish which cars are meant to stay out of the pool. I get to use those cars after all!
Draft Ore Train Schedule for Uncle Heavy’s Ore Lines July 2021
Installing a SoundTraxx Current Keeper II on a 2014 Athearn Genesis GP7 Locomotive
Pictures from June 9 thru June 28, 2021
I was inspired by a discussion on the Proto-Layouts Group.io site regarding the addition of a keep alive circuit on DCC equipped locomotives. The track work at the Niagara paper mill on my layout is difficult and there are many poorly connected turnout frogs and other gaps that make switching that industry less than satisfactory. I started juicing all the frogs and cleaning track but I still wasn’t getting the results I wanted.
The CNW GP9 No. 1155 is one of the newer locomotives I’ve purchased so I ordered a Soundtraxx Current Keeper II hoping that maybe the decoder on this locomotive would be equipped with a socket to plug in the Keep Alive and I would be off and running.
The Current Keeper II arrived and so I disassembled the locomotive. Alas, no socket. I would have to figure out how to solder the new capacitor circuit to the decoder board myself.
Athearn Genesis GP9 model G62714 as delivered – June 9, 2021
The first thing I had to figure out was what decoder shipped with these locomotives in 2014. The Soundtraxx website has some information to help identify this, but my results were inconclusive. I finally landed on Tony’s Trains website. The site was very helpful in helping me deduce that I was working with a Tsunami TSU-GN1000. This turned out to be very helpful, but the wiring diagram on the site did not work.
The next step was to set up a programming track on the layout so that I could read the values currently on the decoder. I gapped the locomotive track at the Antoine yard and installed a DPDT switch on the control panel to alternate between the programming track and regular DCC operations for that track.
Antoine control panel with added programming track control – June 7, 2021
Even if I could figure out how to connect the Current Keeper, I also had to find room for it. There seems to be a piece on the front of the locomotive that is removable for this very purpose.
Searching for a place to mount the Current Keeper II – June 11, 2021
That piece seems to be there to add weight, but the pickup wires from the front wheels run through it. They had to be disconnected in order to remove the piece. The Current Keeper is a little larger, but we might be able to sneak it in there.
Removing the weight to make room for the Current Keeper II – June 11, 2021
Looks like it might work!
Test fitting the Current Keeper II – June 11, 2021
They look awfully close to the same size.
Comparing size of Current Keeper II and chassis weight – June 11, 2021
I decided to go for it and try the method recommended by Tony’s Train Exchange. After connecting the wires as shown, I could not read values from the decoder on the programming track. When I disconnected the ground, the decoder behaved as usual. I was concerned about soldering on the decoder board, but so far I had not ruined anything. Back to the drawing board.
I searched for additional hints, videos, anything to try to figure out how to get the Current Keeper to work. Luckily I stumbled on to this site. It contains specific notes on installing a keep alive circuit on the TSU-GN1000 and a plethora of other useful information provided by someone who thoroughly understands the electronics behind all of this. It includes the following diagram.
I wired up my decoder using these instructions and it worked!
TSU-GN1000 and Current Keeper II correctly wired – June 25, 2021
Maybe someday I’ll upgrade my WordPress account so I can show you the video of the newly wired chassis navigating the paper mill trackage without stalling. It was a great moment on the ore lines!
I thought I was finished but there was more fun in store. As I went to reassemble the locomotive, I noticed one of the small light bulbs was not sitting in the bezel properly. As I worked to get the bulb to sit properly of course I smashed it with my tweezers. I called my local hobby shop (G & G Hobbies in Griffith) and they gave me the number to Athearn (310) 763-7140. After providing them with the part number off of the diagram in the instructions they were able to ship me a four-pack of these bulbs. I ordered them on Thursday and they showed up on my door on Saturday. Impressive.
I wired the new light bulb with the old and secured the bulbs from the inside of the shell with canopy glue. I also taped down the wires with some heat resistant tape.
Reinstalled headlights – June 28, 2021
Still I was not finished. Because the realistic cab takes up some room, it took three tries to get the chassis back on without pulling the Current Keeper II wires off of their mounts on the two anodes. Finally I routed the wires between the connectors at the front of the decoder and managed to get everything back together without damage.
Final assembly – June 28, 2021
I was very concerned at the beginning of this project that I would ruin the decoder and damage the locomotive. My skills around electronics are minimal but I can follow directions. Happily this project was successful. The keep alive circuit makes tooling around the paper mill a breeze! Let’s run some trains!
This project actually happened concurrently with the construction of the ore yard. The most difficult benchwork of the entire layout was required in order to allow four tracks to pass around the back of the water heater and on to points east and south on the railroad.
The design of this model railroad provides staging at two ends of a loop. It is somewhat prototypical in that the Chicago and North Western circa 1963 had two lines from Antoine to Escanaba. One line was a typical single track freight line that went through Iron Mountain and Powers. The other was a dedicated ore line that went a few miles north and went through Felch. On my layout this is emulated by a loop track on a grade that goes from Antoine through Felch (Felch Junction on the model). At Felch Junction trains can be routed to the ore dock through the ore yard, or on to Escanaba (staging). On the prototype Quinnesec is east of Iron Mountain on the line to Powers. On the model, Quinnesec is west of Antoine on the line to Felch Jct. This was done to facilitate the branch that leads from Quinnesec to Niagara, Wisconsin and the Kimberly Clark Paper Mill. The line from Antoine through Iron Mountain to Powers can be routed at Powers to Green Bay (staging) or Escanaba (staging). Escanaba and points south and west staging has not been built yet.
The design discussion above is meant to illustrate that there are four lines that go behind the water heater. The ore line is at 55″ from the floor and the Powers line is about 48″ from the floor. Once the lines make it through the area behind the water heater, three of the lines go on to staging and Escanaba and the fourth line goes to the ore dock by way of the ore yard. The plan is to have the other three lines traverse the area behind the heater enclosure and then head to a return loop with eight staging tracks. There are also eight staging tracks on two levels that feed into the yard at Antoine.
Ore Lines Schematic – June 24, 2021 (Area after red bar not yet built)
There is also a small alcove that will contain an engine facility, but I haven’t quite figured that out yet. At any rate here are some photos of how this benchwork wound up in January. It was a pain and I put it off a long time, but it works now and I have run a train out onto the ore yard.
Benchwork at Felch Junction – January 16, 2021Benchwork bottom level lines to Green Bay staging and Escanaba staging; top lines to ore yard and staging loop – January 16, 2021Benchwork to ore line and staging – January 16, 2021Benchwork connection to ore yard – January 16, 2021Benchwork to ore yard with Homabed – January 16, 2021It’s rough, but we made it! – January 19, 2021
With the platform for the ore dock complete, it was time to address the benchwork and track that would connect the ore line at Felch Jct. to the dock itself. This trackage would need to traverse the hidden areas behind the water heater (more on that later) and emerge from the hole in the wall onto the ore yard benchwork. In order for this element to fit within the constraints of the railroad room, it was condensed to a very simple design that would allow ore trains to drop their cars on the arrival track and pick up empties on the departure track. A yard switcher would then be responsible for switching loads onto the ore dock and empties off of the ore dock.
The point where the track would emerge had been set and the position of the ore dock, while still somewhat flexible, had also been established. The next step was to determine the shape of the platform itself.
Establishing the shape of the ore yard – November 25, 2020Establishing the path from ore yard to ore dock – November 25, 2020
Now that the shape of the yard was determined, I built a simple open grid box that could be mounted to the studs of the heater enclosure.
Initial open grid ore yard platform – November 27, 2020Underside of initial ore yard benchwork – November 27, 2020
A layer of homabed was added to the ore. yard platform.
Homabed applied to ore yard benchwork – November 27, 2020
The ore yard was able to be constructed on the workbench which allowed delicate trackwork to be assembled and tested thoroughly.
Assembly of ore yard track work – November 27, 2020
Under track magnets were added throughout the yard to support the operating plan for the ore yard.
Ore yard construction including under track uncoupling magnets – December 1, 2020
Tortoise switch machines were installed and wired to terminal strips. Due to space constraints, the Digitrax DS64 would be installed on the inside of the heater enclosure opposite the yard (see image later in this post).
Installation of Tortoise machines – December 3, 2020More Tortoise installation – December 5, 2020
The ore yard benchwork was then fastened to the wall and integrated with the ore dock initial joist to ensure smooth train running across the platforms. The initial design was to make this yard removable for maintenance. Once the yard was put in place, it became impractical to remove it, so it is permanently installed.
Installation of ore yard benchwork – January 14, 2021
The DS64 that controls the turnouts in the ore yard was mounted behind the yard inside the heater enclosure. This required running a Loconet cable around the water heater and into the enclosure as well.
Now that the walls were complete around the heater and water heater, it was time to figure out how the ore dock would relate to the rest of the railroad and to the room. When the layout is complete, the ore dock will be the focal point when guests enter the railroad room. The height of the railheads on the dock had been determined when the water heater enclosure was planned. The first step was to determine the size of the platform and the orientation of the dock.
Original Ore Dock on 4x8x1/2″ Plywood Sheet – November 21, 2020
With the ore dock placed on the plywood, rough measurements could be made to determine where the dock would sit and how the platform would be supported.
L-Girder Design for Ore Dock Platform – November 21, 2020
The design was later modified a bit in order to allow the keeper joist to be placed closer to the wall and use supports on both sides to provide better support and rigidity. Placement of a joist on the wall was crucial to the finished platform as it established the railhead height and must be level.
Placement of initial joist on wall – November 22, 2020
With the initial joist secured to the studs in the heater enclosure, a keeper joist was constructed and braced to match the initial joist.
Construction of matching keeper joist – November 22, 2020
Two L-girders were constructed and adjusted for level and plumb. This established the footprint of the platform.
L-girders in place – November 22, 2020
Joists were rough cut to size and placed on the L-girders next.
Joists rough cut to size – November 22, 2020
Now that the joists were in place, the plywood platform could be adjusted, cut, and placed.
Ore dock platform test fit – November 22, 2020
The benchwork could now be painted flat black while accessible.
Benchwork painted – November 23, 2020
The keeper joist and associated bracing now needed to be braced to the L-girders to prevent lateral movement.
Lateral bracing installed – November 23, 2020
The joists and added bracing were then painted.
Joists and bracing painted – November 23, 2020
With the benchwork painted and secured, the underside of the platform was painted.
Underside of ore dock platform painted – November 24, 2020
To complete the platform, the plywood was turned over and secured to the joists. Now I have a solid platform to use to work on the ore dock model.
Uncle Heavy's Michigan Ore Lines 